hears	what	people
really
	want,	which	means	in	their	heart	of	hearts. After	I
grew	up,	I	heard	about	an	interesting	study	in	this	area. People	were	asked	the
question	“What	do	you	want?”	Then	no	matter	what	answer	they	gave,	they
were	asked	why. So	the	questioning	might	go	like	this:Q. What	do	you	think	you	want	right	now? A.	I	want	a	great	body. Q. Why? A. Because	I’d	be	more	attractive	and	confident. Q. Why? A. Because	people	would	notice	me,	and	that’s	important. Q. Why? A. Because	it	makes	me	happy,	and	I	want	to	be	happy. What	the	experimenters	found	is	that	if	you	ask	the	question	“Why?”	often
enough,	everybody	winds	up	saying	the	same	thing:	“Because	I	want	to	be
happy”	It	doesn’t	matter	what	they	start	out	wanting—money	popularity
fame,	a	better	job. In	the	end	all	wishes	are	for	happiness. Baba	taught	me	that	if	what	you	really	want	is	happiness,	why	not	get	it
directly? The	place	where	happiness	is	always	available	is	inside	yourself. You	have	to	create	your	own	joy	Possessions	can’t	do	it	for	you,	and	neither
can	other	people. Naturally,	you	feel	happy	with	your	friends	or	when	you
buy	something	you	coveted. But	these	periods	of	happiness	are	temporary
Your	soul	knows	this,	which	is	why	it	leads	you	to	the	root	of	happiness,	not
to	its	leaves	and	branches. On	the	outside	life	will	always	be	fickle,	which	is	another	reason	not	to	plant
your	happiness	there. I	heard	a	story	once:	Four	brothers	came	to	a	wise	man
and	said,	“Our	grandfather	died	and	left	us	a	hundred	pieces	of	gold. But	he
didn’t	say	how	the	money	should	be	divided. Can	you	tell	us	the	best	way?”
The	wise	man	said,	“Do	you	want	it	divided	the	way	most	people	would	do	it
or	the	way	God	would	do	it?”
“We	want	the	way	God	would	do	it,”	said	the	four	brothers. So	the	wise	man	gave	eighty	pieces	of	gold	to	the	first	brother,	fifteen	to	the
second	brother,	four	to	the	third
	brother,	and	only	one	piece	of	gold	to	the	last
brother.“This	is	how	God	would	do	it?”	they	said	in	astonishment. “Yes,”	said	the	wise	man. “If	you’d	asked	for	the	way	most	people	would	do
it,	I’d	have	given	you	all	an	equal	share!”
The	nice	things	of	this	world	are	not	divided	equally. Some	people	get	more
than	their	share,	while	others	get	less. But	this	pertains	only	to	outward
desires. On	the	inside	everyone	can	win	a	life	that	brings	equal	joy	and
happiness. Baba	told	me	to	wish	for	just	one	thing:	“Make	me	rich	inside,”
which	means	as	full	of	joy	and	satisfaction	as	possible. He	told	me	that	my
soul	would	help	me	every	day	to	make	this	wish	come	true,	no	matter	how
many	outward	things	came	my	way	or	not.Follow	the	Thread
E
ven	without	a	wishing	tree	there’s	a	magical	way	to	make	a	wish	come
true,”	said	Baba. He	held	his	hand	out. “Here,”	he	said. “Ill	give	it	to	you.”
“I	don’t	see	anything,”	I	said. “I’m	handing	you	a	string;	you	can’t	see	it	because	it’s	invisible,”	he	said. He
wasn’t	satisfied	until	I	pretended	to	pick	up	the	invisible	string	dangling	from
his	palm	and	put	it	in	mine. “Now	all	you	have	to	do	is	follow	the	string. It	will	lead	to	what	you	want.”
I	was	bewildered. “What	if	I	want	a	car? I’m	too	young	to	drive. There	are
almost	no	cars	in	the	village	and	no	dealership	in	a	hundred	miles. How	will
this	string	get	me	a	car?”
“It	will,”	Baba	said	with	smiling	confidence. “Let	me	show	you	how.”
We	had	been	walking	down	the	road	for	a	while,	and	I	could	almost	see	the
outskirts	of	the	village	up	ahead. Baba	started	searching	for	something	in	the
bushes. “Ah,	here	we	go,”	he	exclaimed.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Fire	in	the	Heart
A	Spiritual	Guide	for	Teens
DEEPAK	CHOPRA
Simon	&	Schuster	Books	for	Young	Readers
New	York			London			Toronto			SydneySimon	&	Schuster	Books	for	Young	Readers
An	imprint	of	Simon	&	Schuster	Children’s	Publishing	Division
1230	Avenue	of	the	Americas,	New	York,	New	York	10020
www. SimonandSchuster. com
Copyright	©	2004	by	Deepak	Chopra
All	rights	reserved,	including	the	right	of	reproduction	in	whole	or	in	part	in
any	form. S
IMON
	&	S
CHUSTER
	B
OOKS	FOR
	Y
OUNG
	R
EADERS
	is	a	trademark	of	Simon	&
Schuster,	Inc. Book	design	by	O’Lanso	Gabbidon
The	text	for	this	book	is	set	in	Berkeley	Book. Manufactured	in	the	United	States	of	America
10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Library	of	Congress	Cataloging-in-Publication	Data
Chopra,	Deepak. Fire	in	the	heart	:	a	spiritual	guide	for	teens	/	Deepak	Chopra. —1st	ed. p. cm. Summary:	By	recounting	his	own	experiences	at	age	fifteen,	Deepak	Chopra,
a	noted	Hindu	author	and	physician,	provides	a	blueprint	for	teens	who	are
seeking	their	own	spiritual	paths. ISBN	0-689-86216-4
ISBN	13:	978-0-689-86216-8
eISBN	13:	978-1-439-10803-1
1. Spiritual	life. 2. Teenagers. [1.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the title of the book that Deepak Chopra wrote?,
A: Fire in the Heart: A Spiritual Guide for Teens
Q: What is the main theme of the book?,
A: The book is a spiritual guide for teens, focusing on spirituality and self-discovery.
Q: Who is the old man with the white beard that the narrator meets?,
A: Baba
Q: What is the first thing Baba teaches the narrator?,
A: Baba teaches the narrator to look within and not rely on the external world for happiness.
Q: What is the main message of the book?,
A: The book emphasizes the importance of inner change and self-acceptance, and encourages the reader to focus on their inner self rather than external desires.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>I	went	over	to	where	he	was	standing. “A	spiderweb?”	I	said. “That’s	right,	and	where	is	the	spider?”	asked	Baba. The	web	was	suspended
between	two	bushes,	and	it	looked	freshly	made	that	morning. “After
finishing	her	web,	the	spider	weaves	one	last	thread. She	follows	it	to	a	hiding
place	and	sits,	holding	tight	to	her	thread. She’s	waiting	for	it	to	vibrate,	and
when	it	does,”	said	Baba,	“she	knows	she’s	caught	her	prey.”
If	I	looked	very	closely,	I	could	just	see	the	thread	he	was	talking	about,
although	I	still	couldn’t	spy


 min infusion. It was found that ICP was quickly lowered by both DMSO and pentobarbital with central venous pressure unchanged. Where the treatments differed was in the lowering of systemic arterial pressure by pentobarbital but not by DMSO, an outcome that likely produced a reduction in cerebral perfusion by the barbiturate. To find out the physiological basis for DMSO’s action in lowering ICP and reduc -
ing brain edema after a cryogenic brain lesion in rabbits, cerebral blood flow was measured before and after 2 g/kg/h DMSO 20% infusion for 2 h or 1 g/kg DMSO bolus preceded by a bolus of 20 mg indomethacin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent and a nonselective prostaglandin (PG) synthase inhibitor. 65 The results sug -
gested that following the DMSO bolus injection in the absence of indomethacin, an immediate rise in cerebral blood flow was followed by a decrease 30 min later despite a constant lowering of ICP. These rise and paradoxical dip of cerebral blood flow were not observed when
DMSO was given as a slow infusion where ICP was still lowered and cerebral blood flow rose consistently throughout the infusion. When indomethacin was given 15 min prior to DMSO infusion, cerebral blood flow failed to increase immediately until 60 min had passed, an action not observed when indomethacin was admin-
istered prior to a DMSO bolus. The authors concluded that the action of reducing
ICP immediately after DMSO infusion may have been due to the ability of DMSO to extract brain water rapidly and lower brain pressure as a result. The decrease of cerebral blood flow induced for 60 min after a bolus of DMSO in animals receiving 144 Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease
indomethacin implies that ICP was quickly lowered and was not a factor in affecting
cerebral blood flow levels.65
Another explanation may be that indomethacin’s inhibition of the cyclooxygenase
pathway controlling the synthesis of PGs may temporarily block DMSO’s ability to stimulate vasodilating PGs such as E
1 or I2 in cerebral endothelium to increase
cerebral blood flow.70–72
FREE RADICALS IN BRAIN INJURY
Free radicals are atoms that contain an unpaired electron in its outer orbit, making this atom highly reactive. This highly reactive process takes place by the free radical stealing an electron from a healthy molecule in order to become stable. Instead, the original free radical creates a new free radical, resulting in a chain reaction. Free radicals can be generated during the production of ATP in mitochondria. These free radicals can leak from the mitochondria to form ROS, including super -
oxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. Free radicals use a number of biological pathways to create cell damage. For example, free radicals attack the nitrogenous bases of cell DNA where damaging mutations can result and prevent oxidative phosphoryla -
tion from taking place, thus preventing the cell from making ATP to fuel its energy metabolism. Repair of cell damage in the presence of decreased energy production following mitochondrial dysfunction aggravates cell damage by promoting second -
ary damage. 73
Secondary injury following brain trauma in humans or animals is characterized
by a host of pathophysiologic cascades that can additionally damage more brain mitochondria. These cascades include exposure of neurons to excitotoxic levels of excitatory neurotransmitters with intracellular calcium influx, of ROS, of production of peptides that participate in programmed cell death, and of glutamate generation, a primary mediator of mitochondrial dysfunction and delayed cell death. 74
Excessive free radical production can react with cell membranes, lipids, and
nucleic acids in a site-specific fashion that can unbalance proteins in healthy cells and damage or kill these cells. 75
Although free radicals perform some beneficial functions within the immune sys-
tem, their excess production can cause deadly toxic oxidation or oxidative stress.76
The brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress following injury, and hence, much research has focused on how to arrest or reverse free radical damage after a traumatic or ischemic brain injury. The role of toxic free radicals in brain trauma has been the object of numerous
studies in the past, and many therapies have been introduced to neutralize the pri -
mary and potentially secondary damages caused by these reactive molecules. However, therapeutic strategies to control secondary damage following brain
trauma by focusing on blocking free radicals that generate oxidative products remain ineffective. 77
Nevertheless, studies carried out in preclinical models of traumatic brain injury
using DMSO have provided information that free radicals appear to be intimately involved in producing devastating brain cell damage and that blocking their chain reaction can lead to preserving brain tissue from further damage.145 DMSO in Basic Neuroprotection
A study by Ikeda and his colleagues,78 from Johns Hopkins University, looked at
the effects of DMSO and other hydroxyl radical scavengers such as dimethylthiourea
and deferoxamine in cats. A standard cortical freezing method for the production of vasogenic brain edema was used. The authors found a reduction in brain edema that correlated with a reduction of hydroxyl radicals in animals treated with DMSO and deferoxamine. 78 These results could be partly explained by the scavenging proper -
ties of DMSO when chain-propagating radicals such as the superoxide anion are present. 79,80
Superoxide has been associated with the pathophysiology of many diseases
including brain trauma, ischemic stroke, and inflammatory reactions. Superoxide can leak from brain mitochondria in response to these insults and convert to hydro -
gen peroxide, an important contributor to oxidative damage. 81
One study that supports the antioxidant-related damage caused by some mole -
cules that commonly develop after trauma showed DMSO’s antioxidant properties in rat brain homogenates were able to reduce both lipid peroxidation and protein oxida-tion induced by ferrous chloride/hydrogen peroxide. 82
The brain is a highly oxidative organ consuming 20% of the body’s oxygen even
though it represents only 2% of the total body weight. For this reason, oxidative activity involving ischemia or hypoxia resulting from brain trauma or stroke can have devastating effects on brain function if left untreated or when treatment is delayed. 83
Oxidative stress from ROS has been associated with the onset of systemic inflam -
mation, and it is generally recognized that increased oxidative activity plays an impor -
tant role in pathological process of brain tissue damage.84 The presence of excessive
free radical, ROS, and release of local inflammatory mediators, including cytokines, are a characteristic initiator of pathologic cascades following traumatic brain injury. 85,86
These inflammatory cytokines include inteleukin-6, nitric oxide, and tumor
necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α). They can lead to complications affecting immuno -
suppression and result in severe, systemic inflammation with multiorgan damage, causing death within days or weeks following brain trauma. 87 As discussed earlier
(see also the section “Anti-Inflammatory” in Chapter 2), DMSO has been shown to significantly decrease the levels of nitric oxide, IL-6, and TNF- α in injured rats,
21,36,37
as well as the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (see the section “Burns and Scar Tissue” in Chapter 2). NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) is a pro -
tein complex that controls the transcription of DNA and modulates a large number of normal cellular processes, such as immune and inflammatory responses. DMSO has been shown to suppress the effects of activation of NF- κB immunoreactivity, which
is exerted by decreasing the production of TNF- α and inhibiting the transcription of
critically important adhesion molecules. 88
Finding a neuroprotective agent that can reduce systemic inflammation, cytokine
production, and free radicals after brain trauma is the task of numerous investigators that continues to this day. As seen in Figure 8.1, DMSO appears to fulfill many of
these requirements based on the research of this compound dating back to the early 1970s. This research will be reviewed in this section of this chapter beginning with a primary understanding of how cerebral blood flow behaves normally and after brain injury.146 Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) in Trauma and Disease
CEREBRAL HEMODYNAMIC FUNCTION IN BRAIN INJURY
Traumatic brain injury is known to impair cerebral hemodynamic function. Understanding and correcting hemodynamic dysfunction has become an impor -
tant therapeutic target in arresting or reversing secondary damage resulting from brain trauma, ischemia, or neurodegeneration from worsening or becoming irreversible. Restoring cerebral blood flow to preinjury levels is a key therapeutic target
because when trauma, ischemia, or neurodegenerative damage occurs, nutrient delivery to the brain, including oxygen and glucose, which are the primordial mol -
ecules necessary for maintaining normal brain cell function, can fail to supply brain cells’ demand to carry out all metabolic activities. Since most of the energy of the brain is obtained exclusively from aerobic meta -
bolic processes, a low supply and high demand for energy nutrients in the presence of trauma not only creates a neuronal energy crisis from the uncoupling of cerebral blood flow and metabolism but also ensures that motor, sensory, and cognitive func -
tions remain impaired or irreparably lost. Additionally, the brain cannot manufac-ture or store energy nutrients such as glucose and is totally dependent on optimal cerebral blood flow to deliver these nutrients as


