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Articles
Mind Over Matter
You would think that with the billions of dollars N.A.S.A. spends on launching probes and satellites into the farthest reaches of the universe that space, as Captain James T Kirk said in every episode of Star Trek, really was the final frontier. I beg to differ. I suggest to you it is 'inner space', the human mind, than represents a greater enigma than the distant stars ever will.
Thanks to modern technology, our knowledge of the external has, much like the universe itself, expanded rapidly. We can be certain of the motions of the planets around far off suns and have discovered that an insubstantial 'dark matter' fills the heavens, yet the grey matter between our ears still remains somewhat of a mystery.
So what do we know? We know your mind is incredible and has been described as a biological computer more powerful than any electronic brain yet devised by man. Everything we see around us, from the smallest ball bearing to gigantic Apollo space rockets was first conceived in and then made reality by the human mind.
Although all our man made achievements may seem impressive, it is generally accepted that we use only approximately 10% of the brain's ability, whilst the remaining 90% remains dormant and unused. That part we have used to create our world demonstrates only a fraction of the human mind's capabilities. What we have discovered and achieved so far is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
To Boldly Go …..
Of this we are certain. If you were to compare the mind to Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise you'd see there were two things going on at the same time as it speeds through space. First you have the crew, busying themselves with the everyday tasks needed to keep everything ship shape and Bristol fashion. This is like the conscious mind, the part you are using now to read these words and over which we have most control. We use it for daily decision making, rational thinking and other everyday tasks.
But your average Starship crewman probably doesn't think about all the other unseen, un-noticed things going on in the ship that keep him alive and prevent the ship from slamming into asteroids. There's the air conditioning that lets him breathe and keeps the temperature just right, there's the lifts speeding people to other decks, doors opening and shutting automatically to let him in and out of rooms and millions of routine computer processes that every second keep the ship and its crew 'alive' and functioning normally.
Similarly the subconscious takes care of all the automatic functions we need to stay alive but which we don't have to think about every second of the day, such as breathing (you don't have to think "now I breathe in, now I breathe out do you?), our emotions, imagination, memories and the autonomic nervous system - pupil dilation, saliva production, skin condition, that sort of thing.
Two different ships, two different 'yous' inhabiting the same space, interdependent on each other and subtlety interacting all day and all night.
And, like the computers on Enterprise, the subconscious also possesses the remarkable ability to record everything you've seen, heard, experienced or learned since you were born, even things you were not consciously aware of at the time. You may not be able to access that information right now but its all in there somewhere. That's why police forces around the world sometimes use professional hypnotherapists to hypnotise crime scene witnesses. Under hypnosis the conscious mind is 'bypassed' and the subconscious 'tape recorder' accessed to recall photographic details about a scene that, at the time, the witness may not have consciously registered.
Tell the computer on Enterprise to blow up the ship and it will probably do it, no questions asked. It doesn't reason or question the command. Same with the subconscious - it records anything and everything and believes whatever it is told, if it is told often enough. That's bad if you keep telling it you are useless or unworthy or fat or un-loveable or whatever that little niggling negative voice inside all of us keeps saying. The subconscious just says "okay, that's fine, so be it" and will do its utmost to make those beliefs come true.
But what if you were to keep telling it "you are great, you are self confident, you are loveable and you are slim"? Same thing, subconscious accepts these things to be true and will change your belief systems, way of acting and re-acting to the outside world accordingly.
The subconscious cannot resist consistent bombardment of one simple idea or set of instructions. It simply has to give in and give you whatever you want. The subconscious is that powerful!
Not convinced? Take these examples.
Perhaps one of the most often quoted and well known examples of the incredible power of the subconscious mind was an experiment carried out in the 1950's on a cinema audience in America.
During the movie, just a single frame with the simple instruction to buy a certain product, was inserted into the film. As a single frame it flashed by without the viewers even noticing it was there but sure enough, come the interval, everyone went out to the bar and bought the product and overall sales soared! Luckily, so dastardly effective was this form of subconscious advertising, it was banned before any other another company could jump on the bandwagon and bend unsuspecting audiences to its commercial will.
Still, the fantastic power of this method to influence the way people think and act did not escape the British and American medical authorities who, in the same decade gave official approval for the use of hypnosis in treating both physical and psychological disorders.
