Are Subliminals Safe?

I first listened to subliminals when I bought the Personal Power Program from Tony Robbins in 1992.

They didn’t work for me because I stopped listening to them. I didn’t like the music on the tapes.

Are subliminals safe? It never occurred to me to ask if the subliminals were safe.

Are subliminal messages safe?

Yes, in short subliminals are safe. They aren’t dangerous in any way that would cause physical or psychological harm. It is a little more complicated though. There are legitimate reasons why they are banned or prohibited in most nations.

Is it harmful to influence a person without their knowledge?

The research has a lot of interesting results.

I will explain the whole story below. Browse through the topics and see what interests you.

Subliminals in Advertising

The UK government and many European nations have banned subliminal tactics for use in advertising.

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governs advertising.

The FCC has stated that it will revoke the license of any broadcast station that uses subliminal technology. [Here is an article with full information about subliminal regulation.] Regulators have ruled that subliminal messages in TV commercials are unfair because it’s unfair to manipulate or influence someone in any way without their knowledge.

Finally, since research studies show that subliminal audio and video impact the mind, you shouldn’t use it with malicious intent.

Even though subliminal tactics are banned for commercial advertising, you can use them for personal growth and self development. You can use them to develop amazing mental and emotional qualities.

Subliminals aren’t magic that you can use by themselves without a plan with clear objectives. Some people misunderstand this and expect too much. The way to make the most of subliminal technology begins by having a plan and specific goals.

Subliminal messages align your subconscious mind to your attraction goals. The process is more powerful if you have specific goals in mind rather than just randomly using subliminal messages.

Your mind is very powerful, and your thoughts control how you behave and how you move through life. Everything that you accomplish and your place in life are a consequence of the way you habitually think and behave. Where you end up after 10 years will be a result of what you do and think now.

Subliminal technology is a key to the power in your own mind to reshape your life. The extraordinary American psychologist William James said: “human beings by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”. 

If you can shape your thoughts using subliminals, then you can redesign yourself on a basic level and radically improve the quality of your life.

What Are Subliminals?

“Subliminal” means below the level of conscious perception.

Subliminal audio refers to sounds played at a level beyond your conscious awareness,  but within the range that your subconscious mind can perceive.

Subliminal messages are affirmations that go around your conscious mind and go directly into your subconscious. These concealed positive affirmations are implanted in the music, just below your hearing level.

Your conscious mind doesn’t perceive subliminal messages, so it can’t block it. That’s why subliminal affirmations bypass usual resistance that would hold you back.

With repetition, your subconscious mind begins to accept the messages as true. Day by day, it becomes easier for you to achieve your desires because you’ve reprogrammed your subconscious mind.

How Do Subliminal Messages Work?

To really comprehend and begin to use the full capacity of subliminal messages, you must know something about how your mind works. Particularly, the roles that conscious and subconscious minds play.

Your mind functions on 2 levels in order to navigate your reality.

First is the conscious level, where you analyze, evaluate, and reason. Then, there is the more powerful subconscious level where habits and emotions that enforce your behavior reside.

Consider your mind like an iceberg where the tip of the ice that you see is your conscious mind. And the greater part underwater is your subconscious mind.  Actually, most of what you think, feel, and do is controlled by your subconscious. Real changes only begin below the surface.

Your conscious mind is the part you are aware of that performs when you are conscious and awake. It is the part of your mind that you deliberately  think and reason with. You likely experience it as a continuous internal dialogue with yourself.

Even as the conscious mind is important and useful, the subconscious is the source of your behavior. Studies have shown that you can only process a few ideas at a time consciously. Meanwhile, most of your life is run routinely by your subconscious.

The subconscious mind is your broader mind. It is constantly active processing millions of messages of sensory information per second. The unconscious contains everything you learn, your memories, and your intellect. It’s the foundation of your creativity, feelings and thoughts. It regulates your body functions and involuntary processes like breathing, blood flow, and emotions. The conscious mind cannot heal an injury or change your heartbeat. The subconscious mind controls these activities.

