One of the most important question we must eventually ask
In order to unravel our subconscious beliefs, it is important that we understand why and how we acquire those beliefs in the first place.
The Why
If you had to relearn how to drive your car whenever you got behind the wheel, you can imagine how complicated your life would be.
Basically, we know that every living form is driven by life. And in order to live, we have to understand what endangers us. Instinctively, we are always scanning our surroundings, and making sure we’re safe. That’s why we have to be quick at learning patterns, and adjusting ourselves to them. Beliefs can be seen as “automations,” and they have their use.
The How
Nature made it in a way that as soon as we are born, we start absorbing information from our surroundings, especially from our parents and closest influences. Until around seven years of age, our brainwaves are slower; they’re in the theta range. What characterizes slower brainwaves is the fact that we are more receptive — think of it as if we’re under hypnosis. And if we’re under hypnosis, guess what?
We turn the information we receive, which come from our parents’ beliefs, the media, our teachers, our friends at schools, and so on — into beliefs, because this information goes deep into our subconscious mind. Beliefs are what feels true for us.
As an example: If my parents told me I wasn’t as smart as my friend at school, this belief would feel true for me. I would spend my life feeling not smart enough, and it would distort my perception, limit the kind of actions I would take, and thus, the kind of life I would live.
Now here is the interesting part — those influences of ours; our parents, teachers and so on, all have beliefs that come from their own early influences, as well as how those beliefs were reinforced by their adult experiences.
It is rare for people to question their beliefs because most human beings have similar beliefs. In almost every case, our beliefs are not aligned with facts. Still, we remain attached to a very narrowed view of reality because having to release this view feels threatening or unsafe. It’s all we believe to have. Yet, it’s also what makes us suffer for the most part of our lives.
Note: Human beings almost always resist change even though they know that everything is subject to change. Resisting fear comes from another limiting belief (fear of change).
Normal and Paranormal
If you want to get an idea about the type of beliefs most human beings have in their subconscious, you can look at the kind of things we gravitate to in general, but also our general behavior. You can also observe statements we take for granted such as “an eye for an eye,” or “survival of the fittest,” which all shape our thinking, feeling and behaving.
As other examples, you can also see how the majority of people shop stuff based on their reviews as an example, or how we’re naturally inclined to watch videos that have more views even though there may be stuff out there that have excellent quality but remain under the radar. Those are all beliefs our ancestors have transmitted to us through our genes, which had their use during their time, but started proving to be unpractical for our time.
Most of these beliefs are part of the human species’ subconscious.
And because those beliefs are visible nearly everywhere, they seem “normal.” So we keep them. Normal, however, is just normal for this plane of existence we find ourselves in right now, which is usually called the “3D” in spiritual communities.
As we grow as souls, which happens through a long healing process — we realize that what we thought to be normal isn’t so normal after all, in fact, it’s absurd. That’s why we call those unconscious beliefs — limiting beliefs.
Unraveling Subconscious Beliefs
No one has a one-size-fits-all answer to unraveling our subconscious beliefs. There are many methods, and each one of us will have more affinity with method A than with method Z, and vice versa.
Still, there are guiding principles we can always use to advance in our “investigation.”
- Principle 1: Become aware of your thoughts and reactions, or simply put, your conditioning. The way you behave, the way you speak, the kind of words and statements you use, your tonality, your body language, etc. — it all comes from your influences. Is it wrong? Of course not. Just observe how your influences have conditioned the person you are today. A practice like meditation can help be more self-aware
- Principle 2: Pay attention to the trends in your life. Your thoughts and reactions, which you have become aware of by paying attention to them using Principle 1, all come from your beliefs. Thinking directs actions, and actions create reactions. Our lives are basically “loops,” that is, until we become aware enough about these loops to be able to change them. You can use a journal to take notes about your observations, how you feel, and what happened in your life as you followed a train of thought
- Principle 3: Learn to be present, alert, and aware. Behind your thoughts and emotional cocktails, there is always an unmovable awareness. You can call it the soul. As you pay attention to your thoughts, and note the events in your life, you start piecing the puzzle together. It’s at this point that you need to be present enough to notice your beliefs in action, and decide to change them
Note: Not all beliefs are “wrong.” We inherit a lot of unhealthy beliefs from just being born on Earth. It’s all part of the process of growing spiritually. We put ourselves in crazy situation because we believe in ourselves, and then we set out to do the work and find our way back home — to ourselves.
Of course, we could much deeper and speak about other methods for healing beliefs but it requires knowing about your background, your familiarity with certain practices, and that is why this answer has remained high level.
Also. As long as you are committed to your healing and spiritual growth, Creation will give you all the tools/guidance you need to reach your goal. What truly matters is intention. I say this because I lived it. A few years ago, I spent many nights eyes wide open because I realized I had to heal my limiting beliefs; I had never heard of them and I felt powerless to do something about it. Yet, my intention was to find a way. And I’m thankful I did. As long as you have a focused intent, be faithful — it will happen!
I hope this piece brought you some clarity on the subject. If you have any related question, be sure to put them in the comments.
As a final note.
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Thank you for reading!