296 



DISCOVERY 



The lirst step wliicli Dr. Haiidoiiin suggests in the 

 practice of autosnggpstion is an education of the out- 

 cropping by the production of these states. This is 

 done by keeping the body motionless and the muscles 

 relaxed while we arc resting on a comfortable armchair 

 under conditions as free as possible from such external 

 distractions as noise. The eyes arc closed, and the 

 effort of thinking is relaxed, while the mind is allowed 

 to occupy itself with the vague images which float 

 past it. Baudouin speaks of this state of outcropping 

 produced by such a relaxation as le recueiUement} 



Le reciieillement, however, is merely a preliminarj' 

 stage. The equivalent of attention of which we are 

 in search is a condition of monoideism in which we 

 have this condition of outcropping and, at the same 

 time, the mind without effort is permeated with a 

 single idea. This is what Baudouin calls la contention. 

 It is what books on autosuggestion mean generally 

 when they speak of concentration. Sometimes, on 

 waking up after sleep, the mind is found to be in this 

 condition ; directed thinking is at a minimum, and at 

 the same time the mind is exclusively occupied with 

 one single idea. This is the condition under which the 

 idea occupying the mind will realise itself as an auto- 

 suggestion. In order to be successful in the attain- 

 ment of the state of contention, it is necessary to 

 cultivate both the power of attention and of relaxation. 

 It is suggested that the former should be cultivated 

 by such exercises as learning by heart, and the latter 

 by the practice of le reciieillement. 



So far we have described la contention without 

 indicating how it may be attained. This may be done 

 by the permeation of the mind without effort during 

 the period between sleep and waking by the idea 

 which we wish to realise, the idea, for example, of the 

 cure of some illness or weakness. The difficulty is to 

 find a way of keeping the mind permeated with an 

 idea without the effort of attending to it. The way 

 to do this is to sum the idea up in some formula which 

 is repeated over and over again. If we wish to attain 

 la contention at other times in the day, we may do so 

 by producing outcropping by the practice of le reciieille- 

 ment, and then permeating the mind with the desired 

 idea in the same manner. It is easier, however, to do 

 so if the state of outcropping is not produced by 

 relaxation, but by a method of immobilisation of the 

 attention which has already been described under the 

 name of hypnosis. 



For the production of the state of hypnosis, the 

 attention is immobilised, i.e. is kept fixed for some 

 time on one object until it relaxes itself spontaneously 

 through loss of interest (and probably fatigue). When 



' I have retained the original French for Dr. Baudouin's 

 technical terms, since their English equivalents suggest 

 meanings remote from those intended. 



it relaxes itself, a state of outcropping is produced 

 similar to that in le reciieillement or reverie. It has 

 this difference, however, that it favours the attainment 

 of la contention with an idea more than docs reverie. 

 The reason for this is that in reverie we tend to have 

 dispersion of mind, while in hj'pnosis the idea of 

 immobility with which the state started remains j- 

 dominant, hence it is easily re-established when we 

 wish to transform the state into one of contention for 

 the purposes of autosuggestion. 



There is one more mental state described by the 

 author of Suggestion et Autosuggestion, which com- 

 bines the characters of those already described. This 

 is one in which hypnosis is produced by the fixation of 

 the attention not on an external object, but on the 

 idea which is to be the object of the suggestion. To 

 this state he gi%'es the name of la coticentration. Notice 

 that it is not the state of intense voluntary attention 

 to which we generally give the name of " concentra- 

 tion." This is a fact of great importance for the 

 successful practice of reflective autosuggestion. Dr. 

 Baudouin defines it as follows : "a state of auto- 

 hypnosis, and of persistent contention with one idea, 

 the autohypnosis having been induced by the lulling 

 influence of the idea on the mind." The simplest way 

 of producing la concentration is to sum up the idea 

 in a short phrase, and to repeat it over and over 

 again, either aloud or sketching its pronunciation with 

 lips and tongue. 



An important practical question for autosuggestion 

 is that of the formula in which the suggestions should 

 be embodied. We will suppose that we are suffering 

 from toothache and wish to autosuggest it away. If 

 we use the formula " I want to be free from this," we 

 shall find that this is too weak to be effective. If 

 we go to the opposite extreme and say, " I have no 

 toothache," our present experience of the toothache 

 contradicts us. We shall find that we cannot accept 

 the suggestion. This is the objection to the Christian 

 Science formula, " There is no disease." Most of us 

 are unable to accept a suggestion in this form because 

 it contradicts our experience. This inabilitj- to accept 

 a suggestion which does not harmonise with the 

 knowledge we have obtained through our earlier 

 experience is what is called in popular speech our 

 " critical faculty." A suggestion in this form will be 

 successful only with those whose critical faculty is 

 abnormally undeveloped. For more ordinar\- people 

 it is necessary to adopt some formula which is inter- 

 mediate between these two extremes. The kind which 

 has been found most generally useful is one wliich 

 asserts that the undesired condition is growing better. 

 In the case of toothache, we may use the form, " This 

 is passing away." If we wish to use autosuggestion 

 to help ourselves to sleep, we may use the formula, 



