Subliminal Power: Mental Training Tools

The Double Edged Sword

2008-03-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

The Double Edged Sword

Years ago I read a book titled, “Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer.” The title foretold the book’s contents perfectly, so much so that I have never forgotten the title. In many ways much of our technology is like our minds. There exists an incredible power for helpfulness as well as the potential for the opposite.

Of late I have seen several new studies employing subliminal communication that are potentially alarming. As recently as last week when I wrote this newsletter, an enquiry came into my office regarding the use of flashing imagery in the caller’s church.

This is a year of politics and most can remember the subliminal “rats” ad from the 2000 elections. We have already seen press stories regarding the misuse of subliminal methods including the “error” made by Fox TV when they showed Senator Obama’s face in the back of a sex offender story. Although technically not subliminal, the message if not a “mistake” could have the same effect that a 2008 subliminal study showed. In this study the American Flag was used to prime individuals by flashing it for a millisecond. The study showed that doing this created the tendency “to make white individuals less liking of Barack Obama” presumably because earlier studies have “tend to correlate whiteness with Americanness as opposed to blackness with Americanness.” (Romano 2008)

In February of this year the province of Ontario pulled 87 video slot machines from casinos after an investigation revealed that subliminal messages were flashing at players. (Staff 2008)

In the soon to be released new documentary in which I appear, Programming the Nation, there are numerous instances of subliminal abuse and misuse that are revealed. Until this new film is released, it is wise to pay attention to the methods that can be used to influence one’s every decision. Indeed, part of the reason for writing my latest book, Choices and Illusions, was to show just how our minds are persuaded to a belief that is not our own.

Bibliography
Romano, A. (2008) Expertinent: The Political Psychology of Race and Gender. Volume, DOI: http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/03/12/
expertinent-the-political-psychology-of-race-and-gender.aspx

Staff, CBC (2008) Ontario removes video slot machines flashing winning images. CBC News Volume, DOI: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/02/25/video-lottery.html

Revisiting the subliminal controversy

2007-12-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

My latest Journal Article, which appears in Annals, is up now at the APA site. I invite your comments. Go to: http://www.americanpsychotherapy.com/pdf/annals/2007_Fall.pdf

Personal Best: How High Is Up?

2006-12-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

How High Is Up?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Just how high is up?” or “Just how successful is successful?” or “Just how good is good?” Have you ever thought about the different “Yous” within yourself? Most of us have, at sometime, considered our own path to personal growth and desired to improve upon improvement.

There is a simple, yet powerful, way to evaluate many personal characteristics and thereby gain additional access to who we are and what we truly wish to be. If life is essentially a school, which I believe it is, then we not only have our course work cut out for us but our objective for which our "learnings" specifically prepare us. Get a piece of paper and try this little exercise.

First, write down all of your strengths, all of those characteristics about yourself that are good. Begin with the obvious, perhaps you’re very honest, or friendly, or cooperative and so forth. After you have completed this list, write down some characteristics that you would like to improve. Perhaps you wish to overcome some fear or stop being jealous, or end gossiping or release anger and so forth. So, you’d like to be more courageous or more accepting and trusting, or more confident and so forth. Now, with both of these lists completed, think about yourself as having four inner aspects (IA) of the same you.

The first IA is your actual self--who you are, what you do, etc. The second IA is your concept of an ideal-self. The ideal-self for most of us is just that, an ideal—but usually too ideal to be realistic. “Under no circumstances will I ever become angry,” may be one such ideal. Okay, the third IA is the ought-self. The ought-self is that collection of things typically foisted upon each of us during maturation. The collection of “you ought to do this” and “you ought to do that” statements we all have heard particularly from our parents and family members. Last, but not least, is our desired-self. The desired-self is attainable, not so ideal as to be impractical as a goal. With these four IA’s, take another sheet of paper and write down characteristics that apply pressure to how you feel about yourself, positive or negative, under each IA heading. That is, use a separate column or sheet of paper to list the items (including feelings) that you may have about each category. When you’re done, compare the categories.

The question, “How high is up” has no answer unless there is some reasonable estimate as to the ceiling. Personal improvement is much the same. Self-examination can assist all of us in obtaining reasonable goals and that can provide at least some clear steps on the way to our ceiling.

Fantasizing your way to your goals.

In a recent News Brief, I related the research that showed one could obtain the same gains from imaging exercise as from exercising. Years ago I reported a study in my Wellness book (which is free to download in our e-book library) where basketball players improved their free throw shots as much by practicing mentally as the group that shot free throws everyday of the thirty day study. Current research tends to suggest that the scripts we fantasize, that is, our daydreams, rehearse our worldview and in that sense predispose our experience. Repeating themes such as those around “getting even” and/or emerging victorious at someone’s expense, probably tend to create scenarios in many peoples lives that may lead to violence, anger, and so forth. In short, our mental daydreams may become rehearsed scripts seeking an opportunity to be played out.

By contrast to the above scenario, whenever I have spoken to a successful person, a champion athlete, or anyone else truly at the top of what they do, they have informed me repeatedly and universally that their daydreams were about their success. You can choose what to daydream about and you can end a daydream if it’s not something you want rehearsed and thereby a part of you.

Knowing this, it is incumbent upon each of us to think about the goals we wish to achieve. Look back at your lists, and set up a day-dream that is truly self-serving—one that rehearses your success and achievement according to your goals—your highest best.

A Matter of Mind

Not too many years ago the idea of mind affecting matter was a discussion one might have in metaphysical circles, not one seriously undertaken in scientific gatherings; but not so today. Many new books, and even more serious discussions, focus on the quantum view of mind, matter, and space/time. Mind creating reality appears to be a paradigm that promises to change the worldview in ways that are reminiscent of what it must have been like to be present with the practical discovery of fire.

