 rowing up.
He’ s alw ays in the now. W e ca n learn much from God’ s crea tures about
enjoying the present moment rather than using it up consumed with guilt
over the  past or worry about the  future. Practice living in the moment, and
refuse to allow any thoughts based on your past to define you.
Stop and  take notice of all that’ s in your immediate space—th e people,
creatures, vegeta tion, cloud formations, building designs, every thing. Stay
in the present by meditating and getting closer to the ultimate now … God.
God Is Only Here Now
Think ab out this. God will not be doing anything dif ferent one hour from
now than God i s doing now. An d God is not doing anything dif ferent now
from what God was doing a tho usand years ago. The truth is that you can
only com e to know God if you’re willing to be at peace in the present
moment.In th e Fourth S ecret, I discussed how meditation is a way o f making
conscious conta ct with God. He re, I would like to let you in on a sublime
secret that I learned from one of my most influential teachers: Y ou will only
come to  truly know God when you give up the past and the fu tur e in your
mind and mer ge totally into the now, because God is always her e now.
V ery few  people understand and live this principle, lar gely because of
their conditioning and unwilling ness to train their minds in present-moment
living. That’ s one of the reasons why I sometimes say that “it’ s never
crowded along the extra mile.” On the extra mile, choosing inner peace and
attracting success into your life while living in the present moment becomes
a wa y of  being. Y ou can begin by releasing your personal histor y from your
repertoire of available excuses for why you’re not living in peace.
No Longer Relying on Y our Personal History
Make an ef fort to remove all labels that you’ve placed on yourself. Labels
serve to  negate you. Y ou must ultimately live up to the label rather than
being the limitless spirit that is your true essence. Y ou’re not an American,
an Italian, or an African. Y ou’re a member of one race, the human race.
Y ou’re not a ma le or a female,  a Democrat or a Republican. Y ou are one
with the  true oneness, God. Y ou are not athletic or magical, math ematical or
literary, or any o ther label. T ranscending labels, particularly tho se that have
been placed on you by others in your past, opens you to the opportunity of
soaring in the now in any way that you desire. Y ou can be all things at any
present moment in your life.
I recommend that you find a way to transform your personal history and
remind yourself as you do that you’re transforming any and all beliefs that
you’ve u sed as labels or indicators of your limitations. Replace all that with
a kn owing that y ou’re not what you’ve done, what you’ve been, how others
have tau ght you, or what has been done to you. Y ou’re a part of the
beloved, connec ted always to your source, and therefore connected to the
unlimited power of the beloved.
Y our past history and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical
reality. D on’ t al low them to be here in your mind, muddying your presentmoments. Y our life is like a pla y with several acts. Some of the characters
who ent er have short roles to p lay, others, much lar ger. Some are villains
and others are good guys. But all of them are necessary, otherwise they
wouldn’ t be in the play. Embrace them all, and move on to the next act.T h e  S i x t h  S e c r e t
Any path is only a path, and ther e is no
affr ont to oneself or to other, in dr opping
it if that is what your heart tells you.
— Carlos Castaneda
Any man can make
mistakes, but only an
idiot persists in his err or.
— Cicero
Y o u  C a n ’ t
S o l v e  a
P r o b l e m  w i t h
t h e  S a m e
M i n d  T h a t
C r e a t e d  I t6
T h e  S i x t h  S e c r e t
Y ou Can’t Solve a
Pr oblem with the
Same Mind That
Cr eated It
Any problem can be resolved with a spiritual solution. One of the most
intriguing passages in A Course in Miracles  s ug gests that yo u don’ t have a
problem; you only think  you do. The opening lines of the T orah, as well as
Genesis in the Bible, state, “God created Heaven and Earth, ” and later,
“And all that God created was good.” If you interpret those words literally,
it’ s quite  clear that problems are impossible. If God created everything and
all that God created was good, bad does not exist. “But,” you sa y, “disease,
disharmony, des pair, and so on all appear to exist and run rampant in our
world.”
When w e feel separated from our sacred center, it’ s easy to b elieve so
strongly in the s eparation that we explain any unpleasantness as  a problem.
In the world of Spirit, or God, p roblems simply don’ t exist and aren’ t real.
When your spiritual connection is weak, you move away from the world of
Spirit, and problems come from your belief in separation. Y our mind creates
the illusion of separateness, and your body, influenced by your ego
thoughts, takes on diseases. Our  societies are the creation of our collective
thoughts. They take on the sam e separation-sickness, and the n we have
what we call social pr oblems.  All  of the so-called problem s, however,
represent a spiritual deficit that can be remedied with spiritual solutions.
Think of it this way: If you change your mind, you  will solve your problem.
(I’ve written an entire book on this subject called Ther e Is a Spiritual
Solution to Every Pr oblem  [Harper Collins, 2001].)How to Go about Changing Y our Mind
Can you accept the idea that it’ s  your belief in your separation from God
that crea tes the attitude that you label a problem? Can you explo re this idea
that what you’re calling proble ms are all simply illusions, or mistakes of
your int ellect? If God is every where, there is no place that God is not;
therefore, you have God with you at all times. Y ou may believe otherwise.
It is this belief s ystem that creates your so-called problems. If yo u can bring
truth to the presence of these illu sions, they will dissolve—just as you know
that three plus th ree equals six i s true, and that three plus three equals ten is
untrue. B y bring ing truth to the  presence of this arithmetic erro r, it simply
dissolves.
So t oo will all  of your belief s that create “problems” in y our mind
dissolve when you bring the hig her ener gy of truth to them. St. Francis of
Assisi, in his f amous prayer, beseeches us to change our mind to this
thought: “Where there is hatred let me sow love.” Light always dissolves
darkness. Love always nullifies hate. Spirit always cancels problems.
Problems exist  as beliefs of  your ego mind, which is unable to
conceptualize an awareness of  your spiritual mind, just as dark has no
concept of light.
By a ctually rewriting your agre ement with reality, you can ch ange your
mind and send away any perceived problem. Change your attitude toward
yourself, and resolve to believe in your connectedness to the higher ener gy
of God, even in the direst of circumstances. T urn anything that seems
problematic ove r to your higher self, trusting that the “problem”  is not what
it seems to be. Rewrite your agreement about who you are and what you’re
capable of achieving.
Y our New Agreement with Reality
Y our thoughts are the source of virtually everything in your life. Every
relationship that you’re in is something that you carry around with you. If
your rela tionship is lousy, it’ s because you think of it that way. The person
you’re in a relat ionship with isn’ t with you in this moment, or w hen you’reat w ork, or wh en you’re in th e bathroom, but your thoughts about that
person are always with you. The only way you can experie nce another
person is in your thoughts.
Y ou can’ t get b ehind their eyeballs and be  them. Y ou can only process
them wi th your thoughts. If you look for what’ s wrong about them and store
that negative image in your mind, then that’ s where your relationship exists.
If you change yo ur thoughts to w hat you love rather than to what you label
as w


 fifteen-year study of housewives in Oregon.
Women who stayed home all day
had a 54 percent higher death rate from cancer than women who worked away from
home.
The study concluded that the higher rate likely was a consequence of exposure
to the chemicals in household products. Dadd’s book, along with many others,
contains formulas for making your own environmentally safe household products.
A Prescription for Toxic Overload
Often, toxic exposure comes from medical and dental offices, from the very
professions that you expect would keep you healthy. Whether it is antibiotics in your
food, the drug in your inhaler, steroids on your skin, mercury in your mouth,
medicines in your stomach or fluoride in your water, the medical and dental
industries are significant sources of toxins. In fact,
medical journals acknowledge
that prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death in America (after heart
disease and cancer).
As you recall, prescription and over-the-counter drugs “work” by interfering with
normal chemical processes in cells. They are designed to suppress symptoms, but do
not cure disease. In fact, by interfering with normal cell function, prescription drugs
can cause cellular malfunction, which is the same as causing disease. Decisions
about which procedures and medicines to choose should be based on knowledge of
the toxicity involved. Every molecule you put into your body is going to have an
effect, for better or worse. Almost always, prescription and over-the-counter drugs
are for the worse.
Furthermore, physicians label many of today’s chronic diseases as being of
“unknown etiology,” a fancy way of saying “we are clueless about the cause.”
Actually, many new disease conditions can be traced back (either directly or
indirectly) to environmental toxins that bioaccumulate in tissues, contribute to toxic
overload, disrupt cell chemistry and cause disease.
The Toxic Truths Inside Your Body
Although we are accustomed to thinking about toxins in the outside world, often
we forget about the powerful toxins produced within our bodies. The body must
eliminate internal toxins to stay healthy.
Under normal, healthy conditions, the body is designed to control those toxins and
protect us against harm. Under other circumstances, however, the toxins producedinternally can be a serious problem, worse than anything from the outside world.
When these internal toxins are produced excessively or cannot be properly
detoxified, they build up in the body and cause disease. In almost any chronically ill
person, internally generated toxins play a major role.
When toxins are generated in the digestive system (intestinal toxemia), they enter
our bloodstream, and if these toxins are present in excess of the liver’s ability to
detoxify them, they damage cells all over the body. Intestinal toxemia has been
associated with AIDS, allergies, asthma, cancer, cardiac arrhythmias, arthritis, eye
problems, high blood pressure, mental problems, headaches, various gastrointestinal
conditions, senility, skin problems and other diseases. In my own disease process,
the internal toxins I was producing were, indeed, a major contributor to my own
physical and mental debilitation.
Intestinal toxemia was the “mysterious” ailment plaguing Michael, who had just
completed his junior year at Harvard and had gone off to Europe for the summer
with friends. As he was traveling around, he began to feel ill, dizzy and fatigued. He
went to see a physician in London who prescribed a drug that did not help. Michael
saw other physicians in Germany and Switzerland, but he finally returned home—
too sick to remain abroad.
A strapping twenty-one-year-old college student should be at the peak of health.
Instead, Michael was suffering from debilitating fatigue, he was lightheaded and
dizzy, and he had visual disturbances, not to mention various aches and pains. After
many thousands of dollars worth of testing (including a brain scan to check for a
brain tumor), Michael’s physicians were at a loss to explain his condition and
referred him to a psychiatrist. Desperately concerned for her son’s future and furious
with a medical system that was obviously not working, Michael’s mother looked for
other options; at that point, she called me.
As with any sick person, I knew exactly what was wrong with Michael: his cells
were malfunctioning because of a combination of deficiency and toxicity. The
question, as always: How to restore his cells to healthy function? I used the six
pathways as a guide and eventually discovered that digestive toxins—a critical
aspect of the toxin pathway—were the source of Michael’s problems.
Digestive toxins are produced in a couple of ways, notably by an abnormal growth
of bacteria or yeast in the intestines and by improperly digested food, which
putrefies in the digestive system. Intestinal toxemia creates highly poisonous toxins
as well as nutritional deficiency. When bad bacteria and yeasts overgrow, they
displace the friendly bacteria necessary for producing nutrients such as the B-
complex vitamins, vitamin B
12
and vitamin K. Friendly bacteria also help to obtain
the nutrients we need from the food we eat. Intestinal toxemia causes deficiency and
toxicity in most of us, to some degree, because of damage from antibiotics.
Michael had acne as a teenager. His dermatologist had prescribed an antibiotic(tetracycline), and Michael had taken this drug every day for years. Antibiotics were
developed to kill bacteria. The problem is that helpful bacteria in your intestines
(normal intestinal flora) are needed for good health. Years of taking antibiotics
destroyed these helpful bacteria in Michael’s digestive system. (Even one course of
antibiotics can have this effect.) This situation allowed the overgrowth of abnormal
intestinal flora and a yeast called
Candida albicans.
