You are probably quite familiar with your conscious (C) mind. Because as you are reading this you are using it, to interpret and record the data (the words) that you are reading and then to store that information in the short-term memory bank. But the conscious mind only accounts for 5-10% of our brain capacity - our potential mind power. So what about the other 90-95% of our mind? Glad you asked... that part of our mind power is called the subconscious (SC) mind... and to understand our behaviours better and why we react and respond the way we do, we need to understand it!
So there are a few key things to understand about the SC mind:
- It is where long-term memories are stored. And all memory is stored. It is truly a bank of information, a recording of our whole life. But that means that any trauma, self-limiting belief or positive memory from the past is stored somewhere deep in the SC. It is where all your beliefs are stored.
- Your SC mind is illogical, therefore it doesn't differentiate between past, present or future. There is no sense of time and so it responds to current events as though you are still in the past.
- It is the seat of creativity. Which is why great insight and solutions to problems can come up easily and effortlessly.
- It is emotional. Where emotions are generated from.
- It's primary job is protection. It is the seat of the fight/flight response.
- It works by association. So if en event happened in the past, and in the present you experience a situation that feels familiar, it will associate the same protective instincts and generate the same responses as the event from the past.
How our belief system is developed:
When we are babies we operate solely through the SC mind because the C mind is not yet developed. This allows us to absorb huge amounts of information and mentally and physically grow without inhibition or limitation. We take the world at face value, believing everything that comes our way and taking in as much about our environment and surroundings as possible. It doesn't matter if the information is untrue or damaging in some way, it gets stored in the long term memory as truth.
Once we hit 2-3 years old our C mind starts to develop. The terrible twos are real. We start questioning the world and our environment. We form our own thoughts. The filter between our SC and C starts to develop. We start to censor the input. This continues until we are 8-9 years old.
Beyond 8-9 years old, the filter between the C and SC mind exists. It is called the critical factor. It allows us to reject information. If anything is to enter to the SC mind has to go through the C mind and the critical factor first. The thing about a filter though, is that filters have holes in them. Sometimes, the filter is open without our knowing it and messages get right through without our censoring.
How does this happen?
There are many situations in our life that causes the filter to be wide open, and allows messages to sneak through.
- In times of stress when someone is emotional or overwhelmed.
- When we are around authority figures. Be it a parent, teacher, religious leader, doctor, etc.
- When we are around someone whose opinion matters to us.
Why does this matter?
Because so often we have behaviours, beliefs, reactions, responses, fears, phobias that do not serve us. And even though we know better, we can't seem to move past these limiting behaviours or beliefs. It's as if our will power just isn't enough, we just can't seem to kick the bad habit, or will ourselves to be okay with spiders. Which I'm sure you are starting to understand by now, the reason we can't shake these behaviours, beliefs, reactions, responses, fears, phobias, habits, is because they reside in our SC mind, not our C mind. And when you have something stored in the 90-95% vs. the 5-10% what is going to win? Willpower? Of course not! Willpower is a trait of the C mind. The SC mind is simply bigger and stronger than the C mind, so it wins almost every time.
So before you start feeling all hopeless, that your issues are locked away somewhere that you can't access, and that the SC mind is working against you, pause the pity party for a sec... and read on!
The way I see it, now you have the knowledge, to understand why you react and respond and behave the way you do. Knowledge is power! And also, do you think I would be writing this if I didn't have an answer for you? Of course not. Now I can't tell you why you are doing what you are doing... everyone is so different. Ten people could be scared of the same thing, and all have very different reasons for it. But I can tell you it can be incredibly simple to release these unwanted behaviours, self-limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging ways, fears, phobias and anything else that is no longer serving us.
How?
You guessed it- Hypnotherapy. read more about hypnotherapy here
In summary, the SC and C mind both are important in how we operate in this world, but when we are looking for results and to change something we tend to focus on our C mind (our willpower), while forgetting the main powerhouse the SC mind. Maybe it's that people just don't know enough about the SC mind? Maybe it is a little daunting or intimidating to know. But whatever it might be, just know that your SC mind, no matter how crazy your behaviours, habits, and limiting beliefs might be, is just trying to protect you, to keep you safe. And because of this same reason, it can be super easy to change and become the person you always dreamed of being!
As always in health and happiness,
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