"Calm Down!!"

No matter how smart, educated or advantaged a person is - no matter how great a thinker they may be, the more powerful subconscious mind will ALWAYS trump the cognitive mind. Furthermore, no matter how powerful a person's resolve or will is, the subconscious mind is immeasurably stronger. There is a little trick to this which I am going to share with you.

The subconscious mind "believes" what we tell it. Here is a typical example. I was in a well known coffee shop (B&N) recently and overheard two young women talking about their New Year's resolutions to exercise. "Ya, but I won't last more than a couple weeks. That is what always happens." Yes, that young woman is absolutely correct! She might have all the well-intention and desire in the world to keep exercising, but she sunk herself with that simple statement.
Our subconscious mind is always listening to us - hearing what we say, think and believe. It as if her inner mind said, "Oh okay, the cut off point is two weeks." I would guarantee that her exercise program failed.
But it did not need to! We don't need to fail at our resolutions year after year. And we don't need to "fail" at anything else. Our history does NOT need to predict our future... if we know how to use our powerful subconscious mind.

One of the reasons the subconscious mind is so powerful is that it is the seat of our emotions; our emotional brain is much more powerful than the cognitive (conscious) brain. Unless we calm the mind and what is called the sympathetic nervous system we can't hear our own wisdom. Want some proof? Just try to "think straight' when you are in a panic over something. Frustrated because you are late and can't find your car keys? You won't be able to recall where you last put them if your emotions are running high. If you know how to calm yourself you will remember that odd place where you last set them down... believe me, I know this works!
Relaxation is the key.
Thru relaxation we access all parts of the brain and our being... including memory. All memory as I mentioned in my last blog, as well as our emotions, are seated in the subconscious mind. But when we are overcome (literally) by emotion, our brain goes into stress reaction. "I can't find my keys! I'm going to be late -where the heck are they?! Now I'm going to have to deal with explaining why I am late. I'm never going to find them #$%^**!!!!"

In the above scenario we literally block the memory of where our keys are located. Any situation in which we need to think, or even be reasonable is not going to have the best results when we are less than calm and relaxed. Think of the last time you were in a heated discussion with someone. The more our emotional level goes up, the less reasonable things that come out of our mouth! We tend to lose control.

It all circles back to relaxation.
When we are calm and relaxed, our emotions are calm or can be calmed down. We can center ourselves. We can rise above the emotions, take them into consideration, say reasonable things and make more reasonable decisions.
There are many self calming techniques. Here is one to try. Roll your eyes up to the ceiling, breathe slowly....and close your eyes. Take your time doing this. Then ask yourself how you want to respond to the situation.
The point is to calm your system down. You are moving out of the fight/flight stress response. That is not where you do your best thinking! When you calm yourself down you are in control of your thoughts and your emotions.

You are in control of your life.
So whether it is those keys you can't find, someone that is pushing your buttons and getting an emotional response out of you, or the dull panic of something you are worried about, the key is to calm yourself, thereby accessing the powerful subconscious mind. We have unlimited wisdom within, but we cannot access it in a hyper state.

Have fun practicing self-soothing, calming techniques. That is where your real success lies!

Until next time,
Blessings and love to you and those you love,
Dr. DyAnn