The difference between the concious and subconscious mind

I conducted a sports psychology programme for student athletes recently and many of them did not realise the superb powers of the subconscious mind and ways to use these powers to their advantage in various situations, be it their sporting aspirations or even their schoolwork. Here's a very simple yet clear description on the difference between the conscious and subconscious mind.

The human brain possesses two very distinctive functional characteristics – the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The two are separated by specific attributes and abilities, yet work harmoniously together to achieve a common goal. Some people are familiar with these terms, but many are confused about the individual roles they play.

The conscious mind is your rational thinking mind that acknowledges the outside world and everything around you. Its primary function is to process and validate the accuracy (or truthfulness) of new information that's continually being received from all your bodily senses, whether external senses (i.e. sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing) or internal senses (e.g. stomach butterflies, chills etc.). The conscious mind does this by comparing the new information against all your stored facts, beliefs and memories from past experiences. Once a true or false perception of the new information is reached, it’s passed to the subconscious to be actioned - and it all happens in just milliseconds.

The subconscious mind on the other hand has no reasoning ability, but is purely goal orientated. It regulates and controls all of your body's involuntary physical and emotional processes according to your mental database of facts, beliefs and memories. When new validated information is received, the subconscious takes two primary actions. It updates that information as a new fact or belief, and then it generates the body's physical and emotional response to that new fact.

A champion athlete using sports psychology, Tennis Legend Roger Federer

Review of the improvement experienced by the participants
- 90% saw an improvement in their timing/distance in their sports event after just 4 weeks(6 days a week, 20 minutes each day) of mental imagery!


For the other 10%, they would probably need a little bit more time as certain people might have a lot of 'hidden problems/ideas' that would take time to eliminate.


Please feel free to email me at bodypulse@ymail.com for any enquiries/feedback. Enjoy your weekend!

Improve your energy levels

Most of us are enjoying the World Cup matches. However, for some of us(especially here in Asia!), the matches are shown in the early hours of the morning and thus I know of a lot of friend who sacrifice their sleep to catch the action. As a result, they might feel a lack of energy and enthusiasm during the next day at work(unless of course their favourite team wins, then there's a magical surge of energy!). So, I thought that I should re-emophasize some techniques that you could use to improve energy levels, especially those who are unable to get a good nights' rest. Here's a simple but powerful breathing exercise to energize your day:

Important notes
•If you feel dizzy when practicing this breathing technique, you should stop and substitute normal breathing. If you suffer from vertigo, you should use caution in practicing this breathing exercise.


•You should be careful practicing these exercises if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or suffer from stroke or epilepsy.
 
Steps
•To practice this breathing exercise sit up in a comfortable position.

•Elongate your spine upwards, lengthen your neck and subtly bring your chin back and in like a soldier at attention. This will align the spine with the back of your head.

•Close your eyes.

•Bring the palms of your hands together at sternum level but have them 2-4 inches away from your chest. Your elbows should be up such that your forearms are parallel to the ground.

•Press the palms of your hands together applying equal pressure to both sides. The pressure should be firm but not excessive.

•Relax your diaphragm and stomach muscles.

•Then you should begin with Diaphragmatic Breathing. Which means to breathe into the abdomen. Also called Abdominal Breathing.


•To do this, as you inhale allow your diaphragm to move down and stomach move out (expand). Try to only use your abdomen, not allowing the chest to rise (or fall) as best you can. On the exhalation, let the diaphragm move up and he stomach move in towards the spine. So only your stomach region is rising and falling on inhalation and exhalation. Continue on for 3-5 minutes, just using your stomach/diaphragm to breathe.  

Please feel free to email any question/comments to bodypulse@ymail.com. Enjoy the World Cup action! For non-football fans, have a fabulous week as well!

Tips for effective Teambuilding sessions

It is the middle of the year and lots of companies and schools are organizing staff and student teambuilding retreat with the view of strengthening bonds between members that would ultimately result in a more efficient and effective teamwork and results. For student activities, it would be geared more towards motivation and self discovery. But whatever the target group, you should take note of a few pointers in order to get the most return on investment from your teambuilding sessions. Here are some tips:

1.) Have a session at least once a month
Some companies would try to save cost by having it only twice a year perhaps vee once a year. But they do not realise that the long term benefits of having regular monthly sessions far outweigh the short term cost involved. There is no need for an overnight session. Even a two or three hour programme would be sufficient. Especially if you work in a highly stressful environment. Regular sessions of fun activities help to de-stress.Try it and see the difference in your employees attitudes.

