Introduction

The Expressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness is a handbook written to help you understand yourself in the context of your own life experiences. My hope is that it will help you identify which of your thoughts, actions and behaviors help you live the life you want, and which are holding you back. Understanding yourself this way makes room for change and supports learning how to be ok with yourself as you gain awareness of your sense of Onefulness.

While The Expressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness takes us on the journey of thought creation and actuation, this section of my website presents how our mind, body and spirit begin to create and, ultimately, form complete thoughts.

A lot of research went into writing The Expressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness. There is a good bit of science and thinking behind the ideas and theory I present in the text. There are also spiritual components that came in to play together with the science. There are many who will be interested in these details, and many who will not. For those of you who are, “The Science and Spirituality Behind The Expressive Soul” is for you.

“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”  ~ Aristotle

After I opened my chiropractic practice, the ideas that support energy as the center-point of the thought process and of all existence began to gel for me. Working with clients, it became increasingly clear that I had the ability to look at people and see in my mind what challenges they were facing. Somehow, I connected with any stuck or dysfunctional energy within my clients and, with my hands, used balanced energy to help redirect out-of-balance energy back towards balance physically, mentally and spiritually.

One morning, I walked into one of my treatment rooms. Instead of the one client I was scheduled to treat, three of my clients stood there staring at me. The person I identified as the leader recounted things I had done for her that no-one else had been able to do, concluding that it was because I am an intuitive healer, a shaman. The other two clients agreed.

Calling me a shaman both confused and intrigued me. I decided to explore the concept of shamanism, and attended an eight-day seminar at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

This seminar had come about because of John Perkins, author of the bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hitman. John and his group, the Dream Change Coalition, had invited Native American shamans and other shamans from all over the world to this seminar to share their vision of healing for people and our planet. Between group sessions, the shamans worked with attendees. I went from room to room, checking out how the different shamans operated. For the first time, I saw shamanic work in action.

As surprised as I was when I saw those shamans doing many of the things I intuitively did for my clients, I also knew that I had to face facts: the universe corroborated everything those three clients had said.  I am a shaman.

Shamanism

“Notice what happens when you follow your intuitive feelings. The result is usually increased energy and power, and a sense of things flowing. ”  ~ Shakti Gawain

At this point you might be asking, “What is a shaman, anyway?” Before the three women introduced the idea to me, I certainly didn’t know. Since that time, however, I’ve come across a wonderful explanation of shamanism.

The widely accepted origin of the word shaman translates from Manchu-Tungus as “one who knows.” It describes a wise one who experiences an innate awareness beyond the visible world that facilitates a greater understanding of what is occurring “beneath the surface” of things—in other words, understanding how energy that supports our thoughts and actions can flow or get stuck,  be self injurious, or create other combinations of issues. Examples of underlying information could be why certain things happen or why people respond and act as they do in certain circumstances. From this knowing, shamans share wisdom dedicated to identifying and relieving mental, emotional, physical or spiritual struggles, issues and roadblocks. This wisdom is expressed as healing energy through many modes, including touch, spoken or sung words, dance, instrumental sound and others.

Learning about Shamanism helped me see why I have a heightened sense of awareness towards all sorts of energy, hearing information and seeing images in my mind related to the person I am working with. As a doctor, being a shaman supported my desire to help people; as a writer, it helps me show through words the impact of energy on our thoughts and actions.

It became clear to me that consistent impartial energy pathways can support personal qualities that work towards personal goals and aspirations, while distorted, biased energy can support past or current experiences that block growth and promote pain.

Energy pathways can also reveal other people involved in an experience (e.g., parent, teacher, partner, etc.), the role they play, and the impact their modeled behaviors and ideas have upon us.

For example, sometimes while I worked on a physical area of a client that was painful, that client would speak, expressing emotions and memories.  These clients didn’t realize that, in the speaking, they were releasing blocked energy. Along with the ensuing “a-ha” experience or insight came the realization that they had actually released some baggage, becoming aware of a memory or burden they had been holding on to. Remarkably, afterwards, the client often felt a lightness and improvement in their physically painful condition. It was clear that people created and held on to problems through the energetic process of thought development, as well as in the process of expressing or acting on their thoughts.      

Equally amazing were the insights clients gained that allowed them to see their situation differently, opening the door to forming solutions.   

These experiences provided a view into how central energy is to our existence, how we think, and how our individual bodies function.     

Energy Within Us    

Science tells us that energy maintains all of our life processes, allowing cells to actually communicate and perform their functions. (*1)

We describe ourselves as human, rarely referring to ourselves as “energetic beings,” yet that is what we are. Everything about us—the atoms and molecules that make up our cells, organs and more—is fueled by energy. Though we don’t see energy, it’s a force that drives all aspects of life. 

Life Force Energy     

I was sick quite a bit during my freshman year in high school and, more often than not, our family doctor prescribed antibiotics. During this time, I started thinking about sickness and healing. Was it the prescription medications that made me well, or could my body heal itself? I decided to find out.   

Creating my own science experiment, I started hiding the medicine under my pillow. (I do not suggest doing this—rather, I strongly recommend that you discuss medications and their use with your physician(s) before starting, adjusting or stopping taking any.) If my mother was present, I’d pretend to take it, stick the pill under my tongue, and spit it out when she left the room. Through these experiments, I discovered there were times my body recovered on its own and times it seemed I needed antibiotics to get better.

This experience taught me that “some kind of force” existed within me; a life force that maintained my body’s functions.

As a teenager, I wanted to grow vegetables in my parents’ backyard. The yard had a steady line of bushes that ran around its perimeter, so I chose a 10-by-10-foot area far away from the bushes and got to work. Once I removed the grass and began digging, I started hitting rocks and a tremendous number of roots. At first, I couldn’t see where these roots came from. The bushes running along the fence line were at least 10 to 15 feet away from where I was digging. My parents had probably planted those bushes when they first moved into the house more than 16 years before my garden-planting summer.

I decided to follow one particular root, and it led me to one of those far-off bushes. Amazing! How could there be roots so far away from those bushes? Some kind of force or “Life Force Energy” maintained the needs of those bushes, supporting their ability to thrive and grow. And why were those roots so far from those bushes in the first place? Somehow those bushes knew when there wasn’t enough food within reach of the short, early roots, so Life Force Energy directed the roots’ “Life Principles,” providing the innate knowledge the roots needed to be able to meet their needs, resulting in those bushes getting bigger, with roots growing toward the needed food. Simply, using Life Force Energy, the bushes in my parents’ backyard found a way to thrive.  (*2, 3)

In nature, as in humans, certain atoms, bound by energy, form molecules that take on a distinct shape and purpose, forming things we can identify, like rocks bushes and trees, and even seeds that grow into specific things, like green beans and strawberries.

Life Force Energy exists as slow moving electric energy fields within us that maintain our existence.  (*4)

Life Force Energy is an innate, essential energy that maintains the communications and functions occurring inside of each of the cells that make up our body. (*5)  Energy drives and encourages all the functions in the body—makes a muscle contract, makes our eyes blink, and makes our heart beat. Life Force Energy ensures a human being continues to function, driving cellular function and replication, and forming other cells, tissues, muscles and organs. (*6)  Look what this energy did for me! In the case of my freshman year illnesses, Life Force Energy paved the way via Life Principles for my immune system to rid my body of what was making me sick without the use of medications. This same energy supported the different energies necessary to either use or reject the properties in the medicine I took when I did need it.

Until recently, we accepted that antibodies “just know” how to fulfill their purpose, and that they also somehow know that they can deactivate foreign invader cells just by going after them. In other words, they follow their Life Principles. Now, among scientists, new ideas support—and growing evidence shows—that low-emission electric energy fields exist within us and our cells react to it. (*7)   Life force energy as slow-moving electric energy fields direct our Life Principles—the functions and communication that occurs in the cell, cell-to-cell, and beyond. Life Force Energy, also known as “chi,” “prana,” and “ruach,” flows through the body, directing Life Principles so that cells regulate their life processes and are responsive to change.

Everything in us and everything that exists in nature, like plants, animals, insects, fish, and even quartz crystals, are impacted by Life Force Energy, which maintains that entity’s unique Life Principles.

The crystal citrine is a beautiful yellow or orange color and is part of the quartz family, which includes rose quartz, carnelian and amethyst, among many others. I have a chunk of citrine in my office and have used it many times during healing energy treatments. Over time, I noticed a color change in the crystal. Parts of the citrine had turned purple. A chemical change (energy) had taken place in the crystal during those healing energy treatments, and now there was amethyst present together with citrine.

