A Mindful Perspective

The Power of Emotions – Understanding the Map of Consciousness

• Nick Levesque

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Every emotion you experience has a frequency—fear, love, anger, joy. These aren’t just feelings; they shape the reality you experience.

In this video, I’ll explain Dr. David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness—a powerful framework that reveals how emotions play a crucial role in our lives.

We’ll cover:
- What is the Map of Consciousness?
- How emotions like shame & guilt keep you stuck
- Why courage (200) is the turning point for transformation
- How to understand your emotions & shift into higher consciousness

Where do you think you are on the Map of Consciousness? Drop a comment below!

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📖 Recommended Reading:
Dr. David Hawkins - Power vs. Force
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender

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🔹 Podcast: A Mindful Perspective
🔹 Website: nickspiritualcoaching.com

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Speaker 1:

Hello everyone and welcome to A Mindful Perspective. I'm your host, nick Levesque, certified Spiritual Life Coach, and I'm here to share insights into my journey of mindfulness and self-discovery. Each week, we'll explore mindset, spirituality and personal growth to help you navigate life's challenges with practical strategies and inspiring stories. Let's dive in.

Speaker 2:

According to Dr David Hawkins, every emotion has a specific frequency. Okay, so whether that be fear, love, anger or joy, it doesn't really matter, they all have that specific frequency, as he says. But basically, these emotions, they determine the quality of our lives. And in today's video, I want to talk about Dr David's map of consciousness and how our emotions influence our reality and how, according to him and his map, we can essentially shift to higher states of awareness, shift to higher states of consciousness and really set that as a baseline. Okay, and that's really what's important and I'm going to talk about that in a little bit here as well. Now, before we begin, for those of you who are listening here, I'm going to be putting the map of consciousness basically in the video here, throughout the video. So if you're listening on Spotify or Apple, you can just pause me and just Google what that map looks like if you feel like doing so, just to get the understanding of what that is.

Speaker 2:

But first and foremost, I just want to give a bit of background on who Dr David Hawkins is. So Dr David Hawkins essentially was a psychiatrist. He's got over 50 years of experience in psychiatry. He's known as a spiritual teacher, speaker, all these different things. However, he's also done a lot of contribution in the field of consciousness research and he's written many, many books, two of which I have here which I'm holding up right now. One is called Letting Go by Dr David Hawkins, which is my favorite, and the other one is Power Versus Force, which is another very good book. Now, I actually don't have the book Map of Consciousness here with me, because I think that basically, these are first and foremost, these are my two favorite books. But also, the only thing I dislike a little bit about his work, if I'm being very honest, is that it's a very, very repetitive, right. So it doesn't really matter. Even if you pick up these two books, for example, you will have an understanding of what the map is and kind of how it works and all these different things, right, so you will have a really good understanding, because he talks about it in all his books. Okay, about it in all his books, okay, uh, or anyways, the the ones that I've read personally.

Speaker 2:

Now, basically, this map was developed using something called muscle testing, which is, from my understanding, a kinesiology practice. Okay, now, as I was reading into this, um, there's been a lot of skepticism, you know, in the scientific community because, you know, they weren't sure if it was really a credible way of testing and all these different things. Right now. I won't get into that in today's video because for me personally that's not important. The way I personally look at this scale okay, so I'm going to put it on the screen here. But the way I personally look at this scale, or as this map, if you will, is a tool, right. It's basically a tool to just assess our emotional baseline, where we're at and also where do we spend most of our time. Are we constantly sad? Are we constantly in a state of joy? Are we constantly in a state of peace, as an example, right? Or are we constantly in a state of grief? And this is what I'm going to talk about in a bit. But basically, again, this is really just a tool. It's a tool to help us really understand where we're at in life and, again, where we spend most of our time. And I'm just going to hold up the book here really quick. I don't know if you can see this on the screen, but it's also just to give another visual.