 crazy. The Bible writers were witnesses to the life
of Christ, and faithfully recorded what they
heard  and saw. Correction. Most of the New Testament
writers never met or saw Jesus in their
lives. They lived many years after Jesus left
the Earth. They wouldn’t have known Jesus
of Nazareth if they walked into him on the
street. But... The Bible writers were great believers and
great historians. They took the stories
which had been passed down to them and
to the ir friends by others —elders —from
elder to elder, until finally a written record
was made. And not everything of the Bible authors was
included in the final document. Already “churches” had sprung up around
the teachings of Jesus —and, as happens
whenever an d wherever people gather in
groups around a powerful idea, there were
certain individuals within these churches,
or enclaves, who determined what parts of
the Jesus Story were going to be told —and
how. This process of selecting and  editing
continued throug hout the gathering,
writing, and publishing of the gospels,  and
the Bible. Even several centuries after the original
scriptures were committed to writing, a
High Council of the Church determined yet
one more time which doctrines and truths
were to be inclu ded in the then -official
Bible —and which would be “unhealthy” or
“premature” to reveal to the masses. And there have been other holy scriptures
as well —each placed in writing in  moments
of inspiration by otherwise ordinary men,
none of whom were any more  crazy than
you. Are you suggesting —you’re not
suggesting, are you —that these writings
might one day  become “holy scriptures”? My child, everything in life is holy. By that
measure, yes, these are holy writings. But  I will not quibble with you over words,
because I know what you mean. No, I do not suggest that this manuscript
will one day become holy scripture. At
least, not for several hundred years, or until
the language becomes outmoded. You see, the problem is that the language
here is too colloquial, too conversational,
too contemporary. People assume that if
God were to talk directly with you, God
would not sound like the fella next door. There should be some unifying, if not to say
deifying, structure to the language. Some
dignity. Some s ense of Godliness. As I said earlier, that’s part of the problem. People have a sense of God as “showing
up” in only one form. Anything which
violates that form is seen as blasphemy. As I said earlier. As you said earlier. But let’s drive to the heart of y our question.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        If you conclude
from this that past, present, and future exist
at one  and the same “time,” you are  right. (Yet now is not the moment to discuss that. We can get into this in much greater detail
when we explore the whole concept of
time—which we will do later). The world is the way it is because it could
not be any other way and still exist in the
gross  realm of physicality. Earthquakes
and hurricanes, floods and tornados, and
events that you call natural disasters are
but movements of the elements from one  polarity to the other. The whole birth -death
cycle is part of this movement. These are
the rhythms  of life, and everything in gross
reality is subject to them, because life  itself
is a rhythm. It is a wave, a vibration, a
pulsation at the very heart of the All That  Is. Illness and disease are opposites of health
and wellness, and are made manifest in
your reality at your behest. You cannot be
ill without at some level causing yourself  to
be, and you can be well again in a moment
by simply deciding to be. Deep  personal
disappointments are responses which are
chosen, and worldwide  calamities are the
resul t of worldwide consciousness. Your question infers that I choose these
events, that it is My will and desire they
should occur. Yet I do not will these things
into being, I merely observe you doing  so. And I do nothing to stop them, because to
do so would be to thwart your will. That, in
turn, would deprive you of the God
experience, which is the experience you
and I have chosen together. Do not condemn, therefore, all that you
would call bad in the world. Rather, ask
yourself, what about this have you judg ed
bad, and what, if anything, you wish to do
to change it. Inquire within, rather than without, asking:
“What part of my Self do I wish to
experience now in the face of this calamity. What aspect of being do I choose to  call
forth. ” For all of life exists as a tool of your
own creation, and all of its events  merely
present themselves as opportunities for
you to decide, and be, Who You Are. This is true for every soul, and so you see
there are no victims in the universe, only
creators. The Masters who  have walked
this planet all knew this. That is why, no
matter which Master you might name, none
imagined themselves to be victimized —
though many were truly crucified. Each soul is a Master —though some do
not remember their origins or their
heritages. Yet each creates the situation
and the circumstance for its own highest
purpose and its own quickest
remembering —in each moment called
now. Judge not, then, the karmic path walked by
another. Envy not success, nor pity  failure,
for you know not what is success  or failure
in the soul’s reckoning. Call not a  thing
calamity, nor joyous event, until you decide, or witness, how it is used. For is a  death a
calamity if it saves the lives of thousands. And is a life a joyous event if it  has caused
nothing but grief. Y et even this you should
not judge, but keep always  your own
counsel, and allow others theirs. This does not mean ignore a call for help,
nor the urging of your own soul to work
toward the change of some circumstance
or condition. It does mean avoiding labe ls
and judgment while you do whatever you
do. For each circumstance is a gift, and in
each experience is hidden a treasure. There once was a soul who knew itself to
be the light. This was a new soul, and so,
anxious for experience. “I am the light,” it
said. “I am the light. ” Yet all the knowing of
it and all the saying of it could not substitute
for the experience of it. And in the realm  from which this soul emerged, there was
nothing but the light. Every soul was grand,
every soul was magnificent, and eve ry soul
shone with the brilliance of My awesome
light. And so the little soul in question was
as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the
grandest light —of which it was a part —it
could not see itself, nor experience itself  as
Who and What it Really Is. Now it came to pass that this soul yearned
and yearned to know itself. And so great
was its yearning that I one day said, “Do
you know, Little One, what you must do to
satisfy this yearning of yours. ”
“Oh, what, God. What. I’ll do anything. ”
The little soul s aid. “You must separate yourself from the rest,
of us,” I answered, “and then you must  call
upon yourself the darkness. ”
“What is the darkness, O Holy One. ” the
little soul asked. “That which you are not,” I replied, and the
soul understood. And so this th e soul did, removing itself
from the All, yea, going even unto another
realm. And in this realm the soul had the
power to call into its experience all sorts of
darkness. And this it did. Yet in the midst of all the darkness did it cry
out, “Father, Father,  why hast Thou
forsaken me. ” Even as have you in your
blackest times. Yet I have never forsaken
you, but stand by you always, ready to remind you of Who You Really Are; ready,
always ready, to call you home. Therefore, be a light unto the darkness,
and cur se it not. And forget not Who You Are in the moment
of your encirclement by that which you  are
not. But do you praise to the creation, even
as you seek to change it. And know that what you do in the time of
your greatest trial can be your greatest
triumph. For the experience you create is a
statement of Who You Are —and Who  You
Want to Be. I have told you this story —the parable of
the little soul and the sun —so that you
might better understand why the world is
the way it is —and how it can change in an  instan


