The Power of Belief & How We Can Use It to Consciously Create Life.

Many of us are familiar with the idea that we can literally create our reality with our thoughts.  But what determines the quality and direction of our thoughts?  The underlying factor is our beliefs.  Unfortunately, we tend to harbor beliefs deep within our subconscious mind that don’t come to light without some effort.  Therefore we are caught in a reality we are not consciously creating, and because we are not consciously creating it, it is most likely a reality different from that which we desire to create in our lives.

One method used to uncover these deeply held beliefs and understand how they were originally accepted is through hypnosis - "hypnotherapy."  The premise is that when in an altered brain wave state, we can better access the subconscious as it puts the "thinking mind," in the back seat, so to speak.  Getting the conscious, thinking (monkey) mind out of the driver's seat can help us access what's just below the surface of consciousness and deeper.

Many beliefs we carry aren't conscious - they are behind the scenes running the programs of our lives, because they are ideas that were accepted very early in life. In these cases, we aren’t even consciously aware that we are holding them or when or how they were accepted in the first place because it was at such a young age.  Between the ages of seven and eleven, the critical factor is developed in the mind.  This is a sort of gatekeeper that manages what ideas are accepted into the subconscious as beliefs.  Before this gets developed, ideas are very easily accepted in the child’s mind.  Think about how we say that children “absorb things like a sponge”.  Without the critical factor in place, our minds are just downloading information without analyzing it.

There are five ways an idea is accepted as a belief into the subconscious mind:

1.  Repetition.  An idea that is presented repeatedly has a better chance of being accepted as a belief.

2.  A traumatic incident.  We may accept an idea as a belief during a traumatic experience.  One isolated situation can easily turn into an underlying belief of “I’m not loveable” or “I’m not worthy” or “I’m not good enough” when the mind generalizes it, as is its tendency to do. (Generalizing ideas is a protective mechanism of the mind – if we are hurt by something we tend to generalize and say stay away from that thing or situation across the board to protect ourselves instead of viewing as a specific isolated incident.  Generalizing isn’t bad, and is a survival mechanism that most likely supported our evolution, but it’s not always in our best interest emotionally.)

3.  Peer group.  The peer group can be a powerful force when it comes to ideas becoming accepted as generalized beliefs.  How many of us have terror when it comes to public speaking or maybe picked up the “I’m not smart enough” belief from an incident in front of the class in school?

4.  Authority Figure.  Growing up, almost everyone around us is an authority figure.  Parents, relatives, teachers all fit in this category.  Our interaction with them is not always positive, however, and we may end up picking up a belief from a situation that isn’t actually our truth.  Even as adults, we may give others, such as our physicians, the power of being an authority figure and allowing beliefs that may not serve us best be formed by what they tell us.  How many times have we heard of someone taking what a physician tells him/her as absolute truth without seeking a second opinion or challenging it at all and just resigning him or herself to whatever fate the doctor has predicted? 

5.  Altered state of consciousness.   Hypnosis is actually an altered state of consciousness that is natural; relaxed yet focused; that relaxes the critical factor of the mind so new consciously chosen ideas can be more easily accepted as beliefs.  In this way you can “download” the beliefs that support the life you want to create.

The beliefs are the root.  Your thoughts grow out of the beliefs you hold most deeply whether you are conscious of them or not.  Your thoughts in turn influence your emotions, and out of your emotions grow your behavior in the world.  Your behavior is then your “interface” with your reality.  In this way, your beliefs are the beginning of the chain of events that creates your reality in your world.  They are like a filter through which you view the world around you.  You will tend to register and acknowledge those events and situations around you that support your beliefs, and dismiss those that do not. 

We hear a lot about positive affirmations, and they certainly have their place, but if they are going against a belief that is deeply held in the subconscious, the belief will always win.  First we must root out the beliefs that are not serving the reality we want to experience and then we can choose the beliefs that support us and recreate our reality from the ground up.

In the Art of Consciously Creating Life, we use the lunar cycle as a framework for doing this work each month of getting in alignment with our most authentic selves and therefore most authentic and heartfelt desires, rooting out limiting and outdated beliefs that no longer serve, and replacing them with new beliefs that support us in realizing our visions and intentions.

What kind of world do you want to experience?

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I'm Kasey, and this is the Art of Consciously Creating Life.
Join me on the journey.