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attar relaxation since that is the first step fo securing in you
perfect mental relaxation.
How TO SIT. "Therefore make
yourselves quite comfortable in the chairs and sitting with your
feet planted flat upon the floor, rest your hands upon your knees, and raise first
the right hand and then the left alternately as I count right, left,
letting them fall limply and fully relaxed again upon the knees. I shall
ask you to do this exercise six times
with each hand." Now standing, or rather seating yourself in a chair
in the front of your semi-circle of students, raise your own right hand about
a foot from your knee and say, "right."
EFFECT OF THE SIGNAL At
this signal all your subjects will be required to raise the right hand as you
did and holding it in the air for two or three seconds, let the arm and hand
fall all limp and relaxed back upon the knee as you say "left," raising
at the same time the left hand. So proceeding with this left hand when
you say "right" again, the left hands fall upon the knees
heavy and dead. The idea conveyed by this experiment will be one of muscular
relaxation itself, their first step in under-standing that the idea of passivity
suggested by your words reacts upon their muscles to the extent that
they can produce in them-selves complete physical repose. After
this has been done five or six times, get up from your chair and going to each
member of the circle in turn, say, "relax
completely," at the same time lifting first the right and then the left
hand and dropping them, being careful to see that they fall dead weights, in
which case muscular relaxation has been obtained.
FURTHER ADMONITIONS NOW
say to them, "You are all quite comfortable and relaxed and I shall
take you all one by one in turn for the first important experiment.
I do not wish you to whisper to each other or talk among yourselves at all.
Pay particular attention to the idea which my words will convey to your minds.
Realize it. Understand that the tendency of the mind is to carry out the thought
suggested. Imagine that you are doing what I say you are doing, that
you are feeling what I say you are•feeling, and we shall obtain
some interesting phenomena."
CONDUCTING THE FIRST EXPERIMENT: NOW select from among your company one person from whose
appearance you conclude that you can more easily influence him
than the rest and standing him upon his feet with his back to the
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