Seeing this with my own eyes showed me that things we usually think of as not living or changing actually contain energies capable of their own intrinsic patterns of change. That means even a crystal like citrine has Life Force Energy and its own particular Life Principles. It seems, then, that all energy forms, including minerals, have Life Principles—particular functions they follow that perpetuate their existence—with Life Force Energy maintaining those functions. Additionally, each energy form has its part to play in supporting the infrastructure of our planet and, therefore, also supporting human existence.

Life Principles

Let me explain Life Principles a bit more by exploring an example I mentioned earlier. You may or may not remember learning in science class that an antibody molecule knows its target among the thousands of reactions occurring within a cell and the surrounding area. The question is, how? How does an antibody know that its target, the invader, is a foreign agent? How does the antibody know how to perform its function? Within each cell in our bodies, there are many functions and communications that occur to allow our cells, tissues and organs to fulfill their individual purposes. That is how each cell knows how to do its job—and even what its job is. I use the term “Life Principles” to represent these functions and communications, since principles are fundamental truths that serve as a foundation for a sequence of reasoning. Life Principles exist in the human body and also represent the functions and communications that fulfill the purpose of many other life forms, including functions within crystals (i.e., minerals, rocks).  (*8) 

 Consider the Life Principle of oxygen production in trees compared to the Life Principle of oxygen use in humans. The Life Principle of oxygen production in trees involves absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen into the air. The human Life Principle for oxygen production involves our breathing in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide: the exact opposite of what it is in trees. Through Life Principles, what we exhale supports trees and the oxygen trees release enables you and me (and our pets, and a farmer’s cows) to breathe. 

In humans, our Life Principles fulfill many purposes, not just our ability to inhale oxygen. You know that in order to see our facial appearance, we simply look in a mirror. To see the cells that make up our face and the other parts of our body, we have to look under a microscope—a tool that allows us to see things too small, individually, to identify with just our eyes. When we can see individual cells, we can see that they are alive. They also have Life Principles they follow in order to stay alive. Body parts like bones, muscles, skin, blood vessels and organs are each composed of specific cells that are made up of particular molecules and atoms that make each cell unique: bones have specific cells that make a bone a bone. Likewise for muscles, organs, and so on. All of these cells have unique Life Principles that receive guiding cues from Life Force Energy, enabling each cell to communicate and function within the different aspects of itself and with other cells. (*9)

Life Force Energy maintains Life Principles in all things that exist, but what initiates Life Force Energy? Something directs the process of life, because atoms and molecules don’t randomly bind with just any atom or molecule.

I enjoy gardening, but the thing that fascinates me the most is placing a seed in the soil, waiting for that first sprig to push its way up, and then marveling at its growth. A seed uses Life Principles and Life Force Energy to sprout and become whatever it is programmed to be: lettuce, tomato, watermelon, etc.  Beyond the energy used to maintain life, there is an energy that initiates life's functions, like causing the awakening of the embryo in the seed I placed in the ground, prompting the beginning of the process of seed growth.

A purpose and intelligence exist behind Life Force Energy and the intricate functioning of our body and all energy forms. (*10, 11)  That initiating energy is what I and others call “Source.”

Source Energy

Source Energy initiates the Life Force Energy present in all energy forms. It co-exists with and supports Life Force Energy.

Throughout my life, I’ve experienced a distinct energy; it’s played a key role in my life and, as it turns out, this energy is central to all life. Growing up, I spent a great deal of time playing outdoors, walking and investigating the land around me. I remember very clearly that no matter what I was up to, whether rolling in the grass, watching clouds pass, touching a flower, or trying to crack rocks open, I felt a presence. I always felt safe when surrounded by this energy.

As a teenager, and later as an adult, I continued experiencing this distinct energy in different ways. It took time and several occurrences for me to understand the presence of this energy in my life and what it was.

For example, when I was 16, I went on a weekend retreat in the mountains. That first evening, I took a walk. The night sky was pitch black and the stars sparkled. I felt safe and at peace, surrounded by a blissful sense of quiet. One night shortly after that experience, my parents had gone to bed and the house was still. I couldn’t sleep, so I walked out to the kitchen where my Mom had left some candles burning. I just sat there watching the flickering light dancing on the wall and found myself experiencing that same blissful quiet I’d experienced at the mountain retreat. I became aware of a tickling on my shoulder, which became a trail of warmth spreading across my shoulders. It felt as if someone was placing a shawl across my back. A feeling of love manifested within me and, in that moment, I knew I was not alone. What I experienced was pure joy.

Another incident occurred when I was a chiropractic intern. I had completed my rotation at the clinic and was driving home. It was late. I was tired and misjudged the distance between my car and the car waiting at the red light ahead. I slammed on the brakes, my foot pressed down as far as it could go, yet I knew I was going to hit the car in front of me. What happened next was incredible. Out of nowhere, I felt an energy pressing down on my foot. Something had forced my foot to go further. The car stopped in time. So many people I’ve spoken to have had similar experiences I can only say are unexplained “near misses.”

Later, a deeply moving event occurred that brought home the meaning of Source Energy for me.

As a little background information, my husband and I had decided we wanted to have children. We were thrilled when I found out I was pregnant, and then so happy when our daughter was born. Later, though, we discovered she had a number of serious mental disabilities for which science provided few answers and society offered little understanding.

So, here’s the experience: One day, I was driving and feeling so overwhelmed and frustrated that I thought I might explode. I began screaming at the Universe: “Source, where are you? Why aren’t you helping us? I don’t know if I believe in you anymore!” At that moment, I came up to a traffic circle. As I entered the circle, a car traveling on the inside cut in front of me. We missed hitting each other by a hair. I continued around the circle and another car cut in front of me. I had barely missed that second car when a third car cut me off, but still, somehow, no accident occurred. In that moment, the pattern of events was obvious. Each of those cars should have hit me, yet there was an energy at work protecting me. The message Source sent was clear: “I am here. Feel me, I am here for you.” I had entered the traffic circle filled with doubt and questions and came out with a clear answer.

The Source Energy that stopped my car, protected me in the traffic circle, and was also with me as I sat watching those candles, is the same energy that sustains us and all that is.

Sometime later, I had an experience that showed me that Source Energy supports our existence.

Raising my daughter was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Maybe you can relate with your own parenting experience! I felt like I faced a new challenge every day, like my daughter’s resistance towards doing certain things, or whether or not she would adhere to our boundaries and rules. When she balked, I didn’t have a clue how to handle her behaviors and actions.  At one point, I started seeing an intuitive healer/counselor to help me deal with what was happening in my life. In those sessions, I found out about unconditional love and my ability to experience joy. During one particular session, we were talking about how I viewed the deity or Higher Power in my life. This counselor asked, “How much does G-d love you?”

Reflecting on the question, I closed my eyes and soon felt the heaviness I carried shift and lift from me. As I relaxed, I felt something—barely present—encircle me. Although it felt like I was being enveloped in a cloud, it also had texture. The sensation was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I felt a heightened sense of excitement, joy, and deep, perpetual love all rolled into one. As I experienced these sensations in my body, I also heard the same message of joy and love in my mind. This energy (and I was aware it was energy) touched every fiber of my being, and I knew this was the essence and Source of life as we know it. I experienced this unconditional Source Energy as it displayed itself to me, and realized that it exists always and everywhere, sustaining us and all life.

Religions, societies, and cultures would name this energy as part of their “systems,” which are filled with rules, laws, and personal beliefs. For example, I was taught, as are many billions living on this planet, that G-d punishes us if we commit sins, but also deserves our praise and exaltation. The Source Energy I experienced sustains the Life Force Energy that maintains life as we know it. It can be equated to drawing from a limitless well, always providing and available—but with no conditions attached.

Unconditional means no conditions; therefore, information comes to the mind as it presents itself.  Source is a balanced, unconditional energy that simply is. It exists in all things, everywhere, and connects all things. If we are alive, we are connected to Source, and Life Force Energy is our body’s functional connection with Source.

Nowhere do I see Source Energy as clearly as when I’m caring for clients. As a doctor and healer, at times I’d direct energy into a person’s body with the expectation that my action would evoke a change. That was my ego talking, and ego is an attachment to outcome.

When I stopped expecting certain results, incredible changes occurred.

I had a client with problems related to her uterus following the birth of her child. Her doctor explained that she had a prolapsed uterus and suggested various interventions. Ultimately, her gynecologist recommended she consider surgery. When she came to me, she said, “I know you can take care of this.”

As she rested on the table, I let go of everything and went to work. Acting as a conduit, I allowed Source Energy to flow through me and into this woman. When she went back to see her gynecologist, the doctor examined her and found she no longer had a prolapsed uterus. Her uterus was in its normal position. The loving energy she experienced in my office had flowed freely, with no conditions or attachments. That’s what Source Energy is.