 to learn that we are not a body.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
Just as you use a  car to get from one location to another, your b ody is a vehicle you
use to move around and to experience the world. “If you have a c ar, you do not say you are the car. Why then, if you have a body, do
you say you are the body?”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
Being m aterial, your body isn’ t conscious. It doesn’ t know it’ s a body, but “you”
know it’ s a body. Y our toe doesn’ t know it’ s a toe, your wrist doesn’ t know it’ s a
wrist, yo ur head doesn’ t know it ’ s a head, and your brain has no  idea it’ s a brain, but
“you” k now each and every pa rt of your body. How could you be the body when
you know all the dif ferent parts, and yet not one of them knows you? It’ s prob ing que stions like these that enabled the great beings of the past to unravel
the mystery behind who we really are. “The wo rst habi t we have gotten  into over the millenniums is that we believe we are
this body.”Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
“W e hav e for gotten what we are, and we have identified ourselv es with objects. I am
this body, therefore I’m going to die.”
Francis Lucille
“Y ou fear that if the body isn’ t, you are not.”
Lester Levenson
Believing you’r e just your body creates the biggest fear of humanity, the fear of
death: when your body dies, you fear you will no longer exist. It’ s like a dark cloud
hanging over your life. “If you want immortality—stop holding on to the body.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
It’ s good news that you’re not your body, because your body is going to come to an
end one day, as all material thin gs do. The world is completely made up of material
things, a nd not one of those thin gs will last, including your body, which appears and
disappears through the process of birth and death. What you actually  are never dies! “What you truly are cannot die. The body will die, but the body is not what you
are.”
Mooji
“W e have free will to identify with the body or identify with who we really are. Body equals pain and what you are equals infinite joy.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
Y our way out of all dif ficulties begins with letting go of the belief that you are your
body. Y ou Ar e Not Y our Mind
The voic e in your head is not yo u, yet you’ve probably believed it is you for most of
your life. While the voice in your head sounds like you, seems to know a lot about
you, and has become very familiar to you, it’ s definitely not  you. That voice  in your
head is your mind, and you are not your mind. “The mind is a collection of thoughts that constantly appear and disappear.”
Peter Lawry
“If there are no thoughts, then there is no mind. Mind is only thought.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
Check for yourself. Where is y our mind if there is no thought? Y our mind isn’ t
there. “There’ s nothing  inside but thoughts and feelings, memories and sensations, but are
you a thought? Are you a feeling?”
Rupert Spira, fr om a public talk
If you were a thought—let’ s sa y, a frustrated thought—then you would disappear
when th e frustra ted thought disappeared. Y ou are not a thought, a sensation, or a
feeling, because  when they end  you would end too, but you’re still here after they
end. Y ou are he re before a thou ght, you are here before a feeling or sensation, and
you remain perfectly intact after they’ve gone. It’ s fairly obvious when you look atit. Certainly, we do experience th oughts, feelings, and sensations, but we are none of
those things. In some  ways it’ s easy to under stand how we’ve missed seeing who we really are,
because the body and mind are a very convincing combination. O ur mind keeps up a
constant tirade of thoughts, mos t of which include the word “I,” as though the mind
is us. And you may be surprised to learn that all our bodily sensations come from
the mind, too, which reinforces our belief that we are our body. “How others see you contribute s to your sense of self. When things happen, they
seem to happen ‘to’ you, or you  may bring them about... Y ou care what happens
because of its ef fect on you. Y ou ‘hold’ yourself with a wish t o keep yourself safe
and in a good light. Y ou certainly do seem real.”
Jan Frazier, fr om  The Great Sweetening: Life After Thought
It’ s n ot that you don’ t have a bod y and a mind; it’ s just that they are not the r eal  you. Just like your car, they’re simply finely tuned instruments you’re using to
experience the material world. “Identifying wit h the body and mind is the only thing that is covering up who you
truly are. It’ s this misidentification that is veiling your true Self.”
Mooji
Ar e Y ou Really the Person Y ou Think Y ou
Ar e? “Considering all the ef fort given to bolstering the ego—the emphasis on self-esteem,
reputation, achie vement, physic al appearance, material acquisition—it’ s a miracle
awakening ever happens at all.”
Jan Frazier, fr om  The Freedom of Being
The ego, the imagined self, the pretend self, the separate self, an d the psychological
self are a few of the names that teachers and sages have given for our mistaken
identity. All of these descriptions refer to a body and a mind that together make up
what we  call a p erson. When we refer to ourselves, most of us are referring to this
person that we think we are. “A person is what you experience, it is not what you are.”
Mooji
“There’ s no such thing as a person. If you say, ‘I’m a person,’ t hen you have to say
which one—there was a baby once upon a time, there was a teenager, there was a
toddler... and then this whole process will be over soon.”
Deepak ChopraTM, M.D. Y our per sonality is constantly changing, so if your personality i s you, which person
are you? Are you the angry person, the loving person, the fr ustrated person, the
irritated person, or the kind person? Y ou probably think you’re all of them, but you
can’ t be all of them because if y ou were, the angry person would never disappear; it
would a lways b e here. Or if the frustrated person were really you, when the
frustrated person  disappeared, a bit of you would disappear with  it. But that doesn’ t
happen, does it? Y ou’re here be fore the angry person appears, a nd you’re here after
the angr y person disappears. Y ou’re here before the frustrated person appears, andyou’re here after they disappe ar. Clearly you are not your changing moods or
personality. “Personality is a useful tool, but it cannot define who you are. Who you are lies far
beyond who you think you are.”
Jac O’Keeffe
“The big gest obstacle to discovering the truth of who we essentially are is the belief
that I am a cluster of thoughts, memories, feelings and sensations. T ogether these
form an illusory self or entity. T he belief th at I am this entity is the only obstacle. All our psychological problems are due to this imaginary self. It always comes down
to mistaking ourselves for this.”
Rupert Spira, fr om a public talk
“The pe rson onl y seems to exis t because of the persistent and unquestioned belief
that there is an actual ‘person’ here. But the person, or ego, can’ t exist without the
belief in it. It’ s only imagination. In truth, there’ s no person at a ll. The only resident
of this house of the body is the p ure Self, which is what you are. The rest is all made
up. There are not two tenants in this body, there’ s only ever been one. Belief in ego
gives a sense of reality, but this is not a fact, only a fiction.”
Mooji
What’ s the problem with believing we’re an ego or a person? W e f eel small and extremely vulnerable. W e’re afraid of bad things happening to us. W e’re afraid of illness, getting old, and dying. W e’re afraid of losing the things we


 reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 190Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comThe Erythrocyte (Red Blood Cell, RBC) Count
Traditionally counted by hand with a hemacytometer, red blood cells (RBCs) are now
commonly counted with electronic devices, which provide faster, more accurate results. This
erythrocyte count does not provide qualitative information about the RBCs’ hemoglobin content,
but it does tell mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH). Thus, the erythrocyte blood count offers indices for RBC size and hemoglobin content and
supports other hematologic tests in diagnosing anemia and polycythemia. Depending on age, sex, sample, and geographic location, normal RBC values in adult males
range from 4.5 to 6.2 million/microliter (4.5 to 6.2 x 1012/L) of venous blood; in adult females
from 4.2 to 5.4 million/microliter (4.2 to 5.4 x 1012/L) of venous blood; in children, 4.6 to 4.8
million/microliter of venous blood; in full-term infants, 4.4 to 5.8 million/microliter (4.4 to 5.8 x
1012/L). An elevated RBC count indicates polycythemia or dehydration; a depressed count shows
anemia, fluid overload, or recent hemorrhage. With total bed rest, RBC counts drop considerably
from decreased oxygen requirements. The Total Hemoglobin (HgB)
Laboratory Test
The total hemoglobin (Hgb) concentration in a deciliter (l00ml) of whole blood is measured
by the total hemoglobin laboratory test. The Hgb-RBC ratio (mean corpuscular hemoglobin or
MCH) and free plasma Hgb affect the RBC count. This test, a usual part of the complete blood
count, measures the severity of anemia or polycythemia, monitors therapy response, and supplies
figures for calculating MCH and mean corpuscular Hgb concentration. Based on venous blood samples, normal values for different patients are:
Age      Hemoglobin Level (g/dL)
Less than 7 days    17-22
1 week     15-20
1 month     11-15
Age      Hemoglobin Level (g/dL)
Children     11-13
Adult males    14-18
Elderly males    12.4-14.9
Adult females    12-16
Elderly females    11.7-13.8
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 191Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comThe Hematocrit (Hct)
Laboratory Test
The volume of RBCs packed in a whole blood sample is measured by the hematocrit (Hct)
laboratory test. Number and size of the RBCs determine the Hct concentration, and such a readout
aids in the diagnosis of abnormal states of hydration, polycythemia, anemia, fluid imbalance,
blood loss, blood replacement, and red cell indices. According to a patient’s sex, age, laboratory
competence, and type of blood sample, the test routinely screens one’s blood in a complete blood
count. Hct reference values range from 40 percent to 54 percent (0.4 to 0.54) for men and from 37
percent to 47 percent (0.37 to 0.47) for women. Low Hct indicates anemia or hemodilution; high
Hct shows polycythemia or hemoconcentration caused by blood loss. If a hematoma develops at
the venipuncture site, ease discomfort by applying ice, followed later by warm soaks. The Erythrocyte Indices Laboratory Test
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean
corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are the three measurements accomplished by
the erythrocyte indices laboratory test. The MCV expresses the average size of erythrocytes
and indicates whether they are undersized (microcytic), oversized (macrocytic), or normal
(normocytic). MCH gives the weight of hemoglobin in an average red cell. MCHC defines the
concentration of Hgb in 100 mL of packed red cells. The normal RBC indices are:
 MCV = 84 to 99 cubic microliters/red cell (femtoliters (fl)/red cell)
 MCH = 26 to 32 picograms (pg)/red cell
 MCHC = 30% to 36% (300 to 360 g/L)
These indices aid in diagnosing and classifying anemia. Low MCV and MCHC show
microcytic hypochromic anemias caused by iron deficiency anemia, pyridoxine-responsive
anemia, or thalassemia. High MCV indicates macrocytic anemia caused by megaloblastic
anemias coming from folic acid or vitamin BIZ deficiency, inherited disorders of DNA synthesis,
or reticulocytosis. The Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
Measuring the time required for erythrocytes in a whole blood sample to settle to the bottom
of a vertical tube, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a sensitive but nonspecific test that
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 192Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comindicates the presence of disease when other chemical or physical signs are normal. It rises in
widespread inflammatory disorders caused by infection, autoimmune disease, or malignancy. Thus, the ESR monitors inflammatory or malignant illness and detects occult disease such as
tuberculosis (TB), tissue necrosis, or connective tissue disorders. The normal ESR ranges from
0 to 20 mm/hour. It rises in pregnancy, acute or chronic inflammation, TB, paraproteinemias,
rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, and some cancers. ESR also rises in anemia. ESR drops in
polycythemia, sickle cell anemia, hyperviscosity, and low plasma protein. Note: ESR  is frequently raised during and after reactions and fevers induced by the Gerson
Therapy. The Platelet Count
Platelets, or thrombocytes, are tiny formed elements in the blood which create th’e hemostatic
plug in vascular injury. They promote coagulation by supplying phospholipids to the intrinsic
thromboplastin pathway. The platelet count is vital for monitoring chemotherapy, radiation
therapy, or severe thrombocytosis and thrombocytopenia. A platelet count that falls below 50,000
brings on spontaneous bleeding; below 5,000, fatal central nervous system bleeding or massive
gastrointestinal hemorrhage is possible. The platelet count evaluates platelet production, assesses effects of cytotoxic therapy, aids
the diagnosing of thrombocytopenia and thrombocytosis, and confirms visual estimate of platelet
number and morphology from a stained blood film. Normal platelet counts range from 130,000 to
370,000/mm (130 to 370 x 1011/L). A decreased count comes from aplastic or hypoplastic bone marrow; infiltrative bone marrow
diseases like carcinoma, leukemia, or disseminated infection; megakaryocytic hypoplasia;
ineffective thrombopoiesis caused by folic acid or vitamin B1 deficiency; pooling of platelets in an
enlarged spleen; increased platelet destruction from drug use or immune disorders; disseminated
intravascular coagulation; Bernard-Soulier syndrome; or mechanical injury to platelets. Medications decreasing the count include acetazolamid, acetohexamide, antimony,
antineoplastics, brompheniramine maleate, carbamazepine, chloramphenicol, ethacrynic acid,
furosemide, gold salts, hydroxychloroquine, indomethacin, isoniazid, mephenytoin, mefenamic
acid, methazolamide, methimazole, methyidopa, oral diaoxide, oxyphenbetazone, penicillamine,
penicillin, phenylbutazone, phenytoin, pyrimethamine, quinidine sulfate, quinine, salicylates,
streptomycin, sulfonamides, thiazide, thiazidelike diuretics, and tricyclic antidepressants. Heparin
causes transient reversible thrombocytopenia. An increased platelet count results from such diseases as hemorrhage; infectious disorders;
malignancies; iron deficiency anemia; myelofibrosis; primary thrombocytosis; polycythemia


