Who out there has heard about or tried using positive affirmations in an attempt to let go of negative thinking? Since I can't actually hear your replies, I'm going to assume that most of you reading this blog said yes! And I have a sneaky suspicion that you were unsuccessful in changing your negative thoughts into more positive and effective thoughts. Let me explain the frustrating reason for this before you give up on yourself and your ability to change. As you already know, we all have a conscious and subconscious part of our mind. I am going to go into more detail about why we usually reject a positive affirmation even when we really want to change our negative thoughts. The critical factor (CF) is considered to be a part of our conscious level of awareness. The CF examines, filters and interprets incoming ideas. It is like a bouncer; if we are not on the guest list, we do not get into the party. Ideas or affirmations that are not already found within our subconscious mind get rejected by the CF. The CF wants the ideas of our conscious and subconscious minds to match. Let's use the positive affirmation above as an example. Let's imagine a 36 year old woman named Sally decides she is tired of listening to her critical voice so she finds the above affirmation and commits to saying "I choose to be healthy, happy and full of love" every day for at least 21 days. The CF of her conscious mind hears her positive words and immediately checks with her subconscious so make sure it also has these same beliefs. If her subconscious mind has beliefs that she is unlovable and that she can only be happy if others are happy, then her CF rejects this positive affirmation. Sally eventually becomes frustrated with herself because she is still having negative thoughts about herself! She either read or was told that all she had to do was replace a negative thought with a positive thought. She did this for weeks on end without good results.! So Sally may even begin to believe she's a hopeless case. The truth is that Sally isn't a hopeless case; she just doesn't understand fully how her mind works. If Sally were to come see me for help, I would put her into a hypnotic state where she is mentally and physically relaxed. When in this hypnotic state, her CF is also relaxed which allows new ideas (Everyday, I choose to be healthy, happy and full of love) to be imprinted upon her subconscious mind. After her hypnosis session, she can now say her positive affirmation daily to reinforce the new programming in her subconscious mind. Her CF now allows this affirmation to enter her psyche because this belief is now in both her conscious and subconscious awareness. And now Sally is living her life out of this new belief and affirming it daily with her positive affirmation!
2 Comments
11/1/2022 10:07:42 am
It's good to know that constant positive affirmations can be too much. I've been looking for different therapy options, so I might look into hypnosis. That seems like a good way to ensure that I handle things properly.
Reply
1/21/2023 04:00:41 am
I agree with your article, thank you for clarifying the point and let people know about it.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJennifer is a Certified Clinical and Interpersonal Hypnotherapist who enjoys educating others about all things hypnosis. ArchivesCategories
All
|
What Clients Are Saying
============================================================
|
contact jennifer980-240-1136
|