A yeast infection can produce toxic chemicals that absorb into the bloodstream;
also, yeast can physically invade and damage the intestinal tissue in a way that
allows other inappropriate materials (undigested food particles, toxic wastes and
yeast byproducts) to pass directly into the bloodstream. This condition floods the
body with dangerous toxins and allergens, causing food allergies and disrupting the
immune system. Some of these toxins are neurotoxic (causing damage to the brain
and the nervous system) and may produce symptoms such as fatigue, headaches,
apathy, depression, anxiety, mood swings and memory lapses. Intestinal yeast
infections also impair the absorption of nutrients, which is a separate but equally
serious problem. Disrupting the normal ecology of the gut also invites infection by
parasites, which further disrupt gut tissue.
In Michael’s case, I suspected problems with internally generated digestive
toxins, but to know for certain one must measure. I suggested to Michael that he ask
his physician to be tested for candida. (Convincing the physician to do the candida
test was not easy. Physicians do not generally look for such infections, and his
mother had to put considerable pressure on the doctor.) The test did show that
Michael had a candida infection, which he was able to get rid of through natural
methods such as taking high-quality probiotics and grapefruit seed extract and by
reducing dietary sugar (which was “feeding” the yeast problem). Michael, who had
been completely disabled by his disease throughout the summer, was able to go back
to Harvard in the fall, complete his senior year and graduate.
Problems such as Michael’s are common in America because of the excessive
antibiotics that our physicians prescribe. While the use of antibiotics is prudent and
necessary in very select cases, for the most part antibiotics unnecessarily damage the
digestive system and contribute to intestinal toxemia. This toxemia often subjects us
to far more toxicity than the original “germ” that the antibiotic was supposed to kill.
Unfortunately, almost everybody in America has taken antibiotics at some point;
these drugs are a major cause of health problems, including fatigue and allergies.
Intestinal toxemia can be provoked in other ways, by medical drugs such as non-
steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen,
ketoprofin, etc.) and oral steroids (cortisone pills, birth control pills, etc.).
Maldigestion of food (exacerbated by medical drugs or not) produces toxins
inside your body. A mostly cooked and processed food diet lacking critical enzymes
is a common contributor, as is poor chewing of food. Low-fiber diets are alsoproblematic. Whatever the cause, undigested food can rot and poison you while still
inside you. Carbohydrates ferment, fats turn rancid and proteins putrefy. The most
common symptoms are bloating, constipation, gas, halitosis, heartburn, eye
problems, neurological problems and headaches.
Keep protein consumption moderate; diets high in protein, especially cooked meat
and pasteurized dairy, overload our digestive systems. We need only 35 to 40 grams
of protein per day (more for athletes or those with large body frames), but
Americans eat an average of 90 grams of gut-putrefying protein per day. A one-
pound slab of roast beef contains more than 100 grams of protein. Large quantities
of cooked and denatured proteins, which are harder to digest, can cause an
overgrowth of a type of putrefactive bacteria that thrive when food is rotting in the
gut. These bacteria produce toxic chemicals such as indole, skatole, phenol and
hydrogen sulfide. In addition, these putrefactive bacteria displace friendly bacteria,
which are essential to good digestion and health, and the result is intestinal toxemia.
To prevent or eliminate the problems associated with intestinal toxemia:
• Avoid the use of antibiotics


atal and post-natal care as
well.
A sign by the door of Mysore-based Mohammed Khasim’ s practice. The son of
Abdul Gafar, a renowned bone specialist who treated the Maharajah of Mysore’ s
family, his skills have been handed down from father to son.Even though there are thousands of Unani doctors, more than 100 medical
colleges and a dozen major pharma ceutical companies in India, the roadside
pharmacy overflowi ng with dusty medic ine bottles, dried roots, powders and oils is
a common sight. Here, a father and son (both unqualified) prepare prescriptions in
their small shop. The boy’ s grandfather taught them all they know.Many  nattu vaidya  learned their skills from their families. This physician is no
exception. Although not formally qualified, he has practiced Ayurveda in
Trivandrum for over 50 years and has many regular patients. He makes most of
his prescriptions himself, to recipes that were handed down to him from his father.
The bonesetter :
The traditional bonesetter or orthopedic healer is another example.
In the countrysi de, such a pers on may look after the needs of the
population of 20 villages or so, walking from one destination to the
next to treat sp rains, fractures,  joint problems or muscle pain. A
group in volved in strengthening traditional systems of medi cine
called th e Lok Swasthya Param para Samvardhan Samithi (LSP SS)
in Coimbatore estimates that there are over 60,000 bone-setters
serving rural populations and, in cities, established practitio ners
may see up to 30 or 40 patients  a day. It is estimated that ove r 50
percent of people with broken bones are treated by bonesetters in
any given year.
The poison healer :Snakebite is a common occurr ence in rural India and traditional
visha vaidya  have sp ecialist knowledge. Th ey can dif ferentiate
between dif ferent snakebites, and they know which antidote works
for which type of snake. Their remedies are almost always herbal
and pr escriptions include p ur gation, antidotes and top ical
application of specific plants. The  visha vaidya  is often called on
in the case of rabid dog bites and scorpion bites too.
Less cle ar cut, but nonetheless important, are people like oil
producers, small-scale herbal m edicine manufacturers, wandering
monks with herbal knowledge, community elders who have
specialist knowledge of herbal home remedies and nutrition, martial
art masseuses, and  kannu vaidyas  or eye physicians who treat eye
complaints even to the extent o f giving cataract operations. There
are also more general herbal medicine practitioners who specialize
in su ch conditions as jaundice a nd paralysis, children’ s diseases and
dentistry.
Such people may have very particular knowledge in
marmanam  (treatment of the vital points),  agni  and  kshara
karma  (cauterization),  sodhana karma  (purification techniques)
and  rasayana  (rejuvenation th erapy) as well. According to the
Foundation for  the Revitalisation of Local Health T radit ions
(FRLHT ) wh ose mission is to revitalize these health practices in four
states in south India, there cou ld be a million such practitio ners
catering to India’ s 4,600-odd ethnic communities.
T raditionally, many of these care-givers have a relationship with
their “patients” and don’ t practice specifically for monetary gain.
Rather, t hey pla ce value on a code of ethics that includes service to
others, the transference of skill s, prayers for guidance and holistic
health ca re for all. In some cases, practitioners accept a  kanikkae  (a
kind of of fering  or a gratuity). Theirs is not a vocation; in fact, it is
more than likely that they have another job, such as farmer or
shopkeeper, as well.
Even though most of these people do not have legal status (or
only semi-legal status) as medical practitioners, they are considered
legitimate heale rs in their own right. Indeed, such or ganizations as
the  LSSPS  are keen  to tap into their specialist knowledge — some of
which is  invaria bly being lost w ith the passing of time. For a s tart,
none of it is written down: Most barefoot doctors receive their
healing knowled ge orally via p erson-to-person transmission eitherin the form of the guru-  shishya  tradition (maste r/ disciple), or
commonly from  father to son or mother to daughter. Secondly, with
rapid ind ustrialization and loss of rural land, vital herbs, plants and
trees are  being cut down in the name of “development”. Thirdly, as
India develops, a worrying trend has been recently noticed: such
people are quite often over 40 years of age, and are often not
handing down their skills to the next generation as they did in the
past.
Dr S B Nithyanandam stands in the grounds of his local Shiva temple. A Siddha
doctor, he learnt his trade from his father, but also trained at a Siddha medical
college.An example of the type of colorful billboards found all over India. This one is for a
type of hair oil that contains  amla  or Indian gooseberry.healing plants
India’ s creativ e healing systems are predominantly pla nt-
based (althoug h minerals have a role) and it is estimated that
most ho useholds rely upon locally available plant mate rial
for their pharmacopeia. Ac cording to the W orld Health
Or ganisation ( who ), between 35,000 and 70,000 plants have
been us ed for medicinal purposes globally at one time or
another — and in India tod ay at least 20,000 species are
found, 2,000 of which are ef ficacious in A yurvedic
formulations. O f these, about 600 are commonly used in oils
(tailam ), powders (choornam ), internal medications, teas
and tonics. W e list some of the most important plants from
the A yurvedic pharmacopeia.
Lawsonia inermis  Henna
Henna  (mehndi)  is commonly used as a dye and an anti-fungal. The
leaves p roduce a red-orange dye molecule that has an af finity for
bonding with protein, so has bee n used to dye skin, hair, fingernails,
leather, silk and wool since the Bronze Ages. In India it is
commonly used  as a dye on hands, feet and hair, while henna
essential oil is used as a scalp stimulator.
Centella asiatica  Asiatic pennywort
Brahmi  is a small herbaceous annual plant, the leaves of which are
reported to be u seful in abdominal disorders; a tea is made to help
with dysentery in children. Scientific reports have documented itsability to aid wound healing, being particularly helpful with
reduction of scarring, and it is also used in the treatment of leprosy,
epilepsy, cardiac debility and more.
Eclipta alba  False daisy
Bhringaraja  is an annual herb that is com monly used in the
treatment of skin diseases and as an anti-inflammatory. It is also
reported to be ef fective in blackening and strengthening the hair and
is co oling on the  head. It may also be taken as a tonic to help with
liver and spleen enlar gements.
Ocimum tenuiflorum  Holy basil
Known as holy basil,  tulsi  is an important symbol in many Hindu
religious traditi ons. It is men tioned in the  Rigveda  and the
Charaka Samhita, an d has been  recognized by the  rishis  for
thousands of years as a prime herb in A yurvedic treatment.  Tulsi
extracts are used for common colds, headaches, stomach disorders,
inflammation, heart disease, poisoning and malaria.  Tulsi  can be
taken as an herbal tea, in dried powder form, fresh or mixed with
ghee.
Adhatoda vasica  Malabar nut
Also known as the Malabar nut tree, the  vasaka  shrub has leaves
(see left) that are rich in vitamin C and carotene. Fresh or driedleaves are used to make a te a that is good for bronchial and
asthmatic troubles. Powdered leaves are used on skin infections,
and a preparation made from  vasaka  flowers is used to treat
tuberculosis.
Chrysopogon zizanoides  V etiver
Native to India, vetiver is a T amil name and old T amil literature lists
medicinal uses for the plant. Si milar to other fragrant grasses such
as lemo ngrass and citronella,  Chrysopogon zizanoides  is a
perennial grass. The root has co oling and calming properties, so is
ef fective in the treatment of bu r


  opposite  the navel  (between lumbar
2 and  3), and the Yuang Chuan  (K-1 point),  the kidney  point,  on the
soles of  your feet.
    To locate  the Ming -Men, place  a string  around  the waist like a
belt. Make  it perfectly  horizont al and place  it across  the navel.  The
Ming- Men lies w here the string  meets the spine.  When you bend
over backw ard from the waist, the point  feels like a hole  in the
spine.  (Fig.  5.30)
- 124  -Chapter  V
Ming-Men
Navel
  The Ming-Men is located o pposite the navel
between the sec ond and thir d lumbar vertebrae.
Fig. 5.30  Ming- Men Point
   Excess energ y dow n to the  Ming -Men. This dra ws the Chi and
blood  there.  The hand  can help  to induce  the Chi now. The right
hand,  like a pitcher  sends  out energ y; the left hand,  like a  catcher
receives  the energ y. In this  way the energy  can be  broug ht down
more easil y.