Mystics from all traditions have long held that mind creates, or at least, co-creates. As long as we have recorded history, we have tales (myths) of mental creations. Moreover, inside each of us is a general sense that transcends the limitations of classical physics. Few people have failed to notice at some time in their life a feeling of dejavu, or a precognitive type of experience like a dream that later seems to come true, or a sense of knowing something about the past or future but not knowing how the information was derived, and so forth. Further, it would be uncommon if a person were to think of their mind as being in their foot, or some other strictly local area of the body. Indeed, it is uncommon for any of us to think that our mind is not somehow separate and more than the body per se'. Still, explaining the matter of mind in terms of the quantum is not the usual option for explaining events and feelings of this sort.

Think of mind as a quantum generator. In the quantum, everything is potential and wave or frequency. For many scientists, even the so-called packets of matter are but units of stored light (wave form/energy). Einstein's famous mass-energy equation suggests a constant flux somewhat analogous to the ancient Greek philosophy of Heraclitus. If mass is stored light, then it is also essentially a creation of energy/wave form. The mind appears to be a transceiver that it is continually propagating waveforms and much of this is measurable by today's sophisticated brain scan tools.

Ideas just seem to pop into our heads. Inspiration creates/but that is only a metaphor. Until recently, creation itself has been a metaphor and scientists avoid "first principles" because science is based on verifiability. The creation of anything is something untestable. Even the Big-Bang theory is inherently unprovable, albeit, hypotheses can be derived from the general theory and those can be tested.

Pursue this with me for a moment. Think of mind as time, an idea suggested by sages for centuries. Einstein showed us that a clock moving at a high speed actually keeps time slower than a stationary clock. The faster the clock goes, approaching the speed of light, the slower time would go. In fact, time is a product of the speed of light. The event horizon surrounding a black hole is thought to be a place where light stands still, neither moving away nor falling into the black hole. Now as counter intuitive as this might initially seem, try thinking of it this way. Mind enters into thought and time is lost. A subject in hypnosis loses their sense of time. What seems like 10 minutes can in fact be a matter of hours. Meditators lose their sense of time. Children daydreaming lose their sense of time. In the alternative, it seems that we can all make the proverbial clock stop. Watching time pass is a sure way to extend the sense of time. Take an airport delay where you are stuck on the plane waiting. Minutes seem to drag on as though they were hours. "A watched clock never ticks," is the saying. Okay/suppose that time and mind is relative. Let's then think of time as mind/time that enters the body and we sense an inner and outer boundary that we can think of as space. If we seek to find some simple hypothesis somewhat akin to flying a clock very fast, and this was actually done in the last century, we might hypothesize that regular meditators would live longer than non-meditators. A quick cursory evaluation of the available data suggests just such a correlation.

In his marvelous book, Mind into Matter, the physicist Fred Alan Wolf, asserts that the body knows itself through mind. In fact, according to Wolf and many of his colleagues, there is no such thing as matter without mind. Two Nobel winning physicists laid down fundamental principles of the quantum years ago. Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Niels Bohr's principle of complementarity essentially require an observer in order to condense a material anything and of all possible potential, only one can be observed. Let me see if I can make this clearer. According to the uncertainty principle, all that exists in the quantum is potential. This principle explains why quantum events cannot be determined on the basis of cause and effect, past, present or future. Further, according to the complementarity principle, I cannot observe both an object and its trajectory. The act of observation (mind) condenses the "expected" outcome. I have put expected in quotation marks, simply because the nature of any observation presupposes an instrument or method which presupposes the nature of that which is observed. So if I design an experiment to find waves, I detect waves. If the experiment is designed to detect electrons, then electrons are what I find.

The relevance in our context of all of this can be said simply and eloquently, and in Wolf's words, said this way, ". .the physical universe can never be known independently of the observer's choices of what to observe. In fact, complementarity affects how we all see, think about, and feel about the world and perhaps more importantly how we see, think about, and feel about ourselves. How do you imagine yourself?..In a similar manner, our choices alter the physical body. How do you think about your body?"

The quantum view is necessarily and appropriately integrating itself in matters of mind and body. As it turns out, perhaps it is the quantum perspective that will provide the tools to change a so-called reality in the body and/or our relative position in the universe. It's not science fiction, myth, fable or deep esoteric mysterious stuff anymore. The quantum view already enables explanations to many anomalies surrounding the human condition. How the blood chemistry or even the eye color of a multiple personality disordered patient can change with the snap of a personality switch, simply cannot be explained any other way. How the Franklin Commission tested the influence and efficacy of hypnosis by first insisting on levitation as necessary to insure against fakery, also cannot otherwise be explained. (Benjamin Franklin headed a commission in Europe investigating hypnosis in the late 19th Century). That is, these phenomenon and others can only be viewed as "strange" or mysterious or some other artifacts of "mumbo-jumbo" without the quantum view. More importantly, given the explanation, a sudden rush of insight inspires one to change their thinking about how they think of themselves.

What if the mind creates matter? What if the belief of a person, the memory of a person, literally enrolls the mind in a sort of servomechanism creating and re-creating a time line we think of as reality? What then if I choose to remove the script that expects to age? What if I choose to create a new memory, perhaps even a beneficial but synthetic memory? What if I dare to imagine---is that what all of this mind power training is about and how it works for those who use it?

