Your Amazing Mind
Greetings and Hello,
Do you seek peace of mind? Do you have an open mind? Do you sometimes feel like the absent minded professor because things slip your mind instead of spring to mind?
Well, never mind that. You can put your mind at ease and take a load off your mind, while I mind my own business.
The word “mind,” is commonplace in our everyday language. Keep in mind that it’s a somewhat flexible word that holds many meanings. Bear in mind, to a hypnotherapist, the word ‘mind’ has very specific meanings! Thus, I have a good mind to share all of its’ component parts in great detail and depth. But alas, I will mind my manners and just summarize in order to provide a foundation to all those curious minds out there who want to know just-how-Amazing-Your-Mind-Is.
The Mind Defined
Let’s begin with what mind is and what it isn’t:
Although the words “mind” and “brain” are commonly used interchangeably, they are not the same thing.
The ‘brain’ is the physical organ located in your skull that is part of your body’s central nervous system.
The ‘mind’ is more abstract. The mind is a continuum; it is a field of intelligence. Thoughts come in and thoughts go out, at a non-ordinary, non-verbal level. The mind is a manifestation of consciousness.
‘Consciousness’ is sentience and awareness of our existence; it is the “self” that we are. Consciousness is an energy that alters quanta. Physics tells us that energy cannot be destroyed, it can only be transformed.
A good analogy comes to mind: the brain and the body are the computer hardware, the mind is the software, and you and the environment around you are the computer programmers.
The mind and brain do communicate and interrelate. They are friends. The mind uses the brain as an instrument and it programs and directs the brain. The brain then runs, controls and manages our physical body. For instance, the electrical impulses in our brain, our brainwaves, reflect our states of mind. Afterall, great minds think alike! Bear in mind that this article focuses on “mind” and not the physical structures of the brain, neuroanatomy, nor physiology.
One Mind: Three Levels of Awareness
Although we are most aware of and identify most with the attributes of our conscious mind, our conscious level of awareness accounts for only 5 to 10% of of our total mind capacity! Our total mind continuum is actually comprised of three different levels of awareness:
Conscious - logic, volition, analysis, reasoning
Subconscious - creativity, emotions, consciousness of the body, guides the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS), is always recording and stores all of our memories, beliefs, scripts
Superconscious - spiritual connection, intuition, wisdom, love, joy, peace, compassion
To truly access our mind’s amazing power, we must first recognize that we are not solely our conscious level of awareness. We are so much more than that! And secondly, knowing how to tap into our deeper levels of awareness brings us to a place where we can be highly effective in our lives (subconscious) and experience our deeper nature (superconscious).
Subconscious Driver
Everything that’s happening consciously has its impulse in the subconscious. The subconscious is the driver and the source. E.g. The mind chatter, that self talk, behaviors and habits, and more. Those and many other acquired and learned conditioned patterns are all rooted in subconscious limiting content such as limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs restrict us, while positive beliefs expand us.
Think of it this way… Your true spiritual nature is akin to a wild horse who has the freedom to roam and run to it’s heart’s content. Subconscious limiting beliefs are like multiple fences that contain the horse and limit it’s ability to be true to it’s nature. It cannot run free, and it loses the power of choice.
To tap into our mind’s amazing abilities, we want to remove those fences that limit our movement, creation and manifestation. We want to take down those fences because they aren’t in alignment with our true nature and don’t support us in living the highest expression of who we are.
We generally do this by going beyond the conscious mind so we can see where and what the fences are. Once we have access and awareness, we gain the Power of Choice. We can choose to remove, amend, heal or fix those fences that are not serving us in a positive way. This is the heart of the hypnotherapy process; the use of natural trance states to move beyond the fences of our conditioned mind, so we can run free and happy, living the light of our spiritual nature.
Three Things Your Amazing Mind Can Do
Whether you want to strengthen your mind-body connection to improve your health and vitality, optimize your sports performance, increase your learning capacities, receive answers to questions, overcome challenges, let go of limitations, or increase your intuition, tapping into Your Amazing Mind’s true potential is founded in these three capacities (which I wrote about in an earlier blog, Three Simple Secrets to Finding Peace Within).
Consider the following:
1. Do you cause your mind to think when you want it to?
2. Do you cause your mind to think what you want it to?
3. Do you cause your mind to stop thinking when you want it to?
If you answered 'no' to any of the above, you are not alone! Most people live on autopilot of their conditioned mind (within the fences) until they realize they actually do have the power of choice and can cause their mind to think when and what they want it to, and to stop thinking when they want it to (call to mind those sleepless nights spent tossing and turning!). You can change your mind.
Amazing Examples Throughout History
Following are just a few examples of people who have tapped into the power of their amazing mind.
Note: “trance states” specifically refers to self-hypnosis. If your curious mind wants to know the difference between hypnosis and meditation, you can read about that here.
