Feelings matter!

At its heart consciousness is just a feeling

I have been reading The Hidden Spring by Mark Solms.  The aim of the book is to show that consciousness originates in the brainstem, a part of the human brain that we share with all vertebrates.  In short, this means that consciousness is a feeling (and see this article for a briefer look at Solms’ core idea).

We feel good when our needs are being met and we feel ‘bad’ when they are not (which may include hunger or tiredness as well as fear or anxiety).

The cortices which make us uniquely who we are further elaborate on this ‘hidden spring’ of consciousness as well as adding the cognitive capacities that make us unique as a species.

This emphasises that feeling is more fundamental than thinking.  We must feel right in ourselves before anything else.

It also explains why when we feel at ease in our world, well-fitted to it, we feel good about ourselves and we can be at our best.

Whether young or old we need to find the space where we feel good about ourselves and we can give no greater gift than helping another achieve the same through our unconditional acceptance and love.

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

To purchase a copy of Red Brain Blue Brain, Student Feedback or Why We Teach go here