To be able to slip into sleep is like heaven.

To not be able to slip freely into sleep can be a subtle torture.

There is much written about insomnia and the importance of’getting enough sleep and there are innumerable theories and techniques suggested to help someone who ‘can’t go to sleep’.

Very little attention turns to the very words we use that imply that our consciousness wishes to move from everyday life situations and escape elsewhere. And where do we choose to go when we go to sleep?

Our sleep time that constitutes about one third of our life time is very precious to us and is our own very private world.To some of us it represents a quiet retreat into our secret place or secret garden where our soul is refreshed – a time to look forward to. For others it seems to be a sheer waste of life time and a nothing state that the body may need but that we would rather be doing something else.

Sleep is as necessary to the human soul as food is to the body and we know this for ourselves because of the negative reactions when we miss out on refreshing sleep hours and disallow physiological restoration of the body, emotions and mind.

We know how lack of sleep is now classed as a conditon closely resembling a degree of drunkenness. Someone who drives when suffering sleep deprivation is not only likely to be charged for the offence, but could just as easily be inviting personal escape into the more profound sleep of death.

Considered as one of the most common signs of Alzheimer’s, especially in the early stages, is forgetfulness which hardly needs description as most of us suffer mild memory lapses. However should minor signs such as forgetting names, dates or events, or mislaying articles begin to include major incidents, with potentially dangerous ramifications, these memory lapses become a more serious problem to the individual and to those around them.

When our sense of independence decreases or when our reliance upon other family members or friends increases markedly is not good, particularly if associated with our general state of reduced sense of personal responsibility or self esteem.

Tasks that involve planning or solving problems such as payment of bills can become challenges in those inclined towards Alzheimer’s disease.

Together with increasing age is a natural reduction in physical abilities and skills with subsequent tendency to a reduced sense of self worth.

Reluctance to take on new projects or interests is sometimes an indication of lack of mental health and vitality and can be taken as a symptom of Alzheimer’s in some cases.

Incompletion of tasks is regarded as a symptom.

Inability to master settings and functions of microwave, TV, or electronic equipment is regarded as a symptom of inadequate or abnormal faculties. Some people consciously choose to avoid their use.

Confusion with time or place. People with Alzheimer’s are known to lose track of dates, seasons and the passage of time. In some advanced conditions they may forget where they are or how they got there. Many patients are ‘wanderers’.

Severe development of distorted perceptions including visual and spatial relationships, or judging distance colours or contrasts, to some researchers confirms Alzheimer’s.

Difficulty in following conversations and an inclination to repeat themselves is obvious to others but a person developing Alzheimer’s often is unaware. Struggling with vocabulary to find the right word or remember a name is common.

Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places.

Decreased or poor judgment and decision-making seems to focus a need for medical attention. A common example can be displayed with gambling or with addictions of all kinds.

One of the most embarrassing symptoms of advanced cases of Alzheimer’s we have all witnessed at some time with those who pay diminishing attention to personal hygiene and grooming.

A degree of withdrawal social activities or from work situations is normal but Alzheimer’s may cause a person to even cease hobbies, social contacts, work projects or sports and if this is the case, a patient’s welfare becomes a real concern.

Extreme changes in mood and personality are apt to display negative states and behaviour such as confusion, suspicion, depression, or unreasonable anxiety, often becoming irritable or anxious when a routine is disrupted.

Medical research into Alzheimer’s is considerable over the last several decades. Many drugs are being researched to counter the symptoms of the condition. Many scientists are seeking for causes as well as cures. There are no satisfactory answers as to a cure. But we must avoid drugs of all kinds as it is likely that even medical drugs may produce symptoms along with other side effects.

We must realize the limitations of human science and aim to return to Nature as the Intelligence that shows us the way not only to health in youth, but in our happy old age.

