Practicing meditation can bring remarkable clarity. Over time, practitioners often become more aware of their thoughts, emotions, and repetitive patterns. But awareness alone does not always translate into change. Many meditators can clearly identify habits of mind such as anxiety, self-criticism, or people-pleasing, and still find themselves repeating the same patterns.
Maybe it’s the same relationship dynamic that keeps coming back. Or the same inner voice of doubt that comes up again and again during practice.
What happens when recognizing a pattern doesn’t change it?
So what happens when recognizing a pattern doesn’t change it?
Juliana Sloana meditation teacher and hypnotherapist, works with practices that explore how the deep layers of the subconscious mind and nervous system shape our behavior. In this conversation with Mindful, she discusses why and how understanding our patterns doesn’t always lead to transformation Imagination and Changing countries It can open new paths to change, and how mindfulness practitioners can recognize when something arising in practice requires deeper attention.
Angela Stubbs: The topic I originally brought up for this conversation was “When Insight Isn’t Enough.” Many people can recognize their patterns or understand why they repeat certain behaviors in their lives. But insight alone does not always lead to real change. From your point of view why?
Most people who come to work with me already have a great deal of self-awareness. But despite this awareness, they still feel stuck. They can’t stop worrying. They can’t stop holding themselves to impossible standards. They kept coming in Relationships Which does not suit them.
Juliana Sloan: There are certainly situations where insight alone can be enough. Someone has an “aha” moment, something changes internally, and the pattern loosens. But honestly, that’s a fairly small percentage of the cases I see, especially when it comes to well-established patterns and trends Habits.
Most people who come to work with me already have a great deal of self-awareness. They often have Meditation practicesThey have gone to therapy and are interested in personal growth. They can clearly express their styles.
But despite this awareness, they still feel stuck. They can’t stop anxiety. They can’t stop holding themselves to impossible standards. They keep getting into relationships that are not right for them.
These types of patterns are not just intellectual. They are habits deeply ingrained in the mind and nervous system. People often repeat them for years, sometimes their entire lives. Over time, these repetitions form very strong neural pathways that return a person to the same familiar pattern.
Understanding pattern can be helpful, but we also need ways to deal with the deeper conditioning that keeps recreating it.
A very common thing I hear is: “I’ve done a lot of work on this issue. I understand it intellectually. But something still sticks.”
Angela Stubbs: How do people begin to realize when something might need deeper exploration rather than constant observation or contemplation?
Juliana Sloan: Usually, when someone comes to see me, they already have a feeling that something deeper is going on. A very common thing I hear is: “I’ve done a lot of work on this issue. I understand it intellectually. But something still sticks.”
The feeling that there is “something deeper” to explore is often a good sign that someone might benefit from working with these layers of knowledge and experience that lie beneath the surface.
As much time as someone can no Readiness is when they hope for a quick solution that does not require their active participation. We do not wave a magic wand, but rather actively interact with the mind, body and nervous system to bring about the desired change.
The work I do is about helping people develop the tools to navigate their inner worlds and access their resources, insight, and wisdom. Ultimately, the goal is for people to feel more empowered in their own process and realize that many of the answers they are looking for already exist within them.
Angela Stubbs: If many of these patterns live outside conscious awareness, what is happening below the level of the thinking mind?
We tend to believe that if we understand something intellectually, we should be able to change it. But most of our behaviors and emotional responses are shaped by processes that occur outside the level of conscious thought.
Juliana Sloan: Many of the patterns that people experience operate outside of conscious awareness. We tend to believe that if we understand something intellectually, we should be able to change it. But most of our behaviors and emotional responses are shaped by processes that occur outside the level of conscious thought.
Over time, repeated experiences form strong patterns in the mind and nervous system. These patterns can become automatic, even to the point that they simply begin to feel like part of our identity. Even when someone understands this pattern, they can still find themselves drawn to it again and again.
Awareness can help us recognize what’s going on, but the deeper conditioning that drives those patterns may still be operating underneath.
In many respects, the conscious mind is only a small part of what shapes our experience. If we only operate at this level, we leave much of the mind untouched.
Angela Stubbs: The word is often used trance In your work. For readers who may not be familiar with this idea, what do you mean by trance?
Juliana Sloan: When people hear the word trance, they often imagine something unusual or mysterious. Sure it can seem magical, but that doesn’t mean it’s inaccessible. Trance is actually a very natural state of consciousness that people move in and out of all the time.
