It was written over the entrances to temples and places of study. Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.”

So, just taking what Leonardo da Vinci said, I wonder, how can we learn to love and accept ourselves if we don’t know and understand ourselves? He also said, “He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.” So, the idea is that the more you understand yourself, the more power and discernment you have over your life and the choices you make. Because, as we know, we reap what we sow with our thoughts, even if they are subconscious.

Part of understanding our full self is going beneath the conscious thoughts we like to think we are working from, to the ones that we may have inherited from our family of origin, society, and peers to name a few. To look at the shadow side of ourselves. Truly understanding ourselves requires having the courage to look at the negative and positive thoughts in our subconscious.

Although easier to look at the positive, I encourage you to find out what your negative thoughts and beliefs are that are programmed in your subconscious mind. When we fear moving forward in life and into the unknown and possible greater joy and connection with Source, we often develop a role we play, a mask, to hide anything we might be judged as negative and/or fear others might.

You are at your core a divine being. I invite you to allow yourself to go underneath into your subconscious and see what’s there so you are able to change your inner programming and beliefs and heal them.