87. Check out subliminal tapes

Several years ago a friend gave me a subliminal audiotape for my birthday. It was called “Happiness and Laughter” and, at her request and to humor her, I kept it playing softly in an auto-reverse tape player that I kept on my desk during my work day and in the main part of the house—or wherever I happened to be—the rest of the time.

My husband Gibbs might accurately be described as a skeptic. Recognizing this, I didn’t bother to mention to him that the peaceful sounds of nature we were hearing on the tape were supposedly masking over a million messages per hour that were recorded on the tape below the conscious level of hearing.

One morning at breakfast, after about a week of constant exposure to the subliminal messages on this tape, Gibbs said to me, “You know, I feel so good. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

I began to suspect there might be something to subliminal programming. Over the next six months I experimented with more than half a dozen different subjects and brands of tapes.

I haven’t explored all the possibilities, but the most effective subliminal tapes I’ve used are those produced by Alphasonics (35 Cuesta Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505, 1-800-937-2574). I have successfully used their “Stop Procrastination” to get started on the last three book projects I’ve completed. When it gets down to the wire I pop in “Peak Performance in Business” and am able to work with a level of concentration I haven’t yet been able to tap into without the tape.

I played the “I Can Do Anything Tape” for an entire year while I was getting over my fear of public speaking (#51). “Deep Relaxation” got me to a point where I could sit still long enough to begin to learn to meditate. I want very much to try the “Stop Sugar Addiction” tape, but I’m not quite ready to give up Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream yet.

In addition to the titles that will assist you in your outer life, there are half a dozen—such as “Joy of Life,” “Loving and Feeling Loved,” and “Healing Power”—that can help you get started on your inner work.

I don’t know for certain how or why subliminal tapes work, but I have found them to be a fun and effective tool for tapping into the power of other levels of consciousness, and a delightful medium for continued growth and change.