Energy and the Thought Process

Earlier, I shared an incredible occurrence where I felt and heard Source Energy as it showed itself to me.  Over time, I realized that beyond the joy of being embraced by Source Energy during my visit with the intuitive counselor, I had received a message to share. I actually heard and felt this energy in my thoughts. It’s more accurate to say that I felt the words and, at the same time, recognized the particular words being used and what they meant.

Now that science has shown us how emotions (as chemical energy) carry messages enabling us to feel an experience, “feeling the words” makes sense. (*12) While coming into contact with this energy, I actually heard the words of this message in my mind.  Those experiences told me that there is another kind of energy, a SoulTelling Energy within us, that plays a key role in processing information and is somehow connected to Source Energy.

Energy fuels the thought process. Humans tend to think of information as something that is tangible because our sensory memory creates a picture of what we experience in our minds. In reality, information isn’t a picture, it is energy. Nerve cells (neurons) transfer information as chemical and electric signals—energy—to other neurons, delivering information that forms thoughts, memories, and our responses.

I sought out research that had been done that would explain and, hopefully, confirm, my belief that the energy I experienced impacts how the brain communicates and functions, developing our thoughts and actions. We know there are electrical impulses coursing through the brain; we can monitor brain waves or energy fields using a machine called an EEG or electroencephalogram. We also know nerve cells transfer and transmit information to various areas in the brain, but how do they know where to go, when to go there, and what to do when they get there?

I found what I was looking for.

Initially, scientists thought weak extracellular energy fields were simply the result of nerve cells vibrating when sending their electrical chemical signals. With new technology and research, these weak electric fields were found to support communication and direct function in neurons. (*13)

It has also been found that glial cells—which are central nervous system cells that are intimately associated with neurons—sense and release their own neurotransmitters, reacting and relating to the nerve cell’s ability to transfer and communicate information. The slow-moving or weak extracellular electric energy waves guide and offer cues to the brain’s cells. (*14, 15, 16)  I call this energy “SoulTelling Energy.”

SoulTelling Energy

SoulTelling Energy directs neurons that cohere and vibrate at a particular frequency to transfer certain information, and continues doing so between nerve cells that also vibrate at a particular frequency. As a result, communication occurs in different areas of the brain, with SoulTelling Energy supporting a thought’s initiation, development, completion, and any response or action related to that thought. (*17, 18)

Acting as our mental connection to Source, SoulTelling Energy is an impartial and consistent energy, directing thought development without attaching assumptions, conditions or misleading data. SoulTelling Energy directs our mental and emotional expression. It guides our conscious, subconscious and unconscious brain function. Also, unlike Source and Life Force Energy, which exist and function whether we want them to or not, we can choose to use SoulTelling Energy.

Being balanced and neutral, SoulTelling Energy’s energetic presence is a beacon; its reliability offering a sense of safety we can count on to develop our thoughts as we choose to. Such direction of the thought process supports free will, since there are no stuck ideas, preconceptions, or resistant beliefs in the way.

I think “free will” is something we all have available to us. It allows us to make choices, make our own decisions, and change any or all aspects of our thoughts. When we think using free will, we are capable of anything. Our life path is not predestined. Some people don’t believe in free will, but have their own compass of right and wrong and belief  systems. These are what allow us to choose to use SoulTelling Energy

Here’s how SoulTelling Energy directed an experience I had in the supermarket: A horrific storm was predicted for our area, so I stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few things. There were no shopping carts in sight, so I knew the store would be packed. Once inside, I selected what my family needed. When I headed to the checkout, I found predictably long lines. The items I held in my hands became heavier and heavier as I waited. I shifted from one foot to another, trying to balance what I was carrying, but it became harder to hang on to everything as time passed. A kind of juggling act began, as some items started slipping out of my hands and I tried to catch them while balancing all the other things. Gathering what had dropped to the floor, I finally re-balanced the items, and that’s when the woman behind me offered to take some of my items and put them in the shelf of her cart. Then another woman in the next lane over offered to take some other things off my hands. I was grateful for their kindness and let them know it. We started talking, just sharing in the blessings of the moment. A sense of connection existed between the three of us. The amazing thing was, it affected not just us! Soon, everyone around us started smiling and talking. The camaraderie was contagious, with SoulTelling Energy directing the process. Like Source, SoulTelling Energy simply is. Choosing SoulTelling Energy to direct the thought process opens the door to limitless possibility.

These concepts certainly fall in line with what I experience with clients in practice. Working with clients and witnessing their experiences of our work together, it was clear that the healing energy they received caused changes to both their physical pain and their thought patterns.

SoulTelling Energy exists in a place of balance; however, when certain input affects this energy and moves it away from impartiality, it becomes what I call “Influenced Energy.” Influenced Energy forms as a result of skewed thoughts, behaviors and actions we unconsciously accept and emulate from our parents/caregivers, peers, media, and social/cultural groups.

Influenced Energy

From birth onward, kids passively pick up what is implied through another’s behavior and form their own life patterns without being consciously aware they are doing it or being taught. This is the way we learn to care for ourselves and speak out, representing ourselves to others. We also learn dysfunctional patterns along the way. When we direct thought development from an altered, imbalanced consideration of the presenting information, we start using Influenced Energy. Here’s an example of how it works:

Growing up, I remember my dad rolling down the window of our car and yelling curses at anyone who got in his way or did something he didn’t like. I think what saved him from harm was the fact his curses were in a different language! My father’s behavior really embarrassed me, yet, once I started driving, I was also a reactive driver. Unconsciously, I absorbed and mimicked my father’s modeled behavior using Influenced Energy to direct my thoughts and actions. Though I didn’t yell out the window, I got really stressed and angry over things other drivers did on the road.

How many times have we heard or said, “I’ll never be like my_____!” (fill in the blank: mother, father, sister, brother, coach, minister/rabbi, teacher, and so forth.) Then, using Influenced Energy, we find ourselves repeating the exact words or mannerisms we swore we’d never, ever copy.

Influenced Energy is a dysfunctional energy formed from distorted, hurtful, limited and conditional views, memories and events. Like SoulTelling Energy, we can choose to use Influenced Energy or not. We choose Influenced Energy to direct our thoughts when dysfunction has a greater hold on us than balance and SoulTelling Energy.

With personal Influenced Energy directing, some kind of limiting or conditional belief is always attached, influencing our choices. In contrast, we can rely on SoulTelling Energy to consistently offer us choices without attachment or bias. Influenced Energy-directed thoughts could include things like teasing a friend knowing it upsets them, but doing it because he “should get over it” already; calling ourselves stupid when we make a mistake; or running a stop sign and getting angry at the driver we cut off.

Even when we choose Influenced Energy, SoulTelling Energy isn’t far away. We have the consistency of SoulTelling Energy to turn to if we question ourselves and are ready to change the direction of a thought. When approaching an experience, free will gives us the ability to choose SoulTelling Energy or Influenced Energy at any point throughout the thought process. This allows us to develop a thought that is factual, distorted, or one that has both facts and distortions.

A client of mine was angry with her son, and ended up spanking him. Upset by the incident, she called me and we did some intuitive work together while reviewing the incident. It turned out that her son’s behaviors were triggering old patterns of anger and lashing out within her, which mirrored how her father had treated her growing up. She had thought this Influenced Energy pattern was gone, only to find out she had emulated it. Once she knew this was an energy pattern that didn’t support the way she wanted to raise her son, she realized she could choose a different response. Using free will, she chose to change how she approached her son’s behavioral issues and shifted from Influenced Energy towards SoulTelling Energy.

Which energy do we choose to direct thought development? Is it SoulTelling Energy, Influenced Energy, or both? The energy we choose directs intention and desire, determining which data develops into our thoughts.

The Conscious and Subconscious Mind

The conscious mind lets us access, develop and understand sensory memories created around us as well as within us. We all experience a tremendous amount of input every single day. All of this information would cause our conscious mind to overload if it had to contain all that input at once. Fortunately, our subconscious stores and accesses information that doesn’t have to be immediately available or directly in our consciousness at any given moment. From the subconscious, information can readily be brought into our consciousness or filed away into the unconscious. For example, using the subconscious, we can consciously recall the words and melody of a song. If someone asks for the composer of the song, the subconscious mind seeks this information in the unconscious, acting as a gatekeeper between conscious and unconscious. The subconscious is a reference guide, bringing information we intentionally access to the developing thought so we remember or recall someone or something. 

The subconscious works interdependently with the conscious mind, easily retrieving accessed data from the unconscious as part of conscious thought development.  (*19)

We know a lot about the conscious mind because it’s…well…conscious. Humans have the ability to be both introspective and communicative in part because of the conscious mind. Different areas of the conscious and subconscious mind are what contribute towards regulating the functions necessary to develop, form, and express complete thoughts. For the sake of simplicity, I call the knowledge we carry within the conscious/subconscious mind and the functions they provide in the thought process our “Mental Principles.”