According to the quantum reality, there is a mirrored matter for all matter and that is known as anti-matter. If you add up all the matter and anti-matter in the universe, the sum is zero. However, if you add up all the information in the universe, the sum is infinite. Many physicists believe that matter consists of small packets of light. Light is a waveform energy. The mind continually transmits a waveform energy. Indeed, it may be that mind is itself light. The mind is in every cell of your being. When matter and anti-matter are brought together, the resulting annihilation gives off light (mass less energy/photons). Could it be that the electron charge involved in stored memories, feelings like hate, could be annihilated when brought together with their mirror image? We know that the saying, "What you resist you become," has merit in matters dealing with the human condition. Could it possibly be that the best way to annihilate a negative is to meet it head on with its opposite? Merge hate and love?

Dr. Wolf puts it this way, "Hate, for example, is explained as a quantum statistical property of electrons/and no two electrons will ever exist in the same quantum state. While love, on the other hand, is explained in terms of the quantum statistical behavior of photons/and all photons tend to move into the same state if given the chance." Wolf adds something else particularly germane to our focus. He says, "The old adage 'you are what you eat' has changed into 'you are what you know' and since your knowledge ultimately depends on what information you accept as 'fact,' you are what you believe."

Mind Power: Thoughts are Things

2006-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Thoughts are Things: Intention Power

Mystery schools have taught the power of intention for as long as we have a recorded history. It is the “intention” behind an act, a thought, a so-called duty, which is the measuring stick. Instead of inches, or temperature units, and so forth, it is the degree of intention in terms of units of emotional intensity together with units of direction (e.g. good or bad intention). The ancient texts deal with direction in terms of selfishness on one end of the scale (intention to do harm or deprive another) and altruism on the other. Yet deep within the texts a paradox appears. True altruism understands that the more one gives others, the more one receives. To be altruistic by definition is to do good acts for others without the expectation of reward. One can argue this philosophical conundrum ad infinitum the paradox remains. Modern research reveals clearly that aiding others, such as volunteer and charity work, generates more joy than anything except dancing. (McGowan 2005) Further, the mystical schools have always addressed the unseen power of intent. From aura disturbances to just those uncomfortable feelings one may experience around certain objects or people, supposedly the emotion and intent can be sensed and is stored in the surrounding environment.

Is there any scientific evidence to support this perspective? The answer is yes! Sometimes called “thought forms” or “thought fields,” new research is identifying at least what one might call the power of intention recorded and stored in patterns. (Gieseler 2005) These patterns may be invisible to the naked eye, at least that of the human eye, but not to other means of measurement. Radio waves are invisible, so what’s the big deal about invisible thought forms? Why should the energy emitted by the human defy all the laws of energy and just be lost? When you think about it—common sense suggests that this mental transceiver possibility may answer many of the commonly experienced so-called phenomena ordinary folk experience every day.

One such study evaluated four people under controlled laboratory conditions. The 4 volunteers meditated a focused intention into a small electronic device. “The devices were sent to distant laboratories for testing. The thought forms in the devices successfully produced the results intended:
1. Raise or lower the pH of water.
2. Increase the rate of development of fruit fly larvae.
3. Increase the activity of a liver enzyme by 25 to 30%.” [Gieseler, 2005 #19]

Professor Emeritus of Stanford University, Dr. William Tiller has repeatedly demonstrated how thought can condition spaces. I encourage everyone to take a look at his book, Subtle Energies and Intentionality. For the skeptic, another great book highly recommend is Lynne McTaggart’s work, The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe.

The next time you give thought to your thoughts, you may want to ask, “What am I creating?”
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References:
Gieseler, W. W. a. M. (2005). “Conditional Spaces.” Journal of the Ozark Research Institute 10(1): 13-14.
McGowan, K. (2005). The Pleasure Paradox. Psychology Today. February: 52-53.

The Heart of Self Help

2006-12-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

The Heart of Self Help:
Mind or Heart?

It is difficult to say with any certainty where the notion of “an opening heart” originates, but it exists in all cultures. What gives rise to the equation that somehow the heart is the source of caring and emotion is also somewhat of a mystery. However, there is no mystery when it comes to knowing what is meant by a “broken heart” or “opening our hearts.”

Many people nowadays think of mind power as some force that exerts itself in inner and outer ways as with self-discipline or in some psychic manner. For me, after over a quarter of century studying mind, motivation and behavior, mind power is simply the starting point or ignition for “heart power.” As with our thought of this month, “a change of heart is a change of mind.”

Many believe that self-help and self-improvement is about rags to riches, failure to success, and so forth, when indeed it is the beginning of journey into self-discovery. Inside every human being is an eternal truth and a life purpose. Using our mind power is simply starting the engine on that journey of self-discovery and highest self-actualization.

An enlightened mind is an open heart. An open heart is warm, understanding, loving, forgiving, compassionate and so forth. Indeed, it could well be argued, and has been in various religions, that an open heart is that path to the Divine. It is the path because it is the way in which we see the Grand Organizing Designer (GOD). With that in mind, I am sometimes bewildered by those who would argue that mind power, “messing with the mind or fate” or what have you, is somehow inherently wrong. Cultivating an enlightened mind is opening the heart and opening the heart begins with changing the mind.

There’s a wonderful story that was passed around on the Internet recently by Temple of Peace (templeofpeace.net). The story goes like this:

“A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works Define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."

The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's Hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the religious faith was a myth. Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"

The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when Man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name -- Albert Einstein. A true story.”

As a new spring season is upon us, I wish you all the budding opportunities, flowering possibilities and new growth that this wonderful thing we call life has to offer. May your minds be enlightened and your hearts opened and made light.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Eldon

The Forgiveness Factor

2006-11-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

The Positive Pragmatics of Forgiveness

It seems that everywhere one turns today there are problems. Problems in the world such as global warming, terrorism, inflation, crime, and so forth with so many etc., etc., etceteras that one is reminded of the classic movie “The King and I.” The list is long and to many, very depressing. It may surprise you, it has me, but one of the most popular new search terms emerging recently is “anxiety.” There is a unspoken but deep feeling of anxiousness among many today and there is no end to the so-called cures offered in the market place for this guttural discomfort that can nag at one waking them from sleep and disturbing their day time activities with just some indefinite but uncomfortable feeling.

