Well hold the phone, you say, how would my brain have secrets that I don’t know about? Well, the subconscious mind (arguably known as the “unconscious mind”) is an elusive and complex thing. I found the perfect definition of it where all the serious academics acquire their citations–Wikipedia: “the word subconscious is the part of consciousness that is not currently in focal awareness.”

Psychologists for decades have explored how these out-of-focus parts of our consciousness surface in other discreet ways and how much insight we can gain from bringing them into focus.

The famous and highly influential Austrian neurologist, Sigmund Freud, worked extensively in uncovering the unconscious mind via dream interpretation. The also famed psychiatrist Carl Jung is known for his work on the “collective unconscious,” in which he explores how the unconscious mind is a distinct part of the brain that all human beings experience.

Psychologists today can choose from a massive array of modalities to help their clients uncover repressed memories and emotions that have manifested themselves into the subconscious. These modalities range from techniques such as music therapy, breathwork, art therapy, eye movement therapy (EMDR), journal therapy, drama therapy, poetry therapy, and so much more.

You’ll note that I’ve mostly specified therapies related to the arts.

Art–whether it’s drawing, sculpting, writing, dancing, singing, or creating music with an instrument–has the inexplicable ability to grant us a passage in which we can access our unconscious mind. Psychotherapists recognize how dominant these art forms are and for this very reason may choose to incorporate them into their practice. Access to therapy may be challenging for many people due to socioeconomic reasons, difficulty finding a therapist who connects with you or traditions the modality you would like, or even time related obstacles. Art can be a useful and healing alternative. While art alone may not be a sufficient substitute for all mental health challenges, it can be vital for anyone who wants to engage in self-reflection and exploration. Here are a few ways you can practice art to access your subconscious. Remember that these are merely suggestions and you can explore your ways to utilize art forms for the betterment of your mental health.

Environment

Make sure you have an environment where you know you can feel relaxed and be able to express yourself without inhibition or interruptions. Perhaps this environment is in the darkest hours of the night in your room with a dim lamp. Maybe it’s on a warm and lazy Saturday morning in a park. Maybe it’s in your car or a library or a cafe.  Whatever it looks like, be sure you’re mindful of choosing the environment first. My recommendation is in a quiet room with no one else around you, and your phone is tucked away in silent mode.

Music–or Lack Thereof

Playing music in the background of what you’re doing can set the tone for what you want to evoke (If you’re a musician this may or may not work for you depending on what you’re trying to do). Perhaps there’s just one song that gets to you somehow, and you can’t explain why. Feel free to put that song on repeat and go into your art. Spotify has a list of “moods” to choose from with a ready-made playlist to access. Don’t like music or find it hard to concentrate with it on? An excellent alternative to silence is brown noise. A quick search on YouTube will yield helpful 12-hour videos of brown noise, white noise, or–my personal favorite–celestial white noise. Be careful not to get distracted on YouTube!

Tapping Into Your Feels

Choose an emotion that you feel like you struggle with. Are you quick to anger? Do you suppress your sadness? What makes you anxious? Maybe there’s no emotion in particular that you can choose. In which case ask yourself some questions that do make you feel something.  Is there something that you never feel like you can’t talk to most people about? Is there a memory you have of your childhood that stands out to you? Don’t try to get too specific or overthink it because you want your subconscious to do all the talking. Once you find the feeling you want to explore, start creating without overthinking.

Ignore the Rules

There’s a style of writing called stream of consciousness which is “marked by the sudden rise of thoughts and lack of punctuation,” and this technique was developed by novelists to give readers a more direct experience into a character’s mind.

The lack of punctuation and the uninterrupted flow of thoughts can be chaotic, nonsensical, and messy. That’s the point, and that’s often how our thoughts behave. This technique can be utilized in art forms other than writing.

Ignore the rules. Remember when I said don’t overthink? Maybe you want to ignore that too and write down your thoughts as they spill out of your head without stopping. Do not analyze the quality of your work as you produce it. Just create, write, sing, play whatever and don’t stop.

Symbolism

Creating your symbolism is optional, but it can be a useful language for your subconscious to speak to you. A suggestion for visual artists is to loosely define what each color represents (an emotion, a person, an obstacle, or some abstract idea) and let that be the language with which you explore the feeling or question you posed to yourself at the beginning of the exercise. Perhaps you don’t want to use color but draw symbolic objects that interact with other objects in your work. If you’re a writer, maybe you can personify the abstract concepts you want to explore, and symbolize them in other ways. If you’re a musician, perhaps specific notes express certain feelings or a dialogue. If you’re a dancer, different poses and speeds of movement can be symbols for you too.

Now You Can Analyze

Only when you feel like you “let it all out” are you ready to step back from it all and take a look. It’s possible it won’t make any sense at all or not be up to par regarding technique. That’s not the point. Your subconscious has spoken, and now it’s time to listen without judgment. If it doesn’t make sense immediately after, step away from it and don’t look at it or listen to it for a day or more. When you come back, you may be surprised to notice some other things. The important thing is to relinquish any expectations. Maybe all you get out of it is some “bad” art (a relative term indeed), but the exercise lies in being non-judgemental with the inner, silent parts of yourself. As a regular exercise of creating art in this way, you will continue to uncover more and more parts of yourself that you didn’t notice before when you were busy editing yourself about public value. Thank yourself for the innate kindness. Are you ready to try?