Y our ego also tells you that you’re separate from everything that’ s
missing in your life, and so you  must spend a great deal of ener gy chasing
after what’ s missing. Moreover, because who you are accordin g to ego is
your body and y our personality, you’re separate from God. Go d is outside
of you, a force to fear just like  all of those external forces attempting to
control you. So you beg this e xternal force to provide you w ith special
powers to overcome all of those other egos who are trying so hard to snare
what is rightfully yours.
Y our ego keeps you in a constan t state of fear, worry, anxiety, and stress.
It implores you to be better than everyone around you. It besee ches you to
push ha rder, an d to get God on your side. In short, it maintains your
separate status from God and allows you to be terrified of your own
divinity.
Embracing Y our Divinity
Ther e is  no place that God is n ot.  Remind  yourse lf of this every day. It
has been said that God sleeps in the minerals, rests in the veget ables, walks
in th e animals, and thinks in us. Think of God as a presence r ather than a
person—a prese nce that allows a seed to sprout, that moves the  stars across
the sky, and sim ultaneously moves a thought across your mind.  A presence
that grow s the grass and grows  your fingernails all at the same time. This
presence is everywhere; therefore, it must also be in you! And if it’ s
everywhere, it must be in all that you perceive to be missing fro m your life.
In so me inexplicable way, you’r e already connected to all that you’d like toattract in to your life by the presence of this universal, all-pow erful Spirit
called God.
Y ou may  have read about some of the great saints in India. The y seem to
possess the magical powers of instant manifestation, their presence appears
to he al t he sick, and they communicate a sense of divine bliss a nd peace to
all th ose they encounter. One saint was asked by a reporter fro m the W est,
“Are you God?” The saint responded without hesitation, “Y es, I am,” to
which everyone in attendance seemed stunned. Then after a brief pause, he
continued, “And  so are you. The only dif ference between you  and I,” he
said, “is that I know it and you doubt it.”
Y ou are a piece of God. Y ou ar e a divine creation—a being of light who
showed up here as a human bei ng at the exact moment you were supposed
to. Y our body will depart at precisely the right moment as well. But you’re
not that  body you behold, no r are you it’ s personality or any of it’ s
possessions and accomplishments. Y ou are the beloved. A miracle. A part
of th e eternal p erfection. A piece of the divine intelligence th at supports
everything and everyone on th is planet. In a world in which this divine
intelligence creates everything, there can be no accidents. Eve ry time you
experience fear,  self-rejection, anxiety, guilt, or hate, you’re denying your
divinity and succumbing to the influences of that insidious ego mind that
has convinced you of your disconnection to God.
Author U. S. A nderson wrote an inspiring book many years a go called
Thr ee Magic W or ds.  Mr. Anderson writes about th e ability to become a
miracle worker and to live up to the ideal of the promise made by Jesus
Christ: “Even the least among you can do all that I have done, and even
greater things.” The author doesn’ t reveal what the three magic words are
until the end of the book, when the reader discovers that the words are Y ou
ar e God.  N ot God in the sense of “above all others and better than everyo ne
else,” bu t in the sense of being eternally connected to your sourc e, the ever -
present p ower of love that never abandons you and never runs d ry. Y ou can
rely on this source if you remind yourself that it includes you at all times.T h e  T e n t h  S e c r e t
Believe that life is worth living, and
your belief will help cr eate that fact.
— W illiam James
Nothing is, unless our
thinking makes it so.
— W illiam Shakespeare
W i s d o m  i s
A v o i d i n g  A l l
T h o u g h t s  T h a t
W e a k e n  Y o n1 0
T h e  T e n t h  S e c r e t
W isdom Is
A voiding All Thoughts
That W eaken Y ou
Every single thought you have  can be assessed in terms of whether it
strengthens or weakens you. In f act, there’ s a simple muscle test you can do
to try out any thought that you’re having in the present moment. It works
like this : Hold your arm out to y our side, and have someone els e attempt to
push your arm down while you resist. Think of telling a lie, and notice how
much weaker you are than if you think of a truth. This can be done for any
thought that elicits an emotional reaction.
In a book titled Power vs. For ce, Da vid Hawkins, M.D., elabora tes on this
method and provides a map of consciousness to show you how every
thought computes to either weaken or strengthen you. Authentic wisdom is
the ability to mo nitor yourself at all times to determine your relative state of
weakness or strength, and to shift out of those thoughts that weaken you. In
this way, you keep yourself in a n upbeat, higher state of conscio usness, and
you prevent your thoughts from weakening every single or gan of your body.
