I wrote this the other day for a neighbor who is having some problems with his ankle. So if you'd like to use this for yourself, just replace "ankle" with whatever body part is causing you trouble.
The healing methodology I've been working with is based on the premise that your subconscious mind is in control of all of your body's functions that your conscious mind is not in control of. This is evidenced by the fact that you don't have to consciously will your heart to beat, or your lungs to breathe, or your glands to produce and secrete hormones. Your subconscious mind is in control of these things.
The placebo effect proves that if you can convince your subconscious mind that you are going to get better by ingesting this sugar pill, then it will kick into high gear, exercise its control over your body's natural healing mechanisms, and make that come true for you.
How do you convince your subconscious mind that you will get better?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the science of communicating with your subconscious. There are a couple of important rules to remember.
1.) Your subconscious mind doesn't understand negative modifiers.
In fact, your subconscious mind will simply drop all negative modifiers. So if you use a statement like "I have no pain," your subconscious mind will drop the negative modifier and the the statement becomes "I have pain." The exact opposite of the intended meaning! "It won't be long before I'm up and running again," becomes "It will be long before I'm up and running again." It is important to always use positive, affirmative statements like "I feel better today!" and "I am healing."
2.) Your subconscious mind prefers to speak in pictures and emotions.
I always tell people- Your subconscious understands language, but imagery is its mother tongue. This is why I suggested thinking about your ankle glowing, or more eloquently put- picture your ankle bathed in a warm light. Your subconscious associates light with healing, growth, and goodness. It doesn't matter where the light comes from- God, the universe, the sun. And self-luminating body parts work just as well. Light is the universal tool. It seems to work for everyone.
Another visual that many people use with great success is to anthropomorphize their blood cells. Think of each cell as a little army man, or construction worker, or gardener, or whatever you like. Picture what it looks like when they are dispatched to the area in need and begin doing their job to right whatever wrongs they encounter. (My blood cells are a mixture of Navy SEALS and Seabees- the old combat engineers. They wipe out anything that stands in the way and rebuild me faster, better, stronger than I was before.)
Other visuals can work, too. Think of things that really light your fire. If you like something, then your subconscious likes it, too. This will associate your visual with the emotion of Joy and it makes for more powerful communication. So if you really like playing basketball, you can construct a visual of you playing basketball on your patio out back with an ankle that is performing perfectly.
I had a buddy who had back pain. He combined "Grounding" (Imagining a "root" growing down from your perineum or "grundle" or "taint," and traveling to the center of the earth) with a visual of his spine as the trunk of a tree. This tree would draw up strength and flexibility from the earth through its root. It worked really well for him.
Laughter is a really powerful tool, as well. It seems that laughter doesn't even need a visual or linguistic guide. Laughter alone can produce amazing results, as far as healing goes. I once heard a story about a guy who got some horrible diagnosis from his doctor. He went home and rented every funny movie he ever enjoyed and just replayed them over and over. He goes back to the doctor, who is dumbfounded and can't find anything wrong with him. I don't know if that story is true, but there is some really good science now on the healing effects of laughter.
What you don't want to do is associate your healing with bad emotions. So when you are feeling depressed, or angry, or anxious don't engage in any of these healing techniques. Bring yourself back to at least neutral before you start engaging these methods. (Laughter is a good way to do this, too!)
3.) Repetition is king.
Your subconscious is designed to observe and repeat patterns. That's what it does. Like your heart beat or your breathing. It learns things so well that it can perform them almost perfectly while you're not paying attention. You ever drive to work and wind up sitting in the parking lot without the foggiest notion of how you got there? Your subconscious mind is so good at learning and repeating patterns that it managed to stop at every red light along the way, used your blinker to signal turns, and never plowed headlong into a bus full of nuns.
But it's a slow learner. You have to repeat the pattern many times before it will learn it and execute it without you having to think about it. Any idea you want to implant in your subconscious must be repeated over and over again.
As many times per day as you can, bring your mind back to your language and images of healing. It doesn't have to be for very long. 5 to 10 seconds will do nicely. Go for quantity and quality - not duration.
And finally, try to eliminate thought and talk of what is wrong with you. It's ok, and necessary, to do sometimes- but you want to minimize it. You don't want to be repeating a pattern for your subconscious to learn that is self-defeating. Find the slightest thing about your condition that is better than it was yesterday and HARP on it. Talk it up and try to convince yourself that it is evidence that your plan is working.
And on those days when everything looks the same or worse than the day before- LIE to yourself. Your subconscious cannot distinguish between what is real and what isn't. All it can do is learn and repeat patterns. (I'm not suggesting you deny any serious red flags. I'm just suggesting that a lack of progress can still be capitalized upon. If you're a good liar!)
