Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 2, Issue 3, (September 1, 2017) | Page 11

The adult may not be consciously aware of their limiting beliefs, but in hypnosis, we become aware of our unconscious beliefs and we can communicate directly with the subconscious mind to release and let go of the erroneous beliefs. To get access to the subconscious mind, we have to bypass the “critical mind” which acts like a “gate keeper” to keep the old limiting beliefs intact. So to change any limiting beliefs in the subconscious mind, we need to first go through a very important step which is to bypass the critical mind and this is essentially the fundamental basis of hypnosis. Critical Mind The critical mind is like a filtering mechanism; it compares the new information coming in from the conscious mind with the beliefs we already hold within our subconscious mind. When we consciously desire to change to a healthy lifestyle but find it difficult to change or to maintain the changes, it is because this new information gets rejected by the critical mind. We can use temporary will power to change, but the moment we get stressed, tired and emotionally overwhelmed, our will power will give way to the powerful old patterns of eating. We then blame ourselves for not having the discipline to follow through, which puts additional stress on our mental and emotional health. To get away from the emotional stress we go back to living the old unhealthy lifestyle and just give up. This downward spiral is a common phenomenon that all of us face when we are unable to see our desired results. With hypnosis, we are able to bypass the critical mind and place the ‘seeds” of new behaviors for healthy eating and living, within the subconscious mind. With self-hypnosis, these new behaviors start to take root and eventually replace the old patterns of associations and beliefs with new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. You change