- 125  -Cultivating  Ovarian Power
Yung-Chuan
Fig. 5.31  Yuang Chuan (K-1) Point
    The Y uang Chuan  Point: The Yuang Chuan  point  is the  Yin-
energy  entry  point.  The Taoists regar d the soles  of the  feet as the
roots  of the  body, and the root  is important  as the  foundati on for the
work of the spirit bod y. Once y ou have  found  the points  on both
feet, tape  onto  them  spin y little balls  such  as prickl y chestnuts  or
plain  tree seed  pods.  Place both soles on  the ground  and press
firmly on the  spin y ball w hile concentrati ng on the  kidne y-1 point
(also  know n as the  bubbling  spring”).  You can help  guide  the ener gy
down to the  soles  by placing  your left palm on  the sacru m, and  the
right palm on  the top of  the head  guide  the energ y from  the crown
to the  Ming -Men, down to the sacru m, do wn to the backs  of the
knees,  and finall y to the  soles  through  the backs of  the legs.
    After  a short  time of practice  you will feel the  power flow to the
Ming- Men.  Direct  it dow n through  the spine  and backs of the  legs
to the  Yuang Chuan.  Press do wn on the balls of  the feet so that  you
feel the soles  very distinctly. In severe  cases  it may  take  a mo nth
or two to get  the power into the Ming -Men and bring  it down to the
Yuang Chuan.
    If blood  flows too strongly  to the head  during  or after  compression,
vent the po wer by practicing  the Ming- Men and Yuang Chuan
exercises  right  after  com pression.  Imbalanced  force  will flow down
the body  through  these  two points.  After practicing  the exercises,
many students  open  the Microcosmic Orbit  so that their energy
- 126  -Chapter  V
flows in a continuous  circuit,  and there  will be no need  to bring  the
energy  down throu gh the back  to the soles. Y ou can also bring  it
down the front of the  body throug h the heart  and navel,  dow n to the
perineum, and  down to the backs of  the knees  to the  soles.  This
alone  has often  ended  high  blood  pressur e.
    Ma ny benefits  of Ovarian  Breathing  are magnified when
performed  in conjunction  with the Ovarian  Com pression  exercise.
If the  ovaries  are too cold,  there  will be a reductio n in desire  for sex.
Ovarian  Com pression,  by warming  the ovaries,  will warm your heart
as well. It helps  you calm  down when sexually  over- excited  by
teaching  you to consciously  direct  energ y into and out of the  pelvic
region.  It builds  your sexual  pow er dynamicall y by using  the vital
Chi taken  from  the air and packing  its charg e into your Ching  Chi.
    Refer  to Chapter  6 for more safet y tips in performing  the
exercises  in this  chapter.
Fig. 5.32 Healing  Love  Connection
- 127  -Orgasmic Upward Draw
Chapter 6
Orgasmic Upward  Draw
A. Sexual  Energy  and Women
In ancient  times the Taoists saw men and  women  as worthy
partners  and adversa ries. Their  sexual  union  reflected  the union  of
Yin and Yang on the cosm ic level.  Their differen t appro aches  to life
and problem-solving  broug ht harmony  to the earth.
   Taoists regar d man as fire and woman  as w ater: Fire, when
started,  burns  very  fast and  does  not last long.  As we mentioned
earlier  it takes  time for water to reach  its boiling  point,  just as it
takes  time to bring  a woman  to her boiling  point.  Once  she reaches
that point,  she will maintain  it for  a long  time.
   Taoists have  describe d women  as sexuall y superior  to me n, yet
we see today  that many women  are sexuall y unhap py. Because
the response  times of me n and  women  are different,  the sexual
embrace  occurs,  many times, w ithout the full arous al of the w oman.
The vaginal  spasm s which occur  at this  arousal  level are  mistaken
as the  total  orgasm. How ever since  the w oman  has reached  only
half of her  potential  for orgas m, she repo rts feeling  let dow n,
frustrate d, alienate d, angr y, restless,  and isolated.
   To experience  the multilevel of a com plete  orgasm, a w oman
must be a ware that there  are many steps  she must cli mb, wi th
each  step  energizing  certain  parts  of the  body. The com plete
orgasm is desirable  because  it ener gizes  and brings  pleasure  to
the entire  body. Conversel y the repeate d interru ption  of orgasm at
lower levels creates  energy  imbalances,  since only some of the
organs  and glands  are stim ulated  and not the entire  body. If a man
can prolong  his erection,  he can  help  bring  the w oman  to higher
levels w ith simple movements, and  the couple  will be able  to reach
the highest  harmony  they can attain  in lovemaking.
   The Orgasmic Upw ard Draw  (more simply referre d to in this
chapter  as the  Orgas mic Dra w) exercise  taught  here  is a way to
increase  the sexual  potential  of a woma n by warming  up her sexual
region  ahea d of time to avoid  this depr essing  chain  of events.
   In all of the  basic  sexual  studies  conducted,  many parallels  have
- 128  -Chapter  VI
been  made betw een a man’s orgasm and  a woman’s  orgasm,
especially  in what is called  rhythmic pulsations, which have  been
measured  at eight- tenths  of a second.  Research  has also  found’
that when a woman’s  sexual  organs  are considere d as one
functioning  unit,  the amount of  erectile  tissue  is about  the sam e as
for a ma n. Therefor e, there  is no reason  to believe  that wome n’s
orgasms are  any less strong  or powerful than  men’s.
     The Taoist sages  noted  that throug h internal  alche my, women,
using  the same m ethod  used  by men of turning  their  aroused  sexual
energy  inward and upw ard, can transfo rm this energ y into a  pow er
which fills certain  reservoirs  in their  bodies,  eventu ally enabling
them to reach  the ultimate spiritual  acco mplish ment. The  Orgas mic
Draw  is a prepar ation  for the spiritual  practices  of Kan and  Li, which


	in	the	“now”	are	the	keys
to	positive	changes.
7.	The	point	of	power	is	always	in	the	present	moment.6
ANGER
“I	accept	all	my	emotions	with	love.”
Anger	Checklist
	I	am	afraid	of	anger.
	If	I	get	angry,	I	will	lose	control.
	I	have	no	right	to	be	angry.
	Anger	is	bad.
	When	someone	is	angry,	I	get	scared.
	It’s	not	safe	to	be	angry.
	My	parents	won’t	allow	me	to	express	anger.
	I	won’t	be	loved	if	I	get	angry.
	I	have	to	hide	my	anger.
	Stuffing	anger	makes	me	sick.
	I	have	never	been	angry.
	If	I	get	angry,	I	will	hurt	someone.
D
o	you	recognize	any	of	these	feelings?	Anger	may	be	one	of	your	big
barriers.
Anger	is	a	natural	and	normal	emotion.	Babies	get	furious,	express	their
fury	and	then	it’s	over.	Many	of	us	have	learned	that	it’s	not	nice,	or	polite,	or
acceptable	for	us	to	be	angry.	We	learn	to	swallow	our	angry	feelings.	Theysettle	in	our	bodies,	in	the	joints	and	muscles.	They	accumulate	and	become
resentment.	Layer	upon	layer	of	buried	anger	turned	into	resentment	can
contribute	to	dis-eases	like	arthritis,	assorted	pains,	and	even	cancer.
We	need	to	acknowledge	all	our	feelings,	including	anger,	and	find	positive
ways	to	express	these	feelings.	We	don’t	have	to	hit	people	or	dump	on	them,
yet	we	can	say	simply	and	clearly,	“This	makes	me	angry.”	Or	“I	am	angry	at
what	you	did.”	If	it	is	not	appropriate	to	say	this,	we	still	have	many	options:
we	can	scream	into	a	pillow.	Beat	the	bed.	Kick	pillows.	Run.	Yell	in	the	car
with	the	windows	rolled	up.	Play	tennis.	These	are	all	healthy	outlets.
1.	What	was	the	pattern	of	anger	in	your	family?
2.	What	did	your	father	do	with	his	anger?
3.	What	did	your	mother	do	with	her	anger?
4.	What	did	your	brothers	or	sisters	do	with	their	anger?5.	Was	there	a	family	scapegoat?
6.	What	did	you	do	with	your	anger	as	a	child?
7.	Did	you	express	your	anger	or	did	you	stuff	it?
8.	What	method	did	you	use	to	hold	it	in?
9.	Were	you:an	overeater?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
	Yes
	N0
always	sick?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Yes
	N0
accident	prone?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Yes
	N0
getting	into	fights?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Yes
	N0
a	poor	student?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Yes
	N0
crying	all	of	the	time?	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Yes
	N0
10.	How	do	you	handle	your	anger	now?
11.	Do	you	see	a	family	pattern?
12.	Which	family	member	are	you	like	when	it	comes	to	expressing
anger?
13.	Do	you	have	a	“right”	to	be	angry?
14.	Why	not?	Who	said	so?
15.	Can	you	give	yourself	permission	to	express	all	your	feelings	in
appropriate	ways?
A	quick	and	simple	thing	to	do	when	you	are	overwhelmed	with	your
feelings	is	to	jump	up	and	down	several	times	saying	in	a	loud	voice,	“Yes!
No!	Get	off	my	back!	Yes!	No!	Get	off	my	back!”	Try	it.	It	works	wonders	for
a	quick	release.
If	you	have	a	lot	of	buried	anger,	you	may	be	a	person	who	walks	around
being	angry	all	the	time.	The	anger	is	smoldering	just	under	the	surface.	The
smallest	thing	will	set	it	off.	You	may	not	express	this	anger,	but	you	will
mutter	under	your	breath	and	have	lots	of	resentful,	judgmental	thoughts.	You
may	be	a	person	who	criticizes	everyone	around	you.	And	if	you	do,	you
certainly	will	criticize	yourself,	too.	So	you	may	ask	yourself:
1.	What	do	I	get	from	being	angry	all	the	time?2.	What	happens	if	I	let	go	of	my	anger?
3.	Am	I	willing	to	forgive	and	be	free?
EXERCISE:
Write	a	Letter
Think	of	someone	who	you	are	still	angry	with.	Perhaps	it
	is
an	old
anger.	Write	this	person	a	letter.	Tell	them	all	your	grievances	and	how	you
feel.	Don’t	hold	back.	Really	express	yourself.	Use	additional	paper
	if
you
need	it.When	you	have	finished	the	letter,	read	it	once.	Then	fold	it	and	on	the
outside	write:	“What	I	really	want	is	your	love	and	approval.”	Then	burn	the
letter	and	release	it.
MIRROR	WORK
Take	another	person,	or	the	same	person,	you	are	angry	with.	Sit	down	in
front	of	a	mirror.	Be	sure	to	have	some	tissues	nearby.	Look	into	your	own
eyes	and	see	the	other	person.	Tell	them	what	you	are	so	angry	about.
When	you	are	finished,	tell	them,	“What	I	really	want	is	your	love	and
approval.”	We	are	all	seeking	love	and	approval.	That’s	what	we	want	from
everyone,	and	that’s	what	everyone	wants	from	us.	Love	and	approval	brings
harmony	into	our	lives.
In	order	to	be	free,	we	need	to	release	the	old	ties	that	bind	us.	So	once
again	look	into	the	mirror	and


 to oxidize (the same process that turns fat rancid), cells readily
absorb it. Like sharks roaming the cell, free radicals will attack almost any
molecule; the extent of the damage they do is so wide that the free-radical
theory of aging has grown in popularity with each passing decade.