Like Life Force Energy maintains and supports Life Principles, SoulTelling and Influenced Energy directs the Mental Principles and unconscious, maintaining our brain’s functions and activities.

There are 14 Mental Principles. Each of them represents certain information and capabilities that participate in the thought process. SoulTelling Energy directs the information wave formed by one neuron to transfer to another. Energy from one neuron vibrates at a certain frequency. SoulTelling Energy directs that frequency to synchronize with another neuron vibrating at a similar or like-frequency. With the buildup of the frequency this way, information is transmitted to different areas of the brain where neurons carrying similar waves resonate in synch with the information being transmitted. Under SoulTelling’s direction, we experience clarity of communication and purpose due to an increased coherence between particular neurons as the synchrony of their like-frequencies is supported. (*20, 21, 22, 23) Under Influenced Energy’s course of action, we direct thought development from an altered, imbalanced consideration of the presenting information.

Mental Principles

Each of our 14 Mental Principles contains conscious and subconscious knowledge specific to that principle, with distinguishing features and qualities that resonate at a like frequency with particular sensory memories. As such, our 14 Mental Principles are ever growing with incoming knowledge: actual interactions and information we experience, along with our involvement in the events of each moment, showing different parts of our mind, working together to create and develop a thought, propelling it forward to its completion.

Each Mental Principle, with its unique knowledge, lays out a different portion of thought development, offering insights as to how we come to understand and relate to the world around us and how we see ourselves within the experience. You’ll also find information that reinforces personal strengths, providing information you didn't receive, you denied, or simply didn't understand.

The 14 Mental Principles, in order, are Allow, Conscious Awareness, Accept, Power, Gratitude, Compassion, Kindness, Trust, Boundary, Respect, Honor, Responsibility, Wisdom and Judgment. Each of these is associated with a step in our thought process.

We make choices at each step of our thought process. What information does sensory memory bring to the mind? How do our Mental Principles relate to, corroborate, or negate data during thought development? Which feelings and behaviors from unconscious memory are integrated into thought?

Together with sensory memories, emotions, energy and the unconscious, the 14 Mental Principles represent the knowledge we tap into through the thought process, enabling our participation in the flow of life.

Each of the 14 Mental Principles brings a unique function to the thought process:

• Allow permits data to come together.

• Conscious Awareness differentiates and collates data, while

• Acceptance recognizes and acknowledges the data as real.

• Power infuses who we are into the developing thought, while

• Gratitude, Compassion, and Kindness appreciate, care for and consider our self and evolving data.

• Trust believes the meaning present within data.

• Boundary defines and contains a flexible space for thought development.                                                  

• Respect, Honor, and Responsibility value and love aspects of ourselves that fulfill our role in a thought.

• Wisdom lets us reason based on unconscious data, current data, and emotions present, while

• Judgment makes a decision, bringing developing data to a close.

Driven by energy, each Mental Principle has particular knowledge it offers, along with the unconscious and emotions, advancing the thought process.

Let’s look at an example that shows how this works. Here is the scenario: We are outside walking. There are children playing and their ball is traveling in our general direction. What are we thinking about? Let’s take a look:

We’re walking (an unconscious activity).  Sensory memory forms as the ball enters our line of vision. That data interfaces and interacts with particular knowledge from each of the 14 Mental Principles, our unconscious and our emotions, causing thought development.

Will we sidestep if it gets too close, pick it up if it drops nearby, or walk past, ignoring the whole thing

Now, check out the 14 Mental Principles to see all that’s involved in this quick process:

Allow: open space for incoming data of interest related to the ballConscious Awareness: notice the ballAccept: acknowledge the ball is moving toward usPower: identify how we feel about the ball moving toward usGratitude: see kids having fun, appreciating their enjoyment as we see them play Compassion: think about helping the kids if needed

Kindness: through body language, let them know we’re okay with what is happening

Trust: validate how to approach what might happen

Boundary: watch the ball to see what’s been set in motionRespect: take care of ourselves, wondering if we’ll be in the line of the ball or not

Honor: if necessary, try to stop the ball, preventing the kids from going into the street

Responsibility: be willing to step in and assistWisdom: since we see the ball, we have time to figure out the best way to handle things

Judgment: decide whether to do something based on where the ball goes

As we can see from the example, each Mental Principle has a job unveiling a different part of the thought process, from our ability to experience interest and initiate data development, to our judgment that the thought is complete—be it a question, a desire to form more thoughts, an idea, or a solution.

Energy, as a force, creates movement. We saw that as we went through Life Force Energy and Life Principles maintaining our physical body as well as all life forms. We continued learning a bit about the 14 Mental Principles, and choosing either SoulTelling or Influenced Energy to direct our developing thoughts, plus the beautiful Source Energy that sustains all these energies. Equally important is how our senses provide information and how emotions and our unconscious function with Mental Principles as an integral part of the thought process.

With that in mind, let’s dig a little deeper and look at the senses, emotions and the unconscious in relation to the thought process.

Senses, Emotions and the Unconscious Mind

We have an inherent drive to think. That inherent drive is an urge to extend our sensory memories into something intelligible so we can do something with them to survive, communicate and more.

Senses

It was a quiet night in January. The meteorologist predicted we were in for a snow storm, and I was busy poking my nose outside, watching and wondering when the snow would begin to fall. I decided to go outside and wait. I closed my eyes and felt the cool, clean wind jostling up against me. Then there was the smell! Oh the sweet, clean crisp air that comes before snow arrives; it’s incredible! And the utter stillness ... not a creature was stirring (ha ha!), not even a mouse.

How was my brain processing all of that? How was I comprehending everything and integrating it into usable information? In other words, how was I receiving the information necessary to make sense of and understand what was happening?

Let’s start by looking at how we receive information. Simply, we receive information of all types through our outer and inner senses. Surprised? There’s more to our senses than seeing, hearing smelling, tasting and touching. Using our outer—external—senses, we touch a keyboard, a pen, or a pencil with our hands. We hear people speak, a ringing telephone, or the wind whistling as it goes by. We see the world around us and what’s in it. We taste whatever we have in our mouth. We smell the scents in the air around us. Our outer senses act as our antennae to the world, picking up words, sensations, images, colors, smells, and sounds. At the same time, our inner senses are constantly bringing data to the brain from our physical, mental, and spiritual selves.

For example, taste is not only for discerning flavors and food (our outer senses); taste involves pleasure and joy (our inner senses). The sense of sight brings us images of the world (our outer senses), and helps us determine a person’s attitude by reading their body language, or helps us picture how something looks in our mind (our inner senses). From the moment we wake, until we go to sleep, each of our five senses is streaming to our brains its version of what is being experienced.

Our inner and outer senses also provide data as part of our check-in system: an unconscious feed that brings to the thought process what is happening within our body related to what we are experiencing. Physically, our senses tell us what our body is doing: that our foot is connecting with the ground as we walk (touch); that someone nearby is angry (sight and hearing); or that we’ve eaten enough to satisfy (taste, touch, sight, smell). Mentally, our senses feed our thoughts, relating how we see, smell, hear taste and touch with what is happening in a given situation, like considering where we are standing, how we’re feeling in a confrontation, or what we’re doing as our child is running toward us. 

There is also a protective sixth sense that adds intuition or an innate knowing to the inner and outer senses, providing us with a heightened understanding of each sense. 

In addition to the external and internal senses, spiritually, our sense of inner-sight reflects seeing a situation from a centered quiet place or knowing (intuiting).

This sixth sense taps into the energy and data the other five senses (both inner and outer) bring to the brain. For example, beyond words, when a person talks to you, what is he or she actually saying? Is she trying to imply something? Are nuances or attitudes coming through? Is he lying or teasing? A certain knowing provided by our sixth sense picks up on the nuance, the intimations, even feelings unshared but present—information beyond the data received from the other five senses. This unseen knowledge streams to the conscious mind together with data that makes up the actual experience.

Ordinary decisions made every day involve components of the sixth sense along with our other senses. For example, we get the feeling we should buy milk because the kids probably finished what we bought the other day. Or, we meet someone new who appears friendly, but something about her or him puts us on guard. Later, someone else mentions an experience they had involving that person as a proverbial troublemaker, confirming your intuition.

The protective sixth sense provides an awareness beyond our consciousness, honing our senses, so we pick up nuances we might not attend to otherwise.

