In Part 1, we covered what the unconscious brain is and the shocking impact it has on your life.
In today’s post, we ponder: Where is the Unconscious Mind?
Such a question, while perhaps not interesting to most, could greatly impact the medical & science field. We already know that the unconscious brain controls your life, so where is this mystery space that holds so much power of you?
Note: This is not medical advice. This is primarily theory The author is distributing information acquired through the study of work from John Sarno, Steve Ozanich, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Candice Pert, & Bessel van der Kolk.
The Brain: Consciousness & Motor Function
We already know that the prefrontal cortex controls “high-level” thinking & learning. This is the area of brain where your forehead is located. It is the farthest from the most primal areas of your brain.
Going back a bit, you have motor functions (moving your body), auditory perception, and visual perception. The back of your head is where the visual part of the brain is. Cut out the back of your brain and your ability perceive visuals in life will be negatively affected.
Go down from there a bit and you have the emotional center of the brain. You have memories, emotions, and primal instincts such as lust, hunger, and thirst.
Where is the unconscious mind? We know it’s not here. While I can’t say for certain, Steve Ozanich, Dr. John Sarno, & Bessel Van Der Kolk seem to think they know where it is.
Based on my personal life experiences, I agree with them completely. I think I too know where the unconscious mind is.
Underneath The Mind Is…
The Body. The unconscious brain is the BODY!
To many this sounds crazy & wild. There is no brain inside of the body, right? Well, while there’s no prefrontal cortex located in your hands, there are a few things…
First, your brain connects to your nervous system at the bottom of your brain where your “body” begins. Second, Candice Pert has discovered that emotions interact with every cell of your body. Generate anger, and every cell in your body will be affected in a certain way. The vagus nerve has 80% or more of its fibers located in the body, and it’s controlled solely by the brain.
In fact, there is no separation between mind & body. They are one and the same.
Dr. John Sarno’s work has proven that repressed rage creates physiological changes in the body leading to chronic pain. In fact, if you’re suffering from chronic pain or any type of persistent “physical problem,” I highly encourage the study of mindbody medicine.
Explaining this is rather difficult. If you don’t believe me, you can check out any of the authors previously referenced in the note at the top.
The fact is, the unconscious brain is actually located in the body’s nervous system. Emotions interact with every cell of the body. For example, while anxious you may notice that you are physically tense.
Physical tension is an example of how a mental state (anxiety) influences your physical state (tension). Suppressed rage (that you don’t even feel) could lead to mild oxygen deprivation, creating mysterious pains inside of the body!
Mindbody Medicine
Unfortunately for medicine, “mind” and “body” have remained separate. The thought that the two can interact (and are one) is completely disregarded. I’m certain the effect of this has wasted the world of billions of wasted dollars, and countless lost hours.
For example, in Dr. Hyman’s book “The Ultramind Solution,” compelling evidence proving that diet affects mental health is provided. However, ask your doctor if sugar is causing your depression.
It’s unlikely such a diagnosis would be made. We are decades behind what we actually know to be true about health. Such is the pain of trying to be completely healthy!
My personal self-studies have proven that eating healthy increases your mood. It also increase your focus, decreases anxiety, increases libido, improves sleep, and has a myriad of other positive effects.
The same is true for the other way around. Suppressed emotions such as fear, rage, and anxiety all wreak havoc upon the body. I got into health because I was trying to figure out what caused my chronic pain when one day I stumbled upon Dr. John Sarno.
Some kind soul PM’d me on Reddit. The individual was literally too afraid to reply to my question publicly knowing that the subreddit would crush him for saying that physical pain can be psychological in cause!
Dr. John Sarno coined the term TMS, “Tension Myositis Syndrome,” or “The Mindbody Syndrome.” When suppressed feelings of rage get to be too much, the body pays the price.
There’s also a wonderful book about this called The Body Keeps The Score. You see, we learn as kids to suppress certain emotions in order to feel loved.
I grew up as a very “good kid,” which I now realize to be because I simply suppressed every negative thought, feeling, and emotion. Anytime I thought something wouldn’t conform to the desires of older adults, I suppressed it.
Now I pay the price (and am thankfully releasing/recovering).
Mainstream Medicine Is Far Behind
Mainstream medicine is an estimated 20-30 years behind what actually exists. This is crazy, but true.
Whatever treatment you’re currently getting was probably discovered a few decades ago. Some treatments are probably 50 years ahead of the curve!
Dr. John Sarno’s infamous “Healing Back Pain” book was published in 1991. For years he had successfully treated patients with chronic pain by helping them realize the cause of it is their suppressed rage!
Still, suggesting such a thing that suppressed emotions cause chronic pain is ridiculed.
Chronic pain sufferers are offended because they think others are saying “it’s all in their head.” It’s not, because the emotions literally create physiological changes in the body.
Why doctors aren’t interested in this baffles me. Perhaps because they aren’t trained in psychology, they don’t feel qualified to help. Psychologists are not qualified to make a proper Mindbody diagnosis, as they can’t determine what’s truly a physical problem and what’s a mental one that’s been suppressed.
There’s the profit motive too. Most surgeries on chronic pain (not things like post-vehicle accidents) have been shown placebo only. That is, sham surgeries would literally be more effective than the chronic pain surgery.
Drugs are highly profitable too. Actually curing people is cheaper than drugging them for years, or order a complex, expensive surgery.
The final reason mainstream medicine is 30-50 years behind is probably because admitting their chronic pain is psychological in nature will open up a truth they were scared to see.
I can attest from personal experience that the chronic pain is much easier to deal with short-term than the emotions. The emotions are frightening, but they must be embraced for long-term health!
My personal belief is that routine, profit motives, and ignorance account for only a small degree of why Mindbody medicine isn’t yet accepted. The reason chronic pain exists is because intense negative emotions are being suppressed.
People are enraged at hearing that before they’ve even investigated. While part of this may be routine (being stuck in old beliefs), a lot of this must be simply that the truth within got too close to being exposed.
My Personal Experience
I’ve had chronic pain since December 2016. I won’t go too much into details, just that it was quite debilitating. At one point in the summer of 2017 I was on a bridge considering taking my life because of how much my pain destroyed me.
Thankfully, I held on, and now I’ve discovered Mindbody medicine. Practicing what I’ve learned has been immensely difficult, but it’s proving to be useful.
I’m over-coming some pains, having some good days, and overall have improved quite a bit!
Placebo Effect>?
From personal experience I can say that Mindbody medicine is real and effective. It isn’t placebo.
What is placebo anyways? In order for such a thing to work, it must mean that the problem was in the mind.
Either that or the mind’s belief in health will create physiological changes in the body that improve health. When scientists denote placebo, it’s enraging. Placebo should be studied & utilized in healthcare.
The fact that it isn’t highly investigated is a sign of how backwards our medical system is. Isn’t is a bit strange some people can get well just by thinking themselves well?
Alas, Mindbody medicine is not placebo. It is very real if you’re willing to confront the deep, dark emotions laying painfully in your body…
Back To The Unconscious
In our previous post, we covered the unconscious brain, what it was, and how it affects your life.
In this post, we have expanded on that, showing that the unconscious brain also determines your health. Emotions have a huge impact on that.
That being said, still eat well, and all the other good stuff. Mind & body are one. Eat well for a good mind, and take care of your suppressed emotions for a good body.
The unconscious mind is the body. Or rather, the mind & body are… ONE.
