FAQ
Questions, answered.
Including the sceptical ones. Especially the sceptical ones.
01
Is this saying meditation is bad?
No — and this is the thing most people get wrong about our position. Meditation is a good tool. It is very good at training attention, at building the ability to see a thought as a thought, and at slowly changing how much things move you over years. We have written a whole page on what it does well. Our disagreement is with one specific job it keeps getting handed.
02
So what is the job it should not be doing?
Clearing a specific emotional charge you want gone. Anxiety is the most common reason people take up meditation and the job it is least suited to, because anxiety is specific, fast and learned below conscious thought, while meditation is general, slow and practised at the level of conscious attention. Three mismatches on the three axes that matter. That is not a failure of the practice — it is the wrong instrument for the task.
03
How do I know which one I am doing?
Ask what got you to start. If you first sat down because something hurt and you wanted it to stop, that is the job you have been asking meditation to do — whatever else it has given you since. The sort takes about two minutes and decides whether the rest of this site applies to you at all.
04
What is a 7-second MicroShift?
A brief intervention that operates at the subconscious level rather than the conscious one. Meditation asks you to monitor and steer your thoughts for an extended stretch. A MicroShift works with the subconscious mind's own processing capacity, which is why it resolves in seconds.
05
How is Inner Influencing different from meditation?
Different level of the mind. Meditation works consciously — about 40 bits per second. Inner Influencing works subconsciously — roughly 11 million. That difference is why it is faster, why it does not require stillness, and why the change does not need topping up.
06
Do I need to practise every day?
No, and this is the part people find hardest to believe. Meditation's benefits fade when you stop; a MicroShift creates a lasting subconscious change. There is no streak to protect, no guilt when a week gets away from you, and nothing to start over.
07
Can I do this while walking, working or parenting?
Yes — that is the whole point. MicroShifts work while you are in motion: walking, cooking, driving, working, mid-conversation with a four-year-old. No quiet room, no closed eyes, no particular posture. What your body is doing is irrelevant, because the work is not happening there.
08
How fast will I see results?
Many people notice something on the first one. Meditation's results can take months or years to become perceptible; subconscious-level work tends to register immediately. The Discovery Kit exists so you can test that claim rather than take our word for it.
09
Is the Discovery Kit really free?
Yes, and no card is required. It shows how MicroShifts work and lets you feel the difference between conscious-level and subconscious-level approaches directly.
10
I have tried everything. Why would this be different?
Because everything you listed — apps, breathing, mindfulness courses, relaxation techniques — operates at the same conscious level. They are variations on one approach. This is a different level of the mind, not a different flavour of the same thing. The Discovery Kit is free precisely so that claim can be tested at no cost to you.
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Seven seconds is a low bar.
Try clearing it.
The free Discovery Kit walks through how a MicroShift works and why it does in seconds what years of sitting didn't.