Making friends with your subconscious mind is a lot like making friends with another person. The more you know about the other person’s preferred communication style and personal preferences, the more you can communicate with him or her effectively. If you want to please a new friend you need to know their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses. If you learn how to please them, they are more likely to want to please you. If you happen to be developing a friendship with someone who speaks a different language, it is useful and respectful of you to learn at least a few words in his or her language. The same is true of your subconscious. In fact, your subconscious does speak a different "language" than your conscious mind. The two minds may share a common language such as English, French, or German, but they share that language in a unique way. As was mentioned earlier, the conscious mind thinks abstractly, while the subconscious thinks literally. For example, your conscious mind may have a goal to be happy. Many people hold happiness to be a primary goal in life. However, without further clarification of exactly what happiness means, the subconscious mind is at a loss to assist in accomplishing that goal. It’s like planning a vacation with a friend and agreeing that you want to go somewhere that is fun. Your idea of fun may be a warm beach and a pitcher of margaritas. Your friend may be anticipating the joys of climbing a mountain in Nepal. Without further clarification of the concept of fun one of you will be in for a major disappointment! An important difference between the two language styles is that the subconscious mind can know things only through the five senses of seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. The notion of happiness or fun has little meaning to the subconscious until the idea is translated into what is called sensory-based language.
Many people are disappointed when they try to accomplish their goals. They are unaware that the subconscious mind is not at all clear about the specifics of those goals and consequently it often seems to sabotage rather than support them.
Remember: By definition, the perceptions of the subconscious mind are below the level of conscious awareness. So, what does it take to effectively communicate with the subconscious mind?
___________________
4 John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind, New York: The Free Press, 1999, Pgs.188-189.
5 Jeremy Campbell, Winston Churchhill’s Afternoon Nap, New York: Simon and Shuster, 1986.
6 Tor Nørretranders, The User Illusion, Penguin Group, USA, 1998
7 Tor Nørretranders, The User Illusion, Penguin Group, USA, 1998
Chapter 3
The Mind/Body Connection
Every thought is a cause and
every condition is an effect.
–Joseph Murphy, Ph.D., D.D.
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, 2000
Communicating with the Subconscious Mind
The subconscious directs motor functions in the body, that is, controls muscle movements. It provides a built-in communication link, commonly known as muscle testing.
What Is Muscle Testing and How Does It Work?
More than thirty years ago George Goodheart, D.C., the founder of Applied Kinesiology, introduced muscle testing in the United States. Applied Kinesiology has been used primarily by chiropractors to discover physical imbalances in the human energy system. However, muscle testing is also an easy and effective way to communicate directly with the subconscious mind for purposes of discovering self-sabotaging beliefs. The subconscious mind controls the autonomic nervous system and is responsible for our automatic physical and neurological functions. For example, our bodies move because the subconscious mind directs a complex set of electrical signals to just the right muscles at just the right time to perform a task, such as reaching for an object. The strength of the electrical signal from the brain determines the strength of the response in the muscles of the body. One theory about how muscle testing works is that the electrical signal is dramatically affected by the thoughts being contemplated in the mind. When the mind is holding a stressful thought, an electrical conflict is created in the brain and the signal strength to the body is reduced, resulting in a weakened muscle response. The same thing happens when a person makes a statement with which the subconscious mind disagrees. The conflict between the conscious and subconscious mind results in a weakened response in the muscles of the body. This principle is similar to the way a polygraph (i.e., lie detector) machine works by detecting physical changes resulting from mental processes. Consequently, muscle testing can be used to determine what thoughts are stressful to the body, as well as what ideas (beliefs) are supported or not supported at a subconscious level. In 1999, a study was published in a scientific journal called Perceptual and Motor Skills. The study was entitled Muscle Test Comparisons of Congruent and Incongruent Self-Referential Statements. The study, conducted with eighty-nine college students, concluded that, “Over-all, significant differences were found in muscle-test responses between congruent and incongruent semantic stimuli. The results of the present study suggest that the muscle test responds to the congruency of self-referential statements.” Simply put, a significant difference between the muscle responses of these individuals when they were making a true statement versus making a false statement was noted. For example, the study used two sets of statements. The first set involved the person’s name. The subject was instructed to say, “My name is (subject’s real or preferred nickname).” The second statement was, “My name is Alice/Ralph (If subject was a male, ‘Alice’ was used; if female, ‘Ralph’ was used).” The muscle test was performed immediately after vocalizing each statement. The second set of statements had to do with citizenship. The muscle response itself was measured by a computerized dynamometer to assure accuracy. A dynamometer is a device used to measure the resistance and force applied to the subject’s arm while being muscle tested.8
As you can imagine, muscle testing can be used to detect agreement or disagreement with much more interesting self-referential statements than your name and country of origin, such as:
“I respect myself,” “I am a loving and worthwhile person,” or, “I do my best, and my best is good enough.”
