From Subconscious to Conscious: Exploring the Beliefs That Shape Us
Welcome to Weaving the Sacred, our monthly offering of reflection, presence, and practice. This space is devoted to gently weaving spirituality into the fabric of everyday life, honoring that the sacred is not only found in ceremony, but in the quiet, continuous unfolding of our daily experience. Whether or not you sit in ceremony, we hope these reflections serve as a steady companion, supporting you in deepening your relationship with yourself, your community, and the living spiritual path you walk each day.
About the Author
Shaleesa Mize is the Director of Operations for The Church of Gaia and a ceremonial facilitator. Her work is rooted in earth-centered, somatic practices, with a focus on integration and community-centered support. You can follow her journey, both within and beyond the church, on Instagram.
This post was inspired by Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom and its Companion Book. Side note - I finally put together a list of my book recommendations! Please note that these are Amazon Associate affilliate links which means I (Shaleesa) earn commission from sales there, at no extra cost to you.
The Four Agreements book finally encouraged me to sit down and write down every belief I could think of. I had been considering doing this for many years now, after I first started hearing some teachers talk about taking inventory of beliefs they still subconsciously adhere to from their upbringing and conditioning (or as Don Miguel Ruiz calls it -- "domestication"). These beliefs are often, but not always, ones we wouldn't actually subscribe to anymore if we were to be aware of them and realize how ridiculously unaligned they are for us. I knew I was long overdue to take a hard look at my programming and let some things fall away.
There were some categories I noticed more heavily influenced than others. Some I could write extensive lists around and others that nearly felt like a clean slate. There were some that I didn't want to write because they gave me the ick. Even though I knew they were wrong and I didn't want to believe them, I knew deep down my programming was still running on them. It was time for an update.
Don Miguel Ruiz recommends the following practices:
Write a list of every belief you have agreed to in the following categories: relationships/socials, spirituality/religion, personal, and financial/career. These are considered agreements that, for better or worse, you have at one point in time agreed to believe in. Examples: time is money; I'm unworthy; God is real; my family is the most important thing in my life; I'm ashamed of my body; life is hard.
Take an inventory of what you have written down: Which beliefs bring me joy? Which bring me down? What's based in truth? What's actually based on someone else's truth?
Identify limiting, fear-based agreements and write a new one based on truth and self-love to replace the old.
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
As I scanned my lists of agreements, I could easily see a distinction between those that were made at an early age and others that have evolved over the course of my life. I could pinpoint the influences of them and which ones I agreed to in my own sovereignty and which ones I was told to agree to through conditioning. I found that in some cases it was helpful to talk out the old beliefs with myself. Journaling the root source of the belief, whether it came from my family, friends, community, religion, etc. was usually a good starting point. I considered to what extent do I still hold this belief -- 50 percent? 10 percent? 100 percent? How deep is this belief rooted into me? Do I even want it? And probably most importantly, can I hold a debate or dialogue with myself in stating what felt wrong about a belief, and focusing on what I want to believe about that topic instead, even if I felt a little uncertain. Maybe the new belief comes with passion and conviction. Maybe it comes as a timid whisper, testing the waters of safety to speak our truth, even if just to ourself. Some updates will come easily, some may take time, effort, and nurturing to grow and strengthen them.
Why is any of this important?
Well, if the more comfortable path is to live life business-as-usual, then it's not important.
But if you are here, then I'm guessing that is not your goal.
Most of us are looking for more presence in our lives. More mindfulness. More sovereignty. To know ourselves deeply. We want connection to ourselves, to our friends and family, to Great Spirit.
If we are not considering what operation system we are running on daily, we're likely also reacting to life from a subconscious place, and we may be flailing about. Outdated beliefs tend to have a weight to them, and we will experience that weight at some point or another. For example, a belief targeting myself as not pretty enough, not thin enough, not smart enough -- wounds of not being lovable, will certainly expand to my physical reality of how I carry myself through life, and these attacks to my self-esteem will wreak havoc on my emotional and mental well-being. If you are carrying a belief system like this, repairing and connecting to yourself is important; maybe also looking for the root source of those beliefs (inner child work or eliminating sources that negatively affirm this such as reality TV or following celebrity news).
If you were taught in childhood that anger was not an appropriate emotion, or to feel it in isolation only, you are likely operating under the same programming, and if you have kids, you could be holding them to the same standard. However, if you are aware of this conditioning or wounding, then you've likely started exploring your own beliefs around it to not repeat the same pattern with the next generation. You may have taken time to connect with yourself and gotten incredibly honest when asking - is anger actually an unacceptable emotion? How do you want people to respond to you when you are angry? Maybe a new, more loving belief could sound something like: "No matter what emotion a person is feeling, they are worthy of love and care." We can hold this affirmation when we are triggered by our own or others' anger. From that healed (or healing) and self-aware place, we are sure to respond with a lot more tenderness.
CAN PLANT SPIRITS HELP?
Some of my key takeaways from sacred plants have assisted in the evolution of my belief systems. Below are some of the ways I have personally experienced the support of plants whether through ceremony, dieta, or ritual:
amplifying outdated beliefs through visions to a level we can't ignore
can be uncomfortable to see our ways of thinking exaggerated, and suddenly we realize how distorted or wrong they are, especially if they are out of alignment with the vibration of love and Source
often comes with purging through vomiting, crying, or other physical sensations that help us clear these misaligned beliefs that may be deeply rooted in our bodies
receiving visions to show a new way of thinking about an old belief
can feel like a sudden revelation
can also feel like a gentle hand leading our thinking from point A to point B
can guide us to broader perspectives that feel less restrictive and rigid of a thought form
sensation-filled experiences to FEEL a new way of being/believing
a personal favorite, because it pulls us out of our heads and into our bodies
takes information and new beliefs and shows us how it feels to embody that fully
often a somatic experience that we can come back to again and again in the future
Sometimes these experiences help us resolve things right away and come more into alignment without much further attention needed. And other times, it's just the beginning, helping us get the wider perspective and the kickstart we need, but then the ball gets put into our court to practice.
Awareness may be the first step, and what follows is oftentimes the daily or weekly tests to see if we fall back to old patterns or choose something different. Again and again, until it becomes embodied, rooted, wisdom.
So I invite you to start with awareness...
If this resonates, here are some key takeaways to get started:
Read: Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Document: Write out your current "Book of Law" - your agreements and beliefs you currently hold in various categories of your life
Journal: Reflect using the prompts near the beginning of this post to analyze your beliefs
Practice: Use tools like affirmations, inner child work, ceremony, or other creative rituals to support you in releasing what no longer fits and calling in your new belief. Continue being self-aware and gently correcting (and forgiving) yourself if you fall back into old patterns.
For most people, our beliefs are always evolving and growing. And that's okay.
The most important piece is that we choose them mindfully.