Your unconscious mind knows the answer before you do…
Have you ever noticed how sometimes your body does things without you even realizing it?
Maybe you're sitting around thinking about something, and your foot starts tapping, or your fingers move without you deciding to make them move. It's like it just happens on its own.
That’s the unconscious mind doing its thing, making decisions and sending little signals to your body without bothering to let you know. And that’s where ideomotor responses come in.
Back in the 1800s, this guy named William Benjamin Carpenter noticed how we sometimes make tiny movements just based on an idea. No conscious thought involved—just an idea, and boom, your body moves. He called it ideomotor action and it was a pretty big deal.
Why does this matter? Well, these little unconscious movements are actually a way to communicate with the part of your mind that's running the show behind the scenes. Therapists have been using this for years to help people figure out what's going on deep down, uncovering beliefs, emotions, and memories they didn’t even know were there.
Here’s how you can use it.
Say you’ve got something bugging you—a problem you can’t seem to solve, an emotional block you want to clear, or even a big decision you're torn over. You can literally ask your unconscious mind for an answer, and your body will give you a "yes" or "no" without you even needing to think about it.
It’s kind of like having a direct line to your inner self without all the second-guessing and overthinking.
I've seen this work time and time again. One way to try it is by asking your unconscious to move one finger for “yes” and a different one for “no.” Then you just start asking questions. Keep it simple at first—“Is my name [X]?”—to make sure it's working. Once you’ve got that, go ahead and ask the bigger stuff.
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This is especially helpful for making decisions. You know those times when you’re stuck between two choices? Asking your unconscious mind can give you the clarity you need. Deep down, you usually already know the answer—you just need to listen for it.
And for hypnotherapists, it’s a powerful tool for guiding clients to the root cause of an issue, especially when they can’t figure it out consciously. Ideomotor responses let the unconscious do the talking.
So next time you’re feeling stuck, give it a shot. Your body might just have the answer you’ve been looking for, quietly waiting to speak up.
And it wants to help you.
- Mike Mandel
P.S. Tell us how spectacularly well this works for you!
