How Do Subliminal Messages Work?


Subliminal messaging, as mysterious as it may sound, is actually a quite straightforward process that involves sending a piece of information directly to the subconscious part of your mind, skipping the control of the conscious part. This perhaps sounds a bit too SF, but let’s break it down and see what the process actually involves.

How Our Brain Works

The brain consists of billions of neurons that are connected in countless three-dimensional patterns. The neurons (nerve cells) are extremely tiny, and each of them has the possibility to connect with thousands and hundreds of thousands of other neurons. And each time a new connection is made, it means that we have learnt a new thing.

That means that our brain is capable of processing hundreds of thousands of functions every second. Think about that for a second: you can’t even count to 100 in one second. And your brain has done thousands times more work in that time.

Now, not all of the functions it processes have to do with thinking, counting and similar actions – most of them are the automatic processes that keep our body functional: the systems that control our heart, digest our food, regenerate cells, etc. Your brain is doing all of that for you, and you don’t need to consciously know about it.

Because, if you would, how sane you think you’d be right now? 🙂

The conscious part of your brain is just the tip of the iceberg that is your mind – the 90% of it make the processes that you’re unaware of. And that’s a huge, huge part of what you are.

How Subliminal Messages Fit In

Each day we receive a massive amount of information – in our workplace, on the way there, in our home, on the TV, on the Internet, from our friends… Some of them we will notice and remember, but most of them we won’t: the message on the billboard down the street, the tune that played in the coffee shop, the signature in the email we received, a thought that passed through our mind in a split second – and we shouldn’t register all of these things, it’s mostly the unnecessary information for us.

But our unconscious mind registers it all. These pieces of information have passed through our conscious perception and entered our subconscious – and that’s what subliminal messages actually are: any “message” or information that we have received without consciously registering it. So you see, we receive those notorious “subliminal messages” every day, and there’s nothing quite so mysterious about them.

Subliminal Messages, Learning Process and Beliefs

Among other things, the subconscious part of our brain is where our beliefs are held. In the conscious learning process, we learn things by repeating them and by practicing what we have learnt, and our brain then stores those things in the unconscious (so that, for example, we don’t need to think about what our legs have to do to turn the bicycle pedals when we want to ride a bike – we just do it).

It’s the same with our beliefs: we have learnt them during our life, and stored them in the subconscious.

Imagine this: if someone told you that you don’t know how to ride a bicycle, or if you told that to yourself – try it now: “I can’t ride a bicycle.” Do you believe it? Will you believe it if you’d repeat it to yourself every morning and every evening? Of course not. Because you consciously know it’s not true.

If you grew up believing that you weren’t pretty, that you aren’t worthy, that you can’t earn a lot of money, that you can’t be successful or happy, that you’re meant to be fat… – these things you have learnt and stored in your subconscious. If all of a sudden someone came and told you otherwise, you wouldn’t believe it. Why? Because your conscious brain would fight it, because it has “learnt” that the truth is what it already “knows”.

So, if you want to change these negative beliefs, you have to learn the positive things about yourself from the beginning. And your old beliefs are stubborn, they’re placed too deep and they’re comfortable where they are, even though they’re making you feel bad; and sometimes, no matter how hard you try to change them, they just won’t completely go away.

That’s why you sometimes have to attack the problem the sneaky way: by skipping the conscious part of your mind and planting the new beliefs directly into the subconscious. And subliminal messages go right there.

Only, the process has to last for some time: just like your previous beliefs weren’t built in one day, your new ones can’t be formed in a short period of time. You have to be exposed to positive subliminal messages for a longer time, in order for them to have the effect you want.

Why and How (Regular) People Use Subliminal Audio Messages

As we have previously explained in our article What Are Subliminal Messages, there are three main forms in which the subliminal messages are usually being served to us: images, video and audio.

We have found that subliminal audio messages are the most practical form: we can listen to the mp3s practically whenever and wherever, and they still do the work – not so much so with videos and images.

The subliminal albums that we prefer are the so called “real subliminals”: they contain the positive affirmations related to whatever area of our life we want to improve (confidence, motivation, social skills, relationships, even reinforcing our Law of attraction skills), but they’re recorded on a frequency that is just above the level of our conscious hearing. That means that no, we can’t hear them (we only hear the relaxing sounds like rainfall or ocean), that no, our conscious brain doesn’t know about them – which is why yes, they do their job 😉

As John Assaraf, a famous brain researcher said:

Your conscious brain is amazing at coming up with ideas, but useless when it comes to carrying them out because it is easily distracted. The average person changes focus every six to 10 seconds.
Goal-setting is something your conscious brain can do.
The subconscious brain can remember billions of things in perfect sequence, not only for minutes at a time, but for your lifetime. How often does it get distracted? Never.
Goal-attaining is something only your subconscious can do.

We’d rather have our unconscious on our side in everything we’re trying to accomplish. How about you?

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