Why the anxiety? One could easily suggest a myriad of reasons. However the most important feature of anxiety is the sense of or lack of control and the perceived need to somehow take a hold of the stimulus or stimuli and direct the potential outcome. Alas, the anxiety persists chiefly when one is unable to affect the stimuli in any real way. So, global warming, terrorism, inflation and other economic concerns, shortages, and other doom and gloom forecasts, thoughts, etc. are not the “stuff” that the average individual can directly effect.

Like the ocean, anxious feelings tend to have crests and troughs and come in waves that propagate each other. Escaping this pattern requires a new perspective. There are many alternatives but essentially they come down to just two. The first is somehow finding something that one can do that minimizes the power of the stimuli. So, if you’re powerful enough to persuade the world to eliminate the causes of global warming then you can minimize the power of this stimulus if not destroy its grip all together. The second option is to simply attend to that which we can control and let go of that which is beyond our control. This so-called “let go and let God,” has been referred to by some as a Pollyanna perspective that is solipsist. (I am using the word God here in the sense Wayne Dyer approaches the Source and that is as the Grand Organizing Designer—GOD).

The term Pollyanna comes from the heroine of a novel by the same name by Eleanor Porter. In general terms it is used to describe an irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything. A solipsist in its strict sense is a person that maintains that the self can know nothing but its own modifications. To some thinkers this translates into egocentrism, a sort of self as the only existent thing. However, if the notion of self-modification is viewed from the perspective that each of us knows ourselves, our history, our changes, our fears, our limitations and so forth, then from this perspective one can easily step up to the proverbial plate and admit that they are not in control of the future or any other stimuli that is otherwise out of their control. For many, the old question, “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear, does it make a sound?” is answered by the quantum physics perspective that suggests without consciousness there is nothing. In other words, remove the someone to hear and there is no sound for there is no tree. In this sense, our reality is one that is created by each of us in many more ways than most might have thought. This too can be taken as rather solipsist.

The great philosopher psychologist William James had a better term and that is “pragmatic.” The word originates from the Greek meaning officious and pertaining to matters of fact and practical affairs. James used this word to set apart the practical from the idealistic. In good old country talk, the meaning goes like this, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The pragmatic view is one of what works. The fact of the matter is letting go and letting God works! Now saying this and doing it are not necessarily the same thing so let’s look at a couple of quick, painless and easy ways by which we can all let go—including let go of anxiety.

First, begin your day with a simple thank you. Acknowledge but for a moment that all that you have, all that you are, is a gift. The new day is a gift. Accept the gift with gratitude. Take that gratitude attitude like a sincere Pollyanna into your day, knowing that all that comes to you does so for some higher good. So-called problems are really opportunities in disguise. These opportunities assist us in our personal growth. From them we become better people.

Second, forgive—forgive yourself, forgive all others and accept the worthiness to be forgiven. When some fearful or angry thought enters your mind, bless it. Give it love—all the love you can. You’ll probably find that a smile strangely wanders onto your face—the whole idea of blessing those that we blame is so counter intuitive to the way most are raised that I cannot overstate the power of this simple practice. While you’re smiling, realize that the simple act of smiling turns certain neuro-chemicals on in the brain. In other words, the act of smiling tells the brain life is good and the brain says in neuro-chemical, “Great—it’s feel good time!” and pumps some good old feel good chemicals through our bodies. So, if you don’t naturally smile when you do your blessing (forgiving) then fake it “till you make it. (You can obtain a free copy of our Forgiving and Letting Go program, one per customer please, by ordering it on tape or CD at my website: www.innertalk.com).

Third, let go. Let go and let God. Do what you can do and let God do the rest. When I have suggested this in the past I have been asked, how? How do I know what I can do? There is a sense that there is nothing that I can do and you have pointed this out, so what is it that I am to do? Here is the answer. Short and sweet—do a good deed for someone else. Go to the aid of another. Help someone in some small way. Help someone that may never expect you to give them aid of any kind. Give someone a smile, a compliment; add some give good feelings to others’ repertoire to your acumen of abilities and watch the world around you change. Helping others is our ultimate mission in some manner or another. The purpose driven life could be summed up without sermons as one aiding others to the best of our abilities.

Now perhaps you say to yourself something like, “Ya’ sure, sounds good but….” and go on filling in the blanks behind the buts with all of your own real and imagined experiences. Like the bumper sticker, for many “Life sucks and then you die;” and unfortunately the rest of us must to some extent deal with those that hold this philosophy close to their bosom. As an author and speaker myself I am often questioned as to how I deal with stimuli that most term negative? In other words, am I a Pollyanna pragmatist—do I walk the talk? The question scares me for I do not wish to deal with more “stuff” and yet I recognize that it is from our of struggles that we become strong—still, answering the question seems all too much like inviting trial. In my new book “Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Here and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?” to be released in January 2007, I retell a story of the Emperor Moth. The story is one of my favorites for it teaches at many levels like most good stories of this type. It seems that there once was a scientist that beheld the glory of an Emperor Moth and was so totally taken by the creature that he decided to study it. So for over a year he monitored the activities of the giant moth. One day he came upon a caterpillar ready to spin its cocoon, so he seized this opportunity to study the moth more closely. He gently captured the caterpillar and took it back to his lab. Here within a glass container he watched the caterpillar build its cocoon and enter that state of deep sleep while it underwent the chrysalis changing form from crawling on the ground to floating in the sky.

