Written by: Lisa Treasure, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The human mind is made up of three parts that usually work together like a well-oiled machine; each part having a unique role to play. You may have heard these parts being referred to as the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, and the instinctive mind.
Many people mistakenly believe that our conscious mind is the one in charge because it’s responsible for important functions like thinking, analysing, and forward planning. It uses words and logic as a means of communication which today’s society places a great deal of importance on. However, research shows that the conscious mind only controls a small percentage of our total mental activity, which is surprising considering the amount of time and energy we all devout to our thoughts.
It’s our subconscious mind that controls the majority of our mental activity, processing around forty million bits of information at once. The conscious mind on the other hand only processes around forty bits of information. Even today, we don’t really know the power of the subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is running the show. What we do know is that it is able to store every belief, thought, emotion, and experience we’ve ever had from the moment of our conception, and possibly even from before we were born.
The third part of the mind, or the instinctive mind, is primarily concerned with our basic survival. It is constantly scanning our environment for threats and will activate the flight, flight, and freeze response if it senses danger. Once this part of the mind takes over, it overrides every other part in order to keep us alive. Have you ever noticed your legs jumping or shaking when you were nervous or scared? That’s the work of the instinctive mind telling the body to send more blood to the legs in case you need to run.
A great analogy for the mind is a monkey leading an elephant that has a meerkat on its back. The monkey represents the conscious mind that plans and plots the route and tells the elephant exactly which way to go. The elephant is the subconscious mind that blindly follows the instructions once the route has been programmed into its brain; it will not deviate even if the monkey wants it to. The meerkat is the instinctive mind that constantly pops its head up, and jumps up and down screaming whenever it sees danger.
The Storehouse
When there is no resistance, the subconscious mind obeys the commands it receives from the conscious mind without question. It doesn’t know the difference between what’s real or imagined, good or bad, right or wrong; it simply accepts everything at face value. We are programming our subconscious mind every moment of every day; entering huge amounts of data that is downloaded and stored indefinitely.
Once something makes its way to the subconscious mind, it can be very difficult to delete because it has essentially been put on automatic pilot, and it will remain there until it is replaced by new information. When we first learn to drive, we have to consciously focus on the mechanics of driving, but eventually, after some repetition, our subconscious mind realises that this is something it can automate for us and it becomes second nature. Anything that is repeated enough times will be taken over by the subconscious in this way. Have you ever tried to really think about walking down a flight of stairs? Try it and see what happens. You’ll probably find that you trip or stumble because overriding a subconscious action is extremely difficult.
All our present habits, mannerisms, and thought patterns are the result of past subconscious programming, and once our subconscious learns something, it resists change. The subconscious invariably wins whenever there is a conflict between the two parts of the mind. You might have experienced this yourself when you have tried to lose weight or stop smoking for example. Willpower alone might work for a short while, but unless you change the subconscious programs, you will revert back to old habits very quickly.
The same thing is true of our beliefs. If we are told or tell ourselves enough times that we are intelligent, beautiful, or good at maths, we begin to identify with those things at a core level. Unfortunately, the same is true of our negative thoughts which the subconscious will accept just as easily. When we repeatedly tell ourselves that we are stupid, unattractive, or unlucky, the subconscious eventually accepts it as fact.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
As the subconscious mind is so powerful and controls so many aspects of our lives, it makes sense that we should try to understand it as much as possible. In particular, we need to understand the language it uses because it actually communicates in a very different way to the conscious mind. Where the conscious mind uses reason and logic, the subconscious mind uses creativity and imagination in the form of images, symbols, and metaphors. Reason is easily overruled by our imagination and we all experience this on a daily basis.
Imagine being offered a million pounds to walk across a plank of wood lifted a few feet into the air; you wouldn’t even need to think about it. Now imagine being offered a million pounds to walk across a plank of wood suspended between two cliffs thousands of feet into the air. It’s the same task, but this time your subconscious mind sends vivid images of you falling to your death and no amount of self-talk can persuade you it’s a good idea.
Of course, in dangerous situations like this, it’s clearly a good thing. However, the same thing can be true of two people sitting next to each other on a plane. One might be relaxed and calm imagining a beautiful sunny beach while the other might be anxiously imagining the plane bursting into flames and plunging to the ground. It all depends on their previous experiences, beliefs, and programming. In these situations, where we do want to override the subconscious, a different strategy is needed.
Just think about all the times you tried to use words and logic to deal with certain situations.
Don’t be scared, it’s just a spider.
You’ll be fine if you don’t look down.
You don’t need to eat that chocolate bar.
I don’t care if they don’t like me.
I am not scared about that presentation.
