Inner Conflict

     Most of us know about the power of the subconscious mind. We have long known that, used to our advantage, it can make our lives bright, happy and successful. What is not generally known is that when we permit it to function on its own, it can also have the opposite effect. It can create a miserable, unsuccessful existence for us. The subconscious can cure or create disease.

     It is not that the subconscious mind is malicious. Quite the contrary; it is always trying to protect us. To do this, it uses rules learned over the years. It learned these rules by observing a variety of sources like parents, teachers, religious figures, peers, friends, movies and TV. From these observations, the subconscious makes generalizations and judgments (i.e., rules) about what constitutes acceptable behavior, attitudes, beliefs, thoughts, actions, etc. in our society and internalizes them. The subconscious adopts these rules as "laws" for living life. These rules become the way you are supposed to act, think, and feel. From then on, the subconscious mind strives to keep you within these laws.

     This would be an excellent system if all of these rules and laws were valid and useful. Unfortunately, it is not always so. Some of these rules may not be ones we would have chosen to instill into our minds. If you were raised by parents who went through the Great Depression, odds are that you have strong needs for thrift and saving, maybe even a poverty consciousness that inhibits your life. If we have foreign energies attached to us or past life issues, we can experience the attachment's rules or rules we had in past lives that are no longer apropos in this life. The subconscious mind survives death and carries forward to subsequent lifetimes so what is in there continues to work on us.

     The system can also set up conditions where, if an appropriate model was used for an original observation, inappropriate rules can be incorporated into the subconscious mind. For example, it is well established that most abusing parents were abused children. At some deep level, abuse is seen as acceptable behavior.

     Another place these unedited rules can become troublesome is when conflicting models lead to the adoption of conflicting rules. For example, a person can have a rule that says people always stay married for life, no matter what. They simultaneously can have a rule that says that marriage is supposed to be happy. What happens when they are caught in an unhappy marriage? In addition, what causes abusing parents to seek help? There must be a conflicting inner law that opposes the law condoning abusive behavior. These inner conflicts can cause us to get sick.

     Studies have shown that our subconscious mind controls all our bodily functions. "All functions" means many functions that we once thought were beyond our willful control or influence, such as the selective control of blood flow to various parts of the body or the activation of the immune system. Once we clear the conflicts and reprogram the subconscious mind with conscious thoughts and desires (perhaps to activate the immune system programmed by visualizing the immune cells as white sharks eating up cancer cells), it responds by doing what we have reprogrammed it to do.

     The subconscious mind learns from a variety of sources. It takes instructions from guided imagery and visualization techniques. However, it is also listening to what we say and watching what we do. Therefore, it is also important that we address these areas to make them consistent with the goals we hold for visualization. If we are visualizing getting better but constantly telling ourselves how sick we are, we have set up conflicting instructions in the subconscious mind. (Remember, when you tell someone else something, your subconscious mind is eavesdropping on the conversation.) Similarly, if you are very pale, you should avoid spending much time looking into a mirror and observing this. The reflection reinforces illness, not recovery. If you keep seeing more color returning to your face, the mirror will reinforce the "I'm getting healthier" message at the subconscious level. Why not just visualize the healthier complexion to begin with?

     The things we are discussing occur below the level of our conscious awareness. We are simply using our conscious processes to put into this subconscious level those things we want to have operate there. However, there is another class of rules mentioned above: conflicting rules. What about the unhappily married person who wants to be happy? It is almost as if the subconscious mind is protecting the person from the untenable situation by providing a way out. You can't get divorced, but you can die of cancer without shame or guilt. Moreover, it gets you out of the marriage that is making you unhappy. Now, this is an overstated example in order to make the point. Nevertheless, there are many conflicts we set up within ourselves because the subconscious has been allowed to establish its own rules. Some of these say to us repeatedly, "Life is awful!" (Or "unbearable").

     The creative subconscious mind, once it has determined that life is awful, finds a way out of the problem - in this case, living. It can either shut down or over activate one or more systems within the body. The rest is automatic. For example, I know of a young man who loved the violin. He was quite talented and wanted to pursue a career as a violinist. However, his family pressured him into studying law. To do so, he gave up his dream. The story seemed to have a happy conclusion. He was a great lawyer. He established himself in a very successful practice and had a very bright future ahead of him before he was 30 years old. Then came the bad news. He was diagnosed with an untreatable, inoperable brain tumor and given less than a year to live.

     Fortunately, this is not the end of the story. Our young lawyer found the silver lining in the cloud. At least he didn't have to practice law any longer. The conflict resolved itself. He picked up his violin and joined a small symphony orchestra. (Remember, he was talented!) A year later, he was alive and well, playing with a large symphony orchestra, and free from any trace of brain tumor.

     It is better to resolve inner conflicts before the subconscious creates a life or death situation because of the awfulness. Hypnotherapy can do this for us. When we correct the conflicts in our lives and let our true selves out to follow our preferred paths, it seems that there is no longer any need to die to get out of this "awful" life. Life simply isn't "awful" any more.