In Carlos Castaneda’s writings, his teacher Don Juan, explains that if you are to walk any path, be sure that it is a path with heart. In hypnosis training, we place a lot of attention on what we all the subconscious mind. This mind is the seat of our emotions, and it is deeply connected to the feelings that we feel. It is this mind that predominantly governs our behavior, and it is that which controls our habits. It could easily be said that the subconscious mind is our proverbial “heart.” Read more about hypnosis, the subconscious mind and the very heart of our being in this week’s blog entry…
What is the Subconscious Mind?
If we consider that it is our “head” which houses our conscious mind, then our “heart” could be said to contain our subconscious mind. We know the voice in our head to be the analytical, reasoning, and thinking mind. Everyone is familiar with this part of our being, and we tend to associate it with our sense of self or “I.” The subconscious on the other hand appears to be this deeper mystery that relates more to our emotional self. From deep within our bodies we can feel emotions rise up and from even deeper we can feel urges, impulses, behaviors, and habits that seem to motivate the vast majority of our lives. This part of our being is not “unconscious,” yet it is a part of ourselves that we are often not all that conscious of. Therefore, in hypnotherapy training, we prefer to use the term “subconscious” to indicate that this part of our mind is simply below our conscious awareness. It is a part of our being that we benefit from getting in touch with, and when we transform this mind, our conscious mind and our life tends to improve naturally.
The Heart is the Root of the Mind.
Whatever the subconscious mind feels the conscious mind tends to talk about. This is another way of saying that our heart is the root of our mind, and that most of what we think tends to be based upon what we feel. We tend to use our conscious mind to try to find that which will make our emotional mind feel better, however many of our efforts are only short-lived, and lasting change can be elusive. Once we understand that hypnotherapy can access the true heart of the mind, we are empowered to make long-term lasting change by getting to the real heart of the matter.
Where do our Emotions Come From?
We have already established that our emotions arise from our subconscious minds, aka our hearts, however we have not yet established that which causes our emotions to move in the first place. In our model of hypnotherapy training, we acknowledge that past events create belief systems in the subconscious and that those beliefs fuel our emotions. The emotions motivate our behaviors and deeply influence our physiology. Once these patterns are established, then through the process of association, we tend to feel emotions when some life event relates back to one of these underlying memories. If the event is positive and holds positive beliefs, we tend to feel positive emotions. When the event is negative and reminds us of similar past memories, the emotional response tends to be negative as well. Simply stated, we tend to feel what we do because we are already programmed to have basic emotional responses in relationship to internal or external stimulus.
Where does Hypnotherapy Training come into the Picture?
Once we understand that our emotional mind (our heart) is deeply connected to our responses to life, our emotions, our behaviors, our memories, our habits and our physiological reactions, we can understand the importance of getting in touch with this part of ourselves so that the changes we want to make are happening from the core of our being. When we learn hypnosis, and have a solid education in hypnotherapy, we can help ourselves and others to heal hearts and to heal minds. Our life becomes truly rewarding when we see others make deep-seated changes, and we ourselves are made better off by being able to use hypnotherapy techniques in our own inner workshops. We become our own healer as we learn hypnosis, open our hearts and transform the blocks within us that have been holding us back for years.
This short article relates to many of the Institute of Interpersonal Hypnotherapy teachings, which work to heal the heart and to heal the conscious mind. Learn more about heart-centered hypnosis training at: https://www.instituteofhypnotherapy.com/course/certified-hypnotherapist/