Free radicals provide an excellent example of entropy at work, for the
changes they produce tend to be one way, irreversible, and permanent.Wrinkled skin is less orderly than unwrinkled skin, and normally it does not
repair itself. Likewise, when you break a dish, the damage to the plate is
irreversible. This is because entropy follows the arrow of time. Once
something orderly breaks apart, the dispersed matter and energy won’ t
automatically come back together again. The future holds only more
disorder: The bits of broken crockery will eventually get broken into
smaller bits, and the aging skin will eventually wither and die.
Paradoxically, free radicals are necessary to life. Chemically the body’ s
free radicals are mostly unstable variations of the oxygen atom (hydrogen
peroxide and hydroxyl are two common examples) that vary from their
stable parent by having an extra  electric charge in the outer electron shell.
This apparently minor change makes free radicals want to bind instantly
with nearby molecules in order to offset the extra charge and become stable.
Thus a free radical is really a temporary stopping-point leading from one
stable molecule to another. The normal life span of such unstable particles
can be measured in thousandths of a second; millions of these fleeting
molecules are emitted in every cell as it processes life-giving oxygen
through the metabolism of food.
If free radicals are so pernicious, why does the body produce them? Far
from being loose bullets careening around the cell, free radicals  fit into the
body’ s overall balance. In some instances, they are extremely good to have:
white cells in the immune system use free radicals to bond with invading
bacteria and viruses and kill these invaders. In that role, the free radical’ s
tendency to latch onto anything in sight saves your life.
To protect itself from damage, every cell produces enzymes to degrade,
neutralize, and detoxify free radicals. These “free-radical scavengers”
include various antioxidants (such as superoxide dismutase and catalase)
that can bond to highly reactive oxygen ions and render them harmless
before they attack a vulnerable molecule. Once again, the balance of
creation and destruction is the real issue, not the molecules or the chemical
reactions involv ed. At the very origin of life, with the appearance of simple
bacteria, Nature had already figured out how to counter free radicals by
generating antioxidant enzymes. If this provision hadn’ t been  made, the
oxygen in our atmosphere could easily have destroyed the chances of lifeon Earth ; instead, thanks to the cellular intelligence that pushes against
entropy, oxygen made life possible.
Millions of people have become acquainted with the free-radical theory
of aging thanks to the success of the 1983 book Life Extension  by Durk
Pearson and Sandy Shaw. The premise of their approach is that free radicals
are the body’ s enemy, and readers are therefore urged to dose themselves
with a wide variety of antioxidants. However, the eminent Japanese medical
investigator Dr. Yukie Niwa, himself a staunch proponent of the free-radical
theory, has demo nstrated in the laboratory that dosing a culture of cells with
antioxidants usually does little to decrease free-radical productio n. It would
be still less effective for a person to swallow these antioxidants. Many
would be nullified by digestive juices in the mouth, stomach, and intestines
long before they got to the cells they were meant to protect.
Even so, life extenders swallow all manner of antioxidants in the form of
vitamins, food additives, and prescription drugs. Among the most touted are
vitamins C and E (two substances Dr. Niwa found particularly unsuccessful
when he applied them to test-tube cells). Ironically, life extenders tend to be
highly health-co nscious people, the sort who used to believe that food
additives should be banned from bread, crackers, cookies, cereals, and other
processed foods. Now, to follo w the dictates of life extensio n, the same
people find themselves taking food preservatives such as BHT and BHA in
massive amount s compared to the few parts per million neede d to keep a
loaf of bread from going stale on the grocery shelf.
More exotic prescription drugs with antioxidant properties  include
Hyder gine, L-dopa, and bromocriptine, none of which was originally
intended to be taken for antiaging purposes. Each of these is a potent drug
rife with side effects; each can cause permanent damage if taken in
overdoses or for too long. The life-extension pharmacy hardly stops there.
Throw in some  other favorite antiaging supplements—beta carotene, the
whole vitamin B complex, zinc, and selenium—and you are supposed to
have armed yourself with the best, scientifically validated defense against
the body’ s self-destruction through free radicals.
But why should we believe that the body is self-destructive to begin
with? The whole life-extension enterprise, I believe, misses the point. The
damage caused by free radicals  is secondary, not causal, just as the bulletfired from a gun cannot take responsibility for pulling the trigger. In its
normal state, the body controls free radicals as a matter of course.
Your body is not blindly fighti ng for its life against “bad” chemicals;
such a notion is far too simplistic. If you could view a cell as it produces its
myriad free radicals and myriad antioxidants at the same time,  you would
see the two floating around in the same environment, not like loose cannons
on the deck but closely monitored and controlled by DNA ’s superlative
intelligence. Both are kept in balance and used as they need to be. The main
reason why free radicals hold such a strong appeal for scientists is that they
are things;  they fill our need for physica l objects that can be weighed,
measured, labeled.
There is no denying that free-ra dical damage occurs and is suspiciously
linked with aging, along with cancer and heart disease, the two leading
causes of death. Yet it has not been shown that older people necessarily
have higher levels of free radicals in their cells or lower levels of
antioxidants. What I’d like to suggest is that free-radical damag e is but one
type of imbalance that can occur at the level of cellular intelligence when
the balance tips toward entropy. If the body’ s intelligence is at full strength,
disorder and chaos do not attack a cell. The basic tenet of life extension—
preventing free-radical damage before it occurs—is sound. To do that,
however, we need to understa nd how to influence a cell’s intelligence
directly.
Exercise: Working Against Entropy
One of the simp lest ways to prevent entropy is to give the body  something
to do. In physics, entropy is opposed by work, which is defined as the
orderly applicati on of energy. Without work, energy simply dissipates. We
have already seen that mental and physical neglect (the “disuse syndrome”)
promotes prema ture aging. No group is at higher risk for depression,
disease, and early death than people who are completely sedentary, and by
now the value of regular exercise for all age groups has been well
documented. Physiologists used to believe that exercise primarily benefitsus at young ages, when muscl es are in their prime developm ental stage.
However, research with the elderly has conclusively demonstrated that
someone who takes up exercise at any age, including centenarians, will
receive the same increase in strength, stamina, and muscle mass. (This is
true for both men and women, by the way; in the past most exercise
research was conducted on men, but now it has been established that
women need to be just as active at every age.)
One special advantage exercise delivers is that it can reverse the previous
effects of entropy. Researcher s at Tufts University, where the federal
government sponsors a major center for the study of human aging, have
demonstrated that the major symptoms of biological aging can be improved
through increased activity (the ef fect is boosted with secondary emphasis on
improved diet). Two Tufts scien tists, William Evans and Brian Rosenber g,
have outlined these findings in their book Biomarkers.  The title refers to the
ten markers for age that are now considered reversible:
Lean body (muscle) mass
Strength
Basal metabolic rate
Body fat
Aerobic capacity
Blood pressure
Blood-sugar tolerance
Cholesterol/HDL ratio
Bone density
Body temperature regulation
These markers typically grow  worse as people age. There  are many
variations from  individual to individual; yet before the Tufts findings
emer ged, normal aging was defined to include the following:
  1.  Muscle mass.  The average American loses 6.6 pounds of muscle
with each decade after young adulthood; the rate of loss increases
after age 45.  2.  Strength.  Older people are less strong because bundles of
muscles and motor nerves (called “motor units”) have been
deteriorating. Between the ages of 30 and 70, the average person
loses 20 percent of the motor units in the thighs,


thecom-
plaints)arebetterforsittingdownandlettingthe
limbshangdown(notsittingcrosslegged).Thesweat-
ingmaybeprofuseandoccursonclosingtheeyes
(anotherstrangesymptom)aswellasduringsleep.
EMOTIONAL/MENTAL SYMPTOMS
Anxious.Depressed.Memoryweak.Sensitiveto
noise.Slow.
Thesearemelancholicpeoplewhosebrainsseizeup
afteraperiodofmentalstrain.Theycan'tread,and
theymaysitlookingvacant,feelinganxiousandnot
wantingtowork.Theyareeasilystartledbynoise,
andtheireyesaresensitivetolight(althoughnot
inflamed).Womenfeelworse,physicallyandemo-
tionally,beforetheirperiods,whentheyfinditmore
difficulttoconcentrateandwhenthevfeelgenerally
miserable.thepersonhastosituptocough.Heorsheisunableto
coughoutthemucus;itisswallowed,andthenthe
personhastoliedowntorest.Thecoughisexhausting
andisoftenaccompaniedbyafever.
Dizzy
SymptomsWithturningsensation.
Worseformovingorturningtheheadquickly;for
lyingdown.
Thepersonfeelsasifheorsheisturninginacircle,
andcannotwatchmovingobjects.Betterwhenquite
stillwitheyesclosed.
Exhaustion
Withtrembling;numbness.
Betterforfreshair.
Worseforslightestexertion;afterstool;forwalking.
Injuries
SymptomsInjuries:ofbreasts;oftesticles;stonyhard
lumps,sensitive,swollen,cold,inflamed.
Injuredpartsbecomelumpyandpainfulandfeel
stonyhard.Afterabangorabruisethereistingling
withstitchingpains.
Insomnia
SymptomsSleepiessbeforemidnight.Withnight-
mares.
Periodproblems
SymptomsBreasts:lumpy;stitchingpains.With
exhaustion(seeabove).
Worsebeforemenstrualperiod.
Thebreastsfeelheavy,andswellbeforeaperiod.
Thetypicalemotionalmentalsymptomswillalsobe
present.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Breastfeedingproblems
SymptomsBreastlumpsworseinrightbreast.
Thesebreastlumpsarenotnecessarilypainful.
Cough
SymptomsCough:dry;irritating;tickling;violent;
mustsitupassoonascoughstarts.Expectoration:
difficult;mustswallowwhatcomesup.
Worselyingdowninbed;intheevenings;fordeep
breathing;duringfever.
Thecoughiscausedbyadry,ticklingspotinthe
larynx;itstartsonfirstlyingdown(dayornight)andCuprummetallicum (Cupr.)
Commonname:copper
Copperisareddish-brown metallicelementthatis
minedinmanycountriesthroughouttheworld.Itisa
malleablemetal,andwasthefirstmetalusedtomake
toolsandweapons.Thoughitisverysoftonitsown,it
canbehardenedbybeingmixedwithothermetals
(withtintomakebronzeandwithzinctomakebrass,
forexample).Copperisaverygoodconductorofheat
andelectricity,anditisusedtomakeelectricwiresand
cablesandwaterpipes.Itisalsousedinagreatvariety
ofpigmentsforartists'powders,andwascommonlv
84•Dioscorea(Dios.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
usedbydoctorsandvetsatonetimeinointmentsfor
wounds.
Copper'spoisonousqualitieswerefirstnotedin
coppersmiths,whenworkerssufferedfromchronic
poisoning,withcolic,diarrhoea,cough,anddifficulty
withassimilationoffoodbeingthemainsymptoms.
Acutepoisoning israre,withsymptomsofviolent
stomachcramps,vomiting,paleface,icy-coldextrem-
ities,restlessnessatnightandviolentheadache. Ifthe
sufferersurvivesthenliverdiseasealwaysfollows.
Thehomeopathicpreparation ismadefromthe
trituratedpuremetal.
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Extremitiescold.Face:blue;pale.Lipsblue.Taste:
sweet.Painscramping.
Betterforcolddrinks.
Worsefortouch;forvomiting.
CrampsareanimportantpartoftheCuprumpicture;
themusclesfeelknottedup.Thetirednessisfrom
mentalexhaustionorsometimesfromlossofsleep,
andtheheadachesandcrampsmaywellfollowa
periodofheavywork.Cuprumtypeslookpaleand
drawnandhavebluishlips.
EMOTIONAL/MENTAL SYMPTOMS
Restlessatnightinbed.
