LEARN ABOUT HYPNOSIS

SELF-SUGGESTIONS

Self-suggestions are a factor of such paramount importance in producing health or disease, happiness or unhappiness, that we feel we cannot do better than devote a chapter to study them in some detail. Self-suggestions, as the name indicate, are suggestions which we give to ourselves. The material from which we fabricate them may be either in our conscious or our subconscious life. Unfortunately most of us, unless we have given some thought to the matter, are not aware of the fact that we do give ourselves suggestions, and therefore we are unable to avoid or to encourage their influence. To once fully realize the importance of this matter is not only to ensure to oneself a greater measure of health but to have fuller control over one's life in many directions.

We have for the most part far too low a standard of health, many of us being content to accept freedom from disease as a substitute, and a poor substitute indeed for health. We similarly are content to accept freedom from vice as a substitute for virtue. Health, like virtue, is however a positive not a negative state, and only by realizing this shall we appreciate the vital importance of self-suggestions and of thought-control.


In attempting to picture perfect health one's thoughts instinctively turn to Browning's Saul, and to the song which David sang in his endeavor to rouse Saul from his state of depression and lethargy. He bursts out: "Oh! our manhood's prime vigor!" Then he describes in warm and vivid coloring the joy of living , the delight of feeling that not a muscle is stopped in its playing nor a sinew unbraced, the keen pleasures of jumping from rock to rock, of hearing the strong rending of boughs, of feeling the "cool silver shock" of a plunge in the pool, and so on. How different is this from the picture Epictetus gave of himself as "a spirit bearing about a corpse."

Let us set before us such an ideal of perfect health, every muscle and nerve exercising full play, every faculty on the alert, virility in every detail of it, and then let us see to what extent it is in our power to contribute to such as state of health.

We feel that it is impossible to discuss self-suggestions proper without first spending a little time in attempting to controvert the popularly accepted view of nerves and nervousness, since such a view leads to a lowered vitality of body and mind in numberless lives.


In a previous chapter we said a few words about the nervous system, and showed that nerves are constantly carrying messengers from the overmind or the undermind all over the body. We dwelt upon the fact that they are wonderful in their structure and marvelous in their manner of working. How different is this from the popular conception of them as shown in the phrase "an attack of nerves." We are indeed too accustomed to regard nerves as a malignant influence in our lives, to heap upon them opprobrium, and to make them the scapegoat for many things for which we ourselves are entirely responsible. We do this, I fear, because it is always comforting to have a scapegoat which we can eventually lose sight of in the wilderness of self-deception. If we wish, however, to attain to fuller health of body and mind we must be prepared to accept full responsibility ourselves and to realize that not our nerves are at fault but we, because of our inability to control them. Let us rid ourselves of the idea that nerves are malignant; let us rather, in the light of the chapter on suggestion, realize that it is the nervous matter in our body which carries on the important work of thought-sending to keep our bodily functions in constant normal activity, that in it resides all intellect, and through it those higher moral impulses which we designate our spiritual life find expression for themselves. To speak of a person as nervous thus means literally that he is full of nervous force. Just as we use and rightly use muscular to mean a healthy development of the system of muscles, so that they have full and free play, so let us use nervous to indicate a condition of tone, balance and force in our nervous system so that it responds to an exercise of will-power as a horse answers to the hand of a practiced rider. Once we realize that this is the genuine use of the word nervous, we shall be loath to use it in the old way in speaking of ourselves, for we shall realize that by so doing we advertise the fact that we have failed to cultivate control when we had most need to do so.



Let us not make the mistake of assuming that those who show a controlled exteriors (an altogether different thing from a placid exterior) are fortunate in not possessing our difficult temperament. Let us rather rest assured that a calm and controlled exterior is a sure sign that control has had to be greatly exercised in that life. On the other hand, if we have attained to outward control alone, let us not pride ourselves upon that as though our task were ended. It is of great value to have acquired the art of showing outward control of nerves, but our work is only half done if control ends there and we allow worrying thoughts to reduce us to a state of bodily and mental ill-health.

We shall now pass on to discus self-suggestions in a little detail.

Fear and worry are two kindred self-suggestions which work havoc in many lives, and lead not only to nervous breakdowns but to actual disease and even insanity. Just as courage has the power to act as a tonic and an invigorator, so fear paralyses all the bodily forces and saps the vitality out of a life. It has been truly said that we have great power to attract the things we fear and to repel those of which we have no fear, because fear lowers the bodily resistance and courage raises it.

The following story is much to the point. "Where ar you going?" asked and Eastern pilgrim on meeting the plague one day. "I am going to Baghdad to kill five thousand people," was the reply. A few days later the same pilgrim met the plague returning. "You told me you were going to Baghdad to kill five thousand people," said he, "but instead you killed fifty thousand." "No," said the plague, "I killed five thousand as I told you I would; the others died of fright."

Many people live in constant apprehension, one might almost say in constant expectation of developing some bodily ailment, and so are ready at any moment to interpret trifling symptoms as having a grave significance. Should they have slight indigestion they convince themselves by self-suggestion that they have heart disease, and promptly suffer palpitation and breathlessness. Fortunately in some cases such symptoms vanish with wonderful haste after a medical examination and an assurance that no heart disease exists, and consequently the harm done has been slight. In many cases, however, a cure is not so easily effected, since the type of mind that wastes its nervous energy in unhealthy self-suggestions has generally the capacity for either holding on to these in spite of every effort to displace them or of constantly creating fresh ones.

