The most basic form of communication is the one happening within us all the time. Because it is a steady stream of information moving between body and mind, it’s also the one we usually overlook. Here’s a simple example of how internal communication works.
The Conversation Within
Let’s say I think I want to pick up a piece of paper. And along with that thought, I have a reason (a feeling or desire) that is motivating me to pick it up. It may be mild or strong, but there must be some motivation to get that piece of paper. Assuming that there is a desire to perform the task, this combination of thought and feeling is communicated to my appropriate body parts via my subconscious mind. The message is an order to act and coordinate all my bodily functions needed to accomplish the task. This communication within me causes me to stand up, move my legs, reach out my arm, and activate my hand and fingers to grasp the paper. Now, here’s the important point: all of this is accomplished with no conscious thought or feeling other than “I want to pick up that piece of paper.”
Internal Communication Breakdown
Basically, here’s what happens. In response to a directive of the conscious mind, the subconscious mind sends out a series of electrical signals, which are received by different groups of muscles. 
Each muscle group is assigned a specific task. The frequency and amplitude of each signal are set based on the task’s specific details and the urgency level. At the same time, feedback signals report whether or not the task assigned to any given muscle group has been successfully completed. If not (say you have a pulled hamstring), directions are sent elsewhere to solve the problem. All of this takes place to accomplish the simple task originated by your thoughts and motivated by your feelings. Yet your conscious mind is unaware of any of this – other than giving the order.
Learning How to Walk
But it was not always this way. When you were a baby and just learning to walk, getting up and moving from point A to point B required significant concentration. Your subconscious had to learn exactly what you wanted it to do when you had the thought, “I want to walk.” Even if you were too young to understand the word’s meaning, your subconscious had the label it needed to attach to the new set of movements.
After you spend the time and effort to teach your subconscious mind the muscle-by-muscle sequence of events that make up the act of walking, it stores those components. The subconscious took over once there was enough repetition of those steps (no pun intended). From that point on, all that was needed to activate the process of walking was for your conscious mind to give the command to walk.
Other Learned Behaviors
This process has been repeated many times in your life. You may have a process for riding a bike, driving a car, playing tennis, and many others. But pay attention to the learned behaviors you have stored. Most of them are beneficial. However, you can also create some that are not in your best interest. These might involve smoking, drugs, alcohol, and many others of the same genre. Those are generally referred to as habits or addictions. Understanding how internal communication works is critical in changing direction and differentiating between success and failure.
Removing an undesirable learned behavior is much more difficult than creating one. But that’s a topic for another time.
