Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

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Creating the Body of Your Dreams

O ne of the fundamental problems everyone faces when try- ing to lose weight is that we don’t know how to communi- cate with our own minds. Our conscious mind (what we generally think of as our mind) simply doesn’t know how to communicate with our unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is the part of our mind that controls our animal brain. The primary purpose of the animal brain is to keep us alive, safe, and healthy, and if we live long enough, it inspires us to procreate. It also controls our hunger and our body weight. The animal brain is very powerful and its role is crucial, yet there is one small problem: it doesn’t understand the stresses of modern day living. The animal brain understands life in terms of physical survival and simple dualities like safe/unsafe, run/fight, sleep/wake, eat more/eat less, get fatter/get thinner, and so on. In contrast, our conscious mind thinks in terms of ideas and concepts like “I’d like to lose 20 pounds so I can fit into my favorite dress and look good at my best friend’s wedding next spring.” Trying to explain to the animal brain that you would like to look good for a wedding is a bit like trying to explain to a three year old that it’s a good time to buy bank stocks while interest rates are going down. There are just too many concepts that are inconceivable to a young child.

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