Subliminal audio's are usually recordings which contain audible music with hidden suggestions interwoven within them. The idea is that the conscious mind listens to the music, whilst the hidden suggestions are absorbed by the subconscious mind. How does this work?

How subliminal mp3s are made
Usually music or other sounds are usually used to mask over spoken suggestions or affirmations that are lower in volume. In order to be effective, the suggestions must be recorded at a level that can be heard clearly when the music is removed, but which cannot be heard once the music is added. So the louder music simply covers up the quieter but still audible suggestions.

The subconscious mind then absorbs these suggestions without you being consciously aware. The subconscious mind is responsible for your automatic habits and urges. These hidden suggestions can make a quick but lasting effect for permanent behavioural change. The changes can be almost anything, such as increasing confidence, reducing appetite or stopping smoking.

Why are the messages hidden?
The suggestions are hidden because we are aiming for the subconscious mind to absorb them, rather than the conscious mind. If the conscious mind heard the suggestions then there is a great chance that it would filter them out and not pass them on to the subconscious mind. The critical conscious mind may doubt these suggestions, which will have the effect of blocking them.

For example the conscious mind may filter out the suggestion “I am now a non smoker”. You may start thinking “But I tried last year and failed. Maybe I can't quit smoking afterall”. This is enough to reject the suggestion from being absorbed by the subconscious mind. Bypassing the conscious mind removes the possibility of it from being consciously rejected.

What's special about the subconscious mind?
The subconscious mind is the part of the mind that automatically reacts. It controls your automatic responses, such as fear responses and your habits and urges. This is nearly always the part that actually needs the help to change. Conscious conversations rarely get fully absorbed by the subconscious mind. The conscious mind often filters them out.

That is why you could talk to someone at length about why spiders are not dangerous. On a conscious level that person may fully agree and find is daft that they fear small spiders. However the subconscious mind will still continue to trigger the automatic fear response when it sees a spider. Your conscious mind is powerless to stop it. The best way to change a habit or a behaviour is by talking to the subconscious mind. Subliminals and hypnosis both do this.

Evolution
Recent research has indicated that it has been an evolutionary advantage for us to process subconsciously heard sounds. If you hear a predator through the sounds of the wind, rain, birds chirping, then you want this to go straight to your subconscious mind. This will trigger you to react immediately. The conscious mind is too slow. That vital split second can be the difference between life and death.

We needed to be able to hear these hidden sounds and process them directly into our subconscious minds. Our very existence depended upon it.

Author's Bio: 

Jon Rhodes is a clinical hypnotherapist from the UK. He runs the highly respected HypnoBusters website which contains a massive collection of various therapeutic audio's, videos and articles.

Click here to check out his collection of subliminal mp3s , and try a FREE session for yourself right now.