By Megan Moriarty, Certified Hypnotherapist
D
o you ever feel like you are in a war against yourself to create the change that you desire? Do you want to lose weight but can’t resist the sweets? Do you want to kick a bad habit but have tried countless times with no luck? From a Hypnotherapist’s standpoint, this is not your fault. This inner conflict happens because your conscious desires are fighting against your subconscious programming. What most people don’t know is that your conscious mind, where all of your thinking takes place, makes up only 12% of your mind; the other 88% is made up of your subconscious mind.
Winning the Inner Battle
When I first tell clients this they are baffled. How could their 60,000+ daily thoughts make up only 12% of their brainpower? It all comes back to automatic behaviors and thought patterns. You live the majority of your life on autopilot. You do not have to put a lot of thought into performing daily tasks like driving your car or performing your morning routine. These are automatic; you do them without thinking. All of your automatic behaviors and thoughts are stored in your subconscious mind. This deep part of your mind also stores your knowns. As humans, we are motivated towards what we already know because it is usually an easier option that takes less energy. You are more likely to take your usual route to work rather than taking a new direction every drive. Automatic behavior and having stored knowns do make life easier. If you had to relearn routine tasks or what you liked and disliked daily, you would not be able to function efficiently. However, we often have stored information in our subconscious mind that no longer serves us. This is where the 12% of your mind (conscious mind) fights the more powerful 88% (subconscious mind). If you are fighting someone seven times more powerful than you, do you think you have a high chance of winning? An example of this 12% vs. 88% battle is a woman who grew up with parents who gave her a chocolate treat whenever she was upset, sad or lonely. Throughout her childhood, she loved these treats because in the moment they gave her joy and a sense of relief. After repeating
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Natural Nutmeg - October 2020
