The Genie Within: Your Subconscious Mind (15 page)

First, I went out of the room and my wife hid my car keys. When I came back, I held up one of my dowsing wires and it pointed. I walked in that direction holding both dowsing wires. When I passed over a bucket of Japanese persimmons, the wires crossed. I removed a few persimmons and found my keys. Wow! We were both impressed.

I then asked my wife to imagine a mental wall somewhere in the room. I started walking across the room and when I got to a certain spot the dowsing wires crossed—exactly where she imagined the mental wall. Again, “Wow!”

Next time I lectured, I thought I would give this demonstration. But the following thought came into my head: “If I fail, I will look foolish and the class will lose confidence in me.” As you can predict, I could not repeat the dowsing demonstration next time I attempted it. My fear of failure, my fear of losing the confidence of my students (which is so important in this course), won out over my
will
to do a successful demonstration.

EXPRESSION

INTRODUCTION

The Law of Expression states that
every thought causes a physical reaction in the body
.

Close your eyes and imagine biting into a succulent lemon. Your lips pucker and you salivate.

Close your eyes and imagine someone scraping their fingernails across a blackboard. The sound sends shivers down your spine.

Ever read a book, or seen a movie, about a poignant love story and got choked up?

These reactions are examples of the Law of Expression. The mind and body are one: therefore, what affects one affects the other.

Professor William James, a famous psychologist, stated: “The fact is that there is no sort of consciousness whatever, be it sensation, feeling, or idea, which does not directly and of itself tend to discharge into some motor effect. The motor effect
need not always be an outer stroke of behavior. It may be only an alteration of the pulse (heartbeats) or breathing, or a modification in the distribution of the blood, such as blushing or turning pale, or what not. But in any case, it is there in some shape when any consciousness is there and a belief as fundamental as any in modern psychology, is the belief at last attained,
that conscious processes of any sort, conscious processes merely as such, must pass over into motion, open or concealed.”

Every thought or idea causes a physical reaction. If stimuli are allowed to pass from the conscious mind to the subconscious mind—and are accepted—the idea or thought must be expressed, vocally or physically. If it is consciously repressed, then the thought will be expressed physically, for example:

       •    Worry = Ulcers

       •    Anger = Releases adrenaline accompanied by changes in circulation, energy, pulse, and respiration, etc.

       •    Fear = Nervousness, upset stomach

       •    Food = Hunger

More than a hundred years ago, a doctor conducted an experiment on a man who was shot in the stomach. The surgeon offered the man room and board in his house if the man agreed to leave the hole into his stomach open for a period so the surgeon could examine the condition of his stomach. By evaluating the stomach secretions, the surgeon found that all moods affected the man’s digestion.

In a study conducted at Harvard, Dr. W. B. Cannon found that love, consciously cultivated, caused the eyes to brighten, improved circulation, digestion, and elimination. Whereas, fear, envy, and hate caused the opposite effects. These negative thoughts also cut down on production of red blood cells.

Organ language, discussed in Lesson Three, is also an example of a recurring thought that is expressed organically. Dr. H. F. Dunbar stated in
Emotion and Body Changes
, “Emotion indulged in for a prolonged time actually creates tissue changes in the organ or organ system involved,”

Bailes stated it beautifully in a book written more than 30 years ago, before it was proved scientifically: “Man thinks with his entire body. Every cell has a spark of mind. Man is not a body containing a mind; he is a mind operating through a body! Body is molded by mind. What the mind thinks, the body thinks; that which the body thinks, it becomes.”

Bailes related a case he had in which his patient did not like his in-laws, but his wife insisted on walking to their house every Sunday. The patient repressed his dislike, and since every repressed thought has a physical reaction, he developed arthritis to the extent he had an excuse to stay home.

Today there are many books written for the layman on the mind/body link. A few of the well-known authors include, Borysenko, Pert, Dossey, Chopra, and Pelletier. Drs. Pert and Dossey describe in their books how all our cells talk to our subconscious minds.

