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What Really Is the Subconscious Mind?
You can describe your conscious mind as “the tip of the iceberg”, which can be seen above the water, whereas your subconscious mind is what lies below the surface and cannot really be seen. Your conscious mind gives you the ability to think, reason, compute and decide, while the vast powers of the subconscious mind largely remain untapped.
In fact, your subconscious mind is the dynamo that controls your conscious mind and is like a huge storehouse where the non-physical aspects exist such as experiences, ideas, imaginations, emotions, dreams, beliefs, lessons, etc. It is an integral part of your brain where your impressions and many of your unconscious decisions are made and when your conscious mind has to make a decision, it pulls data from your subconscious to enable you to make informed choices.
According to psychologists, our subconscious mind is the source of feeling, creativity, inspiration, intuitive thoughts and even spiritual awakening. It is believed that you can use your conscious mind to change the subconscious mind, which in turn, can translate into visible changes in your life. In other words, if you want more of something in life, be it more money, better opportunities, greater job prospects, you have the power to make it happen. And by changing the manner in which you think and by tapping into the power of the subconscious mind, you can find a way to live a more successful, happier and fulfilling life.
According to the book “Every Word Has Power” by Yvonne Oswald, the subconscious mind:
- Can remember everything.
- Activates the physical body.
- Stores all the emotions in the body.
- Preserves all your genealogical instincts.
- Connects you with the divine.
- Creates and sustains repeating patterns.
- Makes use of imagery, symbols and metaphors.
- Accepts information both literally, as well as personally.
- Takes direction from your conscious mind.
- Avoids processing negative commands.
So, How Does the Subconscious Mind Work?
The power of your subconscious mind can be harnessed by using it deliberately and consciously to influence and guide you to make the right choices. You can do this by communicating with your subconscious mind – by asking questions, giving it problems to solve, setting goals and your subconscious mind will mine its stores in order to find solutions, answers and actions to your tasks. For instance, if you want to achieve a specific result such as overcoming a health problem, finding a suitable job, etc. you need to tell your subconscious mind what you want exactly in complete detail.
Your subconscious mind is not only a warehouse of all your experiences, via its connection to the universal mind, but it is also connected to a source of unlimited knowledge. All the information we get by reading books, taking courses, experiencing events, etc. are all recorded into our subconscious mind and many things get programmed into it intentionally or by accident. For instance, beliefs formed on basis of misconceptions, thoughts we don’t really want to entertain, unplanned experiences, etc.
So, if you’re not really getting the result you want from life, it is probably due to the faulty programming of the subconscious mind and the best part is that whether the programming was on purpose or by accident, it can be reprogrammed at any time to achieve the results you want. While you cannot simply delete these negative ideas and thoughts, you can override them with more desirable and positive ideas, thoughts and beliefs.
How You Can Practice Subconscious Mind Power
There are many ways by which you can harness the power of the subconscious mind that can have far-reaching positive effects in your life.
Identify the Learned, Self-Doubting Thoughts
Studies reveal that thoughts that are self-limiting and self-doubting can affect your ability to perform and achieve the goals that you’re capable of i.e. you are setting yourself for failure if you begin doubting yourself, your capabilities and your probability of succeeding. Having a poor estimate of yourself is not a true reflection of you or your capability, although, these thoughts may seem to be real in the long run.
Whenever you start thinking negatively about yourself or your capabilities, stop and find out the cause for these negative thoughts. Question why you think you will fail at the specific task and you will discover that the self-doubting thoughts do not have any solid basis in reality. Unless you try something, you will never know whether you will succeed or fail. Look at any task as an experiment, which you cannot reach a conclusion at without collecting data and every situation must first be tested before determining the result.
Think Positively
You will keep trying something and succeed in it only if you believe in yourself and your capabilities. Once your self-doubting thoughts are silenced, then you must replace them with useful and constructive ones and this can be done when you acknowledge your skills, abilities and talents and also by learning to accept positive comments and compliments from others.
Always understand that you have your strengths, abilities and talents just like everyone else. Instead of focusing on your faults or supposed weaknesses, identify the areas which you can strengthen and change. Always practice positive self-talk and every time you encounter a negative thought in your head, respond by acknowledging a positive aspect about yourself.
Modify the Manner in Which You Approach Your Goals
It may be a good idea to alter the way you think about your aspirations and goals before you actually tap into the abilities of your subconscious mind. Even if your dreams are big, you should be realistic and set goals that are easily manageable and achievable. Use the S.M.A.R.T. way of setting goals. S.M.A.R.T. essentially stands for goals which are “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused and Time-bound.”
- Specific: Be unambiguous and clear about what you want to accomplish.
- Measurable: Ensure that the outcome of your goals are quantifiable and in the end, you know that you have achieved your goal.
