It is my belief that the power of the mind is still greatly underestimated. Most of us agree that positive thinking is beneficial for our lives but few of us examine our behaviour and emotional responses. If we did, we would see that they affect our relationships, mental and physical well being and even what we attract into our lives.
Do you find there is a repeating theme in your life? Are relationships a problem but it’s always their fault? Or maybe it’s your fault but you can’t stop doing it? Are you avoiding the possibility of a loving relationship because of what has happened in your past or even to your parents? Does just the thought of someone drain you? Perhaps you left a job because you were bullied only to find another bully waiting for you at your next place of work.
We all, to one degree or another, view the world in which we we live through filters. It’s part of the human condition. These filters are influenced by our beliefs, emotions and experiences. Nobody sees the world in exactly the way you do. How much filtering we do partly depends on how much we are being governed by our past experiences.
Why Bother Changing?
When we dissolve emotions that are holding us back or causing illness or pain, our experience of our world changes. We may become more loving, accepting and calmer. We are more able to observe situations dispassionately instead of reacting in less than positive ways. We may find our pain (mental or physical) diminishes.
The benefits of striving for personal peace are immense. Our thoughts, behaviours, emotions, physical and mental well being and even our spiritual growth are all affected. It can seem a never-ending project but that, too, is part of the human condition. Nobody has got life completely sorted out. There’s always more to do. If it seems too big a mountain to climb, then think of the old saying: "How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time". As people make the changes they want in their lives, they tend to become happier about themselves and look for the next step in their evolution and build momentum. It may start with stopping smoking but the self-belief that comes from achieving this, overflows into other areas of your life. You begin to think that other things can be changed, that you can do anything you set your mind to. Which of course you can!
Beliefs Influence Life Experiences
A belief is a guiding principle or standpoint from which you operate in the world. It’s usually subconscious and formed at an early age from something that happened to you or picked up from a parent’s behaviour or comments. If the belief has negative connotations it will become a “limiting” belief. Most of us don’t even know we are running these programmes but can see the results. Examples of limiting beliefs are “I must be in control”, “I’m not good enough”, “I must please others” and so on. These beliefs will limit what that person can achieve in many areas of their lives. Of course if the belief “I can do anything” has been installed in someone, they are going to have a much more adventurous outlook in life. They may not be any more successful than someone who needs to be in control and is driven but they may experience significantly less stress getting to the top and get more pleasure from life.
One man’s stress is another’s exciting challenge. The difference is how our mind sees the world. I’m not just talking about positive thinking which is conscious thought (though that’s helpful). The real driver of what the world means to us is in the subconscious mind. Experiences in our past will have conditioned us to think and behave in ways that the subconscious mind thinks is in our best interest, as its main aim is to protect us. All the positive thinking in the world will struggle to overcome a subconscious belief. EFT is superb at getting to these limiting beliefs because it dissolves the negative emotions surrounding the events in the past that created the beliefs.
Beliefs Influence Health
Everything in our lives, how we see the world and how we interact with others will be affected by our beliefs and emotional responses. That includes our health. Probably like you, I use to think that all I had to do was watch my diet, alcohol intake, cholesterol and not smoke. If illness came along in the dim and distant future then that was fate just rolling the dice, pure bad luck, or an even more common misconception, it was my genes.
However there is much more you can do to help your body remain in its natural healing state. I highly recommend reading Dr. Bruce Lipton’s book – The Biology of Belief (http://www.brucelipton.com/). At last a coherent link between our beliefs, emotional responses and our health has been established. It also finally lays the lie that genes control all and that they are predetermined and can’t be changed. However, despite all the wonderful advances that modern medicine has made (and I’ve taken advantage of them too!), doctors are not being taught about this exciting aspect of health maintenance.
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Phil Grant - EFT Practitioner (Adv.)& Trainer
Based in Henfield, West Sussex, UK .