We are at our most psychic when we sleep.

You only live once, we tell each other.

So here’s the easiest MindPower experiment ever… all you have to do is go to sleep. Actually, there’s a twist – because before you lay your head on the pillow I want you to slip something old into the pillowcase. It could be a piece of jewellery that has been in your family for generations, or a trinket from an antiques shop which took your fancy. Just make sure it’s small enough to fit comfortable under your pillow. Place a notebook and a pencil by the bed, to record any interesting mental impressions you pick up from the object. You might sense, as you sleep, an overall impression of its history, or you might tune in to vivid and emotional images from its past. Perhaps you’ll wake with a powerful awareness of how the object found its way to you down the decades – or you might dream of yourself wearing the clothes of a bygone era. If you do find yourself in the past, ask if you are reliving a former life, or acting as an observer from the present. Be open to your mind’s creative excesses.
last week, I was living one of my dreams after buying a century-old easel in an auction sale. I have formed the conviction, after sitting at it for hours with my brushes, that this simple wooden stand has held the canvases of some of the world’s greatest painters. I can feel inspiration flowing out of it in waves, which impels me to work furiously. The last time I felt such inspiration was when I studied under Salvador Dali. This proves what I have long believed: it is not only our fellow humans who can set our minds on fire. Objects have a life of their own too.