PATHWAY TO JOY AND HEALING

The term psychophysiology relates to disorders caused and maintained mainly by psychological and emotional factors. One common psychological or emotional cause is fear. Fear is the most primal emotion for us. It has kept us safe and warned us of harms for thousands of years of human existence.  It has served an important purpose for human existence, but we also have evolved beyond fear and mere subsistence. We have an unconscious part of our psyche that functions beyond fear.  We call this our intuition or gut. This is a part of the mind the conscious mind has no awareness, but which affects behavior and emotions. Sigmund Freud first coined the term, “unconscious” to explains how our psyche works, and later expanded on by Carl Jung.

The mind and body functions together.  Fear arises within the ego, a part of our psyche with its primary purpose for our identity, self-esteem, and self-protection. When fear is triggered within the ego, the nervous system also is activated, shifting from the parasympathetic nervous system, that predominates in quiet “rest and digest” conditions, to the sympathetic nervous system, that drives the “fight or flight” response in stressful situations. The breathing becomes shallow, heart and pulse rates increase, and then our “fight or flight” response is activated.  Our brain also is activated shifting from the pre-frontal cortex, the part of our brain that intelligently regulates our emotions and actions to our amygdala, a major processing center for emotions, such as fear and anger. 

Therefore, fear creates stress to our minds and bodies. This fear may be real when we are being robbed at gun point or perceived when we believe harm may come to us in the future. Perceived fear is what is happening in our society today.  We fear there may be a catastrophe, we may lose our jobs, the stock market may crash, etc. Imagine our minds and bodies frequently under this stress.  We begin to develop psychophysiological conditions, such as tension and migraine headaches, high-blood pressure, jaw pain (TMJ), motor tics, general muscle tension, and pain. These conditions may eventually lead to even more serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, hyperglycemia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, panic attacks, depression, and anxiety, among others.    

The good news is that we have the ability to circumvent our fears through the unconsciousness. But how do we tap into it? The most effective way to access our unconscious is through meditation, and according to Carl Jung, we also can access the unconscious through our dreams and daydreams/visions. Please see my article on “Using Dreams for Emotional Healing.”

Practice this simple meditation below each day to deal with stress and stress-induced conditions until you can easily access your unconsciousness. Begin this meditation practice for just a few minutes at the beginning.  Here’s my five (5) step process below:

1. Sit quietly without any interruption, such as cell phones, electronics, computers, or television. Begin breathing with deep, long, steady breaths down to your belly. For the first few second, just focus on the deep, long, steady breaths.
2.  Now, focus on a point between your eye brows, and continue with the deep, long, steady breaths. This point is your Third-eye Chakra.
3. Next, remove all thoughts from your mind, and this is the most difficult part of meditation. You can do this by imagining every thought as a cloud or balloon, and see them float away one by one. When you have removed all the clouds and balloon, you will visualize an empty sky in your mind. At first, just try to keep your mind empty for five (5) minutes.
4. When your mind is empty, this is when you can access your unconscious. Ask any questions you may have or just allow the information to come to you naturally. Do not force anything. The process is very relaxed and natural. 
5. Do not fall asleep; you must be awake throughout this practice. Practice this technique until you can remain in this empty mind state for at least 15 minutes. Monks can meditate for many hours that takes many years of practice.   

I hope you find this meditation practice helpful. Once this becomes a daily practice, your stress level will begin to reduce, and symptoms of stress-induced conditions may dissipate. Please follow my blog for other healing techniques and insights. May you find peace through your unconscious. ~ Brooke

Please note this article does not serve as medical advice or guidance. Please consult your medical doctor or mental health professional for advice and guidance on any conditions you may have. (Copyright 2023 W. Brooke Chang with all rights reserved. The contents may be reblogged in its entirety or hyperlinked to this article with credit to the author, but may not be duplicated, copied, or excerpted.)