Your subconscious mind is that portion of your mind that exists beneath the level of conscious awareness. It is very much like an information storehouse that holds all your memories, attitudes, emotions, beliefs, and habits. This information, which exerts a powerful influence on your life, is available to your conscious mind, but is not usually part of your conscious awareness.
The subconscious also controls most of your bodily reactions and metabolism. Breathing, blinking, digestion, walking, emotions, etc. are functions that are carried out subconsciously. We don't have to think about blinking in a sandstorm anymore than we have to remember to shiver when it is cold. Similarly, if basketball had a traumatic experience involving water, it is possible that each time you are near water your subconscious would replay this experience like an internal recording. This triggers your body, emotions, and metabolism to respond the way it did during the real danger. This is a simplified explanation of how people develop fears and phobias.
To recognize how your subconscious directs your daily life, consider how easy it is for you to walk, play a favorite sport or instrument, or drive a car. Once you learn to do these things, you do them automatically. The information is stored in your subconscious mind and your conscious mind draws on it as the need arises.
Your Source of Reality
You have probably heard the expression, "You are what you think." However, this premise does not merely refer to what you know you think, but also to what you don't know you think. It is your inner thoughts and beliefs which determine how you experience your world. The subconscious mind is actually the force that is in control of all aspects of your life-probably far more than you realize. Whether you are rich or poor, happy or sad, bored or excited, loved or unloved, and all be traced to your inner or subconscious belief system This important principle is the foundation of all the materials and methods you will encounter in my audio programs. In other words, you are aware of many of your beliefs-such as: it is right to be honest and fair, and it is wrong to steal from or hurt others. Yet, you may be unaware that deep inside your subconscious is the belief that you do not deserve financial success or to have lasting, loving relationships. And you wonder why you don't have the income you want or your relationships are not as fulfilling as they could be. Each person grows up with some ideas about him or herself that are negative, inaccurate, or outdated. Over the years, these self-limiting ideas persist (stored mostly in the subconscious) and continue to create more negative self-beliefs and experiences. This downward spiral can be stopped by replacing false, outdated ideas with positive beliefs, thoughts and attitudes.
Step-by-Step Elimination of Negative Beliefs
Many people wonder why their subconscious accepts and retains self-defeating, negative beliefs in the first place. The subconscious is peculiar in this way. It accepts information without question and proceeds to direct a person's life accordingly.
For your entire life you have been listening to and following the scripts embedded in your subconscious mind by parents, friends, relatives, educational systems, and others. Those thought habits, attitudes, and inner beliefs form the strengths and shackles that you live with. These subconscious limitations are what have been preventing you from enjoying complete success, happiness and personal fulfillment, and they will continue limiting you for the rest of your life unless you take positive steps to change them.
For example, if you were repeatedly told as a child, "You are slow. You'll never amount to much," your impressionable subconscious probably accepted these ideas without question or logical considerations. Chances are, it then went one step further, creating self-talk statements such as, "I want to be a success, but I am slow and stupid. I can't even think about doing much with my life. No one would want me. Why even bother to try?" This is how self-defeating beliefs are established. And, because they are deeply rooted in your subconscious, they remain until you replace them.
Once a positive suggestion has been accepted by your subconscious mind through repetition, the way is paved for more successful and positive ideas to be accepted. In this way you can gradually create a whole new self-belief system and a foundation for a high degree of happiness, fulfillment and success.
Guided Relaxation: The Gateway to Your Inner Mind
Deep relaxation is one of the most valuable skills you will acquire while listening to our audio programs. Stress and tensions dissolve while at the same time your mind becomes crystal clear and alert. Natural, healthful relaxation is a valuable self-development tool that you will continue to enjoy for years to come.
Medical research has shown that developing the ability to relax deeply can prevent or relieve stress-induced illness. In addition, relaxation enables you to quickly get to the source of subconscious limitations that are impeding your personal development. When your body and mind become relaxed, free of worry, strain, and tension, you are able to eliminate negative mental patterns and establish positive ones.