Speaker 2:

Now, there's a lot of wording and numbers here. That's not important. The only two things that are important here are uh, the wording here and the numbers here, right? So, again, here you'll see shame, guilt, apathy, uh, grief, fear, all these different things, and at the top you'll see enlightenment, peace, joy, love, right? So in the book you can actually see the mat. Now, there's a lot of other wordings here. I don't really care about those. What I care really about are the two lines here, right, so, the numbers and as well as the emotions, specifically right Now, some of these you might wonder.

Speaker 2:

Well, hey, these aren't really emotions, right? Because, like enlightenment, acceptance and courage, obviously those aren't emotions per se, but these this is what he means by states of awareness or states of consciousness, right, but even something like courage is an example. Well, courage, you know, has, you know, embedded in it or within it, multiple emotions, right? To be courageous, you need to overcome fear, all these different things, right? So you know, they're not emotions per se, but they are a state of being that we can basically access or go towards, right? So this is really what he talks about in the book.

Speaker 2:

And just to give you an example, okay, of what this looks like, okay, so I'm just going to give you or read a quick excerpt from the book, speaking specifically on grief. Okay, so grief, according to this map, is energy level 75, which is at the bottom right, and according to Dr David Hawkins, the bottom is where you don't want to go, right? So shame is an example for him. Is you know the way he explains it in the book? Is like closely related to death. Right, it's not death, but it's like you feel like death type of thing, right? So grief, as an example, he says this is the level of sadness, loss and despondency. Most humans have experienced it for periods of time, but those who remain at this level live a life of constant regret and depression. Okay, so this is just a quick example. And see how he says most humans who have experienced it for periods of time, who stay stuck, right, who's remain at that level. I think this is very important, right, because obviously we don't want to remain at that level for the entirety of our lives. Right, because, again, we don't. We want to go up on this scale again, which I'll talk about in a second here. Now let's talk about energy level 350, right, if we're going up on the scale.

Speaker 2:

Just to give you an example, acceptance, right, not technically an emotion, but more a state of awareness. Okay, so he says, at this level of awareness, a major transformation takes place with the understanding that one is oneself the source and creator of the experience of one's life. Taking such responsibility is distinctive of this degree of evolution, characterized by the capacity to live harmoniously with the forces of life. So these are just a few examples of the emotions and levels of consciousness that he's talking about here in his book. Right? So again, we talked about grief and acceptance. Okay, now you might be wondering, well, okay, well, how is this practical in my life? Right? So for me personally, how I use this, again, is just to assess where do I spend most of my time, right?

Speaker 2:

A good example that he talked about in the book was grief. Okay, so, for example, if someone has suffered the loss of a loved one, right, maybe they've lost their partner, their spouse, their, their mother, father, their animals, their pet, as an example, right, all these different things, all those contribute to a state of grief, right, to a state of loss. Now, unfortunately, and understandably so, very much. So some people can get stuck there for a long time, right, and this is what this is what he was talking about. Unfortunately, some people get stuck in this state of grief, okay. And if you stay stuck in this state of grief for a long time, then you know, obviously that's not a really good place to be.

Speaker 2:

And essentially the goal is to go up on that scale, right, you want to go where? As an example, maybe your level of baseline on a daily basis is during a state of acceptance, right. Or maybe you know, on your level of baseline, as an example, on a daily basis you had that highlighted in the map courage, because, according to Dr David Hawkins, level 200 and above is where typically you want to be at Right. Those lower levels is where you don't want to stay at, but basically over 200 is where you want to be Right. So if you're on a level of 200, which is courage, that's great. And then eventually the goal is to go up and up and keep that as a baseline type of thing Right. Keep that as a baseline type of thing, right.

Speaker 2:

But here's my opinion, right? Here's the truth is that on a daily basis, you will experience a spectrum of emotions, right. So, as an example, even if your baseline is acceptance, okay, even if that baseline is acceptance in a day-to-day basis, you might feel shame, you might feel guilt, you might feel fear, you might feel anger, all these different things, right? So for me personally, I just think that it's important to understand that obviously, we experience a variety of emotions on a day-to-day basis, and that's completely okay and that's completely normal, which is why I think it's important to highlight as well, right, because, again, even though this is where I'm, this is where I'm getting ahead here, right, even though we're on, let's say, as an example, we are on a level of acceptance and that's our baseline on the day-to-day basis, we are, you know, an accepting environment. We are, you know, we are in that state of acceptance.