Thisremedydoesnothaveastrong'character'; its
generalsymptomsandspecificcomplaintswilllead
youtoprescribe it.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Colic
SymptomsPains:cramping;violent.Withnausea;
VOMITING.
Thebellyissore,bruised,tenderandhot.
Convulsions
Causesteethingchildren;vexation.
Theseconvulsionsareaccompaniedbybluelipsand
coldhandsandfeet(seecough).
Seekprofessionaladviceimmediately.
Cough
SymptomsBreathing: difficult;fast.Cough:inlong
fitsatirregularintervals;uninterrupted; suffocative;
violent;whooping.
Betterforsipsofcoldwater.
Althoughdrinkingcoldwaterhelpsthecough(likeCausticum)coldaircanaggravate it.Theremaybea
metallictasteinthemouth.Duringacoughing fitthe
childloseshisbreathandthengoesstiff,andthenmay
gointoaconvulsionwithfingersandtoestwitching.
Betweenthecoughingfitsthebreathingishurriedand
panting.Thisisaveryseriouscoughandisfrightening
forparents-professionalhelpshouldalwaysbe
soughtimmediately.Meanwhile,Cuprumwillgive
reliefifprescribedatthistime;theneedforother
medicationmaythenbeavoided.
Cramp
SymptomsCramp:incalves;feet;legs.
Causeschildbirth.
Exhaustion
SymptomsHeadachebetweentheeyes.
Causeslossofsleep;mentalexhaustion.
Dioscorea (Dios.)
Familyname:Dioscoreaceae
Othernames:devil'sbones;dioscoreavillosa,wild
yam,colicroot
Dioscoreaisaperennialcreeperorvinethatgrowswild
inhedgesandentwinedaroundtreesandother
objectsinthesouthernStatesofNorthAmerica.Ithas
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Droserarotundifolia(Dros.)•85
longbeenrespectedasaneffectivecureofcertain
typesofbiliouscolic.
Thehomeopathicpreparation ismadefromthe
plant'slong,knottedroot,whichisgatheredin
Septemberandchoppedandpoundedtoapulp.This
ismixedwithalcoholandlefttostandforeightdaysin
adark,coolplacebeforebeingstrainedandsuccussed.
GENERALANDEMOTIONAL/
MENTALSYMPTOMS
Dioscorcaisasmallremedythathasnogreatgeneralor
emotional/mental symptoms,butitissuchanim-
portantcolicremedy,especiallyinbabies,thatIhave
included ithere.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Colic
SymptomsInbabies.Belly:rumbling;windy.Pains:
cramping;cutting;griping;aroundthenavel;twisting.
Betterforbendingback;forstretchingout.
Worseforbendingforward;duringthemorning.
Infantsarchbackandscream(theoppositeofthe
Colocyiithispicturewithitsdrawingupoflegs).They
haverumblv,windyturnsanddonotwanttoliedown
butarebetterforbeingheldupright.
Droserarotundifolia (Dros.)
Familyname:Droseraceae
Othernames:dewplant;round-leavedsundew,
moor-grass;redrot;youthwort;roseedusoleil
Droserarotundifolia isasmallperennialcarnivorous
plantthatgrowsclosetothegroundonmossy,turfy,
marshygroundthroughoutBritain,northernEurope,
northernAsiaandNorthAmerica. ItflowersinJuly
andAugustbuttheflowersthemselvesareopenonly
inthemornings-theyclosewhenthesunisatits
height.Theleavesareinterestingfortheircurious
abilitytotrapinsects;theiruppersurfacesarecovered
withlongredhairswithglandsthatsecreteafluidto
helptraptheinsectandthen'digest'it.Thesesecre-
tionsshineinthesunlightandlooklikedewdrops,
henceitsnickname.
Droserawasusedbyphysiciansofthesixteenth
centuryfortreatingtuberculosisbuttheherbalist
Ger


 not launch, to those, superior universes?
Swiftly I shrivel at the thought of God,
At nature and its wonders, Time and Space and Death,
But that I, turning, call to thee O soul, thou actual Me,
Thou matest Time, smilest content at Death,
And fillest, swellest full the vastness of Space.
The key phrase in this passage, for me, is “... thou actual Mex
And so it is with you, no different than Walt Whitman or anyone
else in the universe.
This concludes the fourth principle of spiritual manifestation. A
summary of this principle tells us that there is an intelligence and a
power in all of nature that is creative and responsive. This intelli-
gence is amenable to suggestion from us.
69
WAYNE W. DYER
You are a part of nature and of this intelligence that is greater than
any single individual. The individual you are is also a particularized
form of this intelligence. This infinite power is in all things and all
space, and it will manifest from the spiritual or formless energy that
is in the unseen world into the world of form and boundaries.
When we know this beyond a doubt, and put it into practice in
our lives, we will see the pictures of our hearts’ desires transformed
into our outer reality. The fifth principle explains the importance of
our feeling absolutely worthy of receiving these gifts.
70
HONORING YOUR WORTHINESS TO RECEIVE
The Fifth Principle
n order to become a manifester, literally taking part in the
process of co-creating your life and attracting to yourself the objects
of your heart’s desires, you must know that you are worthy of receiv-
ing. This will mean examining the attitudes that you knowingly and
unknowingly hold about your life. Your thoughts, which are the
architects of the foundation of your material world, are what you
want to examine.
Manifesting involves using the power of your inner world to craft a
fuller relationship with life and attract to you what you desire. You
can remind yourself all day long that the same power that brought
anything into the physical world also brought you, but if you do not
71
WAYNE W. DYER
feel worthy, you will disrupt the natural flow of energy into your life
and create a blockage that makes manifestation impossible.
The fifth principle reminds you that you are worthy of abundance.
If your thoughts are based on an image of unworthiness for any rea-
son at all, you will manifest what those thoughts impart to the uni-
versal mind. The energy described in the fourth principle will align
with what it is that you radiate. “As a man thinks, so is he,” are not
empty words. They state a basic truth of how the universe works.
Thinking that abundance is incompatible with spirituality is a
myth that influences many of us and is the largest impediment there
is to feeling worthy.
SELFISH?
The myth that abundance and spirituality are incompatible is
fueled by thoughts that it is selfish and improper to visualize and
desire material things. Let’s examine this attitude and determine if
you have been influenced into believing it to be your truth.
Take a look around your world and notice the abundance and end-
lessness of our universe. It goes on and on, beyond our ability to
imagine its vastness. This abundance flows from the same energy that
comprises our fundamental essence. It is you. You are it. Make no
mistake about it.
Material form is how spirit makes itself known to us while we are
in form ourselves. Spirit manifests in trees, oceans, fish, birds, min-
erals, vegetables, flowers and you. All that you see around you is a
part of the material manifestation of spirit. Matter is not an illusion,
or something that ought not to be, but is the necessary means
through which spirit differentiates itself on this plane of existence.
To feel that it is selfish or non-spiritual to desire and manifest is to
divide the world of spirit and the world of matter into polar oppo-
sites. When we adopt an attitude of spirit being incompatible with
matter, we are denying the spirit that is in matter as its originating
72
Manifest Your Destiny
energy. We also deny the validity of ourselves as spiritual beings.
There is no reason to feel ashamed of wanting things to come into
your life. It is far better to have an attitude of deserving whatever
shows up in your life and to be willing to participate in the dance of
creation as a co-creator. When we shift to seeing that together they
comprise one harmonious whole, we remove the stigma of selfish-
ness. Just as each of us is one harmonious whole comprised of spirit
and matter, so, too, is the entire universe.
The process of life taking form is a mystery. That mystery is gov-
erned by a creative energy that is knowable when we genuinely feel
worthy of receiving its blessings in form. Abundance is the way of the
creative force in the universe. You are entitled to have abundance in
your life, and to radiate prosperity to all that you encounter in your
world. Nothing is gained by making yourself small and insignificant
other than to manifest smallness and insignificance in your life.
To facilitate an attitude of deserving abundance, it will be helpful
to examine what you want to change in order to cultivate this know-
ing at the cellular level of your being.
THE CORE COMPONENTS OF WORTHINESS
Everything that you need to master in order to make this fifth
principle a working model in your life is available as a mental activity.
You do not need to go out into the world and conquer it in any way.
It is simply a matter of changing your mind about your basic worthi-
ness to receive all of God’s blessings, be they material or otherwise.
There has been a lot of effort put into conditioning us to feel
unworthy of having all that life has to offer. Most of us have accepted
a lot of the stuff that egos have thrown our way, beginning with our
arrival as infants. Certainly there is nothing wrong with an attitude of
poverty and asceticism. If this is your path, you know it deep within
syourself and you know that God appears in all things material and
nonmaterial. Spirit cannot be divided into better or worse, depend-
73
WAYNE W. DYER
ing on which of God’s creations you opt to have or not have in your
life.
Feeling worthy of any blessings or desires is a feature of your inner
life. To remove the stigma of materialistic selfishness you may need to
rearrange your inner perceptions. Here are the major perceptions of
beings who know they are worthy and deserving of all of God’s bless-
ing.
74 My self-esteem comes from myself. This person’s statement of his or
her inner perception might be something like the following: “As
a child of God, my worthiness is a given. I am not divided into
spirit and body, rather, I am a part of the all-knowing creation
called God itself. I am a human expressing God without reserva-
tion or restraint.”
One of the reasons children are often able to express genius is
because they have not yet been hypnotized by the idea of being
limited. If they are able to resist this hypnotic spell, they remain
geniuses and are able to express their unlimited selves through-
out their lives on earth.
Too often the ideas of other egos are what constitute our
impressions of ourselves as unworthy. We listen to the admoni-
tions of others who have low self-regard, and who are attempting
to exert influence and power over us. We then take on the exter-
nal validations of our unworthiness and begin to see ourselves as
some significant others would have us believe we are. It is
beyond the scope of most young children to resist these ideas.
But, as adults, we can look back at this hypnosis and free our-
selves from its absurdity.
You must know within that you are a part of the light that
lighteth every man. You are evidence of the existence of God,
and in your own particularized individuality, you have God
within you. Therefore, you must be able to say with conviction,
Manifest Your Destiny
“God is me, and I am God.” It is this truth that will free you
from your feelings of unworthiness to attract to yourself all that
you desire.
Think of your own desires to manifest as having been placed
there by spirit, and that those desires, which are housed in love
and service, are precisely what God wants to give you, and that
your desire is the direct path to receiving those blessings. Let go
of the idea that desire is selfishness and remind yourself that if
you had no desires ever, you would still be living an infantile
existence with toys in a sandbox.
Whenever you feel unworthy of having your manifestations
arrive, remind yourself that no one is unworthy and that the
same divine energy that flows through you flows through all of
God’s children and that all are worthy. This includes you.
Your desires are the very tools that allow you to grow and
experience the perfection of the universe. They take you beyond
any limitations that you might have embraced and lead you to a
higher spiritual awareness. Even the idea of achieving enlighten-
ment and mastery is


 also extensively cultivated for its
seed oil.
Parts Used  Aerial parts, flowers, seed oil.
Constituents  Borage contains mucilage,
tannins, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which in
isolation are toxic to the liver. The seeds contain
up to 24% gamma-linolenic acid.in a poultice, or as an infusion. The flowers
encourage sweating and the leaves are diuretic.
The seed oil is particularly rich in polyunsaturated
fats, and is superior in this respect to evening
primrose oil ( Oenothera biennis, p. 241). Borage
seed oil is used to treat premenstrual complaints,
rheumatic problems, eczema, and other chronic
skin conditions.
