The Concept of Consciousness

Consciousness is a concept that is much more involved than we give it credit for. Psychologists and your average person simply refer to consciousness as the waking self. It’s the aware part of the mind that controls your actions, feelings, and thoughts. The conscious mind can’t hide anything from you, unlike the unconscious mind because, without the conscious mind, you wouldn’t be aware of anything or anyone. Another definition of consciousness is being awake. It’s the difference between being asleep and being awake, or being unconscious with a possible concussion and walking around with no brain damage at all.

When it comes to dreams and their analysis, consciousness takes on an entirely new meaning. In the world of dreaming, consciousness is the ability or state of being able to understand the idea of ‘self’. It’s the ability to experience feelings or emotions.

In dreams, there’s always a level of consciousness. The difference between dreaming and waking, in that case, is that when you’re awake your body and actions are perceived and controlled by your conscious self. Even so, there’s always a bit of your subconscious influencing how you react to things. In dreams, things are the opposite. While you’re dreaming, you perceive and control your world with your subconscious. The conscious is still there but on a less influential level.

When it comes to truly understanding dreams, it’s important to gain the ability to combine the conscious and subconscious in such a way that it’s a benefit. That way you aren’t just a spectator in your own mind but a participant. When you can understand the what and why of a dream even after you wake back up, there’s a certain sense of accomplishment that you can’t get doing anything else. This isn’t just getting all right answers on a test. This is taking the first step to understanding a part of the human body that still manages to stump some of the greatest scientists in the world. They always say that the mind is a terrible thing to waste, so stop wasting and start taking advantage, with nothing more than the power that your own consciousness can give you.