By Dr. Bev Snyder
Why is one person happy and another sad? One person poor and miserable and another one full of life and energy? Why does one family live in an upscale neighborhood and you live out a paycheck to paycheck existence? Why is one person full of anxiety and another full of faith? The answer lies in your subconscious mind and its power to create, mold and fashion your life. For as you think in your subconscious mind, so will it be in your external life. It’s really quite simple, but not easy. And that’s why some struggle and others achieve.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him.” (Romans 8:28)
. “…If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we
know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of
Him”(1 John 5:14-15)
The creative conscious mind only controls about 5% of your life; the rest lies in the
subconscious mind.
The problem with positive thinking is that it is often at odds with what is actually believed to be true on the subconscious level. This is what determines the outcome. If there is a disconnect, and you believe the opposite of what you think you want, then what you are going to get is what is held at the subconscious level. Just think! 95% of what happens to you and what you do is because the subconscious mind is in control! Your life is the
print-out of the program that your subconscious creates. The things you have to struggle to achieve are not coming from the outside world, but instead, from your inner world. Your program doesn’t support what you think you want. But there is hope! Once you identify that your programming doesn’t support what you think you want, you can rewrite the program to change your subconscious wiring so that it supports what you truly desire. Then all your positive thoughts will be in alignment with your subconscious and all will be well!
Joseph Murphy, author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, states: “Your subconscious mind does not argue with you. It accepts what your conscious mind decrees. If you say, Ï can’t afford it,” your subconscious works to make it true. Select a better thought. Decree, “I’ll buy it. I accept it in my mind.”
So, how do you reprogram your subconscious?
First, you must decide to rewrite the program to support more empowering beliefs. Once decided, tools like prayer and meditation can help change the program, but it takes intense repetition to create new neural pathways in the brain. The sub or unconscious mind has created super highways of rapid neural connectivity to manage the everyday actions of the body so the conscious mind doesn’t have to bother with telling the body to move toward the kitchen to prepare breakfast, for example. Fundamental to changing these super-highways is repetition, over and over again, enlivened with your personal energy of passionate dedication for the change desired. If I say a prayer today and forget about it, and I don’t change my energy field – it’s nothing more than a suggestion. I have to consciously and repeatedly visualize what I want and radiate thoughts (prayers and affirmations) that resonate with that. However, much of the time our prayers are requests about what we want and need. We focus on what we don’t have which only serves to reinforce the absence of what it is we want. Mind theorists believe that what we focus on is what we create, so focusing on what we lack is contrary to getting what we want. Instead, we can focus on appreciation and gratitude, which is called affirmative prayer. When we do this, we thank God for His many blessings, our wonderful life – and then we attract more of the positive experiences we are expressing gratitude for. When we focus on the positive thoughts, psychologically and spiritually it supports our emotions and behavior. The brain chemistry we create with positive thoughts is what empowers the placebo effect according to Bruce Lipton, a leading voice in mind-body biology and author of The Biology of Belief (2015).
The problem with negative thoughts
Negative thoughts release brain chemistry that can actually cause disease and even death, according to many cell biologists in the field of epigenetics. Many contend that’s because an overwhelming amount of our thoughts – as many as 70% - are negative. The way we express our consciousness through prayer profoundly influences both our health and our life experiences. While reprogramming the unconscious takes a good bit of effort, it is necessary because the unconscious mind doesn’t learn like the conscious mind. The conscious mind
can effortlessly change its mind in an instant. Not so with the unconscious. To reprogram it, you must use present tense and positive wording. You can’t tell the unconscious mind “I don’t want a heart attack,” because it doesn’t hear the “don’t” – It hears “I want a heart attack!” Instead, say “I want to be healthy” or “I am whole and healthy.” When you use the present tense, you cause the mind to engage in a healing response so the body matches the mind’s programmed desire for health.
Ways to reinforce the reprogramming
The first is to use a self-help audio recording that helps to echo the positive statement. You can even make one for yourself. Record yourself saying the intended change over and over and listen to your own voice on headphones. This can reach the unconscious mind even while you are sleeping. The second is to use repetitive affirmations of a belief statement, such as “I am healthy” or “I am strong” or “I can do this!” You can say these over and over and also write them multiple times. The third is to use energy psychology by connecting the
body’s electrical field to the desired statement. You can do this by tightening your stomach muscles while repeating the affirmation you choose to focus on. Couple this with your breathing: On the intake, say “I am” and on the outbreath, really tighten those muscles and forcefully expel your breath while saying the remainder of the statement, “healthy” or “strong” or whatever resonates with you. In this way your prayers and affirmations gain power and your electrical system goes out into the world, stretching toward God, Jesus and
the Holy Spirit to become reality. And by using these methods to reprogram your unconscious mind, you will not only use positive thinking to change reality, but energize your prayers and affirmations. Furthermore, you will put to use the above Scripture that says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” Because
you love God, your prayers will have power added to simple positive thinking when you energize them with repetition and your personal energy both.
If you would like to have companions on your journey to a fuller expression of God in your life, join us on Zoom every Wednesday night at 6:30 for confidential, free sessions with others who are working to improve their lives. Email me at Bsnyder008@gmail.com and I will send you necessary information to connect with us on Zoom.
- Dr. Bev, Coach and Counselor