I’m going to spend some time in this post writing about the neuroanatomy and function of the conscious and unconscious mind. Hopefully I will be able to clear up some common misconceptions about both. I will then write about the amazing power of the unconscious to facilitate healing from both physical and psychological injuries as well as to decrease pain from dental and surgical procedures. Finally I will write about how to use self hypnosis techniques to access the power of the unconscious.
The Conscious Mind
We intuitively feel that our conscious mind makes up the largest part of who we are. Through our 5 senses we feel that we observe the real world, that is, what we see, hear, touch, smell and taste is out there in the world just the way we perceive it. That is an illusion, however. We perceive what is important for our survival. We see only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. We cannot see ultraviolet, for example, but bees can. We hear sounds of only certain frequencies. Dogs can hear ultrasonic frequencies, and dogs’ sense of smell is thousands of times better than ours. We do not directly sense the world. Information from our sense organs is extensively processed in the brain. We sense only a representation of the outer and inner world that our brains create. Furthermore a vast amount of sensory information is coming from our environment, both internal and external, being processed by our sense organs, and we become conscious of only a tiny part of that input. Our conscious minds can process about 50 bits of information per second. If that sounds like a lot, remember that internet download speeds are measured in millions of bits per second. The parts of your brain and spinal cord that are below the level of consciousness process about 11 million bits of information per second!
Carl Jung once described the conscious mind as like a cork floating on the sea of the unconscious. Modern neuroscientists have shown that his analogy was very accurate.
An example may make this point better. As you are reading this blog, you are seeing the letters and words upright. What is actually happening is the light and dark pattern of this sentence is focused by the lenses of your eyes into upside down two dimensional images on your retinas. A great deal of processing goes on in your brain so that what you actually perceive is right side up, has color and is three dimensional. All of that processing is below the level of consciousness. Furthermore, the high resolution part of your retinas, called the fovea can see only a small area at a time. Your eyes are constantly scanning back and fourth and up and down seeing only a tiny bit at a time and yet you perceive your visual world as whole. Finally your ability to read sentences and extract meaning rather than seeing individual letters and/or words is a learned pattern that has become automatic. Most of the process of reading is therefore done below the level of consciousness.
The Unconscious Mind
As you can see from the section above, the vast majority of the processing our brains do is below the level of consciousness. The unconscious mind controls our heart rate, our blood pressure, our breathing, our bowel function and all the things that are are necessary for our survival that we don’t have to think about to make them happen. The unconscious also contains all of our of automatic skills, such as playing the piano, riding a bicycle, or playing tennis. It is the source of stored memories, fantasies and dreams. It takes over patterns that we have learned over time to simplify our lives. Many of these patterns are necessary and helpful, such as brushing our teeth. Some patterns are not so helpful, such as phobias, anxiety and fear, or unhealthful habits such as smoking, excessive drinking or compulsive drug use.
All of these things are patterns of connections in the brain. We used to think that brain connections once made could not be changed, but scientists have since found out that not only can brain connections be changed, but they are constantly changing. This is called neuroplasticity. It is normal to grow new brain cells and to change their connections.
Can we change unhealthy patterns in the unconscious mind?
The short answer is yes! While the unconscious mind is generally not accessible to the conscious mind (that’s why it’s called the unconscious, after all), there are ways to influence the unconscious mind and to change unhealthy connections.
Altered States
The state of mind that we are in most of the time is called the waking state. Our conscious mind is controlling our actions (well sort of). There are other states of mind, often referred to as altered states or trance states. These are familiar to all of us. A perfect example is watching a movie or a television show. We get so wrapped up in the story that we lose awareness of all of our other surroundings. Sometimes people talk to us while we are paying rapt attention and we don’t even hear them. Reading a really good book creates the same altered state. Have you ever been driving somewhere and suddenly found yourself having arrived at your destination, but you don’t remember any of the details of the trip? Another altered state of consciousness or trance. If the word trance bothers you, think about the word entranced. We all know what that means. These altered states or trances are no different.
It turns out that once we get the conscious mind out of the way (entranced) the unconscious mind becomes accessible to change. The spontaneous trance states like television watching or driving while in a trance don’t change any connections, but it is possible to intentionally go into a trance state and purposefully change connections in the unconscious mind.
