Beliefs

Our subconscious mind holds 80-90% of everything that we process, our conscious day-to-day mind only the remaining 10-20%. Most of “how we tick” (namely behavioural patterns, beliefs, perceptions) is therefore in an area that we usually have no direct access to - we might not even have an idea or even an awareness about them.

But what do I actually mean by belief?

Beliefs are the brain’s way of making sense and navigating the complex world around us. They represent how the brain expects the environment to behave, how things relate to each other. As the brain works on pattern recognition (and therefore jumps to conclusions), its system is prone to mistakes. Example: If A is followed by B, maybe A caused B. If my teacher is unfriendly, maybe she hates me, am I hateable? The teacher could have had endless reasons to be off that day, the brain most likely jumped to a wrong conclusion, which can have long-term negative effects.

The first time I came across the term ‘negative belief’ as something that has something to do with how I function (”tick”) was in a ThetaHealing™ practitioner course. We were taught how to release limiting, misaligned (negative) beliefs and replace them with positive ones. For example, phrases that repeatedly come up inside of us, things we tell ourselves, that we believe to be the truth – that have become our “truth”. The change usually has an instant impact on how we feel. It can be transformative.

I’m ugly. I have no friends. I’ll never get anywhere in life. I’m stupid. I’m poor. I’m not good enough. Nobody understands me. I don’t deserve love. I’m a mistake. The world is a bad place…or similar things that we might tell ourselves, become our truth even if they aren’t true.

Beliefs are often connected to strong emotional charges (shame or fear, for example) or a somatic (physical) response (knot in the stomach or tight throat in specific situations, for example). Beliefs are not “the truth”, mostly they have been learned through circumstances, by being told them (often by prime carers, teachers, bullies), during our life experiences. But they are “our truth”, the truth we perceive and believe, and therefore become part of our subconscious programs on which our ‘system runs’.

There are lots of techniques (e.g. NLP, hypnotherapy, ThetaHealing™) and exercises that allow us access into the subconscious mind, the data storage. But the first step is achieving awareness as to which beliefs we hold within ourselves. A good indicator can be strong negative emotions or somatic sensations we identify within ourselves, which are often reoccurring and connected to people or situations. Another good indicator can be observing our daily thoughts, which might need some practise at the beginning. (Meditation or mindfulness practises can be very help with this)

The more we are aware about our thoughts, feelings and reactions to situations, the better we get to know ourselves. If we are in need of change, we have issues, we are stuck, so the more we know and perceive about what is going on within ourselves, the better. Every belief counts. Questioning the validity of our internal world can be a powerful steppingstone to long lasting changes and a new direction in our lives.