From negative personal traits like low self-esteem or low confidence, to bad habits such as smoking, to an inability to get ahead in life, everyone has something about themselves they’d like to change. Regardless of the shortcoming, it is often our own mind that holds us back from improving our life. Subliminal messages plant positive seeds in the subconscious mind, and are a natural and time-tested way to overturn negative thoughts and actions.
Contents
What Are Subliminal Messages?
A subliminal message — sometimes referred to as a subliminal affirmation — is defined as a message, or signal, or communication, that occurs at a level below a person’s normal limits of perception. The signal is said to fall below the absolute threshold level of a person’s conscious awareness. The word subliminal is literally defined as below threshold.
The absolute threshold level — or ATL — is the smallest level of stimulus, or energy, that can be detected by the human senses. The term ATL is used in experimental research and neuroscience, and applies to any stimulus that can be detected by the human senses including sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.
Because the absolute threshold level is defined as the lowest level of detectable stimulus, a person can’t become consciously aware of a subliminal stimuli, or message, even if that person tried.
The Conscious and Subconscious Mind
The human mind consists of two interacting parts: the conscious and subconscious. Subliminal messages act on the subconscious mind.
The conscious mind gives a person executive control of their mind. With consciousness, a person can feel, judge, think, and experience with awareness. The conscious mind is responsible for:
- Thinking, planning, analyzing
- Short term memory
- Willpower
The subconscious mind is the part that operates below the level of conscious awareness. It can be considered as a secret storehouse for a person’s motives, desires, and past experiences that exist outside of conscious awareness. The subconscious mind handles:
- Involuntary bodily functions
- Feelings and emotions
- Beliefs, habits, and values
- Long term memories
- Intuition, dreams, and creativity
- Protective responses
One might think that the conscious mind is more powerful than the subconscious mind, but in fact the opposite is true. Our subconscious behavior runs on autopilot, meaning it’s always “on.” When it comes to processing power, the subconscious mind can process upwards to 20,000 bits of information at the same time, while the conscious mind can process less than 10 bits of information simultaneously.
How Subliminal Messages Work
Subliminal messages, or subliminal affirmations, are perceived not in conscious realm, but instead by the subconscious, or deeper, mind. You won’t be consciously aware that you’re being sent a message, but nonetheless the message will be having an impact on you — at the subconscious level.
Subliminal messages are most often created through the use of audio, though they can also be embedded in visuals (images or videos) as well. A subliminal audio, whether delivered by CD or downloadable mp3 files, contains recorded messages that are perceived only by the subconscious mind — the messages are masked by sounds or music.
In a subliminal audio, sounds (such as the ocean) or music (such as a soft classical piece) are recorded at an audible level that is easily heard by the listener, while the subliminal messages are recorded at a high frequency — at an inaudible level — on another track of the same audio.
Subliminal audio messaging repeats some powerful, positive phrase or sentences that while not consciously heard, do get registered into your subconscious mind. Repeatedly listening to the same subliminal audio message can influence your behavior.
Occasionally you may see something or hear something, and you’ll feel that you’ve seen or heard the same thing before. But you don’t remember where or when. And when you think about it, it might seem that there was in fact no way you could have experienced the situation before. You might write it off as something that perhaps you dreamed about in the past.
The reality, however, may be that you did in fact see or hear the same thing before — by way of one of the many visual or audio inputs your subconscious mind naturally encounters and processes daily. When you now experience the situation at a conscious level, it gets your attention due to the fact that you subconscious has already processed the same experience. Subliminal audio takes advantage of this idea that your mind processes information without you even being aware of it.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Subliminal Messages
Neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, is a way of changing a person’s behaviors and thoughts in order to help achieve desired outcomes. NLP was developed in the 1970s by the linguist John Grinder and Richard Bandler, a mathematician and information scientist.
NLP uses communication, behavioral, and perceptual techniques to make it easier for people to alter their actions and thoughts. The basic belief of NLP is that it’s possible to understand how one person accomplishes a task, and then copy that process and communicate it to others so they too can accomplish the same task.
NLP operates through the conscious use of language to cause changes in a person’s behaviors and thoughts. Subliminal messaging similarly uses language to the same effect, but subliminal messages operate at the subconscious level. So subliminal messaging is based on the principles of NLP, but how those principles are applied differ.
NLP involves a few techniques for changing a person’s patterns of thinking. The main — and simplest and most effective — technique is through the use of positive affirmations. It turns out that positive affirmations are exactly how subliminal messaging works.
Positive Affirmations and Subliminal Messages
A positive affirmation is simply a statement that affirms something is true. Using positive affirmations is a process whereby you change aspects of your behavior — reactions, attitudes, and habits — by using a repetition of thoughts to train your mind in a positive direction. The process relies on the belief that your thoughts shape your reality.
If you repeatedly tell yourself something positive, you’re more likely to experience a positive outcome — compared to not telling yourself anything at all. You are positively affirming some idea. People who believe in the power of positive affirmations often put this concept to practice by repeating some particular positive message to themselves many times a day.
