18. How Hypnosis and Your Subconscious Removes Mental Blocks
The solution lies within the problem. The answer is in the question. If you are
presented with a difficult situation and you cannot see your way clear, the best procedure is to assume that infinite intelligence within your subconscious mind knows all and sees all, has the answer, and is revealing it to you now. Hypnosis is a method that will allow your subconscious to facilitate the process. Through relaxing and focused hypnosis, you will experience a new mental attitude. An attitude that the creative intelligence within you will bring about an answer. It is you that holds the power to break unwanted habits and mental blocks in your life. Your subconscious mind will enable you to find the answers that you’re looking for. Hypnosis can open the doors of your subconscious mind and speak to it directly – making changes that much easier. Rest assured, that with a changed attitude of mind, you will experience order, peace, and meaning in all your undertakings.
How to break or build a habit
You are a creature of habit. Habit is the function of your subconscious mind. You learned
to swim, ride a bicycle, dance, and drive a car by consciously doing these things over and
over again until they established tracks in your subconscious mind. Then, the automatic
habit action of your subconscious mind took over. This is sometimes called second
nature, which is a reaction of your subconscious mind to your thinking and actions.
You are free to choose a good habit or a bad habit. If you repeat a negative thought or act
over a period of time, you will be under the compulsion of a habit. Your subconscious mind is rather compulsive in that it is designed to carry out the orders that you give it. And you ‘give it orders’ by the things that you think about and do repeatedly. By giving it new ways of thinking during the relaxed state of hypnosis, your subconscious is ‘fast-tracked’ to good habits rather than bad ones.
How he broke a bad habit
Mr. Jones said, “An uncontrollable urge to drink seizes me, and I may remain drunk for
two weeks at a time. I can’t give up this terrible habit.” Time and time again these
experiences had occurred to this unfortunate man. He had grown into the habit of
drinking to excess. Although he had started drinking of his own initiative, he also began
to realize that he could change the habit and establish a new one. He said that while
through his will power he was able to suppress his desires temporarily, his continued
efforts to suppress the many urges only made matters worse. His repeated failures
convinced him that he was hopeless and powerless to control his urge or obsession. This idea of being powerless operated as a suggestion to his subconscious mind and aggravated his weakness, making his life a succession of failures.
He had to harmonize the functions of the conscious and subconscious mind. When
these two cooperate, the idea or desire implanted in the subconscious mind is realized.
Once the reasoning mind understands that if the old habit got him into trouble, he could consciously form a new path to freedom, sobriety, and peace of mind. He knew that his destructive habit was automatic, but since it was acquired through his conscious choice, he realized that if he had been conditioned negatively, he also could be conditioned positively.
As a result of understanding how hypnosis and the subconscious mind work together, he ceased thinking of the fact that he was powerless to overcome the habit. Moreover, he understood clearly that there was no obstacle to his healing other than his own thought. Therefore, there was no occasion for great mental effort or mental coercion. His new attitude and change of habits came forth automatically. He discovered an inner peace and a new found freedom to make the right choices.
The power of visualization
You can begin to make changes in your life just like Mr. Jones did. Begin by relaxing your body and getting into a relaxed, drowsy, meditative state. Hypnosis is similar to the ‘place’ where you are almost asleep but still aware of your surroundings, but to a lesser degree. This is the time that your subconscious mind is most susceptible to learning. One way to teach it is to visualize your desired result. You will come to know that your subconscious mind will begin to influence your automatic thinking in order to make what you picture a reality. And it will bring it about in the easiest way.
So Mr. Jones set about using the above method daily. He would still his mind and relax and then he would imagine his daughter congratulating him on his sobriety and freedom, and saying to him, “Daddy, it’s wonderful to have you home!” She was welcoming him home because he had lost his family as a result of his drinking. He wasn’t allowed to visit them, and his wife would not speak to him.
Regularly, systematically, he used to sit down and imagine his daughter welcoming him home. When his attention wandered, he made it a habit to immediately recall the mental picture of his daughter with her smile and the scene of his home enlivened by her cheerful voice. All this brought about a reconditioning of his mind. It was a gradual process. But he never wavered. He persevered knowing that sooner or later he would establish a new habitual pattern in his subconscious mind.
