@Shoshin1 said:
Yes, in the past I've used Émile Coué's simple technique of tricking the mind into believing something is true. It seems that the subconscious can't always distinguish between what's real and unreal, and this simple trick can work wonders. However its effectiveness can vary from person to person, and depending on the circumstances.
Yes I noticed on the Wikipedia page there was some mention of the Boston Herald doing a follow-up with some people who had tried the Coué Method and finding that after six months they had gone back to their old illnesses.
But I find it fascinating that it works at all, and that it can work well for mental illnesses and some types of physical illness too. If you look a little deeper into the thinking behind the Method, then you find out it is not actually aimed at allowing insight into the unconscious, but that instead it is a gentle manipulation focussing the unconscious on becoming better.
It seems a good place to start with autosuggestion because it purposefully avoids bringing in the will. Coué was of the opinion that the will and consciousness blocked the operation of the unconscious, and so the best times to commune with the unconscious was when the will was weak.
Jeroen
Fascinating stuff @lobster… I was just starting to read up on this, the whole idea of autosuggestion could be highly beneficial to me! Thanks!
Jeroen
Yes, that’s true, the average house here costs about 400.000 euros now, so 10x a medium-paid job’s yearly salary. I recall it was about 3x when I was starting in the games industry in 1998, which was also all the banks would lend you for a mortgage. Wages haven’t moved up with land and house costs.
I was just trying to make the point that a solid grasp of fiscal reality is useful, and is often lacking in the young. A lot of the best things in life are not about money, absolutely. But both the things that are about money, and those that are not, are part of growing up, and avoiding responsibility and independence is not healthy. In my humble opinion.
Jeroen
Not everything in life has to revolve around work and money. Just because someone is lucky enough to have a family that allows them the freedom of time to do what they love doesn’t necessarily mean they’re immature simply because they haven’t done what you did in life or have different priorities.
Jason
Generally, I agree.
I'd just offer two possible qualifications:
They say that for every ill, there is a good. What they usually skip is that then it's also true that for every good, there is an ill.
"Man has achieved his present position by being the most aggressive and enterprising creature on earth. And now he has created a comfortable civilization, he faces an unexpected problem...The comfortable life lowers man's resistance, so that he sinks into an unheroic sloth...The comfortable life causes spiritual decay..."
~ Colin Wilson
OK polar bear it. But don't go into hypothermia.
frederica, you had about the best house on the block (for a kid). 

This is the article, which they made available in English as well…
Jeroen
Discipline and spirituality
Can one truly be spiritual without discipline? Even if one's spirituality is rooted in simply going with the flow, this, too, demands a certain level of discipline.
Shoshin1
@person said:
This was rummaging about in my head today and I wanted to comment. Accurate evaluation is difficult, but this is the way. The practice of meditation develops a greater level of self awareness and introspection. We mess up, we learn and we move on.
If you have lived experience of psychosis, your context is likely to be much more inclusive than without that experience. It includes a certain first-hand knowledge of how the mind can ‘come off the rails’, and that can clue you in to whatever signs are unique to you. Perhaps the closest people without this experience can come is taking psychedelics.
My own experience only included hallucinations, of auditory and touch experiences, and not delusions or intrusive thoughts. So although I have some knowledge, I also know it can get considerably worse. But you see what I mean that some things can be ‘outside your context’ unless you have the right knowledge and experience.
Jeroen