I had a frightening experience in high school that ended well as a result of this protective sixth sense. I went to a parochial school where everyone wore a skirt and knee highs—in essence, our school uniform. Though I fit in with the other girls at school, I probably stuck out like a sore thumb in the outside world. I don’t remember why I was in my uniform as I walked down Jamaica Avenue in Queens that particular day. I only remember what happened to me. As I was walking, I realized two girls were coming up behind me because I heard their laughter and because they had begun making derogatory comments about my clothing choices. Having some common sense to my name, I chose not to respond at all. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Some instinct warned me to turn, and as I did I watched the end of a bat come around in an arc where the back of my head had been a split second earlier. I stared at those girls, who only laughed and walked away. What did my sixth sense hone in on? Was it the sudden quiet? Did I see or smell something? I’m not sure, but I know something felt wrong. I can’t know for sure what made me turn around, but what I do know is that my sixth sense saved my life—or at least protected me from a serious head injury.

Layers of information 

Data picked up by our senses is immediately translated into electrochemical energy by neurons. We experience this as sensory memories. Nerve cells emit electric energy that travels along the cell, jumping off of bumps made just for that purpose near the end of the cell. At that point, energy and chemicals are released, forming a memory as information. (*24, 25)

The six senses bring layers of information to the mind from what we see, hear, taste, touch, smell and know in an experience. Our senses function together, seamlessly providing the pictures, sights, sounds, taste, smells, textures and intuitions that make up the experience of life. Additionally, there are emotions, subconscious and unconscious data that are also integral to what we experience every day.

All of this sensory data would be too much for our conscious mind to handle all at once, so the brain quickly translates it into electrochemical energy as sensory memory, making it readily available for thought development. 

   This is how sensory memory information almost instantaneously interacts with all 14 Mental Principles, linking knowledge and function together, connecting like the cars of a train towards the formation of a thought.

Here’s an example. To ride a bike, different areas of your brain perform information transfer almost simultaneously, completing thoughts that enable you to put on a helmet, balance your body, maneuver your legs, grasp the handlebars, manipulate the gears, and listen to and see traffic conditions as you pull out into the roadway. In people who have damage to a part of their brain, certain knowledge is distorted and the transformation of information is interrupted: they may recognize the bike but not understand how to use it.

Emotions 

We deal with different scenarios every day, considering, ignoring, talking and responding to all sorts of people and events. We spend time interacting with friends, family, peers and strangers; we notice people and what they are doing on the street, in the stores, at our jobs, at our local coffee haunt. Emotions enhance our consideration as an integral part of what’s happening, impacting our attitudes, mannerisms, the words we choose, and how we express them.

Emotion makes meaning of concepts provided by the senses, making information more perceptible for us. (*26) The physical reaction of emotion gives us a more meaningful way to express what we’re thinking. It’s not just an apple; it’s a beautiful, luscious apple, with smooth skin that looks ready to be eaten. Emotion gets the saliva going, and excites the mind with anticipation.

Back when humans were surrounded by predators, the main job of our emotions was to help us react appropriately to situations that threatened our survival. Nowadays, emotions help us connect to an event, both consciously and, in part, based on existing related experiences stored in our unconscious mind.

Consciously, emotions help us outwardly express how we perceive things, giving visual representation to what and how we experience information in our thoughts, behaviors and actions. For example, when we are feeling angry we may scowl, squint, purse our lips, and change the tone and volume of our voice so that the message we send is “I am angry, so pay attention to me.” When we are feeling happy, we may smile and have a more open stance, sending the message “I am happy, so that should indicate to you that I like you.” Emotions add a component to how we experience what is going on by taking what we physically feel in our body and what we perceive in our mind and relating them to whatever is happening.

Unconsciously, emotions help us determine whether to approach or avoid a person, place, or thing, as we weigh and measure information from each experience as it’s happening.

Emotions impact how we respond to input. For example, when someone gives us a compliment, our emotions may cause us to blush; when we feel threatened, our emotions may prompt us to immediately take a defensive stance.

Imagine you’re running because you are late for an appointment. You stub your toe. Now you are running, in pain, while also experiencing anger and frustration over stubbing your toe. You wouldn’t experience one without the other... the physical pain and the emotional anger and frustration go hand-in-hand.

Body and mind: two words, one concept

Long ago, Western philosophy split the body from the mind. It looked at each as a separate entity, with the mind being considered the superior “piece,” more valuable to life than the body. Once that concept embedded itself into Western thinking, including Western medicine, it’s been difficult to shift or expand ideas about the mind-body connection. Now, however, science confirms what most people intuitively knew all along: that the body and mind are not completely distinct entities, and that they actually do interact through the nervous system and emotions.

Emotions as part of the mind-body connection are an integral part of our thoughts and how we express them.

Scientists once believed communication occurred by way of an electrochemical transfer of information from one nerve cell to the next, with emotions originating in the brain alone. Now we know that emotions are electrochemical signals that are relayed to a specific site on cells anywhere in the body where information is transmitted or received. As we experience a situation, sensory memory flows through the mind, thoughts and emotions form, and we experience them in both mind and body.  (*27, 28)

Let me illustrate. While running down some stairs, my foot slid off a step. For a split second, I was up in the air. Thoughts and emotions were streaming information as I landed on my hip. The pain was excruciating, and I started screaming. The emotions of pain and fear were in my awareness, with my mind and body communicating, and with emotions helping me establish what had happened. At first, I couldn’t move. The emotions I experienced had an impact on all the cells in my body. As the pain, fear and shock diminished, I was able to re-evaluate my condition and found I could move—mind and body working together with emotions directing.

We can also see involvement of the mind-body connection during a confrontation. The brain is busy. Sensory memories bring data to the brain cells as electrochemical signals, helping form thoughts and sending information to the body. At the same time, the unconscious brings shortcuts (fully developed thought patterns that allow us to quickly assess a situation) and related information from unconscious categories to be a part of the forming thought available for the confrontation and our response to it. (*29, 30, 31)

As these electrochemical signals impact both brain and body emotions, a chemical signal enhances the experience. We physically react, clenching our teeth, holding our body rigidly, or feeling a knot in our stomach from the tension.

The purpose of The Expressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness is to usher you toward learning how to look within yourself, understand what is going on and, then, to help yourself. Emotions are a valuable tool at our disposal for accomplishing that. When we experience emotions coupled with a physical reaction that seems out-of-bounds to a situation (like screaming in anger), this serves as a red flag. Normally, a red flag is something that stands out, helping us notice something important. In this situation, it’s the overly strong emotional physical response that should capture attention. Alerted by the red flag, we can go back when we are ready and look at our emotional physical reaction to help us figure out whether our response was appropriate for the situation (given the people, place, or things involved), and, if not, what precipitated that particular inappropriate response. Emotions, then, can provide clues to what was behind our response and what is going on for us on a deeper level.

Here’s an example:

After coming home from a long day at work, I walked into the kitchen and saw the new nanny holding the steamer basket. She asked me how to steam vegetables. I just stared at her in disbelief and then took her through the directions, one step at a time, emphasizing each step with plenty of sarcasm: “You fill the lower part of the pot to the bottom of the steamer basket …” I continued pointing out each step with words laced with ridicule and more sarcasm. I couldn’t believe she didn’t know how to do something that simple! My body was tight as a drum, and I was seething inside. This was a red flag, but in that moment I was unable to recognize it as such.

First, let’s identify the event:  

   I came home from work and was asked how to steam vegetables.

And identify my reaction to it:

   I responded in a way that was negative and hurtful.

Second, let’s look at the emotional clues in that scenario:

I expressed anger, sarcasm, judgment and ridicule.

Now let’s look at whether my response was appropriate (whether the emotions I expressed matched the issue at hand) by comparing the un-emotional facts of the situation to my physical and emotional reaction to it:

Facts: The new nanny asked for help so that she could complete a task I had asked her to do.

Response: I responded with anger, sarcasm, judgment and ridicule.

Was my response appropriate?  No. 

I later realized that I had overreacted, which alerted me that there was much more going on for me than just the nanny not knowing how to use a steamer. The nanny’s question had triggered something inside me that had nothing to do with the nanny or the steamer, but with some other unresolved issue I was carrying around as baggage.

Why is identifying when you have used emotions that don’t match the issue at hand important? Because it is an indicator or a “red flag” that there is some unresolved issue, belief, trauma or feeling within you that you should probably look into. When we identify red flags like this, we can go back and evaluate why we reacted, both physically and emotionally, the way we did, and make an adjustment. In this example, apologize to the nanny.

With regard to the nanny and the steamer, I could choose to simply say I was being hard on this woman for no reason and just let it go. But then I’d be ignoring the signs my body and emotions had given me. In truth, there were several reasons I reacted the way I did, and none of them really had to do with the nanny. When I identified that the emotions attached to my reaction did not match the situation, I realized that there had to be something else going on and I needed to address it.

My life experience at that time comprised many things, not the least of which included trying to run a full-time practice, caring for our home, being a good mom and wife, and advocating for our daughter’s right to an appropriate education. Is this an excuse? Of course not. Instead, the emotions I displayed were clues about being overwhelmed. Emotions here were clues about what I was feeling about myself that spilled over when the opportunity arose. The truth? The problem wasn’t the nanny or anything she was doing; the problem was inside of me.

