Healing the Subconscious through Spirituality

 Healing the Subconscious through Spirituality

Spirituality is about bridging the gap 

between who you are and 

what you project yourself to be.

So ask:

What am I showing the world?

And who am I when no one is watching?

Spirituality begins where these answers meet.

A generation struggling to cope

The world is moving forward at a fast pace, and every one is busy in matching up with it. But in a race to conform externally, we are losing ourselves.

We are seeing a generation suffering from depression, anxiety, burnout, numbness and a deep sense of purposelessness — even when they have everything.

Growing discontentment

The reason for this mental struggle is not due to lack of resources or relationships or opportunities. Infact it is the other way - overabundance. 

Today everything is easy and available:

• Comfort at fingertips
• Multiple choices for indulgence
• Offerings available for every desire
• Upgrades to lifestyle

But too much of one thing leads to a void in other. Abundance of external projection leads to a void in internal presence, resulting in growing discontentment.

Disconnect with purpose

But why are we discontent?

If everything we desire, is easily and readily available and accessible what is the root cause of discontentment?

“A lost connection to Purpose.”

Our lives today have become completely outward-facing. We are caught in projection (Who we want to be) rather than being present (who we truly are). As a result we are forgetting our core identity - our core nature which shapes us.

How the subconscious shapes us

Our core nature is defined by our subconscious. Subconscious is the storehouse of impressions of physical and mental habits. Habits are formed through repeated behaviour.

We all have our daily routine. We get up, take bath, eat our meal, do our work, eat meal and then sleep. In this routine, there several behaviours that we do subconsciously. These habits formed through repetition, offering us a subtle sense of security.

For example, certain physical gestures like rubbing hands, or adjusting the glass and plate on dining table before starting meal, etc.

These are not done consciously. But they are now a habit for us and we do it even when no one tells us or there is no need to do it.

Just like the physical habits, our subconscious also stores impressions from our mental habits. Our thoughts, emotions, and desires, they all leave an impression on our subconscious. And every time, the brain senses a similar situation, these mental habits get triggered. Eventually leading to physical actions, which leave more mental impressions on our subconscious.

Just like a rope rubbing against the wall of the well leaves an impression through repeated rubbing, same way our actions, our emotions and our desires keep making impressions on our subconscious.

So it is very important to be conscious of what we think, how we act and what emotions we express. Because it all comes back to our subconscious, thereby building our personality.

Spirituality to heal the subconscious 

In this series of Pancha Kosha reflections, I have already touched upon the solutions for the outer 4 Koshas - Body, Senses, Mind & Intellect. Now, we explore the inner most, the subtlest and the closest Kosha to the Soul - Subconscious.

To heal something as deep and core to our existence, we need an equally potent and deep solution - Spirituality.

Spirituality is not just philosophy but it is a practice, which helps align the body, senses mind, intellect and the subtlest of all, our subconscious, to our true inner self - the soul.

Practice Sattvik Life to rewire the subconscious

What you consume, consumes you. 

Food, Thoughts, Visuals, Sounds — all shape who you become.

Consume with awareness.

Practice a Sattvik life to nurture purity in body, mind & spirit.

To stay authentic, one needs to first identify who they truly are inside. And to be able to do that, one needs to practice a life which is conducive for a deeper interrogation.

Don’t worry, I am in no way recommending a life of a recluse, but building daily habits which take us closer to our true self.

Sattvik life involves every aspect of our life - from food, to clothes, to what you watch to what you listen to what you read or what you think. Basically living a Sattvik Life means living a life of balance. 

How do you bring balance?

Through awareness. Awareness not just of the self, but of our immediate environment and the creation at large.

Every action of ours, can either aid in maintaining the balance or disturb the balance of the creation. And when I say action, I don’t mean just physical action, but even our thoughts that we keep repeating, the emotions that we repeatedly evoke, the desires we repeatedly make. 

It is all about inculcating sattvik habits - both physical and mental - in our every day life.