Cautions  Due to the presence of toxic
pyrrolizidine alkaloids, there is uncertainty over
borage’s safety as a medicine. It is subject to legal
restrictions in some countries and should not be
taken internally. These restrictions and cautions
do not apply to borage seed oil.
Borage’s attractive blue
flowers are traditionally
used to decorate salads.
History & Folklore  The herbalist John Gerard,
writing in 1597, extols borage’s virtues, “A syrup
made of the flowers of borage comforteth
the heart, purgeth melancholy, and quieteth
the phreneticke or lunaticke person.” Gerard
also quotes the old saying, “I, Borage, bring
always courage.”
Medicinal Actions & Uses With its high
mucilage content, borage is a demulcent herb
and soothes respiratory problems. Its emollient
qualities make it helpful for sore and inflamed
skin—prepared either as freshly squeezed juice,
US_158-179_Abies_balsa_Boswe_serratta.indd   179 26/02/16   12:47 pm
180Brassica oleracea
Brassica oleracea (Brassicaceae)
Cabbage
Description  Biennial or perennial herb growing
to 8 ft (2.5 m). Has a thick stem, grey leaves, and
4-petaled yellow flowers. Within the first year,
it produces a greatly enlarged terminal bud
that develops into the familiar cabbage head
in late summer.
Habitat & Cultivation  Wild cabbage is
native to coasts of the English Channel and the Mediterranean. Cultivated varieties are produced worldwide as a vegetable.
Parts Used  Leaves.
Constituents  Cabbage is rich in vitamins A, B1,
B2, and C.
History & Folklore  The wholesome cabbage
is one of the oldest vegetables. According to Greek
myth, the plant sprang into existence from the perspiration of Zeus. In a Greek ritual, cabbage was given to expectant mothers shortly before birth in
order to establish good breast-milk
production. The Romans used
cabbage as an antidote,
especially to alcohol, believing
it countered intoxication
and prevented or reduced a
hangover. They also used cabbage
leaves to cleanse infected wounds. It is thought to have been cultivated
in Britain from around 500 ce.
One traditional method of making a cabbage poultice, still used today, is to cut out the thick midrib of a leaf and iron it, placing it while still hot on the area to be treated.
Medicinal Actions & Uses  Cabbage’s best-
known medicinal use is as a poultice—the leaves
of the wild or cultivated plant are blanched, crushed,
or chopped, and applied to swellings, tumors, and painful joints. Wild cabbage leaves eaten raw or cooked aid digestion and the breakdown of toxins in the liver—so the Romans’ eating it to ease a hangover was in fact quite justified. Cabbage is also detoxifying and helpful in the long-term treatment of arthritis. The high vitamin C content of cabbage has made it useful in the prevention of scurvy.
Caution  A cabbage poultice may cause blisters
if left on for several hours.
Bryonia dioica syn. B. cretica
subsp. dioica (Cucurbitaceae)
White Bryony
Description  Perennial climbing vine with fleshy
taproot up to 6 in (15 cm) thick. Straggling stem
with tendrils, greenish flowers, and red berries.
Habitat & Cultivation  White bryony is native to southern England and parts of Europe. The root
is dug up in autumn.
Part Used  Root.
Constituents  White bryony contains
cucurbitacins, glycosides, volatile oil, and tannins. The cucurbitacins kill cells and so act on tumors.
History & Folklore From prehistory to
the Middle Ages, the thick roots of white bryony were cut into a human shape as a substitute (or
a counterfeit) for mandrake root (Mandragora officinarum, p. 232), which was believed to afford magical protection. The Greek physician Dioscorides (1st century ce) reports that the leaves, fruit, and root of white bryony were applied to gangrenous wounds. In medieval England, the plant was used to treat leprosy.o t h e r  m e d i c i n a l  p l a n t sRelated Species  B. alba is used in homeopathic
medicine. Black bryony (Tamus communis) is an unrelated plant with approximately similar uses.
 RQ Cautions  Bryony is a toxic plant. Use
only under professional supervision. Do not take during pregnancy.
Butea monosperma (Fabaceae)
Palas,
Flame of the Forest,
Bengal Kino
Description  Deciduous tree growing to 49 ft
(15 m). Has 3-lobed leaves and large orange-red
flowers in clusters.
Habitat & Cultivation  Palas is native to India
and Southeast Asia. It grows in forests and in open areas to altitudes of 3,900 ft (1,200 m).
Parts Used  Bark, flowers, leaves, gum, and seeds.
Constituents  All parts of the tree except the
seeds contain tannins.
Medicinal Actions & Uses  The gum that
oozes from incisions made in palas bark is known as Bengal kino. Mildly astringent, it is used as a substitute for the kino derived from bastard teak (Pterocarpus marsupium). Bengal kino is taken as  a decoction or a tincture for acid indigestion, diarrhea, and dysentery, and used as a gargle for sore throats and as a douche for vaginitis. Early research suggests that the leaves and bark have  the potential to treat diabetes, and that the leaves exert a beneficial action on diarrhea.
Caution  Do not take during pregnancy.Cabbage
White bryony has
antitumor and antirheumatic properties.
Medicinal Actions & Uses  A powerful
cathartic and purgative, bryony is used with great
caution in herbal medicine today. It is principally prescribed for painful rheumatic conditions. It may be taken internally, or applied as a counterirritant, causing swelling and increased blood flow to  the area. White bryony is also given for other inflammatory conditions such as duodenal ulcers, asthma, bronchitis, and pleurisy, and may be used  to reduce high blood pressure. The whole herb has antiviral activity and research is now suggesting that it acts as an adaptogen—helping the body to adapt more effectively to stress and strain.caesalpinia bonduc
(Caesalpiniaceae)
Nikkar Nut
Description  Thorny bush growing to 30 ft (9 m),
with spiny compound leaves, yellow flowers in
dense clusters, and prickly pods containing yellow seeds (nuts).
Habitat & Cultivation  Nikkar nut is pan-
tropical, common in both tropical Asia and Africa. Its seeds are gathered when ripe.
Parts Used  Seeds.
Constituents  The seeds contain isoflavonoids,
diterpenes, a bitter principle, and a fixed oil (20%) rich in linoleic acid (68%).
Medicinal Actions & Uses  Nikkar seeds are
used to treat fevers and are taken as a tonic and aphrodisiac. In India, they are often mixed with black pepper (Piper nigrum, p. 250) for medicinal use. The seeds are also taken for inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Roasted nikkar seeds are used in the treatment of diabetes.
US_180-201_Brassica_dictamnus.indd   180 26/02/16   12:47 pm181Camellia sinensis
o
th
er m
ed
icin
al plan
tsRelated Species  A decoction of the bark of
the Caribbean C. bahamensis  is used for liver and
kidney infections, and a decoction of the wood
is used for diabetes. An infusion of the leaves of
C. pulcherrima  (native to Asia and Africa) is taken
for liver problems and mouth ulcers.
Calamintha ascendens
syn. C. sylvatica, C. officinalis
(Lamiaceae)
Calamint
Description  Mint-scented perennial growing
to 2 ft (60 cm). Has hairy oval leaves, and purple
flowers in late


holism 29, 30, 34, 37
see also  Ayurvedic medicine
hollyhock 165, 221
holy basil 37, 116, 286
holy thistle 137, 191
holy weed (yerba santa) 205
homeopathy 80
homeostasis 12
honeysuckle 229–30
hong hua (safflower) 42, 183
hoodia 220
Hoodia, H. currori  44
H. gordonii 220
hops 16, 33, 104
Hordeum vulgare  220–21
hormonally active herbs, action of 13
horse chestnut 15, 58
horsemint 236
horseradish 171–72
horsetail 13, 16, 136, 205
hot flashes 316
hou po  40, 232
houseleek 269
huai niu xi  (chaff flower) 159
huang bai  247
huang lian  43, 195
huang qi (astragalus) 68
huang quin (Baical skullcap) 134
Humulus lupulus 16, 33, 104
Hungarian pepper 74
huo ma ren (marijuana) 182
huo xiang 42, 161
Hydrangea aborescens  221
Hydrastis canadensis  27, 47, 49, 51,
105, 178
Hydrocotyle vulgaris  76
Hygrophila, H. guayensis  221
H. spinosa 221
Hyoscyamus, H. muticus  222
H. niger 69, 221–22
hyperactivity 308
Hypericum perforatum  30, 31, 32, 51, 79,
106, 286, 298
hyssop 33, 222
Hyssopus officinalis  33, 222
I
Ibn Cordoba 21
Ibn El Beitar 44
iboga 44–45
Iceland moss 186
Ilex, I. guayusa  222
I. paraguariensis  syn. I. paraguensis  222
Illicium verum  222–23
immune system, effect of herbs 12, 13
Imperatoria ostruthium  syn. Peucedanum
ostruthium 223
impotence & premature ejaculation  316
Inca wheat 165Indian asparagus 174
Indian berry 167
Indian borage 84
Indian coral tree 206
Indian corn 154
“Indian ginseng” (withania) 152
Indian gooseberry 31, 204
Indian lobelia 279
Indian mallow 158
Indian medicine 19, 20, 21, 36–39
 see also  A yurvedic medicine
Indian mulberry 237
Indian olibanum 179
Indian pennywort 76
Indian snakeroot 261
Indian tobacco 110
Indian turnip 171
indigestion  307
infants & children  299, 318
influenza  see flu
infused oils 294
infusions 291, 299
inhalations see steam inhalations
insecticides/insect repellents 66, 70,
97, 108
insomnia  309, 313, 317, 318
intoxicant herbs, African 45
Inula, I. helenium  13, 26, 107
I. japonica 107
inulin 26
ipecac 52, 186
Ipomeoea, I. batatas  223
I. pandurata  49
I. purga syn. Convolvulus jalapa  223
I. turpethum  223
I. violacea  223
Iris versicolor 223
Irish moss 189
irritable bowel syndrome  307
Islamic medicine (Unani Tibb) 21, 33,
36–37, 39
ispaghula (psyllium) 123
ivy 219
J
Jack-in-the-pulpit 171
jalap 223
Jamaica dogwood 251
jambul 274
Japanese gentian 99
Japanese medicine 22, 42–43
jasmine 224
Jasminum, J. grandiflorum  224
J. officinale  41
J. sambac  224
Jateorhiza palmata  44, 224
java tea 243
jequirity 38, 158
ji xue teng  235
jiang huang  (turmeric) 90
jin qian cao  231
jin yin hua  78, 229–30
jing jie 40, 268
Joe Pye weed 209
joint pain & stiffness  313
ju hua  13, 43, 78, 229, 256
jue ming zi 75
Juglans, J. cinerea  50, 224
J. nigra 224
J. regia 224
juices 297
jujube 283
juniper 20, 71, 224–25
Juniperus, J. communis  20, 71,  224–25
US_323-331_Index_General.indd   327 26/02/16   4:43 pm
328
general indexJ. oxycedrus 225
J. rigida 225J. sabina 225J. virginicus 185
K
kampoh see Japanese medicinekanghi 158kanna 44–45kava 46, 122kava kava 122kelp 16, 213K’Eogh 169, 174, 187, 203, 206, 214, 220,
252, 264
kerala 48–49, 236khat 185khellin 62kigelia 45, 225Kigelia pinnata syn. K. africana 45, 225kino 46, 258kiratatiktah 167knitbone 137knotgrass 124, 253kola nut 13, 45, 192–93Korean medicine 42–43Korean mint 161Krameria, K. cystisoides 225
K. parvifolia 225K. triandra 225
kudzu 258–59kumarhou 254kuth 267–68
L
Lactuca, L. sativa 226
L. virosa 225–26
lady’s bedstraw 214–15lady’s mantle 163–64, 286lady’s slipper 199–200Lamium album 226lapacho 13, 139larch 226Larix decidua syn. L. europaea 226Larrea, L. divaricata 226
L. tridentata 226
Laurus, L. camphora see Cinnamomum
camphora
L. nobilis 226–27, 286
Lavandula, L. angustifolia syn. L. officinalis
35, 108, 286
L. spica 108L. stoechas 108
lavender 35, 108, 286Lawsonia inermis syn. L. alba 227laxative herbs, action of 11, 13lemon 11, 14, 16, 38, 82, 191lemon balm 13, 113, 286lemon grass 48, 198–99, 286lemon verbena 52, 151, 228–29Leonurus, L. cardiaca 227
L. heterophyllus 227L. sibiricus 227
Lepidium, L. meyenii 228
L. virginicum 227–28
Leptandra virginica syn. Veronicastrum
virginicum 228
lesser celandine 260–61lesser periwinkle 282lesser skullcap 135Levant storax 229Levant wormwood 172–73Levisticum officinale syn. Ligusticum
levisticum 228lian qiao 212life root 269lignum vitae 23, 218Ligusticum, L. chuanxiong 228
L. levisticum see Levisticum officinaleL. sinense 228L. wallachii 42, 117
lily of the valley 31, 194lime (Citrus aurantiifolia) 177, 191, 250lime (Tilia spp.) 277Lind, James 25linden 277ling 180Linnaeus, Carolus 200, 270, 277linseed 16, 18, 109Linum, L. catharticum 109
L. usitatissimum 16, 18, 109
lippia 227Lipp


  as a mere absence of symptoms or of any
diagnosable illn ess. How many of us have no known symptoms yet we just
don’ t fee l well? Nothing is wrong, yet something is. That something is our
disconnect from our T ruth. Our physical symptoms, our mental/emotional
turmoil is simply a result of tha t disconnect. Our symptoms tell us when a
disease shows up physically, but that is not where it originates.
