HOW TO SLEEP 



centration of attention tends to defeat the object it is 

 intended to accomplish. A far better expedient in my 

 experience than any other I have seen suggested is this: 



Challenge systematically any line of thought that ap- 

 pears, and banish it from consciousness. The thing 

 is not difficult for a disciplined mind. You have 

 simply to vow mentally as you find yourself thinking 

 on any subject, "I will not think about that/' and as 

 it were you shut off the current in that direction. Of 

 course through association your mind is instantly sup- 

 plied with some other line of thought ; but this also you 

 challenge in the same way as soon as it appears, and so 

 on as long as you are conscious. You thus prevent 

 any single line of thought from becoming paramount 

 in consciousness, and one line after another being sub- 

 ordinated, the tendency is to a lower and lower level of 

 mental activity, till presently consciousness is lost. It 

 is possible for some persons to put themselves to sleep 

 voluntarily in this way at any time when they choose 

 even during the day and in the midst of most active 

 thinking. The boon which such an accomplishment 

 furnishes a tired brain on occasion, makes the acquisi- 

 tion of this power well worth the effort. 



Consciousness withdrawn, of course the mind be- 

 comes a strictly passive factor. If ill-adjusted currents 

 flit through the brain, lifting the mind to the sub- 

 conscious level of dreamland, there is no immediate re- 

 dress. When we fully understand that dreams are 

 the result of disturbing stimuli from without the brain, 

 we may often do much to prevent their recurrence. 

 Attention to the general bodily condition; a well venti- 



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