MIND AND BODY/PART 1
CHAPTER I
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND
In order to understand the
nature of the influence of the mind upon the body—the effect of mental states
upon physical functions—we must know something of that wonderful field of
mental activity which in the New Psychology is known as “The Subconscious
Mind,” and which by some writers has been styled the “Subjective Mind;” the
“Involuntary Mind;” the “Subliminal Mind;” the “Unconscious Mind,” etc., the
difference in names arising because of the comparative newness of the
investigation and classification.
Among the various functions
of the Subconscious Mind, one of the most important is that of the charge and
control of the involuntary activities and functions of the human body through
the agency of the sympathetic nervous system, the cells, and cell-groups. As
all students of physiology know, the greater part of the activities of the
body are involuntary—that is, are independent (or partly so) of the control of
the conscious will. As Dr. Schofield says: “The unconscious mind, in addition
to the three qualities which it shares in common with the conscious—viz.,
will, intellect and emotion—has undoubtedly another very important
one—nutrition, or the general maintenance of the body.” And as Hudson states:
“The subjective mind has absolute control of the functions, conditions and
sensations of the body.” Notwithstanding the dispute which is still raging
concerning what the Subconscious mind is, the
authorities all agree upon the fact that, whatever else it may be, it may be
considered as that phase, aspect, part, or field of the mind which has charge
and control of the greater part of the physical functioning of the body.
Von Hartmann says: “The
explanation that unconscious psychical activity itself appropriately forms and
maintains the body has not only nothing to be said against it, but has all
possible analogies from the most different departments of physical and
animal life in its favor, and appears to be as scientifically certain as
is possible in the inferences from effect to cause.” Maudsley says: “The
connection of mind and body is such that a given state of mind tends to echo
itself at once in the body.” Carpenter says: “If a psychosis or mental state is
produced by a neurosis or material nerve state, as pain by a prick, so also is
a neurosis produced by a psychosis. That mental antecedents call forth physical
consequents is just as certain as that physical antecedents call forth mental
consequents.” Tuke says: “Mind, through sensory, motor, vaso-motor and trophic
nerves, causes changes in sensation, muscular contraction, nutrition and
secretion.... If the brain is an outgrowth from a body corpuscle and is in
immediate relation with the structures and tissues that preceded it, then,
though these continue to have their own action, the brain must be expected to
act upon the muscular tissue, the organic functions and upon the nervous system
itself.”
Von Hartmann also says: “In
willing any conscious act, the unconscious will is evoked to institute
means to bring about the effect. Thus, if I will a stronger salivary secretion,
the conscious willing of this effect excites the unconscious will to institute
the necessary means. Mothers are said to be able to provide through the will a
more copious secretion, if the sight of the child arouses in them the will to
suckle. There are people who perspire voluntarily. I now possess the power of
instantaneously reducing the severest hiccoughs to silence by my own will,
while it was formerly a source of great inconvenience to me.... An irritation
to cough, which has no mechanical cause, may be permanently suppressed by the
will. I believe we might possess a far greater voluntary power over our bodily
functions if we were only accustomed from childhood to institute experiments
and to practice ourselves therein.... We have arrived at the conclusion that
every action of the mind on the body, without exception, is only possible by
means of an unconscious will; that such an unconscious will can be called forth
partly by means of a conscious will, partly also through the conscious idea of
the effect, without conscions will, and even in opposition to the conscious
will.”
Henry Wood says of the
Subconscious Mind: “It acts automatically upon the physical organism. It
cognizes external facts, conditions, limitations, and even contagions, quite
independent of its active counterpart. One may, therefore, ‘take’ a disease and
be unaware of any exposure. The subconsciousness has been unwittingly trained
to fear, and accept it; and it is this quality, rather than the mere inert
matter of the body, that succumbs. Matter is never the actor, but is always
acted upon. This silent, mental partner, in operation, seems to be a living,
thinking personality, conducting affairs on its own account. It is a compound
of almost unimaginable variety, including wisdom and foolishness, logic and
nonsense, and yet having a working unitary economy. It is a hidden force to be
dealt with and educated, for it is often found insubordinate and unruly. It
refuses co-operation with its lesser but more active and wiser counterpart. It
is very ‘set’ in its views, and only changes its qualities and opinions by slow
degrees. But, like a pair of horses, not until these two mental factors
can be trained together can there be harmony and efficiency.”
In order to understand the
important part played in the physical economy by the Subconscious Mind, it is
only necessary to understand the various processes of the human system which
are out of the ordinary field of the voluntary or conscious mind. We then
realize that the entire process of nutrition, including digestion,
assimilation, etc., the processes of elimination, the processes of circulation,
the processes of growth, in fact the entire processes manifested in the work of
the cells, cell-groups, ganglia, physical organs, etc., are in charge of and
controlled by the Subconscious Mind. Our food is digested and transformed into
the nourishing substances of the blood; then carried through the arteries to
all parts of the body, where it is absorbed by the cells and used to replace
the worn-out material, the latter then being carried back through the veins to
the lungs where the waste matter is burned up, and the balance again sent on
its journey through the arteries re-charged with the life-giving oxygen. All of
these processes, and many others of almost equal importance, are out of the
field of the conscious or voluntary mind, and are governed by the Subconscious
Mind. As we shall see when we consider the Sympathetic Nervous System, the
greater part of the body is dominated by the Subconscious Mind, and that the
welfare of the major physical functions depends entirely, or almost so, upon
this great area or field of the mind.