 I went. On this occasion I
had the good fortune to m eet one of the founders
of the dry fasting method, Professor L. A.
Shchennikov, who assisted patients on 11 -day
fasting. After the conference the professor in-
vited me to visit him in Kislovodsk. There, I was
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fracquainted with his patients and studied his
method in practice. This is a very effective, but
very difficult approach for an untrained person
When I returned home after being in Kis-
lovodsk I did a 9 -day dry fast, spending my time
at home and a bit in the Altai mountains near
Lake Teletskoe. Then I realized that a serious dry
fast can only happen by staying in nature, possi-
bly in the mountains and near mountain rivers. After this experience I did a 10 -days dry fast, but
only staying in the Altai mountains: we spent the
whole period on horseback, on e xcursions. Con-
sidering all the advantages and disadvantages of
the various methods of dry fasting and my per-
sonal experience, now I believe that the most ef-
fective approach is the "fractional dry fasting"
that I propose to all my patients. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frI have been work ing with therapeutic fasting
for 30 years. I have personally assisted hundreds
of patients. There have been excellent results but
there have also been cases in which therapeutic
fasting did not help. People often call me, write
to me or simply ask me how to start and how to
get the maximum benefit from this technique. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet, information
regarding dry fasting is spreading rapidly. To tell
the truth, it is often contradictory information:
some people write that with a 2 -day dry fast  you
can recover from cancer, while others say that in
order to heal, you need a 15 -day dry fasting. Both are wrong. Dry fasting, according to my
personal experience, is one of the most effective
methods among types of fasts but if you are not
properly pre pared and it is practices correctly it
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frcan be very risky, like all other methods of heal-
ing. Unfortunately, people turn to this method
when it is too late, as a last resort, after having
tried everything and wasted a lot of time. I al-
ways tell my patients that everything needs to be
done on time. This method, like others, has its
indications and contraindications, however its
effectiveness is incomparable in treating the ini-
tial phase of almost all kinds of diseases. There are real horror stories about the  dam-
age that a dry fast could cause. It is not my inten-
tion to underestimate other techniques of fasting
and treatment, but I firmly believe that it is very
important to provide people with the most
truthful and complete information and the pos-
sibility of choice. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frIf someone decides to autonomously tend to
their own healing using the dry fasting method,
then they must do it correctly, in order to obtain
the maximum benefit and make use of all its po-
tential. My book is dedicated to this category of
people. I tried to illustrate the method as clearly
and completely as I can, providing highly relia-
ble information, based on the results of decades
of practice and confirmed by my patients’ feed-
back. Remember: a man can bear anything if he
knows why and for what pur pose he is doing it. Sergey Ivanovich Filonov, MD4

4 Taken from  the first book by dr Filonov, Suchoe lechebnoe go-
lodaniye. Mify i realnost  - (Therapeutic dry fasting. Myt hs and real-
ity), 2008. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr1. What is dry fasting? An absolute fast  or dry fasting  (DF) is nor-
mally defined as abstinence from any food or liq-
uid over a particular time frame. Russian doctors
recommend a practice from 1 day up to a maxi-
mum of 5 in domestic conditions (3 days for
people affected by illness) and from 6 to 11 days
strictly under medical assistance (see question
10). This type of fasting requires abstaining from
water not only for internal use, but also for ex-
ternal use. For maximum therapeutic effect, in
fact, it is advisable to totally refrain from any
contact with water; this results in the greatest ex-
perience of rejuvenation and restructuring of the
cells through the detoxification process stimu-
lated by DF. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frIt is necessary to also avoid brushing teeth;
while fasting the saliva composition changes and
acquires the ability to "dissolve" the enamel. Throughout the fasting practice a special organic
layer usually coa ts the teeth and protects them
from decaying. If the wish to brush one’s teeth is
too strong it is possible to do it, but only once a
week. Regarding contact with water for domestic
use, it will be sufficient to use a pair of rubber
gloves. It must be said that in the case of certain pa-
thologies doctors allow patients to wash them-
selves with cold water (less than 11 degrees) or
swim in natural water basins. The contrast in
temperature experienced by the body enhances
the thermal reaction triggered by DF wi thin the
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frorganism, which is considered one of the main
mechanisms of self -healing. Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.fr2. Is dry fasting a natural method? Nowadays dry therapeutic fasting is consid-
ered one of the most advanced healing methods,
but in fact this approach is “as old as the world”. It was born at the dawn of humanity. It can be
affirmed with certainty that since the beginning
of the evolution of animal life forms existing to-
day, dry fasting was frequently used by all their
representatives. As humanity progressed this archaic method
has been mostly forgotten and only in recent
decades, thanks to the growing popularity of hy-
gienism and water and water  fasting, there has
been a return of interest in this ancient practice. Dry fasting is an absolutely natural process, in-
corpor ated into the genetic code of man and an-
imals: it is well known that when animals fall
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frsick, especially in serious conditions, they im-
mediately refuse food and water. When the body gets ill, it begins to mobilize
all its forces to protect itself and it starts using its
reserves, if they exist. Therefore, with the intent
to save energy from processing external water
and food, the body triggers a rescue program,
which involves an automatic "refusal" to intro-
duce them. Similar situations also occur in respons e to
adverse environmental conditions: to protect
themselves from extreme cold (winter hiberna-
tion) or from extreme hot (aestivation) animals
do not eat and do not drink for long periods and
enter a state of inactivity and metabolic depres-
sion characterized by low body temperature,
slow breathing, slow heart rate and low
Copyright © Vera Giovanna Bani 2019 www.dryfasting.infoThis Ebook was purchased by Gilberto Franchi email: gilbertofranchi@hotmail.frmetabolic rate. The function of hibernation -aes-
tivation is to conserve energy when sufficient
food is unavailable. This phenomenon can affect animal and
plant species, both in the adult form and in the
intermediate forms of development (eggs, lar-
vae, chrysalises, seeds, spores, pollen, buds, tu-
bers, bulbs, etc.) and may depend on seasonal
environmental phenomena, as in the case of
winter hibernation or from accidental external
causes (drough t, temperature changes, lack of
nourishment). In all these situations we speak of
anabiosis, or apparent death or latent life5. 5 Cryptobiosis (latent life) is the collective name for a state of life
used by some organisms to overcome


teaspoon	coconut	oil

Directions

1. Clean	all	ingredients	thoroughly. 2. Add	all	ingredients	through	a	juicer. Adjust	the	seasonings	to	taste. 3. This	is	a	very	refreshing	drink,	which	is	great	for	cleansing	the	body	of
toxins. Enjoy!Fresh	Summer	Limeade
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 1/2	medium-sized	honeydew

1. 1/2	medium-sized	watermelon

1. 1/2	cup	fresh	mint

1. 1	lime

Directions

1. Remove	rind	from	honeydew	and	watermelon. 2. Wash	all	ingredients	thoroughly	and	transfer	them	to	a	juice	extractor. 3. Simply	juice	all	the	above	ingredients	and	serve	immediately. 4. The	juice	helps	you	to	improve	your	digestion	and	weight	loss. Did	you
know	that	mint	is	a	natural	stimulant,	so	it	gets	your	brain	function	on	a
high	level?!Grapefruit	Mint	Juice
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 3	carrots

1. 1	grapefruit

1. 1	small	handful	mint

1. 1/2	fennel

1. 1	lime

1. 5	leaves	kale

Directions

1. Scrub	the	carrots,	and	peel	your	grapefruit	and	lime. 2. Then,	wash	all	ingredients	thoroughly	and	transfer	them	to	a	juicer	along
with	the	rest	of	ingredients. 3. Process	the	ingredients	and	serve	the	juice	in	individual	glasses. 4. Keep	in	mind	that	blood	oranges	yield	more	juice. Enjoy!Post-Workout	Drink
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	1)

Ingredients

1. 1	carrot,	scrubbed	and	coarsely	chopped

1. 1	small	sweet	potato,	scrubbed	and	coarsely	chopped

1. 2	oranges,	peeled	and	cut	into	chunks

1. 1/4	cup	raw	almonds

1. 1	apple,	cored	and	cubed

1. 1/2	cup	water

Directions

1. In	a	blender,	combine	all	the	above	ingredients:	then;	blend,	scraping	down
sides,	until	uniform	and	smooth. 2. Strain	juice	and	add	some	additional	water	if	needed. The	ingredients	help
you	build	and	repair	your	muscles. Enjoy!Asparagus	and	Tomato	Juice
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	1)

Ingredients

1. 1	stalk	asparagus

1. 1	large-sized	tomato

1. 1	cucumber

1. 1/2	teaspoon	ground	allspice

1. 1	orange,	peeled

Directions

1. First	of	all,	wash	your	ingredients	thoroughly. Process	the	asparagus	and
tomato	through	your	juicer	according	to	the	manufacturer’s	directions. 2. Add	the	rest	of	the	ingredients. 3. Mix	the	juice	until	everything	is	well	combined;	serve	over	crushed	ice. 4. Asparagus	is	a	natural	diuretic	because	it	is	extremely	rich	in	vitamins	A
and	E,	as	well	as	in	folic	acid	and	iron.Carrot	and	Maca	Limeade
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 2	carrots,	trimmed

1. 1	apple,	cored

1. 1	pear,	cored

1. 1	lime,	peeled	and	seeded

1. 1	teaspoon	Maca	powder

Directions

1. Process	the	ingredients	through	your	electronic	juicer	according	to	the
manufacturer’s	directions. 2. Whisk	your	juice	in	order	to	combine	well	and	enjoy	right	now. 3. Maca	is	a	plant	from	central	Peru. It	is	used	for	chronic	fatigue	syndrome,
athletic	performance,	good	memory,	anemia,
etc.Artichoke	and	Carrot	Cocktail
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 4	Jerusalem	artichokes

