I've already written about positive thinking and paradigms in another article where the point was that the effectiveness of positive thinking is undermined if we simultaneously hold unconscious thought paradigms that are in opposition. But how can we uncover whats in our unconscious if its unconscious?

An example of just such an opposing paradigm in my own life stemmed from the 1974 cult classic, Phantom of the Paradise. I saw this movie some time before my tenth birthday. I was way too young to comprehend all the sexual on goings, but not too young to know what was going on when the antagonist cut a deal with the devil in the bathtub in order to get what he most desired.

I don't recall the particulars of the devilish deal, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that, as a young impressionable boy, that scene created a paradigm in my mind: "Getting what you most desire is bad," and, "The entity that gives you what you most desire is the devil," and, "Getting what you want means compromising yourself." All these thoughts, and a few more, were rolled into one unconscious paradigm, made even more powerful by the spooky Satanic movie scene forever burned on my mind.

In turn, I would never allow myself to get what I most desired, because that would mean dancing with the devil, and I didn't want that. So I would only allow myself some of what I wanted, for that was safe. Ironically, not having what I wanted seemed godly, while having what I wanted was definitely devilish (of course, this only made sense as long as I viewed myself and my desires as inherently wrong and evil).

Phantom of the Paradise informed the younger version of me that getting all you wanted was bad. That information turned into a paradigm that circumvented and undermined any and all attempts on my part to get all I wanted. But once that paradigm moved from my unconscious to my conscious mind, I was able to replace it with a new paradigm that served me better, namely that it is good for me to have all I want.

And so, once that opposing paradigm was removed, my positive thinking about having all I want was suddenly free to be effective in transforming my life.

The burning question that remains, however, is this: How do you move these opposing thought paradigms from your unconscious to your conscious mind? If these paradigms are indeed at an unconscious level, what hope do we have of being consciously aware of them?

Well, theres hope in the form of epiphanies, meditation and taking the witness posture.

Epiphanies occur in all flavors, but the type Im referring to here is when, for some reason, you suddenly become aware of something from your unconscious. In a spontaneous flash, you see something previously hidden; something that informed and shaped your reality. The downside to epiphanies of this sort is that you cant force them. They just happen when they happen.

Meditation, on the other hand, is a deliberate way to tap into your unconscious. In deep meditation, your unconscious mind can bubble up to the surface of your conscious mind. The deeper your meditation, the more likely the unconscious will surface. Where traditional meditation is too difficult for many, tools such as the Holosync sound tracks from Centerpointe Research Institute (http://www.centerpointe.com/) make it easy to meditate in a way that produces the Delta brain waves associated with the deep unconscious that most of us only become aware of during deep sleep.

Finally, the witness posture is where you simply watch yourself going about your life, instead of being lost in it. By stepping back, you gain a surprising objectivity that likewise uncovers the unconscious. Youll suddenly find yourself seeing all sorts of motivations, reactions and judgments you were previously oblivious to.

The goal, then, is to uncover our unconscious thought paradigms to ensure they are not running counter to the positive thinking were engaging in. The uncovering process will never end, but it is well worth the effort due to moving the outworking of your life from the unconscious automatic level to the conscious deliberate level.