Rewiring Your Mind: Breaking the Pleasure-Pain Cycle - Anastasia Gerali

Your subconscious mind might be secretly sabotaging your happiness, and you don't even realize it. The brain's hardwired tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain often keeps us trapped in unhealthy patterns rather than pursuing true fulfillment.

Anastasia Gerali, creator of alignment therapy, breaks down this fascinating psychological principle with startling clarity. "Sometimes the pleasure we're seeking is merely avoiding the discomfort of change," she explains. Think about the relationship you stayed in despite knowing it wasn't right, or the career change you've been putting off for years. That's your subconscious choosing familiar pain over unknown possibilities.

Procrastination and perfectionism emerge as the subtle saboteurs of our potential. These patterns reveal our programming - the unconscious biases and preferences that drive our behavior. Anastasia Gerali's alignment therapy addresses this through a two-pronged approach: hypnotherapy to upgrade mental and emotional patterns, and neurodynamic breathwork to realign the physical and energetic bodies. The results speak for themselves, from women transforming their professional lives to those finally experiencing fulfilling relationships after years of dysfunction.

What makes this conversation truly transformative is the nuanced understanding of pleasure and pain as interconnected experiences rather than opposites. As Anastasia Gerali poignantly illustrates through the contrasting careers of Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand, the same physiological sensations can be interpreted as either exhilarating or terrifying based solely on our relationship to them. Ready to reprogram your mind for true fulfillment? This episode offers both the understanding and practical guidance to begin that journey. Subscribe now and share with someone who needs this message of transformation.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Anastasia Jarelli
• 5:42 How Subconscious Mind Seeks Pleasure
• 10:24 Breaking Self-Sabotaging Patterns
• 16:50 Alignment Therapy's Transformative Approach
• 21:04 The Pleasure-Pain Spectrum Explained
• 31:16 Spirituality's Role in Subconscious Alignment

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome back to another exciting episode of Pleasure Principles. I'm your host, avig, and today we have a truly inspiring guest with us, anastasia Jarelli. So welcome to the show, anastasia.

Speaker 2: 0:19

Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1: 0:22

Lovely, lovely. So, Anastasia, like before we start, I'll quickly love to introduce you to all of our listeners. Dear listeners, Anastasia is the creator of alignment therapy, a groundbreaking method that integrates somatic and emotional healing, psycho-spiritual alignment and brain repatriation. So her mission is to impact the lives of one million women, sparking a ripple of healing and abundance across the families and the communities worldwide. So her journey is one of the transformation and resilience like making her a powerful guest for our show. Yeah, so today we are having I mean, rather I'd say we'll be diving deep into the fascinating topic of how our subconscious mind and seats pleasure and avoids pain, seeks pleasure and avoids pain, and we'll also explore the intricacies of this concept, like how it shapes our behaviors, decisions and the overall well-being. So sit back, relax and get ready for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation. So welcome to the show again.

Speaker 2: 1:41

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:41

I'm really excited about this topic because the principles of pleasure are the fundamentals of life really transformative, like if you can explain how the subconscious mind's tendency to uh to seek pleasure and avoid the pain influences our daily lives.

Speaker 2: 2:12

Yes, absolutely so. The subconscious mind is a programmable machine and it has been programmed to seek pleasure and avoid pain. However, people think that this means that it's always supportively programmed, and that is false, because sometimes the pleasure that we're seeking is merely to avoid the discomfort or the pain of doing something so that keeps us within our comfort zone. And if your comfort zone is very small, then there's not really much pleasure to be had in there. Besides just avoiding pain, follow the breakup, which is heartbreak and grief and the discomforts of dealing with that, rather than leaving an unhappy or an unaligned relationship. So, basically, what your subconscious mind has done there, it has chosen the preferred discomfort, if you will, versus the unknown, which is what happens outside of this relationship. Will I meet someone again? Will it be better, will it be worse? So they'd rather choose to stay stuck in a relationship that isn't necessarily a joyful one or isn't necessarily the most aligned one, just because, by comparison to the unknown, this is this is equal to pleasure exactly, and that's very true.

Speaker 1: 3:51

That's very true one, yeah, and then um same thing. I mean how we can become more aware of these subconscious patterns and start to shift them. If you can share.

Speaker 2: 4:07

Well, it's exactly the word that you use patterns. What patterns do I find myself repeating In my finances, in my professional relationships, in my personal relationships, in my romantic relationship? Whatever pattern I keep repeating, that shows me that I have a program there or a preference, an unconscious bias or unconscious preference there, and if I'm not happy with the patterns that I'm repeating, then I need to address the program, I need to upgrade the program. If, however, I'm happy with the patterns that I'm repeating and I'm receiving the reward, I'm receiving the pleasure, I'm receiving the experiences that I want, then you have a great pattern.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Exactly so. I mean, I have to say that it's really fascinating how much of our behavior is driven by these underlying mechanisms, and I think many listeners will resonate with the idea that our subconscious mind is constantly steering us towards comfort and away from discomfort. So, in your experience, what are some of the common ways that people unknowingly sabotage their own happiness due to the subconscious mind's avoidance of pain?

