It’s hard to overstate the power of the subconscious mind. To begin with, it regulates all our bodily functions, like breathing, heartbeat, digestion, fight/flight/freeze responses and our immune system. It notes all our sensory input and filters it, sending to the conscious mind only the information we need for immediate functioning in the world so that we are not overwhelmed by every detail of our environment.
The subconscious mind is always on. It notes and records everything that happens to us and everything we do. It has unlimited capacity for storing our life experiences. It learns from our repeated thoughts and behaviors, then creates automatic habits so that we don’t have to think about how to walk or dress ourselves or wash the dishes or start the car. The downside of this, and the reason we may seek hypnotherapy, is that the subconscious mind will also launch habitual behaviors that we no longer want or that are no longer useful to us until we teach it new habits.
The subconscious mind “thinks” in images and feelings rather than in words, which is why our conscious mind–the analytical, logical and verbal part of our mind–cannot just “tell” the subconscious mind to change our habitual thoughts and behaviors. Essentially, they speak different languages. That’s why it’s so hard to change or get rid of habits once they are formed or to change long-held attitudes and fears that are holding us back. But in a well-constructed hypnotic trance, we can instruct our subconscious minds in the intentions of our conscious minds.