You can liken your conscious mind to a camera, and the subconscious mind
to a sensitive plate that ‘saves’ the impressed picture. Then, over time, the picture – or the visualization, is developed and unfolds in your life. This is the essence of why hypnosis is so powerful and effective. And anybody can learn self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques with a little practice.
Focused attention
Realizing that his conscious mind was simply a camera, Mr. Jones used no effort. There was no mental struggle. He quietly adjusted his thoughts and focused his attention on the scene before him until he gradually became identified with the picture. He became absorbed in the mental atmosphere, repeating the mental movie frequently. There was no room for doubt that a healing would follow. When there was any temptation to drink, he would switch his imagination from any reveries of drinking bouts to the feeling of being at
home with his family. He was successful because he confidently expected to experience
the picture he was developing in his mind. Hypnosis is a powerful tool to develop and maintain such focus to bring about change.
He said a jinx was following him
Mr. Block said that he had been making an annual income of $20,000, but for the past
three months all doors seemed to jam tightly. He brought clients up to the point where
they were about to sign on the dotted line, and then at the eleventh hour the door closed.
He added that perhaps a jinx was following him.
In discussing the matter with Mr. Block, I discovered that three months previously he had
become very irritated, annoyed, and resentful toward a dentist who, after he had promised
to sign a contract, had withdrawn at the last moment. He began to live in the unconscious
fear that other clients would do the same, thereby setting up a history of frustration,
hostility, and obstacles. He gradually built up in his mind a belief in obstruction and last
minute cancellations until a vicious circle had been established. What I fear most has
come upon me. Mr. Block realized that the trouble was in his mind, and that it was
essential to change his mental attitude.
His run of so-called misfortune was broken in the following way: “I realize I am one with
the infinite intelligence of my subconscious mind which knows no obstacle, difficulty, or
delay. I live in the joyous expectancy of the best. My deeper mind responds to my
thoughts. I know that the work of the infinite power of my subconscious cannot be
hindered. Infinite intelligence always finishes successfully whatever it begins. Creative
wisdom works through me bringing all my plans and purposes to completion. Whatever I
start, I bring to a successful conclusion. My aim in life is to give wonderful service, and
all those whom I contact are blessed by what I have to offer. All my work comes to full
fruition in divine order.” He repeated this prayer every morning before going to call on
his customers, and he also prayed each night prior to sleep. In a short time he had
established a new habit pattern in his subconscious mind, and he was back in his old
accustomed stride as a successful salesman.
How much do you want what you want?
A young man asked Socrates how he could get wisdom. Socrates replied, “Come with
me.” He took the lad to a river, pushed the boy’s head under the water, held it there until
the boy was gasping for air, then relaxed and released his head. When the boy regained
his composure, he asked him, “What did you desire most when you were under water?”
“I wanted air,” said the boy. Socrates said to him, “When you want wisdom as much as
you wanted air when you were immersed in the water, you will receive it.” Likewise,
when you really have an intense desire to overcome any block in your life, and you come
to a clear cut decision that there is a way out, and that is the course you wish to follow,
then victory and triumph are assured.
If you really want peace of mind and inner calm, you will get it. Regardless of how
unjustly you have been treated, or how unfair the boss has been, or what a mean
scoundrel someone has proved to be, all this makes no difference to you when you
awaken to your mental and spiritual powers. You know what you want, and you will
definitely refuse to let the thieves (thoughts) of hatred, anger, hostility, and ill will rob
you of peace, harmony, health, and happiness. You cease to become upset by people,
conditions, news, and events by identifying your thoughts immediately with your aim in
life. Your aim is peace, health, inspiration, harmony, and abundance. Feel a river of peace
flowing through you now. Your thought is the immaterial and invisible power, and you
choose to let it bless, inspire, and give you peace.
