Unconcious...

The other weekend my mother said something that resonated with me (and always has), “People have to want to change in order to change.” Now here’s the monkey wrench…That may not be enough.

I was talking with a physiatrist who told me that we can form unconscious fears as babies. That means that a person who had acid reflux as an infant might as a child/adult have a fear of vomit. And this person certainly isn’t going to remember throwing up as an infant.

I have a bad habit of eating too fast. I’ve tried putting my fork down between bites, sipping water between bites, and using my grandfather’s trick of chewing each bite 25 times. No matter how long I do these for, I can’t lose the eating fast habit. So what gives? My unconscious mind.

My conscious mind knows the importance of slowing down when I eat since it is better for digesting and is willing to work on it. My unconscious mind says, “fat chance.” (pun intended). I do a deep dive into my eating fast habit and peel back all the layers until I hit the core of it.

Some modalities let us tap into our unconscious mind to change bad habits: neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), hypnotism, affirmations, and visualizations. So how do we get started?

“Now that you’re an adult, you may think that you can simply discard the hurtful or untrue messages you absorbed during your early life, but it’s not quite that simple.” — Ashley Young, GoRainMakers.com

First, decide which technique you plan to use. You will most likely need to work with a trained expert for NLP and hypnosis. With visualization, you imagine yourself having achieved your goals several times a day. With affirmations, you repeat positive statements several times a day. You are on track for success when you feel stronger, your goals aren’t overwhelming anymore, and you feel more confident (Ashley Young, GoRainMakers.com). Warning; this could take months.

I ask myself, “Is something from my childhood causing me to eat fast?” I should ask my mom if she remembers how I nursed (after 50+ years). There may be some insights to be found. More to come…