1. 4	large	radishes,	tailed	and	trimmed

1. 1	celery	stalk,	chopped

1. 1	handful	baby	spinach

1. 1	bunch	fresh	cilantro

1. 3	medium	carrots,	trimmed

Directions

1. Process	the	artichokes,	one	at	a	time,	through	your	electronic	juicer. 2. Don’t	forget	to	roll	the	spinach	and	cilantro	into	a	ball	to	compress	while
adding	them	to	a	juicer. 3. Add	all	the	ingredients	and	juice	them. 4. Jerusalem	artichoke	is	a	root	vegetable,	and	it	is	a	great	source	of	dietary
fibers	and	beneficial	minerals	and	electrolytes	such	as	iron,	potassium,	and
copper. Enjoy!Kiwi	and	Grapefruit	Juice
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 3	kiwi	fruits,	peeled

1. 1	pear,	cored

1. 2	pink	grapefruits,	peeled	and	seeded

1. 1/2	cup	coconut	water

Directions

1. Simply	juice	all	of	the	above	ingredients. 2. Pour	the	juice	into	glasses	and	serve. 3. Kiwi	fruit	is	packed	with	vitamin	C	that	can	neutralize	free	radicals	in	our
body	and	it	can	help	in	reducing	rheumatoid	arthritis,	asthma,	and	so	on.Papaya	and	Strawberry	Juice
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 2	papayas

1. 1	cup	strawberries,	hulled

1. 1/2	cup	raspberries

1. 1	tablespoon	fresh	mint

Directions

1. Process	the	ingredients	through	your	electronic	juicer	according	to	the
manufacturer’s	instructions. 2. Stir	or	shake	juice	before	serving. 3. Papaya	is	an	excellent	source	of	vitamin	A	and	vitamin	C.

This	drink	is
good	for	everyone	with	constipation	and	urinary	disorders.Simple	Cleansing	Cocktail
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 1	medium	cucumber

1. 1	bunch	parsley

1. 1	medium	apple,	cored

1. Water	to	make	1	cup	juice

Directions

1. Juice	all	the	above	ingredients. Serve	and	enjoy! 2. This	is	the	simple	juice	for	body	cleansing.Chard	and	Avocado	Cocktail	Drink
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 2	leaves	Swiss	chard,	torn	into	pieces

1. 1⁄2	avocado,	pitted	and	diced

1. 1	mango,	cut	into	chunks

1. 1⁄2	cup	coconut	water

Directions

1. Process	Swiss	chard	and	avocado	through	an	electronic	juicer. 2. Transfer	it	to	a	blender;	add	the	mango	and	coconut	water. Blend	until	the
mixture	is	smooth. 3. Pour	the	juice	into	glasses	and	serve. 4. The	juice	is	loaded	with	fiber	and	antioxidants.Cantaloupe	and	Blackberry	Juice
(Ready	in	about	10	minutes	|	Servings	2)

Ingredients

1. 1⁄2	cantaloupe,	peeled	and	seeded

1. 1⁄4	cup	parsley

1. 1⁄4	cup	fresh	mint	leaves

1. 1	cup	blackberries

Directions

1. Juice	all	ingredients	thoroughly. Pour	into	two	well-chilled	glasses. 2. Drink	at	once. 3. The	juice


poultice
removed
both
the
swelling
and
the
pain.' Example:
"I
am
64
years
old. I
started
practicing
urinotherapy
on
your
advice. First,
I
gargled
urine,
washed
my
face
and
hair
with
it
in
the
morning. For
2.5
months
now,
I
have
been
regularly
drinking
150
grams
of
urine
in
the
morning,
a
medium
portion. The
results
are
amazing:
1)
My
hair
started
to
grow
again
(I
was
already
almost
bald),
its
original
black
color
returnedto
me
(the
author
also
noticed
the
same
changes
in
growth
all
over
my
body). 2)
I
lost
6
kg. 3)
My
appearance
has
become
younger,
I
have
fewer
wrinkles
despite
losing
weight,
better
skin
color. 4)
I
have
more
energy
and
vitality,
I
would
like
to
move
mountains. 5)
My
memory
improved,
the
ringing
in
my
ears,
which
was
previously
a
symptom
of
fatigue,
disappeared. 6)
My
blood
pressure
was
adjusted
to
130/70. 7)
The
pain
in
the
joints
and
the
heaviness
in
the
legs,
which
had
troubled
me
all
my
life,
disappeared
(I
suffered
from
joint
rheumatism). Just
a
miracle. Example:
"I
have
been
retired
for
6
years. During
my
sedentary
job,
I
developed
a
whole
set
of
diseases:
inflammation
of
the
kidneys
and
lungs
(several
times),
chronic
bronchitis,
erosion
of
the
stomach
and
duodenum,
frequent
constipation,
forced
defecation,
high
blood
pressure,
irregular
heart
activity. I
started
drinking
morning
urine
and
doing
enemas
according
to
dr.
Walker. I
cleaned
my
colon
of
sludge
stones. Then
I
started
doing
mini
enemas
with
quarter
urine. After
the
third
enema,
diseased
tissue
came
out
in
the
shape
of
slimy
fringes. The
chair
adjusted. I
can
confirm
that
mini-enemas
with
evaporated
urine
are
the
best
natural
means
for
cleansing
the
fat
intestines. When
I
drink
my
morning
urine,
I
still
get
mucus
when
I
cough
and
also
from
my
nose. There
are
fewer
and
fewer
of
them. The
state
of
health
has
improved
significantly,
the
color
of
my
face
is
pink,
it
is
easier
for
me
to
breathe
(I
used
to
suffer
from
shortness
of
breath),
my
endurance
and
vigor
are
increasing." I
can
confirm
the
loss
of
shortness
of
breath
from
my
own
experience. A
few
years
ago
I
could
hardly
go
out
to
my
apartment
on
the
fourth
floor,
today
I
run
up
the
stairs
like
I
was
in
my
thirties,
before
I
had
to
rest
after
a
few
shovelfuls
of
earth
or
sand,
today
I
dump
the
whole
compost
in
one
go. Urinotherapy
has
a
really
wonderful
and
quick
effect
on
improving
breathing. Example:
"I
have
been
applying
urine
to
my
feet
and
arms
up
to
my
shoulders
for
a
week
and
have
felt
a
marked
improvement
in
my
health." Example
about
how
the
singer
improved
her
voice
and
cured
her
throat:
"In
the
morning
I
gargle
fresh
urine
and
swallow
a
few
sips. My
voice
became
stronger,
its
color
improved. Incredibly." Example:
“I
have
personally
experienced
the
effect
of
urine
healing
and
fasting
(two
days
a
week
for
two
months). When
I
returned
from
vacation,
my
family
and
friends
were
surprised:
I
lost
20
kg
in
two
months,
from
80
to
60." Example:
“My
grandfather
lived
to
be
over
a
hundred
years
old
and
did
not
die,
but
died
after
being
struck
by
lightning
in
the
forest. My
father
said
that
my
grandfather
used
urine
whenever
he
felt
sick
and
bathed
in
cold
water
in
winter
and
summer." Comment:
It
is
better
to
shower
with
a
contrast
shower:
warm,
cold,
warm,
ice
for
only
2-5
seconds,
depending
on
the
body
composition. At
the
end
of
the
book
I
present
the
experience
of
the
doctors
themselves
:
"I
am
a
generalpractitioner
with
ten
years
of
experience
and
lately
I
have
been
trying
to
treat
with
non-traditional
methods,
including
urine
therapy. Here
is
one
of
the
interesting
cases:
A
patient,
45
years
old,
was
treated
for
jaundice. Pancreatic
cancer
was
detected
during
laparoscopy
and
the
patient
was
sent
home. I
prescribed
fasting
for
her
for
two
weeks
with
massaging
her
whole
body
with
urine
and
drinking
urine. He
still
does
not
eat
meat
and
milk,
although
he
has
a
taste
for
salty
and
spicy. Three
weeks
after
the
end
of
the
hunger
strike,
tests
showed
a
normal
state
of
health. The
patient
has
returned
to
work,
she
is
feeling
well.' Here
I
would
like
to
emphasize
again
that
the
basis
of
successful
healing
is
faith
in
the
given
method. If
a
person
does
not
believe
and
starts
consulting
too
much
with
relatives,
acquaintances
and
doctors,
then
the
result
is
nothing. Example:
Doctor
dietitian
with
about
three
years
of
experience. He
used
the
urinotherapy
method
for
hundreds
of
his
patients. According
to
him,
it
is
the
best
treatment
for
all
allergic
diseases,
bronchial
asthma,
severe
pneumonia
and
exudative
pleuritis. There
are
also
good
results
in
the
treatment
of
chronic
enterocolitis,
bronchitis
and
pancreatitis. Rheumatoid
arthritis
in
the
initial
stage
is
also
well
treated. All
skin
diseases
-
eczema,
neurodermatitis
and,
of
course,
overweight
and
metabolic
polyarthritis
-
are
very
well
treated
with
urinotherapy. However,
all
patients
must
under go
a
certain
preparation
before
treatment,
which
includes
cleaning
the
main
organs
(intestines,
liver)
and
switching
to
a
separate
diet,
mainly
vegetarian
with
a
significant
proportion
of
raw
food. Example:
"I
started
practicing
urine
therapy. I