Speaker 2: 5:44

conscious mind's avoidance of pain. Yeah, I think one of the most obvious ones that people do know is procrastination. When they are procrastinating on doing the things that they need to do in order to get the things that they want to have. That's a very obvious pattern right there, and procrastination is really the same as perfectionism. We are delaying our receiving whatever goal we are trying to align ourselves with, because there's an unconscious desire. So I talk about unconscious desires. Versus conscious desires is an unconscious desire to be without something. So you'll find that many goal-orientated people are constantly chasing the next goal. So even when they do receive something, they don't really allow themselves to fully have it or fully attract it, so they immediately go on to the next goal. This is very true for it. So they immediately go on to the next goal. This is very true for you know more entrepreneurial people that their goals seem to be linked to financial growth and then in interpersonal relationships.

Speaker 2: 6:58

I think men could probably agree that women seem to be a lot better at doing this. Where they always want the next thing, you know, in the beginning, it's they just want to have the relationship. Once they have the relationship, they want to have the marriage. Once they have the marriage, they want to have a child. Once they have the child, there's another thing that they want, right, it's constant chasing, uh, chasing a moving goalpost, rather than allowing yourself to sit with and be with whatever you've currently manifested, however comfortable or uncomfortable it is because maybe what you're manifesting is your unconscious desires and you don't want to be here. You don't want to be in the lack, in the scarcity. It's evidence that you're not having fun. It's evidence that you're not lovable. It's evidence that this is not a pleasurable experience. Or even if you do have all those wonderful things that you've always wanted, you're still focused on the next thing. Sure is, procrastination and perfectionism are two ways in which we self-sabotage our ability to really tap into pure life force, energy which is pleasure.

Speaker 1: 8:14

Exactly exactly. What are the steps can individuals take to break free from this self-sabotaging patterns?

Speaker 2: 8:21

I mean if you can share I think, definitely being self-aware enough to recognize your pattern, whatever that may be. Um, and then there are so many different tools that you can use to bring more self-awareness to it and then you can apply willpower. Willpower is a temporary fix because obviously, when you stop efforting, when you stop willpowering, you will revert back to your default setting or your default pattern. My suggestion, really, if you want to complete this journey and you want to completely upgrade your patterns, is to work with a professional to hold you accountable and to give you the tools that you will need in the beginning to cultivate and master so that you can upgrade your patterns and upgrade your reality. Because once you've upgraded, there really is no going back, you can't backslide.

Speaker 1: 9:21

But if you're temporarily um moving the needle, as soon as you stop putting in that manpower, you will revert back to your default unconscious programs exactly yeah, so, uh, okay, I think that's really an eye-opening to realize how often we might be standing in our own way without even knowing it. So definitely your insights on this could help really help listeners identify and overcome these barriers. And also, how does your alignment therapy approach help individuals reprogram their subconscious mind to seek the healthier forms of pleasure and effectively manage pain?

Speaker 2: 10:09

Yeah, thank you so much for the opportunity to share. So alignment therapy really works in two ways, both of which are absolutely phenomenal. Are absolutely phenomenal. The first session is a form of hypnotherapy which helps us to work on the mental and the emotional body. Once we work through the subconscious mind, we're able to identify the root cause of any pattern, what function it currently serves in your life, and then upgrade it. And then the second part of the therapy session is hypnobreath work. So neurodynamic breath work has been shown to phenomenally improve the somatic body, so the physical body and the energetic body. So this way, in alignment therapy, we're really working on four levels. We're working on the mental and the emotional upgrades, as well as the physical and the energetic alignment, with the results that we want to create for ourselves. So by completing that healing journey, we're able to now access higher states of consciousness and therefore create better outcomes for ourselves.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Yeah, okay, okay. That's lovely and any success story you can share where someone experienced a significant shift through their therapy.

Speaker 2: 11:39

Gosh, so many, I think.

Speaker 2: 11:43

Most definitely there have been incredible women that I've helped completely upgrade their professional life.

Speaker 2: 11:51

So women that were very goal orientated, that were able to go after the types of careers whether that meant leaving corporate and starting their own business or completely pivoting and retraining as something else those stories I'm always very, very proud of.

Speaker 2: 12:11

But in terms of personal upgrades, there have been women that have been stuck in unhappy, unaligned relationships for years, or maybe have been single for years, and simply by allowing themselves to receive this type of support, they were able to upgrade their relationship dynamics and align with the type of love and relationship that they truly, truly do desire. So they weren't unconsciously attracting or perpetuating a relationship dynamic that wasn't aligned and then finally receiving the type of love that they were capable of and receiving or creating if they were in a relationship, creating the type of relationship that they truly desired and were more aligned with. So it's also been a great way as well to help people with psychosomatic symptoms. I've helped people heal from years of chronic fatigue and vertigo and unconscious behaviors such as emotional eating or smoking or neglecting themselves. It's really one of those types of therapy that you can apply to any part of your life, because I believe that every part of your physical, your metaphysical life is connected to your subconscious programming exactly.

