Hey Space Cowboy, master your Mind

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard Little Spirit 101 from Earth to outer space. This is your captain speaking. We are next in line for take-off and are expected to be in the air in approximately two minutes time. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time and secure all baggage underneath your seat or in the overhead compartments. As we make our way to outer space, you'll notice a slight shift in your vibrational frequency when passing Earth's atmosphere. You may feel more at ease, joyful even. I'll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back, relax, and enjoy this very special flight.

Your human mind - what is it actually? Have you ever pondered this question before? And where is it? Let's start from the beginning, then. A little "mind 101" can't hurt, right? First of all, your mind is not your brain. They're two separate entities. Your brain is all the physical matter that's inside your skull. The mind, however, is formless. It's personal and individual. It's limited, built by senses, beliefs, and experiences. You can't see or touch it. Yet, your awareness, thinking, analyzing, and understanding arises from here. It's exact location? Unknown. The only thing we know is that it arises from and will eventually recede back into the Universal Mind, a.k.a. Universal Consciousness. Think of your mind as a wave and Universal Consciousness as the ocean. Isn't that mind-bending, already?

Mastering your mind is the prerequisite to self-realization, as being able to intentionally become aware of, access, and reprogram it opens the door to Universal Consciousness and the Spiritual Realm. How? Because it "cleans" your mind-space. Being done correctly, you'll carefully handpick and store away only those beliefs, which are in perfect alignment with your true self and your soul's mission. Less is more. In turn, your State of Being shifts, away from the confused, fearful, or anxious human perspective, towards the infinite potentiality that comes with "seeing things through the eyes" of your Higher Self.

But, I'm already getting ahead of myself. Did you know that there're actually two parts involved here? The conscious and the subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is like the captain of this spacecraft, fully aware and highly focused, taking in new information, and making decisions in real-time. It "exists" in the realm of your five human senses and continuously processes your current life experience.

Your subconscious mind, on the other hand, runs on "autopilot." It's an infinite "hard-drive," a treasure trove full of memories, belief-systems, behavioral patterns, habits, your identity, and automatic body functions. It stores and manages all your human experiences, ingrained patterns, repressed traumas and feelings, instinctive responses, and past programming.

In case you wonder which one is running the show, better known as your human life? The answer is clear, your subconscious mind. It's way more powerful than your conscious mind. The problem is, your subconscious mind believes everything you say or think. If you think that you're worthy and beautiful, it'll believe you. If you tell it that you're incapable and unlovable, it'll believe you. How so? The subconscious mind doesn't evaluate if something is true or not. It just assumes that everything that's coming from your conscious mind is true. No questions asked.

Have you ever wondered if your thoughts and beliefs are actually true? Did you take the time to check their validity, yet? Your subconscious mind is very powerful, as you now know. If you don't declutter it, and "delete old browsing data" regularly, it'll systematically lower your vibrational frequency by connecting outdated, false, or limiting beliefs with the corresponding negative feelings, such as shame, guilt, anxiety or fear, thereby sabotaging how you perceive yourself and your life experience.

Now it gets tricky. Have you ever tried to change your beliefs with positive thinking or affirmations? Did it work? Probably not so much. Why? Thinking and using affirmations is being done in the conscious mind. It doesn't change much of the underlying belief, which is neatly stored on the subconscious level. If you really want to change your belief-system, you have to access and reprogram it on the "hard-drive" itself, backing it up efficiently by using cognitive techniques that integrate the conscious mind, as well. It's not rocket science, you just have to learn how to do it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. First, I'd like to welcome everyone aboard Little Spirit, Flight 101. We've just reached an altitude of 100 km, or 62 miles, above sea level, and are currently traveling at an airspeed of 40,270 km/h, or 25,000 mp/h. The spaceweather looks good and with the solarwind on our side we are expecting to reach outer space approximately three minutes ahead of schedule. The weather there is all clear and open space, with a high of -270 degrees Celsius, or -455 Fahrenheit, for today. If the weather cooperates we should get a great view of the Earth and other star systems closeby. Enjoy your flight.