When you are deeply relaxed, the subconscious is most open to change. Learning to relax is very important because lasting change can only be accomplished by harnessing the power of your subconscious mind. All you need is a few undisturbed minutes, a private location, a comfortable spot to rest, and one of our Guided Relaxation/Visualization/Meditation audio programs.
Receiving the Most From Relaxation Sessions
Guided Relaxation and Visualization sessions are intended to be used in a quiet environment. Select a place where you are free from distractions and will not be disturbed. Position yourself either sitting comfortably or reclining with your arms and legs uncrossed. Be assured that the natural relaxed state you are guide into while listening to our audio programs does not require you to go unconscious or surrender your control. Your mind will remain aware and clear, throughout the sessions.
Also, be assured that should you need to attend to any situation that arises while you are listening to the tapes, you will easily be able to do so simply by opening your eyes and getting up. If you are in a deeply relaxed stat, you may wish to rub your neck, arms, and legs, stretch out and say, "Fully alert!" You are always in control. The narrations on the tapes are merely guides to help you relax physically and bring about a clear, natural, and aware mental state. Relaxation sessions are not intended to be used while driving, operating machinery or while you are involved in any other activity.
What Does Relaxation Feel Like?
The relaxation process involves carefully guided, systematic release of muscular tightness and tension. You'll notice your respiration becomes calm and regular, your heart rate slows and worrisome thoughts gradually disappear. How can you tell if you are sufficiently relaxed to benefit from the relaxation sessions? Some people needlessly worry about this. Be assured hat as long as you are following the guided instructions and feel relaxed, you will receive the intended benefits from the sessions.
Eliminating Distractions
When you first start doing the relaxation sessions, you may notice various thought racing around your head. Although these random thoughts may appear to intensify when you become physically relaxed, you are actually just becoming more aware of them. It is natural for your mind to have many thought. However, your mind will be quieted and drawn to the information presented by the voice guiding you. This will become easier for you as you continue using the audio programs over the weeks and months.
Most people develop good concentration as a by-product of listening to the guided instructions, visualizations, and affirmations. While you are listening to the tapes, realize that your mind can only concentrate on one thought at a time, and it is up to you which though that is. If you notice you have drifted off into random thoughts, gently bring your attention back to the voice in the program. With experience, distractions will occur less and less. If you experience a spinning or swaying sensation while you are deeply relaxed and find it distracting, simply tell yourself firmly, "Stop. Stabilize," and focus your full attention on the words in the program. This will normally alleviate the problem. Tightness in the forehead area or having a headache during or immediately following a relaxation session is rare and generally temporary. These discomforts may be due to tension, anxiety, or trying too hard to concentrate. Such distractions may be eliminated by temporarily shortening the time you spend in relaxation and allowing yourself to gradually become accustomed to longer sessions. Itching or tingling are passing sensations which may appear to intensify simply because you are more likely to notice them when you are relaxed. These sensations generally decrease as you gain experience in relaxation. With regular listening you'll find you are able to more quickly and easily achieve pleasant and natural states of deep relaxation.
Staying Awake and Aware
If you encounter a problem staying awake during a guided relaxation session:
1. Listen when you are feeling fresh, when you are feeling at your best, when you re wide awake and energetic. If you feel sleepy, take a short nap before beginning the relaxation session.
2. Maintain a sitting posture in a comfortable chair or on a pillow on the floor, keeping your back straight.
3. Take a brisk, ten-minute walk to invigorate yourself just prior to listening to the audio program.
4. Leave the lights on and have the temperature in the room on the cool side.
5. Listen in a room where you never sleep so there is no association of relaxing with falling asleep.
6. Keep your eyes open while you listen to the audio program a number of times gradually close them for portions of the programs and eventually close them for the entire session.
7. Maintain a slightly relaxed state and if you tend to fall asleep, fast forward past the relaxation instructions and participate in the visualization and affirmation portions while you are alert.
8. Should you feel like dozing off, increase your breathing rate, open your eyes, and say to yourself, "I am mentally alert and awake."