Listening to how people answer us, and paying attention to our own emotions and attitudes when we respond, gives us clues; clues about our clarity when communicating, whether we expressed ourselves in appropriate or over-reactive fashion, and whether or not there were any unconscious stereotypes or baggage beliefs present in our response.

Emotions are involved in guiding our behaviors and effect the reactions and actions of others, both consciously and unconsciously. They also have an important role in our behavioral guidance system, helping us to anticipate an outcome and to humanize thought.

What do our emotions do?

Sensory memory brings data to the 14 Mental Principles and our unconscious, while emotions are a reaction that makes the information tangible.  

• are involved in our learning from mistakes, and helping motivate or curb behaviors.

• enhance our ability to judge, plan, and make decisions, like making moral assessments or even gut-wrenching decisions.

• provide a more profound experience, exponentially increasing the effect of a physical activity or event.

• felt in the body tell us how we are experiencing a person, place, thing or event: feeling happy might feel like walking on a cloud; feeling sad might feel like a weight on your shoulders or a tightness in your belly.

• reveal unconscious bias/tendencies.

• that are overused, like anger or fear, can reveal personal issues that need attention.

• enhance how we relate to what is happening in the moment.

Our dog, Socks, started her whining song, her special signal letting me know it was time for her walk. She didn’t care about the snow and sleet that had been coming down all day. I poked my head outside and felt the bitter cold. Pulling this information together, I realized the road would be icy, so I put on my hiking boots and bundled up.

I stepped outside with Socks on a leash and was testing my footing when Socks pulled on me. Suddenly, I felt unstable and realized I was close to taking a spill. In that moment, a strong dose of fear brought my attention back to staying on my feet while also reining-in my wayward animal. In this scenario, fear served me well, enhancing my conscious awareness. This brought the reality of the moment into focus so I could face the immediate problem. (Conscious Awareness is one of the 14 Mental Principles.)

Emotions can bring our attention to information that is part of a current thought as well as to similar feelings and thoughts stored in the unconscious.

Emotions facilitate our understanding of an experience or thought based on our personal state of mind.

We are “in balance” when choosing SoulTelling energy to develop our thoughts. When our thought process is clear and unhindered, emotions intensify that clarity. Then we can make decisions that allow us to understand an event, like considering someone else’s issues, without taking the incident or behavior personally.

We are “out of balance” when choosing Influenced Energy to develop our thoughts. When our thought process loses its direction even a little bit, emotions can distort the meaning of data. Out of balance, emotions cloud how we develop a thought and respond to a situation, sometimes to our detriment.

For example, in balance, when our thought process is clear and unhindered, we could easily let go of a coworker’s unkind words and actions. Out of balance, we could take that same coworker’s unkind words and actions home with us, internalizing those words so they cast a pall over our self- image. As you know, that’s a common scenario.

As we acknowledge how data influences the way we feel in our body, mind, and spirit, we also now know that emotions link us to our current reality by enhancing that reality.

Together with Mental Principles, the unconscious mind stores and accesses data relative to past and current experiences; long term, repressed and traumatic memories; all sorts of shortcuts; automatic habits and skills; and stereotypical, prejudicial, social, cultural, global and religious beliefs.  (*32)

The Unconscious Mind

The word “unconscious” doesn’t just refer to our brain’s function when we are sleeping or otherwise “not conscious.” The unconscious mind plays a large role in our thought process.

An evolutionary shift occurred when human beings developed the ability to consciously reason. We learned how to plan, meaning we could relate to current information using reason to assess what steps are necessary to accomplish an endeavor or goal.  (*33)

Our Mental Principles develop the aspect of thought that consciously tells us what is happening. The unconscious mind develops the way we guide a presenting purpose or goal.

Here is a practical example of how this works. It’s 7:30 in the morning; time to get to work. You’ve got a bagel in your mouth, car keys in one hand, and a travel coffee mug in the other. Juggling what you’re holding and finally getting the car door open, you put the keys in the ignition and, twenty minutes later, pull into a parking spot at work. As you climb out of the car, you suddenly wonder, How did I get here? You realize you have no actual memory of the entire trip. Thinking back purposefully, you likely remember snippets of your drive, but most of it remains a mystery. This is because your conscious mind was on autopilot while your unconscious was on duty in the driver’s seat.

Habits stem from automaticity or doing something automatically. Once we learn to do them, these are activities or a routine that we can then perform without awareness—like tying our shoes, using a microwave, driving a car, or riding a bike.  (*34)

Our sensory memories and the unconscious mind work together in this autopilot state, with the 14 Mental Principles ready to step in when we experience a shift in awareness. In other words, if something unusual happened that captured our attention—like there was a new detour because of road work, we got stuck behind a slow truck, or we noticed a child standing on the edge of the road—we’d be alert and ready to deal with it.

Our senses bring to our conscious and subconscious mind (our Mental Principles) all we see, hear, smell, touch, taste—sensations and data that comprise all aspects of what’s going on.

Let’s say we notice the local pizzeria as we pass by (outer sight) and pick up the aroma of a freshly baked pie (outer smell). This involves more than just the scent, because our salivary glands react (outer taste) as emotions and stored unconscious thoughts of how much we like the taste of pizza floods our mind. All this happens in a fraction of a second. 

As we associate that aroma with the memory of the smell of pizza (inner unconscious smell), we recall holding a slice (inner unconscious touch), bringing it to our mouth and taking a bite, eyes rolling in ecstasy as our taste buds flood with flavor (inner unconscious taste). Then our New Year’s resolution to eat healthy parades across our thoughts (inner sight, Mental Principles, unconscious), so we hurry past the pizzeria, having made a choice to avoid that temptation today.

This example shows how the senses as sensory memory bring data to our 14 Mental Principles and unconscious mind, experiencing these stimuli at face value and as underlying layers of information. 

The Unconscious and a Developing Thought

Looking at the page we’re currently reading, we are consciously aware that there’s line after line of words in front of us, but there is other knowledge that we are not consciously aware that we are also addressing. For example, while reading, we are also sitting in or on an object without thinking about that object (unconscious); we’re in a room or outside, aware of what is around us without thinking about it (unconscious).

Using our 14 Mental Principles while reading, we’re absorbing, digesting, learning and storing information; we’re also retrieving relevant information and recalling related facts. While reading, what we aren’t doing is thinking about the process of reading. That job belongs to our unconscious. (*35)

Sitting and reading without thinking about the process is an example of the unconscious skill called automaticity. Some activities become automatic and, like reading, become so ingrained that we don’t think about doing them, we just act and perform them without conscious planning (unless a particular barrier, such as a learning disorder, stands in the way).

With unconscious involvement in our thoughts and responses, we can evaluate and respond to a situation without deliberate intention. (*36)

The unconscious mind offers behavioral guidance. For example, we automatically approach or avoid, leaning closer to a cute dog or backing away from a snarling animal. Another way the unconscious threads through our thoughts and responses occurs according to how we perceive ourselves and others, passively imitating people around us without direct awareness. This is related to mirror neurons. Mirror neurons translate actions we observe—without our consciously knowing it—and use that information as part of our own actions. (*37)

It’s difficult knowing what information is contained in the unconscious because we have no direct access to it. I’ve found that even though we aren’t aware of this unconscious information, we do have indications of its existence. There are threads, clues we pick out by backtracking through our choices, actions, and behaviors.

A recent experience reminded me of how threads and cues are available as I considered relative thoughts, actions and behaviors to help deal with what could have been an awkward situation.

My husband and I were invited to his office manager’s Christmas party. Though I was looking forward to the party, I was also nervous. Most of the people invited were staff who knew each other. Though I had spoken to them many times on the phone, we had never met. I wanted to make a good impression and wasn’t sure what to wear or what to say in conversation with them.

As particular sensory memory resonated and interfaced with particular knowledge present in the 14 Mental Principles, I consciously recognized my concerns and identified that, though I wasn’t sure how people would accept me, what I wanted was to relax and enjoy myself. The conflicting feelings of anxiety and excitement were a result of my unconscious setting the goal for me to make a good impression while also motivating me to go and have fun. To me, it had seemed like the goal had entered my conscious mind suddenly when, in truth, it had been brewing in my unconscious mind for a while. The unconscious is involved in motivation and goal setting. (*38)  I was able to see that in play here.

When we got to the party, my senses were streaming sensory memory in my mind. The 14 Mental Principles were categorizing and integrating this data, forming complete thoughts. Unconscious information resonated and interacted with particular sensory memories and particular knowledge from each of the Mental Principles to become a part of developing thoughts.