Many developments and skills are the obvious ones such as physical abilities, intellectual skills and technological achievements. But the subtler aspect of our progress is measured in other ways that demonstrate we are changing, developing and refining our faculties and senses.

Even subtler is our individual loosening of our basic instincts and the awakening of altruistic motivations that guide us to identify with the nobler part of our nature.

As primitive beginnings are rooted in a basic nature little different from those observed in animals with strong instincts and reactions that are geared to self preservation, so the finer human nature is shown to benefit by the additional voice of intuition that serves to guide and protect the soul and move us to help others.

It could be considered as a concept about life motivation that is just that simple – as the constant matter of choice between our lower nature and our higher until no longer are there two factors to consider or confuse us, but we have become spiritually integrated and choose to live totally in the realm governed by our inner wisdom or intuition.

“…the light in my darkness, the voice in my silence.”  Helen Keller

There are degrees of learning and many ways of storing past information. Apart from the usual techniques used in classical educational practices when we learn through familiarity with exercise and practice, we respond to events and life circumstances spontaneously as if reacting to unconscious causes and an unremembered past.

We find when the brain is relaxed and our bodies are at rest, memory will often serve us well after having stumbled at some prior effort of recall – be it a name, place, occasion or need for action.  Our memory functions best it seems, without pressure.

Some of us are good at remembering some things – and others have different memory facilities – some are good at remembering people, names, numbers, places, and others recall events with perfect clarity. The visual sense plays a large part as stimulus to our memories, as does olfaction with the hint of a perfume. Hearing also enables us to recall with sentiment a previous occasion when the music had a strong emotional content for us.

There are some extraordinary and fascinating examples of the faculty of memory being used as a fine tool.  Before the advent of computers, dedicated workers in various spheres of business and industry were greatly relied upon for their retention of facts and figures, or recordings of goods and intervals of time.

Some people when meeting others afresh 50 years after sharing school days can immediately remember the face and name of that person. Others in social life need no reminder of the name after meeting a host of guests and will have instant ability to refer to a person by name, encouraging a warmth and familiarity that is always well received.

Memory training in the usual studies of various subjects in schooling and education, follows certain well known familiar patterns. Good students with keen memory have little struggle compared with those who are slower in their mental function or have less interest. Extreme development of the talents of memory exist in the detailed and vivid memory recall of savants that amaze us with their spectacular abilities.

Each time we hear of unusual memory talents displayed by anyone, it is usual for most of us to feel in awe of an ability we ourselves do not possess.  It is not a situation where any one of us can use our will and enthusiasm to develop these extraordinary feats but is a somewhat mysterious gift, demonstrated by those of genius status.

Most of us however, are happy to remember our plans for the day, our simple responsibilities and duties and would like to avoid embarrassment by remembering the names of people to whom we have recently been introduced.  It is also ideal to remember the birthdays of all our family members!

It is our main faculty we use when learning or reading and when we are in a receptive or listening mode. We use this faculty to help us focus upon important personal interests in everyday life. We also use it to deliberately programme our own mind and so develop  grooves of comfortable opinions and attitudes.

Concentration is mind power. It is the element we require to accomplish anything.

The principle is simple. If we keep our thoughts upon success, we will most likely succeed.  If we concentrate upon failure we will do doubt succeed in failing.

If we concentrate upon  power, we will become powerful.

If we concentrate upon love, we will become loving and so on.

Each of us develops our nature to attract circumstances by the power of our mind’s concentration.

Poor concentration is a symptom of diminishing mental fitness. We must practise and improve this faculty that becomes even more important as we grow older.

A definite aim will ensure that any concentrated thought will bear fruit. So we must take care that the direction of our mind’s power is truly in accordance with our own welfare and  interests as well of that of others.

Conscious effort of thought is required to build mental ‘muscle-power’ or strong mindedness,  just as effort is needed to build physical fitness. The power of the concentrated mind can also be compared to the rocket fuel that gives the power for our thoughts to ‘lift off’ into space.