Reaching Your Subconscious Mind
The key to successfully accessing your subconscious is full participation in the relaxation sessions. Why? Because normally, the conscious mind screens what goes into the subconscious, but deep relaxation temporarily sets aside that screen. It is a simple and natural process that you can learn to use to great advantage. How can you be sure you have reached your subconscious mind? This comes with experience.
Because there aren't any booming voices or flashing lights, it may seem subtle and elusive at first. Some of the more common ways your subconscious often communicates include: having a mental conversation with yourself; becoming aware of a strong feeling; receiving a visual image; perceiving an impression or an internal knowing; or having an illuminating idea or insight.
Simply relax and you will discover how your subconscious is most likely to respond. Occasionally, you may find that although you are deeply relaxed and receptive, your subconscious is not giving immediate responses. You might ask a question and nothing comes. Don't worry. Sometimes the subconscious works this way. Just remain relaxed and complete the session. Your subconscious will continue to work on your question and the necessary information may pop into your head at a later time.
Visualization: The Key to Achieving What you Want in Life
Every accomplishment, every work of art, every worthwhile creation was once a clear image in someone's mind. As Albert Einstein remarked, "Imagination is greater than knowledge." Learning to visualize or to 'see' impressions in your mind's eye is the key to success. Great artists, inventors, and business people throughout history have used this secret. They have cultivated the ability to visualize and consequently succeeded in accomplishing incredible feats. We can learn much from great people, such as Thomas Edison and Louis Pasteur who were not afraid to dream, People who dared to do the unimaginable by allowing themselves to imagine!
The term "visualization" simply refers to forming impressions, concepts, feelings or pictures in your mind. Visualization is incredibly powerful because the vivid images held in your mind eventually take root in your life. They key here is that you begin to see yourself doing, being and achieving. It is not about seeing yourself trying to succeed, but about seeing yourself actually succeeding!
You can experience visualization right now. Close your eyes and in your mind's eye see yourself arriving home. Unlock your front door, enter and set your things down. Now sit in your favorite chair. See yourself relaxing into your chair and smiling. You are very content. How do you feel? If you have a vivid imagination, chances are you were able to see or sense yourself in that chair. You may even have experienced a moment of relaxation. This is an example of how powerful visualization can be.
The power of visualization was illustrated in an experiment at the University of Chicago. Students, all with about the same ability in basketball, were divided into three groups and asked to shoot foul shots. The percentage of baskets each team made were recorded. The first group was then told not to practice or play basketball for thirty days. The second group was told to practice shooting foul shots every day for one hour for thirty days. And, the third group was told not to go on a basketball courts al all for thirty days, but to practice shooting foul shots in their mind for an hour each day.
At the end of thirty days, there were some fascinating results. As you would expect, Group 1, who had not practiced at all, had made no improvement over their original percentage of baskets made. Group 2, the group that had actually practiced, had improved their performance by 24%. Group 3, who had not set foot on a basketball court, who had only imagined shooting baskets in their mind, had improved their performance by a phenomenal 23%, almost the same improvement as the group who had actually played basketball! The reason? The subconscious doesn't distinguish between an actual event and a vividly imagined one.
It is medically and scientifically recognized that visualized images actually bring about psychological and physiological changes to virtually the same degree as direct experience. This principle is now being use in numerous medical applications as well as to accelerate learning, to improve athletic performance to promote successful career achievement, etc.
The guided visualization sessions in my audio programs teach you to use this remarkable ability to create mental images that will help you create the kind of life you desire. The visualization sessions on the tapes involve ad 3-step process:
1. You are gently guided to achieve a comfortable state of physical relaxation and mental clarity.
2. Step-by-step suggestions lead you to create positive images to replace negative beliefs, emotions, and memories. 3. Specific guided instructions help you to reprogram your mind with positive, constructive beliefs and images of how you want to be and what you want to experience.
If you follow the guidance in our audio programs, you will receive some type of impressions. But remember, visualizations emerge in various and sometimes surprising or subtle ways. The variation is because people's minds work differently. Some people are more visual thinkers and can generate detailed mental pictures, colors, and images in their minds. They can actually close their eyes and see vivid mental "movies." Others are conceptual thinkers, who don't see "movies" but receive conceptual impression, ideas, feelings, inner knowing or realizations. Some people receive a combination of images and impressions, falling somewhere between the two extremes. Others even perceive spoken words and information, hearing with their "inner" ear.
