Your Subconscious Mind is in charge of all your body functions, the operation of your nervous system, your physical behavior and actions, your senses, the distribution of your energy supply (including your emotions), the broadcasting of your thoughts, the operation of your habits, and your memory.

The most basic function of the Subconscious Mind is to carry out orders, to act and react rather than to think in the usual sense of that word. It operates very much like a supercomputer, and it often gets blamed for just doing its duty. On the one hand, it follows the orders encoded in the genetic make-up of your cells; on the other hand, it also tries to follow the orders given by the Conscious Mind. It deserves more compassion than censure because sometimes the orders of the Conscious Mind conflict with the orders of the cells. This might happen when the Conscious Mind decides that overeating is a good substitute for affection. Sometimes, too, the Conscious Mind gives orders that conflict with other orders – its own, given previously – as when someone goes ahead and does something he has already decided is morally wrong. In both case the immediate result is stress and tension, which may lead to illness and or undesirable circumstances.

Its function as the guardian of habits reaps the most abuse for the Subconscious Mind. You should know by now that all habits originate in conscious decision made by the Conscious Mind that have been reinforced by repeated attention and imagery until the Subconscious Mind obeys them automatically. The fact that the Conscious Mind often “forgets” what it did to bring about the habit means that it usually blames the Subconscious Mind instead of itself for undesirable habits over which it thinks it has no control. The truth is that habits of thought and behavior originated with the Conscious Mind, and can be changed.

Now, for some ways to get better acquainted with the Subconscious Mind, here are some exercises.

Exercise 1: An excellent suggestion made by a man named Max Long was to give your Subconscious Mind a personal name of its own to make communication and order-giving easier. A great many people have had a lot of success with this. It is something like giving a name to a computer, only in this case the “computer” actually responds in a positive way to such focused attention. So give it a name of your own choosing and use the name when you want better performance from your body, your memory, and your emotions, and when you are using the mental tools to establish new habits. Use the name as well to thank your Subconscious Mind when it does perform like you want. You may be surprised at the response. Long suggested using the name George (from “Let George do it!), some people use their own middle names, and others pick a name of a favorite character from history or fiction. Use what feels good.

Exercise 2: Being the storehouse for memory is an important function of the Subconscious Mind. Perhaps surprisingly, it seems to have preferences for certain memories over others. The memories that it prefers, and the emotions that may be related to those memories, can give you a lot of information about your own operating ideas and beliefs. One way to tap into these memories is by a process called “treasure-hunting.” What you do is find a quiet spot to sit, take a few deep breaths, relax your muscles, close your eyes, and, using the name you’ve given it, tell your Subconscious Mind to present you with its favorite memories. Then you just wait for them, to rise into awareness. It is important that you refrain from telling it which memories to present. For the moment you are not interested in the preferences of your Conscious Mind. Just give the order to present the memories it prefers, and wait. You’ll know it is working when “treasures” appear that you have probably consciously forgotten. They are likely to be short, vivid, and full of sensory detail. If nothing appears, try again at another time. Then explain carefully to yourself exactly what you want. Have patience, it will happen. The more you make friends with your Subconscious Mind, the more positively it will work for you.

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