nd lo, it aches! The next time, the
suggestion comes with greater force, and soon the habit is
formed,--all the result of an idea. It is a good thing to remember
that constant thought about any part of the body never fails to send
an over-supply of blood to that part; of course that means congestion
and pain.

=Hands Off!= By sending messages directly to an organ through the
nerve-centers or by changing circulation, the subconscious director of
our bodies can make any part of us misbehave in a number of ways. All
it needs is a suggestion of an interfering thought about an organ. As
we have insisted before, the subconscious cannot stand interference.
Sadler well says: "Man can live at the equator or exist at the poles.
He can eat almost anything and everything, but he cannot long stand
self-contemplation. The human mind can accomplish wonders in the way
of work, but it is soon wrecked when directed into the channels of
worry."[27] In other words, hands off!--or rather, minds off! Don't
get ideas that make you think about your body. The surest way to
disarrange any function is to think about it. It is a stout heart that
will not change its beat with a frequent finger on the pulse, and a
hearty stomach that will not "act up" under attention. "Judicious
neglect" is a good motto for most occasions. Take no anxious thought
if you would be well. Know enough about your body to counteract false
suggestions; fulfil the common-sense laws of hygiene,--eight hours in
bed, plenty of exercise and fresh air, and three square meals a day.
Then forget all about it. "A mental representation is already a
sensation,"[28] and we have enough legitimate sensations without
manufacturing others.

[Footnote 27: Sadler: _Physiology of Faith and Fear_.]

[Footnote 28: DuBois: _Psychic Treatment of Nervous Disorders_.]

=From Real Life.= Startling indeed are the tricks that we can play on
ourselves by disregarding these laws. A patient who was unnecessarily
concerned about his stomach once came to me in great alarm, exhibiting
a distinct, well-defined swelling about the size of a match-box in the
region of his stomach. I looked at it, laughed, and told him to forget
it. Whereupon it promptly disappeared. The first segment of the rectus
muscle had tied itself up into a knot, under the stimulus of anxious
attention.

Another patient appeared at my door one day saying, "Look here!"
Examination showed that her abdomen was swollen to the size of mo