Consciousness is simply the ability to see ourselves clearly.
Sometimes what we see clearly, is not what we want to see, and we get to choose whether to slip back into the darkness of the reactive mind (and deny it as if it doesn't exist – which, by the way, does not get rid of it) or to grow forward, by learning from the mind-made density that has driven us and kept us in fear.
Simply by shining the light of consciousness on these dark places within us, everything changes for the better. This movement back & forth from darkness (unconscious reaction) to light (consciousness) is the alchemical process that “enlightens” a mind.