PRACTICAL PSYCHOLOGY CLUB

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23222, 21 June 1937, Page 13

PRACTICAL PSYCHOLOGY CLUB

" Changing One's Life by Auto-sug-gestion " was the title of the subject under consideration last Thursday evening at the Dunedin Practical Psychology Club. Suggestibility, it was stated.' might be defined as the readiness to receive and to adopt as pan of the mental contents suggestions of all sorts, whether arising from the mind or from some outside source. The power of suggestion on the human mind was well known, and it was deliberately employed by many whose desire or business it was to influence the minds of others. An affirmation was a suggestion made to oneself or, in other words, an auto-suggestion; and suggestion, affirmation, and concentration properly used constituted .three powerful forces in the art of living. Affirmations, said one speaker, might be divided into two types, positive and negative, and he gave illustrations of both these tyoes. pointing out the advantages of the positive type of affirmation. An important essential m the use of the forces, of mind and of thought was that of understanding the power at the back of suggestion. This became especially true when we realised that there was no factor or condition that we might come in contact with anywhere or under any circumstance, that did not suggest something, and to the extent that we consciously exercised our power of choosing or of ignoring suggestion did we develop self-control. To realise actual results., it was not enough to repeat a suggestion mechanically, but we must strive to awaken every mental faculty to activity in order that the suggestion might become a real, vital force. We must feel the spirit of the suggestion as part of our very being. The early morning or before going to sleep wert found by most people to be the best periods for implanting auto-suggestions upon the consciousness. One member demonstrated how the use of auto-sug-gestion could be applied while performing the ordinary acts of daily Me, and types of affirmations to use were given.