Releasing Negative Self-Images
by Randi Botnick, CHT

In this media saturated culture, we are all bombarded by unrealistic body images in print, films and on television. Men and women are shown to be stick thin, young, with perfect skin, muscle tone, and clothes. These images are held up as the standard of what is beautiful. When we accept these images as truth, we make real problems for ourselves regarding our own self image, which keep us from feeling like we fit in, and our culture preys upon that feeling by promising that we will if we buy the latest fashion, makeup, etc.

Determining what messages you hold in your mind and body about yourself is crucial to changing negative beliefs. The subconscious mind is the part of our consciousness that defines who we are. and what we do on a consistent basis. It governs our habits and our beliefs. It resists change, creating within us a consistent personality. This part of the mind can’t differentiate between reality and imagination so all images in the subconscious are believed to be real.

The subconscious mind is the place to begin to change persistent thoughts and feelings about yourself that no longer serve you. It is best reached through an altered state of consciousness in which you are more susceptible to suggestions — hypnosis. Let me explain briefly here how hypnosis works.

The conscious mind is filled with whatever we are attending to at any moment. It is the analytical, logical problem solver. But although you may know that you need to make a change in your life, the conscious mind is not the place where change is created. The critical factor is the part of the mind that decides whether new information is acceptable or not. Its responsibility is to keep what is in the subconscious mind consistent. Through guided relaxation, hypnosis causes a bypass of the critical factor, allowing the acceptance of positive, helpful suggestions at both the subconscious and conscious levels.

Once in this deeply relaxed, altered state of consciousness, you can begin to take a look at how you hold images in your mind. Literally, what do the pictures look like? Where are they located in your personal space? Are they big or small? Do they allow for you to be less than perfect? Are there more positive examples of your self-image than negative, or vice versa? Where did they come from? What can you use to replace them?

Enlarging positive representations of who you really are and how you fit into the world, and bringing them in closer in your field of inner vision, while, quite literally, making the representations of those beliefs that no longer serve you smaller, is a powerful, yet easy, exercise. Your subconscious mind can do nothing but belief the new vision, as it has no way to know what is true reality and what is imagination. Releasing negative belief patterns and moving into a place of compassionate self-acceptance is the key to health and healing.

April 2004