The Lower Self is also known as the unconscious, the subconscious, or in Hawaiian—the unihipili. It is a very powerful part of you.  It regulates your heart beat, your blood pressure, digests your food, controls your metabolism and activates your immune system. It breathes for you!  It maintains your physical state behind the scenes. Its prime directive is to keep you alive, and then to keep you safe. It is responsible for your physical, mental, emotional, and personal survival.

Often compared to a super computer, it remembers everything you have ever experienced, felt or thought… every sight, every sounds, every smell.  It is almost like your own personal Akashic records.  For the unconscious, there is no past or future, there is only present tense.  That means that all those memories stored within are playing as if they are active on some level of your being. And they affect your reactions, your thoughts, your beliefs and your emotional state today, even if you are unaware of it.

To your unconscious mind, you are the most important person in the world.  Most of all, it wants to be loved and accepted by you.  Every time you speak negatively to yourself, criticizing or judging, it takes your words literally and does not forget them. It begins to feel unworthy and unacceptable—not good enough.  For many people, this negative self perception starts in childhood, and subtly or not-so-subtly infiltrates our thoughts and actions.

The unconscious is conditioned by experience and by the voice of authority.  Comments made by parents and teachers impact us immensely as children, and that carries on through our self talk and behaviour patterns.  But the voice it listens to the most is yours.  You can consciously learn how to be the loving authority it needs.  It likes ritual and repetition, tools you may use to befriend your unihipili.

The Lower Self has a tendency to hide.  Even though it understands everything you say, it does not speak in words. It communicates in pictures and feelings.  It brings also brings you dreams. It does not judge, reason or value, but it accepts all values, judgments, thoughts and ideas that come to it.

It is also takes commands and is the goal achiever aspect in you. This is good news. This means that if you work at aligning with your unconscious, it can be programmed to accomplish your goals.