Consciousness and What Really Shapes Your Life

Most of live on autopilot and by default, we don't even realize it.

We move from one thought to the next, from one action to the next. Eventually, we fall asleep and start the whole thing over again.

How often are we aware of what we're doing right now?

You're reading this but where are you?

What are your surroundings?

How is your body positioned?

Those questions alone shift something. They interrupt unconscious momentum and pull the awareness back to the present. That's the beginning of consciousness.

What Is Consciousness?

Consciousness is simply being aware. It's being aware of what we're thinking, feeling, doing, or believe while it's happening.

If there is a cup in front of you, and you know it's a cup, then you are conscious of it. You can name it, describe it, and engage with it. Once it's no longer in front of you, unless you're actively thinking about it, it's no longer in your conscious awareness.

This same principle applies to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Most of the time, we're not observing them - we're in them. We are them. We're angry without realizing it, rushing without noticing, repeating a belief without questioning it. We have a hard time separating ourselves from the feelings or experience.

Consciousness allows us to pause and see those things are actually separate from us.

To say: "Ah, I'm feeling anger right now." Instead of "I am angry."

That's when the thought or emotion becomes an "object" - something we can see and name and it not our identity - it's just something happening right now.

Consciousness Isn't Just the Present

Consciousness includes awareness of the present moment, but isn't just limited to what's happening right now. It also includes the ability to observe a memory surfacing from the past, a fear of the future, or a familar emotional pattern replaying itself.

Why Consciousness Must Be Practiced?

According to much of the neuroscience research, we operate consciously only about 5% of the time. But most people only reference this when talking about "zoning out on the drive to work."

The reality is much bigger: 95% of our thoughts, behaviors, and decisions are driven by what is outside of our awareness.

Conversely, experts estimate that practicing mindfulness and meditation can increase consciousness to 10%-20%. Longtime practitioners, like monks may reach 30%-40% of consciousness on a daily basis or more during a presence based activity.

But for most of us, the majority of our experience is still subconscious or unconscious.

 Let's clarify the difference:

• The subconscious is the layer beneath the awareness. It holds beliefs, habits, and emotional patterns. Routines live here. It runs automatically but can be accessed and reprogrammed with effort.

This is where most of our default behaviors live. The subconscious is like muscle memory - it kicks in without needing you to think.

• The unconscious, in contrast, is deeper and harder to reach. It holds repressed memories, core wounds, unmet needs, ancestral memory, and instincts. You typically access it only through dreams, trauma work, mediation, or deep psychoanalysis.

The unconscious is like a locked box in the basement - hard to reach, but still the foundation of your house.

The Subconscious: Designed for Speed

The brain resists consciousness for many reason.

Biologically, the brain is wired for efficiency. Conscious awareness is metabolically expensive. It takes time and energy. It is much easier for the brain to run on default settings. So the brain prefers shortcuts: assumptions, emotional reactions, or habits.

This is where the subconscious comes in. It holds routines, emotional patterns, and quick responses that we learn through repetition. It's where you store how to brush your teeth, respond to conflict, or subconsciously stereotype strangers.

These routines keep you moving without having to make thousands of decisions a day.

From an evolutionary perspective, the subconscious helped early humans survive. It allowed us to react to danger instantly, and repeat what kept us safe and stabilized in a chaotic world.

But the subconscious doesn't evaluate what's good. It just repeats what's familiar - even if it no longer serves us or keeps us numb to what we're truly feeling.

The Unconscious: A Deeper Layer

The unconscious mind holds the deepest layers of the mind.

It is made up of:

• Repressed memories that were too painful or threatening to face

• Primitive drives and instincts

• Core wounds and unmet needs

• Deep emotional impressions

• Ancestral and symbolic memories

You’re not directly aware of your unconscious, but it shapes how you think, feel, and act. It shows up through projection, dreams, or unresolved tension.

Its primary role is protection, especially in childhood. It serves us by saying: You can't process this right now, so I'll hold it until you're ready.

It also supports identity by pushing away what contradicts who we believe we are. For example, if we're taught anger is bad, our unconscious may repress our anger to preserve our images as "good".

This is incredibly powerful. Think of how much this holds for us and shapes for us. Because it’s such a part of how our minds work, it can be very hard to recognize without someone helping us or purposeful practice over time.

Many psychological and spiritual traditions view the unconscious as a gateway to the soul. It holds our intuition, collective memory, and our deepest longing for wholeness.

Practices like shadow work are ways of bringing unconscious material into the light, so healing and wholeness can occur.

Repatterning From The Inside Out

If we are not conscious, most our lives will be replications of our subconscious experience. For many, that’s fine.

But when our lives feel misaligned, symptoms show up:

• Chronic stress or anxiety

• Relationship issues

• Physical symptoms or illness

• Emotional numbness or chaos

By nature, we seek homeostasis or stability, even if it's unhealthy. Our systems chase what's familiar. And the subconscious shape largely that familiarity.

This is the cycle people refer to when they say: "I keep ending up in the same situation." And what modern day practitioners are referring to when they say "breaking the cycle".

The Value of Consciousness

We can't change what we can't see. We can't see something we mistake for ourselves.

Consciousness gives us space. Space to name what's happening without needing to fix it. Space to recognize what we're feeling without becoming it. Space to witness what's driving us, rather than be driven by it.

With this space, we begin to observe more clearly. We remember that we are not our patterns, our reactions, or even our thoughts - we are the ones who can see them.

And in remembering that, something quiet but meaningful begins to shift: we start to see who we truly are - without mistaking our experiences for our identity.

While consciousness has many emotional and psychological benefits, its deepest value isn’t to rise above being human.

It is learning to live more fully within it: present, attuned, and awake to what’s actually here.