Why he could not be healed
This is a case history of a married man with four children who was supporting and
secretly living with another woman during his business trips. He was ill, nervous,
irritable, and cantankerous, and he could not sleep without drugs. The doctor’s medicine
failed to bring down his high blood pressure of over two hundred. He had pains in
numerous organs of his body, which doctors could not diagnose or relieve. To make
matters worse, he was drinking heavily.
The cause of all this was a deep unconscious sense of guilt. He had violated the marriage
vows, and this troubled him. The religious creed he was brought up on was deeply lodged
in his subconscious mind, and he drank excessively to heal the wound of guilt. Some
invalids take morphine and codeine for severe pains; he was taking alcohol for the pain or
wound in his mind. It was the old story of adding fuel to the fire.
The explanation and the cure
He listened to the explanation of how his mind worked. He faced his problem, looked at
it, and gave up his dual role. He knew that his drinking was an unconscious attempt to
escape. The hidden cause lodged in his subconscious mind had to be eradicated; then the
healing would follow. He began to impress his subconscious mind three or four times a
day by using the following prayer: “My mind is full of peace, poise, balance, and
equilibrium. The infinite lies stretched in smiling repose within me. I am not afraid of
anything in the past, the present, or the future. The infinite intelligence of my
subconscious mind leads, guides, and directs me in all ways. I now meet every situation
with faith, poise, calmness, and confidence. I am now completely free from the habit.
My mind is full of inner peace, freedom, and joy. I forgive myself; then I am forgiven. Peace,
sobriety, and confidence reign supreme in my mind.” He repeated this prayer frequently
as outlined; being fully aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it. Knowing
what he was doing gave him the necessary faith and confidence. I explained to him that
as he spoke these statements out loud, slowly, lovingly, and meaningfully, they would
gradually sink down into his subconscious mind. Like seeds, they would grow after their
kind. These truths, on which he concentrated, went in through his eyes, his ears heard the
sound, and the healing vibrations of these words reached his subconscious mind and
obliterated all the negative mental patterns which caused all the trouble. Light dispels
darkness. The constructive thought destroys the negative thought. He became a
transformed man within a month.
Refusing to admit it
If you are an alcoholic or drug addict, admit it. Do not dodge the issue. Many people
remain alcoholics because they refuse to admit it. Your disease is instability, an inner
fear. You are refusing to face life, and so you try to escape your responsibilities through
the bottle. As an alcoholic you have no free will, although you think you have, and you
may even boast about your will power. If you are a habitual drunkard and say bravely, “I
will not touch it anymore,” you have no power to make this assertion come true, because
you do not know where to locate the power.
You are living in a psychological prison of your own making, and you are bound by your
beliefs, opinions, training, and environmental influences. Like most people, you are a
creature of habit. You are conditioned to react the way you do.
Building in the idea of freedom
You can build the idea of freedom and peace of mind into your mentality so that it
reaches your subconscious depths. The latter, being all powerful, will free you from all
desire for alcohol. Then, you will have the new understanding of how your mind works,
and you can truly back up your statement and prove the truth to yourself.
Fifty-one percent healed
If you have a keen desire to free yourself from any destructive habit, you are fifty-one
percent healed already. When you have a greater desire to give up the bad habit than to
continue it, you will not experience too much difficulty in gaining complete freedom.
Whatever thought you anchor the mind upon, the latter magnifies. If you engage the mind
on the concept of freedom (freedom from the habit) and peace of mind, and if you keep it
focused on this new direction of attention, you generate feelings and emotions, which
gradually emotionalize the concept of freedom and peace. Whatever idea you
emotionalize is accepted by your subconscious and brought to pass.
The law of substitution
Realize that something good can come out of your suffering. You have not suffered in
vain. However, it is foolish to continue to suffer. If you continue as an alcoholic, it will
bring about mental and physical deterioration and decay. Realize that the power in your
subconscious is backing you up. Even though you may be seized with melancholia, you
should begin to imagine the joy of freedom that is in store for you. This is the law of substitution.