The healing methodology I've been working with is based on the premise that your subconscious mind is in control of all of your body's functions that your conscious mind is not in control of. This is evidenced by the fact that you don't have to consciously will your heart to beat, or your lungs to breathe, or your glands to produce and secrete hormones. Your subconscious mind is in control of these things.
The placebo effect proves that if you can convince your subconscious mind that you are going to get better by ingesting this sugar pill, then it will kick into high gear, exercise its control over your body's natural healing mechanisms, and make that come true for you.
How do you convince your subconscious mind that you will get better?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the science of communicating with your subconscious. There are a couple of important rules to remember.
1.) Your subconscious mind doesn't understand negative modifiers.
In fact, your subconscious mind will simply drop all negative modifiers. So if you use a statement like "I have no pain," your subconscious mind will drop the negative modifier and the the statement becomes "I have pain." The exact opposite of the intended meaning! "It won't be long before I'm up and running again," becomes "It will be long before I'm up and running again." It is important to always use positive, affirmative statements like "I feel better today!" and "I am healing."
2.) Your subconscious mind prefers to speak in pictures and emotions.
I always tell people- Your subconscious understands language, but imagery is its mother tongue. This is why I suggested thinking about your ankle glowing, or more eloquently put- picture your ankle bathed in a warm light. Your subconscious associates light with healing, growth, and goodness. It doesn't matter where the light comes from- God, the universe, the sun. And self-luminating body parts work just as well. Light is the universal tool. It seems to work for everyone.
Another visual that many people use with great success is to anthropomorphize their blood cells. Think of each cell as a little army man, or construction worker, or gardener, or whatever you like. Picture what it looks like when they are dispatched to the area in need and begin doing their job to right whatever wrongs they encounter. (My blood cells are a mixture of Navy SEALS and Seabees- the old combat engineers. They wipe out anything that stands in the way and rebuild me faster, better, stronger than I was before.)
Other visuals can work, too. Think of things that really light your fire. If you like something, then your subconscious likes it, too. This will associate your visual with the emotion of Joy and it makes for more powerful communication. So if you really like playing basketball, you can construct a visual of you playing basketball on your patio out back with an ankle that is performing perfectly.
I had a buddy who had back pain. He combined "Grounding" (Imagining a "root" growing down from your perineum or "grundle" or "taint," and traveling to the center of the earth) with a visual of his spine as the trunk of a tree. This tree would draw up strength and flexibility from the earth through its root. It worked really well for him.
Laughter is a really powerful tool, as well. It seems that laughter doesn't even need a visual or linguistic guide. Laughter alone can produce amazing results, as far as healing goes. I once heard a story about a guy who got some horrible diagnosis from his doctor. He went home and rented every funny movie he ever enjoyed and just replayed them over and over. He goes back to the doctor, who is dumbfounded and can't find anything wrong with him. I don't know if that story is true, but there is some really good science now on the healing effects of laughter.
What you don't want to do is associate your healing with bad emotions. So when you are feeling depressed, or angry, or anxious don't engage in any of these healing techniques. Bring yourself back to at least neutral before you start engaging these methods. (Laughter is a good way to do this, too!)
3.) Repetition is king.
Your subconscious is designed to observe and repeat patterns. That's what it does. Like your heart beat or your breathing. It learns things so well that it can perform them almost perfectly while you're not paying attention. You ever drive to work and wind up sitting in the parking lot without the foggiest notion of how you got there? Your subconscious mind is so good at learning and repeating patterns that it managed to stop at every red light along the way, used your blinker to signal turns, and never plowed headlong into a bus full of nuns.
But it's a slow learner. You have to repeat the pattern many times before it will learn it and execute it without you having to think about it. Any idea you want to implant in your subconscious must be repeated over and over again.
As many times per day as you can, bring your mind back to your language and images of healing. It doesn't have to be for very long. 5 to 10 seconds will do nicely. Go for quantity and quality - not duration.
And finally, try to eliminate thought and talk of what is wrong with you. It's ok, and necessary, to do sometimes- but you want to minimize it. You don't want to be repeating a pattern for your subconscious to learn that is self-defeating. Find the slightest thing about your condition that is better than it was yesterday and HARP on it. Talk it up and try to convince yourself that it is evidence that your plan is working.
And on those days when everything looks the same or worse than the day before- LIE to yourself. Your subconscious cannot distinguish between what is real and what isn't. All it can do is learn and repeat patterns. (I'm not suggesting you deny any serious red flags. I'm just suggesting that a lack of progress can still be capitalized upon. If you're a good liar!)