The easiest and the most popular sattvik habit is sattvik food. A sattvik meal focusses on nourishment for the body and not just to please the taste buds. It does does not mean it has to be bland or tasteless. Sattvik meal can become addictive over a period of time. 

Alternatively you can start by practising fasting for a day. and if you are religiously inclined Ekadashi can be the best day to practise this.

Another example can be for clothes. Identify 7 pairs of clothes and try to stick to that for a month. Wear only these clothes for a month. It will bring a strange sense of satisfaction by the end of the month.

Similarly in other aspects of our daily life, we can practice sattvik habits. Remember sattvik is about bringing balance - which means neither self-deprivation nor over indulgence. Balanced living.

Certain other suggestions for physical habits formation have already been discussed in the other articles of this Pacha Kosha reflection series, so I will not repeat them here.

While the physical habits leave their impressions on the subconscious, it is important to also inculcate certain mental habits to bring about a complete balance.

Mental habits can include, practising meditation, breathing exercises, japa (name chanting), reading scriptures, listening to satsang, etc.

Try to find atleast an hour from your daily routine for developing these practises, preferably early in the morning. Initially you can try different activities to find the one which works the best for you. 

For example, 15 minutes of meditation focusing on your heart beat. Try and listen to your heart beat without touching your heart. The mind will distract but try to bring the focus back on the heart beat.

Another 15 minutes for Breathing exercises. Simple breathing like slow deep inhale for 5-6 seconds and then slow exhale for 5-6 seconds. Start with that initially and if it works for you you can try and practise pranayama and other breathing techniques too.

Read atleast one scripture daily atleast for 15 minutes. May be one shloka from Bhagavad Geeta with meaning and explanation and try and reflect on it on a daily basis. Alternatively you can listen to some discourse on Geeta or satsang too.

Another 15 minutes for japa. Chant name of God (whoever you follow and whoever is the closest to you). This is not some sacred ritual so don’t worry if you make some mistake. The point is to spend atleast 15 minutes of our day daily to remember the one who takes care of us. Do this with as much sincerity and devotion as you can.

With regular practice of mental habit formation, you will realise that you are now able to observe and identify the patterns of thoughts, emotions and reactions which popping up during your mental practice. These emotions, thoughts and reactions which keep coming repeatedly are what your prominent samskāras are. You can observe them come and go in every activity driving you to behave subconsciously.

Once you identify these samskāras, you can then purify them through mental affirmation practice.

For example, suppose there is repeated emotion of fear which keeps coming up as your samskāras. You can then try to address it through a mental affirmation by repeating to yourself - “I am not afraid. This is a temporary emotion. I will overcome this.” etc. This is just a suggestion and not a solution. So anything that helps you overcome the dominating samskāras you can develop that inner dialogue as mental affirmation for yourself.

Repeated practice of mental affirmations will leave mental impressions on your subconscious healing it one step at a time.

The ultimate goal is to realise who our true self is. And for that you can try the following mental affirmation, which worked for me, “I am soul. I am not this body. All the pain and suffering, belong to the body and not to me. I am untouched by all this.”

Reclaim your presence

Honestly the very first seed of enquiry itself guides us to our next phase. I am only attempting to share my journey in the most simple actionable way to help as reflection for you. I don’t claim it is a guide, nor do I guarantee it will work for you. But it worked for me and hence I share.

Spiritual path is unique for each soul because each soul has taken up a unique individuality. And while there can be similarities in the paths, it is purely the individual soul’s experience and journey.

In conclusion, I would like to just reaffirm that:

When your outer life reflects your inner state,
when action flows from clarity, and not confusion,
when silence feels full, not empty —
that’s when you’ve truly reclaimed your presence.

This article is part of a 5-part reflection series inspired by the Panchakosha — the five sheaths that veil the soul, as explained in the Vedantic tradition. I'm not attempting to explain the concept, but to live with it. Each article emerges from understanding the scriptures, applying that in daily life, and gently uncovering what these layers hide.

This final reflection explores the innermost sheath — Ānandamaya Kosha, the sheath of bliss — and how healing the subconscious through spiritual living helps us reconnect with our deeper purpose, restoring peace.