Conscious and Subconscious Work

In the previous post I've shared how we can focus on what we desire in our lives through the words we speak and the things we look for. This is one of the most important parts of our conscious work.

Let me explain what I mean by conscious and subconscious work. The experiences that have made us who we are, are built into our subconscious minds. Our perceptions of those experiences create our reality. So if we want to change something about our reality then that is the place to start.

The subconscious mind consists of our imagination, our memories, and our emotions.

Everything we've ever experienced is stored in the subconscious mind and as for growing up, sometimes there is misunderstanding with experiences we have as a child that can create a perception that isn't completely accurate. We have a chance to change this through subconscious work which happens through hypnosis (or meditation). Once we do our subconscious work, our conscious work is much more effective.

Part of this conscious work is choosing what we allow into our subconscious. We're the keepers of the gate.

Dr. Caroline Leaf (a cognitive neuroscientist) said,

It may sound daunting to try to capture all of your thoughts and control your emotions. Yet when you understand how you can scientifically choose what becomes part of who you truly are…you will also understand you have an amazing ability to change...You can choose!"  (The Perfect You, p. 59)

It boils down to our choice. If it were that simple why don't we just choose what's most helpful for us? This goes back to our perceptions of our memories. Here's an example from a personal session I did.

I desired a session because it felt like there was a wall blocking me from accomplishing my goals.

During my session I remembered my experience on the high school swim team. (That was my first experience competitively swimming and I was determined to win a race.) After two years of focused effort with doing all I could to strengthen my muscles and my ability to swim faster, I still had not won a single race. (Interestingly enough the only race I even placed was the one where I did a visualization of the race before I raced. That was before I knew about hypnosis.)

Anyway, I was so discouraged because everyone else on the team seemed to be able to win and do really well during the swim seasons.

Through the Hypnotherapy session I realized I had accepted a belief that I was not capable of reaching my goals no matter how hard I tried. (Hence the wall I was feeling with accomplishing goals.)

This Hypnotherapy session was significant because I realized how unrealistic my expectation was. The others on the swim team had been racing since they were young. Why would I think I could beat them? I was only on my first and second years of competitive swimming. I was able to see the reality with this and I was relieved from this impossible standard I held myself to. I felt free. That's what truth does. It sets us free.

Now I had the opportunity to build an accurate belief with the truth:

"As I work hard I improve and accomplish my realistic goals."

Like I said before, this isn't a magical formula that makes everything better. This is a tool that (with effort) allows you to progress on your chosen path. Caroline Leaf teaches 7 minutes of truth a day for 63 days builds a new pathway. As I'm doing this 7 minutes a day, and I feel that same "stuck" it becomes easier to evaluate and come to a realistic expectation of myself (usually with the help of my husband's outside perspective).

This is how we progress. Step by step. A little at a time. Enjoy the journey.