Chapter Three

Now, let's get down to some basic definitions for the two minds that most psychologists believe exist within each person. I have used the words "conscious" and "subconscious" several times previously. But, what do these two terms really mean? They actually refer to the functions of the brain, and it is believed by many experts that the conscious brain makes up only 12 percent of the entire brain. This leaves the remaining 88 percent of your brain functioning at any given time in the realm of the subconscious.

So, even though the conscious mind is a small percentage, it has a great and powerful influence upon our actions. The conscious mind is awake and alert for at least 16 hours of a 24 hour day, and it plays havoc with our attitudes and general disposition. Dr. John Kappas is a noted hypnotherapist, who has conducted research on thousands of patients. He has stated that his research reveals that we must wait until the conscious mind is tired and ready to rest before we can expect to re-program our subconscious.That is the reason he recommends cursive handwriting just before going to sleep at night. It is his feeling that there is a window of opportunity to hand-write a new program into our subconscious, while the conscious mind lowers its guard and does not put up a fight against change.