44 –45, 118 –19
Urbach-W iethe disease, 166 –69
uvula, 120 –21
vagal system, 148 –50
vagus nerve, 148 –50
vagus nerve stimulation, 150
vasopressin, 29 –30
V edas and vedic teachings, 196
veins, 74
V iagra (sildenafil), 50
V ietnam W ar, 142
vitamin deficiencies, 115 –16
VO 2  max, 89
V oluntary Elimination of Deep Breathing, 93, 98. See also  hypoventilation training / Buteyko
breathing
W alking/Running technique, 223 –24
W allace, James Sim, 133
water loss, and mouthbreathing, 29 –30
weight loss, and breathing, 74 –75
W eil, Andrew, 206, 230
W enger, M. A., 191W iebe, David, 99
W olpe, Joseph, 176
W oorons, Xavier, 95
Y ale track and field team, Stough’ s work with, 65
yoga
Indus-Sarasvati civilization and, 195 –96
modern practice of, 197 –98
nadi shodhana, 42, 219 –20
prana, 187 –88, 197
Rama’ s abilities, 188 –91
sa ta na ma  chant, 82
traditional Yôga practice, 198
sutras of Patanjali, 196
V edas and vedic teachings, 196
Y oga Sutras of Patanjali, 196 –97
yogic breathing, 228 –29
yogic sleep, 190
Y oung, Austen, 26
Zátopek, Emil, 93 –94
Zuckerber g, Mark, 128
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Nestor  has written for Outside, Scientific American, The Atlantic,
Dwell, The New Y ork T imes, and many other publications. His book Deep:
Fr eediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean T ells Us about
Ourselves  was a finalist for the 2015 PEN/ESPN A ward for Literary Sports
W riting, an Amazon Best Science Book of 2014, and more. Nestor has
appeared on dozens of national television shows, including ABC’ s
Nightline  and CBS’ s Morning News, and on NPR. He lives and breathes in
San Francisco.Wat’s next on
your reading list? Discover your next
great read! Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author. Sign up now. * Henderson discovered, one hundred years ago, that pure oxygen is only
useful for those at altitude (where oxygen levels in the air are decreased) or
those who are so sick that they cannot retain healthy oxygen saturation
levels (above roughly 90 percent) through normal breathing. But even for
sick patients, long-term supplemental oxygen can eventually damage the
lungs and decrease red blood cell counts, making it harder for the body to
pull oxygen from breath in the future. * See studies and other references in Notes, p. 246, at “of fers a troubling
picture.”* More recently, Sanya Richards-Ross, a Jamaican-American sprinter, used
Buteyko’ s techniques to win three Olympic golds in the 4x400 meter relay
(in 2004, 2008, and 2012) and gold in the 400 meters in 2012. She was
ranked as the top 400-meter runner in the world for a decade. Photos of
Richards-Ross with her mouth closed and a placid look on her face as she
destroys the slack-jawed and gasping competition have become the stuf f of
legend. * The primary complaint is that studies in Buteyko breathing were small,
few, and according to some critics, done outside stringent scientific
protocol. Be that as it may, in 2014, the Global Initiative for Asthma, a
collaboration among the W orld Health Or ganization, the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institutes of Health, gave
Buteyko an “A” rating (later revised to a “B”) for supporting evidence. * Cells “buf fer” too. Whenever there is a decrease in circulation or oxygen,
cells will produce ener gy (A TP) anaerobically. This process creates a more
acidic “microenvironment” in which oxygen can more easily disassociate
from hemoglobin. In this, chronic overbreathing will not create “hypoxia”
in tissues; this is a fact that many Buteyko adherents consistently get wrong. The real damage from overbreathing comes from the constant ener gy the
body has to expend to run more cells anaerobically and to constantly buf fer
for carbon dioxide deficiencies. * Nobody needs a Homeoblock or retainer to get the bone-building and
airway-expanding benefits of chewing. Hard, natural foods and chewing
gum likely work just as ef fectively. Marianna Evans recommends her
patients chew gum for a couple of hours a day. I too followed this advice
and some days I would chomp on an extremely hard type of T urkish gum
called Falim, which came in flavors like carbonate and mint grass. The stuf f
tasted pretty crude, but it of fered a workout and delivered results. * Sexual arousal is controlled by the parasympathetic system and is usually
accompanied, or can be induced, by soft and easy breaths. Meanwhile,
or gasms are a sympathetic response, and are often preceded by fast, short,
and sharp breathing. W e’re attracted to eyes of mates with lar ge pupils
partly because pupils dilate—a sympathetic response—during or gasm. * Since Brandt’ s reports, thousands of researchers have tested the ef fects of
carbon dioxide therapies on cardiovascular health, weight loss, and immune
function. A quick search of “transdermal carbon dioxide therapy” on
PubMed brings up more than 2,500 studies. Most of these studies, I’ve
found, confirm what Royat researchers had discovered a hundred years
earlier, and the Greeks thousands of years before them: exposing the body
to carbon dioxide, whether in water or through injections or via inhalation,
increases oxygen delivery to muscles, or gans, brain, and more; it dilates
arteries to increase blood flow, helps dissolve more fat, and is a powerful
treatment for dozens of ailments. For an extensive history of carbon dioxide
research and several more resources, visit www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath. * A 2019 British study published in The Lancet  found that depressive
symptoms were 5 percent lower after six weeks in a group treated with an
SSRI, which of fered, in the author ’ s words, “no convincing evidence” of an
ef fect. After 12 weeks, there was a 13 percent reduction, a finding the
researchers described as “weak.”* Although Sudarshan and other kriyas may not have been originally created
to help sick people get well, they do that anyway. More than 70 independent
studies conducted at Harvard Medical School, Columbia College of
Physicians and Sur geons, and other institutions found that Sudarshan Kriya
was a highly ef fective treatment for a range of ailments, everything from
chronic stress to joint pain and autoimmune diseases. * Pugs, mastif fs, boxers, and other brachycephalic dogs have been bred to
have flat faces and smaller sinus cavities, and, as such, suf fer from a similar
range of chronic respiratory problems. In many ways, modern humans have
become the Homo  equivalent of these highly inbred dogs.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        See also  hypoventilation training / Buteyko breathing
cancer, 193
carbon dioxide, 9, 70 –71
anatomical journey of, 74
author ’ s carbon dioxide therapy, 178 –79, 181 –83
Bohr ’ s discovery of oxygen-loosening function of, 75 –76
chemoreceptors and, 169 –70
color of blood and, 74
dilatory ef fect on blood vessels, 76fear circuit triggered by, 169
Feinstein’ s carbon dioxide therapy research, 175 –79
Henderson’ s dog experiments and, 76 –78
Olsson’ s experimental use, 179 –80
weight loss and, 74 –75
Catlin, Geor ge, 46 –49, 52
Chandogya Upanishads, 196
chemoreceptors/chemoreception, 169 –70, 211
Chesney, Mar garet, 172
chewing, 132 –36, 209 –10
bone density and growth triggered by, 132
breastfeeding and, 132
gum and, 135 n, 225
lack of, and morphological changes in


 ater Method, Step by  Step ). W ipe and
label sealed jars. Store in a cool, dark place. c r a b a p p l e  c h u t n e y
When crabapple s ar e plenty, this  savoury applesauce is my favo urite way to
pr eserve them. I like a thicker consistency with chopped raisi ns for hors
d’oeuvr es, but if you’r e using it as a condiment—it is excellent with baked
ham and pork—a thinner chut ney with whole raisins and som e syrup is
better th an the thicker version. If you don’ t have crabapples, use a tart
apple like McIntosh or Lodi. MAKES ABOUT 8 CUPS (2 L) 1 lemon, halved
3 lb (1.5 kg) crabapples, cor ed and chopped
1–1/2 cups (375 mL) apple cider vinegar
1–1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) gr ound cinnamon
1/4 tsp (1 mL) gr ound cloves
3 cups (750 mL) lightly packed br own sugar
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1–1/2 cups (375 mL) golden raisins, whole orcoarsely chopped (see headnote) 1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped candied
ginger
3 tbsp (45 mL) chopped fr esh tarragon or 1 tbsp (15 mL) crushed dried
tarragon

1. Squee ze the lemon halves, rem ove seeds and pour juice into a Maslin pan
or canni ng kettle. Discard any remaining seeds in the lemon halves and
chop rem aining flesh and rind and add to juice in pan. Add chopped apples
to the pan and s tir well. Add vinegar, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a
boil over high h eat. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar,  1 cup (250
mL) at a time, stirring to dissolve before adding the next cup. S tir in onion
and garlic and boil lightly, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, heat four 1-pint (2-cup/500 mL) jars in boiling  water, and
scald the lids, lifter, funnel and tongs ( Boiling W ater Method, Step by Step ). 3. A dd raisins, ginger and tarragon to the boiling mixture and return to a
boil. Simmer, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes or until fruit mixture and
syrup are thick (see headnote). 4. Remove pan from heat and skim of f any foam. Fill hot jars, leaving a 1/4-
inch (5 mm) headspace. Run a th in non-metallic utensil around the inside of
the j ar to allow air to escape. Add more hot chutney, if necessar y, to leave a
1/4-inch (5 mm) headspace. W ipe rims, top with flat lids and screw on
metal rin gs. Ret urn jars to the hot water bath, topping up with hot water if
necessary. Bring  to a full rolling boil and process jars for 10 minutes
( Boiling W ater Method, Step by Step ). 5. Remo ve cann er lid and wait 5 minutes before removing jars t o a towel or
rack to cool com pletely. Check seals, label and store in a cool place for up
to 1 year. Use: Th is hearty apple chutney can stand up to sausages, bacon, ham,
pork cho ps, live r pâté, duck and  game with real flavour becau se its acidic
tartness cuts through the heaviness of these foods.r o s e m a r y - s p i k e d  a p p l e  j e l l y
Jellies a r e made  fr om fruit and fr om some vegetables and herb s by boiling
them in water (or mashing raw soft fruit) and allowing the j uice to drip
thr ough a strainer, pr eferably a  cone strainer. The key to making sparkling
clear jel ly is to r esist the ur ge t o pr ess the fruit thr ough the strainer. If you
do, mor e of the flesh comes thr ough into the juice and mak es the jelly
cloudy. T his is actually fine if chunks of fruit or herbs will be added to the
jelly or if catsup will be made fr om the juice. If I’ m making apple jelly or pectin fr om apples, I try to use at least 2
differ ent varieties of tart apples—per haps Newton, McIntosh, Pippin,
Jonagold, Jona than, W inesap or Gala—because this tart c ombination
contributes to the overall comp lex apple taste and ensur es a good amount
of pectin for setting the jelly. MAKES ABOUT 6 CUPS (1.5 L)
3 lb (1.5 kg) mixed tart apples, peeled, cor ed and seeds intact,
cut into chunks (about 10 to 12)
4 cups (1 L) water
10 sprigs fr esh r osemary, divided
3 cups (750 mL) granulated sugar
2 tbsp (25 mL) fr eshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) rice vinegar

1. In  a Maslin p an or canning k ettle, combine apples, water and 4 sprigs of
rosemary. Bring  to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and
simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until apples are soft. 2. Set a cheesec loth-lined cone strainer over a 6-cup (1.5 L) bo wl and pour
in apple mixture. Cover with a c lean towel and set aside for at least 4 hours
or overnight. Allow juice to drip through without pressing.Probably th e most popular jelly is apple. T he best method for obtaining clear juice is
to set up a cone strainer over a non-reactive bowl and let the cooked apple mash (or
raw mashed soft fruit ) drip without pressin g on it. This takes some time—it’ s best to
leave it overnight. Pioneers and old-time preservers would hang a pillowcase or a
lar ge cheesecloth bag from the legs of an overturned stool and let the juice drip into a
bowl positioned on the underside of the seat. 3. T he n ext day,  heat six 1-cup (250 mL) jars in boiling water, and scald the
lids, lifte r, funnel and tongs ( Boiling W ater Method, Step by Step ). Discard
the c heesecloth with apple and r osemary solids. Apple juice should measure
roughly 4 cups (1 L). 4. In  a Maslin pan or canning kettle, bring the strained apple juice to a boil
over high heat. Add sugar, 1 cup (250 mL) at a time, stirr ing until it
dissolves before adding the next cup. Add lemon juice and vinegar and
bring to a rolling boil, stirring o ften. Boil, uncovered, until the s yrup sheets
of f a cool metal spoon (see sidebar), about 15 to 18 minutes. Sheeting T est:  Dip a
cool metal spoon into  the boiling liquid and allow it to run of f into the pan. If 2 drops
of jell y hang of f the e dge of the spoon and then run together, the jelly is sheeting and
is ready to be processed in jars. 5. Remove pan from heat and skim of f any foam. Fill hot jars, leaving a 1/4-
inch (5 mm) headspace. If desired, add a sprig of rosemary to each jar. W ipe
rims, top with flat lids and screw on metal rings. Return jars to the hot waterbath, top ping up  with hot water if necessary. Bring to a full rolling boil and
process jars for 5 minutes ( Boiling W ater Method, Step by Step ). 6. Remo ve cann er lid and wait 5 minutes before removing jars t o a towel or
rack to cool com pletely. Check seals, label and store in a cool place for up
to 1 year. chocolate apple mousse conserve
Rich tas ting, an d yet not loaded  with fat, this conserve makes a sweet-tart
chocolate sauce  and topping f or all sorts of desserts. The keys to this
textural delight ar e: start with cooking apples; cook them un til they ar e
soft; and  purée in a food pr ocessor or blender until silky smooth. A fine
sieve or a food m ill both work in  place of a food pr ocessor for th is purpose. Y ou can double the r ecipe, but be sur e to use a very deep and heavy-
bottomed pot because when you r eturn the puréed mixtur e to the pan, it will
spit when it bubbles. MAKES 3–1/2 CUPS (875 mL) 1 lemon
6 cups (1.5 L) chopped apple (


