The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-01-08

| il possible. You can obtain mental
! isolation in a crowd in a street car,
| If need be, and there is no reason
why you should not practice auto
suggestion in such conditions in the
day time, always providing you sue
coed in putting yourself in the right
state of passiveness. At the risk
of being accused of tedious repeti-
ton, l must insist on the necessity
of passiveness and inertia. Do not
think you must struggle to impose
your suggestion. The very fact OF
making it an effort will bring into
play the conscious will, and that will
actually raise barrier between the
subconseious and the suggestion and
prevent the latter from penetrating.
For Specific Complaints
Now. from what l have said of the
superiority of a general formula of
autosuggestion, it must not be
thought that altogether discourage
the application of suggestion to spe-
|cific complaints. On the contrary, it
is to be recommended unreservedly
in all cases, where it is desired to re-
lieve pain. correct functional disor-
ders. or alleviate their symptoms.
For such purposes. here is my pro-
cedure: To cause pain to varnish,
rub the affected spot lightly but rap
idly with your hand, at the same time
repeating in an undertone, so swiftly
as to make of it mere gable the
words Ca passe" pronounce 'sah
passD. In a few minutes the pain
should disappear. or at the very
least, be considerably diminished.
The reason for Cabling the words
is to avoid the risk of any other ex-
traneous or contrary thought Slip
ping in through assures which might
result from a more distinct but
slower diction.= For the same reason
l advise English speaking people to
stick to the French versions: it being
much easier to say "ca passe"
quickly, than the longer and more
awkward expression, "it is passing"
or sit is going"
Sufferers from sleeplessness will
proceed in another way. Having set
tied themselves comfortably in bed,
they viii repeat mot grabble) II am
going to sleep, l am going to sleep"
lin quiet, placid, even voice, avoid
ling, of course, the slightest mental
effort to attain the desired result
The soporific effect of this droning
repetition of the suggestion soon
makes itself felt; whereas if one ac-
tually tries to sleep, the spirit of
wax Guinness is Kept alive by the
negative idea, according to the law
of converted effort. Insomnia indeed
affords striking demonstration of
the disastrous effect of the exertion
of the will, the result of which is just
the contrary to the one desired.
Stammering. again, is a painful
affliction which readily yields to
Interrogation. l have known cases
of cures being effected in one sit
ting, though this, naturally, is rare.
| What is the cause of stammering?
Merely the fear, or the idea that one
| is going to stammer. If you can sub
stitute for that idea the conviction
or the suggestion that you are not
going to stutter, that if you can
say ten words without suffering
there is no reason why you should
stumble over the eleventh, then you
are cured.
Nervousness timidity, lack of con-
fidence and still worse nervous phe-
nomena can be eradicated by the
practice of Interrogation, for they
are simply the consequences of self
suggestion of wrong, unnatural