Most significantly, your subconscious mind maintains all of your “programs” of automated behavior that you use to live and function. The subconscious mind is an “autopilot” function in the brain. It enables you to do multiple things at once without needing to concentrate on all of them simultaneously. These programs (“habits”) free your conscious mind up to handle other things.

One example is learning to drive a car. It involves mastering a lot of little habits like operating the accelerator, brakes and steering. After repeatedly practicing them consciously, they become habits you do without thinking consciously. This frees up your mind to deal with where you want to go and how to navigate constantly changing circumstances.

Your conscious and subconscious interact continuously. But why do some people seem to naturally succeed while others appear to struggle? The answer is in the kind and the quality of your subconscious programming.

Your mind has been shaped by your experiences with parents, teachers, the media and other powerful influences in your life.

Everything that you’ve ever experienced or imagined is housed as a multi-sensory memory in your subconscious mind. Both positive and negative experiences exist and influence your behavior and your feelings.

The human mind has frequently been compared with a computer. In this comparison, your thoughts, feelings and actions are software programs.  If you want to revolutionize your life, then you must remove old limiting programs and add new empowering ones. 

You won’t make any progress until your subconscious mind is programmed for success. You’ll keep repeating the same self-destructive habits and patterns that have been programmed by your experiences. It’s impossible to overcome your subconscious programming with logic and reasoning no matter how hard you try.

Subliminal audios and new software for creating precise subliminal affirmations to fit your needs make subliminal messages safer and more effective than ever. Subliminal audio and visual technologies are the most effective way to change your negative programming and replace unproductive programming with better habits and beliefs. The result is a happier, more productive and successful life.

People often ask for evidence that subliminals actually work. It’s right to be skeptical of something like subliminal messages because there is disagreement about how well they work. While there are many anecdotal claims of how subliminals helped people, there is disagreement because some research is negative and some people don’t improve. 

My first response is that 20% of businesses fail in the first 2 years and 45% fail in the first 5 years. Yet, it is never considered that business doesn’t work.  

My second response is that subliminals are not magic because magic is not real.

In my opinion, people who fail often expect some instant  magic outcome from just turning on subliminal tapes and listening for a few days. Subliminal technology is a tool that you have to use along with planning for what you want to get and setting specific goals.

Above all, it requires persistence and consistency day after day after day after day.  The quitters don’t get past the first one or two “day after days”.

There are enough well-documented studies showing that subliminal tapes produce significant and lasting impacts. Here is an article with examples and references to studies showing how subliminals work.

Many succeed in breaking bad habits, improving performance, finally overcoming procrastination and becoming completely confident. In fact, people have successfully used subliminal affirmations to improve every area of their lives. Some (like me) have increased motivation, boosted self-esteem, and overcome fears of failure and success.

Although there are no safety concerns, subliminal messages are controversial and sometimes embroiled in skepticism. Subliminal messages function on the premise that the subconscious mind can be manipulated through concealed messages within audio recordings and video recordings. Subliminal messages don’t need to be long to be effective. 200 milliseconds (1 second is 1,000 milliseconds) is enough to have an impact. 

Some scientists disagree about the effects of subliminal messages because they differ on whether subliminal messages cause any behavioral changes. They also differ, in some cases, on how much effect subliminal messages may have. In other instances, they disagree about what kind of effects subliminals have.

Studies on subliminal messages reveal that people are more likely to detect and preserve subliminal messages that have negative implications. According to CBS News, a British study found that the brain responds to negative words like “agony,” “murder” and “despair,” more so than positive words like “peace,” “flower” and “cheerful.” 

The effect is classified as negative because subliminal messages can be used to infuse fear or anxiety in people.

Subliminal messages were common in the advertising field, where marketers sought to increase profits by delivering messages to your subconscious mind. For instance, in February of 2007 in Ontario, Canada, casinos had to get rid of slot machines that presented subliminal images encouraging more gambling. 

The most famous case of subliminal advertising was done by James Vicary in 1957. Vicary added the phrases “eat popcorn” and “drink Coca Cola” to movie advertisements. 