Speaker 1: 13:46

I mean really hearing real life examples of transformation and be incredibly motivating, I'd say. I mean it shows that change is possible and that we have the power to reshape our subconscious mind. So that's, that's really great. So, like, the concept of pleasure and pain is often in a kind of binary way, so do you think that there are nuances to this, that we should be there else?

Speaker 2: 14:20

yes, absolutely. I mean, pleasure and pain is really a very, very fine line between the two, because we could say that, um, if pleasure is joy and pain is fear, they actually technically have the same symptoms. It's just our relationship to those symptoms that will completely alter our experience in those two states. When they asked Bruce Springsteen why he carries on performing at such an old age, he spoke about how much he loves being on stage and how much he loves the electricity that moves through his body when people are singing with him, when people are looking at him sing and perform. He loves that pleasurable experience.

Speaker 2: 15:18

Phenomenal singer, but had a very short career. Why she gave up performing and why she gave up the limelight. She said that every time that she stood on stage she was absolutely terrified and her palms were sweating and she felt nervous at the spotlight on her and people looking at her. She felt her nerves literally retract with fear. So those two people were actually having the same experience by being on stage, but their relationship to those symptoms was very different and that's how it created two very different careers and two very different lives as a result of that.

Speaker 1: 16:04

Got it Lovely, so okay. I mean, how can embracing these nuances lead to a more balanced and fulfilling life?

Speaker 2: 16:16

Definitely looking at and assessing what your relationship is with pleasure. Is it something that you do fully allow yourself to have? Is it something that you can, you can, have for long periods of time? Or does pleasure leave your life and your body very quickly after you have that high? Because that would indicate if you have serotonin hormonal releases or dopamine hormonal releases. So your behaviors, your habits that will lead to that pleasure will determine the type of pleasure that you're having and your relationship to it will determine your experiences. I would definitely look at if I'm able to hold and sustain long-term pleasure or if my pleasure is short-lived, because then that has to do with my relationship and the habits and behaviors that will determine the hormonal releases that I'm having from pleasure great.

Speaker 1: 17:26

I mean it's really integrating that about pleasure and pain not just as opposites but as a part of a spectrum. So what role does spirituality play in helping individuals align their subconscious mind with their conscious goals and their desires?

Speaker 2: 17:48

Well, we can't have a complete or holistic life or experiences if we don't include spirituality. You know, as much as psychology is a very important part of our growth and our self-actualization, so is spirituality. Psychology without spirituality lacks real depth, and then spirituality without psychology lacks grounding, and then spirituality without psychology lacks grounding. It's all very fluffy and it's all very avoidant of some uncomfortable truths that we need to face if we want to self-actualize.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Ah, okay. So like how can someone integrate spiritual practices into their daily routine to support this alignment?

Speaker 2: 18:36

Having a relationship with a higher power whether you call that God or universe or whatever terminology works for you is definitely going to help you to feel less alone and much less isolated in this human experience, because there's a greater power that you can plug into and there's a greater power that you can access. And I would say meditation and prayer are two practices that are available to absolutely everybody and cost nothing. Meditation is when we listen to God, when we are downloading higher states of consciousness and higher guidance, and prayer is when we speak to, we speak to our truths, we speak to a higher power, we speak to God, and that becomes our dialogue practice.

Speaker 1: 19:34

Got it Understood. So, okay, dialogue practice got it understood. So uh okay and uh like any. Any advice or suggestions you would like to share to the listeners?

Speaker 2: 19:49

uh, any advice? My advice would be let yourself, let yourself have permission to be happy. Let yourself have permission to fail. Let yourself have to be curious. The more that you allow yourself these experiences, the more you will. You will come closer to finding what your truth is and what your true potential is as well. The more that we control and we try to control our circumstances and we try to control ourselves and our outcomes, the less pleasure is available to us, because it starts to become a very, a very, um conditional form of pleasure that I will be only happy when I have this and if you fall into that, when then cycle, uh, it's, it's a very controlled and it's a very limited experience versus surprises. You know, you don't know what you don't know and the universe has so much more, so much more to offer you Than what your imagination has experienced and has seen.

Speaker 1: 21:08

Got it, so it's a really, really great like. Thank you so much, anastasia, for sharing your profound insights and the experiences with us today. I mean your work with alignment therapy is truly inspiring, and I'm sure that our listeners have gained valuable knowledge on how to better understand and harness the power of their subconscious minds. So, for everyone who is listening, remember that transformation is definitely possible and it starts with becoming aware of patterns that drive us. So take the first step towards aligning your subconscious mind with your conscious goals and the desires. And if you have enjoyed today's episode, do not forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your friends, family or someone who actually needs to hear this. And, as always, stay tuned for more episodes of Pleasure Principles, where we continue to explore the fascinating aspects of human behavior and psychology. So, with this hope, until next time, keep seeking pleasure and embracing the growth. Thank you so much.