The best authorities now
generally agree that there is no part of the body which may be considered as
devoid of mind. The Subconscious Mind is not confined to the brain, or even the
greater plexuses of the nervous system, but extends to all parts of the body,
to every nerve, muscle, and even to every cell and cell-group of the body. The
functions and processes of the body are no longer considered as purely
mechanical, or chemical, but are now seen to be the result of mental action of
some kind or degree. Therefore, in considering the Subconscious Mind, one must
not think of it as resident in the brain alone, but rather as being distributed over
the entire physical body. There is mind in every cell, every organ, every
muscle, every nerve—in every part of the body.
The importance of the above
statements regarding the power and importance of the Subconscious Mind may be
realized when one remembers the dictum of the New Psychology, to wit: The
Subconscious Mind is amenable to Suggestion. When it is realized that this
great controller of the physical organism is so constituted that it accepts as
truth the suggestions from the conscious mind of its owner, as well as those
emanating from the conscious minds of other people, it may be understood why Faith,
Belief, and Expectant Attention manifest such marked effects upon the physical
body and the general health, for good or for evil, as indicated in the
preceding chapters. All of the many instances and examples recited in the
preceding chapters may be understood when it is realized that the Subconscious
Mind, which is in control of the physical functions and vital processes, will
accept the suggestions from the conscious mind of its owner, and also
suggestions from outside which the conscious mind of its owner allows to pass
down to it. If, as Henry Wood has said in the paragraph previously quoted, it
“acts automatically upon the physical organism,” and “seems to be a living,
thinking personality, conducting affairs on its own account,” and at the same time, accepts
and ‘takes on’ suggested conditions, it may be readily understood how the
wonderful and almost incredible statements of the authorities mentioned in the
preceding chapters have had real and substantial basis in truth.
This understanding of the
part played by the Subjective Mind in controlling and affecting physical
conditions and activities, together with its suggestible qualities and nature,
gives us a key to the whole question of the “Why?” of Mental Healing.
Suggestion is the connecting link between Mind and Body, and an understanding
of its laws and principles enables one to see the moving cause of the strange
phenomena of the Faith Cures, under whatever name they may pass, and under
whatever guise they may present themselves. “Suggestion” is the explanation
offered by the New Psychology for the almost miraculous phenomena which
other schools seek to explain upon some hypothesis based either upon religious
beliefs, or upon some metaphysical or philosophical doctrine. The New
Psychology holds that it is not necessary to go outside of the realms of
psychology and physiology in studying Mental Healing or Psycho-Therapy; and
that the theories of the semi-religious and metaphysical cults are merely
strange guises or masks which serve to conceal the real operative principle of
cure.
The following quotation
from Dr. Schofield will serve to call the attention to the important part
played by the Subconscious Mind in the physical activities, a fact which is not
generally recognized: “It has often been a mystery how the body thrives so well
with so little oversight or care on the part of its owner. No machine could be
constructed, nor could any combination of solids or liquids in organic
compounds, regulate, control, counteract, help, hinder or arrange for the
continual succession of differing events, foods, surroundings and conditions
which are constantly affecting the body. And yet, in the midst of this
ever-changing and varying succession of influences, the body holds on its
course of growth, health, nutrition and self-maintenance with the most
marvelous constancy. We perceive, of course, clearly, that the best of
qualities—regulation, control, etc., etc.—are all mental qualities, and at the
same time we are equally clear that by no self-examination can we say we
consciously exercise any of these mental powers over the organic processes of
our bodies. One would think, then, that the conclusion is sufficiently simple
and obvious—that they must be used unconsciously; in other words, it is, and
can be nothing else than unconscious mental powers that
control, guide and govern the functions and organs of the body.
“Our ordinary text-books on
physiology give but little idea of what I may call the intelligence that
presides over the various systems of the body, showing itself in the bones, as
we have seen, in distributing the available but insufficient amount of lime
salts in disease; not equally, but for the protection of the most vital parts,
leaving those of lesser value disproportionally deficient. In the muscular
system nearly all contractions are involuntary. Even in the voluntary
(so-called) muscles, the most we can do is to will results. We do not will the
contractions that carry out these results. Muscles, striped and unstriped, are
ceaselessly acting without the slightest consciousness in maintaining the
balance of the body, the expression of the face, the general attributes
corresponding to mental states, the carrying on of digestion and other
processes with a purposiveness, and adaptation of means to new ends and new
conditions, ceaselessly arising, that are beyond all material mechanism.
Consider, for instance, the marvelous increase of smooth muscle in the uterus
at term, and also its no less marvelous subsequent involution; observe, too,
the compensating muscular increase of a damaged heart until the balance is
restored and the necessity for it ceases, as does growth at a fixed period;
consider in detail the repair of a broken bone. These actions are not mere
properties of matter; they demand, and are the result of, a controlling mind.
“The circulation does not
go round as most text-books would lead us to believe, as the result merely
of the action of a system of elastic tubes, connected with a self-acting
force-pump. It is such views as these that degrade physiology and obscure the
marvels of the body. The circulation never flows for two minutes in the same
manner. In an instant, miles of capillaries are closed or opened up, according
to the ever-varying body needs, of which, consciously, we are entirely unaware.
The blood supply of each organ is not mechanical, but is carefully regulated
from minute to minute in health, exactly according to its needs and activities,
and when this ever fails, we at once recognize it as disease, and call it
congestion and so forth. The very heart-beat itself is never constant, but
varies pro rata with the amount of exercise, activity of vital
functions, of conditions of temperature, etc., and even of emotions and other
direct mental feelings. The whole reproductive system is obviously under the
sway and guidance of more than blind material forces. In short, when thoroughly
analyzed, the action and regulation of no system of the body can be
satisfactorily explained, without postulating an unconscious mental element,
which does, if allowed, satisfactorily explain all the phenomena.”
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