QHHT: subconcious vs higher self explained

Are you confused about the difference between the subconscious mind and the higher self? Rest assured, you’re not alone.

What is the subconscious mind?

A simple way of explaining the difference is that the subconscious stores memories, beliefs, habits and emotional responses. It is also our permanent memory and retains information, starting from the moment of our conception right up until the moment we leave the body.

But don’t be fooled into thinking it only holds information from your current life. Your infinite subconscious holds similar information from every other life you’ve ever experienced.

Who or what is the higher self?

The higher self (HS) has a much broader perspective and has access to the records of everything that has happened to us in each of our lives. It also knows every detail in our soul plan or blueprint for our life, and understands the lessons we want to learn and the purpose of the experiences we choose to have. You could say that the higher self understands the bigger picture of all of our lives.

A good analogy would be that the subconscious is like a library full of books, and the higher self is the wise and highly experienced librarian in charge of the library.

Understanding the difference between the subconscious and the higher self

Dolores Cannon, the creator of QHHT, used to talk about communication with the subconscious in her sessions, but there are many people who believe that the subconscious discloses experiences when the client is in hypnosis, and it is the higher self who dispenses the wisdom that the client doesn’t have access to in the normal waking state.

This simple diagram illustrates the hierarchy between the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the higher self:

The source 
↓ 
The higher self 
↓ 
Subconscious mind 
↓ 
Ego / conscious mind

Why are we disconnected from the source?

If you’ve ever wondered why we are ‘disconnected’ from the source (or whatever name you prefer to use) when we incarnate into a new body, there’s a very good reason.

If you arrived here, remembering all the lessons you’d chosen to learn, it would be very similar to leaving home and going to boarding school, armed with all the answers to your exams. You wouldn’t pay attention in class, and you’d sail through your exams, but when the time came to leave the school and return home, what would you have learnt?

That answer might prompt you to think, "Then why can I understand what my life purpose is by doing a QHHT session?" Good question. My response is that an increasing number of souls are incarnating with the intention of being awakened at a certain point in their human life, for the purpose of helping and healing others. In other words, that is the life purpose of these souls.

Life challenges and wake-up calls

For my part (and I suspect other practitioners), I frequently hear this story from my clients, many of whom have experienced challenging or even traumatic lives, and have had very little understanding of interest in anything vaguely spiritual. Then, sometimes gradually or occasionally suddenly, they start to ‘wake up’ and have an inkling that maybe there is something bigger than us in our frail human bodies.

This leads them to search for answers to their questions, usually starting with books and YouTube videos. A little further down the line, they feel called to have a better understanding of themselves and the reason why they’re here, often leading them to connect with a past life regression or QHHT practitioner.

Is the higher self the same as the soul mind?

Another question I’m frequently asked is if the higher self is the same as the soul mind. The easy answer is yes, but if we delve more deeply, there is a difference. The higher self is not the same as the soul mind, but could be described as a higher level of consciousness whose job it is to oversee and guide the soul’s journey. It is best characterised as a state of pure awareness and intuitive knowing.

What happens in a QHHT session

Let’s put this into perspective by briefly describing the general outline of a QHHT session. Please be aware that this may vary from one practitioner to another.

At the start of the session, the practitioner and client discuss what the focus of the session is. What does the client want to achieve as a result of doing a QHHT session?

They will also talk about the questions the client would like to have answered. By far the most frequently asked one is "What is my life purpose?" Other favourites are about relationships, blocks, illnesses, fears and phobias. One that is often asked is, "Have I had many past lives and were they all in human form?"

Once the client is comfortable proceeding, the practitioner will induce hypnosis, best described as a state of focused attention and awareness. When the client has reached ‘somnambulism’, the deepest state of hypnosis that doesn’t actually feel any different to the normal waking state, the practitioner asks the higher self to show the client the most appropriate experience for them at that time.

Neither the practitioner nor the client has any idea what experience the HS is going to show them, but instead they trust that the HS knows exactly what the person needs, on that day and in that particular moment, whilst being confident that they will never be given more than they can handle.

The client then ‘relives’ or ‘revivifies’ a number of significant events in a past life, reporting back everything they’re experiencing, including thoughts and feelings.

This information is coming from the subconscious mind, which can only be accessed through hypnosis and deep meditation, and it is also believed during plant medicine/psychedelic ceremonies.

The conversation with your higher self

In the second part of the session, the practitioner asks permission from the client’s higher self to speak to them and ask questions. You may be confused about why I refer to ‘they’ or ‘them’ when speaking about the higher self, and my response is that it's simply a form of respect. 

During this part of the session, all parts of the client’s mind, i.e. conscious and subconscious, are listening but remaining firmly in the background, thus allowing the HS to communicate directly to the practitioner and dispense wisdom without interference.

In case you're wondering, there is no booming voice from above, a-là Hollywood! The higher self ‘borrows’ the client’s voice for the duration of the conversation. As long as the client isn’t tempted to try to interfere, the combination of guidance and wisdom coming directly from that part of us that has intuitive knowing can be astonishingly powerful and potentially life-changing.

Aren’t we humans fortunate to have been blessed with these different and yet totally complementary parts of ourselves?