Let's roll up our sleeves and start with cleaning up your subconscious mind. To get things going, I'd suggest we start with a common false belief you may be holding onto without even knowing. What are "false" beliefs, anyway? They're beliefs you have about yourself, others and life in general, that are untrue or limiting. They're not in alignment with your soul's truth. But, as they're hidden in a "secure folder" somewhere deep inside your subconscious mind, you may not even be aware of their existence, let alone how they affect your everyday life.

Let's assume you believe that you're unlovable. You may unconsciously sabotage your relationships by holding on to them when you shouldn’t, or you may avoid starting a new one in the first place. Why? Because your behavior is a direct result of your underlying beliefs. And what your current life looks like can be traced back to your collective behavioral patterns.

In energy-terms speaking, your outer world is always a reflection of your current State of Being. If you believe something that doesn't align with your true self, you're automatically vibrating on a low frequency. By continuously vibrating on a low frequency, you'll naturally attract people, circumstances, and experiences into your life that reflect those low vibrations. Do that for a long time and you'll end up with a human life that feels like hell.

The solution? "Delete your old browsing data." In practical terms this means carefully releasing negative feelings and suppressed emotions. Change your belief-system and with that, eventually, your frequency and your State of Being. Ultimately, you'll end up with completely new behavioral patterns and a different perspective on your life. Why? Because you're creating a new reality for yourself. At your core, you're pure energy. Changing your vibrational frequency also changes your reality, because your life experience mirrors your inner State of Being.

When I first set out to investigate the workings of my mind, I came across the practice of mindfulness, which helps you manage stress through meditation and present moment awareness. For me, it's still the most valuable and effective approach to familiarize yourself with what's been going on up there. Or in there? Never mind?! Let's put it this way, being mindful gives you a nice overview of what your "captain" is currently up to.

Being done correctly, you train yourself to observe your daily activities, your body's responses, behavioral patterns, and mental chatter with full awareness. Awareness, doesn't that immediately ring a bell? That's the expertise of your conscious mind. Awesome! By integrating the conscious mind through present moment awareness, a.k.a. mindfulness, we're already laying the foundation to eventually clean up your subconscious mind where necessary.

I recommend you practice mindfulness as often as possible. Focus on your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and anything else that is perceivable through your five senses. In my experience, the best way to train yourself is by carrying a small object, such as a crystal or a coin, around in the pocket of your pants. Every time you touch it, immediately "come back" to the present moment and check in with your mind. Basically anything that'll pop you out of "automatic mode" and into "awareness mode" will do the trick.

If you do this regularly, you'll quickly notice certain thought patterns. The same is true for your feelings. Some of them will repeat themselves in an endless loop. Now it gets interesting. Why? Because your feelings are directly influenced by your thoughts, memories, and beliefs. Wow! Now, we've found our "access gate" to the subconscious mind - feelings.

Tracing back the feeling to the underlying belief, we're finally able to find not only the root itself, but to dig it out, put it under a microscope to fact check it's validity, and, depending on the result, change or delete it. How? Five steps is all it takes. Find the belief. Challenge it by finding facts against its truthfulness. Explore the feeling behind it. Then, release or reprogram. And lastly, feel and internalize the "updated" belief.

Can you feel what I'm feeling? Excitement. Let me join you for some "reprogramming" to teach you the ropes. The other day, I experienced a new set of symptoms after a long session of screen time. Besides various physical sensations, I noticed the feeling of fear slowly creeping up on me. At first, I just observed it for a couple of days, hoping it might go away on its own. When it didn't, I searched for the belief behind it.

What I found were two of them. The first one was something like this: "I won't be able to work on my phone again for longer writing sessions." The second one was more fundamental: "My health isn't going to get better, ever." That's quite something, isn't it? It's downright depressing, detrimental, and hurtful. But, I've completed the first step. I've found the beliefs.

