The Washington herald., 1922-12-15
By DR.. EMILE COUE.

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Chapter 4.
TUE principle of the methsd Of
L teaching auto-suggestion to
patients may be summed up in
these few words:
It Is impossible to think Of
two things at once. that II to
say that two ideas may be In
juxtaposition. but they cannot
be superimposed In our minds.
Every thought entirely fill-
ing our minds becomes true
for us and tends to transform
itself into action.
Thus IL you can mako a sick
person think his trouble is dis
appearing. 1t will disappear; IL
you succeed in making a klepto-
maniac think he will not steal
any more, he win cease to steal.
This training. which perhaps
seems to you an impossibility. Ii
nevertheless. the simplest thing
in the world.
It 10 enough, by a series Of
appropriate and graduated expert
ments. to teach the subject. as it
were. the A B c Of conscious
thought.
Here is the series: by following
II to the letter one can be abso-
lutely sure Of obtaining a good
result, except with the two cate
gories of persons mentioned be-
fore-those who. from mental in
capacity, cannot understand 1t.
and those who will not.
The experiments following are
those of Sage of Rochester:
FIRST EXPERIMENT.
Preparatory-Ask the subject
to stand upright. with the body
as stiff as an iron bar. the feet
close together from toe to heel.
while keeping the ankles flexible
as IL they were hinges. Tell him
to make himself like a plank
with hinges at its base. which is
balanced on the ground. Make
him notice that IL one pushes the
plank slightly either way 1t falls
as a mass without any resistance
in the direction In which it u
pushed.
Tell him you are going to pun
him back by the shoulders and
that he must let himself fall in
your arms without the slightest
resistance. turning on his ankles
as on hinges; that Is to say,
keeping the feet fixed to the
ground.
Then pull him back by the
shoulders and IL the experiment
does not succeed repeat it until 1t
does. or nearly so.
SECOND EXPERIMENT.
Begin by explaining to the sub
ject that, in order to demonstrate
the action Of the imagination
upon us. you are going to ask
him in a moment to think: "I
am falling backward, am fall
ing backward ." Tell him
that he must have no thought
but this in his mind. that he
must not reflect or wonder II he
10 going to fall or not; must not
think that IL he falls he may
hurt himself; must not fall back
purposely to please you. but that
II he really feels something i'm
pelling him to fall backward. he
must not resist but obey the i'm.
pulse.
Then ask your subject to raise
the head high and to shut his
eyes. and place your right fist on
the back of his neck, and your
left hand on his forehead. and
say to him: Now think; I am
falling backward. I am falling
backward. etc, etc. ." and.
indeed, you are falling back
ward. You are falling backward.
etc."
AT the same time slide the left
hand lightly backward to the left
temple, above the ear. and re-
move. very slowly. but with a con-
tinuous movement. the right fist.
The subject Is Immediately felt
to make a slight movement back
ward. and either to stop himself
from falling or else to fall com.
pletely.
In the first case. tell him he
has resisted, and that he did not
think merely that he was falling.
but that he might hurt himself II
he did fall. That Is true. for II