- Achievable: Ensure that the goals can be achieved reasonably with your current skills and knowledge. Avoid setting unreasonable goals.
- Result Focused: Ensure that there is an endpoint to your goal and it does not comprise of an endless list of activities. In the end, it is important to know that you have achieved your goal.
- Time Bound: You should structure the achievement of your goal within a timeframe that is realistic and which allows you to put in the work necessary to achieve your goal. At the same time, also include a deadline, so that you complete the work and do not procrastinate endlessly.
Change Your Mind That You Will Change Your World
Your day-to-day happiness can depend on the state of your subconscious mind. If you begin your day in a bad mood, then it is quite certain that the rest of your day will be pretty bad. This is because the thought patterns of your subconscious mind affect the manner in which you interact with the world and the way you have handled the situation and information around you.
Most events are not necessarily good or bad; however, since your subconscious mind has driven you to be in a bad mood, you see these events as being bad. And, on the other hand, if your subconscious mind puts you in a good mood, then you tend to see unpleasant events in a positive light and as small inconveniences.
Change Your Old Habits
Your subconscious mind works mostly through habits and patterns which it recognizes as part of your daily life. This causes your brain to go into the “autopilot mode”, such as when you are driving to work or doing your chores at home, etc. While at times, the autopilot mode can be good, however, if you’re trying to harness the subconscious brain power, then it is a good idea to change your routine every day and this will prevent your subconscious mind from old ways of thinking that may have prevented you from succeeding in the past.
Minor changes in your daily routine such as the activities at home or taking a different route to your home, etc. can make a huge difference in the way you interact with the world by forcing your subconscious mind to engage with the environment around you. In this way, you can help your mind to focus on your goals and engage with them.
Be Open
You will begin to think and feel differently and in new ways once you are able to recognize how the subconscious mind influences the way you interact with the environment and world around you. This may take a lot of effort and time; however, you will eventually be able to recognize when your brain begins to distort a particular situation and you are able to stop forcing the world to fit into your views. When you are able to do this, you can school your subconscious mind to bring about real changes in your life.
Understand What You Want
Having a vague idea of your goals and what you want to accomplish is not enough. If you want to harness the power of your subconscious mind, then you must be very clear and precise about what you want. You should be absolutely unambiguous about what outcome you desire.
Using the mantra meditation technique is a very powerful tool. The idea is to repeat aloud or in your mind a positive mantra which will help you to conquer any fear or difficulty and the more often you repeat it, the more you believe in the mantra and more faith you have in the words, which will give you a better result.
Many studies suggest that a major cause of illnesses is hypochondria, i.e. convincing yourself that you are ill. This is an extremely powerful mantra which is powered by emotions such as fear. So, you should convince your mind that you are happy, healthy and mentally strong.
Refocus Your Emotional Energy
It is extremely important to understand and know what you want and it is even more important to devote your emotional energy towards achieving that goal. When you know what you want clearly, then imagine that particular goal and imagine that you have already achieved it.
Experts believe that the subconscious mind can break free from problematic thought patterns and behaviors if you are extremely passionate about your goal and devote your energy and time thinking about how to achieve it.
Working Towards Your Goal
Changing the way you think and focusing your energies on the end result of your goal are important steps. However, the key to achieving your goal is working towards accomplishing it. Once you have conquered self-doubt about your capabilities and have changed the manner of thinking and interacting with the world, you are likely to be sure and confident about yourself. But, you need to take the steps and work towards achieving your dreams.
Techniques to Harness the Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Here are some effective techniques that you can practice, which can help you achieve anything you dream of:
Precision Affirmation
You must have heard about repeating positive statements so that you believe in it. However, when you make a clear and definite statement as if it is true already, then your subconscious mind will act according to that specific belief and if you believe in the precise affirmations wholeheartedly, your brain will imprint these into your neural pathways which causes you to change the way you think about things.
Visualization
This is an extremely powerful technique that can retrain your subconscious mind, as it lets you experience and feel a situation that has not occurred already as if it is real. And, the amazing part is that if you truly believe something to be real, your subconscious mind will be unable to distinguish between your dream and reality. The more specific your visualizations are, the more is the positive behavioral change. This essentially means that if you genuinely see yourself as being successful at something in your mind, your subconscious mind will process it as reality.
Meditation
This is a powerful method by which you can retrain your brain because meditation rises beyond conscious thought. Meditation forces you to submit to inner peace and forego any distractions, be it external or internal. And, apart from just helping you achieve inner calm, meditation can help you to become spiritually advanced and psychologically stable, enabling you to break down all the mental barriers and limitations around you.
Your subconscious mind is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal and can play a major role in your spotting and making the most of an opportunity. You can harness the power of your subconscious mind and influence it to work towards fulfilling the goals that are important to you and mastering it can help you lead a happy and successful life.