When y ou use your mind to em power you, you’re appealing to that which
uplifts and raises your spirits.
Power ur ges you to live and perform at your own highest level, and it is
compassionate. F orce, on the other hand, involves movement. This is unlike
power, w hich is a standing field that never moves against anything. Because
force is in mot ion, it always creates a counter -force. That co unter -force
constantly cons umes, and must be fed, ener gy. Rather than being
compassionate, force is associated with judgment, competition, and
controlling others. For example, in an athletic event, your thou ghts are on
overpowering your opponent, b eing better than another, and playing and
winning at any c ost. The entire muscular structure of your body is actually
weakened, because thoughts of force weaken you.On t he o ther han d, if in the midst of an athletic event you can keep your
thoughts on performing at yo ur highest capacity, on using your inner
strength to muster the ener gy to be as ef ficient as it’ s possible fo r you to be,
and to have great respect for yo ur God-given abilities, you will actually be
empowering yourself. A though t of force requires a counter -force, and a
battle that weakens; while a th ought of power strengthens you, since no
counter -force is called into play to consume your ener gy. Power thoughts
ener gize you, since they make no demands on you.
Thoughts That W eaken Y ou
If a simple thought will make the muscles of your arm go weak or strong,
imagine what it must be doing to all of the other muscles and or gans of your
body! Y our heart is a muscle that’ s weakened by thoughts that disempower
you. Y ou r kidneys, liver, lungs, and intestines are all surrounded  by muscles
that are af fected by your thoughts.
The thought that makes most  people the weakest is shame, which
produces humiliation.
The importance of for giving you rself cannot be stated strongly enough. If
you carr y aroun d thoughts of s hame about what you’ve done in the past,
you’re weakening yourself both physically and emotionally. Similarly, if
you use  a technique of shame and humiliation on anyone to get them  to
reform, you’re going to create a  weakened person who will never become
empowered until those shameful and humiliating thoughts are removed.
Removing your own thoughts of shame involves a willingness to let go, to
see your past behaviors as lessons you had to learn, and to reconnect to your
source through prayer and meditation.
After shame, guilt and apathy  thoughts make you the weakest. They
produce the emotions of blame and despair. T o live in guilt is to use up your
present moments being immobilized over what has already transpired. No
amount of guilt will ever undo what’ s been done. If your past behavior
mobilizes you to learn from your mistakes, this is not guilt; it’ s learningfrom the past. But to wallow in the present moment over your so-called
errors is guilt, and it can only take place now.
Releasing guilt is like removing  a huge weight from your shoulders. Guilt
is r


 to and
interpret the stressful situations in your life; your levels of dis-stress are determined
by your choices, not simply by the random happenings in your busy life.
Love Leads the Way
The “good” emotions—love, compassion, spiritual awareness— have extremely
powerful implications for health, but they are often difficult to define, explain or
measure. These complex and nontangible concepts remain perhaps the most “real”
considerations in our lives. Understanding their power over health and disease is
critical to understanding and practicing effective health care.
Strong social support—including family relationships, friendships, relationships
with health practitioners, romantic relationships, and relationships with spiritual
leaders and figures— is a critical component of health care. People are typically
healthier and recover from diseases more effectively when they have strong social
ties. Why? Perhaps people simply feel cared for and hopeful about their future. Or
perhaps the bonds that people form transcend our traditional scientific understanding
of health—even into realms of spirit and energy. However it works, people who
relate with others do help each other through adversities, allowing for greater health
and wellness than people who are isolated and alone.
Although relationships cannot be put onto a slide and examined under a
microscope, many studies have cited the effects of relationships—or the lack of
relationships—on health and disease:
• People who are single, separated, divorced or widowed are more than twice as
likely to die than their married peers, and five to ten times more likely to be
hospitalized for mental disorders.
• Social isolation is as big a risk factor for disease as smoking.• People with minimal social connections, such as those with few friends or
family and people who tend not to participate in their communities, are two to
five times more likely to die prematurely than those with more extensive social
ties. These differences are independent of age, sex, and ethnic or cultural
background.
• Studies of medical students during stressful exam periods found that the
biggest drop in immunity occurred in students who reported being lonely.
