Do you see yourself as a ‘free thinker’? Would you know if you were being ‘brainwashed? Do you really know your own mind?
I believe freedom of mind to be the core freedom that underpins nearly every other type – the ability to honestly think for yourself. This means being aware of your conscious decisions and understanding the subconscious beliefs underpinning them. With this freedom, you could be said to know your mind and, in a sense, own your mind. However, to achieve this state of awareness can make an individual incredibly powerful. It is, therefore, no surprise that, since the dawn of civilisation, humans have learnt that gaining power over each other (or specific groups of people) is primarily a matter of ‘mind control’.
The ‘Battlefield’ of Mind Control
From my experience, the core driver of human behaviour is the subconscious mind and its beliefs and programmed responses. The subconscious could be viewed as the ‘battlefield’ upon which control of an individual’s mind is won or lost, and their conscious behaviours are subsequently influenced.
This is also a battle that you cannot ‘opt out’ of or avoid. We live in a world of suggestions, signs, and symbols, all of which have the power to re-shape programming in the deepest part of the mind. Unless you plan to move to a place without internet, television, radio or phone access (and no human company!), you will be exposed to suggestions with the power to ‘change your mind’, whether you know it or not.
Born Free (of Mind)
The good news is that you were born with freedom of mind. However, this state lasts for a very short period indeed. Rapidly, you are exposed to a preferred language to speak, and, of course, you very quickly receive a given identity in the form of a name. This is the starting point of programming the mind with the individual’s beliefs about themselves, others and the world around them.
It is essential to clarify that this is not a bad thing. You need a name and some fundamental positive beliefs installed throughout your formative years. For example, most children will learn very early in life that stealing is wrong, and this is a supportive belief that they should function healthily in society.
Overt and Covert Suggestions
When curtailing our freedom of mind, direct suggestion offers little to be concerned about. Most people can quickly identify, reject or ignore a direct suggestion designed to re-shape their beliefs and alter their behaviour. However, covert suggestion is the actual tool used by those looking to control minds – the undetected process of changing beliefs at a subconscious level without a person even knowing this is occurring.
This is precisely how ‘brainwashing’ works!
Continuing the example of a young child learning the belief that stealing is wrong. If you try to deliver this as a direct suggestion, it will most likely be met with opposition or an endless cycle of ‘why’ questions. Instead, it is more likely a child is still directly told stealing is wrong, but also hears many stories where the central theme may appear to be something else, but the ‘moral’ of the story is that stealing is wrong.
Perhaps a hero who doesn’t steal is rewarded, and a villain who does is punished. The subconscious learning here is that stealing is harmful and will lead to an unwanted outcome. When faced with the opportunity to steal in the real world, the child will not act that way or, if they do, will feel guilt and shame by acting incongruent with the programmed belief. This type of learning, through stories and metaphor, is an example of covert suggestion, but with a positive outcome for the individual and society.
Suggestion and Intention
As seen above, the suggestion itself is best viewed as fundamentally neutral – the intention and outcome determine whether the suggestion is negative or positive.
Suppose a suggestion is being made to a person. In that case, the key is whether it is designed to influence (to guide them to a belief that will benefit them, either primarily or in addition to the person or group making the suggestion) or manipulation (primarily benefiting someone else, either with zero benefit to the receiver or even to their detriment).
In my online hypnosis sessions, I use positive suggestions to influence or persuade a person at a deeper level. The goal is to re-shape their beliefs and ways of thinking to achieve a desired outcome. Likewise, when I teach people covert suggestion I emphasise that it is simply a tool – it can used for positive influence or harmful manipulation, depending on the user’s intention.
Identify and Re-Revaluate Existing Beliefs
Since we are not born with beliefs, they come from somewhere. Hence, an essential step in attaining freedom of mind is identifying, analysing and questioning the validity of the beliefs that influence your decisions and behaviours. Where did these beliefs come from, do they benefit you and are they limiting or supportive?
You might also work backwards from an unwanted outcome or source of emotional disturbance and try to identify a belief that may be contributing. If such a limiting belief is identified, you could take conscious and subconscious steps to challenge and remove it. This could be working with a professional using deeper-level techniques or ‘self-help’ using affirmations and self-hypnosis.
If a belief works out for you and those around you, keep it!
Making the Invisible Visible
There is a reason governments use propaganda and businesses spend fortunes on advertising – it influences the subconscious mind through suggestion and nudges individuals and groups towards certain behaviours or ‘choices’.
A vital aspect of freedom of mind is becoming more aware of suggestions and their influence on your beliefs and behaviours. Personally, I believe a great way to train the conscious mind in this type of awareness is to follow a simple premise:
If you are receiving a suggestion, someone has invested time and/or money in sending it.
That is the first ‘why’ I ask – why am I hearing about this? Is this suggestion trying to influence me? If so, then it could be positive. If it suggests that I try a certain soda and like it, then it may be a win-win outcome. However, you will also identify suggestions designed to manipulate, for example, using emotive language to persuade you to vote (or vote at all!) in a way that superficially may appeal but, in fact, could be to your overall detriment.
Free Thinking – A Work in Progress
Freedom of mind is a daily aspiration of mine – to make better conscious decisions aligned with subconscious beliefs that I am satisfied are supportive. When a person shows resistance to this approach, it tends to be in the form of the following two types.
In the first instance, a person or group who actively uses covert suggestion and psychological manipulation will not want their victims to be empowered with freedom of mind. They will dismiss the concepts, even as far as playing down the impact or denying the existence of the subconscious mind. The same applies to any person benefitting, directly or indirectly, from the status quo created by the manipulation of others.
The second type will be those people who have a sense that they may not be making up their own minds, but their ego and aversion to doing any work to change things is the real obstacle. Things might turn out okay for them, but that’s leaving a lot of power in the hands of others, hoping that they are benign, or at least neutral, in their influence and not harmful through manipulation. If it does turn out to be the latter, this can be doubly upsetting – you have been hurt by the manipulation of others, plus you had a hunch it was happening too!
Freedom of mind is not about becoming anxious or overly self-analytical about every single decision or belief. It is most important for the ‘big stuff’ in life, but the more work you put in, the more you achieve it, then the more personal power you will have in your life, leading to better choices and outcomes.