Since then, the amazing ability of the mind to control both physical and mental states has been proven again and again. Doctors and therapists all over the world recognise hypnosis as a valuable therapeutic tool that can be used to treat asthma, tension, headaches, stomach disorders, blood pressure, smoking and many other physical ailments. Even dentists are now using a form of hypnosis on patients so that they feel no pain during treatment without having to take a conventional anaesthetic.
Boosting the health of the body is one of the areas where hypnosis seems to work particularly well. Years of clinical research and controlled experiments seem to suggest that it is possible to boost your immune system just by thinking about it.
Nicholas Hall, a neurophysiologist at George Washington University Medical Centre in America found that his subjects could increase the number of white blood cells, as well as an immunity hormone called Thymosin-alpha-1, in their bloodstream by simply using visualisation exercises.
Still not convinced? Try this one for size. At the University of Texas, Dr Frank Lawlis found that if his subjects used their imaginations in a creative way, they could boost the number of disease fighting cells, called Neutrofils, in their bloodstream. Similarly, in Japan, Doctors found in controlled tests that their subjects could eliminate the itching, swelling and blistering caused by exposure to a poisonous plant by imagining, under hypnosis, that it was harmless. Amazingly, when the experiment was reversed and patients were told that a harmless plant was poisonous, their skin reacted as if they had really been exposed to its harmful chemicals!
This to me demonstrates beyond doubt the power of the mind to influence the body. If it can have this much influence on our physical state, just imagine what it can do for our mental one! The subconscious mind also has enormous influence over what way we think and what we think. It affects the way we feel, the way we see the world and the way we deal with life.
What is Hypnosis?
When I talk about hypnosis I don't mean the silly kind you see on television where some stage hypnotist makes a poor unsuspecting victim believe he's Mr Spock and has no control over his actions (although this is another good example of how the subconscious can be made to modify your belief and behaviour). I'm talking about hypnotherapy, which is another kettle of fish altogether but often confused with the kind used for entertainment.
Hypnosis in this context does not mean someone completely taking control of your mind and turning you into some kind of zombie to provide embarrassing entertainment for audiences. It could be compared more accurately to a pleasant bout of daydreaming. It's not like going to sleep and you do not become unconscious. You are still aware of your surroundings to some extent and are still in charge of all your faculties so no-one can make you bark like a dog if you don't want to! Instead you feel pleasantly relaxed but mentally alert.
Hypnosis is a very pleasant, relaxing state to be in because your consciousness is directed inwards so you become comfortably detached from the outside world. You could say it's a 'shift' in consciousness, where the inner imaginary world comes more to the fore and the everyday reality of life is relegated to the back of your mind. It is in this state that the enigmatic subconscious mind becomes much more susceptible to either negative or positive suggestion. It makes no distinction between the two.
Why? Because hypnosis bypasses our conscious, reasoning, sceptical, disbelieving mind set and speaks directly to the non-judgemental, easily fooled, all trusting subconscious.
Here's what the Encyclopaedia Britannica has to say on the subject.
"Hypnosis is defined as a special psychological state with certain physiological attributes resembling sleep only superficially and market by a functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state. This state is characterised by a degree of increased receptiveness and responsiveness in which inner perceptions are given as much significance as is generally given only to external reality".
A Little bit of History
The word 'hypnosis' was coined in the 19th century but it is, in fact, a very ancient form of behavioural therapy. The ancient Sumerian civilisation which existed about 4000 years before Christ were using hypnosis as a therapeutic tool as did Hindu Fakirs, Persian Magi, Indian Yogis, the physicians of ancient Egypt and healers of the middle ages.
Perhaps one of the most famous practitioners of the art was a German physician called Franz Anton Mesmer who lived from 1784 to 1815. Although his strange techniques were in pseudo mystery and amateur dramatics, he never realised that when he transfixed his patients into a kind of trance, he was using a form of hypnosis. His legacy lives on to this day in the word 'Mesmerized' which is still used to describe a form of hypnotic influence.
But it wasn't until the 18th century that an English optometrist called James Braid observed that a trancelike state could be achieved when a person fixed their gaze on a shining object for a few minutes and coined the term 'hypnosis', which comes from the Greek word 'hypnos' for sleep. As we have seen, during hypnosis you don't really fall asleep so the name is somewhat inaccurate but, for better or worse, it has stuck.