Then the day came that the moth was ready to leave the cocoon. The scientist watched anxiously as the tiny head chewed its way into the light of the laboratory. The moth struggled and struggled seemingly getting nowhere. Its body was simply too large to fit through the tiny hole in the cocoon. The moth tired and laid its head to rest on the shell of the cocoon when the scientist took it upon himself to help the tiny creature. “How could I stand here for so many hours watching this beautiful moth go through such agony and pain?” he questioned. “Where is my mercy?” he continued as he took his tweezers and cut away the cocoon. Unfortunately, the moth died.

Later the scientist discovered that it was precisely the struggle that forced the fluids down into the body of the Emperor Moth and gave rise to its aerodynamic ability. The cocoon forced the fluids back into the body perfectly proportioning the Moth as it forced its way out. Cutting away the cocoon in an effort to help had only killed the Moth.

From our conflicts and our struggles strength is gained, learning takes place, personal empowerment can happen and wisdom can be attained.

An author I have often enjoyed, Gerald Jampolsky, has stated we teach what we want to learn. My seminars, books, audio materials, articles and newsletters frequently address issues of self-control, patience, forgiveness and so forth. This is obviously not an exception. So once again, am I teaching what I wish to learn—walking the talk?

One experience I had recently really tested my own degree of learning. My web site (www.innertalk.com) typically sees between 1 and 1.2 million hits per month and our e-newsletter mails to tens of thousands of subscribers. One of the casualties of business sometimes is the fact that the businesses business depends upon can go on strike, lose their financial footing and file bankruptcy, change management and methods of doing business and so forth, any or all of which can really effect all the businesses doing business with this subject business—enough already with the business of business. Our web host simply went broke and without warning our web sites were gone. One night we had several functioning web sites serving people around the world and the next morning they were inaccessible.

Our phones rang off the hook. Staff desperately attempted to determine the problem. Was it a temporary glitch or worse? Ten years ago it would have been only a minor hiccup in the day but times change and almost everything moving through our retail, international and publishing divisions is dependent upon the internet. Everything from ecommerce to email communication was gone.

Well, the long and the short of it was we finally determined the problem and took steps to correct the situation and restore our so-called normal activities. I found it both interesting and educational. In his book, “The I of the Storm,” Gary Simmons points out that we are not our experiences. In his words, “I have experiences—experiences don’t have me.” Between Jampolsky and Simmons I realized this experience did teach all of us here at InnerTalk to stay in the center of our beings and choose to find the positive.

Why the proverbial “bad things” happen to all of us is something that is not easy to understand, albeit we eventually often discover the reason. However, as Simmons points out, the reason a driver cutting me off in traffic is upsetting is due to how I choose to view the world. Expectation often is negative because we can tend to project our fears, insecurities and so forth on everything. The look given us by our employer or loved one that causes uneasiness whilst one works in their mind to figure out what’s behind the look is another example of our projection mechanism. If we were to learn that the employer was disguising a surprise birthday party in our honor, or the person in traffic was actually attempting to rush their small child to the hospital, we would think differently and that would produce a different psychophysical response.

It is our psychophysical response that dictates selfishly that we choose to take a higher ground and find the positive in everything. As I pointed out repeatedly in my book, Wellness: Just a State of Mind (available free as a download at www.innertalk.com or for only $5.95 as a paper back book), the stress response inhibits just those little things in our body that we like to work optimally--like our endocrine and immune system or our autonomic nervous system. We all want these “little things” to work optimally if for no other reason than to improve the quality of our lives, relationships, health, longevity, etc. The lesson: find the good and focus on the positive, even if it is only to have that Pollyanna expectation that simply says, “I can’t wait to see what good comes from this!”

Process of Change

2006-10-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Most people would like to change something about their lives. For some, it's getting a better job, or losing weight, or improving memory, or accelerating learning abilities, or adding charisma to their personalities and so forth. Indeed, there are very few who would find nothing they wished to improve or change.

What is change? The idea seems simple enough. To some, change is a "thing." It is often thought of as something like a commodity. For example, one desires more prosperity in their lives. The evidence for their success is money. Okay, change in this instance is money. Right? No, money is only the outer symbol that is representative of change.

The agency of change is within each of us. It is not a "thing." For someone to become more prosperous they must think in a different order or magnitude than one who is content with just getting by. At least one element in their life strategy alters before the change takes place.

Let's say, for purposes of illustration, that our hypothetical individual who wishes to be more prosperous, also was raised with the belief that money is the source of all evil. A subconcious strategy may therefore literally work to sabotage any effort to achieve real monetary success. In other words, in this instance, the ego perceives safety as avoiding evil (money).

Our hypothetical person may believe, on the other hand, that only money matters. Still, there could be subconscious strategies which get in the way. For example, assume that this person seeks to build a large company. However, they are afraid of public speaking. How will they build a large and successful company without communicating? When will the fear (public speaking) strategy kick in and knock out the goal (large company) strategy? How will the two strategies compete?

Competing strategies of this nature exist in nearly everyone. They often underpin what psychologists call cognitive dissonance, the process of holding two mutually exclusive beliefs without becoming aware of the inherent opposition. Indeed, opposing strategies also lay beneath much of what is called sublimation, or the acting out of unacceptable fantasies in a socially acceptable way.

It is easy to see why change can be so difficult. Plus, change means giving something up. The something may be a counter productive belief, a competing strategy and/or it may also be something tangible like the fulfilling feeling food holds for some. Giving something up means filling it with something else to most. The cigarette smoker wonders what will replace the cigarette, gum?