Concentration can also be used as a tuning-in device similar to tuning the radio. This analogy holds true in meditation when we wish to expand our consciousness in order to receive  inspiration or intuitive guidance.

Concentration is the tool to help programme our mind. When concentrating, the emotions must be passive and co-operative to allow all our available mental energy to be used without  emotional distraction.

Marcus Aurelius

Each of us is generally responsible for all sorts of things, even from a young age when we are first conscious of good and bad actions and influences.

In adulthood these responsibilities have become all too clear. We must not only keep our bodies clean and healthy and dress appropriately but also tend to our personal emotions and feelings if we are to enjoy life. We may have learned the pleasure of physical sport and now must deal with patterns of emotional and mental moods and conditions.  In the culture of our feelings and thoughts, unlike physical training, we do not usually have the support of a coach or formal mentor and must learn to rely upon our own inner guiding faculties of conscience and intuition. We depend upon them both.

Conscience functions best when we have developed our own clear definitions of right and wrong so that we cannot act easily in a manner contrary to our principles.  Conscience restrains us in any wrongdoing.

Intuition is subtle in its message and in its function in directing us forward and upward in order to achieve our highest purposes and to mould and in time become the character to which we aspire.  We need intuition to help us as to what to do in order to achieve successful outcomes from our actions and decisions.

Whether these dual functions are to be classified as mental faculties or soul qualities is irrelevant. We must listen to both if we are to be true to ourselves and be comfortable within our personal environment of our minds and feel at ease with our own self image.

No matter how important are the material concerns for our mature physical body and its health, there are ongoing considerations in caring for our ever changing moods and expression of our feeling nature and emotions.  Only then can we feel free to give serious time and attention to the care of our minds.

As with the other facets of self-care, mental care depends upon our selected goals, clear thoughts and an attitude that understands and seeks an enduring friendly relationship with our own mind – our certain life companion.  This is the most complex factor of all but it is of utmost priority if we are to become the person we seek to express in our character.

But as a conscious intelligence with Free Will, each of us represents a formidable potential for creativity and for better comprehending the Universe in which we live as well as becoming aware of the ability we have to contribute to it.

Our Free Will is the Power which gives us the gift of Choice and the capacity to create what our minds conceive. Any limitation is only defined by our imagination.

Free Will is an exciting human faculty. It allows us to determine choices and how we wish to enjoy and spend our lifetime and in what direction of creativity we wish to exercise our skills.

The gift of Free Will can also seem daunting when we realise that we can no longer blame anyone or anything for our situations and circumstances, for our thoughts, feelings and actions.  We are all now experiencing the reactions to our past actions and choices.

We must accept with Free Will comes personal responsibility; self-determination, self- consciousness – and the sense of potential self- awareness and self empowerment on every level of our being body and soul. This is when we arrive at our maturity as a human being to herald a time when we know our personal freedom and can determine the application of our personal power.

To succeed in valuing Free Will and employing our inner power constructively, we need the guidance and inner wisdom of our soul that directs us through the confusions of life by the faculty of intuition.

It is more generally applied in the process of learning and gathering information that can be shared with others and increased by exchange and communication with others on an impersonal level.

Some of us have an especially clear subjective memory upon which we rely as a reminder of our own learning whether physical, emotional or mental. In the deeper levels of our psyche, involving our soul wisdom and our spiritual experiences, we rely entirely upon our own preservation of the secret or sacred private world into which few others are invited.

Some of us have a wonderful capacity for clear recall of what is related to factual or scientific information gleaned through the intellect and by study. This applies to wider issues beyond the personal and embraces information that we share and consider fundamental to reason.

Others possess unusual aspects of memory that we cannot really share or even understand the process involved…..

For instance, the capacity to regress one’s memory back to the birth experience is a rare faculty unless cajoled through the assistance of a psychologist.

