Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion — John Shaqi
Self Mastery Through Conscious AutosuggestionCoué, Emile
Science
Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion
Coué, Emile
Mental suggestion
_Third experiment_.--Place the subject facing you, the body still
stiff, the ankles flexible, and the feet joined and parallel. Put your
two hands on his temples without any pressure, look fixedly,
without moving the eyelids, at the root of his nose, and tell him to
think: "I am falling forward, I am falling forward . . ." and repeat to
him, stressing the syllables, "You are fall . . . ing . . . for . . . ward,
You are fall . . . ing . . . for . . . ward . . ." without ceasing to look
fixedly at him.
_Fourth experiment_.--Ask the subject to clasp his hands as tight as
possible, that is to say, until the fingers tremble slightly, look at him
in the same way as in the preceding experiment and keep your hands
on his as though to squeeze them together still more tightly. Tell him
to think that he cannot unclasp his fingers, that you are going to
count three, and that when you say "three" he is to try to separate his
hands while thinking all the time: "I cannot do it, I cannot do it . . ."
and he will find it impossible. Then count very slowly, "one, two,
three", and add immediately, detaching the syllables: "You . . .
can . . . not . . . do . . . it. . . . You . . . can . . . not . . .
do . . . it. . . ." If the subject is thinking properly, "I cannot do
it", not only is he unable to separate his fingers, but the latter
clasp themselves all the more tightly together the more efforts he makes
to separate them. He obtains in fact exactly the contrary to what he
wants. In a few moments say to him: "Now think: 'I can do it,'" and
his fingers will separate themselves.
Be careful always to keep your eyes fixed on the root of the subject's
nose, and do not allow him to turn his eyes away from yours for a
single moment. If he is able to unclasp his hands, do not think it is
your own fault, it is the subject's, he has not properly thought: "I
cannot". Assure him firmly of this, and begin the experiment again.
Always use a tone of command which suffers no disobedience. I do
not mean that it is necessary to raise your voice; on the contrary it is
preferable to employ the ordinary pitch, but stress every word in a
dry and imperative tone.
When these experiments have been successful, all the others succeed
equally well and can be easily obtained by carrying out to the letter
the instructions given above.
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