How you can change your physical appearance, according to TikTok: begin by making an inventory of what you’d like to vary, may that be a sharper jawline or straighter teeth. Then, hunt down videos on YouTube and TikTok that can beam subliminal messages about those desires into your subconscious. Next, make a playlist of those videos to hearken to in your sleep. Finally, go about your life as if these changes have taken place. In time, the outward changes you wished to manifest will come good, spurred on by the subliminal communication being absorbed by your subconscious.

This method is referred to as subliminal physical manipulation and it’s turn out to be a growing movement on social platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Videos in regards to the power of subliminal messaging (referred to as ‘subliminals’ by insiders) get a whole bunch of hundreds of likes and are full of comments from viewers asking easy methods to execute it best or what exactly they’ll find a way to vary about their appearance. “Can I shorten my mid-face by listening to subliminal[s]?” writes one user. “Can they alter my whole appearance? like mostly my eye shape,” asks one other.

Subliminal messaging can cover anything from financial success to finding your soulmate, but increasingly the subject being focused on is physical appearance. Creators like @sarora_subliminals share videos centred on changing certain attributes using the facility of manifestation and subliminal messaging. One video, with over 1.4 million views, guarantees to assist change your appearance without surgery using subliminal playlists for issues starting from clear skin and weight reduction to becoming “irresistible” and getting a face “like a model”. Comments on the video claim it has helped them grow larger breasts (“from B cups to D cups”) and even cure sickness.

On YouTube, the identical reality exists. Subliminal creators produce videos designed to influence things just like the plumpness or softness of your lips. This ‘bigger plump lips’ subliminal video by Cee has over 2.8 million views and a slew of followers proselytising within the comment section. One person says that they saw dramatic results inside a day. To the uninitiated, this sect of social media could appear to be a wayward offshoot of manifestation and affirmation culture. And while practices like meditation could actually help in relation to things like skin health by lowering stress and cortisol levels, is it possible that subliminals could really change the form and size of our bodies? 

WHAT ARE SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES?

Subliminal messaging refers to communication that falls below the perception of human consciousness. Subliminal, meaning “below the brink of sensation or consciousness”, can cover each visual and auditory messages. In a few of its most famous iterations, subliminal messaging has been utilized by marketing and promoting agencies to influence the way in which we take into consideration certain brands or products.

DO SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES WORK?

Subliminal messaging is a widely contested practice, for a lot of reasons. While some studies have shown that auditory subliminal messaging can change behaviour (and dreams), others have proven that behaviour can’t be altered without repeat exposure to subliminal messaging. 

One truth is obvious, though: subliminal messaging cannot change the form, size or location of physical attributes. The form of your mouth, without external intervention, is immutable. Yes, it might change as you age but the flexibility to manage it via your subconscious is, ultimately, futile. There’s a transparent distinction between things which are fixed and people which are changeable, says Jessica Boston, a hypnotherapist and founding father of the Homecoming Programme.

“The work I do with the subconscious mind is deeply powerful and, often, there are results which are unexplainable, bordering on magical. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to’t alter fixed attributes through subconscious work,” she explains. “As practitioners, we’re communicating to parts of the self which are open to adaptation and persons are often surprised by how much of us is adaptable and versatile… but this doesn’t apply to body parts that aren’t capable of change through listening and learning, like the scale of 1’s lips or the color of 1’s eyes.”

In relation to trying to vary these fixed attributes, Boston says, there are just a few reasons that folks may be seeing “results” from listening to subliminals. “Predominantly, it’s all the way down to directional focus and making decisions consistent with that focus. Being subconsciously clear in your intentions and goals means you make selections consistent with your required future that you simply aren’t all the time in full awareness of in on a regular basis life.”

Boston’s point is smart: subliminal messages cannot change your physical appearance but focusing intently on something could make it more likely that you simply’ll make decisions in one of the best interests of said goal. If acne-clearing subliminals are something you hearken to repeatedly, there’s a better probability you’ll make other decisions to work towards this goal, too, like staying committed to your skincare routine. 

WHY ARE PEOPLE USING SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES?

For people in search of change, the allure of a free technique, for which they already possess the required materials, is apparent. Whether that technique stands as much as scientific scrutiny is secondary. The attraction of fixing something that affects the way in which you’re feeling, like your teeth or skin, without spending any money or exerting any effort, is understandably enticing.

Within the UK, the typical price of metal braces for people over the age of 18 starts at £1500 and may reach as much as £3900. For clear braces or Invisalign the worth doubles, on the very least. The identical is true for an appointment with a personal, non-NHS dermatologist. Single appointments can cost over £100 and stretch as much as £500. Add onto that number the associated fee of filler, for instance, to attain those big lips. For the typical person, these prices are untenable, especially with the uncertain financial future many face.

Over within the US, a rustic without universal healthcare, seeing a dermatologist without insurance can cost between $150 and $200 for an initial visit. And lots of healthcare plans don’t include dental which has contributed to the rise in DIY “hacks” on TikTok like shaving down your individual teeth with a nail file and whitening them with household bleach. The pressures around beauty standards are increasingly high and unrealistic, leading people to enter debt to try to maintain up, so it’s comprehensible that we’d seek for a free option.  

Whatever is contributing to the rise, ultimately these subliminals are nothing greater than “magical considering”, says Dr Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic. “Believing in these messages might reflect a deeper desire for change and stem from issues with low self-esteem. If someone is listening to these kind of TikTok videos to try to vary their appearance, it may very well be a type of ‘magical considering’, where there’s hope for a straightforward solution to a deeper, more complex problem,” she says. 

“My advice could be to be cautious about these sorts of videos and remind yourself that meaningful physical or psychological change often requires a whole lot of work.”