We can think of the conscious mind – the part of us that writes emails and makes to-do lists, and talks on the phone – as the tip of an iceberg, the part of us that is visible above the “water” of everyday, waking reality.
The subconscious, or hidden part of the mind, is the part that is below water – and that’s where the real action is!
While the conscious mind seems to be steering us, its actually the subconscious that gives us the motivation and power to actually move – it’s the source of our fuel, the repository of our dreams, hopes, emotions, fears, memories and prejudices, the place where all of the real decisions are made.
Have you ever decided that you wanted to go on a diet, or start exercising, and no matter how clear your plans seemed in your mind, you just couldn’t seem to stick to them?
That’s because when you try to make a change in your life, you are actually taking something away from your subconscious – in this instance, the comfort or satisfaction of over-eating or being sedentary.
And when you take something away from the subconscious, you have to put something in its place that it values as much or more as what you are removing – the subconscious mind can’t hold empty spaces for you on the promise of future reward, it needs its payoff now.
Because of this, you can never remove something from the subconscious without replacing it immediately – so either you can deliberately choose what you are going to replace the old pattern with, or else your subonscious mind will fight and resist you every step of the way, until you fall back into your old pattern, and equilibrium is reestablished.
Now, this is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with hypnosis?
In short, hypnosis is a technique of speaking to the subconscious mind, and negotiating with it directly so that it can work with you instead of against you.
The subconscious mind doesn’t mean you any harm – instead, it’s doing everything in its power to protect you, and part of that means faithfully continuing to carry out whatever instructions you give it. Life may change, you may change, but your subconscious will continue to follow its original program until you give it a new one.
Hypnosis is a method of using the language of daydreams and symbols to give your subconscious new instructions – it’s that simple.