Not a Battle, but a Bond: How Embracing the Subconscious Frees Us from Survival
There comes a moment on every healing journey when the fight starts to feel heavy. When trying to “fix” yourself only creates more pressure. When you realize: maybe it’s not about fighting anymore — maybe it’s about accepting the parts of you that forged a protective armor.
In this post, I’ll walk you through a story. A symbolic one, yes — but also a true one. One that reflects what it feels like to shift out of survival mode and into self-guided presence. What it means to stop fearing your subconscious, and instead, begin to bond with it.
Setting the Scene — Atop the Pegasus
Hang with me here for a minute and lean into this visualization: Imagine you’re riding a white pegasus, high in the skies, a dense fog beginning to clear. You witness something lurking: a flaming dragon, weaving between the patches of clouds. Where once we felt the need to fight, or run, we now sense something different… A call to embrace. Now here we go…
The Fog: The Shield of Our Subconscious
Most of us live years, even decades, in the fog — in the programming and conditioning that has shaped our subconscious. We think it’s normal — the busyness, the overthinking, the people-pleasing. But at some point, the fog starts to thin. It becomes patchy. And that’s when something within us whispers: there’s something more here…
In this story, the fog is the representation of the programs or the traumas that have built our current subconscious framework — and the Pegasus represents that spark inside of each one of us that has the ability to rise to a new way of living.
“The fog becomes patchy because we’re waking up — the subconscious dragon can’t stay hidden the way it used to.”
The Dragon Isn’t the Enemy — It’s the Subconscious Protector
When we begin to see past the fog, we often meet our “dragon” — the flames of reactivity on its exterior poking through the open patches of air. In other words, we now see what has tried to remain hidden… The outdated patterns and the old defense mechanisms.
And here is the shift that allows us to step into a different way of living: The dragon isn’t our enemy. It’s a loyal part of us that has only ever been trying to keep us safe.
Whether it shows up as avoidance, perfectionism, or emotional shutdown — it was never trying to hurt us. It was trying to help.
And once we see that, we can begin to guide it, instead of fighting it.
Diffusing the Flames — Emotional Mobility Over Control
The turning point is choice.
When we choose to descend toward the unknown (symbolized here by an ocean that lies beneath the clouded sky), we stop running. We start softening. We make a choice to continue pursuing the unknown, the conscious life. So, we dive… From the skies above to the ocean beneath us. And the dragon — still burning, still powerful — follows us not as a captor or aggressor, but as a companion. Not as a beast trying to hunt us down, but as a steadfast bodyguard trying to keep us close and out of harm's way.
In this space, emotional mobility becomes possible. We learn to move with our emotions, rather than against them. To become responsive instead of reactive and to recognize what will truly keep us safe versus what was built out of survival. This agility allows us to make a *“last second curve toward a horizontal flight”* and we pull up. The dragon, massive and weighted, is unable to adjust so quickly and plunges into the sea. This is where transformation begins, and acceptance causes the old flames of survival to dissolve, being diffused by truth.
Integration: From Protector to Partner
In the water, the dragon doesn’t die. It evolves. It remembers. With the flames of reactivity doused, it realizes that its patterns were actually working against us, and that’s the last thing it ever wanted.
What once burned out of fear now chooses with presence. What once fought, now flows. This is the moment when your inner protector becomes part of your conscious self. Not an impulse. Not a reflex. But a relationship.
The dragon then rises from the water, directly underneath you and the pegasus, lifting you up, carrying you, and becoming one with you and your inner wisdom.
This is where life takes a magical turn into what’s possible. Conscious choice, intentional living and purposeful presence.
Exploring This Deeper
If this resonates, join me on Episode #043 of the podcast, where I walk through this story in more detail — and share an original closing poem called “A Single Thread” to honor the integration of all your parts.
Wishing you peace and presence,
~ Austen 🫶🏼
P.S. *Shoutout to the band, CAKE, and their jam from 1994, “Mr. Mastodon Farm”*
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