Psychic
Healing
CHAPTER XIII. PRACTICE
OF SUGGESTIVE HEALING.
In
our last chapter we showed how the Body might
be affected by Mental States and how the Mind
affected the physical being, through the
medium of the Instinctive Mind. And, we have
called your attention to the fact that just as the physical condition
might be, adversely affected by mental
conditions, so might it be favorably affected in the same way.
Health is contagious as well as Disease, and
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, " applies as well to
Right-thinking as to Wrong-thinking. And upon
this theory or fact, is based the practice of
Suggestive
Therapeutics.
The task before the
practitioner of Suggestive Therapeutics is
that of restoring normal mental conditions to
those
who have dropped into the habit of abnormal
thinking about their bodies ; and also to
bring about normal conditions by means of the
influence of the mind over the cells and parts
composing the body. As we have stated, the principal difference
between the practice of Mental Healing, and
Suggestive Therapeutics consists in the manner of applying the
treatment. In Mental Healing, there is little
or no verbal suggestions, the healing work if I being done along the lines
of Thought-transference or Telepathy. But in
Suggestive Therapeutics, the treatment is given to the mind
of the patient by means of verbal suggestions
or words of the healer. Of course, even in Suggestive treatment
the Thought of the healer operates directly
upon the mind of the patient, along
the lines of Mental
Healing, as well as by means of the verbal
suggestion.
The average Suggestionist will not admit this fact, but it is true
nevertheless, and in fact it has very much to
do with the cure. The verbal suggestion is often necessary
in order to make the deep impression upon the
minds of some patients, but the healing mental force goes along
with the suggestions, whether or not the
healer is conscious of it. The fact that there is a great difference in
the work of several suggestionists, in spite
of the fact that they are all following the same method and
even using the same words, will go toward
proving this idea.
Now,
right here at the beginning, in order that
there may be no misunderstanding, let us say
that Suggestive Therapeutics, pure and simple,
has no connection with Hypnotic Suggestion or
Hypnotism. Of course, there are suggestionists who combine the
two, but there is no use in it, and much to be
urged against it. Hypnotism plays no real part in the practice of
Suggestive Therapeutics. Hypnotists have found
that when they obtained the hypnotic condition, they could
suggest Health to their patients with effect,
and they naturally supposed that hypnosis was a necessary
precedent to the treatment and cure. But
investigators have proven that the suggestions
are
just as effective when given to the patient
when he is wide awake and conscious, and when
there is no attempt to produce a condition of
hypnosis. We urge upon our readers to divorce
the idea of Hypnosis from that of Suggestive Therapeutics, in
their minds. There is no real connection
between them, and there are many, reasons why they should not be
confounded with each other.
And, now that we have
formed an idea of what Suggestive Therapeutics
may do, and what it is, let us turn our attention to the methods of
applying the treatment.
Receptivity of the
Patient. The best results in giving Suggestive
treatments, are obtained when the patient is Induced to manifest a receptive
attitude of condition of mind. Just as when
one wishes to talk earnestly to another about some matter of
importance, he seeks to have his hearer in a
quiet, thoughtful mood, rather than in the midst of worries
perplexities, business cares, etc., when his
attention is diverted away from the subject under discussion just so should
the healer endeavor to have his patient
maintain a calm, relaxed, peaceful frame of mind during the treatment.
Attention. The patient
should be induced to give the healer his
entire attention, as the measure of the effect
of
the treatment depends largely upon the degree
of attention given, and obtained.
Consequently, it is well to get the patient quieted down,
before beginning the actual treatment. The
healer may talk to him in a quiet low tone of voice, bidding the
patient relax every muscle and take the
tension from every nerve. He should adapt the
conversation
to the individual requirements of the patient,
speaking only of those things calculated to
promote quietness and calmness of mind,
and to carefully avoid subjects likely to
arouse antagonism and argument. Remember, you are not there to
convert the patient to any particular belief
of yours - you are to cure him. Let your manner and conversation be
Soothing and Quieting.
