Dr. Bruce Lipton’s Advice for Changing Limiting Beliefs

-- How to Install Empowering Beliefs

When revolutionary stem cell researcher Dr. Bruce Lipton started writing his book "The Biology of Belief," he would find himself stalling on the project and starting it over again. He realized that he was being held back by the subconscious belief that if he published a book on a topic that none of his colleagues were talking about, that he might lose his colleague friends. This limiting belief showed up in his subconscious mind offering up a variety of delay tactics that derailed him from the project.

Once he became aware of the pattern, he could choose to override this limiting belief. We’ll take a look at exactly how he did this and what he recommends, but before we get to that, let’s quickly take a look at how we form beliefs in the 1st place. For our first 7 years of life, we are in an imaginative theta brainwave state, where we are absorbing ideas from our environment. This happens through impression (since we are in a hypnotic brain wave state) and repetition. Basically, ideas are impressed upon us from those in our environment and then become anchored in and adopted as truths through repetition. These beliefs frequently lie beyond our awareness since they were adopted so young, and basically are only seen in our behavior.

So the question isn’t whether or not we’re programmed, but rather, whether the programs running in our minds are helpful. And when they’re not, what can we do about it? In the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki explores the real difference between someone who grows up in a rich family and a poor family. In a rich family, you grow up with a message and expectation that you will maintain your money and make more money. In contrast, in the latter, you grow up with installed beliefs like, “Life’s hard and it’s not going to work, this isn’t going to be easy, and we’re not getting anywhere.” Then these beliefs play out in the person’s experience and can be seen in their behavior and the results they’re getting in life.

Changing Limiting Beliefs

It is also worth mentioning that before age 7, both of our brain hemispheres are in sync, meaning that we actively use both of them, suggests Lipton in an interview with Andre Duqum.1 But after that, we vacillate between the hemispheres, either using the logical mind or the emotional mind, but rarely both together. So Lipton offered a suggestion for integrating both brain hemispheres to activate SuperLearning.

Since fundamentally, the right arm is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, and the left arm is controlled by the right hemisphere, you can activate both hemispheres by crossing the midline or center of the body. Therefore, to install a new belief, he recommends accessing both hemispheres, by crossing your arms and your legs or feet at the same time. In this technique, which he refers to as the Energy Psychology Balance technique, you would also hold this position for 10-15 minutes while you actively visualize the desired result to install a new belief.

In Lipton’s personal example mentioned before, he realized that he held a belief -- that writing the book and publishing it -- would basically be a hard and difficult process. This belief left him feeling daunted. So he asked himself what did he want to experience instead? Obviously, he wanted the opposite: for the process to be fast, easy, and fun. Then he set about installing this new belief by vividly envisioning this as already having this experience, while sitting with arms and legs crossed. He saw himself writing the book and it being fun and easy. (You can see an image of him in this position in the YouTube video referenced.)

What’s unusual about this is that Lipton puts a voice to what we see in outliers like Oprah Winfrey, who grew up in poverty but found ways to change their beliefs and their experience. For instance, Winfrey recalled growing up with her grandmother, who was a maid and showed her how to hang the laundry out to dry. Basically, she was implying that Winfrey would need to know how to do this since one day she too would become a maid. Winfrey shared that she wasn’t quite sure how she knew it, but that she knew wouldn’t become a maid. Meanwhile, she was doing well in school and was prized for her intellect, so she had another environment that challenged the assumptions being offered to her at home. This acted like a protective factor that buffered and helped her to see more possibilities and to adopt a broader world view. Later, she added, “I don’t know why exactly, but I felt that I could have it,” referring to money. Now isn’t that interesting! These beliefs translated into her feelings, actions, and experience.

It’s also worth noticing that Lipton didn’t only change his belief, but also changed his environment. He left Stanford when he realized that his colleagues weren’t interested in his findings regarding stem cells and the genes. And he put himself in a more supportive environment with other like-minded individuals. So perhaps this shows that it’s not enough to simply change our beliefs, but to continue to nurture them through supportive environments.

For those who grew up in environments that didn’t offer the kind of conditioning that they need for success or who have struggled, I hope that these stories and this easy-to-use technique will provide some comfort and support. As Nelson Mandela once said, “It’s not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.” In my experience, truer words have never been spoken!

~ Dianne A. Fanti, Nov. 6, 2024

References:

1. Know Thyself Podcast with Andre Duqum. “Reprogram Your Limiting Beliefs While You Sleep and Design Your Destiny | Bruce Lipton.” June 11, 2024. https://youtu.be/0WKjO78zDUI?si=_QtlL5LovLNSCL-j