Tag Archives: subconscious mind

Chuck’s Place: The Stress of Desire

Like clouds, dreams and fantasies manifest…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Who has not had the occasion of a middle of the night awakening to the largesse of a fanciful thought seeming utterly possible? Upon awakening  the following morning, as one rubs the sand of those late night castles from the eyes, the absurdities of such midnight logic come to light as they are banished from the realm of actual possibility.

Nonetheless, the power of these energized thoughts and fantasies do exert a stress upon the subconscious mind. And it is the stress generated by these enacted desires in the play of night that can powerfully influence the subconscious manifestation of their intent in the light of day.

The subconscious is the seat of power in human manifestation. It houses the best and the worst of human experimentation and evolution in its vast library of possible programs to be run, and has the direct ability to generate a major change in the self, overriding one’s current operating system of self definition. It even has the power to make changes in the physical body.

The placebo effect is nothing other than a direct suggestion taken up by the subconscious resulting in actual physical change. The advantage the subconscious has over the conscious mind is that it is not limited by rational thought, it is free to enact the possible without limiting beliefs.

I have often written about the power of a stated intent, mantra or prayer to influence the subconscious to activate a latent program or install a revised program to form a new habit. These efforts are instigated by the conscious will but are also often contradicted by doubt and limiting beliefs, which tend to weaken the stress placed upon the subconscious to generate change.

Contradictory messages to the subconscious tend to cancel the potency of one’s stated intent. This should not discourage the conscious will from stating its goal. However, do realize that by mitigating blocking beliefs, the stress for change, acting upon the subconscious, will strengthen.

Perhaps the most potent influence upon the subconscious mind is the enactment in the imagination of one’s intended intent. Although the middle of the night fanciful convictions might not survive the light of day, they are extremely emotionally impressive to the  subconscious mind, accruing significantly toward their realization.

Thus, if one imagines a new business venture, a soulful relationship, or a life unburdened by a limiting habit, the subconscious is treated to thoughts, images and emotions that might activate both its attracting and enacting power.

Too often, we limit our freedom to consciously dream our desires, as we fear the possibility of them not coming true, with its consequent sting of disappointment. This refusal to fully imagine deprives the subconscious of a highly charged suggestion, which might indeed contain the very energy needed to enact the desired change.

Of course, we must also face the possibility that what we most consciously want may actually be at odds with the desire of another part of who we are, mainly the High Self. Although the subconscious may be influenced to realize a desire from our conscious will, if that desire is contraindicated for the greater balance of the self, the High Self might interfere with its realization.

In general, intentions do best that reflect the greater good of the whole self. Sometimes the ego intent is partial to its limited purview, which often compromises its realization. In setting any intention, one does well to first present it to the boardroom of the greater self. When there is consensus of the greater self an intent is freed to move smoothly forward.

Cleared of inner prejudice, let your intent be stated aloud and given the full freedom of imaginative play and realization, whether it be in the middle of the day or the middle of the night. As always, no attachment to outcome, but rest assured, the stress of your desire is mounting toward its enactment by the subconscious mind.

In the calm of mounting stress,

Chuck

Chuck’s Place: Impressing the Subconscious

Each new dawn is an opportunity to intend change…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The subconscious mind is command central for the human mind. Nonetheless, though it sets in motion the bulk of everything we think, feel and do, it itself does not think. The subconscious mind simply obeys suggestions. The intensity or accrued stress of the suggestion determines the likelihood of it being activated.

The subconscious is the programmed mind. All animals respond almost totally to circumstances with preprogrammed instinctive behaviors. Humans have the innovation of consciousness, which allows for the possibility of choice of response to any given encounter, over simply the automatic, unreflected action of the subconscious mind.

Nonetheless, the subconscious remains formidably dominant in human behavior. A person might choose to confront a situation that their subconscious mind’s program determines should be avoided. This program can be overridden by the conscious will, however, the subconscious might concurrently generate pervasive anxiety to freeze the intended behavioral action of the conscious will.

However, the proficiency of the evolutionary programs of the subconscious that have led to individual survival, and survival of the species for eons, tend to reassert themselves pretty easily over orders directed to the subconscious from the conscious mind. Anyone who has attempted to establish a new habit is well acquainted with the tendency of older, more established habits, to defeat conscious efforts to change.

The subconscious is comprised of evolutionary habits, as well as habits rooted in one’s outer socialization. The rules and expectations of significant others, in the impressionable years of childhood, are often internalized as powerful programs for behaviors that eventually operate unconsciously through the subconscious mind. These internalized programs are incessantly reinforced by the internal dialogue, which automatically judges self and other with predetermined prejudice.

The key to establishing a new habit in the subconscious mind is suggestion. When a hypnotist puts a subject into trance, they are essentially turning off the subject’s conscious mind. Next, a suggestion is made to the subject that goes directly to the subconscious mind and is then behaviorally enacted upon, as suggested.

