The conscious and the subconscious mind

You will notice in the drawing a diagram of the human mind. It is divided into two parts: the conscious mind comprising 5 to 10% of the total mind and the subconscious mind comprising the other 90 to 95% of the mind.

The mind is drawn like an iceberg. With the conscious mind being that part which is seen and known and is above the waves in the ocean. The subconscious mind is that part which is hidden and is not readily seen and known. It is under the surface of the ocean, but is the largest part of the whole.

The conscious mind makes up about 5 to 10% of your mental activity. The subconscious mind, however, drives the remaining 90 to 95% of your mental activity. It controls most of your daily decisions, behaviors, emotions, and automatic bodily functions.

So, if there is a conflict between the conscious mind and the “programming” of the subconscious mind, guess which one wins. The subconscious mind will invariably win the day. This is the main reason why we fail to keep New Year’s Resolutions, for example.

If we could get into the subconscious mind and change the “programming,” then we could change bad habits, we could more easily start new good habits. We could change a lot about ourselves that we would really want to change. We could control the amount of bodily discomfort that we feel, and make many more positive changes.

Hypnosis is the key to the subconscious mind allowing us to get into the “programming” of the subconscious and make positive changes. The conscious mind has a hindrance to getting to the subconscious called the critical factor. The critical factor is that part of our conscious mind that makes determinations about what is reality and what is not reality. When we can get past the critical factor, we can then change the programming of the subconscious mind. The job of the hypnotist is to do exactly that and help clients make desired changes.

How a post-hypnotic suggestion is used once you are out of hypnosis →