Your imagination took you to the bottle; let it take you now to freedom and
peace of mind. You will suffer a little bit, but it is for a constructive purpose. You will
bear it like a mother in the pangs of childbirth, and you will, likewise, bring forth a child
of the mind. Your subconscious will give birth to sobriety.
Cause of alcoholism
The real cause of alcoholism is negative and destructive thinking; for as a man thinketh,
so is he. The alcoholic has a deep sense of inferiority, inadequacy, defeat, and frustration,
usually accompanied by a deep inner hostility. He has countless alibis as to his reason for
drinking, but the sole reason is in his thought life.
Three magic steps
The first step: Get still; quiet the wheels of the mind. Enter into a sleepy, drowsy state. In
this relaxed, peaceful, receptive state, you are preparing for the second step.
The second step: Take a brief phrase, which can readily be graven on the memory, and
repeat it over and over as a lullaby. Use the phrase, “Sobriety and peace of mind are mine
now, and I give thanks.” To prevent the mind from wandering, repeat it aloud or sketch
its pronunciation with the lips and tongue as you say it mentally. This helps its entry into
the subconscious mind. Do this for five minutes or more. You will find a deep
emotional response.
The third step: Just before going to sleep, practice what Johann von Goethe, German
author, used to do. Imagine a friend, a loved one in front of you. Your eyes are closed,
you are relaxed and at peace. The loved one or friend is subjectively present, and is
saying to you, “Congratulations!” You see the smile; you hear the voice. You mentally
touch the hand; it is all real and vivid. The word congratulations imply complete
freedom. Hear it over and over again until you get the subconscious reaction, which
satisfies.
Keep on keeping on
When fear knocks at the door of your mind, or when worry, anxiety, and doubt cross your
mind, behold your vision, your goal. Think of the infinite power within your
subconscious mind, which you can generate by your thinking and imagining, and this will
give you confidence, power, and courage. Keep on, persevere, until the day breaks, and
the shadows flee away.
Review your thought power
1. The solution lies within the problem. The answer is in every question. Infinite
intelligence responds to you as you call upon it with faith and confidence.
2. Habit is the function of your subconscious mind. There is no greater evidence of the
marvelous power of your subconscious than the force and sway habit holds in your life.
You are a creature of habit.
3. You form habit patterns in your subconscious mind by repeating a thought and act over
and over again until it establishes tracks in the subconscious mind and becomes
automatic, such as swimming, dancing, typing, walking, driving your car, etc.
4. You have freedom to choose. You can choose a good habit or a bad habit. Prayer is a
good habit.
5. Whatever mental picture, backed by faith, you behold in your conscious mind, and
your subconscious mind will bring to pass.
6. The only obstacle to your success and achievement is your own thought or mental
image.
7. When your attention wanders, bring it back to the contemplation of your good or goal.
Make a habit of this. This is called disciplining the mind.
8. Your conscious mind is the camera, and your subconscious mind is the sensitive plate
on which you register or impress the picture.
9. The only jinx that follows anyone is a fear thought repeated over and over in the mind.
Break the jinx by knowing that whatever you start you will bring to a conclusion in
divine order. Picture the happy ending and sustain it with confidence.
10. To form a new habit, you must be convinced that it is desirable. When your desire to
give up the bad habit is greater than your desire to continue, you are fifty-one percent
healed already.
11. The statements of others cannot hurt you except through your own thoughts and
mental participation. Identify yourself with your aim, which is peace, harmony, and joy.
You are the only thinker in your universe.
12. Excessive drinking is an unconscious desire to escape. The cause of alcoholism is
negative and destructive thinking. The cure is to think of freedom, sobriety, and
perfection, and to feel the thrill of accomplishment.
13. Many people remain alcoholics because they refuse to admit it.
14. The law of your subconscious mind, which held you in bondage and inhibited your
freedom of action, will give you freedom and happiness. It depends on how you use it.
15. Your imagination took you to the bottle; let it take you to freedom by imagining you
are free.
16. The real cause of alcoholism is negative and destructive thinking. As a man thinketh
in his heart [subconscious mind], so is he.
17. When fear knocks at the door of your mind, let faith in God and all things good open
the door.
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