The giving up, like change itself, is only a "thing" in its outer most form. Giving up cigarettes is not really about the cigarette, but rather the feelings associated with the use of cigarettes. These feelings may have ten, twenty, thirty or more conflicting and competing strategies all balled up in one outward behavior, in this instance, smoking.

Whenever one gives something up, they must also confront the so-called unknown. This often gives rise to feelings of uncertainty. Most people are very uncomfortable when they cannot predict their own feelings or responses. Fear of the unknown then becomes another obstacle in the path of one who chooses change.

Change can quite simply produce resistance! Resistance is the process of avoiding change. It can take many forms. Many of our users have reported just such resistance, and this is normal.

True change is never effortless! We believe that our technology provides for a process of change that has never been easier, but at that, you must be committed for change to occur.

Turning On Your Own Mind Power the InnerTalk Subliminal Way

2006-09-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Turning On Your Own Mind Power the InnerTalk Subliminal Way

We know that even if you have the best opportunities available to you, this does not necessarily mean that you will succeed. Why do some people succeed and some do not? Many people become their own obstacles to success with negative inner talk and beliefs.

Some very impressive "success" results are being achieved with the InnerTalk® technology. InnerTalk® actually re-programs the subconscious mind, which in turn dictates our realities. Our conscious mind is similar to a computer keyboard and our subconscious mind is like the hard drive. One serves as the input and the other is the processor of the information.

No one's success or failure is predestined. And, yes, everyone does have the potential for success and happiness within themselves.

With InnerTalk®, you can receive the successful mental programming to reach your ultimate goals. One of the main benefits of this technology is that it requires no conscious effort or work on your part, to breakthrough to the "ultimate successful and happy you."

Many individuals have used these programs with great results. One young boy, William, used InnerTalk® for his creativity and musical performance. At the age of 12, he composes and performs at genius levels. William attributes his performance to the InnerTalk® program. Another young boy, Matthew, has mastered the game of golf and now performs at amazing levels.

And now, you too can use these special programs to help you reach new levels of success that you may have only dreamed of in the past. By playing these programs in the background, you too can achieve amazing results!

InnerTalk® technology has a U.S. Government patent with numerous claims to the technology. Here are a few...

Critical Filter

InnerTalk Critical Filter
Most self-help programs focus on changing the conscious mind. InnerTalk goes right to the source, bypassing the critical filter, thus providing long-term results, whereas most other programs can only offer short-term results.

Left Brain/Right Brain

Your mind is truly incredible! The brain has been compared to a computer. The analogy has power, but it is quite an understatement. Science has discovered many of the connections that appear to give the brain/mind so much control over our bodies (health, wellness, longevity, youthfulness) and our destinies (success, learning, wealth and prosperity). Still, what we have discovered is only the tip of the iceberg.

The Left Hemisphere: The Rational Mind (for right-handed people) controls your logic and reason. It analyzes the information it receives and organizes it into a logical framework. The InnerTalk® unique technology delivers positive messages to both hemispheres of the brain according to how each receives and processes information. To sidestep your rational left brain’s resistance to positive messages that conflict with negative beliefs, InnerTalk® delivers permissive messages such as, "It's okay to succeed." (Direct statements trigger all kinds of negative self-talk from the left-brain, such as, "Succeed? I've never succeeded at anything." What makes this time any different?)

The Right Hemisphere: The Creative, Intuitive Mind is non-discriminating. It absorbs information without question or any analysis. It is here that early childhood messages such as, "You'll never amount to anything," are stored, even though you may not be aware of them. No matter how much you try to re-program these negative messages on a conscious level, the emotional imprint is so deep that negative beliefs generally prevail.

Round Robin Effect
Where appropriate affirmations are delivered using female, male and child voices. InnerTalk® delivers authoritative statements which are readily accepted by your right brain, such as, "I succeed at everything I do," to counteract years of negative programming. On one channel, accessing the left brain, words are meaningfully spoken, forward masked permissive affirmations, such as "It's okay to feel good," delivered in a round robin manner, by a male voice, a female voice and a child's voice. (Research shows that individuals may often respond more favorably according to their preference of male, female or child voice.) On another channel directive messages, such as "I am good," in the same voices are recorded in reverse. The analytical left hemisphere cannot argue with the permissive statement and the non-analytical right hemisphere simply accepts the authoritarian statement, and all of this is a part of our patent! Since the hemispheres are task oriented, both the left and right brain become involved according to their specialties. (For further information, see my book, Thinking Without Thinking--portions on line at www.progressiveawareness.org).

InnerTalk® appeals to both hemispheres in a brain friendly manner. Whole Brain® InnerTalk® technology appeals to the two hemispheres appropriately according to the primary hemispheric function. The left-brain then is interested in literal correctness, while the right is more interested in overall associations and/or relationships. It is believed that the left brain views language literally and according to the rules of language while the right brain views language spatially and emotionally, tumbling the words in a process called "subconscious cerebration" and even processing the words in reverse as our eyes see the world - upside down.

The above is just a sample of some of the factors that make InnerTalk unique.

Thanks for the viewing and all the best!
Eldon

Subliminal Power: InnerTalk the Proven Mental Training Tool

2006-09-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

Some frequently asked questions regarding InnerTalk programs

2006-08-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Frequently Asked Questions

What's The Difference Between InnerTalk ® Tapes & So-Called "Subliminal" Tapes?
By definition, a subliminal tape is recorded at a sub-threshold level of awareness. Our messages are recorded at a perceptible level of awareness and disguised in what is best described as an audio illusion. (You will hear words from time to time.) By "blending" the affirmations in with the music or nature sounds in this way, we are able to bypass normal conscious awareness, yet still ensure that the affirmations strongly register in the mind.