 entire mess on the lack of
fairness, try looking hard at your own in-170 / Your Erroneous Zonesability to decide for yourself what is most appropriate for you. • The “If he can do it, so can I” game in which you justify some-
thing by someone else’s behavior. This can be the neurotic rationale
for cheating, stealing, flirting, lying, being late, or anything that
you’d rather not admit into your own value system. On the highway,
cutting off another driver because he did it to you, or hurrying up
to get in front of a slowpoke, to slow him down, because he did it
to you, or leaving your highbeams on because oncoming cars are
doing it—literally putting your own life in jeopardy because your
sense of justice has been violated. This is the “He hit me, so I hit
him” routine that is largely employed by children who have seen
this behavior thousands of times in their own parents. It is the cause
of war when extended to its ridiculous extreme. • Spending the same amount of money on a gift that someone
else spent on one for you. Paying back every favor with a favor of
equal value. Keeping the tally sheet equal, rather than doing what
you would like in such matters. After all, “It has to be fair. ”
There they are, a brief excursion down Justice-Alley, where you,
and those around you, find yourself internally shaken—often only
slightly, but still shaken—because of that unserviceable sentence in
your head that things must be fair. Some of the Psychological Payoffs for Hanging Onto Your “Demands
for Justice”
The rewards for this kind of behavior are generally self-defeating
in that they keep the focus off reality and on some kind of a dream
world that will never exist. The most common reasons for retaining
your “demand for justice” thinking and behavior are:THE JUSTICE TRAP  / 171• You can feel smug with yourself for being honorable. It’s one
way to make yourself feel superior and better. As long as you insist
on a mythological justice system for everything and are careful to
keep your tally sheet in balance, you’ll hold onto your holier than
thou feeling and use up your present moments with smugness rather
than effective living. • You can give up responsibility for yourself and justify being
immobilized by shifting the responsibility to those people and events
that are not fair. A scapegoating for your lack of ability to be and
feel what you choose. In this way, you can avoid risks, and the hard
work of change. As long as injustice is the cause of your problems
you can never change until the injustice goes away, which, of course,
it never will. • Injustice can win you attention, pity and self-pity. The world
has been unjust to you and now you and everyone around you must
feel sorry for you. This is another great technique for avoiding
change. The attention, pity and self-pity are your rewards, and you
use them to prop yourself up rather than take charge of yourself
and eliminate comparison behavior. • You can justify all kinds of immoral, illegal and inappropriate
behavior by making your action someone else’s responsibility. If he
can do it, so can I. That’s a beautiful rationalization system for any
behavior. • It gives you a sensational self-excuse for being ineffective. “If
they aren’t going to do anything, then neither am I. ” A clever little
ploy for being too lazy, too tired, or too frightened. • It gives you a conversation topic and helps you to avoid talking
about yourself to the people around you. Complain about all the
injustices in the world and nothing gets done, but at least you killed
those moments and maybe escaped dealing more honestly and
personally with each other. • As long as you have a concept of justice, you can always make
the just decision. • You can manipulate others, particularly your children, by re-
minding them that they are being unfair to you if they aren’t172 / Your Erroneous Zonesexactly the same as you, and don’t keep a precise tally of all give-
and-take in the relationship. A nice little device for getting your own
way. • You can justify vindictive behavior because everything must be
fair. This is a ploy for getting away with all kinds of manipulative
and unsavory activities. Vengeance is justifiable because everything
must be fair and even. Just as you must repay a favor, so you must
repay a meanness. There you have the psychological maintenance system for hanging
onto demands for justice. But this support system is not unshakable. Below are some strategic methods for tossing out this kind of
thinking and wiping clean this demand-for-justice erroneous zone. Some Strategies for Giving Up the Futile Insistence on Justice
• Make a list of everything in your world that you think is unfair. Use your list as a guide for effective personal action. Ask yourself
this important question. “Will the inequities go away if I am upset. ”
Obviously not. By attacking the erroneous thinking that brings about
your upset, you will be on your way to escape from the justice trap. • When you find yourself saying, “Would I do that to you. ” or
any similar sentence, change it to, “You are different from me, al-
though I find that hard to accept right now. ” This will open, rather
than close communication between you and the other person. • Begin to view your emotional life as independent of whatever
anyone else does. This will free you from the chains of being hurt
when others behave differently from the way you want them to. • Try to view each decision not as a monumental life-chang-THE JUSTICE TRAP  / 173ing event, but in perspective. Carlos Castaneda calls a man of
knowledge one who—
Lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking
about what he will think when he has finished acting…He
knows that his life will be over altogether too soon; he knows,
because he sees, that nothing is more important than anything
else…. Thus a man of knowledge sweats and puffs and if one
looks at him he is just like any ordinary man, except that the
folly of his life is under control. Nothing being more important
than anything else, a man of knowledge chooses any act, and
acts it out as if it mattered to him. His controlled folly makes
him say that what he does matters and makes him act as if it
did, and yet he knows that it doesn’t; so when he fulfills his
acts he retreats in peace, and whether his acts were good or
bad, or worked or didn’t, is in no way any part of his concern*
• Replace the sentence “It isn’t fair” with “It’s unfortunate,” or
“I’d prefer…” Thus, instead of insisting that the world be other than
it is, you begin to accept reality—but not necessarily to approve of
it. • Eliminate external references of comparison. Have your own
goals independent of what Tom, Dick or Harry do. Set out to be
what you want, without references to what others have or don’t
have. • Correct yourself out loud when you use a sentence such as, “I
always call you when I’m going to be late, so why didn’t you call
me. ” to “I would have felt better if you had called me. ” Thus you
eliminate the erroneous notion that another’s reason for calling is
to become more like you. • Rather than paying someone off, by bringing wine or a gift in
exchange for dinner or a party, wait until you feel like it and
*Carlos Castaneda, A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan  (New
York: Pocket Books, 1972). 174 / Your Erroneous Zonesthen send a bottle of wine with a note saying, “Just because I think
you’re a great person. ” There’s no need to balance the books with
reciprocal trades; just do something nice because you, rather than a
special occasion, call for it. • Spend the amount of money you want to on any gift, and don’t
be swayed by what was spent for you. Eliminate invitations based
on obligation and fairness. Decide whom you’ll see on an internal
rather than external standard. • Set up your own standards of conduct in your family based
upon what you think is appropriate for you. Have everyone else do
the same. Then see if it isn’t quite possible to make it happen without
infringing on each other’s rights. If you feel that being out three
nights a week is what you want, but can’t because someone has to
watch the children, “fairness” doesn’t have to enter into your de-
cision-making. Perhaps you make some kind of baby-sitting arrange-
ment, or have the kids go along, or whatever will be a mutually
satisfying settlement. But to bring in the “It isn’t fair” routine will
surely lead to everyone’s resentment—and to staying at home as
well. Be a doer, not a complainer about injustice. For every injustice
you suffer, there is a resolution that does not require you to be im-
mobilized in any way. • Remember that revenge is just another way of being controlled
by others. Do what you, not they, decide is for you. These are just a few beginning suggestions that will help you to
be happier by