We will use some of these statements in a later chapter.
To experience muscle testing, you will need a partner. Follow these instructions:
Note: For readers who prefer an animated version of muscle testing, you will find it on the PSYCH-K Web site, www.psych-k.com. Select the “Test Your Beliefs” button and follow the instructions.
Determine which arm to use for the testing procedure. Avoid using an arm that is sore or injured. Otherwise, either arm can be used successfully. The primary muscle being tested in this case is the deltoid, the same muscle used in the muscle testing study referred to earlier.
1. Stand to the side of your partner, facing each other, so that you are looking over your partner’s shoulder (of the arm to be tested). See following photo.
BASIC MUSCLE TESTING POSITION
2. The person being tested extends one arm out to the side, parallel to the floor. The tester keeps one hand resting lightly on the extended arm between the wrist and elbow (where most people wear a watch or bracelet). Place the other hand on the shoulder for stability. If one arm gets tired during the testing process, simply switch arms.
3. The person being tested keeps his / her body relaxed, head facing forward, eyes open and focused down. Be sure to keep the chin parallel to the floor while focusing the eyes in a downward direction.9
4. With the arm extended from the side, have the person being tested think of something enjoyable. It can be a person, place, or activity. When your partner is experiencing the good feeling, say “Be strong” just before applying a gentle, steady pressure in a downward direction for about two seconds or until you feel the muscle either “let go” or “lock in place.” (Avoid bouncing the arm.) The person being tested is to resist the pressure of the downward movement while concentrating on the enjoyable feeling. Note the response, either strong or weak.
Muscle test your partner a
nd then switch places and have your partner test you. Each person tests a little differently, so remember to adjust your pressure to suit the person being tested. Press only as hard as necessary in order to tell whether the test is strong or weak. It is more important that the person being tested can tell the difference between a strong or weak response than the person doing the testing.
STRONG RESPONSE
WEAK RESPONSE
5. Have the person being tested (your partner) imagine something unpleasant, and repeat the preceding muscle testing procedure. Be sure to give your partner enough time to access the unpleasant feeling before you muscle test the response. Note any difference between the first test and the second. Most people will test strong to the thought of something they like and weak to something they don’t like. That is, the arm will stay in place parallel to the floor when the thought is pleasing, and it will move down toward the floor when the thought is stressful. The downward movement occurs even as the person being tested tries to keep his or her arm in the parallel position. The downward movement may be subtle or obvious. As long as the person being tested can tell the difference between a strong and weak response, the test is successful.
It is the reduction in the (electrical) signal strength to the muscles of the arm during the stressful thought process that reduces the strength of the muscles in the arm.
6. You can repeat the test using a statement rather than a thought/feeling. To do so, have the partner being tested say something out loud that is true about them, such as “My name is (insert actual name).” Muscle test the response just after the statement is made. Remember to say “Be strong” just before pressing on the wrist. Then have your partner say something that is not true about them, such as “My name is (insert fictitious name),” and muscle test the response. For best results use name, age, gender or occupation with test subjects. Most people will test strong to things that are true about them and weak to things that are not true. Test results will be clearer if the statements are made with emotion. In other words, say the statements like you really mean them and stay focused on the statement while being muscle tested.
Important Reminder: For successful results, it is necessary for the person being tested to be experiencing the feeling of the thought or statement being tested. By keeping their chin parallel to the floor and their eyes focused in a downward direction, it will be easier to access the necessary feeling state to ensure accuracy of the muscle test.
Except in unusual cases such as paralysis or other neurological disorders, muscle testing can be an accurate and effective way to communicate directly with the subconscious mind. Like most skills, muscle testing gets easier with proper instruction, practice, and experience.
In the next chapter we will explore another important psycho-physiological factor in changing unwanted beliefs: the effects of left-brain, right-brain, and whole-brain thinking.
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8 Daniel A. Monti, M.D., Associate Director, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College, 1020 Sansom Street, 1652 Thompson Building, Philadelphia, PA 19197-5004.
9 Eyes focused in the downward position engages the kinesthetic sensory system (feelings), and enables more accurate muscle responses when testing self-referential statements.
Chapter 4
Whole-Brain Integration
To heal ourselves or to help heal others we need to
reconnect magic and science, our right and left brains.