Avoid expectations about how your imagination works, and don't worry if at first the images are vague. Fixed expectations or worries about whether you're doing it right tend to block impressions. The idea is to be completely open and receptive to whatever images or concepts come to your inner mind. Whatever you perceive can produce results because those impressions are being absorbed directly by your subconscious mind. Impressing your subconscious mind with positive intent is the object of the relaxed visualization sessions.
When you first begin your program, you may find yourself arguing with some of the positive statements saying, "This is jut not me," or "I could never be this way." Don't worry if this happens. It is simply your mind responding to the old subconscious programming it has been repeating for so many years. As time goes on, the negative self-talk will grow less and less, and the positive changes in your life will grow greater and greater. Practice makes perfect! Your ability to visualize or imagine will improve remarkably the more you practice! It makes no difference how your impressions appear. Just as each of us imagines in a different way, each person has his or her unique way of visualizing. There is no need to judge or compare yourself to anyone else. Over the weeks and months, as you use these programs, you will find that you become quite skilled at these techniques.
Remember
1. Relax and enjoy using your imagination. It's fun!
2. Whatever impressions come are uniquely yours. Cherish them! (Some people keep a notebook to write or draw the images they perceive. Often this keeps motivation high and direction clear.)
3. Listen again and again! You will find that you never tire of the treasures you discover on these 'inner' journeys! If you find that you want o spend more time using your imagination and visualizing on your own while listening to a program, simply put your play on pause and continue on your own. Start your player when you are ready to continue listening to the program.
4. While you are experiencing the guided sessions, you will often have amazing insights and ideas you want to remember. However, as vivid as these experiences are, they tend to fade from your memory much like a dream fades basketball you wake up. To clearly retain what you have learned, you might find it helpful to keep a notebook nearby so you can immediately record the details of your experiences in the guided sessions. Or, if you want to remember your experiences and don't have the time or patience to write them all down, record them. Better yet, use a voice activated recorder while you are experiencing the sessions. Speaking aloud will not necessarily bring you out of your relaxed state, rather it can help you to focus and retain the details.
Positive Affirmations for Personal Power
Affirmations are positive, present tense statements which address a specific area in your life that you wish to change. Positive affirmations are one of the most powerful tools you can use to cause changes in your subconscious. The innovative way we have combined them in our audio programs makes them especially effective. Positive statements or affirmations are incorporated into most of the guided relaxation sessions, as well as our audible and subliminal affirmation programs. Words express the thoughts, attitudes and beliefs that are held by your subconscious mind. Impressing positive affirmations into your subconscious mind will gradually bring about the changes you desire. To help you get the most out of your positive affirmations:
1. Repeat each affirmation out loud or in your mind as you listen. Repetition is extremely valuable because your subconscious mind will accept what it is told over and over again. This becomes the basis for specific qualities, behavior or experience you want to manifest in your life.
2. Express strong emotion as you repeat the affirmations. Your subconscious mind is more receptive to emotionally charged statements.
3. Involve many senses. Visualize and imagine affirmations. Say them as you listen. Write them down and read them to yourself whenever the opportunity arises throughout the day.
4. Focus your efforts. It is best to choose two or three areas of your life to work on and concentrate on these first.
Jonathan Parker is the founder and director of Quantum Quests International. For over 30 years he has been a counselor, workshop facilitator and author of one of the largest self-development libraries in the world. It is his voice you will hear on all the programs we offer.
Jonathan has university degrees in Education, Chemistry, Theology, Counseling Psychology, and Human Behavior & Development, but his life-long relentless quest for unraveling the many questions and mysteries of life also led him on a broad journey into comparative religion, quantum physics, clinical psychology, Huna, Theosophy, botany, astronomy, Sufism, nutrition, music, hypnosis, psychic phenomena, NLP, energy medicine, meditation, and metaphysics. http://www.QuantumQuests.com
