Living Harmoniously ~ Becoming the Greatest Expression of You

Living out of harmony

American psychologist and hypnotherapist Milton Erickson told his students that, “Patients are your patients because they are out of rapport with their own unconscious … Patients are people who have had too much programming – so much outside programming that they have lost touch with their inner selves.”

Another way of saying it is that when your conscious mind and unconscious mind are not in harmony, you are in trouble. It’s like those two teammates are each going for a different goal. It’s difficult, if not impossible to win.

The reality is that living out of harmony is normal. Wanting to do one thing but sticking with the old patterns of thought, emotions and behavior are known and familiar. They may be miserable. They hold you back from your success. But they are comfortable.

People come to me because they want to lose weight. Consciously, they know that they should lose weight. They know that they need to lose weight. But their unconscious mind has learned to soothe, to protect them from anger, hurt, fear and sadness with food. Their unconscious mind uses food to numb them out during times of stress.

The primary job of your unconscious mind is to protect you

Once in life, perhaps as a little kid, it learned that food is love. Because the behavior worked once, the unconscious mind will keep repeating that same behavior. But here you are today, and that old behavior no longer serves you. To complicate matters, these old patterns are reinforced by, as Erickson said, “so much outside programming” that you have lost touch with your inner self.

These outside influences are how you perceive what people say and do, TV shows, commercials and other media and life experience. If your belief is “I’m not successful,” and repeatedly diet and gain weight, you reinforce that harmful belief.

When your conscious mind knows that it should lose weight and may even want to lose weight, but your unconscious mind is doing its job to keep you safe, you don’t lose weight and keep it off.

The unconscious mind keeps you firing and wiring the same old neurons. It is what it knows. Those old thoughts, emotions and patterns of behavior have become a part of your personality. Your unconscious mind is still protecting you, but not in a way that serves you well today. However, there is good news! You can change that!

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

And, yes, you have to do this repeatedly. Think about it: How many years have you held those old thoughts, old emotions and old behaviors? You’ve repeatedly over and over told yourself those old stories – those old beliefs that kept you out of harmony. So just telling yourself once that you are being your best, living in integrity with love, compassion and joy isn’t enough.

Everyday read your Greatest Expression. Meditate on it. Memorize your joy. Mentally rehearse being your best self throughout your day. Use your self-hypnosis to remind yourself who it is you are becoming. Take inventory at the end of each day on how you lived your day. Do all this with the belief that you can change, with enthusiasm and with gratitude. Live life fully as your best self. The results are awesome!