Why Is Bypassing Conscious Effort Necessary?
Experts have described InnerTalk ® as a "powerful new technology that uses our natural human ability to absorb information even when we're not thinking about it." Scientists have proven that the key to changing our state of mind is to do it with the least amount of conscious effort possible. Conscious thought interferes with and even prevents proper mind stimulation. Yet InnerTalk ® tapes are able to produce life-changing mind stimulation without the interference of conscious thought. They bypass the usual resistance in the mind and go right to work at the subconscious level, producing change "from the inside out."

How Did InnerTalk ® Technology Develop?
Early research by Eldon Taylor and others proved that auditory stimulation is one of the most effective ways to change a state of mind. Eldon Taylor theorized that by using verbal stimuli just below the threshold of awareness, he could have a positive effect on the moods and behavior of the listeners. His theories were proven correct and thus was born the InnerTalk ® method. (See his article "The Screen Language of the Mind")

What Role Does The Subconscious Mind Play?
Eldon Taylor's tapes are effective because they permit positive messages to reach the subconscious mind, where they can produce positive results without conscious resistance.
This is important because the human subconscious is indiscriminate with the information it accepts over a lifetime. All the statements we have ever accepted are present in our subconscious minds, and for most of us that is negative programming. So an individual's current behavior is based on all the information their subconscious has decided to accept over the years.
To change current behavior, you first have to change the information stored in the subconscious. It sounds easy, but you can't just tell your subconscious to think differently and ask for life-changing behavior modification. You must find a way to counteract those subconscious thoughts and introduce different thoughts for your subconscious to use.
The InnerTalk ® method will help you control the introduction of stimuli to the subconscious and therefore control behavior modification.

Do Other Methods Work Just As Well?
There are other methods available to modify your behavior without the use of mind technologies, but they often fail, and all for the same reason. Most motivational and self-help programs fall short because they attempt to appeal to the conscious in order to change behavior. It's often wasted energy. The conscious wants to change, but it's the subconscious that is controlling and overwhelming any effort to change. Every time someone tells us we are good our subconscious sends a thought to the conscious: "Really! Good at what?"
In order to conquer the harmful effects of the subconscious mind we must attempt to change it on the very same level. Only then can you successfully disarm it and reverse the damage that has already been done.
The positive InnerTalk ® messages overtake the negative information contained in the subconscious. They literally rescript our own "inner talk," thereby creating positive self-beliefs which begin the cycle of self-fulfillment. When this happens the subliminal beliefs that formerly were self-limiting begin to change. As they change, so do we!

What Are The Principles Behind InnerTalk ®?
The powerful results may seem like magic, but the principles behind the tapes are pure science. As you know, the human brain is composed of two halves or hemispheres, the left-brain and the right brain. These two hemispheres work together or independently to help process information and control our bodies.
The left-brain is most commonly referred to as the "analytical brain" and is thought to control such things as mathematical and language skills, organization, logic, reason, observation and analysis. The left hemisphere also includes defense mechanisms such as rationalization built around logic and reason.
The right brain is also known as the "spatial brain." It is thought to be responsible for creativity, emotions, athletic ability, intuitiveness, relaxation and visualization. Many scientists believe the right hemisphere is associated with emotional and subconscious learning.

How Do InnerTalk ® Tapes Actually Work?
The InnerTalk ® mind technology is unique in that it appeals to both hemispheres of the brain, according to their function, to achieve "whole brain" stimulation.
For example, it is believed that the left brain views language literally and according to the rules of language while the right brain views language spatially and emotionally, tumbling the words in a process called subconscious cerebration and even seeing the words as our eyes see the world È upside down.
The brain halves work together to understand language both spatially and literally. The InnerTalk ® technology has been specifically designed to involve both the left and right brain according to their unique specialties using an entirely new and patented electronic encoding process.

What Is This Encoding Process All About?
On one channel, accessing the left brain, meaningfully spoken, permissive affirmations (such as, "It's OK to succeed. It's OK to do well") are delivered. On a second channel, accessing the right brain, directive messages (such as, "I am good. I succeed. I do well") are delivered in reverse, to be recognized by the right brain's unique spatial understanding.
The channel-differentiated messages shadow each other from conscious recognition. But on the subconscious level, where the perception takes place, the mind understands and receives these affirmations. The analytical left hemisphere cannot argue with the permissive "It's OK" statements and the non-analytical right hemisphere simply accepts the directive "I am" statements.

What Other Techniques Are Used?
Most affirmations are delivered in a round robin manner by a male voice, a female voice and a child's voice. Research has shown that individuals may respond more favorably according to their preference of male, female or child voices. Research also has shown that an individual is more likely to remember a round robin like "Row, row, row your boat" rather than a simple song, even if the song is heard many more times. The round robin affirmations are recorded in echo-reverberation giving rise to a "singing" effect.
The affirmations are of a positive nature and are electronically synchronized with the volume level of the primary audio track (music or nature sounds) to ensure that your subconscious perceives all of the message.
No other mind technology compares to InnerTalk ®, which has been patented with the U.S. Government and scientifically proven effective in leading universities around the world.

Where do I begin?

2006-08-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have tried to answer all of the questions one might experience or have regarding subliminal and hypnosis programs, for that matter, self improvement and mind power matters, and I must admit, I have not been successful. Despite the books, articles, newsletters, and so forth, I continue to meet new questions and those who simply have not had access to the mediums in which my answers were made.