Hypnosis
Many people find this word scary, but all it means is going into a trance state (which we do spontaneously all of the time) and changing some connections in the unconscious mind. That can happen accidentally and accidental changes are often not healthy ones.
So all hypnosis is really self hypnosis. Some people, called hypnotists, become very good at helping us enter trance states and facilitate positive changes in connections in the unconscious mind. Good hypnotists, however are few and far between. Most people who advertise themselves as hypnotists are not very good. A few people respond to them and they say the rest can’t be hypnotized. They blame their incompetence on the people they are trying to help!
You don’t have to find a skilled hypnotist in order to make positive changes in the connections of the unconscious mind. There are tried and true techniques that allow you to purposefully enter a trance state and make all sorts of positive changes in the unconscious. Furthermore you can activate pathways in the brain and spinal cord that release endorphins and norepinephrine that eliminate or markedly reduce pain. You can use these techniques at the dentist or for medical procedures that would normally cause pain.
Self Hypnosis
There are three things you need to do before each self hypnosis session.
- Decide how long your self hypnosis session will last. Twenty to thirty minutes is plenty.
- Decide what change you want to make. You can say it out loud or just think it. The change needs to be positive. The unconscious is very literal and it does not understand “not.” If you frame your change as “I’m not going to smoke anymore” The unconscious will take that as a command to keep smoking. A positive wording might be “I will just do things that improve my health.” Once you have framed a positive change, your unconscious mind will take over once you are in a trance. You don’t have to, nor should you repeat the instructions for change while you are in a trance.
- State out loud or in your mind how you want to feel after the session. It will either be “I will feel rested and refreshed” or “I will be tired and ready for sleep.” If you are doing your session just before bedtime you would say “I will be tired and ready for sleep.” Any other time of day you would likely want to feel rested and refreshed.
Induction of Trance
Going into a trance on purpose is called an induction. There are many ways of inducing trance, but I’m going to give you two very simple ones. You can try them both and see which one you like better. The first one was invented by Mike Mandel, a Canadian hypnotist. The second one has been around a long time and no one knows who invented it.
Incremental Eye Closure Induction
Find a quiet place where you are unlikely to be interrupted. Be sure to silence your phone. Sit in a comfortable chair and pick something to look at above your eye level. As you stare at whatever you have chosen, start paying attention to your breathing. With each out breath let your eyelids close a tiny bit. You will find yourself progressively relaxing, and by the time your eyelids close completely you will be in a trance. The trance will continue to deepen for a while with each out breath. You don’t need to do anything at this point except enjoy feeling relaxed and comfortable. Your unconscious mind will take care of the rest and you will find yourself returning to your waking state after the length of time you specified. You will feel great, rested and refreshed or tired and ready to go to sleep depending on which state you specified beforehand.
Instant Eye Closure Induction
Same instructions as above about a quiet place and a comfortable chair. As you inhale deeply, roll your eyes up as high as you can. As you exhale, close your eyelids with your eyes still rolled up, let your head drop forward and completely relax. You will instantly be in a trance. Your trance will deepen with each out breath. Once again, simply enjoy feeling so relaxed and let your thoughts go wherever they will. Your subconscious will bring you back to your waking state at whatever time you specified before the induction.
Practice
I would suggest that you do this self hypnosis exercise for at least 20 minutes a day (More is okay too). You will find with practice that it gets easier and quicker to induce a deep trance. Either eye closure method works as what’s called an anchor. As you practice you will find eventually that simply closing your eyes induces a trance. If you have to have any procedure that usually causes pain, you can give your unconscious mind instructions to feel relaxed and comfortable during the procedure and then put yourself in a trance during the procedure.
Bottom Line
Our conscious minds can only process 50 bits per second while our unconscious minds can process 11 million bits per second. The vast majority of mental processing takes place below the conscious level. Unhealthy connections in the unconscious mind take place by accident when we are in spontaneous trance states. It is possible to remove unhealthy connections and create new healthy connections by self hypnosis techniques. These technique can also diminish or eliminate pain from dental and/or medical procedures. Regular practice creates “anchors” that produce trance very quickly.