Debbie came to me with sever e digestive issues. Her doctors suggested
sur gery, which did not sit well w ith her as she was bar ely r ecovering fr om a
pr evious sur gery for these same issues. After going thr ough th e details of
the consultation, I asked her what was r eally going on. That’ s when she
burst into tears and shar ed with me the story of her marital difficulties.
Pr essur e to make her marriage work at any cost was keeping he r quiet and
she was outwar dly trying to accept the situation. Internally, s he was not
able to “digest”  the state of her marriage, causing the health  issues she
was experiencing. Giving her some herbs and dietary r ecommendations
without helping her to r esolve the underlying cause would not  go far. She
had never thought about what her expectations and needs we r e fr om her
marriage. She was denying herself the right to be happy and fulf illed for the
sake of keeping the marriage going.
Along with giving Debbie some dietary guidelines, I also guided her to
r esolve the marital conflict.
In the medical w orld, the causes of an illness are believed to be physical,
hence the endless testing to see w hat’ s going on with the physica l only. This
may be needed, but it isn’ t the complete picture. At the very best, any
psychological i ssues are referred to a psychologist or a psychiatrist,
fragmenting the patient as if their physical health is separate  from their
psychological health. Y ou may get a little help from pursuing both routesseparately, but the whole pictu re is missed. This creates a huge internal
confusion and conflict for the patient and they never really understand
what’ s going on and how to fix it.
W e are not a piece of machinery whose parts can be outsourced  to dif ferent
experts to “fix” what’ s broken. Every part of our being af fects every other
part and only a holistic view can reveal the real problems.
Rita came to me in the hopes of avoiding sur gery for her hip. She was in a
wheelchair and had been unable to walk for the pr evious thr ee years. The
lack of movement had caused further tissue deterioration. Accor ding to her,
she became paralyzed all of a sudden out of the blue. This did not make
sense to  me as I could not find any physical r easons for her condition. I had
picked u p fr om her pulse that ther e had been a past heartache t hat had not
been r es olved. A fter I ruled eve rything else out for her condit ion, I asked
her if she had e ndur ed a trauma in the past that was not yet healed. And
ther e was. She r eported immedi ately that her inability to walk occurr ed at
the same time as she had felt abandoned by one of her family members. This
is the first time that she had con nected the trauma to her inability to walk.
Now we both knew wher e the issues wer e and what needed healing.
The roo t cause of disease is se ldom physical. Healing is about going to
those deep root causes and creating shifts there. When we change that one
thing in that deep place, chang es begin to cascade into every area of our
life. Even the sm allest shift will have a profound ef fect, just like a little stir
at the bottom of the ocean can create tidal waves.
Healing is built in and healing i s what our human journey on this planet is
about. M any of  us are compell ed to go beyond the physical when struck
with a terminal illness, a tragedy  or just one of life’ s challenges. This innate
healing is your T ruth, the wholeness that is trying to find you. S pirituality is
about connecting with your spirit, as it knows the truth, and healing is the
experience or result of that connection. All healing in that regard is
spiritual.
In the world of fixing, improving and navigating the web of societal
conditioning, sp iritual healing is a breath of fresh air  awakening us to the
knowing that we are whole, and are at the perfect place and time in ourlives.  It is in this place that the process becomes more of Self-discovery
than of self-improvement. This is where we know that we can heal from
anything and overcome any obstacles that get in our way. W e can always
take a pill! And at times, it may be necessary for a short while so we can
start to think straight. But if w e really want to heal at every level of our
existence, then we must dig deeper, ask the bigger questions and develop a
bigger context for our health.
“Why do you th ink you are hav ing the health issues that you are having?”
Asking this question to my clients takes them beyond the symptoms and
allows their life story to emer g e. They often begin to see how the same
story is playing out in other areas of their life, such as their wo rk and their
relationships. Simply the willingness to look beyond the physical symptoms
raises the level o f our awareness and we begin to see a bigger picture than
we had before. That in itself is empowering and begins the healing process
at the level of our awareness.
U N R E S O L V E D  S T O R I E S  A N D  D I S E A S E
More times than not, a disease i s about our unresolved story. Th e only way
to resolve or to heal the story is to go into the experience of it. What we
experience at the cellular level will continuously repeat in other areas of our
life and in our  illness, until i t is resolved. The only way to heal that
experience is first to allow it and open our heart to it as it is very much a
part of who we are. And then w e may ask the bigger question. What may I
learn from this experience? What’ s the lesson? This is where we do the
work, d ig a little deeper and learn and heal what we need to heal. Our
beliefs change, our habits line up and our body begins to heal.
When we r ealize that we have the power to change our story, we begin
to heal.
This work isn’ t e asy. It requires a certain kind of stamina, but it is definitely
easier th an livin g with an illness. Y ou may experience resistance in all kind
of dif ferent ways, rationalizing the situation away or pretending that all is
okay, w hen it isn’ t. Fear shows  up in all kinds of distorted w ays. This is
where you need expert guidance to help you through. Healing is an or ganicprocess. W e can’ t will it or force it to occur. W e allow it and stay present to
it. That is healin g! It has its own timing, and we can facilitate i t by getting
out of the way.
These are the ancient teachings and the wisdom. W e can heal from anything
if we use it for that purpose and with that intention. Healing r equires that
we be willing to  take a deep dive within and can stay the course. Healing is
chosen, while illness happens b y default.  Y ou  can  heal from anything and
overcome the blocks that show up in the process. I believe that! In order for
you to heal, you must believ e that, too. W e have the power to heal
ourselves.
Annie came to m e wanting to g et off her medication for colitis. In spite of
doing e verything right, she felt her body had abandoned her. As we
continued to work deeper, aband onment was the r ecurring theme in her life
and it started with the passing of one of her par ents. Since th en she tried
har d to hold on  to the people in her life out of fear of being abandoned.
That was the un r esolved issue that had manifested as colitis. I t was a big
r elief for  her to discover this an d to connect the physical to her emotions.
Now we both knew wher e she needed help.
What’ s unr esolved in your life? Something always is, as our lives ar e a
work-in-pr ogr ess. When we ar e conscious of it, we see the unr esolved as
it is, rather than giving it mor e  power than it deserves. Whe n we give it
mor e power, that’ s when it can manifest physically.C H A P T E R  9O u r  C o n n e c t i o n  w i t h  C r e a t i o n
W e are each a part of the whole of Creation. That which created us created
everything aroun d us. The five elements, Ether, Air, Fire


 Only at low tide, he
says, co uld the inland cave dwellers trek to the sea and un dertake
the hazardous venture of harvesting mussels and other mollusks
against the pounding surf.
Trapped in the direst distress, our ancestors had no avenue of
physical rescue or escape. How did they find the means to rescue
themselves?
E d i t i n g  R e a l i t y
The answer is not physical. Fascinating as these archeological
discoveries are, it wasn’t harsh external pressure that forced our
ancestors to adapt. It took a great reality shift “in here.” We
became a consciousness-based species, using the mind to outwit
Nature’s challenges. One of  the most important factors in the
expansion of human consciousness was that our brains became
too big, efficient, and complex for their own good. A kind of brain
overload fueled our desperate  need to whittle it down so th at daily
life wou ld be manageable. If the rush and hubbub of a mod ern city
seem li ke over load, that’s nothing compared to the mental crisis
our remote ancestors faced.
The pro blem wasn’t that the human brain simply grew and
couldn’t stop. The problem was that instinct, which guides how
other cr eatures behave, bega n to dwindle in us. A honeybee seeks
only flo wers; it instinctually stings an intruder; only the queen bee
lays egg s. Hum an beings have a choice in all three behaviors. We
explore Nature for all manner of food. We fight or keep the peace
in different circumstances. We mate according to extremely
complex behavior patterns. Having been freed from instinct, thechoices that face us are lite rally infinite. The brain cannot be
infinitely large, however. So how can the human mind fit  infinite
choice within a finite physiology?
This wa sn’t a dilemma faced only by our remote ance stors.
Every newbor n baby comes into a world where too much
information is constantly bombarding the higher brain, a flood of
raw data that could never be processed in its totality. Think of
searching for your car in a crowded parking lot. To find it, you
don’t visually take in the pave ment, sky, people, and every vehicle,
still or moving, in your field of vision. Instead, you have a mental
image of your car, and, wi th focused attention, you edit out
everything that’s irrelevant to one task, finding a specific vehicle.
This points to another reason we develop an ego. People
identify with what they can do. A car mechanic is different from a
concert violinist. A sentence  that begins with “I am X” can end
with all  kinds of behaviors, tr aits, talents, and preferences. By the
same token, a sentence that b egins with “I am not Y” can also end
in many ways. As it turns out, the list of things that we choose not
to be is much l onger than that of the things we choose to b e. If you
are a Christia n, that’s a si ngle choice that excludes all other
religions—at p resent count, there are 4,200 faiths in the world
that a person with one faith d oesn’t have to think about e xcept in
passing. As we exclude countless choices without even thinking
about th em, w e are editing re ality according to the dictates of the
individual “I.”
This ability to edit raw realit y was already present in an imals
that hunt for a specific prey, for example, but there was no
conscious choo sing involved. When penguins and other seabirds
that nes t in huge colonies come back to shore with their c rops full
of food,  they somehow find t he one specific fledgling that belongs
to them in the overwhelming din of noise created by thousands of
chicks. The arctic fox can detect the movement of mice
underneath several feet of snow in the winter and pounce
precisely on its prey. Monarch butterflies can follow an exact
migration patt ern to and from one locale in Mexico wh ere they
breed.
