The Prime Directives of the Unconscious Mind

The Prime Directives of the unconscious mind provide a framework for the context of doing Hypnosis, NLP or timeline therapy with yourself or others. The term Prime Directives means that the unconscious mind is “hard-wired” (meaning that it come from the factory this way) and is set up to provide or to do the following.

THE UNCONSCIOUS :

1. STORE OUR MEMORIES

The unconscious mind provides the coordination for the storage of memories. Research as far back as 1957 (the Penfield Study) indicates that everything that happens is recorded faithfully and stored as memory. In 1960, Carl Pribram won the Nobel Prize for his theory that expanded the place of storage of memories from the brain to the entire body, when he postulated that memories were stored holographically in the nervous system. It is the unconscious mind that is responsible for the coordination of the storage of and for access to these memories.

2. ORGANIZE ALL OUR MEMORIES

The unconscious mind organizes all the memories which are stored in the nervous system. Your Time Line is an index, the organization of your values is another such index that the unconscious mind uses.

3. IS THE DOMAIN OF THE EMOTIONS

4. REPRESSES MEMORIES WITH UNRESOLVED NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

The unconscious mind is also charged with the responsibility of repressing memories with unresolved negative emotions. The emphasis here is on “unresolved”. The repressed negative emotions are trapped in the body, and in many cases can cause blockages to the flow of communication through the neural network pathways of the body.

5. PRESENT REPRESSED MEMORIES TO RELEASE THE EMOTIONS

Memories which have been repressed are then presented to release the trapped negative emotions. This is the next function which the unconscious mind is “supposed” to perform, and it is a function which can be a long term function.

6. KEEP REPRESSED EMOTIONS REPRESSED FOR PROTECTION

The Unconscious Mind also has the option of keeping the memories repressed. In some cases this is what the unconscious mind does. This is a short term function, however, and in the long run the unconscious mind will continue to attempt to present the memories so that they can be released, because repressed emotions are just not good for the body.

7. RUN THE BODY

The unconscious mind has also been called the “body-mind” or the mind of the body, and in performing this function it provides the consciousness, and the direction for the functioning of the body.

8. PRESERVE THE BODY

The unconscious mind is also in charge of preserving the body. This means, other things being equal, that if you walk out to the street and step in front of a bus, your unconscious mind will jump you back out of the way, and you will be safe. In times of extreme danger, many people notice the unconscious mind takes over, and the conscious mind is not at all involved at that moment.

9. IS A HIGHLY MORAL BEING

This is not necessarily a Prime Directive as much as it is an instinct that is built in. The unconscious mind will enforce any morality which it has been taught and has come to believe is true. The question might arise, “What kind of morality are we talking about?” We are talking about any kind of morality which the Unconscious Mind has been taught and which it believes.

10. TAKE DIRECTION, FOLLOW ORDERS

The unconscious mind likes to have direction from a conscious mind with which it is in rapport. If there is no rapport, the unconscious mind will not follow the orders or directions from the conscious mind. With rapport the unconscious mind will follow just about any direction from the conscious mind.

11. CONTROL AND MAINTAIN ALL PERCEPTIONS

As our sensory perceptions result from the neurological system, from external stimuli, they must pass through the unconscious mind before they become available as conscious perceptions. The unconscious mind is in charge of filtering the massive amount of data that comes in, and making it manageable for understanding by the conscious mind. You may have heard that one estimate is that we have approximately 2,000,000 bits of information coming in through all our sensory input channels. The unconscious mind filters these down to a manageable 7 plus or minus 2 chunk of information.

12. GENERATE, STORE, DISTRIBUTE AND TRANSMIT ENERGY

As the “manager” of the body, the unconscious mind also is in charge of the energy of the body. Most of the energy in the body is generated by the interaction of glucose with oxygen. Since the unconscious mind is in charge of the energy, it can be asked to increase the energy in the body for various purposes including weight loss and healing.

13. RESPOND WITH INSTINCT AND HABIT

Some instincts are built-in at birth – such as the Fight or Flight response. Habits are cultivated over time. The unconscious mind is responsible for generating and maintaining both instincts and habits over time.

14. NEEDS REPETITION BUILDING HABITS

When cultivating a habit it is a good idea to repeat it often until it is taken over by the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is really in an ongoing “now” most of the time, and so needs a fair amount of repetition to build a habit.

15. CONTINUALLY SEEK MORE AND MORE

The unconscious mind is directed to continually seek more and more. So the new car you just had to have, and you finally bought seemed like “just any old car” after a period of time (say, three weeks), and perhaps you were prompted to wonder, “what’s next?”

16. WILL HAVE OPTIMUM FUNCTIONING WITH A MINIMUM OF PARTS

The unconscious mind will function perfectly with a minimum of parts. In fact, the fewer parts the better. Since more parts means more possibility of inner conflict, and since each part cannot be expected to have the intention of the whole as its highest intention, the fewer parts the better. The most perfect functioning occurs as a whole integrated functioning unity.

17. IS SYMBOLIC

The unconscious mind is symbolic. It is in many areas, pre-literate, so it creates and uses, and responds to symbols. Much of what the unconscious mind gives us is symbolic. This does not mean that it is meaningless, quite the contrary, the symbols can be interpreted, and will have significant meaning.

18. WORKS ON THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST EFFORT

The unconscious mind works on the principle of least effort, and that means it will do as little as it can get away with. This principle serves the unconscious mind well in energy conservation, but not necessarily in healing various symptoms. For example, if you are asking the unconscious mind to clear up certain symptoms, you must ask the unconscious mind when it will start and when it will finish the process, or you may find that six months later the process is incomplete. When asked, “why?” the unconscious mind may simply say “I haven’t started yet”.

19. TAKES EVERYTHING PERSONALLY

Remember that old saying when you were a kid, “One finger’s pointing out away from you, but three are pointing back at you?” That is because the unconscious mind takes everything personally. The good news is that what you like about your friend, is you. The bad news is that what you dislike about your friend, is you. The saying in psychology is, “Perception is projection.” What you see is who you are.

20. CANNOT PROCESS A NEGATIVE

Finally, as we have already discussed this earlier, make sure you are telling your unconscious mind what to do, think, be; as opposed to telling it what not to do think, be.

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