This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Silva Mind Control Method" by José Silva. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you want to make your mind stronger and healthier? How can you train your mind so you can accomplish anything?
The Silva Mind Control Method by José Silva says that to improve your mind’s health and strength, you need to access the Alpha state. At this level, you can accomplish specific goals, such as maximizing your learning and memory, having productive dreams, and improving your physical health.
Keep reading to learn how to train your mind to the best of your ability.
1. Maximize Your Learning and Memory
Silva argues that you can improve your memory and learning ability using the Alpha state. However, he recognizes that this may not always be practical because it can take several minutes of focused concentration to learn how to train your mind to this level. To get around this, Silva recommends “The Three Finger Technique,” which acts as a trigger to instantly access the Alpha state.
To establish the trigger, go into your Alpha level and hold your thumb, your index finger, and your middle finger together. Tell yourself firmly that from now on, holding your fingers in this position will instantly put you into the Alpha state of mind. You may need to repeat this meditation a few times to get the trigger to stick, but once it does, you’ll be able to instantly access a deep Alpha state.
2. Access Memories in Alpha
You can use the above technique to quickly access memories in your Alpha state that your mind has forgotten in the Beta state. For example, if you wanted to remember the name of a film you watched years ago, you’d hold your fingers together to instantly access your Alpha state. Then, you’d call up the relevant memories on your mental screen—perhaps you and a friend at the theater when you first watched the movie. As you replay the memory, your Alpha mind will retrieve more and more details until it eventually unearths the name of the film.
(Shortform note: In addition to improving your ability to access long-buried memories, training yourself to access the Alpha state on demand may improve your short-term memory. One modern study found that training people to access the Alpha state using neurofeedback training (in which people learn to control their brain waves in real time) significantly improved their short-term memory over time.)
3. Use Alpha to Aid Learning
You can also use your Alpha trigger to aid learning. If you hold the position while you sit in a class or read educational material, your brain will enter Alpha as you encode the material—so you’ll encode it more deeply. Then, if you hold the position again while you’re being tested on the material, you’ll be able to remember the material much better than if you stayed in Beta during the test.
(Shortform note: This technique takes advantage of a psychological principle called state-dependent memory—the idea that it’s easier to remember information when you’re in the same physical and mental condition as you were when you first learned it. This may be why Silva recommends entering Alpha both while you’re learning and being tested on the material—if you learn the material while in Alpha but take the test in Beta (or vice versa), you won’t perform as well.)
4. Use Your Dreams to Guide You
Another way to use the Alpha state is to generate useful dreams. Silva argues that dreams can contain meaning, and you can proactively access that meaning instead of waiting for it to arrive randomly. You do this by cueing yourself, while in the Alpha state, to have particularly productive dreams.
Before you can take full advantage of your dreams, you first need to know that you’ll remember the productive dreams you have. If you don’t already regularly remember your dreams, train yourself to do so by telling yourself before bed (preferably while in the Alpha state) that you will remember your dreams. Then, as soon as you wake up, write down as much of your dreams as you can remember. The more often you do this, the more of your dreams you’ll remember. This ensures you can glean any wisdom they might offer.
(Shortform note: Sleep experts recommend additional ways to ensure you remember your dreams. Start by getting enough sleep: Dreams most often occur during REM sleep, and you’ll enter the REM stage more often the longer you’ve been asleep. To help with this, avoid anything that might impair the quality of your sleep, such as alcohol or drugs. Finally, when you wake up in the morning, spend a few moments reflecting on your dreams before getting out of bed or looking at your phone. This will help cement the memories so you can write them down later.)
Once you regularly remember your dreams, you can use them to ask for wisdom about specific problems. To do so, before sleep, picture the problem you’d like to solve on your mental screen. Then, tell yourself that you intend to have a dream that gives you some piece of wisdom that will help solve your problem. When you wake up, write the dream down and look for any clues it may offer about how to solve your problem.
(Shortform note: Silva argues that you can solve problems while dreaming, but there may be another way that dreaming can help with problem-solving. One study showed that people who are lucid dreamers (meaning they’re able to control the narrative of their dreams) have better problem-solving skills while they’re awake than non-lucid dreamers. Similar to Silva’s advice to set an intention for your dreams to present solutions to your problems, if you want to try lucid dreaming, experts recommend setting an intention that you’ll recognize that you’re dreaming, which is the first step to controlling your dreams.)
5. Improve Your Physical Health
You can also use Alpha state visualization to improve your physical health. Silva reports that this method is effective for chronic illnesses like asthma and migraines and can even improve outcomes for cancer patients when it’s used in conjunction with traditional treatments.
To improve your physical health or encourage healing from illness and injury, Silva recommends practicing this six-step process for 15 minutes every day:
1) The first step of the process is to make your mind a gentler, more positive place in general, as this will increase your power to heal yourself. To do this, Silva recommends focusing on the words you use while in both Alpha and Beta states because your choice of words can trigger real-life outcomes. The more often you speak positively about your life and your health, the more you’ll trigger measurable positive changes. For example, if you constantly complain that your life is difficult, you’ll make it even more difficult; but if you tell yourself every day that you’re in great health, your body will get the message and improve your health over time.
2) Second, go into the Alpha state. Silva writes that it’s not possible to feel anxiety, anger, or guilt while in this meditative state; therefore, training yourself to get into that state and stay there will help you limit those negative feelings and their impact on your physical health.
3) Once in your Alpha state, remind yourself that you’re committed to creating a positive mindset through your language.
4) On your mental screen, picture the illness you’d like to heal. Briefly allow yourself to feel its effects on your body.
5) Replace that image with an image of yourself perfectly healthy and free of the symptoms that are troubling you. Make this image as real as possible, and try to feel that healthy state in your body.
6) Once again, repeat your intention to become a more positive, loving person.
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Silva Mind Control Method summary:
- The method of using your mind to heal your body, sharpen memory, and solve problems
- How to unlock your innate psychic power to help yourself and others
- How you can use the Alpha state to heal others remotely