Worry s responsible for more cases of nervous breakdowns than any amount of hard work. We worry in some cases over our daily work, because we either feel unable to cope with it or are too conscious of our own errors. WE worry over the past which cannot be altered, and waste precious moments in vain regret, instead of utilizing the lessons of the past to build up a worthier future. By worrying self-suggestions we positively create obstacles which do not exist, or we magnify to such gigantic proportions those which do exist that we are terror-stricken at sight of them. Much need have we to fully realize the extent to which we are dominated by such suggestions and to attempt to exercise a certain measure of control over them.

In still other directions have we evidence of the influence which self-suggestions exercise over us, though we are generally only too loath to admit that certain things came to pass because we courted them by our expectant attitude. If an article of diet once under special circumstances upset our digestion we are too apt, prompted by strong self-suggestion, to feel sick or be sick every time we chance to renew our acquaintance with it, until we finally decide that it does not agree with us. If we be lovers of fresh air the lack of an open window will cause us to suffer agonies, and such sufferings are often quite disproportionate to the atmosphere of the room we enter.

Fortunately for ourselves, should we be among those who wish to progress to greater control, we are sometimes trapped by this very attitude of expectancy. It may be that one day we find we have suffered most unnecessarily from lack of ventilation, since we learn that a window had unknown to us been open while we believed it to be closed. Worse still, on the eve of a voyage we may retire to rest prepared to be sick according to our usual custom, and may succeed in being so in spite of the fact that the vessel, owing to unavoidable delay, does not lift anchor till morning. Humiliating as such experiences are, they are still most helpful in demonstrating to us practically what a small measure of control we have over our body or mind.

Self-suggestions have sometimes the power to so dominate a mind that they become a veritable obsession, and life is rendered unendurable. Many such cases which have been successfully treated by hypnotism were already so to speak on the borderland of insanity. Others again cross the borderline and are eventually certified insane.

Such obsessions show themselves under very various forms, and often elude all attempts at cure until the original baneful self-suggestion is searched for and eradicated. Such obsessions will be discussed in the next chapter.

THe harmful power of self-suggestion is shown in its most exaggerated form in hysteria. In this diseased state, as we have seen, there is such complete lack of control that the personality is for the time being dissociated, and one thought or emotion dominates most unduly. A hysterical person is so extraordinarily open to self-suggestion that, as Dr. Bernheim has shown in his book De la Suggestions, the mere fact of testing such a person for loss of sensation or diminished power of a limb is in itself sufficient to induce the very symptom which is being tested for. It is also of common occurrence in hysteria to find complete blindness or loss of voice due entirely to self-suggestion and extending over a lengthened period. A person may even spend months or years in bed in conviction that he is completely paralyzed.

Having dwelt upon the harmful influence which unhealthy self-suggestions have the power to exercise in a life, let us turn our attention to the remedy, thoughtcontrol.

It behooves us to examine our power of thoughtcontrol honestly and with brutal candor, since only by attaining to a high degree of perfection in this, can we hope to enjoy a full measure of health and vitality. Having satisfied ourselves that we area far from touching that high-water mark of perfection which we would wish to have as our ideal, let us set t work patiently and earnestly day by day in an endeavor to improve such a defect. This we can do both by following any system of concentration exercises and by putting these into practice at every moment of the day when we find ourselves urgently in need of self-control or thoughtcontrol. It is not possible in the small space at out disposal to enumerate in detail the various forms of concentration exercises which have been advocated, but we should like to suggest the following method as one which has been helpful to many, both as a means of practicing thoughtcontrol and of giving oneself suggestions.

Complete relaxation is first induced by reclining either or a couch or in a comfortable chair, then with eyes closed, the thoughts are concentrated upon describing in detail a well-known room, scene, or object. The experience of many people at a first attempt will be that long before five minutes are up the thread of their thoughts has been broken. Any form of exercise, therefore, to be effective must be carried out daily with the utmost regularity, while gradual improvement in thoughtcontrol is shown by an ability to concentrate without a break for longer and longer periods.

As we have repeatedly used the word concentration we shall make its meaning clear with the help of a familiar illustration, ie the effect which a convex lens has upon the sun's rays. If on a hot day the rays be allowed to fall directly upon the hand a sensation of warmth is experienced, but if a lens be interposed , so greatly is their power increased by the focusing action of the lens, that blistering is soon produced. Thus when by interposing our will-power we concentrate, we so intensely focus our thoughts upon one point that many things which had previously seemed impossible are accomplished with ease. The "point" upon which we concentrate may be work we have in hand, a quality we wish to develop, a special power we wish to acquire, or a bad habit we desire greatly to break.

Having thoroughly practiced some form of concentration exercises, we are in a position to put them to practical use in our daily life and to give ourselves suggestions. Having relaxed as before and closed the eyes, we focus our thoughts upon the "Point" in question. We then express clearly to ourselves what it is we desire to effect, even saying it aloud and repeating the words over and over with calmness and assurance. We need not reaffirm that such an exercise to be effective must be often repeated.

Many people while under treatment by a hypnotist have been able to reinforce his suggestions and hasten their own cure by following some such plan.

In carrying out these exercises we should do well to set before us the great truth expressed by Emerson, that kingship is in reality not an attribute of those who sit on thrones but of those who rule their thoughts.

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