Now, step two. Challenging them. That's easy. I've come across the second belief several times already. Every time I go through yet another episode, my conscious mind "thinks" my overall health is going sideways and from here on only downhill. My subconscious mind instantly believes it. But I know from experience, that's it's only a phase. The first belief is a bit tricky though, as I don't know the answer to it, just now. Only time will show. But I also don't have any evidence that proves it's validity. That being said, I decide right on the spot that it doesn't represent my truth. It just doesn't feel good. That's enough evidence for me.

Step three is all about exploring the feeling behind the belief. It's also called "shadow work." For this, I usually just sit with the feeling for as long as necessary. I won't lie here. It might get very painful, if you're confronting your hidden fears and anxiety issues. To me, it sometimes feels as if I'm standing on a cliff, while a full-blown taifun is hitting my face with splashes of ice-cold water and wind gusts that have the power to throw down trees. But I choose to be brave and just observe. In an inquisitive manner, I explore the feeling from all angles. Sooner or later, the taifun will calm down, until only a slight breeze remains. That's how you know that the "shadow work" is completed. If you want to learn more about the process involved, I'd suggest you read "Dancing in the Dark - It's getting emotional," next.

This brings me straight to step four, either releasing or reprogramming, my choice. I always decide to let them go. Why? Realizing my true self as pure awareness, pure energy, beyond thought, identity, and beliefs, I have no need holding onto them. I rather "declutter" everything and keep my mind-space free of unnecessary beliefs, as I've learned already that it's only a matter of time until my mind will come up with new ones, trying to sneak them into my "hard-drive" without me noticing. In fact, it just tried it again, with the second belief we're currently working on. Lastly, I just feel inside. Just "being," no thinking.

If you were to reframe your initial belief, you'd put it in a way that feels true to you. There is no universal truth when it comes to your life experience. You have to feel it. Listen inside. Ask your Higher Self what it suggests. Connect with your heart and soul. Those are your guiding posts if it comes to finding your own truth. Once you've reframed it, you have to actually feel it.

How does it feel to believe that you're lovable, worthy, capable, smart, intuitive, adaptable, precious, and beautiful? You get my point. Take your time. Be gentle. Be kind and compassionate with yourself. Once you've internalized the new belief, say it out loud. It's most effective if you say it in front of someone else. If no one else is around, just say it to yourself.

Look at yourself in the mirror, if you feel comfortable doing so. If not, that's ok, too. But say it like you mean it. You don't do this practice for anyone else - not for your mother or father, girlfriend or boyfriend, spouse, or any other friend. You do this just for yourself, for your soul, wishing for you to live the best life possible and move on from painful experiences and traumas a stronger, more evolved Spiritual Being.

For full disclosure, uncovering and working through your emotional past with all its corresponding traumas, insecurities, fears, trust issues, underlying beliefs, and hidden feelings, all by yourself, takes a lot of courage, kindness, compassion, patience, gentleness, and an infinite amount of unconditional self love. The process takes time and might very well push you to your limits and beyond. But, there's light at the end of the tunnel, my friend. I know what it's like to push through the thunderstorms of life, facing painful fears, traumas, and insecurities repeatedly, because the scars they once created are as deep and wide as the Gran Canyon, itself. Healing is possible. Reprogramming and releasing them is possible. It's necessary so your soul can grow evolve and expand. Please, never lose hope, and never give up on yourself. You're not alone.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We've just reached outer space. If you look outside to your right, you'll see the Helix nebula, which is still 650 to 700 light-years away from us. The bright stars surrounding it are part of the Aquarius constellation, often referred to as the "Eye of God." If you look outside to your left, you'll see a beautiful, white and blue marble. That's our precious planet Earth. We'll be slowly cruising along for a few more minutes, so you can enjoy this magnificent view for a little longer, until we start our return trip.

Do you still remember when I started this article by claiming that "mastering your mind is the prerequisite to self-realization?" I also wrote that "being able to intentionally become aware of, access, and reprogram it opens the door to Universal Consciousness and the Spiritual Realm." If you're familiar with my previous articles, you may even remember me comparing the Earth's atmosphere with your mind, and outer space with the Spiritual Realm.

