The Subconscious

For us to fully understand how hypnosis relates to the subconscious and the significance of that, we need to understand how the brain works.

The Neocortex is our ‘thinking brain’ or conscious brain and it is this, which separates us from all other mammals on the planet. We’re still mammals and share other parts of the brain such as the limbic brain ‘emotional brain’ and the Reptilian brain or ‘instinctive brain’ but the Neocortex is what makes us mammals of higher intelligence and what enables us to walk upright and talk.
The Neocortex has enabled us to ask questions, solve problems, invent, create, plan, think etc. etc. but because of its ability to analyse, it also enables us to ask ‘What if?’ This creates fears, causes us to attach emotional significance to events and concepts and to catastrophise which gets in the way of many physiological (old brain) processes.

If you imagine the mind as a triangle. Only the very tip of it is the conscious brain (or Neocortex). The rest of it is taken up by the subconscious, the part of our mind which stores all the information it is given and everything it experiences. It’s very literal, doesn’t understand nuances or hints, and its primary task is our survival, therefore, it will nearly always win over the conscious mind. When a baby is born, the subconscious is pretty much a blank canvas because their ‘Generalised Reality Orientation’ (which we mentioned in the last chapter) develops as they grow up. In other words, everything else gets ‘put’ there by various means as the baby develops and learns. However, regardless of a developing GRO or not, a baby is born with instincts (to cry; to search for food etc.) and physical functions (breathing; pooing and weeing; heart beating etc.) – in other words the elements which are necessary for survival, the elements they share with all other baby mammals on the planet, are already there as soon as the baby is born. It is also worth noting all female mammals (including us!!) are born with the physiological function/ability to give birth to their young.