It is rare that the topic of subliminal audio self-help CDs gets covered in the mainstream media. It's even rarer when the coverage is even-handed, much less positive. Yet that's exactly what happened on March 17, 2009, when a feature story about my latest release, Drive Time Rx, ran on ABCNews.com. You can view the article here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7095615

     If you're on my mailing list, you already know about this article. And if you're not, I invite you to subscribe now at: www.innerpeacemusic.com/signup.

     The article, “A Subliminal Solution to Road Rage?” written by Dan Childs of the ABC News Medical Unit, began with two of my scripted affirmations, and proceeded to artfully and insightfully explore the subject. Thank you, Dan.

     We had spoken for almost an hour the prior week. He was, like most journalists I've been interviewed by, new to the field. In fact, most everyone is new to the field. Or worse, have been the victim of intentional disinformation campaigns to keep you from learning the shocking truth about subliminals:

     They work!

     This is, in my opinion, precisely one of the main reasons you haven't “heard” more about sound subliminals. (Pun intended)

     Let's take a minute to summarize what is “known,” proven and what is true—which are not necessarily the same—about the field of subliminal perception and communication. Simply put, “subliminal” refers to perception below the threshold of conscious awareness. Most of the attention has been given to visual input, primarily hidden in print advertising or movie theater campaigns to promote sales of popcorn or soda. The current Fox TV hit, “Lie to Me” is based on visible micro-expressions which are invisible (subliminal) to most of us, yet still affect our behavior.

     Much less attention has been focused on subliminal perception and sound. Part of the reason is that, unlike a liquor ad in a magazine that you can stare at, a subliminal message in sound goes by so quickly that there’s much less chance you’ll notice it unless you've been trained, or are highly sensitive.

     I got involved in this field for both these reasons. I was introduced to the leading researcher, Dr. Wilson Bryan Key, in 1973 through my association with the research team I had hired to conduct biofeedback studies with my new, original music. I had the unique opportunity to study with him at his laboratory several years later, after reading his landmark books, including Subliminal Seduction.

SECRETS OF SUBLIMINALS

     In the ABCNews.com article, the same arguments against sonic subliminals are trotted out as they have been for years, as far back as 1973 when Dr. Key first went public with his insider scoop on subliminal advertising. One spokesperson, Anthony Greenwald, has changed his tune a little bit. Apparently he is no longer denying the existence of the subconscious mind, as he did in the mid 1990s when he was a media spokesman associated with the trial of the heavy metal band, Judas Priest, who allegedly included subliminal messages in their album that contributed to the suicides of two teenage listeners.

     I was also surprised that Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science, would state his visual bias as fact: “As humans, our ears are not as finely tuned to bring in the same wealth of information that our eyes do.” There’s a lot of new research that was presented at last year's sound healing conferences that suggests quite the opposite.

     And here's the key phrase that undermines what he and the others say. Epley continues: “I know of no good evidence that sub-audible messages have any effect on behavior at all.” He may not know of the evidence, but the evidence is out there! Lots of it.

     I referenced the work of Dr. Eldon Taylor, who has documented hundreds of peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate definite effects on behavior. I referenced my own studies as well, in my interview with Mr. Childs. But as Dr. Taylor has told me, as did Dr. Key, many “authorities” would rather ignore the evidence than have to deal with a psycho-technology that upsets their world view and rigid intellectual cages.

     I notice that Epley is a professor at Chicago's Booth School of Business. I wonder if they have the same sort of sophisticated sound analysis computer software that I have, and that Eldon Taylor has. Analyzing a sound recording without the right equipment would be like reading a book in the dark.

     The reality is that hundreds of thousands of individuals have benefited from their use of subliminal audio programs. These are programs that they themselves chose to use. These were not secretly imposed on them, as one blogger worried about. (And yes, that is a concern, but that's beyond the scope of this newsletter at this time.)

     There is so much more I can say about this, but I'll save much of that for my book. In the meantime, read FAQs about subliminals on my website, www.innerpeacemusic.com.

     Just as with herbs and vitamins, if you are getting a noticeable benefit, that is what really counts. I've already been getting some spectacular feedback from individuals who received advance copies of Drive Time Rx. The most significant aspect is that many of these listeners did not have access to the script ... and thus, they could not know what I was saying.

     And yet—they noticed that their peripheral vision was enhanced, and that they were seeing things as they drove familiar roads that they had never seen (including an entire shopping center). It's well known that many drivers “zone out” as they drive, but to suddenly become so much more aware, while listening to this CD, seems way more than coincidence.

     “There's no placebo effect—if you did not know what to expect!™” I challenge any of the detractors to offer another explanation, other than that the behavior of these drivers was affected by the suggestions in my subliminal audio program.

The Power of Intention and Subliminals

     I've been involved in researching subliminal audio programs since 1973. Our early experiments were not well-funded, so we used college students in psychology class as subjects. To this day, there still isn’t much money available for anyone to do the level of research we’d all like to see.

     However, I have a paradigm that may explain the positive results reported for over four decades. And here it is.

     There is a “field effect” of the conscious intention that takes place, in addition to the actual spoken words. I would bet a lot of money that none of the detractors have ever even considered to include this variable in their research. And until they do, their results are, in my opinion, akin to looking at a drop of pond water with the naked eye. If they do not use a microscope, they'll never know that amoebae and paramecia even exist.

     In my forthcoming book, I share some amazing anecdotes that proved to me that this is a viable reality. In the meanwhile, get up to speed by reading Lynn McTaggart's best-seller, The Field. You'll discover how quantum physics is discovering how behavior is affected in ways that the esteemed professors have never considered in their philosophical world view.

     To see a brief example of how I produce a subliminal audio program, visit www.stevenhalpern.com/subliminaldemo.

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Steven Halpern is an award-winning composer, recording artist and pioneering sound healer. He has researched and produced subliminal audio programs for over 35 years. His latest CD, Drive Time Rx, is now available from www.innerpeacemusic.com.

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