Remember the old saw, “If you are not happy, act like you are happy and you will become happy.” Well, medical science has proven the old axiom. Organic compositions similar to those used by the brain to think are found in all cells. So communication is both ways, i.e., brain to cell, and cell to brain. If you think you are unhappy, you act unhappy. You frown and act glum. But if you act happy when you are sad, the neurotransmitters from the cells in your body travel back to the brain and change its mood to happy.

THE NATURAL ENERGY CYCLE

         
(1)
    Your body stores
energy
.

         
(2)
    The conscious mind gets a strong
thought
.

         
(3)
    You
express
the thought.

         
(4)
    The body
relaxes
to restore its energy.

Expressed Energy

Look at an age-old example. A caveman wakes after a restful night of sleep. (He has restored his energy.) He sees a saber-toothed tiger browsing outside his cave. He is immediately concerned for the lives of his family and himself. (He has a strong thought.) He gets an adrenaline rush. His body responds with the fight-or-flight reaction. He must defend his family so he elects to fight. After much spear waving and a skirmish, the tiger is driven away. The caveman has
expressed
his idea (to fight off the tiger) with
directed action
(fighting the tiger). That evening he is at peace and regains his energy with a night of restful sleep. (The cycle starts over.)

Directed energy is an orderly, healthy release of physical and emotional energy. It is any act that is in harmony with the idea that originated it. Psychologists recommend that when you get mad you should express your anger in some way. Not in a violent way, but in a constructive way. Express it by talking or writing about it or by running around the block, for example. It is unhealthy to bottle up anger. When you do not express it in some way, this emotional energy is
suppressed
.

Suppressed Energy

You are on the freeway driving to an important job interview. Traffic comes to a halt. You are bumper to bumper and no off-ramp is in view. You no longer live in a cave, but you have the same body and response system as your caveman ancestors. When faced with an emergency or unsettling situation, your “fight-or-flight” response kicks into action. The kidneys release adrenaline, heart rate increases, and digestion stops, to name a few of the reactions. Yet all you can do is sit in your car and get more upset thinking about being late for your interview. You imagine you will lose this fantastic new job. (Remember: Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between real and imagined.)

This energy could be expressed by a primal scream, but the drivers in the cars near you might think you are crazy. If you cannot express the energy at the time your fight-or-flight
response occurs, at least express it as soon as you get a chance. When you get home, you might go for a walk, punch a bag, or clean the house. In this way no, or little, harm is done to your body. The energy is expressed and you can sleep soundly.

Repressed Energy

When an event that triggers your fight-or-flight response occurs continuously, or often, and the energy is not expressed, the energy is
repressed
. Every thought or idea causes a physical reaction. So this repressed energy will be expressed as
undirected
activity, such as tension and anxiety. Tension and anxiety prevent relaxation of the inner muscles, which hinders the immune system and interferes with restful sleep. So, the natural Energy Cycle is broken and restful, restorative sleep is impeded.

CHRONIC STRESS

The body will find a physical outlet for repressed energy, such as fidgeting, nail biting, finger tapping, gum chewing, etc. If it persists, the outlet may become ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, or worse.

Woody Allen expressed this law another way: “One of my problems is that I internalize everything. I can’t express anger; I grow a tumor instead.” Surveys of doctors have shown that many believe as much as 90 percent of their patients suffer from chronic fatigue.

Dr. Hans Selye (1907–1982), Professor and Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Montreal, was first to use the word “stress” in reference to the human body. During 30 years of research, he wrote 1600 papers and 33 books, including
The Stress of Life
for nonprofessionals.

Dr. Selye proved that repressed stress wears the body down until it becomes sick. In his classical experiments,
animals were wired so that they could be given mild electrical shocks. He administered the shocks sporadically so the animals did not know when they were coming. Although the shocks were not severe enough to cause any harm, the
anxiety
of not knowing when they were coming caused
stress
. When this condition went on long enough, the stress impaired their immune system and the animals became vulnerable to disease.

A corollary of this is commonly observed in humans. After a spouse dies and the mate mourns too long, the mate’s immune system becomes impaired and he or she becomes ill and often dies.

Other examples were given in Lesson Three, including the woman who after a prolonged resentment of her sister developed breast cancer. This last example points out why it is important to forgive. Forgive, not for the benefit of the transgressor, but for yourself. Harbored resentment breaks the natural cycle and impairs your immune system.