How To Rewire Old Beliefs In Your Subconscious Mind and Replace them with New Better Beliefs – Part 2
Accessing the Subconscious Mind
This is Step Two in a three step process for helping you change your deeply programmed beliefs. You can read Step 1 and Step 3.
I like to use the analogy of moving in to our subconscious mind a bit like opening a doorway in to another realm – the realm of the unseen and hidden,
Coming to understand that our subconscious mind is really the ruler of virtually all of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours is quite a wake-up call. That mighty unconscious part of us – the subconscious mind, makes up 95 percent of our mind. Whereas the conscious mind only accounts for approximately 5 percent of our mind.
For example, if a man with post traumatic stress from an early war experience hears a loud noise outside, he may immediately run and grab a nearby stick to be used as a fighting weapon. He may possibly run outside ready to attack the ‘enemy’. His heart will be racing and his whole body on high alert. His subconscious mind has created a program as a result of having been exposed to traumatic events early in his life. This makes him respond in a virtually automatic, sometimes irrational and highly emotional way that bypasses the more rational conscious mind. Such is the power of the subconscious mind.
We all have these individual subsconscious programs which are determining how we respond to virtually every situation. To try to change these programs with the conscious mind alone is just not sufficient. That’s why we need to access the subconscious mind so we can make lasting and deep belief changes.
This step is all about accessing the doorway to the subconscious brain. There are probably many ways in which to do this, but I am going to focus on just three methods which I am familiar with. They are techniques I have used myself so I know they work.
The first method is taking advantage of our sleep and wake cycles. You are no doubt well aware of how your mind and brain functions differently in ‘twilight zones’. This is what I refer to as the period of time just before falling asleep and also the time soon after waking.
During these two very special times, the brain is producing brainwaves which are between the wakeful and deep sleep brain waves.
Deep sleep brainwaves are delta, which are typically slow (0.5 to 4 cycles per second). They are also ‘loud’ in the sense that they have a big amplitude. They penetrate deep into the brain, a little like a low, strong beating of a drum.
Awake brain waves are usually in the alpha or beta range. Alpha waves oscillate faster at a rate of between 8 to 12 cycles per second. They are common when you are awake in a restful state with your eyes closed. You can imagine they are a little like the purring of a well running motor.
Beta waves pulse even faster between 12 and 30 cycles per second. They are common during wakefulness, daily activity, logical thinking and concentration.
When you start to transition from either the slow delta sleep waves into wakefulness alpha or beta waves, or visa versa, there is an in between brainwave state, called theta. This state is very conducive to accessing the subconscious mind.
Theta brain waves are the brainwaves which are most commonly present during hypnosis. There is a term for the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep. It is called the hypnogogic state. The transition just after sleep moving into wakefulness is called the hypnopompic state. During both these states we commonly experience hallucinations, or dream-like lucid images. It is the perfect time when our door to our subconscious is wide open. We have access to our subconscious mind during this state.
This explains why what we entertain in our mind just before going to sleep and just upon waking is so powerful and influential in determining the ‘tone’ or mood for the whole following day. We are actually programming our subconscious mind by what we are viewing or listening to just before sleep and upon waking.
So, it is no wonder that these times can be used to our advantage to place new subliminal messages and images in to our brain to reprogram our beliefs.
This is the first method to access our subconscious mind – do the reprogramming techniques just before sleep and just upon waking.
The second method to access the subconscious mind is through meditation or deep relaxation. I do meditation nearly every day. I will not explain the techniques of meditation here. Though if you do have an existing method of meditation, use it! The period of time just after meditation is when your doorways to your subconscious mind is wide open.
If you do not meditate, you can do the simple ‘box breathing’ for 10 minutes. This will probably be enough to quiet your brain down to at least an alpha relaxed state.
Box breathing is done by slow rhythmic breathing. Take a deep abdominal breath to the count of 4, hold for 4, release to 4, then hold again for 4. Repeat this steadily over and again.
The third method to access your subconscious mind is via a technique called brain entrainment. Through the clever use of synchronised pulsed audio beats and pulsed lights, which enter a person’s ears via headphones and eyes via special glasses, the brain will quickly becomes ‘entrained’ to a new brainwave state.
I am a great fan of this type of ‘light / sound’ therapy. Why? Firstly and mostly because I have had personal experience with the system myself. I know it works. It works well and also very quickly. Secondly, there is growing research backing up the effectiveness of using this technique for a wide array of stress, trauma, pain and other psychological and mental health disturbances. You can read more about some of this research.
One of the unique factors using a brain entrainment system is that you, either as a therapist, or patient, can select the required brain wave state that you need.
Generally, for deep meditative, semi-hypnotic and reprogramming of the brain, a theta brain wave sate is probably the best brain wave to be in. Theta is known to be the wave of ultra deep relaxation, just on the edge of sleep.
Theta brainwaves pulse at a rate of between 5 to 8 cycles per second (hertz). When a person has a predominance of theta brainwaves, she or he is likely to be in a deep daydream, just falling off to sleep or just waking,
Sometimes you can access theta brainwaves naturally when you are laying in a bath, having a shower, driving along a freeway, doing a long distance run or doing something repetitive like brushing your hair or your teeth.
In the Mind Alive system that I use, I have found that many people respond very favourably to using a ‘Schumann Resonance’ program, a frequency set at a rate of 7.8 Hertz, in the theta range. It is said that the earth gives off an electrical pulsed signal, a little like our brain and heart does too. It’s thought that the earth emits this specific Schumann pulse due to the build up of electrical energy stored in the earth from the lightning in our atmosphere. Some research shows that our body and mind works optimally when it resonates at a pulsed rate similar to the earth’s.
Using the brain entrainment system typically puts a person into the desired brain wave state within 5 minutes – very quickly. I have sometimes used the system during acupuncture sessions. People generally fall into a deep relaxation very quickly when this system is used. This tool is a perfect method to access and open the doorways to the subconscious mind, quickly, easily and effectively.
Now you have several potent methods to access your subconscious mind.
- Use the time just before sleep or upon waking
- Meditate
- Audio-Visual Brain Entrainment devices such as the Mind Alive
It’s time to complete the process by reading Step 3 – APPLY, Reprogram and Practice Persistently