Not everyone can be put into trance by a hypnotist, but everyone is put into trance by the many powerful programs that run daily, through suggestions operating at a subconscious level. Thus, if one has an internal dialogue that repeats the suggestion, “I am unworthy of love”, the entranced outcome will be a mood and behavior that reflects unworthiness and lack of lovability. These programs are often so powerful that even constant feedback to the contrary, from a loving partner for instance, cannot change this embedded suggestion.

Though a hypnotist might temporarily suggest a new program, creating change in a subject, the locus of control remains in the hands of another person, the hypnotist. This is why self-hypnosis is the preferred vehicle of change.

Saturation of suggestion during waking life definitely implants a suggestion to the subconscious. Thus for instance, if I want to remember my dreams, or become conscious while out-of-body during sleep, I might state this intention incessantly throughout the day.

Regardless of outcome on any given night, if I persevere with stating my intention, every day, that suggestion will reach subconscious action at some point. Every time we state an intent, we accrue energy toward a powerful suggestion becoming operational.

Unfortunately, we don’t know for certain how much energy must be accrued before it tips the scales to action. The guidance here: perseverance furthers.  As well, just as the hypnotist silences the conscious mind prior to implanting a suggestion, it is best to relax the body and mind prior to stating one’s suggestion.

Be of calm body and mind, state your suggestion many times a day, many days of the month. With the calm abandon of detachment, yet with the knowing certainty that the subconscious will be impressed, await the manifestation of your dream.

Suggesting,

Chuck

Chuck’s Place: The Secret Life of Habit

Habits unchecked, mushroom…
– Photo by J. E. Ketchel

The human mind is a vehicle in constant motion. When we drive our car we actually turn the driving over to the subconscious mind, the home of established patterns of perceiving and acting, while our conscious mind journeys freely into other realms of thought and imagination. The array of established patterns stored in the subconscious mind are known as habits.

Some habits are archetypal in nature, meaning they are encoded pre-birth in the subconscious, to direct perception and action according to the needs of a species. Animals function almost entirely at a preprogrammed habitual level. A seasoned hunter actually becomes bored at the ‘sport’ of hunting, as animals are easy prey, traveling the same monotonous patterns daily.

The human animal has the advantage of adding new habits to the subconscious pool through the exercise of conscious suggestion and intent. Most suggestions, however, are obtained from the socialization process. Behavior is largely shaped by the reward and punishment responses from one’s social environment. These reinforced patterns become strongly recommended to the subconscious, eventually taking up residence as established habits.

Sometimes habits are established via completely non-conscious processes. If one experiences a serious trauma during an activity at a particular location, the unconscious reptilian part of the brain takes pictures of these circumstances and directly encodes a message to the subconscious to avoid subsequent locations that look similar. These are experienced as triggers, which are managed via the subconscious habit of avoidance.

The conscious mind may prove quite powerless to overcome these habitual reactions due to the potent energy programmed by the reptilian brain. Habit change at this level requires trauma processing to rewrite and override the program of avoidance. During processing we gradually achieve a neutral response to a trigger, allowing a new program of calm to be introduced and accepted by the subconscious mind, overriding the now anachronistic and unnecessary habit of avoidance.

Beliefs are tremendous influencers upon habit formation. The current social dimension of human interaction is largely governed by belief systems that have become encoded in automatic subconscious reactions.  The possibility of calm communication between groups is largely blocked by the automatic perceptions, judgments and behaviors driven by these powerful habits that have been shaped by belief.

Most of our lives are lived via subconscious habits. If we had to instruct ourselves to breathe to obtain every needed breath, we would become exhausted in no time. Habits are not only necessary but quite welcome for good economy of our psychic energy. Nonetheless, habits tend to limit innovation and creativity, as well as keep us frozen in the past.

Intents, suggestions, mantras, and prayers are repetitive techniques to facilitate the formation of new, consciously driven habits. Begin with a definite verb like “will” or “am”. Too often we begin with “I’d like to” or “I  hope” or “I want”.  The subconscious works best with definite, not ambivalent or begging, statements.

Perseverance is critical in new habit formation. The subconscious is used to its default programs, whether inherited or learned. Unless we are quite persistent in the repetition of our suggestions for a new program,  it will move toward the default position. Remain calm and persevering, with no attachment to the goal, to avoid the static of frustrated emotion that then weakens the power of the suggestion.

Suggestions are further strengthened when they are imbued with conscious presence as they are stated. Suggestions are most powerful when not opposed by blocking beliefs or traumatic events still charged in the unconscious. If powerful emotions or triggers litter the mindscape, best to engage in intentional processing to clear the debris, in preparation for establishing new desired habits.

May our habits achieve peak performance through a positive working relationship with our conscious minds. May our conscious minds put themselves at the service of the greater good of the Self, to ensure healthy habits for the betterment of all.

Habitually yours,

Chuck