Everyone's heard of the Law of Attraction.  And although I agree whole heartedly, I believe that what's missing is the understanding of how the mind works. 

All thoughts and feelings are stored subconsciously.  These power our actions and habits.  So to change on the level of behaviour, it needs to happen subconsciously.  The logical mind is limited to willpower and short term memory.  If it could fix anything we wouldn't need the many healing modalities available to all of us today.

I educate clients to understand that thinking about change or thinking how to change is a useless activity unless it leads you to the beneficial actions that will actually change something!  You need to also find the vehicle that will affect change at the level of the deeper mind.  Meditation is wonderful to quiet the (here is where the relearning happens) in order to open it up for change.  Hypnosis used to coach your mind to change IS the most effective way to re-train the mind to work for you instead of against you based on your self beliefs. 

Self Hypnosis should be taught as of Grade 3 which is when we are more able to focus our attention long enough to get those positive suggestions happening subconsciously.  But it's never too late.
My Mind Coaching with Self Hypnosis workshop December 6th is full but if you are interested in learning how to use it to help yourself, send me an email at aloadoffyourmind@telus.net and I'll get you on my mailing list.  The next workshop will likely be in February, 2015.

To help you understand how the mind works, here are the Rules of the Mind:

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Rules of the Mind!

Every thought or idea causes a physical reaction

Your thoughts can affect ALL the functions of your body.  Worry triggers changes in the stomach that in time can lead to ulcers.  ANGER thoughts stimulate the adreal glands and increased adrenaline in the blood stream causes many body changes. ANXIETY and FEAR thoughts affect your pulse rate and strain blood pressure which affects the heart and lungs (think squeezing)

 What the Mind expects to happen tends to be realized

The brain and nervous system respond only to mental images.  It doesn’t matter if the image is self-induced or from the external world.  The mental image formed becomes the blueprint and the subconscious mind uses every means at its disposal to carry out the plan.  Worry is a form of programming whereby you form a picture of what you don’t want but the subconscious mind acts to fulfill the picture’s situation, so if it’s a negative one, it works to fulfill it.

Many people suffer from chronic anxiety which is simply a subconscious mental expectancy that something terrible will happen to them or to someone they love.  On the other hand, we

all know people who seem to have that “Magic touch”.  What they have is NOT a positive mental attitude but a positive mental expectancy!!!!  Another way of saying that is that we become what we think about!

 

Our physical health is largely dependent upon our mental expectancy.  Physicians recognize that if a person expects to remain sick or even die, the expected condition tends to be realized. 

 

Imagination is more powerful than knowledge when dealing with your our mind or the mind of another

Reason is easily overruled by imagination.  This is why some people blindly rush into some unreasonable act or situation (think of when you were really angry or sad and you may have let the emotion run your actions).  Violent crimes based on jealously are called “Crimes of Passion” and are caused by an overactive imagination.  The idea accompanied by strong emotion (jealousy, anger, betrayal)  or our political or religious beliefs, usually cannot be talked down with reason.  What you may have noticed is the ‘after the fact’ reasoning.  After the strong emotion is expressed, the ability to rationalize returns which may leave you feeling guilty or sad at the actions you took.

Once an idea has been accepted by the subconscious mind, it remains until it is replaced by another idea

The companion rule to this is that the longer an idea remains, the more opposition there is to replacing it with a new idea (this is why one must practise being mindful of self talk, habits and practise Self Hypnosis regularly). Once an idea has been accepted, it tends to become a fixed habit of thinking.  This is how habits are formed.  First there is the thought and the feeling and then an action that drives the thought.  For example, it’s been found that teens feel lonely when not accepted by their peers so they will attempt to join the group by mimicking their actions, such as smoking or doing drugs.  Some people believe that at critical times they have to have an alcoholic beverage to steady their nerves so that they can perform effectively. This is not a logical assumption but a subconscious response to an emotion.  The idea is there and it becomes a fixed habit of thought.  There will always be opposition to replacing it with a correct/positive idea.

Each suggestion acted upon creates less opposition to successive suggestions as long as they are congruent with the belief causing the habit

A mental habit is easier to follow the longer it lasts unbroken.  Once a habit is formed, it becomes easier to follow and more difficult to break.  On other words, once a suggestion has been accepted by your subconscious mind, it becomes easier for additional suggested to be accepted and acted upon. This works whether the habit is a positive or a negative.  The key to this is that the subconscious mind accepts that which is in harmony with the habit (habitual belief). 

To change a belief, the same rule applies.  The suggestion regarding the change must be compounded until there is no opposition to it.  When each suggestion is given, it creates less opposition to successive suggestions.  Although this takes time, the subconscious mind can relearn.

An emotionally induced symptom tends to cause organic change if it persists long enough

It’s been acknowledged by many reputable doctors  that more than 70% of human ailments are functional rather than organic.  This means that the function of an organ or other part of the body  has been disrupted by a reaction from the nervous system to negative ideas held subconsciously.  We are a mind in a body and the two cannot be separated.  Therefore, if you continue to let stress rule your life, in time, organic change must occur!

 

When dealing with the subconscious mind and its functions, the greater the conscious effort the less the subconscious response

This proves why “will power” doesn’t really exist!!  When an idea has been accepted by the subconscious mind, it remains until it’s replaced by another idea.  The subconscious mind has to accept the new idea in order for it to change!  So even when you logically realize that a habit or an action or a feeling is irrational, it can’t change it using will power.  It will fizzle out like day old coke when up against the power of the subconscious that is driving every feeling, idea and action.

 If you’ve ever had insomnia, you’ve learned the law of reverse effect.  This means that the harder you tried to sleep or quiet your mind the more difficult it became. The harder you tried to go to sleep, the more wide awake you became.  The rule is, “When dealing with the subconscious mind, take it easy’.  As your faith in your subconscious mind increases, you learn to ‘let it happen’ rather than trying to ‘force it to happen”.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sharing my #2 favourite tip from Mahatma Gandhi. 

 

2. You are in control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

What you feel and how you react to something that is always up to you. When you react to something that is said in judgement or to something that you perceive is in judgement, then you are coming from your OWN insecurities and fears.  It’s your OWN lack of self esteem that causes you to react.

Remember that what other people say and do or what you perceive they say and do is coming from their own judgements based on their experiences, their childhood programming, their own morals and values.  And you have no control over that!  You only control your OWN thoughts, feelings and actions.

And we all have free will.  We have the ability to react or ignore.  Keep in mind that if you even give something thought that’s reacting.  It’s giving away your power. 

I love the saying, “What others think of me is none of my business”.  And it’s true!!!  It's never about you but your reaction IS.