There’s an enormous myste ry about how humans developed
focused attenti on, not for specific types of food and locales, but asa tr ait we can  turn on and off. The things you’re interested in
fascinate you and hold your attention, while the things you have
no inte rest in escape your n otice. The appeal of detective novels
lies in how c leverly a Sherlock Holmes notices the tiniest,
seemingly irrel evant clue. (Holmes, we are told, was an e xpert in
cigar as h and what kind of tobacco each ash represented, but he
didn’t know that the Earth r evolves around the Sun because that
bit of knowledge was useless in the art of crime detection.)
Even though we cannot solve  this mystery of paying attention
versus tuning out, there’s no  doubt that “I” is in charge of both.
My wif e and children and grandchildren are objects of deep
personal interest to me (the kind of interest we label as “love”)
while th ey are total strangers to nearly seven billion other people
on the planet. Once attention is focused, emotion follows. Growing
up, my son Go tham loved the Boston Celtics basketball team and
hated th e Los Angeles Lakers. This became part of who he was, an
either/or decision that he identified with.
Either/or is the most basic ed iting tool our minds possess, and
it b egins with “me or not me.” Ego separates each pers on from
every other person though countless decisions about “me or not
me.” M any such decisions have no real purpose except to reinforce
the ego. (It’s not as if Celtics fans are better, smarter, or more
well-off than Lakers fans. Yet  when Gotham found himself moving
to Los Angeles, and his wor k put him in close contact with the
Lakers, it was a wrenching c hange. Turning “not me” into “me”
can be very hard. Imagine, for example, that you had to spend a
year working for a political party you’ve disliked all your life.)
As the ego metastasized over time, the “other” acquired
differences became the basis of social suspicion and disapproval.
Before my children were born, I was a newly arrived immigrant
working at a h ospital in New Jersey during the doctor s hortage
caused by the Vietnam War in the 1970s. Every day going to work,
I kn ew in the back of my min d that the American-born doctors in
the emergency room looked upon me as their inferior because I
had come from India.
If we stand back and consider the whole picture, “I” edits
reality too much and for se lfish reasons. We deliberately close
ourselves off from new possibilities to suit old, fixed pref erences.Everyone’s past is a chaotic c ollection of choices about what they
like and dislike, how they fee l emotionally, and the memories they
carry ar ound as baggage, not to mention their fixed beliefs, family
history, and every life-altering experience since birth.
You weren’t shaped by what happened to you since birth. You
were sh aped b y what you th ought about those happenin gs. The
ego and every response it has ever had is a vast mental construct—
the metastasis of “I”—that grew from the seeds of ego  in our
remote ancest ors. Our ability to edit reality is responsible for
everything a human being c an decide to pay attention to, and
since w e pay attention to billions of things, reality in its unedited
state must be v astly larger. Human achievements represen t a tiny
fraction of what reality has to  offer—the horizon spreading before
us is unlimited.
D e c i d i n g  t o  L e t  G o
We’ve b een covering what might be called the natural history of
“I,” and it has told us many important things about how the virtual
reality we accept as real is actually mind-made. In the  human
mind, reality is constructed so that
The available information isn’t overwhelming and chaotic.
We feel free to accept or reject any aspect of reality we
choose.
We seek to repeat the most familiar, safe, and agreeable
experiences.
We avoid the most threatening, strange, and disagreeable
experiences.
The ultimate judge of what’s real is the ego, which is highly
personal and selective about how we interpret the world.
I’m not here to declare that the ego is your enemy, which would
be just another  ego judgment. From a neutral standpoint, the egois limiti ng. Having chosen to travel through life with “I” as your
most intimate companion, you have silently agreed to filter,
censor, and judge your exp eriences. That’s the primary  use of
consciousness in most people ’s lives, and it’s like using a powerful
computer just for emails. To limit your personal reality shuts you
off from the infinite potential that is the greatest gift of
consciousness.
At some point “I” edits out too much reality or misse s the
important things that could expand love, compassion, creativity,
and evolution.  We spend too much mental energy focusing on
things that are damaging and  self-defeating. If you’ve attended a


	Journal	of	Nutrition
	that	algae-based
DHA	can	boost	levels	of	good	cholesterol	and	cut	levels	of	triglycerides.
11
	Fishoil	pills	as	a	source	of	omega-3	fats	are	not	recommended,	as	they	can	often
become	rancid	and	contaminated	with	toxins.
How	Does
Salt	Fit	In	with	Beauty?
Sodium,	found	in	salt,	is	an	element	our	bodies	need	to	function	properly.	It
helps	to	control	our	blood	pressure	and	blood	volume,	as	well	as	ensuring
proper	muscle	and	nerve	function.	The	best	beauty	forms	of	salt	to	use	are
small	amounts	of	high-quality	sea	salt,	such	as	Celtic	or	Himalayan	sea	salt.
These	sea	salts	also	have	trace	minerals	and	elements.	Sea	salts	are	obtained
from	the	evaporation	of	saltwater	bodies,	rather	than	the	heavy	processing	that
produces	table	salt;	this	includes	bleaching	and	diluting	the	salt	after	harvesting
with	anticaking	agents	and	other	chemicals.	For	these	reasons,	stick	to	sea	salt
in	your	cooking.
But	too	much	salt	is	definitely	a	beauty	and	health	no-no.	Excessive	salt
intake	can	increase	the	risk	for
heart	disease,	hypertension,	high	blood	pressure,
and	kidney	disease.	It	can	also	make	your	skin	look	dehydrated.
Excessive	sodium	can	also	create	“false	fat,”	making	you	look	bloated	and
pounds	heavier	than	you	truly	weigh.
An	average	daily	guideline	is	1,000	to	1,500	milligrams	(mg)	of	sodium	per
day	or	less.	If	you	are	at	risk	for	a	medical	condition,	such	as	those	listed	above,
you	can	certainly	omit	salt	from	your	cooking	altogether.	Most	of	us,
accustomed	to	so	many	processed	and	restaurant
foods	that	contain	loads	of
sodium,	are	used	to	a	very	salty	flavor.	Shifting	into	eating	more	natural	foods
and	preparing	simpler	food	will	help	you	become	more	sensitive	to	the	taste	of
salt.	It’s	also	a	good	idea	to	add	sea	salt	to	your	food	right	before	you	eat	it,	so	it
tastes	more	salty	without	using	more	actual	salt!PILLAR	2:
External	Nourishment
Now	that	you	know	how	to	lay	the	foundation	for	your	beauty	with	your	diet,
we	are	going	to	talk	about	the	best	forms	for	the	outer	care	of	your	skin.	This
includes	the	safest	and	most	effective	skin-care	products	and	ingredients	as	well
as	self-care	practices	that	will	help	you	grow	strong	nails;	healthy,	shiny	hair;
and	clear,	glowing	skin.	Incorporating	superior	inner	and	outer	care	will
nourish	your	whole	body	from	the	outside	in	and	let	your	natural	beauty	shine
through	to	the	highest	degree	possible.	In	this	pillar	we’ll	cover	the	best—as	well
as	the	worst—ingredients	and	practices	so	you	can	allow	your	most	beautiful	self
to	be	authentically	reflected.SHIFT	6:
Incorporate
Natural	Skin-Care
Ingredients
Your	Amazing	Skin
Our	largest	organ,	the	skin,	is	a	fascinating	one.	It	is	an	elimination	organ,
meaning	it	helps	dispel	wastes	from	your	body	through	sweat.	Your	skin
receives	roughly	a	third	of	all	the	blood	that	is	circulated	throughout	the	body.
It	makes	sense	that	if	the	blood	is	congested,	this	is	reflected	in	your	skin.	Your
skin	is	the	last	organ	to	receive	nutrition	in	the	body,	yet	is	among	the	first
organs	to	show	signs	of	an	imbalance	or	deficiency.
But	skin	does	also	work	in	the	opposite	way,	absorbing	what	is	applied	to	it
on	the	outside.	It	is	therefore	critical	to	be	strategic	about	putting	the	best
ingredients	on	the	surface	of	your	skin	to	help	repair	and	support	its	health
from	the	outside	in.	This	seems	obvious,	but	there	is	a	great	deal	of	marketing
hype	to	weed	through	to	determine	what	works	and	what	is	merely	an	empty
claim.	It’s	also	critical	to	avoid	the	numerous	toxic	ingredients	that	can	be
absorbed	and	not	only	tax	your	skin	but	also	enter	your	bloodstream	and
burden	your
liver.
Your	skin	is	also	influenced	by	your	emotions	and	mental	state.	Research
shows	that	stress	can	cause	visible	aging	at	the	cellular	level,	including	a	study
published	in	the
Proceedings	of	the	National	Academy	of	Sciences
.
1

Elissa	Epel,	one
of	the	researchers	for	this	study,	states,	“This	is	the	first	time	that	psychological
stress	has	been	linked	to	a	cellular	indicator	of	aging	in	healthy	people.”
2
Luckily,	many	of	the	techniques	in	this	pillar	will	help	relax	your	mind	and
body	while	nurturing	your	skin	from	the	outside	in.
Healthy,	smooth,	and	radiant	skin	is	considered	the	holy	grail	of	beauty.	If
you	survey	any	woman	(and	most	men,	even	though	they	might	not	discuss	it	as
openly!),	you	will	find	that	beautiful	skin	is	at	the	very	top	of	her	beauty	wish
list.	Well,	the	time	has	come	for	you	to	get	your	wish.	By	working	with	yourskin	and	incorporating	ingredients	into	your	routine	that	will	help	nourish
your	skin,	you’ll	create	an	optimal	environment	for	your	skin	to	grow,	repair,
and	heal	itself.	The	result	will	be	skin	that	glows,	reflecting	your	highest	beauty.
Natural	vs.	Chemical	Ingredients
Some	may	think	that	the	expensive,	scientifically	created,	cutting-edge	products
on	the	market	are	automatically	the	most	effective	choices	out	there,	but	this	is
not	necessarily	the	case.	The	antioxidants	found	in	natural	plant	ingredients	are
still	widely	considered	to	be	among	the	most	powerful	skin-care	ingredients,
and	this	is	consistently	proven	in	research.
As
Richard	Baxter,	MD,	of	the	University	of	Washington
School	of
Medicine,	states,	“There	is	enough	published	work	to	convince	me	that	the
antioxidant	botanicals	will	be	the	next	big	thing	in	skin	care.”
3
	They	may	be	the
“next	big	thing,”	but	they	have	also	been	around	for	thousands	of	years—much
like	ancient	practices	like	yoga	and	meditation	are	tagged	as	“new	age.”	(Ironic
and	illogical,	right?)	Synthetic	ingredients	may	have	properties	to	help	boost
your	skin,	but	some	may	tax	your	skin	and	even	be	toxic.
4
	That	toxicity	can	be
absorbed	right	from	your	skin	into	your	system.
5
As	with	your	diet,	the	best	approach	to	skin	care	is	to	understand	the	power
of	nature.	Nature’s	beauty	is	unparalleled,	and	if	you	live	closer	to	nature	in	all
aspects	of	your	lifestyle,	your	natural	beauty	will	increase.	Choose	nontoxic
products	that	contain	natural,	plant-based	ingredients.	As	long	as	they	aren’t
toxic,	scientifically	created	ingredients,	like	concentrated,	isolated	peptides,	that
are	aimed	at	a	specific	purpose	such	as	minimizing	the	appearance	of	fine	lines
and	wrinkles	can	work	together	with	natural	ingredients	to	create	powerful
combinations.	Nature	and	science	can	most	certainly	work	together	in	a
balanced	way