What we see with our eyes is a result of conscious and unconscious perception. The conscious mind identifies and recognizes an object, while the unconscious tells us what to do with it, providing data about where the person, place or thing is in space, and its shape, size, and orientation. In this way, we “see” in an instant what we need to know about the object: what it is, what it means to us, and how it is used.

At the party, the Allow principle opened space for the data from my sensory memory. The Conscious Awareness principle helped me observe details: noise level, people, and variety of food, along with the content of the rooms we walked through. With the help of the Accept and Power principles, I connected faces with names and became more comfortable. Using the Gratitude, Compassion, and Kindness principles, I saw men and women enjoying each other’s company without any pretenses. Some helped out the hostess in the kitchen, laughing and snacking on food, while others sat on the living room couch, joking, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. Looking around using the Trust principle, I believed I could fit in.

While I stood there watching people enjoy themselves, I may have noticed obvious things like what they were wearing and what color their hair was, but I wasn't trying to figure out if the living beings there were people—this I knew automatically without consciously thinking about it, which gave me more time to focus on the different things going on.

Over millennia, humans developed the ability to retain knowledge gained and, as a result, the human species has survived. With our unique ability to plan and reason, we developed shortcuts: fully developed thought patterns that allow us to quickly assess a situation. For example, I knew the piece of furniture in the living room was a couch and, though I didn’t know their names, I knew that men and women were sitting on it. I didn’t have to think about what was sitting on the couch. A shortcut provided the information that the living things sitting on the couch were people without my having to go through the process of deducing that is what they were.

In this party environment, the Boundaries, Respect, Honor, and Responsibility principles provided the ability to distinguish how people cared about and treated each other. To me, the atmosphere felt homey and comfortable. The Wisdom principle guided me to know I could be myself there.

We can see unconscious evaluative behavioral guidance taking place here. Unconsciously, my behavior was being guided as I waffled between approaching people, being attracted to what was happening, and staying back and avoiding getting involved. After standing around awhile, I found myself being motivated by the evening’s activities and chose to go over to people, entering into conversations, and later offering assistance in the kitchen. I first listened to the joyful banter of those preparing food, and then I jumped in by making a relative comment. At this party, the warmth and fun happening pulled me towards those present, encouraging me to join in when I saw the chance.

Judgment provided the ability to choose, and I decided to relax and enjoy the food and company.

Could this evening have turned out differently? Of course. I chose to keep an open mind and approached this event without any attachment to a specific outcome or expectation. I chose SoulTelling, balanced energy. My unconscious mind was busy filling in the details. This allowed me to interface sensory memories with the 14 Mental Principles according to actual unfolding events, and provided me with the ability to accurately assess the evening.

All of this information can be accessed for thought development and expression of thought, though we don’t fully understand how the mind knows the right information to retrieve. We do know, and it is commonly accepted, that long-term information is retrieved from the hippocampus, and emotions are retrieved from the amygdala—both well-studied areas of the brain.

It seems that when events occur that create memories, they form a solid group or cluster of information. So, thoughts that are linked together group together in memory. For example, having gone to a movie, we remember what we saw and we might also remember the people, places, and things in and around the movie theater at the time.

A tremendous amount of research exists that tells us how memories are stored, and we are starting to learn the way the mind accomplishes memory storage. (*39, 40)

Categories of Unconscious Memories

I’ve grouped unconscious memories into six categories to provide a better understanding of how stored information makes the unconscious more accessible to our consciousness:

• Personal world

• Self

• “Baggage”

• Religious life

• Social environment

• Ethnic/cultural influences

To help us access this information efficiently, our unconscious creates and maintains “shortcuts”—connections between pieces of information that make accessing specific information quicker. Throughout our lives, as we take in more information and experiences, our shortcuts can stay the same, evolve, or change as we change.

For example, when I was little, my mom dressed me in my best clothes whenever we went into Manhattan, because that is what people did. So, when I was told we were going into Manhattan, my shortcut told me to dress nicely. By the time I was a teenager, however, we wore jeans into the Manhattan, and most people had dropped all the rules about what was appropriate in terms of attire; anything was OK. Then, whenever I found out we were going there, I knew I could wear jeans. My shortcut had changed as the information I had about that subject changed.

Our memories and shortcuts are all stored, sorted and organized into those six categories within the unconscious mind. Here is a description of those categories:

The personal world category contains beliefs, ideas, knowledge, and attitudes we passively conclude from what others do or say. Men and women infer their place in life by how they were treated growing up and onward, the country and places where they were raised, and how they currently live. In the United States, people have certain human rights, and we infer that is the case by the way we see people live and make choices for themselves in our society and from what we have learned about rights in school.

Along the same lines, we may have learned about what an umbrella was and what we use it for by watching adults around us use umbrellas, or we observed people opening an umbrella in a sudden downpour. Visual pathways to two different areas of the brain provide the “what” and “where” information related to the object.

The development of a child’s mind is facilitated by those folks who raise them and by many others. Children mimic skewed or balanced knowledge as they passively experience the words, actions and behaviors of family, siblings, extended family, teachers, coaches, peers and others. The words, mannerisms and actions of our parents, family members, clergy, teachers and others in authority have a powerful impact because there is a trust associated with their position.  (*41)

For today’s children, peers and the media exert a greater influence than ever before. Peer pressure, the internet, cell phones, text messaging and the plethora of social media platforms bring peer messages—as well as messages from outside their peer group or level of maturity—directly to children 24/7. Famous “personalities” have always been models for behavior and thought, with internet and media heightening their influence. Throughout life, we choose to accept information both actively (conscious) and passively (unconscious) from those around us, and store it in our personal world.

The self category contains rules and regulations we follow when caring for our personal, emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological needs. We store ethics, morals, and personal values based on accepting what we consciously and unconsciously observed from people, along with how we handled life experiences and events. Life events and daily activities shape our identity, and we store information here that defines aspects of our gender, personality, character, abilities, image (of self and to others) and code of ethics. The data stored in this category can be impacted when the brain has experienced a traumatic injury or the person has a learning disability or mental or physical challenges. Even without those issues, everyone has some uniqueness relative to thought development: some of us can’t remember names, some of us misplace and lose things, some people have trouble with numbers, and some have a poor sense of direction, etc.

Most of us find a way to manage these thought-development stumbling blocks. For others, these quirks affect daily life. Picture putting your keys on a table while simultaneously thinking of something else. Because your brain was “multitasking,” you may instantly forget where you left your keys. You can train yourself to put your keys in the same place every time until that becomes a habit. However, an individual with attention deficit disorder (ADD) may create a special place for his keys and then forget he created that spot. Learning disabilities, along with mental and psychological disturbances, express our normal quirky issues exponentially. While you might occasionally buy something on impulse, a person with ADD, for example, could have intense impulsive buying tendencies that negatively impact relationships and their wallet.

The self category also includes how we consider our body: the image we project to others as well as how we perceive our self image and feel about ourselves.

Considering our body, we may take into account things that support it: exercise, types of food we eat, the style of clothes we wear, and how we treat ourselves (do we pace ourselves, overwork or hardly work). How we speak, how we dress, our attitudes, and our mannerisms reflect our self image (whether actual or contrived) to others, and oftentimes reflects how we feel about ourselves.

We can have a healthy body image stored in this category, built by appropriate parental modeling and personal acceptance of self as we actually are. For many, however, the way we see and feel about our own body is greatly influenced by differing perspectives from media, internet, culture, family, friends and religion that may or may not be healthy or realistic but are reflected and reinforced by the society and community we live in.

There are those who look in the mirror and see an altered image, like seeing themselves as heavy when they are thin, and vice versa. Many of us see ourselves according to the image we were taught existed, where a parent or someone of authority kept describing us a certain way—like tall, handsome, pretty, pudgy, ugly, or deformed. After a while, their perceptions and statements became our truths.

This category also contains thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that encompass how we believe others see us. We may embrace certain aspects of self and develop a little, some, or all of our identity while downplaying aspects of our self image that make us uncomfortable. We may know we are smart, and feel confident or athletic based on the way we perform and how people respond to our words and actions. Perhaps we think our nose is too big or our eyes are too close together or too far apart. Maybe we think that because our response is slower than someone else’s, we are stupid. Then, when someone looks at us or talks to us, we may think that’s what they notice, which then makes us more self-conscious and falsely confirms our errant negative belief.

Those who have experienced abuse may carry shame or blame and believe others look at them in a sexual way or as if they are valueless. As a result, some survivors of abuse may intentionally modify how they look and dress to avoid being noticed, while others may dress and act provocatively.

How people respond to us both in speech and action, and how we perceive our gender and sexual selves is stored here, creating a sense of self that we reflect to others.