It’s only a bit of turbulence, calm down.
As your conscious mind says the words, your subconscious mind sends you vivid images of big, hairy spiders or delicious-looking chocolate bars, and your words are lost because a picture is worth a thousand words.
Metaphors are another powerful communication tool for the subconscious as they engage all of the senses. It’s believed that we all use metaphors around five or six times a minute to help us understand and react to our surroundings. As a hypnotherapist, I am trained to pick up on the specific metaphors people use because they can be used effectively in hypnosis to communicate with the subconscious in order to make changes. There are seven main categories of metaphors that are universal, and these include representations of containers, control, connection, balance, journey, resource, and transformation.
Some common examples that I hear regularly:
I just box it away in my mind.
I’m not in the driving seat.
I’m not myself.
I’m being pushed over the edge.
There is a black cloud hanging over me.
I can’t find my voice.
I just want to come out the other side.
I want this weight to be lifted from me.
I can’t see straight
It’s like I’ve got a devil on my shoulder
How Can We Take Back the Reins?
Luckily, this powerful language is extremely easy to learn. First of all, we have to bypass the watchman or gatekeeper of the subconscious mind. When the watchman is off guard, or when its judgment is suspended, then the subconscious mind is left open to suggestions from all sources. This is known as bypassing the critical factor, and once this has been achieved, massive changes can be made to the way that we think, feel, and behave.
Have you ever cried or jumped in fear while watching a movie? If so, why do you think that happened? You know that it’s just a film made up of actors, a set, and some special effects, yet it’s possible to put all that to one side in your mind so that you can enjoy the movie. This is a perfect example of bypassing your critical factor and going into a trance. At this point, you have access to the subconscious, and anything that is put into your mind is accepted unconditionally. This can happen whenever we distract, occupy, relax or surprise the conscious mind which, as a hypnotherapist, are the techniques used to guide a client into hypnosis.
The Swinging Watch
In my opinion, hypnosis is the most powerful and effective way to access the subconscious mind and make deep, lasting changes. You can literally hack your mind with hypnosis. A qualified hypnotherapist uses various methods to induce hypnosis and knows how to re-program the subconscious mind once the gateway has been opened. Techniques such as regression, inner child work, parts therapy, and suggestion therapy are all highly effective in a state of hypnosis. However, real magic happens when we engage the imagination through imagery, symbols, and metaphors. Using literal language, for example, telling someone that they will feel less stressed, is likely to create resistance; it may even create more stress. However, using the imagery of stress draining away or being washed away is more readily accepted. Similarly, asking someone to regress to a traumatic event can cause what’s known as an abreaction, whereas finding something to symbolise that trauma can more comfortably facilitate the necessary healing.
8 Things That Can Improve Using Hypnosis
Reduce or eliminate stress
Reduce or eliminate anxiety
Help with weight loss
Reduce or eliminate fears and phobias
Heal past trauma
Reduce or eliminate limiting beliefs
Change unwanted feelings
Help you feel that you are enough
See the Big Picture
Changing the way we use our imagination can also be facilitated without hypnosis by the regular practice of creative visualisation. You can get what you want with creative visualisation. This cognitive process involves forming vivid mental images together with other modalities such as smells, sounds, tastes, and touch. Most of us do this regularly whether we’re aware of it or not. You might feel hungry and imagine what you would like to eat, or you might book a holiday and imagine lying on a sunny beach or sweeping down a ski slope. Unfortunately, if we are not careful, we can just as easily visualise the things that we don’t want and unwittingly manifest or maintain them in our lives.
Creative visualisation is extremely powerful because it also speaks the language of the subconscious mind, which can’t distinguish between what’s real and what’s imagined. Top athletes have been using this technique for decades to improve their performance, overcome obstacles and focus their minds on the outcome they want. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying that what we can perceive, we can achieve. Everything that comes into reality must first be formed in our imagination.
8 Things That Can Improve Using Creative Visualisation
Help you to bring love into your life
Help you get pregnant
Help you achieve your goals
Help save your relationship
Help you lose weight
Help you create more abundance
Help you create better health
Help you to feel more positive and optimistic
If you want to make positive changes in your life, and you believe that old subconscious programming could be causing you problems, it’s vital that you learn to communicate using images, symbols, and metaphors. If you need help, please visit my website or contact me to learn more about how you can speak the language of the subconscious mind.
Lisa Treasure, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Lisa Treasure is a multi-award-winning therapist who has worked with clients worldwide. Her articles have appeared in various industry publications, and her teachings and methods are best sellers on platforms such as Udemy. Lisa is also a published children’s author, with her debut book for adults due to hit the shelves later this year.