Voice. The Healer should
pay much attention to cultivating a good "
Suggestive Voice."
It is difficult to
describe just what is meant by this term, but
a few words of explanation may be of value. We
do
not mean. that the Healer should endeavor to
become a skilled elocutionist, but we do mean
that he should be able to throw feeling and
earnestness into his tone. He should endeavor
to have his Thought and Desire so permeate his tone that the
vibrations may be felt by the patient. His
tone should be Vibrant and Strong not necessarily loud, but possessed
of that peculiar quality that we call
Strength. The words should fairly vibrate, and penetrate into the mind of
the patient. A mental state of forgetting
one's self, and concentrating the whole mind on the meaning of the
words used will produce the result practice,
of course, improving the gift and faculty. The tone should be
"Intense."
The following exercises
will aid the Suggestor:
Imagine yourself as
treating a patient by Suggestion. Imagine the
patient as sitting in a chair in front of you,
or
else, reclining on a couch with you standing
or sitting by his side. Then give him the
suggestions applicable to his case, telling him just
what result to expect to accomplish, and
telling him firmly and positively that the result "WILL be accomplished.
Pick out the key-words of the suggestion that
is the strong, vibrant words that you wish to stand out in his mind
during and after the treatment, and practice
repeating them until you feel that they are vibrant and intense,
with the real meaning and intent.
Take the word "STRONG,"
for instance for it is a word that should be
used frequently in suggestive treatment. Repeat the word several times,
increasing the intensity and earnestness at
each repetition, thus : "Strong; Strong; STRONG; STRONG.
Practice until yon can fairly feel the
vibration of the word throughout your entire being until the word actually
objectifies the Thought behind it. Then take
the word "WELL," and practice upon it in the same way. You must not
repeat the words like a phonograph, or parrot,
but must endeavor to FEEL what you are saying.
Practice this
frequently, and you will begin to find that
you will acquire -a Vibrant Suggestive tone,
that will make your words ring with
intensity, and cause them to be felt by the
patient. Let the two words, Earnestness and Intensity be ever before
you in acquiring the Suggestive Voice.
The Eye. The
Suggestionist should cultivate a firm, earnest
gaze of the eye. Not a stare, but a firm
powerful gaze. This may be acquired by
gradual practice and thought. A person always
gazes earnestly at a thing that holds his attention, so if you will
train yourself to look with interest and
attention, you will find that the proper gaze will come to you without
any further special attention. We advise the
cultivation of this gaze, not with the idea of any hypnotic
influence, or anything of that source, but
with the idea of concentrating the thought, and holding the attention of
the patient. Besides this, it is calculated to
create confidence in the mind of the patient who feels more or less
uncertain and who lacks confidence. And
without confidence on the part of the
patient, healing by any
method or system is rendered more difficult,
for in such cases the patient pulls against the healer instead of
with him.
The Mental Attitude of
the Healer. The Suggestive Healer should
cultivate a Mental Attitude of Earnestness. He
should
not be a trifler. He should have the best
interests of the patient at heart, and in so
doing his own best interests will be served.
He should act with a
purpose, and not scatter his efforts and life
in petty non-essentials. We do not mean to indicate that the healer should
follow a life of all work and no play quite
the contrary, for we believe that Work, Play and Best, are equal
necessities to the normal man. We do mean,
however, that he should see his purpose, and move accordingly.
He should be
Concentrated in his work. A wandering
attention and lack of concentration is fatal
to good suggestive work. Not only do
the suggestions fail to have the proper
effect, but the patient subtly feels that something is lacking, and he
does not receive the proper vibrations. Use
the Will and hold the Mind down to its work.
He should have
confidence in himself, and if this be lacking
he should build up that confidence by a
practice of Auto-suggestion or affirmation.
