In this post, I show you how I use Coue’s method for weight management and to do things I thought I couldn’t do.
What you believe you can do changes what you can actually do.
Let me explain.
In this blog post, I talk about
- – Cuoe’s method,
- – autosuggestions,
- – how they work,
- – 2 examples from my own life,
- – how I applied Coue’s method for weight management,
- – how I can help you.
Cuoe’s method
Have you heard of Emile Coue’s method?
Emile Coue was a French psychologist and pharmacist.
As a pharmacist, he observed that when he gave medicine to people it worked more effectively when he praised the medicine than when he didn’t say anything about it.
This began Coué’s exploration of the use of the imagination.
He believed in the effects of medication. But he also believed that our mental state can affect and even amplify the action of these medications.
This is also the base of the placebo effect.
Cuoe’s autosuggestions
By consciously using autosuggestion, he observed that his patients could cure themselves more efficiently by replacing their “thought of illness” with a new “thought of cure”.
According to Coué, repeating words or images enough times causes the subconscious to absorb them.
He had his patients repeat a simple affirmation, over and over:
“Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”
And it worked!
How do autosuggestions work?
In his book, Self mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion, he gives plenty of examples of why this works.
He shared the theoretical position that we have a conscious and unconscious mind.
“The Unconscious is what we usually call ” imagination” and which, contrary to the common belief, always makes us act, even against our will, if there is antagonism between those two forces.”
“Suppose that we place on the floor a plank 30 feet long and 10 inches wide. It is evident that everybody would be able to walk along that plank from one end to the other without stepping off. Now change the conditions of the experiment and suppose that this plank is placed, let us say, as high as the towers of a cathedral.”
“You wouldn’t take two steps before you began to tremble and in spite of all the efforts of your willpower you would certainly tumble to the ground.
Why is it that you do not fall when the plank is on the ground? And how is it that you do fall when it is raised to any great height? Simply because in the first case you imagine that it is easy to walk to the end of that plank, while in the second case you imagine that it is impossible.
Observe that you may will to walk along it, as much as you please, but, if you imagine that you cannot, it is absolutely impossible for you to do it.
Dizziness is caused by the image formed in our minds that we are going to fall. This image transforms itself immediately into the act, in spite of all efforts of our will, and even the more quickly the more violent our will-efforts are to the contrary.”
Example from my own life
I had a recent example of this effect in my own life too.
In February we went on a ski holiday. This was the first time for the whole family to ski. Our two sons had lessons for a week and they learned to ski so easily and it looked so effortless.
Then my husband and I felt inspired to learn skiing too so we bought a few hours of lessons. The teacher told us that at our age (we are in our 40s) learning to ski is more difficult than it is for our sons because our brains work differently.
And later I saw what he meant. We were much stiffer and more scared than our sons. I was so annoyed by myself by the end of the first day’s lesson because I felt I didn’t progress fast enough.
Then I realized it was all affected by my imagination, namely, imagining that I would fall, I wouldn’t be able to stop at the bottom of the hill or control my movements, etc.
The next day I decided I would relax. I stopped holding the T-bar ski lift handle so tightly that by the time I got to the top my arms were shaking😊 and just relaxed. And surprisingly I didn’t fall.
This gave me the courage to be more relaxed while learning the skiing techniques too and kept telling myself that “It can be easy,” “Our sons can do it so effortlessly, it must be easy”.
And the teacher was amazed by my sudden improvement! And I started to actually enjoy the process.
The only difference was that I believed that it was possible for me (even though I’m 47) and that it could be easy.
How I used Coue’s Method for weight management
And it was the same with weight management too. For most of my life, I thought that I needed to follow some kind of strict diet to remain slim (or lose weight). That I would have to avoid sugar and carbs and follow other food rules.
Then I developed the new belief that it can be easy and I don’t need to follow someone else’s diet plan. I can just listen to my body.
Now I eat whatever I feel like eating and I look the same. I didn’t gain weight and I have a much better relationship with food and my body even though I’m going through perimenopause. And when I gain 1-2 pounds due to symptoms of perimenopause I can lose it without any diet.
If you want to know what the positive beliefs counteracting some of the most common negative beliefs around eating, weight loss and body image, you can listen to them here. By listening to this 11-minute affirmation meditation you can imprint new, positive beliefs about your body and your weight so you feel empowered and motivated to reach your happy weight.
Affirmations to reprogram your relationship with food and your body
If you want to go deeper I’m excited to offer you my affirmations to improve your relationship with food and your body too. By repeating these affirmations to yourself every day, you’ll be able to change your beliefs too to help you listen to your body’s signals, and have unconditional permission to eat the foods that make you feel good physically and mentally.
When you improve your relationship with food, you’ll notice a lot less stress and worry around eating and more food freedom.
Don’t wait any longer to start transforming your life. Click on the image below to get my affirmations today.
You will find 1 video, 2 audio recordings and more than 300 written affirmations beautifully formatted on printable pages. You can either listen to or read these mantras every day to reprogram your unconscious mind.
I make personalized affirmations videos and audio recordings for my private clients to reprogram their thoughts and beliefs that are holding them back.
Now you can have a taste of these for a fraction of the price.
These affirmations can really help you change your self-talk about your body and food.
The beliefs we cling to and the stories we tell ourselves really matter. What we tell ourselves shapes and creates our life.
Fortunately, what we tell ourselves also happens to be one of the things that we can actually change!
You can find inspiration in these nearly 400 affirmations to change the script running in your head.
If you liked this post about Coue’s method for weight management please share it.