Speaker 2:

It doesn't mean that we're never going to have a bad day. It doesn't mean that we're never going to feel fear. It doesn't mean that we're never going to be sad, right, because those emotions can coexist, right, you can be in a state of acceptance, but sometimes something happens and then you're like oh right, damn, something happened. I'm sad, I'm angry, all these different things, but then you work through that and then you go, kind of go back to that baseline level, right, and that's what I've noticed personally. For me is like OK, as I do my, my work and all these different things, you know, you kind of go up that scale, which is important.

Speaker 2:

And there's one thing I want to highlight that I don't necessarily really agree with on the scale is the term enlightenment, ok, because sometimes I feel like that could be a bit misleading and also kind of like a false promise that if we do all this inner work right the shadow work, the inner child, healing, all these different things that we will get to a permanent state of happiness where we don't experience sadness, that we are just, you know, that we are completely whole, all these different things right. I think that can be a bit misleading and not very realistic, right, in my personal opinion. Listen, maybe some spiritual masters have gone there. I know another word, enlightenment is thrown around in a lot of different books. I just personally, I don't really like the term and I I know for me, speaking from my own experience here, I will never get to that level, right, because I've been doing my own inner work for many years and there are still days that, you know, I feel sad, there are still days where I experienced anger, there are still days where I experienced fear, all these different things, right, and I think that's all part of being human, right. So to get to a point where nothing matters and you like, nothing bothers you anymore type of thing, I just don't think it's realistic. So please, you know, if you're looking at this, don't just try to go and reach this permanent state of enlightenment and happiness, right, use this as a tool to just assess where you are and be like, okay. Well, maybe I'm stuck in this level of anger, right, like why, why am I angry all the time? Like what is it that I'm angry about? You know, maybe it's childhood things, all these different things, right. But this is really just what I want to highlight that I think is very important.

Speaker 2:

And the other key points I want to highlight as well is that I think that this map just helps us understand that emotions are complex, right, and human beings are complex, and it helps us understand the complexity of ourselves. It helps us understand that emotions are just a guide, right, the way that we interact with the environment around us, the way that we interact with the world, the way we understand ourselves, all these different things, right. So when we can really tune into our emotions, get a better understanding of how you know they're controlling our lives, perhaps, or you know, again, where we spend most of our time. I think that's very, very crucial right now. The only other thing that I want to highlight as well, that's important to understand, is sometimes, like we might look at the scale and think like, oh, like, anger is bad, shame is bad, as an example, and I'm going to talk about these two emotions specifically because I think, in terms of society, I think shame and anger are really, you know, shameful or frowned upon type of thing, right, but again, in my personal opinion, I don't like to put a label on emotions, right, I think there's no such thing as good or bad emotions. I think emotions just help us understand again ourselves and their guides. Right, if you're feeling happy, that's awesome, right, good, there's nothing wrong with that, and again, but that happiness isn't permanent. Eventually it will fluctuate down. As an example, okay, shame in and of itself, I don't think is bad or good.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, toxic shame, right, seems bad because we're toxicly shaming ourselves. Maybe our inner critic is on overdrive again, very much attacking us all the time. Right, and yes, that like, in theory, that is bad, that's not good. But also, I think, if we take a step back and approach that with curiosity. Okay, we can start understanding that, hmm, like, what is our inner critic trying to tell us? Right, where am I holding this shame? Right, where is this shame coming from? And then we can start understanding that this toxic shame is trying to speak to us. Right, it's trying to guide us into understanding what is going on, why you're so you know why you've got all this shame bottled up and you're shaming yourself all the time, right? So that's just a quick example. That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

