You Don't Have to Believe!

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How does the trauma of claustrophobia take hold? One common way is the old example of a child being locked in a cupboard! Later on the child, now an adult, can not walk into a lift, or a cave, without sweating and thinking that everything is going to collapse on top of them. Does the adult, now a victim of claustrophobia, believe that? Of course not! They know logically that lifts operate daily without collapsing and that the cave has been standing for many years and is structurally sound. Aha! But does their body know these facts? No it does not - the body reacts with perspiration and other traumatic symptoms because claustrophobia is now a habit.

Where are These Habits Stored?

These habits are stored in the cerebellum (the seat of the subconscious) and respond with the automatic body movements whenever the thought is triggered - "Here's that lift again - I am going to be crushed!"  It's not the truth though, is it?

The most marvellous thing about the subconscious mind is that we can use all this "process" in reverse, to our advantage.

Scepticism is rife with people being told about how they can truly achieve changing habits, healing themselves, releasing pain, increasing confidence, overcoming anger, sleeping better, releasing anxiety, moving through depression, achieving goals faster (and more) by using the subconscious mind deliberately.  It's OK to be sceptical!  Scepticism is healthy - cynicism is not.  Sometimes too much scepticism prevents one from "trying" (to use the subconscious mind).  I am reminded that “trying implies failure and yet I say "give it a go - you don't have to believe to achieve."


I am Reminded of Cathy's Story - here it is:

 
This wonderful story about Cathy really illustrates releasing hurt using the power of pretence when tapping your Inner Strength – or, if you like – illustrates the fact that the subconscious mind does not know the difference between imagination or reality. Just pretending that something will work is enough.  Contrary to many peoples' opinion – you do not have to believe that the techniques work, just pretend that they work to have it work in your life. Cathy has been an inspiration to many people suffering from depression. Thanks Cathy for letting me share your inner strength.
       Cathy attended the seminar and told me that she had not come for herself but had come totally for her mother who was so ill that she was unable to attend herself. At the end of the seminar I asked her how things were and she told me she didn't care what happened to her, even if a truck ran over her on the way home. She told me she had clinical depression and the doctor had told her she would always have it. She had come here only to see what she could do for her mother, who had cancer. When she got home she started to teach her mother what to do and what she had learnt.
       Very soon after that Cathy had to have a mammogram and the result wasn't good. She was told she had a big lump in her left breast and had to go into hospital in three days time.
       She asked if it would hurt because she had a low pain tolerance and feared pain. They said it would. She would have to have a wire inserted into the breast, to the lump, without anaesthetic so that the doctor could follow it to the lump. The wire had to penetrate about three centimetres. Once the lump was located Cathy would receive an anaesthetic and then it wouldn’t hurt. She thought she may as well try the Peaceful Place method – even though she didn't believe it would work for her. Sandy had said “you don’t have to believe it – just do it”. She had nothing to lose.
       For the next few days Cathy didn’t go to work. A hundred times each day, she visualised that the wire was inserted easily and painlessly, just like a spoon into yoghurt and affirmed “this feels great”. She imagined the lump was cut out painlessly, with a successful outcome. After she had done the visualisation for about a day and a half she thought, “I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to put all my sadness, pain, injustice, anger and bitterness that led to my depression, into this lump and as the lump gets cut out it's going to free me of all my depression and I'm going to feel absolutely fantastic.”
       So it all happened as she visualised. It was not, however, until the wire was painlessly inserted did Cathy actually believe. BUT, before that moment, she pretended really well. When the wire was inserted it didn't hurt at all and the lump turned out to be benign.
       Not only that, but she later came to another one of my seminars – for herself this time. She was a different woman, glowing, happy, the depression completely gone! She said, “The clinical depression that I have had for years has been lifted like a big black blanket. No longer do I take pills. I know now how powerful it is and I'm working with the Peaceful Place techniques all the time. It's just a question of attitude and how you talk to yourself.”

Notice that Cathy had been told by her doctor that she would always have clinical depression and that she would always be on medication.  Cathy believed the doctor!  It's a blessing that Cathy hated pain and recalled me saying "You don't have to believe - all you need to do is - DO IT."  Cathy did it!  She was motivated by the thought of pain and "gave it a go" with a wonderful result.  The needle didn't hurt her at all going into her breast. What a victory!  Overcoming depression was a bonus!

Why Don't You Have to Believe?

The main reason is because the subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between imagination and reality.  As a quick example,  let's take a dream and let's say that you're  dreaming that you are falling (and if you haven't had a "falling" dream then you can think of a dream where you're being chased and you're running away). Your adrenalin is running, your heart's beating faster, you're in a hot sweat when you wake up.  And what is the  mechanism that tells you – “Hey everything's OK,  I'm safe”? The mechanism is the conscious mind, because you wake up and say “Phewww it was only a dream.” The subconscious mind is having a dream and it cannot tell the difference between reality and imagination, because it really thought you were falling (or being chased). In your dream you were falling (or being pursued), but then it was the conscious mind  that recognised  “Hey that's not really happening at all, it was only a dream – thank goodness.”

So that really is the single most important point which you're going to be able to put to use because we can trick the subconscious mind into anything. Especially when we have something boring to do, we can even trick it into thinking that it's really interesting. That can be very handy, particularly when you've got to study chemistry and you hate chemistry.

Maxwell Maltz and his book "Psycho Cybernetics"

It is an important key to know that the subconscious mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality.  This was first brought to the world's attention in 1960 by Dr Maxwell Maltz in his book "Psycho Cybernetics".  What we can do to successfully use the subconscious mind is to pretend.  You do not have to believe!  In fact, when you are doing a goal and visualising that you have already achieved the outcome or achieved the reasons for your goal, it is a completely false statement or false imagery because it hasn't happened yet!  You are pretending it has.  Can you pretend even if you don't believe?  Absolutely you can!

It is probably easier to do if you do believe but it is not absolutely necessary.  One major component that helps is the motivation to DO IT!  I urge you to learn the techniques and read as many positive stories as you can.  There are hundreds of success stories on my website and there are literally 100s of books and seminars that give the same wonderful examples of human achievement using the subconscious mind deliberately.

I received a letter recently from a previous seminar participant who said "From my experience I would say that the most difficult part of change is actually taking the first step and then having sufficient discipline to go through the 30, 60 or 90 days".

Taking the First Step is Easy

If you are reading this page then that's the first step.  Awareness that there is something that can be done to assist any issue is a first step.

Making relaxation a habit by using the Peaceful Place tools - 30 seconds at a time - helps to develop a system.  Yes, you need reminders - physical reminders to overcome the sabotage from the subconscious mind (because it doesn't want to change!).  When you have proved this to yourself, that PP makes a difference, the next step is goals or meditation.  I would suggest a discipline of routine is the best.  Having less sleep and working on goals and meditation first thing in the morning is what I suggest (science has proved that meditation is as good as if not better than sleep).

Only you can do it!  Nobody else can do it for you!  One of the reasons that I have the instantly downloadable CALM Life Skills Seminar in 8 modules is to do one module per week - getting plenty of practice (with exercises) each week.  By the time you have done the exercises for 4 weeks, a new habit has been formed.

So [fname], you have taken the first step. The second step helps to make the best habit you can ever develop and you would kiss goodbye to uncontrollable stress and say hello to good health. It does take at least 30 days before habits can change. 

I love the statement "Your gift from God was your potential – Your gift to God is to use it." 
 
 
All the best
 
 
Sandy MacGregor

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