People’s ideas about hypnosis usually come from theatrical performances or old models where someone appears to “take control” of another person’s mind. But that’s not actually how modern hypnotherapy works. Hypnosis is more collaborative and empowering than people often imagine. The person entering the trance state remains conscious and involved in the process the entire time.
For example, when you are completely immersed in a movie or book and lose track of time, this is a kind of trance state. Your attention becomes focused and your usual analytical thinking mind calms down.
In those moments the mind becomes more open to images, emotion, intuition, and deeper layers of experience. In trance-based practices, we intentionally work with a state of focused awareness so that people can explore those deeper layers of their inner experience.
Angela Stubbs: There are a lot of misconceptions about hypnosis. What do people often misunderstand about this topic?
Juliana Sloan: People’s ideas about hypnosis usually come from theatrical shows or older models where someone appears to “control” another person’s mind.
But that’s not actually how modern hypnotherapy works. Hypnosis is more collaborative and empowering than people often imagine. The person entering the trance state remains conscious and involved in the process the entire time.
What happens is that the analytical thinking mind starts to relax a little. We begin to get out of our own way, allowing deeper layers of the mind and our awareness to become more accessible.
Instead of controlling someone, the practitioner helps create conditions in which the person can explore his or her inner experience in a different way and become an active agent of change in their subconscious mind.
In many modern contexts, we think of fantasy as something childish or not serious. But imagination is actually one of the most powerful ways the mind communicates.
Angela Stubbs: She talks about the role of imagination in this work. This may be surprising to people who tend to think of fantasy as something unreal.
Juliana Sloan: In many modern contexts, we think of fantasy as something childish or not serious. But imagination is actually one of the most powerful ways the mind communicates.
During the focused process of meditation or hypnosis, things like images, metaphor, and archetype are often steeped in meaning. They are not just our wild “imagination,” they are symbols encoded by our beliefs, experiences, worldview, memory, and much more. In our daily lives, we often ignore the power this holds. When people enter a state of hypnosis or trance, those hidden metaphors, physical experiences, and images emerge naturally for us to actively work with.
Instead of dismissing these experiences as “just fantasy,” we can begin to see them as powerful tools. Sometimes these experiences guide us to deeper emotional patterns and allow us to process and integrate our experiences more fully. Sometimes they allow us the ability to experience what it means to overcome obstacles or respond differently to things that used to trigger anxiety, self-doubt, or fear. For example, professional athletes do this all the time when they mentally train to break a record or perform their best. for you brain It doesn’t actually differentiate all that much whether you’re shooting the ball at the basket or imagining shooting it – it takes that information and runs with it. So when you work with a hypnotherapist, you use these tools to help your mind, body, and nervous system explore and integrate new options and ways of being.
Angela Stubbs: How do you see this work in relation to mindfulness practice?
Juliana Sloan: I don’t see this work as a replacement for mindfulness practice. In fact, I believe mindfulness creates the foundation for this to be possible in the first place.
Meditation helps people develop awareness of their thoughts, embodied experiences, emotions, and patterns. This awareness is very valuable because you cannot deal with something if you do not notice it.
What often happens is that when people develop a meditation practice, they begin to clearly notice their thought patterns, their reactions, and the way they relate to their world. They find that they can notice these patterns clearly, but it does not necessarily change things in their daily lives.
Practices that engage deeper layers of the mind can allow people to explore what may be underneath those patterns in a different way. Rather than replacing mindfulness, this type of work can deepen the process that mindfulness initiates.
Practices that engage deeper layers of the mind can allow people to explore what may be underneath those patterns in a different way. Rather than replacing mindfulness, this type of work can deepen the process that mindfulness initiates.
Angela Stubbs: Are there signs that something is emerging in practice that might invite deeper exploration?
Juliana Sloan: This often happens when a pattern continues to emerge — for example, anxiety, self-criticism, or a recurring problem at work, relationships, or life — even when the person is fully aware of it.
A person may recognize the pattern in meditation or in therapy. They understand where this is coming from and can see it happening in real time. But despite this awareness, it keeps repeating.
This can sometimes be an indication that the pattern is rooted in deeper layers of the mind or nervous system.
These moments can become invitations to explore the pattern in a different way and approach it with curiosity rather than trying to force change through understanding alone.
Editor’s note:
In an upcoming article for Mindful magazine, Juliana Sloan explores how meditation and hypnosis practices can support people with chronic illness, including the ways in which these approaches may help individuals relate differently to pain, fatigue, and the emotional challenges of long-term health conditions. Keep an eye on our home page.
