The information presented here—this is a branch of the Hypnotica™ Home Page, in case you came in from another direction—is the short version of the Biocentrix Method of Self-Hypnosis™. This approach is based on a psychodynamic theory with phenomenological overtones. The primary feature of this theoretical bias is the presumption of a bicameral mind with an upper (conscious) part and a lower (subconscious) part.

Consciousness is that part of the mind we think we think with. It comprises only a small part of the total mind, and in many ways it is the least significant part. The subconscious, on the other hand, is really running the show most of the time. This position is manifest in almost everything we do.

The argument is easy to make and is overwhelmingly persuasive (except to those who are determined not to believe it). Consider this: If you truly ruled your life with the conscious part of your mind, you probably would not be reading this now. You would be a person who does only those things he consciously decided to do. You would have no problem resisting anything; nothing would be too much of a temptation for you. You would have no mental blocks, you would not dream, and you would have unbelievable concentration and memory.

Frankly I have never known anyone like that and I'll be you haven't either. This is obviously not an accurate description of most of us, nor is it the way most of us live our lives. The part of the mind that makes us do silly things, and the part which keeps us from doing some of the things we fervently wish we could do, is certainly not the conscious part. At least not after we get older and smarter. Therefore it—the culprit, in this case—is by definition beneath consciousness, or subconscious. (Beneathin the sense of "away from" or "not within" our conscious processes. It could also be aboveor off to the side. It really makes no difference. Unconsciousmeans the same thing and avoids the sometimes unfortunate implication of lowerness, but it has some other meanings that can get in the way of understanding and that can make everything even more confusing. That's why I stick with the term subconscious.)

So with a little reflection the subconscious' power and influence over our every behavior is obvious. Without the subconscious mind it is very difficult to even speculate on where dreams come from. For that matter where do many of your thoughts come from? And why can't you control those thoughts? Like limiting yourself to pleasant thoughts with a dentist's drill in your mouth.

Behavior, which is only slightly removed from thought, is the same problem. None of us always acts the way we know we should. Why not?

The answer to all of these questions and conundrums is of course that the subconscious part of the mind is really running the show. It has a vested interest in much of what we do. When it wants or needs a certain behavior or condition, it makes no difference that we may consciously know better or wish for something different.

When we want to change things we must do so by changing the subconscious mind. We have to bring it into conformity with what we consciously want. Weight control, habit control, behaviors of all sorts, mental functioning involved in learning and remembering—we can exert an influence on all of these things by informing or influencing the subconscious mind. Self-hypnosis is an admirably efficient tool for doing that.

As you read through this Hypnotica Home Page you will undoubtedly become aware that there is more here than just a set of instructions about the techniques of self-hypnosis. There is also philosophy here, a philosophy which centers on a set of beliefs about humans and their relationship with the rest of the universe. People are considered to be interactive and proactive with their environments, not just reactive. The implications of proactive possibilities are very strong, especially in areas traditionally separated from the normal realm of possibilities.

In short, you can influence much of the world with your mind. This statement can be justified without recourse to extrasensory perception or psychic phenomena of any kind. What I prefer are concepts like hypersensory or subliminal perception and psychotelicphenomena. (I made up "psychotelic" so you won't find it in any dictionaries. You will sort of understand what I mean by it if you put the meanings for "psychology" and "telesis" together.)

As humans we have a unique ability to regulate reality. We can manipulate reality in specific, strategic directions. You first learned a form of crude manipulation when you discovered that you could get your parents to change their minds about something you wanted—give in to you—if you badgered them long enough about it. You learned more about this as you got older and found you could also influence people other than your parents. Some of them, anyway, some of the time. As you continued to get older and more experienced you found it possible to influence with ever more subtle cues. A slightly raised eyebrow, a minimally noticeable hand gesture, or the teeniest movement of the lips can sometimes have a profound effect on the behavior of others.

Is it so farfetched, then, to expect that even more subtle cues, cues of which you and others are not consciously aware, can have the ability to shape other people's behavior? Let me assure you they can, and in a most profound way. These cues constitute the stuff of subliminal communication and their effects are all the more profound precisely because they are subliminally perceived by others. Anything that is subliminally perceived does not cause the perceiver to raise his conscious guard. Thus these kinds of message slip right through, in most cases, without even a trace of conscious filtering.

Self-hypnosis and the application of appropriate suggestions can directly influence the cues you emit and the kinds of subliminal messages you get from others.

With the combination of technique and the philosophical and scientific concepts in these pages you can achieve both inner and outer mastery. Or if not mastery, at least a very strong influence. Instead of beating your brains out trying to force yourself and others to conform to your wishes through conscious efforts, you put the focus where the real power is: at the subconscious level.

Although the subconscious is all powerful, it is not immutable. It is changeable. Sometimes desirable changes happen spontaneously. But not often enough. If we were to wait for spontaneous changes for everything we wanted, we would not see many changes in a lifetime.

Indeed you may have noticed that most people tend not to change at all. Despite how logical it might seem consciously, their subconscious minds are not about to accede to conscious desires. It will save them from getting into "trouble" (by subconscious definition). To get real change it is necessary to get the subconscious to go along, and the best way to develop influence over the subconscious mind is through the skills of self-hypnosis.