The inverse of positive affirmations are negative affirmations. Repeatedly telling yourself something negative will often result in a negative outcome. There’s a good reason to practice positive affirmations. There are no good reasons to practice negative affirmations, but some people still do. Think of a person you would describe as a pessimist — that person’s negative thoughts often result in his ending up with negative results.
Subliminal messages work much in the same manner as positive affirmations. By listening to a subliminal audio you are, in a sense, repeatedly telling yourself something positive. The difference is that you’re giving yourself the message without really even being aware of it!
If you believe in the power of positive affirmations and use them, you might consider also using subliminal audios. You’ll be feeding your mind with positivity from two different angles, so to speak.
What Subliminal Messages Can Do For You
Subliminal messages can have a powerful impact on the life of anyone who believes in their effectiveness and applies them to their life, typically by listening to such messages on either CDs or downloaded mp3 files.
Self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-worth are formed from the information held within the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind controls human emotions such as love, sympathy, joy, and fear. Knowing this, and knowing that subliminal messages can affect the subconscious, tells you that listening to subliminal audios can form the basis of changing your emotions, character, and behaviors — all in a positive manner.
There are near endless possibilities for the use of subliminal messages. If you want to achieve something in particular, or make some specific change in your life, there’s probably a subliminal audio available for your particular interest. Some of the most widely practiced subliminal messages include the following:
- Improve athletic performance
- Boost your confidence
- Lose weight more rapidly
- Overcome addictive behaviors such as smoking, drugs, or drinking
- Improve sexual performance
- Become more outgoing
- End eating disorders
- Learn to relax and de-stress
- Improve your memory and study better
Subliminal Messages to Attract Love
Everyone wants to find the one special person that’s right for them, but that’s usually easier said than done. You can increase your chance of finding that person’s that perfect for you by using subliminal messages. A CD or downloadable mp3 such as Attract Your Soul Mate from Real Subliminal can align your internal thoughts and remove any deep seeded internal conflicts that may be causing you to be unconsciously making attracting your soul mate more difficult.
A subliminal audio that uses principles from the law of attraction (the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on) can help bring your soul mate into your life. You’ll be removing limiting, or negative, beliefs you have about your ability to attract your perfect partner.
Subliminal Messages for Wealth and Success
When it comes to making money, mindset is everything. People who become rich certainly don’t all have identical personalities, but most do share several common traits. Traits such as: unshakably positive, desire to make money, belief that they deserve to make money, work hard and don’t quit, thrive on risk, and so forth.
The Acquire A Powerful Money Mindset Package from Real Subliminal consists of seven separate subliminal audio sessions, all related to giving you a powerful money mindset to attract money and prosperity into your life.
Subliminal Messages for Weight Loss
Just as people use hypnosis to help lose weight, people use subliminal audios to accomplish that same goal. Gaining the ability to more easily lose weight may be the number one reason people turn to subliminal audios.
Losing weight requires a healthy diet and working out. But equally important it involves acquiring a weight loss mindset. The right frame of mind turns the process of weight loss from a constant struggle to a natural progression. Subliminal messages can help you eliminate negative, repetitive thoughts that cause you to give in to temptation, and constantly start, stop, and restart your weight loss plan.
The Weight Loss Mindset Package from Real Subliminal includes eight subliminal audio sessions that target your subconscious mind from all different angle to instill within you a weight loss mindset that will help you lose weight naturally, and keep it off.
Subliminal Messages to Quit Smoking
People use hypnosis to rid themselves of bad habits or addictions, and here again subliminal audios can be used for the same purposes. If you’ve previously tried and failed to quit smoking, or simply feel like there’s no point even trying to quit, the Stop Smoking subliminal audio from Real Subliminal may be just what you need.
Subliminal messages can align your subconscious mind with your conscious goal of wanting to stop smoking. The audio will help reduce the intensity and frequency of cravings and, perhaps most importantly, these messages can boost your willpower so that you can stick to your plan.
Do Subliminal Messages Work?
Not everyone believes that subliminal messages can affect a person in a positive manner. But many people do believe it, and there is research and studies that back up the concept. In an article titled Subliminal Messages Can Fortify Inner Strength, Psychology Today — by all measures a respected source — reports on two studies that found subliminal messages can indeed have a positive on a person.
One study, conducted at Yale University, found that when older adults were exposed to subliminal messages consisting of positive stereotypes and cues about aging, their levels of physical functioning improved.
Another study, conducted at the University of Kent, involved endurance athletes on stationary bicycles being subjected to either positive or negative subliminal messages while working out. The athletes who received positive subliminal cues (such as “energy” and “go”) were able to exercise significantly longer compared to the athletes who received negative subliminal cues (such as “tired” and “stop”).
Subliminal Messages in Advertising
Do subliminal messages work? Based on their use in advertising, the answer seems to certainly be that yes, subliminal messages do indeed work. In the 1950s, subliminal messages changed the world of advertising.
