Huna Self-Suggestion

A faithful reconstruction from Self-Suggestion:

1. Choose one clear, positive suggestion. Phrase it simply, in the present tense and positive form (what you want, not what you fear). Long, like Coué, favors clear, believable wording the low self won’t fight.
2. Relax and address the low self directly. Settle into a quiet, relaxed state. Speak to the subconscious (“George”) as a real, willing partner — explain plainly what you’re about to do and that you want its cooperation.
3. Accumulate a surcharge of mana. Breathe deeply and rhythmically, holding the picture of vital force filling you like water until full (the Ha surcharge). Long holds that this extra charge gives the suggestion more “voltage” to impress the low self. The deeper breathing also serves as a physical stimulus that focuses the low self.
4. Deliver the suggestion with feeling, repeatedly. With the charge built, repeat the suggestion several times, slowly, while feeling it as true and picturing it fulfilled. Emotion and vividness matter more than force of will — strain backfires (Coué’s law of reversed effort, which Long accepts).
5. Anchor it to a physical / water symbol. Use a simple bodily cue the low self can associate with the suggestion — Long leaned on water as the symbol of vital force: e.g. touching or sipping water, wetting the fingertips, or a deliberate touch/gesture, while you state the suggestion. The point is to give the low self a concrete sensation to “hold the suggestion by.”
6. Repeat at receptive times until it takes. Do it in the relaxed, drowsy windows (on waking, before sleep) and repeat over days. Then “let George do it” — hand the suggestion over to the subconscious and stop anxiously monitoring whether it’s working. (Sourcing note: the mana-charge-before-suggestion, water-as-symbol-of-vital-force, the physical stimulus to impress the low self, and “let George do it” are Long’s documented teaching in Self-Suggestion. Present-tense/positive phrasing and the don’t-force-it principle are shared with Coué, whom Long discusses. Exact gestures are illustrative of his approach, paraphrased.)

Max Freedom Long (1890–1971), founder of Huna Research, wrote Self-Suggestion and the New Huna Theory of Mesmerism and Hypnosis (1958) explicitly as a practical manual, reviewing the mid-50s self-help scene (he name-checks Dianetics and General Semantics) and reframing suggestion in three-self / mana terms.

The technique sits squarely in the autosuggestion–hypnosis lineage running from the Nancy School through Coué; Long’s distinctive moves are the mana surcharge and the body/water anchor.

Caveat: the “Huna” framing is Long’s 20th-century reconstruction, not authenticated traditional Hawaiian doctrine.

Coué’s conscious autosuggestion — the parent method; effortless, present-tense, repeated in the drowsy state.

• Self-hypnosis — relaxed suggestible state + targeted suggestion; Long treats it as the same family.
• NLP “anchoring” — pairing a suggestion/state with a physical touch cue — strikingly close to Long’s body anchor.
• Affirmations (New Thought) — repeated positive present-tense statements.
• Ritual use of water (blessing, sipping, sprinkling) — water as carrier of intention across many traditions.

Forcing belief by willpower. Long (with Coué) warns this triggers reversed effort. Deliver the suggestion calmly, with feeling, not strain.

• Negative or future phrasing. “I will stop being anxious” plants “anxious / not yet.” Use positive present tense: “I am calm and steady.”
• Skipping the feeling and the image. Flat repetition is weak; the low self responds to vivid sensation and emotion.
• No consistent anchor. Pick one stable cue (a specific touch, a sip of water) and reuse it so the association builds.
• Over-complex suggestions. One clear idea at a time.
• Expecting it to override reality. It shapes inner state and behavior; it isn’t a cure for organic illness or a replacement for needed action.