For you to get in touch with Universal Consciousness in general, and with the Spiritual Realm or your Higher Self, in particular, you have to leave the "gravitational forces" of your mind behind. You have to transcend your mind and change your State of Being. You have to raise your frequency. Otherwise, they'll pull you straight back down to Earth, and with it to the limitations of the mind itself.

Why is this so important? Because your human mind is purely individual with a localized experience of thoughts, perceptions, and the egoic sense of self. It's built through sensory input, whereas the Universal Mind, or Universal Consciousness, is formless, boundless, and timeless. It's the foundational awareness, underlying all of existence.

Your human mind has no access whatsoever to the Spiritual Realm. It also has no recollection of you being a Spiritual Being, who once chose to incarnate a body to have a human life experience. It doesn't "know" your Higher Self, your Spirit Guides, or other dimensions. It doesn't "remember" your soul's mission. In fact, to your mind, either conscious or subconscious, this is all incomprehensible, totally "mind blowing."

If your goal is to find out about your true self, if you want tap into Universal Consciousness and connect with your Higher Self in the Spiritual Realm, if you're looking for "real" answers, you have to surpass your mind and access your "inner sanctuary." There is just no way around it. Once you've "established contact" and received some answers, it's time to replace those old, limiting beliefs with the new, updated ones.

Becoming consciously aware of your thoughts and feelings, while also deliberately detaching yourself from them, is the crucial first step you've to make. Why? Because it's a "door opener." It helps you to skip the emotional response that is being initiated by your conscious mind as a direct result of its interpretation of your current situation. Less conscious mind activity equals less stress. Less stress leads to more internal peace and contentment, a.k.a. good vibes. Consequently, your frequency will rise, enabling you to turn inwards and bypass your mind. It also helps you to get access to your subconscious mind by retracing your feelings to the subsequent beliefs.

Which brings us to the second step. You have to clean up your "hard-drive," regularly. It's like cleaning your living space. You have to do it habitually, otherwise it'll look like a rathole in no time. Once you've got the hang of it, you'll do it spontaneously and almost effortlessly. Every time you'll notice a belief that doesn't reflect your truth or aligns with your soul's mission, you'll swap it with the right one. Over time, it'll become second nature, like brushing your teeth. You do this not only with your beliefs, but with your suppressed emotions, feelings, and traumas, with your insecurities, behavioral patterns, and your identity, as well. Eventually, you'll have cleaned up, reorganized, and reprogrammed your entire "hard-drive."

Ah, a simplified, open, and clearly structured mind-space. It doesn't get any better than this, as it allows your soul to finally "stretch its legs and breathe, again." The less "data" you allow to accumulate on your "hard-drive," the quicker and easier it gets. Over time, you'll get a pretty good picture of both your conscious and subconscious mind, as well as their strengths and shortcomings. This puts you in a position where you feel empowered enough to decide for yourself if you actually want to use your mind or not. For certain tasks, it's just "not the best horse in the stables." Think creativity, intuition, future related events, and heart-based decision-making, here. That's what mastering your mind is all about. It allows you to "wake up" and realize "if you use the tool or if the tool uses you."

But, it's only half of the equation, if you want to change your State of Being, indefinitely. For truth-seeking and self-exploration, you'll have to "go inside" and transcend the limitations of your mind. Present moment awareness and reprogramming don't suffice. This is a lifelong challenge. It's called the spiritual path to enlightenment for a reason. It's a journey, not a destination. If you want to learn how to transcend the "gravitational forces" of your mind and find out whether the answers you're receiving are coming from your Higher Self or your mind, I'd suggest you read "Calling Home - Connect with your Higher Self" next.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're now on our way back to Earth. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time. Upon entering Earth's atmosphere, you may again feel a slight shift in your vibrational frequency, this time towards the other end of the spectrum. This is completely normal. Just focus on the special journey you've just participated in and trust that all is well. With the tailwind now on our side we're expecting to reach our destination approximately two minutes ahead of schedule. The weather is still all clear. On behalf of the entire crew, we hope you've had a lovely flight and wish you a wonderful day. Thank you for choosing Little Spirit.