Issue 9 February 2011
Quantum
of it based largely on our family’s beliefs, and those of the authority figures in our lives, our social and cultural environment, the media, religion, education, and so on. As Albert Einstein once said, ‘common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by the age of eighteen’. We inherit so many of our beliefs at such a deeply subconscious level that they still control our choices and actions today, even when the choices and actions of yesterday are making our current life miserable.
Most of us rarely conduct a mental or emotional inventory of our beliefs over the course of our lifetime; we simply stick with those we have already formed—even if they are no longer working for us. Simply check the condition of your life—if it is not the life you desire, then that is a good indicator that your subconscious beliefs are in conflict with your conscious desires, preferences and intentions. The fact is that most of us are in a situation in our adulthood where many of our current beliefs are out of date and need revising.
Yet, it is important to keep some perspective here. Note the words I used in the last sentence of the previous paragraph: our ‘beliefs are out of date’. They are not necessarily good or bad. They are just old. They no longer assist your growth and satisfaction in your present reality. The change is not to replace a bad belief with a good one. It’s to replace an outdated one with an updated one. Since the time when you formed your beliefs early in life, you have changed, the world has changed, and your circumstances in the world have changed. Because your beliefs filter your world, and thus control your potential, the first place you need to go to change your life is to your subconscious mind, where these belief systems are encoded.
Beliefs Determine Your Thoughts Beliefs are not only abstract things that have an impact on you psychologically. They exist in the form of thought patterns in your physical being. But they are not your thoughts. They are the substance and structure of your thoughts. Beliefs and thoughts are very real electrochemical
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signals that are broadcast throughout your body. They affect every aspect of your being, from your ‘happiness factor’ to the strength of your immune system, from your outlook on life to the cascade of neurochemicals, hormones, enzymes and overall body chemistry. So beliefs as thoughts affect not only your psychology, but your physiology. As cellular biologist Dr Bruce Lipton tells us, ‘The beliefs that we hold in our mind create the biology and behaviour of our lives’. Thoughts truly are things, and beliefs shape the content of your thoughts.
To really change your life, you don’t have to change your thoughts; you have to change your deep-down belief systems. And it is this notion of ‘deep down’ beliefs that gives us a clue as to why the effects of willpower and positive thinking can be so short lived and ineffective when it comes to making life changes and achieving our goals. When there is a conflict between thoughts, the strongest held belief that is creating those thoughts will almost always win over the long term. That’s why positive affirmations and the “law of attraction” so often don’t work for people. Once you get your subconscious mind integrated with your conscious intentions, however, everything can change!
The Subconscious Mind Rules The majority of your beliefs are stored in your subconscious mind, which has a different function than your conscious mind. Your conscious mind is the thinking part that is associated with your personal identity. It is involved in logic, reasoning, positive thinking, decision making, and is the place from which you direct your free will. It is associated with your ego, a term described in various ways by different schools of psychology, but that you can generally understand as the ‘you’ you think you are and that you show the world on a consistent basis, day to day. Your other mind is the subconscious, which also is described variously by different schools of psychology, but is generally known to be the place of your programmed and learned actions, responses and behaviours. Whereas consciously you may feel and think that you are in charge of the quality, condition and direction
Quantum Health 9
HEALTH
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