Mind Over Matter Part 1  

You would think that with the billions of dollars N.A.S.A. spends on launching probes and satellites into the farthest reaches of the universe that space, as Captain James T Kirk said in every episode of Star Trek, really was the final frontier. I beg to differ. I suggest to you it is 'inner space', the human mind, than represents a greater enigma than the distant stars ever will.

Thanks to modern technology, our knowledge of the external has, much like the universe itself, expanded rapidly. We can be certain of the motions of the planets around far off suns and have discovered that an insubstantial 'dark matter' fills the heavens, yet the grey matter between our ears still remains somewhat of a mystery.

So what do we know? We know your mind is incredible and has been described as a biological computer more powerful than any electronic brain yet devised by man. Everything we see around us, from the smallest ball bearing to gigantic Apollo space rockets was first conceived in and then made reality by the human mind.

Although all our man made achievements may seem impressive, it is generally accepted that we use only approximately 10% of the brain's ability, whilst the remaining 90% remains dormant and unused. That part we have used to create our world demonstrates only a fraction of the human mind's capabilities. What we have discovered and achieved so far is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

To Boldly Go .....

Of this we are certain. If you were to compare the mind to Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise you'd see there were two things going on at the same time as it speeds through space.

First you have the crew, busying themselves with the everyday tasks needed to keep everything ship shape and Bristol fashion. This is like the conscious mind, the part you are using now to read these words and over which we have most control. We use it for daily decision making, rational thinking and other everyday tasks.

But your average Starship crewman probably doesn't think about all the other unseen, un-noticed things going on in the ship that keep him alive and prevent the ship from slamming into asteroids. There's the air conditioning that lets him breathe and keeps the temperature just right, there's the lifts speeding people to other decks, doors opening and shutting automatically to let him in and out of rooms and millions of routine computer processes that every second keep the ship and its crew 'alive' and functioning normally.

Similarly the subconscious takes care of all the automatic functions we need to stay alive but which we don't have to think about every second of the day, such as breathing (you don't have to think "now I breathe in, now I breathe out do you?), our emotions, imagination, memories and the autonomic nervous system - pupil dilation, saliva production, skin condition, that sort of thing.

Two different ships, two different 'yous' inhabiting the same space, interdependent on each other and subtlety interacting all day and all night. And, like the computers on Enterprise, the subconscious also possesses the remarkable ability to record everything you've seen, heard, experienced or learned since you were born, even things you were not consciously aware of at the time.

You may not be able to access that information right now but its all in there somewhere. That's why police forces around the world sometimes use professional hypnotherapists to hypnotise crime scene witnesses. Under hypnosis the conscious mind is 'bypassed' and the subconscious 'tape recorder' accessed to recall photographic details about a scene that, at the time, the witness may not have consciously registered.

Tell the computer on Enterprise to blow up the ship and it will probably do it, no questions asked. It doesn't reason or question the command. Same with the subconscious - it records anything and everything and believes whatever it is told, if it is told often enough. That's bad if you keep telling it you are useless or unworthy or fat or un-loveable or whatever that little niggling negative voice inside all of us keeps saying. The subconscious just says "okay, that's fine, so be it" and will do its utmost to make those beliefs come true.

But what if you were to keep telling it "you are great, you are self confident, you are loveable and you are slim"? Same thing, subconscious accepts these things to be true and will change your belief systems, way of acting and re-acting to the outside world accordingly.

The subconscious cannot resist consistent bombardment of one simple idea or set of instructions. It simply has to give in and give you whatever you want. The subconscious is that powerful! Not convinced? Take these examples.

Perhaps one of the most often quoted and well known examples of the incredible power of the subconscious mind was an experiment carried out in the 1950's on a cinema audience in America.

During the movie, just a single frame with the simple instruction to buy a certain product, was inserted into the film. As a single frame it flashed by without the viewers even noticing it was there but sure enough, come the interval, everyone went out to the bar and bought the product and overall sales soared! Luckily, so dastardly effective was this form of subconscious advertising, it was banned before any other another company could jump on the bandwagon and bend unsuspecting audiences to its commercial will.

Still, the fantastic power of this method to influence the way people think and act did not escape the British and American medical authorities who, in the same decade gave official approval for the use of hypnosis in treating both physical and psychological disorders. Since then, the amazing ability of the mind to control both physical and mental states has been proven again and again. Doctors and therapists all over the world recognise hypnosis as a valuable therapeutic tool that can be used to treat asthma, tension, headaches, stomach disorders, blood pressure, smoking and many other physical ailments. Even dentists are now using a form of hypnosis on patients so that they feel no pain during treatment without having to take a conventional anaesthetic.

Boosting the health of the body is one of the areas where hypnosis seems to work particularly well. Years of clinical research and controlled experiments seem to suggest that it is possible to boost your immune system just by thinking about it.

Nicholas Hall, a neurophysiologist at George Washington University Medical Centre in America found that his subjects could increase the number of white blood cells, as well as an immunity hormone called Thymosin-alpha-1, in their bloodstream by simply using visualisation exercises.

Still not convinced? Try this one for size. At the University of Texas, Dr Frank Lawlis found that if his subjects used their imaginations in a creative way, they could boost the number of disease fighting cells, called Neutrofils, in their bloodstream. Similarly, in Japan, Doctors found in controlled tests that their subjects could eliminate the itching, swelling and blistering caused by exposure to a poisonous plant by imagining, under hypnosis, that it was harmless. Amazingly, when the experiment was reversed and patients were told that a harmless plant was poisonous, their skin reacted as if they had really been exposed to its harmful chemicals!

This to me demonstrates beyond doubt the power of the mind to influence the body. If it can have this much influence on our physical state, just imagine what it can do for our mental one! The subconscious mind also has enormous influence over what way we think and what we think. It affects the way we feel, the way we see the world and the way we deal with life.

What is Hypnosis?

When I talk about hypnosis I don't mean the silly kind you see on television where some stage hypnotist makes a poor unsuspecting victim believe he's Mr Spock and has no control over his actions (although this is another good example of how the subconscious can be made to modify your belief and behaviour). I'm talking about hypnotherapy, which is another kettle of fish altogether but often confused with the kind used for entertainment.

Continued in Part 2

About the Author

Simon Goodall has been an freelance writer for over 10 years, creating articles on diverse subjects to both print and web publications. He also writes e-books, the latest of which is Ultimate Sex Secrets for Men (http://www.the-man-shop.com/ultimatesex).