Get out of your own way- let your subconscious mind do what it does best!

This week I have decided NOT to create a video; teaching comes in many forms. I wanted to write a longer post than usual about the concept of tapping into and trusting your subconscious mind. Our conscious minds sometimes complicate matters and we lose sight of what is true, simple, honest and clear. Thoughts sometimes muddy the process of feeling and responding and our bodies tense with the effort of it all! So, today I wanted to quiet my own voice and give you some guidance in finding the voice within you that can guide you towards happiness.

Have you heard of the Inner Game of Tennis? This is a decades old book published in 1974 by Timothy Gallwey which became a

Too often, in the “pursuit” of happiness we over think things. “Pursuing” happiness is probably the worst starting point; that implies it is some kind of, out of reach butterfly, that keeps eluding us and we must hunt it down. We tell ourselves that if we do this, then that and keep at it, happiness will be the result.

So, in the inner game we are losing, because our conscious self is so busy giving us instructions, our poor old subconscious mind has forgotten how to do what comes naturally.

Gallwey talks about two selves; Self 1 is the ego mind- bossy, telling us what to do, full of “sound and fury” as Shakespeare would say. Self 2 is the unconscious, intuitive physical self- the one that learned how to walk without being told! In the tennis example, Self 2, the subconscious mind, actually knows how to hit a tennis ball but Self 1 keeps reminding it that last time the ball missed the line, went into the net. It tells Self 2 you must, “throw the ball higher” swing the racquet like so etc… a constant stream of self criticizing instructions that cause tension and fear in the tennis player. Result? The ball dives into the net, misses the line, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Shakespeare said it well,

“There’s Nothing Good or Bad but Thinking Makes It So”

~Hamlet

Trust your subconscious mind

We need to take control of the inner game if we are to win in the outside world- an interesting blog post on this is from the healthy lifestyles living blog;

http://www.healthylifestylesliving.com/liberate-the-mind/take-control-of-your-inner-game/

In life, we play two games, the inner game of mental causes and an outer game of physical effects. The inner game consists of the thoughts, feelings and emotions that we have; our values, attitudes and beliefs.

The outer game is the effect of the thoughts, feelings and emotions. It’s the work we do, the actions we take and the way we present ourselves to the world.

This article talks a lot about confidence and the blocks that prevent us from achieving our full potential, using Gallwey’s own formula which is

Performance = Potential – Interference

I have a problem with sweeping statements about being confident as, in my experience, this is pretty difficult for most people! However, as with any formula, to improve the left hand side (performance) we have to work on the right hand side, either increase potential (the positive) or decrease the interference (the negative). So, how do you do that? How do you tap into the power of your subconscious mind? Let’s look at the two areas for change.

Increasing the potential of your subconscious mind by reducing the interference

A great technique is silencing the negative to allow the positive to flourish. Read my post on the Inner Critic to understand the full force of those negative thoughts. You need to distract the negative thinking when you are trying to overcome a challenge, achieve a positive outcome or simply trying to find happiness. Have you ever walked down the road, seen a beautiful flower, or something lovely has caught your eye and you wanted to stop? Did your mind instantly become invaded with thoughts of, “I don’t have time, must get on, so much to do?” Your instinct was to enjoy the beauty, your thoughts took you away from that enjoyment. You need to distract these thoughts sometimes to enable the subconscious mind to act instinctively and achieve what you truly want.

One way to silence these thoughts is to cultivate your inner observer- read my post on that here.. This can take practice and you may need some help doing this, but it is very effective at clearing away the “noise”.

Sometimes we just try too hard! Yes, I know, as children we are often told to try harder and we assume that if we just keep at it,

Our brains are full of worries, fear of failure, of making a fool of ourselves. We read and listen to complicated information about how to do things, all the time worrying that we will not manage it and lo and behold, we crash and burn!

In DT Suzuki’s introduction to Herrigels’ Zen in the Art of Archery he says,

As soon as we reflect, deliberate and conceptualize, the original unconsciousness is lost and a thought interferes….Man is a thinking reed but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking. ‘Childlikeness’ has to be restored after long years of training in self-forgetfulness

Why your subconscious mind holds the key to happiness

Why should you consider mastering the inner game? If you start from the idea that your subconscious mind probably knows you better than you do, it becomes simple. Just stop worrying about what others think for a moment. Stop trying so damn hard to be successful, to be happy and to please those around you. Your starting point is, “what do you really want?” Do you know the answer to that question? Is the answer in the external world? NO!

Gallwey actually worked on focusing the mind, partly by distracting the critical voice, but also by allowing the subconscious mind to get the upper hand. Our innate abilities have been swamped by what we think is expected of us, not what we are truly capable of doing, instinctively, if we follow our subconscious mind. One of the things that we do all the time that hampers us, is, we judge, we

“I’m simply saying that there is a way to be sane. I’m saying that you can get rid of all this insanity created by the past in you. Just by being a simple witness of your thought processes.

It is simply sitting silently, witnessing the thoughts, passing before you. Just witnessing, not interfering not even judging, because the moment you judge you have lost the pure witness. The moment you say “this is good, this is bad,” you have already jumped onto the thought process.

It takes a little time to create a gap between the witness and the mind. Once the gap is there, you are in for a great surprise, that you are not the mind, that you are the witness, a watcher.

And this process of watching is the very alchemy of real religion. Because as you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, thoughts start disappearing. You are, but the mind is utterly empty.

That’s the moment of enlightenment. That is the moment that you become for the first time an unconditioned, sane, really free human being.”

This quote reflects what many who have connected to their subconscious have understood; that you need silence first, in order to hear. You need to quiet those clamoring thoughts to discover your true purpose, your own inner game.

Understanding the signals from your subconscious mind

Now, I am not advocating we all return to caveman days and act purely on instinct but more that you do not let your outside world define you. Try to take a step back and listen to what your body is telling you. It can be difficult to relax and tap into your inner self, but that is where your true desires and feelings live. If you have headaches, sleep badly, feel “under the weather” it is far more likely that your subconscious mind is trying to warn you that you may be on the wrong path, than that you have any actual illness.

Let me ask you a question, do you dance or sing when you hear music? Are you a trained dancer or singer? Probably not. Does not

My Happiness First program is not a set of rules to achieve happiness; it is a process of opening yourself up to your subconscious mind, living in and understanding the present moment and ridding yourself of those negative, self -limiting beliefs. We are all, to an extent, bound by social morals, values, ways of behaving. Listening to your subconscious mind does not mean you turn into a selfish anarchist! It is more that you understand what your true motivation is and that your source of happiness comes from within.

If you would like me to help you to access your subconscious mind and find your happiness, Go ahead and book a free 25 minute consultation to find out exactly how I can help you.

Go to the bottom of this page: Lorane’s Coaching- FREE initial Consultation or click on the “Need Help” tab and fill in your details.

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Let me know what inner game you want to master and what you want to manifest for happiness, see comments below