Mystical Origins and Scientific Discovery
Thousands of years ago, yogi meditation masters used the yoga sutra teachings to travel into space and measure the distance from the Earth to the Sun. They psychically found that the distance from the Earth to the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Sun. The didn’t rely on technology or their physical eyes, senses or brain - they meditated on it. They went within, quieted their conscious mind, and projected their minds out to get the answers. Scientific evidence now shows that the distance from the Earth to the Sun is 108 times diameter of the Sun. 108 is considered by many to be a spiritual number.
Another discovery made during an altered state is they saw that the Sun is 108 times larger in diameter than the Earth. Scientific evidence now shows that the exact diameter is 107.9 times larger.
Ormand McGill, CHt, hypnotist (1915-2005) used self-hypnosis to communicate with Patanjali, Indian sage (200-150 BC) who wrote the ancient yoga sutras text. In the 1950’s Ormand traveled to India to study hypnotism, meditation and mysticism. He put himself into hypnosis (specifically the superconscious state), and asked Patanjali, of 10 books, what information should put into one condensed book. Ormand got one page of notes, resulting in his book “Hypnotism and Mysticism of India.”
Albert Einstein – was known to use hypnosis every afternoon. His theory of relativity came to him while in a trance state (self-hypnosis). He used trance states to develop his ideas.
Thomas Edison – practiced self-hypnosis regularly to solve problems and spark big ideas for his inventions.
Nikola Tesla – visionary inventor known for his developments of the alternating current electricity and electric cars, used a trance state for exploring his futurist ideas.
Artistic and Musical Brilliance
Salvador Dalí - Spanish artist known for using trance states to explore subconscious imagery and allow creative inspiration to flow.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Franz Anton Mezmer was a contemporary of Mozart and taught Mozart self-hypnosis. Mozart composed the famous opera “Cosí fan tutte” while in a self-induced hypnotic trance. It’s likely that he used self-hypnosis in other creations.
Frédéric Chopin- pianist and composer took classes in hypnosis at the University of Strasbourg.
Enhanced Mind-Body Connection & Sports Performance
Tiger Woods – uses hypnosis to focus, tune out distractions and get in the zone. You might notice that he blinks his eyes twice just before executing his shot. We often create such triggers in sports performance hypnotherapy.
Mary Lou Retton – used hypnosis to win the Olympic Gold Medal for the US. The Russian gymnastics team has also used hypnosis bringing hypnotherapists with them to every competition.
Public Figures
Princess Diana – used hypnosis to help her with public speaking and gain confidence.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis - used hypnotherapy to relive and let go of tragic events in her life.
Wisdom of the Sages
Jesus - was known to use self-induced trance states.
Buddha - a fully self-actualized “awake” being who embraced trance states as part of his enlightenment process. He emphasized tending to and cleansing the mind in order to be free from suffering and awaken to our true nature. In the sacred Buddhist book, the Dhammapada, he says, “You are what you think. All that you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts you make your world.”
Patanjali - Indian sage (200-150 BC), wrote the ancient Yoga Sutras text, which describe hypnosis techniques, and are ultimately about raising our consciousness and harmonizing mind, spirit and body.
Healers
“sleep temples” of ancient Greece and Egypt - sacred places where patients would go to heal. They spent several days relaxing, then on the day of their treatment, while the patient was relaxed in a trance state, the physician would whisper targeted affirmative words relating to the particular illness or condition in the patient’s ear. After the words were spoken, the physician would leave.
Edgar Cayce - known as “The Sleeping Prophet,” used self-induced trance states to access the superconscious and channel information about healing, the afterlife, nutrition, and future events.
Hypnotic Anesthesia for Medical Procedures
During a period of intense psychological investigation of hypnosis, a number of physicians developed the use of hypnosis for anesthesia. In 1821, Récamier performed a major operation using hypnosis for anesthesia. In 1834, the British surgeon John Elliotson, who introduced the stethoscope to England, reported numerous painless surgical operations using hypnosis. James Esdaile, the Scottish surgeon, performed over 2,000 minor and 345 major operations using hypnosis in the 1840s and 1850s.
Pioneers in Psychology
Sigmond Freud - Freud began practicing hypnosis in 1887, and hypnosis was crucial to his invention of psychoanalysis. Some of the pioneers of psychology studied hypnosis in both the Nancy and Paris Schools. Pierre Janet (1859-1947), who developed theories of unconscious processes, dissociation, and traumatic memory, studied hypnosis with both Bernheim in Nancy and the rival school of Charcot in Paris. Sigmund Freud also studied hypnosis with Charcot and later observed Bernheim, and Liebeault. Pioneers in psychology used hypnosis.
You Have An Amazing Mind
Now did that blow your mind? When you understand your minds’ varying levels of awareness, then you can begin to know just how amazing your mind actually is. You can then traverse those deeper levels of awareness and access the amazingness within you and recognize that you are greater than any idea of limitation or any limiting belief. When you tap in to the power of your mind, many great things are possible!
Lisa