–Carl A. Hammerschlag, M.D. (psychiatrist), The Dancing Healers, 1988
Left-Brain/Right-Brain/Whole-Brain
A great deal of research has been conducted for decades on what has come to be called “Brain Dominance Theory,” also known as split-brain research. The findings of this research indicate that each hemisphere of the brain tends to specialize in and preside over different functions, process different kinds of information, and deal with different kinds of problems. Here are some of the differences between the two hemispheres:
The LEFT Hemisphere
The RIGHT Hemisphere
uses logic/reason
thinks in words
deals in parts/specifics
will analyze/break apart
thinks sequentially
is time bound
is extroverted
is characterized as male
identifies with the individual
is ordered/controlled
uses intuition/emotions
thinks in pictures
deals in wholes/relationships
will synthesize/put together
thinks holistically
is time free
is introverted
is characterized as female
identifies with the group
is spontaneous/free
Although our birthright is the natural ability to operate simultaneously out of both sides of the brain, life experiences often trigger a dominance of one side over the other when responding to specific situations. The more emotionally charged the experience is (usually traumatic), the more likely it is that the conclusion we draw from it will be stored for future reference, and the more likely it is that we will automatically overidentify with only one hemisphere of the brain when faced with similar life experiences in the future.
The goal is to increase “cross-talk” between the two brain hemispheres, thereby achieving a more whole-brained state, which is ideal for changing subconscious beliefs. In addition, when right and left hemispheres are in simultaneous communication, the qualities and characteristics of both hemispheres are available to maximize your full response potential to life’s challenges.
Clinical psychologist Ernest L. Rossi expressed the importance of learning how to create a balanced identification with both sides of the brain when he said,
More recent research has grounded this principle of complementarity [a concept of mental and emotional opposites developed by psychiatrist Carl Jung] into the very matrix of how our brain functions in the left- and right-cerebral hemispheres. We are now able to understand a bit more clearly how easy it is to fall into one side or other of the polarities or opposites of the way our mind seems to categorize:
analysis vs. synthesis
reasoning vs. intuition
extroversion vs. introversion
outer vs. inner
male vs. female
friend vs. enemy
capitalism vs. communism
Such a list is endless. These polarities immediately manifest themselves in every field of human thought and endeavor. A good case can be made for the view that the source of all conflict stems from the fallacy of falling into one or the other of these opposites; consciousness is prone to the dangerous provincialism of over-identifying with one side or the other of the mind’s logical opposites and sometimes attempting to defend it unto death.10
This tendency of the mind to overidentify with one side or the other of the brain hemispheres can contribute to everything from domestic quarrels to international conflicts. Consequently, getting both hemispheres of your brain to process information at the same time is one of the keys to successfully dealing with life’s challenges in a balanced and effective manner.
Another significant key to changing your life is knowing how to change your beliefs.
___________________
10 Psychological Perspectives, Vol. l9, No. l, 1988.
Chapter 5
The Power and Biology of Beliefs
To change the printout of the body, you must
learn to rewrite the software of the mind.
–Deepak Chopra, M.D., Perfect Health, 1990
Toxic Beliefs Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
Your beliefs are the building blocks of your personality. They define you as worthy or worthless, powerful or powerless, competent or incompetent, trusting or suspicious, belonging or outcast, self-reliant or dependent, flexible or judgmental, fairly treated or victimized, loved or hated. Your beliefs have far-reaching consequences, bot
h positive and negative, in every area of your life. Beliefs affect your self-esteem, prosperity, relationships, job performance, and spiritual outlook, even your mental and physical health.
These beliefs are formed as a result of several factors. Much like the operating software in a personal computer, our basic psychological predispositions are the result of hand-me-down software from our parents. Parenting styles, reinforced by childhood experiences and cultural conditioning, actualize the software. In other words, we are profoundly influenced by the conclusions drawn from our past programming and experiences.
These conclusions, in the form of beliefs, attitudes, values, and so on, are drawn from past experience and stored in the subconscious mind. Even though we may be mostly unaware of their influence on us, they direct our observable actions and behaviors. These subconscious beliefs create the perceptual filters through which we respond to life’s challenges. These filters form the basis for our actions and reactions to each new situation in our lives. Beliefs such as “I am competent,” “I am powerful,” or “I am safe” profoundly influence our ability to perform effectively. With beliefs like these, you can undertake challenging projects with confidence and stay focused on the task at hand. However, if you have beliefs like “I don’t really trust myself to do a good job” or “How things turn out is not really within my control,” you will proceed hesitantly, fearing mistakes, criticism, and failure.
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