The human mind is a funny thing. For example, when we try to remember something we just for some reason can’t, it seems the harder we try, the more we push the memory away from becoming conscious. Then all of the sudden, when we stop thinking about it and are engaged in doing something completely different, bam!, it hits us and the memory surfaces and we remember.

Repetition seems to have a powerful effect on our minds. The more we repeat certain phrases or concepts, the more they become imprinted, hence the power of mantras and affirmations. Our minds are not a straightforward thing, humans have for centuries tried to plumb its depth to gain a more clear understanding of exactly how it works.

Sigmund Freud was the first to offer a model of separating the mind into three levels of awareness or consciousness – conscious, subconcious and unconscious. Some people use the term superconsious instead of unconscious. We can flow in and out of the different levels at almost any time really, although most of us do not have the control to consciously do it as we please.

There are some people who subscribe to the theory that the human mind works like a computer, (or was even modeled after one). If this is the case, it explains a lot. Our brain would be the hard-drive and the mind a form of program, where we can also download other programs and information to enhance our knowledgebase/mindset.

Another concept that I have read about and find interesting is that our minds, brains and really the universe as a whole are holographic in nature, as proposed by neurophysiologist Dr. Karl Pribram. If our minds and reality work like a hologram, this also can explain a lot, especially the non-local nature of our brains memory storage, amongst other many almost seemingly unexplainable mental feats. Feats such as people being able to speak foreign and almost lost ancient languages they never recall learning. 

There are other concepts of how the mind may work, but in the end what matters most is what works for us to create the reality we would like to experience. One thing that I have noticed over time with myself and others, it that the idea of mental ‘trickery’ comes in to play quite often. This is especially true when it comes to teaching and learning, as well as with healing. By using trickery in learning, it involves confounding a current belief structure in order to perceive another.

We all have certain paradigms of belief that we subscribe to. Some of us can more fluidly transition from one paradigm or belief structure to another. Those that don’t transition so easily, or even at all for that matter are known to be very stubborn or hard-headed people. Sometimes they won’t see that something (or can’t see the forest for the trees so to speak) that will change they way the look at something even if the hard evidence is staring them right in the face.

They just don’t want to believe it and are set in their ‘ways’.  In cases like these, trickery must be especially employed to help that person evolve and expand their constrained belief structure, and even then sometimes it just doesn’t work. Only time and a mass shift in collective concsiousness and acceptance of that ‘something being what it is’ will change their belief structure or paradigm they hold so dearly on to.

Healing ourselves and are bodies are another very effective way trickery can work and come in to play. The placebo and nocebo effects come to mind. Taken from wikipedia – “Mental states such as beliefs, expectations and anticipation can strongly influence the outcome of: disease; experience of pain; and even success of surgery. Positive expectations regarding a treatment can result in more positive outcomes and this effect is known as the placebo effect, and the opposite would be true for the nocebo effect.

Telling someone you gave them an amazing life saving miracle drug or treatment (when in reality it’s just a sugar pill or just something made up) can have the ability to trick that person’s mind into believing they are healed and their physical body reacts accordingly and actually heals itself. The human mind is super powerful and capable of amazing feats, especially when its ‘tricked’.

The mind works in mysterious ways. Some people have been able to train themselves through various types of hypnosis (and even self-hypnosis), mantras, affirmations, and other forms of mental training to program their minds to work so effectively they see the results on their bodies and in their creative physical reality fairly quickly. One could argue that any of these methods or tools are forms of trickery, to have the mind and body work in desired ways and thus create desired outcomes beyond our ‘normal’ thought process.

How can you use ‘mental trickery’ to enhance your life?

You ever notice that we tend to live in a world of rushing—moving quickly to get from point A to point B, to get something done or to hurry to a next “thing” in our lives. Most of us see this everyday and many of us experience it first-hand most days. We are rushing out the door to get to work or school, to make an appointment on-time, to finish a project, take care of housework, etc.

For some it materializes in impatience—minor impatience when having to wait in line somewhere to major impatience such as can’t wait to finish school, wrap up a major project or get through some life event or experience.

There are many variations on the meaning of the word rushing—including trying to do many things or to go to a lot of places in a short period of time. But the one that caught my attention is from Vocabulary.com, which is: the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner.

Why it caught my attention was the piece about “in a careless manner.” If you are rushing to be somewhere, get something done, be someone different, etc., you can get so caught up in the action that you are not paying attention to where you are now and you get distracted by or tangled up in thoughts of some future state. That adrenaline surge from rushing around can disrupt your focus (not to mention raise your blood pressure and heart rate, as well a cortisol levels). All in all—not good. 

We know that it is not good for us. We tell ourselves to relax, breath and to be patient, but we still do it—find ourselves rushing. We, in a sense, are rushing our life story—somehow thinking that if we can just fast forward to “done” on some things we will be able to move on or forward, relax or be calm or be in some overall better state. We are caught up in a future-focused mentality (and society). But for a moment think about what you are doing to yourself when you rush, and why you are rushing.

Some of it is culture—most of us live in a society that celebrates the overachievers and the high-flyers, and live in environments that expect growth, development and progress to happen overnight. It is instilled in us from a very young age to be on-time (if not early) and that somehow where we need to be or evolve to is more important than where we are right now at any given moment or who we are.

Yes, change and evolution is good (in fact, a constant), but rushing is not healthy. Think about it, when you are rushing around and through life it can be exhausting and draining. You are pushing against time, in a state of resistance and disregarding the present moment.  In short, you are not present when you are rushing.

So why do we do it? Some of it is habit. There is sort of this high or “rush” from rushing. It subconsciously is habitual or even addictive. It could be we are trying to avoid something—if we are not still we are distracted and do not have to address what we need to reflect upon. It could be that we are giving in to other’s judgments. If we are always in a state of urgency we are important and therefore more valued. We may have some ingrained belief that we need to compete and if we get somewhere first we have won, or we rush because we think it will be better where we are going.

When you feel yourself rushing, stop and take a breath and ask yourself “why?” Let go of that inner rush and appreciate where you are, be compassionate to yourself and let yourself get back to the moment. Not everything needs immediate attention. Allow yourself to take in where you are. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are always getting ready to live but never living.” Being right where you are is living.