For unless one have confidence in himself, he
cannot expect others to have it. Confidence is contagious, and
so is lack of it. Remember that.
Position of the Patient.
The patient should be placed in an easy,
comfortable position. A reclining, or Morris chair, or a couch, is the best
thing to use in bringing about the easy
condition of physical comfort. The patient should be taught to relax his
muscles, the best way to teach same being to
ask the patient to allow his hand to be "limp," and then raising it,
the healer should allow it to drop of its own
weight to the chair, telling the patient to allow an equally
relaxed condition to prevail all over the
body. Use the suggestion: "Now make yourself perfectly comfortable
easy, easy, easy easy and comfortable easy and
comfortable, "the suggestion acting not only to cause the physical
ease and relaxation, but also the mental
relaxation and withdrawal of tension from the nerves. The healer should either sit
beside the patient on a low stool, or else
stand by his side, or back of him. Use your own intuition in these
matters, as there are no invariable rules
necessary to be observed.
Repetition. One of the
axioms of Suggestive Therapeutics is that
"Suggestions gain increased force by repetition." A constant
repetition of the suggestions fastens it
firmly upon the mind of the patient, therefore
the
healer should repeat the key-word of the
suggestion again and again not so as to become
monotonous but in a different arrangement of
words, remembering to bring the key-word, or
principal suggestion into each new arrangement. Remember that
planting a suggestion is like attacking a
fort. It must be attacked from all sides, and so a repetition of the
suggestion in different forms is important. In
repeating the suggestion, let the key-word ring out strong and
vibrant.
Surroundings. The
treatment should be given, so far as is
possible, amidst surroundings that do not tend
to distract the patients attention
from the suggestions. Endeavor to shut out all
outside noises and sights, so that the sense of hearing of the
patient may be focussed and concentrated upon:
the suggestions that are being given him or her. Pull down the
blinds of the room, so as to produce a state
of semi-darkness or dusk. These things have a great psychological
importance.
Picturing the Expected
Condition. In giving the suggestions, it is
important to picture in the mind of the patient, the desired condition
that is the condition that you wish to bring
about. Lead him up to it by degrees, picturing each, process of the
expected cure, and winding up with a mental
picture of Mm restored to health. In the General Treatment given
a little later on, you will see just what we
mean. We mention it here that you may understand why the picture is
given. Thought takes form in action, and the
mind of the patient closely following the picture, in treatment after
treatment, unconsciously causes the physical
to manifest the suggested thought-picture.
General Remarks. There
is no special magic in the words uttered by
the suggestionist, and the whole virtue of the
suggestive
treatment lies in the Thought behind the
words. To the degree that this thought is
taken and absorbed by the patient, is the degree
of the success of the treatment. Therefore it
follows that the degree of success lies in the degree of Energy
and Earnestness that the healer puts into his
thought, and the degree of Earnestness and Energy whereby the thought
is conveyed by the words and otherwise from
healer to patient. Of course there is a constant mental or telepathic
transmission of the Thought, but the effect is
heightened by the strong suggestive words of the healer,
and the combination of the two is a powerful
one.
The patient's mind
should be constantly directed to the
conditions expected and hoped to be realized,
and
therefore this IMPORTANT RULE.
Never make any reference
to the diseased condition during your
suggestions, but always speak of the condition
as you wish it to be. Lead the
mind away from the present condition, and
place it upon the expected condition. You thereby place an ideal in the
mind of the patient, which he will,
unconsciously, endeavor to live up to.
Do not neglect to
observe the above rule, for it is most
important. Make no negative suggestions or "
denials," but always make positive
suggestions or "affirmations." For instance,
do not suggest: "You are not weak, etc.", but on the contrary suggest,
repeatedly, "You are Strong." Do you see the
difference? The reason lies in the fact that by repeating the word
of the thing you would deny, you really affirm
its existence, and direct the mind of the patient to it.
Human
Spirit
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