Also, I also think that there's something as healthy shame, okay. So, as an example, if you've been in a relationship with your partner for five years and then you cheat on your partner or your spouse, okay, obviously, you're going to be you're going to feel guilty about the act, right, you're going to be, you're going to feel guilty about cheating on them. And then maybe you're going to be very ashamed. Right, you're going to feel very ashamed of yourself for doing so. But in my personal opinion, that is good. That is healthy shame, because that is pointing you in the right direction, saying, hey, maybe you shouldn't have done that, right, and I think that's very important. I don't think we should be cheating on our partners. I think, obviously we should be having conversations. If we're not happy in the relationship, then you sit down, you have a radically honest conversation rather than cheating on someone as an example, right? So in that sense, if you're cheating on someone, you feel this sense of shame, then personally, in my opinion, that's good, right.

Speaker 2:

Also, let's talk about anger for a moment. Okay, I know that anger, you know, is an emotion that you know can sometimes be deemed as bad, right. So, as an example, maybe you've been, you know you grew up in a childhood environment where emotions, maybe all emotions for you couldn't cry, you couldn't express anger, all these different things. Or maybe, when you know you try, maybe when you were angry or you expressed a little bit of anger, your parents shut you down. Right, like no, no, anger, you cannot be angry, you cannot express that. Right, anger is simply not allowed.

Speaker 2:

Then, obviously, for your own survival needs and to make sure that you know your needs are met, you suppress that anger, you push it away, right, it's in your shadow, you don't look at it, you don't, whatever, right? And then obviously that impacts your ability to be assertive and all these different things, right. But if you can actually understand that anger is healthy, right. When channeled appropriately, it helps you, you know, assert yourself. It helps you be more assertive, helps you set boundaries, all these different things right. I think that is so important.

Speaker 2:

So anger in itself is not a bad emotion. Obviously, if you're super angry and you lash out at someone, okay, and you hit someone or, you know, cause violence of some sort, that that's not ideal, but there are ways to, you know, channel that anger right. So for me personally, I've had some of the best drum sessions when I've been frustrated or angry, right, I use that energy, I channel it creatively, right, I channel it musically. Some people can. You know there's many different ways to channel anger. My brother does jujitsu, right. Martial arts is a very good way to channel that anger and learn how to control your anger and all these different things right. So this is what I'm trying to say If you're using this tool, if you're using this scale, please understand that you know.

Speaker 2:

I let's say as an example, that you're looking at the scale and for you, you're stuck in anger, right, I don't want you to feel like, oh, I'm at the, you're having that readily honest conversation with yourself. I'm stuck in this level of anger. What can I do to help myself go up a little bit right. So again and Dr David Hawkins talks in this book about, like, how even some people right just one level, jumping up that baseline just a little bit, is so powerful, and for some people it can take many years, right. And again, even though, like we talked about which I'm repeating again because it's so important we can kind of fluctuate on that spectrum on a daily basis, again, for some people they've been stuck there for so long that once they make that shift, it's like again. It's like wow, right, it's like life changing.

Speaker 2:

So, as an example, if you've been stuck, if you sit on that, you know, if you have that radically honest conversation with yourself and you're like, okay, where am I, where do I spend most of my time? And you're like, yeah, obviously I'm happy sometimes, I'm sad sometimes, but most days I'm angry, and I've been angry for years, and maybe you don't know why. Then you start doing the coach, work with a therapist or a coach, and then you understand your anger and all these different things. Then you start going up that scale. You're like, wow, so that's what I'm trying to get at right.

Speaker 2:

So again, please don't be upset with yourself or don't shame yourself if you're lower on the scale, right, it's not about that. It's really about understanding where you are, where you spend most of your time, and just understanding, again, the emotional complexity of ourselves and how you can use this tool to help you process your emotions and just help you live a better quality of life. So, that being said, that's all I've got for you guys on today's episode. If you did like the episode, please feel free to leave a comment or review, share it. It really helps bring awareness to what I'm trying to do, which is really kind of, you know, spread this podcast on a broader scale to really help people just navigate everyday life challenges. So, again, with that being said, I hope you have a good week and I will catch you guys next week. You.

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