Subliminal advertising got its birth in 1957 when market researcher named James Vicary inserted the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat Popcorn” into a movie. The words appeared several times, but only for a single movie frame at a time. Vicary reported that the experiment created a 57% increase in popcorn sales and an 18% increase in Coke sales at the theater.
It turns out that the Coke experiment was one big hoax — Vicary concocted the entire story as a gimmick to bring customers to his failing marketing business. Interestingly, even though the Coke event never actually occurred, the reporting of it brought so much attention to the idea of subliminal messaging in advertising that over the years advertisers did in fact make numerous attempts at affecting consumer choices using subliminal advertising.
One example of subliminal advertising comes from the field of political ads. In the highly contested, bitter fight for the 2000 U.S. presidency between Al Gore and George W. Bush, the Gore campaign accused the Bush campaign of including a subliminal message in an attack ad that focused on the healthcare policies of Gore. The Gore campaign alleged that in the ad the word “RATS” appears onscreen for a brief moment just before the ad displays a visual that includes the word “Bureaucrats.” The below screen grab of a frame from the ad makes it clear that this was, in fact, what was taking place.
How to Listen to Subliminal Message Audios
There is no single, best way to listen to subliminal audios that works for everyone. Most people like to relax in a seated position in a comfortable chair or on the couch once a day.
If your lifestyle or preference is to listen while on the go, you’ll still benefit from the audios. You can listen while you drive, exercise, or even at work. If you listen to a CD or mp3 in this manner you might consider repeating your listening session a second time to get the full benefit.
Finally, you can even listen to subliminal messages while you sleep. Remember, your subconscious mind is “on” 24 hours a day — so your subconscious is accessible and will pick up on subliminal messages even as you sleep.
How Long Does It Take To See Results From Subliminal Audios?
There’s no universal time-frame for when you’ll notice the results of listening to subliminal messages. Most people notice results within a couple of weeks, but some people feel changes within just a couple of days.
The speed at which you’ll experience results often depends on the severity of the issue you’re contending with. Deep-rooted psychological behaviors, such as personal development issues like resolving past shame or overcoming feelings of inferiority, can take longer before results are evident. Such behaviors usually exist because a person has, over many years time, conditioned themself to feel or act a certain way.
Are the Results of Subliminal Audios Permanent?
This is an easy one to answer: the results obtained from listening to subliminal message audios are in fact permanent. With subliminal messages you aren’t “tricking” your brain or applying some short-term fix. Instead, you’re essentially making changes to your patterns of thinking, and to your belief systems.
While you may quickly notice effects from listening to an audio, over time the changes will continue — the result will be change that builds and eventually becomes a permanent change in your state of mind.
Differences Between Subliminal Messages and Self-Hypnosis
Subliminal messages and self-hypnosis are two of the most popular techniques in the realm of self-help. Both can be performed by a person on their own, without the help of a therapist or counselor or any type of guru or specialist. And both rely on communicating with the subconscious mind to, in a sense, reprogram your thoughts by molding them into positive beliefs.
Both subliminal messages and self-hypnosis are very powerful means for altering phobias, fears, habits, and behaviors. Both rely on implanting suggestions directly into your subconscious mind. And both techniques can lead to impressive self-improvement in a fairly short amount of time. While similar, the two self-help systems do have an important distinction.
Self-hypnosis requires a person to have a quiet, isolated area — and a commitment of a half hour to an hour daily — in which to listen to a hypnotic audio. This very calm, quiet space and time is necessary because self-hypnosis requires that a person put themself in a trance-like state in order to be receptive to the positive affirmations that are a part of the self-hypnosis audio the person listens to.
Subliminal messages, on the other hand, do not require any kind of special environment in order to be effective. That’s because subliminal messages do not require the listener to be in a sort of trance-like state — subliminal messages bypass your conscious logical mind and work directly on the subconscious mind. You don’t need to be calm, relaxed, drowsy, or sleepy to be receptive to subliminal messages.
For many people this difference — being able to make use of a technique any time, anywhere, under just about any circumstances — makes subliminal messages the superior approach to self-help. You can listen to a subliminal message audio while studying, at work, while driving, doing chores, or even exercising — it’s all the same, because your conscious state is unimportant.
Conclusion
A subliminal message is communication that occurs below a person’s normal perception. Subliminal messages are perceived by the subconscious mind rather than the conscious mind. While you won’t be aware that you’re receiving a message, the message will in fact affect you — at the subconscious level.
Subliminal messages can be embedded in an audio file that a person listens to as either a CD or a downloadable mp3 file. The audio will consist of sounds that can be heard, such as sounds of nature or soft classical music, and also a track with subliminal messages recorded at a frequency that can’t be heard — by the conscious mind anyway.
Subliminal messages are positive affirmations about a specific habit, trait, or behavior that a person wishes to change. For instance, if you want to quit smoking, you could buy a downloadable mp3 file that included subliminal messages intended to make you find smoking less appealing, and encouraging you to give up smoking.
Subliminal audios are effective, inexpensive, and easy to use — which is why they have become an extremely popular product in the self-help field. Listening to subliminal audios on a regular basis can influence your life in many positive ways, often delivering dramatic results.