The Brain’s Fun Police

Jan 12

I’m sure you’ve heard the analogy of our mind represented by an iceberg before, right? Very Freud. But it’s a pretty decent visual representation of his theory that most of the human mind operates unconsciously.

The top, sticking up over the surface of the water, is the conscious part and accounts for about 5-10% of our mind. It’s the part of us that thinks it’s in charge but acts more as an observer - it comments, interprets and reflects on life. It loves habit and rational, logical, linear ways of thinking, is analytical and self-aware. (Although sometimes it has a hard time walking and talking at the same time, or is that just me?)

Then, underneath the surface, lies our subconscious (or unconscious) mind - the remaining 90-95%. It’s our automated processes and long term memory - it does not judge, criticise, analyse or reject, and is amazing at running multiple tasks at the same time. It does however have a way of making conscious judgements too, and figure things out without all the available details or information. It likes oversimplification - of seeing patterns, relying on past experiences, taking shortcuts and finding clues.

And while we’re talking shortcuts…let me just point out: This whole analogy is an oversimplification too of course. The brain is constantly collaborating across various areas of the brain in intricate systems. It’s all more of a metaphor than an actual way of describing the mind and how it functions - It’s not like there are specific areas of your brain that houses your subconscious and your conscious mind, with an actual barrier in-between. But I think we can all agree that we often react as if on autopilot, and there’s something deeper in us that’s programmed that somehow, something under the surface.

So what decides what goes into the autopilot then?

In hypno circles it tends to be referred to as the Critical Faculty, but if we’d like to be slightly more up-to-date scientifically speaking (and I would assume that we do?) it’s actually called the Reticular Activating System (RAS).

THE RAS

The RAS acts as the gatekeeper in our brain, think bouncer at a club or a Palace Guard making sure no intruders are sneaking past. It’s effectively a filter between your conscious and your unconscious mind.

When a thought or a piece of information comes into our brains, the RAS will quickly notice if this is a familiar thought/bit of information or not, and if it is - that thought can continue on. It’s “on the list”, so the bouncer will let it go in. It’s a regular.

However when a NEW thought pops into our minds, or some new information is coming in, there will be resistance from the bouncer. “You’re not on the list, I’ve never seen you here before (... plus you’re wearing trainers! Urgh). Please leave”.

It’s a completely natural process in our brains. If we didn’t have any critical thinking, if we didn’t oversimplify, generalise, delete and distort information our brains would require way more processing power and use up an incredible amount of energy.

But this is why it’s so hard for us to create new thought patterns, new habits and new ways of being. We naturally have a lot of resistance to the new. However, by repeating the same thing, over and over again - the bouncer will start to recognise it as a regular and finally allow it into the party too. It’s become part of our autopilot.

BUT.

And here’s the beauty of hypnosis.

We can speed up that process.

By being in a state of trance, i e utilising hypnotherapy to get us there, it seems to alter the brain state in a way which allows external input (i.e. new thoughts and information) to dominate over old internal processes.

In simpler terms, we’re able to bypass the bouncer and sneak right into the club.

We’re speaking directly to the unconscious mind, the bit that’s under the surface, and it is more likely to act on the suggestions given and generate faster results for you, i.e. creating a habit quicker.

You see, the unconscious mind doesn’t care if something is deemed positive or negative, it accepts all as truth if that’s what you keep telling it. So you may as well make it something that will generate good outcomes for you, right?

Let’s think for a moment what it could mean for you…

You could reduce your sense of anxiety and worst-case-scenario thinking, actually starting to enjoy planning for things or being fully present at a dinner with friends.
You could improve your sleeping patterns by getting yourself into a better state for a restful night’s sleep, waking up feeling wooh instead of blurgh.
You could make changing habits easier; e.g. stopping smoking, nail biting or addictions - making both your wallet and body happier.
You could make your relationship to food, and your body image, healthier - actually savouring a cold drink by the beach in the sun without feeling that everyone’s looking at you in a swimsuit.
You could have a more positive outlook on life, and of your own self, feeling like you actually deserve to have some good things coming your way.
There are even studies showing that the psychological components of autoimmune/chronic pain can be reduced using hypnosis.

We have around 50,000 thoughts every day. That’s a lot. That’s tiring. But do you know how many of those are actually unique and new?

2000.

Which is pretty crazy. Imagine how many times you keep repeating the same thoughts to yourself, over and over.

Imagine the impact of making more and more of them positive. Kind. Hopeful. Friendly. Fun. Cheering you on. Giving you a pat on the back instead of a slap in the face.

It would feel quite good, right?

So if you’re ready to give your internal bouncer a rest - I’m right here to help. Let’s go clubbing!