2.) Use your participants' feedback to imrove subsequent sessions
Always make sure that you get your participants to fill out the evaluation form and use the collated results to help improve future sessions. You could have a short question where you ask what they feel is the most enjoyable part of the session and which might require improvements. Remember that these will be the participants for the next session so it is improtant that you show them that you value their feedback.

3.) Have 'out of the box' activities
Do not limit yourself to overnight BBQ sessions, sports meet and wine and dine sessions. Have something that is unusual, for example a balloon twisting workshop, a juggling teambuilding session or even a cross cultural trip where you learn about a culture that is not very well known to your part of the world. By having sessions that are unique, you keep your participants enthusiasm levels at a high and always looking forward to actively participating in the next session/s.

Please feel free to email all comments/enquiries to bodypulse@ymail.com. Have a great day!

Upcoming programme June 2010-Introduction to Hypnotherapy

Here's more details regarding our upcoming hypnotherapy workshop:

Hypnotherapy is often applied in order to modify a subject's behavior, emotional content, and attitudes. It is also used for a wide range of conditions including dysfunctional habits, anxiety, stress-related illness, pain management, and personal development. This beginner’s level workshop is open to anyone from the age of 21. No previous experience in hypnosis or hypnotherapy is required. Participants will learn the instant self-hypnosis technique and basic applications of self-hypnosis. They will also get to try out simple hypnotherapy techniques to hypnotize others.

Title: Hypnotherapy Workshop for Beginners

Venue: Club CSC @ Tessensohn
Date: Thursday, 24 Jun 10

Time: 7.30pm – 9pm
Fee: Member $18, Public Officer/Guest $22 (Inclusive of notes)

Registration Contact: Gek Cheng at 63915624 of kua_gek_cheng@csc.gov.sg

Please register by 17th Jun 10

Please feel free to email me at bodypulse@ymail.com for enquiries. Have a great week!

Panic/Anxiety Attacks and Treatments

Hi everyone!

I do hope that you are all enjoying yourselves. Working hard as well as playing hard! My apologies for not publishing any new updates for the past 3 weeks. I have been very busy filming a new reality show and did not have a chance to update this blog. I have tried to reply to as many emails as possible the past couple of days. I do hope to reply to every one of them within the next few days.

Anyway, I recently had a few questions with regarding panic attacks. For those who are suffering or have suffered from it, you would know that it is such an unpleasent and even frightening experience. About 10 years ago I witnessed someone getting a panic attack. It seemed like an asthma attack but it's not. Here's some info about panic attack that I hope you would find useful and interesting.

General Info

Panic attacks are sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning. These episodes can occur at any time, even during sleep. A person experiencing a panic attack may believe that he or she is having a heart attack or that death is imminent.

Most people with panic attacks experience several of the following symptoms:


-"Racing" heart
-Feeling weak, faint, or dizzy
-Tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers
-Sense of terror, of impending doom or death
-Feeling sweaty or having chills
-Chest pains
-Breathing difficulties
-Feeling a loss of control

Panic attacks are generally brief, lasting less than ten minutes, although some of the symptoms may persist for a longer time. It is not clear what causes Panic Disorder. In many people, its symptoms develop in association with major life changes (such as getting married, having a child, starting a first job, etc.) and major lifestyle stressors.

Best Ways to Ease Anxiety Disorders- I shall describe each method in detail in my future posts.
1.) Medication- One might required medication initially to reduce the number of attacks if you experience frequent attacks (a few attacks per day)
2.) Hypnosis or hypnotherapy
3.) Meditation and Other Relaxation Techniques
4.) Good Night’s Sleep
5.) Laughing/Laughter Therapy
6.) Avoid Places Where You Have Had an Attack

As always, although the alternative therapies are extremely powerful and effective, please check with a physician if you require medication to curb the initial phase of the attacks.

Please feel free to email me your comments at bodypulse@ymail.com. Have a fabulous week!