Emile Coue

Yes when you know the "trick" you can do as you've mentioned. But it should be within realms of possibility. If your hand is cut, by using Coue's method you can't make it grow. But yes you can become almost like or better than Horowitz.

I want to highlight a cure from Emile Coue: a girl was miserable in her studies and had failed in her class. After meeting with Coue she went on to top her class.

I also want to highlight a quote from "How to Practice Autosuggestion" by C. Harry Brooks, 1922:

Note: Coue's immense success is due to driving away of "sweat and hard labor" or any sort of effort while using autosuggestion. Any use of effort is doomed to fail in 100% of cases.

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Day by day I'm getting better and better!
Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux

Thank you, anurag. So you are saying that it would be counterproductive for a musician to attempt to analyze the physical process involved in playing (as many pedagogues insist that you must), as one should merely trust the subconscious mind to provide the means necessary for virtuosity and artistry? If I understand correctly, meditating and affirming that one is a great pianist will accomplish much more than practicing the piano will accomplish. If the postive affirmations are geuinely believed, then you should be able to play exactly how you want to play without even practicing. Perhaps that explains how Mozart was able to compose so easily: he probably applied the concepts of the Coue method long before Coue even discovered them.

Coue believed that all effort is doomed to fail? In that case, how would one account for many successful individuals who insist that they had to work extremely hard in order to obtain a high level of proficiency? For example, Vincent Bugliosi, the greatest American prosecutor, insisted that lots of sweat and tedious preparation is necessary to become a great lawyer.

Also, how frequently should positive affirmations be said each day? Is it a case of the more you say them, the better? Or can you only say the affirmations a few times, and if you have full inner conviction in them, they should produce instant results?

In short Unconscious mind is the grand director of our body. Once you(Conscious) convey this to it, it does it with greatest accuracy just like it does everything else to make you alive. For example your immune system is taken care of by this Unconscious meticulously. If you want to correct any asthma you have, just look for cure, behind the scenes it does all to cure it, which you or even doctors can't answer it.

Here is quote from Coue's Self Mastery:




Coue proved it, everybody saw it. We see it daily. It is not a theory!



Just believe it that whatever we've in mind, ultimately that realizes. Also thoughts can quickly change in our minds. Effort is always - working against an idea in mind. If you observe a child - he/she uses no effort. If he tired, he'll simply sit or sleep. Our society teaches is that effort is good and laudable thing.

Here is the priceless quote from Emile Coue's "Self Mastery":




I advise you to read Coue's Self Mastery. For specific suggestions you can read "How to Practice Autosuggestion" by Harry Brooks.

_________________
Day by day I'm getting better and better!
Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux

I think that I understand. If you consciously decree "health" to yourself and expect a result, the body will provide you with health.


If effort always works against us, then how do some people who exert a lot of effort manage to achieve outstanding results? Are there some people who are an exception to the rule?


That's a very enlightening quote. Coue seems to be preaching particularly against the use of will that contradicts the imagination. What if a person's effort and will was completely consistent with his or her imagination? In that case, could the effort simply serve to magnify the desires of the imagination?


I'll have to read those books. Although I have read books that are based on Coue, I will probably gain a new level of understanding once I read the original source material.

When Coue talks about keeping our autosuggestion within the realms of physical possibility, could it be argued that playing like Horowitz is beyond the realm of physical possibility for the vast majority of people? Some people might argue that Horowitz had a much faster innate motoric system than the average person, making his technical feats physically impossible for people who lack naturally fast reflexes.

Conscious should be used to decide on what one wants. For use of autosuggestion one must set aside Concious or willpower because they can cause Coue's law of "Reversed Effort".


When willpower and imagination are in harmony, both are multiplied. Otherwise imagination only gains the day.
Suppose you want to go for mountaineering on a steep mountain. A day before you have numerous thoughts of going for it or not. Now if a thought of fear comes "Oh I'm frightened, I could die". Now you start using you willpower or effort to counter it - "I will go whatever happens". You try to force yourself at the same time having a negative idea which you don't know how to dislodge. So there can be numerous instances of such ideas running whole day in your mind. When your willpower/conscious is in sync with the idea you're relaxed.


