So What Is the Unconscious Mind, Anyway?

Three pounds in weight. Roughly the size of a grapefruit. And yet, your brain holds more potential connections than there are atoms in the known universe.

That’s not just a poetic line—it’s science. With 100 billion neurons and trillions of possible interconnections, your brain is the most complex structure on Earth.

And whether you’re aware of it or not, this small organ is shaping your entire experience of reality—every thought, feeling, behaviour, memory, reaction, and decision.

So what does this mean for you?

The Brain and the Mind Aren’t the Same Thing

First, it’s helpful to separate the brain (a physical organ) from the mind (your internal experience—what you feel, think, and imagine). Your brain is made of tissue and neurons. It’s where electrical impulses fire, habits are stored, and learning gets wired in. It’s the control centre of the body. But your mind is your internal world—your thoughts, memories, beliefs, emotions, imagination, dreams. That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about “doing the inner work.” And your mind has two parts: the conscious and the unconscious.

Your conscious mind is the part you’re aware of right now. It’s logical, rational, and focused. It’s what you use to plan your day, write a text, or solve a maths problem.

But it’s only a tiny slice of what’s going on.

We can scan your brain and observe what areas light up, but no machine can tell us what you’re thinking or how you’re experiencing your inner world. That’s the realm of the mind—especially the part we call the unconscious mind.

So What Is the Unconscious Mind?

Your unconscious (or subconscious) mind is everything that’s going on beneath the surface of your awareness.

It holds:

• Everything you’ve ever learned

• Emotional memories (good and bad)

• Automatic behaviours and habits

• Your inner beliefs, fears, and assumptions

• And the ability to heal, grow, and change

In short, the unconscious mind is running the show. It’s behind the wheel most of the time—and that’s not a bad thing. It’s what allows you to breathe without thinking, walk without effort, drive while daydreaming, and react quickly to danger.

But it also means that many of your emotional patterns, beliefs, and even physical responses are unconsciously learned—which is why they don’t always respond to logic or willpower.

Why Logic Isn’t Enough

Here’s something really interesting: there are more connections in your brain going from your emotional centres up to your logical brain than the other way around. That means emotion often gets the first say—and the loudest.

This is why you can’t just “talk yourself out” of a panic attack. Or “think positive” when you’re overwhelmed. Or “just stop worrying.” Your logical mind may know something’s not rational—but your unconscious mind is reacting based on old emotional learning.

Therapy that only appeals to logic often misses the point. That’s why deep, lasting change usually involves working directly with the unconscious—especially through techniques like hypnosis, guided imagery, somatic work, and emotional processing.

Your Brain Is Always Changing

Here’s the good news: your brain is neuroplastic. That means it can physically rewire itself in response to experience. Every thought you think, every behaviour you repeat, every emotional experience you have—your brain is adapting to that.

This is why therapy works. It's also why we can learn anxiety, helplessness, or low self-worth—but we can unlearn it too.

Even as adults, we can form new brain cells (especially in the memory and learning centre of the brain, the hippocampus). Even in older age, the brain keeps growing and adapting, especially when we’re emotionally engaged, curious, and connected to purpose.

Genes Aren’t Your Destiny

Despite what you may have heard, there’s no such thing as a “depression gene” or an “addiction gene.” Genes might create tendencies, but it’s experience—what you learn, feel, and do—that shapes what those genes actually express.

This is the field of epigenetics—the study of how your environment and behaviour can switch genes on or off. Which means: you are not your diagnosis. And you are not stuck. You are far more adaptable than you think.

Emotions Are Hypnotic

Here’s something most people don’t realise: emotions themselves are hypnotic. They narrow your focus and shape your reality. Have you ever been so angry or anxious that you literally couldn’t think straight? That’s a trance state.

Or felt like you were “stuck” in a loop, imagining a worst-case scenario over and over again? That’s self-hypnosis—just the unhelpful kind.

In therapy, we use intentional hypnosis to break those loops and create new, healthier patterns. This helps you feel different first—because when you feel different, you think differently too. And you act differently.

Why This All Matters in Therapy

All of this science helps explain why people can know something is irrational—and still feel stuck. Why you can tell yourself not to be afraid, and still freeze. Why affirmations fall flat when you feel awful.

Because true healing doesn’t just happen in the logical mint. It happens when we engage the unconscious.

This is where hypnotherapy and strategic psychotherapy come in. They’re not about “fixing” you. They’re about helping your nervous system and unconscious mind reconnect with your own inner resources—so you can feel calm, confident, and in control again.

One Last Thing: The Story of the Lost Crown

There’s a story I love that illustrates this beautifully:

A princess once dropped her crown into a clear palace pool. Her attendants panicked and jumped in, kicking up mud and silt, making the water cloudy and the crown impossible to see.

An old storyteller came by and told them to pause. As they listened to his tale, the mud began to settle. The pool became still again. And there, at the bottom, was the crown—clearly visible.

He reached in and lifted it out with ease.

That’s the power of calming the system, of pausing the frantic thinking, of settling the nervous system. When the mud clears, what we need becomes visible. And healing happens more naturally.

So next time you wonder “Why do I keep doing this?” or “Why can’t I just stop feeling this way?”—pause.

It’s not that you’re broken. It's that something deeper needs your attention.

And when you work with your unconscious, the change becomes not just possible, but lasting.