 What would you say to someone who came up to you and said, “What good is this? Why do I need minerals in my food?”
Hartman : Well, first of all, as you stand there, you—just like animals and soil and fauna—are made up
of 90 minerals. And when you are born, you have 90 elements in your body. A certain percentage of
those are shed every day in your waste, and they need to be replaced. So how do they get replaced, and
what’s the chemical mechanism for their replacement? The only way they can be replaced in the body is
in an organic form. Now this is a tricky subject—organic and inorganic—because the food movement
has been misnamed, and they get the wrong idea about the chemistry or the process. What’s going on
here, though, is that each thing that comes into the human body needs to come in its organic form—
and in a chemistry definition, it has to have carbon complex molecules as it comes into the body. In
other words, it has to come in as fruit or vegetable or meat—something that is a carbon compound. Mike : So you can’t just grind up seashells and eat that and expect to get all your calcium. Hartman : No, absolutely not. I mean, there are some animals that can do that because they have a
different digestive system. Cows are ruminants; they have multiple stomachs, and they have special
bacteria that allow them to do that. They don’t do it well, but they can do it. Humans can’t do it at all. Mike : We have to get our minerals in plant form. That’s what you’re saying? Hartman : Right, and when you take a vitamin pill, most of that is going down the toilet. Mike : Unless it’s a whole food concentrate that was raised on a lot of minerals. That’s a different story,
correct? Hartman : That’s right. Again, you have to take your food in an organic fashion. Basically there’s a
symbiotic relationship between humans and plants. Plants inhale carbon dioxide, strip off the carbon,
compound it with other minerals and elements to make a carbon compound, and exhale oxygen. You
inhale oxygen, attach carbon to it that plants have stripped off, and exhale carbon dioxide. It’s a lovely
relationship. That’s the way it works. So when an organic farmer says, “I’m going to put manure on
my field,” that’s fine, but it’s going to have to break down, liberate the carbon atom and become an
inorganic element—and that element goes into a solution with water, and the plant picks it up. The
plant cannot directly pick up organic compounds. It gets tricky, because the whole industry has the
wrong name. Everybody thinks that the only good food is food that gets manure put on it. The sad part
is that the chemical farmers actually have a more readily available product for the plant. They don’t have
very many elements, but at least they are elements that can be used right away. seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
How ocean minerals nourish the soils, crops and consumers
Mike : So how does ocean water fit the blueprint of plants here? Hartman : Well, ocean water is just a remarkable, remarkable solution. It’s uniform all over the world. In other words, with a few exceptions, if you take samples of sea water all over the planet, it will have all
90 elements in the same proportion in the same order. It’s reliable, and humans have tried to duplicate
seawater with no success. It’s a very difficult thing to make, but there it is, and it’s perfect just the way
it is. Mike : So when seawater goes into the soil, how are plants readily able to use it? Hartman : We dilute it down, because it’s strong. We didn’t invent seawater, and it’s a perfect product as
it is. What we try to do is to make it as economic for people to use as possible. Our proprietary process
is to concentrate it so it’s economically viable and so that we can ship it halfway around the world. Mike : What kind of concentration is it of ocean water? Like 10:1 or what? Hartman : That’s a piece of information that we don’t give out yet, because we have a provisional process
patent pending, but we will be able to share that soon. There are certain things we don’t mention yet,
and that’s one of them. What you have is a highly concentrated solution that you can ship to the
Midwest, and then it gets diluted back down to a safe level for a plant, and what you’re putting down
on the field is an ionic solution. I know this is a lot of chemistry, but it’s actually really simple. The ionic
solution is made of elements that have either given up or taken on an electron so that they have either
a positive or negative charge. The only thing the plant can feed on is an ionic solution; so the plant is
getting, literally, an IV of food. When you go out and watch farmers using spreaders to spread all that
matter all over their fields, it is in no way food for a plant yet. It’s kind of haphazard, because how
readily that breaks down and goes into solution with the rainwater or the irrigation water depends on
how much rain there is or how much moisture there is. It’s terribly complicated to do farming the way
they did in the past, but this is so easy. It’s got everything, and it’s very easy to apply. Mike : When a person gets your product, it’s called Ocean Solution, and Sea Solution is another name
of the product, right? Hartman : Right. Mike : People dilute it themselves, just using their garden hose, right? Hartman : That’s right. They can use well water, city water and so on. seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
Mike : How much water do they add to yours? Hartman : They would add a hundred parts water to one part Ocean Solution. Mike : So the Ocean Solution goes a long way. Then they spread that on the garden and wait? Let
nature take over from there? Hartman : Right. Why eating mineral-rich garden vegetables can make a huge difference
in your health
Mike : The point of all of this is not only to make healthy soil and healthy plants, but also to help
enhance the health of people through enhanced nutrition. That’s where this is all heading. Hartman : Yes, and I think it’s time to steer us back to Dr. Murray, who is a phenomenal character
in history, and some day I think he will be recognized as such. Dr. Murray was an intern, a medical
student, in the 1930s, and you can imagine what an intern’s life is like. You’ve seen it on “ER” and other
shows. It’s just basically 12 hours of deaths and the horror of cancer and all the diseases that come
through a hospital, with not many solutions in the 1930s, as you can imagine. To clear his head, Dr.
Murray would go out to the docks. He was an intern at Mass General in Boston, and he would go out
on the docks at night to walk and clear his head. One night, he came across a commercial fisherman who had just come back from being out at sea. Just
out of curiosity, he said, “Look, I’m learning to be a doctor in the hospital here, and all day long I deal
with people who have cancer and strokes and tumors and all this kind of thing. Just out of curiosity,
what do fish get?” The fisherman didn’t hesitate one second. He just shot right back and said, “I’ve been
fishing 40 years, and I’ve never seen a sick fish—not one.” You can imagine what an event that was for
a man who’s very scientific and has a very inquiring nature. This really lit the light bulb for him, and he
made it his life’s quest to figure out what it is that is special about seawater. In the 1930s, straight through to his death in 1983, he researched this. He did massive research. He
went out on ships and collected samples—animals from the sea. He would autopsy them and send
tissue samples back to a lab in Chicago that he had a relationship with. He said, “What’s the difference
between these two tissue samples?” The lab would say, “There’s no difference. They’re identical.”
And he said, “That’s interesting, because one is from a 60-year-old whale, and the other is from its
offspring.” Sea animals grow very large, have tremendous longevity and are never sick. For instance,
there are freshwater trout and there are ocean-water trout, and they couldn’t be more different in
seawater Minerals and the Coming Agricultural Revolution
their health patterns—but, genetically, they’re practically identical. However, because of the lack of
minerals in freshwater, freshwater trout are always sick in some way. So this inspired Dr. Murray to do
some tremendous research on animals—chickens, pigs, every kind of animal—and what he saw was
tremendous differences in their health and how they grew. Mike : How much research did he do with humans? Hartman : Well, remember, he grew up in a time when lab instruments were not particularly sensitive
and with very little funding, so I would say his human research was fairly limited, although he did get


ing	pesticides. Dry	cleaning	clothing	brings
toxins	into	your	household	and	close	to	your	body;	clothes	that	have	been	dry-
cleaned	should	always	be	aired	out	before	they	are	put	into	a	closet	or	worn. Laundry	detergents	and	fabric	softeners	can	also	be	problematic;	in	fact,	many
people	are	quite	sensitive	to	detergent	residues. Have	you	ever	walked	down	the
detergent	aisle	at	the	grocery	store	and	had	your	eyes,	nose	or	throat	feel
irritated? Toxins	in	those	boxes	are	off-gassing. When	washing	your	clothes,	use
environmentally	friendly	and	unscented	laundry	products	available	in	health
food	stores. Do	not	use	scented	fabric	softeners. These	products	might	make
your	clothes	smell	“fresh	and	clean,”	but	that	smell	is	toxic. Buy	clothes	made	of
natural	materials,	such	as	wool	and	cotton,	and	use	natural	cleaning	products. After	you	have	taken	steps	to	reduce	or	eliminate	products	that	are	toxic,
make
sure	to	also
keep	your	home	or	office	well	ventilated. Modern	homes	and	office
buildings	are	built	a	lot	“tighter”	than	older	construction	to	save	on	energy	costs. While	reducing	energy	waste	is	a	good	thing,	reducing	air	circulation	allows
pollutants	to	accumulate	to	higher	concentrations. For	this	reason,	high-quality
air	filters	(that	will	filter	out	both	particulate	matter	and	gaseous	hydrocarbons)
can	be	helpful. Use	them	in	rooms	where	you	spend	a	great	deal	of	time,	such	as
your	office	or	bedroom. Obvious	as	it	sounds,	the	most	important	thing	you	can	do	to	keep	your	indoor
air	clean	is	to	stop	introducing	pollutants	in	the	first	place. Before	you	purchase
something	new,	consider	if	that	product	might	contribute	to	your	indoor
pollution. As	mentioned	earlier,	after	you	buy	something,	give	it	a	chance	to	off-
gas	before	you	put	it	in	your	living	environment. When	I	purchase	a	new
television	or	computer	monitor,	I	put	it	in	the	garage,	turn	it	on	and	leave	it	there
until	I	can	no	longer	detect	an	odor. Hang	your	dry-cleaning	outdoors	or	in	a
well-ventilated	area	until	you	can	no	longer	detect	an	odor. Do	not	use	products
that	have	powerful	chemical	odors,	such	as	mothballs	or	air	fresheners. Use	heat
or	sunshine	to	help	expedite	the	off-gassing	process,	whenever	possible. Health	and	Beauty	Products	That	Fail
Your	skin	provides	enormous	protection	from	microorganisms,	such	as	germs,but	skin	also	is	designed	to	be	permeable,	allowing	certain	molecules	in	and	out,
which	is	good	news	when	the	skin	allows	antioxidants	in	to	protect	against	the
sun	and	allows	toxins	out	through	the	sweat	and	oil	glands. However,	easy
access	also	allows	environmental	toxins	to	penetrate. Personal	care	products	are	the	largest	source	of	toxic	absorption	through	the
skin	and	mucus	membranes. One	study	found	that	13	percent	of	the	commonly
used	cosmetic	preservative	BHT	(butylated	hydroxytoluene)	is	absorbed	by	your
skin. Chemicals	found	in	everyday	personal	products	such	as	perfume,	cologne,
shaving	cream,	skin	lotions,	aftershave,	toothpaste,	soaps,	shampoos,
deodorants,	nail	polish,	all	types	of	household	cleansers	and	so	forth,	can	be
absorbed	quickly	and	produce	effects	that	are	toxic	or	even	carcinogenic,
especially	when	these	toxic	substances	are	combined. When	I	was	suffering	from	severe	chemical	sensitivities,	I	found,	much	to	my
surprise,	that	the	brands	of	toothpaste,	shampoo,	deodorant	and	skin	lotion	that	I
was	using	were	all	quite	toxic. Products	such	as	lotions,	conditioners	and
makeup,	especially	when	left	on	the	skin	for	long	periods	of	time,	expose	you	to
significant	amounts	of	toxins,	which	can	bioaccumulate,	poison	your	cells	and
cause	disease. Most	common	products	sold	to	preserve	and	protect	the	skin	in
fact	actually	contain	chemicals	capable	of	damaging	the	skin. Virtually	all	commonly	available	cosmetic	and	personal	care	products	contain
ingredients	(such	as	preservatives	and	colors)	that	are	known	to	present
problems. Many	preservatives	contain	or	release	formaldehyde,	a	known	toxin
and	carcinogen. Various	parabens	(a	specific	class	of	preservatives)	have	been
shown	to	damage	deep	layers	of	the	skin	worse	than	severe	sunburn,	which
causes	the	skin	to	age	prematurely	and	even	can	cause	cancer. Artificial	colors
have	been	shown	to	be	carcinogenic,	not	only	when	ingested	but	also	when
applied	to	the	skin. Yet	people	voluntarily	put	these	personal	care	products	on
their	skin	daily,	unaware	that	these	products	contain	toxic	and	potentially
carcinogenic	ingredients. By	using	products	such	as	sunscreen	and	lotion,	people
are	putting	cancer-causing	chemicals	on	their	skin,	then	wondering	why	they
developed	skin	cancer	or	why	their	skin	is	aging	so	fast. Choosing	safe	personal	care	and	cosmetic	products	means	reading	labels
carefully	and	learning	about	the	health	consequences	of	ingredients. Effective
products	are	on	the	market	that	are	high	in	quality	and	safety. The	overwhelming
majority,	however,	contain	a	variety	of	toxins	that	should	be	avoided. Some	of
the	common	toxins	to	look	for	and	avoid	include	artificial	fragrances,	colors	and
flavors,	formaldehyde,	phenol,	trichlorethylene,	BHT/BHA,	EDTA,	cresol,
detergents,	glycols,	parabens,	sodium	lauryl	sulfate	and	nitrates/	nitrosamines.Perfumes	and	other	fragrances	also	cause	problems. Traditionally,	these
products	were	made	from	flowers	and	herbs. But	since	World	War	II,	most
fragrances	and	perfumes	have	been	made	from	synthetic	petrochemicals,	many
of	which	are	officially	designated	as	hazardous	materials. In	fact,	about	95
percent	are	synthetic,	and	more	than	80	percent	of	the	ingredients	used	in
fragrances	have	never	been	tested	for	human	safety. When	they	have	been	tested,
many	are	found	to	be	neuro-toxic	and	even	carcinogenic. (Meanwhile,	because
of	“trade	secrets,”	manufacturers	are	not	required	to	list	any	of	these	toxic
ingredients	on	their	product	labels.) Worse,	these	fragrances	are	not	just	in
perfumes,	but	in	everything	from	kitty	litter	to	shampoos,	soaps,	lotions,	shaving
creams,	household	cleaners,	laundry	detergents	and	numerous	other	products. Fragrances	now	pollute	our	homes,	schools,	workplaces,	stores,	churches	and
other	public	places. People	who	regularly	use	synthetic	perfumes	are	putting	a
heavy	toxic	burden	on	their	bodies. The	solution	is	to	use	essential	oils	made
from	natural	ingredients	such	as	flowers	and	herbs,	if	tolerable,	and	to	avoid
household	and	personal	products	made	with	synthetic	fragrances. I	have	spent	years