The baggage category contains thoughts, emotions, and beliefs attached to unresolved issues and experiences. We’ve all got some sort of unresolved issue(s) we lug around and bring into one experience after another. Our senses can act as instigators, so to speak, evoking baggage information. Someone may touch our arm a certain way, triggering a memory that influences our reacting to what was intended to be an innocent gesture as if it were an inappropriate gesture. During an event, a word, smell, taste, gesture or feeling can trigger an out-of-context response, indicating that baggage category data is present within a developing/complete thought. Information from this category can influence, even dominate, the thought process and the way we express our thoughts.

The religious life category contains our beliefs regarding a Higher Power (or lack thereof), as well as how we indirectly bring these beliefs into our responses and actions. This category includes how we consider, or don’t consider, another person’s religious viewpoint and their stated beliefs about a Higher Power. So, if we have an unconscious stereotype influencing us, we may not take into account someone else’s religious stance.

Religion offers, among other things, a means of personal expression, as well as a sense of togetherness or community with people who believe in the same religion in the same way. Parents model their religious beliefs by bringing their religious ideas and related moral standards into everyday life and activities. Parents may also involve their children in religious activities, which usually includes being with people other than family. This provides opportunity for children to create memories that are related to not only their parents’ beliefs and behaviors, but to the beliefs and behaviors of others. Without necessarily being aware of it, we adopt the behaviors of strangers and others as a means of being accepted and increasing the odds of being liked by these individuals. (*42)  As well, religious figures can have an impact on a child’s development and the role religion plays in their lives.

The social environment category contains a range of behaviors, rules and norms considered acceptable for both our personal self and situations involving other people. We adopt social norms, behaviors, and rules by consciously and unconsciously emulating our parents, peers, the community, various media, the entertainment industry, and so on. We also pick up norms, behaviors and rules passively, through observation and inference. This is how we learn to present ourselves and be accepted in public, interact with adults and peers, and generally make our way in society throughout our lives.

The social environment category includes interpersonal boundaries and what is considered appropriate behavior and speech in the cultural environment in which we live.

The ethnic/cultural influences category contains distinctive customs, values and language that are integral to a collective identity. These include our knowledge of rituals and the standards of different groups. No matter where we go, we carry the cultural principles we assimilated from our homes—and, in some cases, familial homeland—with us. We think of these influences as the traditions we usually pass from one generation to the next.

Children’s parents and others involved in their care and education may have a bond, a connection, to their homeland or to a group that represents their belief systems. They bring children into this bond through passive inference and by modeling how this connection feels for them in day-to-day activities and experiences. This is how children are taught their parents’ culture and the cultures of others they come into contact with as they mature.

Here is an example of unconscious threads and clues at work:

Some years back, I went with two friends to a Body and Soul conference in Boston. In a long hallway outside the classrooms, there were vendors selling a variety of items. I happened to pass by a jewelry display and stopped when a particular pendant caught my eye. I admired it, but the price was too high for me. I moved on, looking at other things when one of my friends came over and handed me a box. I opened it and there was the pendant I had admired! I was suddenly overwhelmed, started crying, and had to sit down. I don’t know why I reacted that way. I know my friend was surprised and people around us were watching to see if something was wrong. Fishing around in my mind, I tried to understand why I was crying so. Instead of explaining what I didn’t understand, I kept thanking her over and over again. Once I calmed down, a flash of insight made me realize that no-one had ever bought something for me just because I liked it. Later, when I thought about what my kind friend had done and my reaction to it, I realized there was more to it.

The experience triggered emotions that brought my attention to some underlying, unconscious baggage memories. Admitting to an underlying problem was difficult, yet I knew from experience that carrying problems around without dealing with them makes life harder than it has to be. Though that mindset and awareness brought about an unexpected reaction, as a result I was able to learn more about myself over time and choose to use what I learned productively.

Emotions and the unconscious bring important information to the forefront of a thought. In this example, emotions acted as a clue that led me to what were unconscious memories and why I reacted so intensely and surprisingly to my friend’s kind gesture. But what if I hadn’t made the connection? What if I hadn’t realized the lesson for me in this situation?

Seeking Onefulness as a Daily Practice

When I don’t want to recognize an imbalanced, dysfunctional pattern of thought or behavior, denial keeps me from having to feel or think about what I am doing any longer than I have to.

After I say or do something that is hurtful or feels wrong or inappropriate to myself or others, I find there is always a niggling feeling coupled with a quick negative thought. It could be a feeling of guilt or of pain in my stomach when I choose to eat something I know harms my body, or a feeling of fear when deliberating over something, wasting time on small decisions that then hold me back from moving forward. Experience has shown me that, when we don’t pay attention to those niggling feelings and negative thoughts that diminish our personal growth, similar circumstances keep coming into our lives to give us the opportunity to make a different choice and to use the experience to grow.

As you look at and live your life, pay attention to those little feelings that crop up as you do something negative or harmful to yourself or someone else (whether you do it with intention or not). They may be quick, but they are there: a tightness in your chest as you choose to lie to your mate, or a feeling of dread as you see the impact of your words on someone’s face even when you didn’t mean any harm.

The key when difficult issues keep occurring is to consider the experiences and feelings to be a red flag begging to be noticed by your conscious mind. For example, it’s important to acknowledge a pattern of feeling as if you are not deserving or of feeling hurt. Usually when we have these feelings we go to a place of “why is this happening to me?” and we don’t think about why we are feeling these things or what we can do to stop those negative thoughts. That is not helpful. However, if you identify what they are when you have these feelings, you can shift from “why is this happening to me” to “what can I change to make my life better?”

Though it may seem hurtful and painful—or even overwhelming, in truth, these experiences provide opportunities to make a connection and realize our part in not achieving our goals or receiving what the universe offers us all. Most of us face circumstances where our response and reaction are anchored in some way to baggage memories, dysfunction or trauma. Resolving our association with those unconscious feelings and thoughts allows us to move forward and achieve what we set out to do. The more quickly we resolve them, the more quickly we can grow.

Both SoulTelling and Influenced Energy direct data through the thought process.

Whether choosing neutral and balanced SoulTelling Energy, or biased and skewed Influenced Energy, we have the ability to direct sensory memory and trigger thought development.  These energies resonate with the knowledge of our 14 Mental Principles, unconscious, and emotions, providing the resources necessary to develop sensory memory into complete thoughts. (*43) The unconscious mind, working in tandem with the 14 Mental Principles, provides information automatically. Introducing stored memories regarding the situation at hand, the unconscious helps us assimilate what we are experiencing.

In The Expressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness, each Mental Principle is described by what it looks like when it is  “in balance” and directed by SoulTelling Energy as well as what it looks like when we lose our way and is “out of balance” and directed by Influenced Energy. When something is “in balance,” our approach to incoming knowledge and thought development is impartial, as we are grounded in our Onefulness. Something is “out of balance” when our approach includes varying levels of bias, as we use what limited knowledge we have of ourselves and the situation to understand what is happening within thought development.

For example, the first Mental Principle, Allow, either starts a thought’s progression or impedes a thought’s development. In balance, the Allow principle provides the ability to open a mental door and initiate or begin anything: an idea, an opportunity, seeing something through a different eye, or seeing it for the first time. Out of balance, we limit, divert, or even stop a thought’s expansion, closing our mind to the possibility presented.  

The energy we choose determines the balanced or imbalanced information that resonates and develops into complete thoughts and directs the next step:  the Mental Tools we use to express our thoughts.

We develop thoughts because things are always happening and we have to do something with what we are experiencing. Though we are always gathering information in some way, gathering information alone isn’t enough. As important as it is to develop and form complete thoughts, it’s equally important to express them. We want to participate in life’s day-to-day affairs, consider the information gathered, and then be able to respond, expressing our thoughts and communicating our needs. We need to give thoughts a voice, bringing them out into the world in some way. Mental Tools are specific words I use to describe how we express our thoughts through behaviors, actions and responses.

TheExpressive Soul: A Guide to Onefulness provides in-depth information about the thought process and the Mental Tools available to you. It describes and provides examples of these tools in the context of each of the Mental Principles and as influenced by SoulTelling and Influenced Energy. It provides the opportunity for you to see how the Mental Tools you choose and the ideas you hold impact how you see yourself, how you see others, and how you experience the world.

You see, we make choices that impact our lives via our thought process and Mental Tools every day. These choices direct the path we take in learning, friendships, love, self-love, jobs, hobbies and everything we involve ourselves in.

If we always make the same choices and use the same Mental Tools, our thoughts, behaviors and actions stay the same.  So do the results. Embracing the idea of change and deciding to make different choices regarding the energy we use to direct the Principles and the Mental Tools we use to express ourselves grants us opportunity for different outcomes and helps us learn about ourselves.

Whether we evolve or devolve as a result is up to us.

Works Cited/References

Works cited and referenced include sources from which I have quoted directly, used as resources, or have included as additional material of interest.

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