Guest Post from Harry Helsing
Many of us on this journey have plunged into our subconscious,to be overwhelmed by the depth, the nuance, the layers, and also the magic that we find. And yet, merely jumping into the sea of our subconscious is not sufficient for us to create the kind of transformation that we seek. We cannot simply merge with that which is out of our awareness and find wholeness.
There are so many parts of our psyche that are out of our conscious awareness. How can we find balance with it all? It is my experience that understanding and building a relationship with our *instincts* is the most powerful way to achieve balance and a fulfilling, bespoke life.
Personally I spent many years diving into my emotions and my subconscious mind, encountering all sorts of phenomena. Parts of myself that felt divine and nourishing. Parts of myself that seemed angry, bitter and vengeful. Parts of myself that felt elusive, trickster-like, and cunning. Parts of myself which I could only experience in imagery. Other aspects of myself communicated through intuition, some communicating through desire.
When you dive deeply into yourself, you realize how much is really going on inside of every single human being.
My conclusion from all of these years diving is that our human conscious mind has no hope of managing the plethora of activity, nuance, and layers that exist outside of our conscious awareness.
It might sound scary to hear somebody say there is no hope of your conscious mind managing all of this, which is why I want to teach you about instincts.
The instincts are a part of us that are deeply connected with our needs, our purpose in this life, our environment, our bodies. They’re deeply aware of what is required to move from where you are to where you need to go.
They’re our guide through the physicality of life. They understand the messages being sent by the body, they read the room for opportunity, desire, safety, they know how to bridge the gap between what you think you want and what you actually want.
There’s a catch, though. The instincts are deep, incredibly deep. Yet despite their depth, they are also incredibly narrow. They take responsibility for needs and purpose, but they cannot engage directly with this complicated, overly articulate world that we live in. They’re like the engine of a car that knows how to direct power where needed, yet needs the wheels to direct that power precisely.
This is why instincts need the conscious mind, or at least complexes, but that’s a topic for another day! So you can think of it like this. The conscious mind is responsible for managing the details of your life. It knows how to tie your shoelaces. It knows the password for your computer. It knows how to drive a car. It knows how to read. How to talk. How to walk.
But the instincts, they’re responsible for the homeostasis.
They’re responsible for keeping you on the path that you are designed to go on.
They’re responsible for monitoring your environment to see how it’s suiting you.
They’re responsible for making sure that you achieve your full potential.
My recommendation for people who feel out of control in their self-exploration journey, in their spiritual journey, in their exploration of their unconscious, is rather than try to manage the details of your own development, instead, look for the instinctual part of yourself that can manage that homoeostasis for you, and then cultivate a benevolent, respectful relationship with those parts of yourself. This allows you to live your life with your conscious mind managing the day to day details as your conscious mind is supposed to, while allowing your instincts to inform you and support you in doing their role.
The next question is how do we communicate with our instincts? Well, first you have to understand that the instincts do not use language in the same way the conscious mind does. Instincts are more likely to proclaim yes, no, or maybe with a gut feeling, or to instead use imagery that communicates what is intended by the instincts.
They may show you symbols that have baked within them depths of meaning. For instance, if the instincts wish to communicate to you that you are not nourishing yourself as you need, that you are not looking after yourself, that you are rushing too fast, that you are not feeding yourself properly, the instincts may show you an image of an old, fragile man, bent over, crooked.
And in that symbol, when you feel into it, when you explore it, you might start to get the sense, ah, what is trying to be spoken here is that the way I am acting is creating fragility within myself. I need to look after myself more. It is okay if you don’t understand the first message that the instincts send to you, then there will always be more messages sent your way.
Many times you can sense your instincts as you make choices, or as you prepare to make choices. For instance, if you contemplate what food you wish to eat, you may feel a sense within your gut of approval or disapproval at each idea.
Perhaps you think of a protein-rich meal and you feel a slight retraction in your gut as your instincts say, no, that’s not what we need right now. And then you think of a bowl of fruit and your instincts give you the confirmation with a warm, glowing satisfaction that, yes, this would serve us right now. We need something light and energy-rich.
Our instincts can be known through that deep, quiet feeling that arises in response to decisions, as well as imagery that may come up to us in response to questions we ask it. Also within the subtle but deep feelings that arise within us.
The important thing to note is this: when you start to feel the instincts, it will be unmistakable. There will be a feeling of recognition as you recognise a part of yourself. You feel it acknowledge you as you acknowledge it, and you can feel its presence almost like a hound by your side that you can feel the warmth of.
You can feel the sense of being in sync with it, and you can cultivate it. Being in sync with your instincts allows you to develop an intuitive feeling and understanding of your instincts over time, which helps you to make better choices for the whole of yourself.
And when you’re connected to your instincts, when things arrive either in your life or within yourself, they’re not such a big concern because your instincts know the proper approach.
So when a new pressure arrives in your external life, your instincts know where to go, what to do, what the next step is. And when trauma surfaces in your body, something that knocks you off balance, the instincts will show you how to heal it, how to transform it, what the right relationship is.
To summarise, the instincts are here to help you in your life. Connect to them. Treat them with respect. Allow them to do their job and listen to what they have to say. You will be surprised how satisfying your life can become when you allow your instincts to do their job.
—Harry Helsing
Subscribe to: Harry Helsing
Thank you for hosting this Zzenn! It was great fun to write