In today’s wonderful age of instant information, it became clear that a blog is the perfect medium for all. As such, my blog if you will, and a blog is generally defined as a sort of personal diary, is all about your questions and my work or experience. In order to begin with some common ground, my first posting is a partial reprint of “Unlocking the Power of Your Mind.” From here on in, the postings will primarily consist of answers to your questions. However, it is simply not possible for me to answer individual questions per se, but what I can and will do is group questions into categories and sub divide those categories into smaller sections so that I can answer questions in general for as many people as possible and appropriate. I sincerely hope this is useful to you.

If you have ideas or questions, please feel free to submit them through the web site mindmint.com or innertalk.com. Just go to www.mindmint.com and click on the “contact customer service” button in the upper right hand corner, just under our toll free 800-phone number. Thanks for the time.

Question: Where do I start and how long will it take to work?

There are nearly as many possible answers to this question as there are people to ask it. Assuming that you have chosen an appropriate program, not say chosen “Creative Writing” when you are already the author of many published works, generally one will see definite measurable gains within thirty days provided they use the program at least one hour a day for that time period. This “dosage relevancy” criterion is based on our research findings, but it also takes into account how people actually use a program. For clarification, let’s take a typical situation. It can be difficult to play a program every single day for thirty consecutive days. Appreciating that, we make allowances. Our studies tend to suggest that there is point at which direct gains begin to be measurable and that is around 17 hours based on at least one hour a day everyday. As such, our guarantee is based on the official recommendation of thirty days, but we know that it is not probable that someone will use the program every single day for at least one hour for that thirty days, nor do we insist that one literally does exactly that. Typically however, most people begin to see results in around ten days. Here is a general good practice expectation outline for beginning the self-improvement process with InnerTalk or a sister technologies and you can read more about our technologies at www.mindmint.com.

A Beginner's Guide
We receive many calls from customers anxious to try out our program but unsure as to where they should start. We are often asked if there is a certain order in which they should be working with the programs. After being in the business for over twenty years, our product line has become very extensive and while this is a good thing, for some people the choice can be a little overwhelming. Especially when some of the titles, such as Weight Loss, come in a number of different formats including OZO, Echo-Tech, Power Imaging and Power Sets.

The beauty of InnerTalk is that there is no set course, you may start with whichever program you wish. Most people come to us looking for a solution to one specific problem. They choose a program, find it successful and then start thinking about whatever other areas they could work on. When you are new to our technology, it is reassuring to see/feel the results so quickly.

Choose a title
If you are just starting with our programs then, our suggestion is that you choose a title that is very significant to you. You should think carefully about exactly what it is that you are trying to achieve and what would be involved in achieving it. Comparing the sample affirmations can be very helpful. Which set of affirmations most fit the goal you are trying to achieve? Choose a technology (where appropriate)

Once you have chosen a title, you then need to decide how you will be working with the programs. Do you want a program that you can simply play in the background, or would you prefer a program whereby you put on headphones and take a “trip.” The key to your success is to play the programs regularly. InnerTalk can simply be played in the background 24 hours a day if you wish, whereas OZO, Echo-Tech, Power Imaging and Platinum Plus all require headphones and focused attention. OZO is very forceful and is perfect for the highly competitive personality such as athletes or high performance business people, whereas Echo-Tech is very gentle and soothing and is enjoyed by everyone. If your personality type is such that you do not like being told what to do, then we strongly advise against the OZO programs. Power Imaging utilizes a guided imagery scenario and assumes there is a reason you have not achieved your goal. Power Imaging helps you discover this reason and helps you to deal with it. Platinum Plus incorporates the leading edge of sound technologies, sound patterns, tones, frequencies and on and on! Platinum Plus does not have an audible voice component to it. All of our programs utilize the patented and proven Whole Brain InnerTalk technology.

Although the headphone programs will make you feel different immediately, it is not possible to say that this makes them more powerful than the InnerTalk programs. InnerTalk can be played 24 hours a day whereas the headphone programs can only be played once or twice a day. While the effects of the headphone programs can be felt for sometime after using them, the difference in effect is nonexistent after 30 days of use and therefore it really is a matter of how one prefers to use our programs. The fastest results are sometimes obtained by using a combination of headphone and InnerTalk programs. For this reason, we do offer a number of Power Sets that provide both a headphone program and an InnerTalk program. These Power Sets are offered for both CDs and audiotapes and are offered at a reduced price. We have also put together some collections bringing together similar titles across several different technologies. There can be times that having a number of different approaches to one goal can be beneficial. Our four program sets generally bring together Inner- Talk, OZO, Power Imaging and Echo-Tech. Here the idea is to play the InnerTalk program as much as possible and then play a headphone program once or twice a day, choosing whichever headphone program feels the most appropriate for the moment. The key is simply to decide how much time you wish to dedicate to achieving your goal and which approach suits your life style the best. Do not buy a program if you do not have time to use it.

Choose a Format
Simply decide if you would like the programs on CD or audiotape or video and if selecting an InnerTalk program, decide if you would prefer the music or the nature soundtracks. Remember, the nature format is not only for night time use, it can also be played during the day while you watch television, play your own music or any other time that music would be too intrusive. Also remember, that you do not need to turn the volume up on our InnerTalk programs for them to be effective. No concentrated effort is required. Simply play them in the background as you go about your day or all night long while you sleep. Most CDs can be purchased as two CD sets, incorporating both the music and nature formats. These two CD sets are generally offered at a reduced price.

Note
Most of our programs are available on both CD and audiotape, although there are some exceptions to this. Also, most InnerTalk programs are available in both music and nature, although again there are some exceptions to this. OZO, Echo-Tech, Power Imaging and Platinum Plus are only available for a few selected titles.

Eldon's photo

2006-08-30T16:17:00.001-07:00