Because advertisers were influencing unwitting consumers, many nations banned this kind of subliminal advertising because it is unfair and harmful.

People can use subliminal technology to help improve themselves. Many businesses have been developed around creating self-help subliminal recordings and software for weight loss, boosting confidence, improving memory, quitting smoking and more.

Clear your mind. When you clear your mind, you try to stop thinking about anything. This relaxes your body and your mind. You need to be in a calm frame of mind to focus properly.

Listen to music or use music to meditate. Play your favorite calming music while relaxing in a comfortable position and try to clear your mind. Try not to fall asleep.

Go for a walk. Physical activity can calm your mind. While walking, concentrate on your breathing and try to stay in-the-moment and be aware of your environment. Your mind will wander so you will need to refocus on breathing and staying in the moment while you walk. Don’t worry about your mind wandering. Just keep refocusing.

Focus on the object in your mind and visualize doing the necessary steps to get it. Sometimes it can be helpful to write it down. The secret of making this more powerful is to focus on seeing yourself engaged in activities that will result in achieving your goal.

For instance, if you want more pay, you would write, “I want a pay raise.” Then you would write down the necessary steps to get the raise and visualize yourself taking those steps. Then read it out loud and visualize in your head as many times as needed to focus on it.

Think about how your aspirations make you feel. If you’re going to use a lot of energy to make something happen, be confident that it’ll be good for you.

Before you begin using your imagination to see yourself getting what you want, you need to prepare your thoughts. Begin with your end result. Then write down the things you need to do, the mindset you need to have and the type of person you need to be to attain your desire.

When you practice imagining your success, see yourself doing the things you’ve written down. Imagine yourself having the right mindset and being the type of person who has what you want.

• Create subliminal messages that reinforce your visualization practices. For example, if you want better health you need to eat healthier foods. So, make a  message like “I am the type of person who loves to eat healthy foods.” The reason this works so well is because it becomes your identity. It’s who you are instead of something you have to do. This is a most powerful concept.

• Practice visualizing your desires with as much detail as possible. If what you want is a state of being (for example, being healthy and fit) imagine yourself in that state. Make as complete of an image as possible. 

• Take time to think about your goals. Think of creative ways to remind yourself of what you want and visualize your success during your day. What are you doing? What is your mindset? How does it feel? How does it make you feel? 

• Don’t dwell on any negative emotions. If you’re unhappy in yourself in some way that has to do with what you want, don’t continue to visualize it. Instead, turn your focus on positive emotions you have about what you want. For example, if you didn’t get a pay raise the last time you thought you might, don’t think about the situation as a failure. Instead,  think of it as a chance to get a better pay raise down the road.

Keep a positive outlook and you will more easily recognize new opportunities. Anticipate new opportunities, especially in places that you wouldn’t normally expect them. 

This can mean talking to people you usually wouldn’t or embracing invitations that you would normally turn down. For example, if you’re trying for a promotion at work and you have a chance to join a project that you would ordinarily decline, embrace the chance instead. It might lead you to your promotion!

Be patient. Significant changes in your life won’t materialize overnight. It can take months or years to see the changes you want to see. Be persistent and trust that you can get there one step at a time.

Trust your intuition. If you feel compelled to try something new, go ahead and try it. It might lead you to a person or situation that helps you get your desired results.

Express gratitude for what you already have. This will help keep negative emotions away. When you’re trying to attract something you want into your life by visualizing it, don’t allow negativity to stop you from positive visualization. This can affect the outcome negatively and prevent you from getting what you want! Keep a gratitude journal. In a few minutes a day, you can write down 1 or 2 things you are fortunate to have. It can be an event in the past or your present circumstances. Keep it short and easy so you’re more likely to keep doing it and making it a habit.

Subliminal messages are safe, but there are some restrictions that you should adopt. You shouldn’t subject people to subliminal content without their knowledge or consent. It’s obviously wrong to do so, right?

You will get better results if you have a specific plan and goals. Subliminal messages aren’t magic spells. They enhance your efforts to achieve success and happiness.

Follow in the paths of many others who have successfully used subliminals to achieve success and happiness.