Now, all over the world, professional hypnotherapists are helping people overcome physical problems or modify their thinking and behaviour and transforming lives for the better using this truly ancient form of therapy. The great news is that you don't have to go and visit a therapist (and pay their high fees) to benefit from this remarkable self-help system.
How Self Hypnosis Can Transform Your Life
Let's talk about self-hypnosis.
Say, for instance, I have a friend who is an incredibly shy person and have been all their life. He hates crowds and talking to strangers fills him with dread so he avoids social situations as much as he can, has few friends and leads a rather lonely and isolated life. This could be due to many things, for just as the subconscious accepts positive suggestions readily; it also accepts negative ones as well. Years of self-doubt or that nagging, negative inner voice we all have can take their toll on a subconscious all too willing to accept whatever it is you repeatedly tell it.
Most people have literally been programmed, like a computer, with what computer people term GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). That is, they have been subjected to repeated messages teaching self doubt, fear, anxiety, etc. This programmed language of limitation has become their 'life script', their expectation, and therefore most of their reality.
Now, say I came along and gave him a professionally recorded CD or tape that contained positive suggestions or affirmations' such as "I am incredibly self confident", "I feel good about myself and enjoy meeting new people" or "I feel calm and confident when I'm with other people" . One side of this tape would be a subliminal version.
Subliminal means the sayings would be at an auditory level so low he consciously couldn't hear them but, as we have seen, his subconscious hears them perfectly well and absorbs the positive suggestions without the listener knowing. These subliminal suggestions are usually masked under some pleasant music. The great thing about this is that he can go about his daily business just listening to the music in the background but all the time his subconscious is absorbing those positive suggestions.
This type of recording is great for busy people who don't have the time to sit down and listen to a tape for 30 minutes and die hard sceptics who don't believe a word I'm saying. The great thing about self-hypnosis is that it works in spite of your beliefs to the contrary. You don't have to 'make' it work; you don't even have to try. Your subconscious believes whatever you tell it. It's the perfect 'no effort' way to change you for the better and re-program that childhood conditioning that may have led to my friend's shyness.
The other side is an auditory version of those same suggestions he can hear and use either when he's drifting off to sleep or when he feels like a relaxing break. At the beginning might be some relaxation visualisation exercise to help him drift off into a pleasant daydream-like state while the positive suggestions are repeated over and over to him on a conscious level. There's nothing magical or occult about this, just one of the most relaxing, pleasant and comfortable experiences you can have that gives you control over your mind and body not normally available in your normal, conscious state.
You see, the deepest and most important feelings about ourselves may be quite different from or at odds with what we hold in the deeper levels of our minds. The positive suggestions given on the CD help change a particular behaviour or reaction. The suggestions are more readily accepted by the mind because the critical faculties of the conscious mind are partially suspended, allowing the suggestions to be delivered to the non-judgemental subconscious mind for storage. Once delivered, my friend should begin displaying the desired behaviour to a greater or lesser extent once out of hypnosis. Within one month or less my friend could be partying like there's no tomorrow! That's self-hypnosis!
Just think, you too could become your own therapist and use the power of your subconscious to influence a particular habit or behaviour. Would you like more self confidence like my friend? Maybe loose weight easily? Stop smoking? Be more positive? Overcome your fear of flying? The possibilities are limitless.
What would you really love to happen in your life? What do you want to change about yourself? Think of all the major areas of your life like family, relationships, career, money etc. What skills do you want to learn? How much money do you want to make? What character traits do you want to change or develop? Which one of these do you want to do?
It's all possible. I should know. I was that shy little boy who used the power of positive suggestion to transform himself from a wall flower to a socially confident young man.
Now, old fashioned self hypnosis cassette tapes have been around for many years. I've been using products from Hypnosis Downloads to great effect but recent technological breakthroughs have taken this wonderful method of self-transformation to a whole new level with CD’s, DVDs and MP3 downloads.
So you see, it's not outer space that posses some of the greatest challenges we have ever faced, its inner space. Your mind is the 'final frontier' just waiting to be explored and exploited for your ultimate benefit.