The memory of past lives that can occur when regression slips beyond the first consciousness in the womb to remembering past life experiences. This is known to happen under therapy but also spontaneously as a rare conscious function of memory.

Spectacular memory feats have become more generally known to us through individuals who possess extraordinary abilities both or recording information and of recall.

For example, there are individuals who can memorize musical scores or orchestrations of sound through auditory memory or by the visualization of the score.

There is also photographic memory or eidetic memory. Few share the ability but those who can demonstrate it can astonish us with a range of talents ; the capacity used in mathematical calculation; in recording and recalling data with speed to challenge a computer; in speed reading and recall of volumes of books;  in memorizing registration numbers of vehicles; in retention of names of people, and in the many arts, sciences and specific skills that have been known in human culture including the skill of recalling emotional experiences that produce emotional and physical responses enough to make us laugh or to weep – a faculty well known to actors.

Allowing that these wonderful talents exist as a potential in the human brain and mind is one thing.

To train our own memory as we wish, and to be able to rely upon accurate recall remains our personal task and responsibility.

Whereas our general mental faculties help us to relate to the material world, our subtle faculties provide us with such qualities as insight, intuition, and the inspiration we need for mental creativity and also for our own integrity. These are faculties required for both the creative arts as well as for our use in the creative processes of our daily life.

They are more difficult to understand as they function in different spheres beyond material analysis and the knowledge that we presently hold. Just as our well known faculties serve us in material existence, so the subtle faculties help us become more aware of our soul.

To not only understand ourselves but to feel we have a place in the grand scheme of things is imperative if we wish for a strong self image that allows us not only mental health and fitness but satisfaction for the inner and enduring part of ourselves. It is here that we turn for inner guidance to our superior sense, that of intuition.

We are reminded of the spiritual directive ‘Man Know Thyself”. We need to be comfortable with our efforts towards understanding our whole nature and to live comfortably with our vision of who we are and what is our ideal of personal excellence.

In this, we need inspiration to encourage us. Inspiration is experienced both as an inner dictate of our higher consciousness or as an injection from a higher source, completely beyond our own ego and individuality. Each one of us needs to know that there is a reservoir of beneficent and greater intelligence and vitality that can nourish our own.

If we allow our subtle faculties to serve us well, it is possible to think that we may reach a state of total mental fitness, to experience expanding states of peace, happiness and well being.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: A Simple Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions.

Insight, imagination and visualization are all involved in creating a mental vision.  It is our clarity of inner vision of our life plans that helps determine our degree of success. This applies to our daily short term plan or to our long term goals and to our most intimate picture of ourselves – our self image upon which our self confidence depends.

Another important faculty we tend to overlook is the ability to translate all sensory information that comes to us from the outside world through sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch into material our mental system can best relate to.

We also possess subtler and somewhat mysterious faculties that have been recognized under the general term of Extra Sensory Perception. They have been named under terms such as pre-cognition, premonition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy and others being presently researched by science although acknowledged as human faculties since ancient times. Just as each one of us has acquired a different degree of use and sensitizing of our sense of sight for instance, observation varies considerably and the term extra sensory perception would seem appropriate for an extension of the normal faculties.

Within each of us resides a special and unique faculty that functions as our inner voice or guiding intelligence that we call intuition which is stronger than the other mental faculties as it represents our inner soul centre.  Here it is that we tend to withdraw to when confused or requiring inspiration and seeking wisdom.We do not always give a chance for this faculty to register upon our consciousness as quietude is essential  in order for us to be made aware.

It is this inner core of ourselves, of our soul that we experience contact with our own wisdom that knows true values of life and can direct us to appropriate use of all our other faculties.

The full extent of the wonderful human mental faculties has not yet been fully explored, but a certain fact is that our personal mental health and fitness determines the extent to which we
can utilize them constructively.

Sally Janssen’s wonderful book “Mental Fitness: A Simple Self-Help Guide”, offers simple and timely solutions.