Training for any such work is unavoidable. Rest is done by our Unconscious. I'm sure he'd have trained himself since childhood.

_________________
Day by day I'm getting better and better!
Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux

Yes. One should consciously decide that he or she wants health and wealth, and then trust the subconscious mind to provide the desired result.


Are you saying that if willpower is in harmony with your imagination, then it is acceptable to put forth great effort and willpower toward your goal? In other words, effort and willpower would only stand in your way if they are in conflict with your imagination, but not if they are consistent with your desired goal. In Bugliosi's case, despite the fact that he engaged in a lot of arduous and tedious work, perhaps he never doubted that such work would lead to a legal masterpiece. Thus, he achieved what he wanted because his imagination was consistent with his desires, despite all of the effort that he was exerting when preparing for a trial.


I think that I can relate to that. There are actually some music pedagogues who teach that if you try too hard to achieve a certain result and have an intense fear of failure, then your efforts are often counterproductive and you probably will fail. The fear of failure stimulates an incredible amount of physical tension that makes it almost impossible to achieve what you want.



So you're saying that even with the subconscious mind on your side, it is still necessary for a person to undergo normal musical training? In other words, positive affirmations in and of themselves are not sufficient to produce the desired result. Those affirmations must be used in conjunction with lots and lots of practice, although that practice would be done in a relaxed (albeit highly concentrated) state of mind, as willpower and imagination would be in harmony.

Horowitz certainly had training since childhood, but is it possible that some people- even with the same training and with their willpower and imagination in harmony- could never achieve his level of proficiency, simply because they don't have his innate reflexes- making Horowitz's technique beyond the realm of physical possibility for those people.

I'd like to limit my discussion for cures only. For getting cured one must not use willpower. I've already mentioned that whatever idea is in mind - that only calls all the shots, always. Using willpower in any way only makes it even stronger.


If you imagine failure - it only becomes true.


Training is essential to master anything. To make sure that your mind and body do their best you must "imagine without effort" so. At the extreme everybody is different. Your heart may be better than mine, your immune system may react better than that of mine in case of Malaria attack and so on. But the mathematical probability that Horowitz did have those inborn qualities like (reflexes) and at the same time he did recognize and chose that as career is close to zero I think. That means he must have been a normal person like you or me but channelized his energies and mind in right direction in right way.

_________________
Day by day I'm getting better and better!
Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux

To recover from a physical ailment, I understand that one must not use willpower. Although the Coue method obviously can do more than simply cure illnesses. It can also allow you to realize seemingly unfathomable levels of success in various aspects of life.


So you're saying that if a positive idea resides in your mind (e.g. one of great success in a certain career), then that idea can be multiplied by employing willpower and efficient practice at that career.


I see what you're saying. Positive thinking is not a substitute for practice, but it will make your practicing much more efficient and productive. Although different people may have different inherent motoric systems, as long as one's hands are normal, then it is quite plausible that- through practice and visualization- a person can develop his or her motoric system to a supreme degree. If reflexes are functional, the the power of the subconscious mind can train them to be much more functional. The only instance where great piano playing might be physically impossible is if a person didn't have any hands. Even if a person had a neurological disorder (e.g. muscles that do not properly respond to the brain's signals), that person should be able to cure the ailment through Coue's method.

You've got it right all the way. There is nothing more do I need to write.



Coue's method is impossible to fail unless somebody falls in the following categories:

• One does not want to learn Coue's method
• One is not able to concentrate on what Coue is saying ( or whoever is explaining)
• One who does not have a conscious brain or can't hear/respond

In short if one is able to understand Coue's method, then he/she will not fail to cure( partially or fully).

_________________
Day by day I'm getting better and better!
Tous les jours à tous points de vue je vais de mieux en mieux