• When experimental subjects were injected with cold viruses, individuals with
fewer social ties were four to six times more likely to develop colds as those
who had more social ties.
• The death rate among Russian men increased by nearly 40 percent following
the fall of communism, attributed to social instability.
Love is a deep and vital part of ourselves and a critical aspect of the psychological
pathway. There is love for oneself, for other people, for pets, love in spiritual
practice and much more. True love, of course, is unconditional, existing for its own
sake because you choose it and want it in your life.
Finding and feeling love, however, can be a challenge. Anger, frustration, fear,
jealousy, apathy—all can interfere with our ability to love ourselves and those dear
to us. Part of being able to love is being able to have compassion both for yourself
and for the people around you. Understanding the obstacles that you face in your life
makes it possible and easier to understand the obstacles others face. Within this
perspective, you can have compassion for anyone, even someone who mistreats you.
Likewise, having compassion for yourself is not only possible but essential!
Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail; facing life’s obstacles is challenging,
as we all know, but without compassion and love, obstacles may seem
insurmountable.
If we do not fill our lives with love and compassion, then we make room for their
opposites, such as anger and hostility, which are incredibly harmful to our health and
happiness. As Redford Williams, M.D., author of the book
Anger Kills,
wrote:
“Getting angry is like taking a small dose of some slow-acting poison every day of
your life.” At the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University,
Williams has researched the effects of anger, particularly how stress chemicals
cause heart disease. He found that chemicals released by the body during periods of
anger and hostility damage the lining of arteries. Another study reported in a 1980
issue of
Psychosomatic Medicine
found that people who are cynical, who have
hostile attitudes and who have suppressed anger have more atherosclerosis and
blockage of coronary arteries and are more likely to have heart attacks.
The Power of PrayerPerhaps the best way to maintain love and compassion in your life is to
consciously seek and practice it. Enlightened leaders and global spiritual traditions
advocate spiritual practice as the essential foundation of comprehensive health and
vitality, including all aspects of a sound mind and body. This book does not advocate
any specific religion or spiritual practice, but does recommend some type of
practice. Why? Because being self-involved, self-centered and “stuck in your own
head” is so easy. Only when body, mind and spirit are fully integrated can you truly
optimize your health.
Spiritual practice brings about measurable changes in the brain and in overall
health. Larry Dossey, M.D., in his book
Healing Words,
described “one of the best
kept secrets in medical science”: the benefits of prayer. Dr. Dossey defines
prayerfulness as “a feeling of love, compassion and empathy toward another,” and
he explains that prayer is “a powerful and legitimate (if often overlooked) method of
healing.” Dossey uses an impressive array of evidence to show that prayer can have
a positive effect on health. A 1988 study conducted in San Francisco investigated the
effects of prayer on the cardiovascular health of 393 coronary-care patients.
Unknown to the patients involved, one group was prayed for and the other was not.
At the end of the ten-month study, the prayed-for group was five times less likely to
require antibiotics and three times less likely to develop a condition in which the
lungs fill with fluid. Dr. Dossey’s research also found that prayer can have beneficial
effects on various living cells and organisms, including mice, chicks, fungi, yeast,
bacteria and enzymes. In the October 2001 issue of the
Journal of Reproductive
Health,
researchers at Columbia University—expressing great surprise at their own
profound findings—announced that when complete strangers prayed for women who
went to a fertility clinic, the women had twice the pregnancy rate as women for
whom prayers were not given.
How does spirituality influence health and performance, and how do we integrate
it into health-care promotion and practice as professionals and as individuals? No
one scientifically understands the mechanisms. Nonetheless, the scientific data
prove that spirituality does work. Such data pose profound questions. Perhaps these
precise questions are the ones we need to be asking in order to develop a more
complete understanding of health. Even if we don’t have all the answers, we can still
benefit from the power of spiritual practice.
A Great Opportunity
While health generally is measured and understood at the physical level, as we
have discussed, psychological health and physical health are indivisibly one and the
same. What goes on in your mind is also going on in your body, and the good news
is that you have a wide menu of practical, productive, self-empowering and excitingoptions to promote psychological— and, therefore, physical—well-being.
Too many people fall into self-defeating lifestyle patterns. If you want to move
yourself in the right direction on the psychological pathway and improve your health
for the better, you cannot continue to do the same negative things and expect to
obtain different and positive results. Changing one’s patterns of behavior, belief,
thinking, feeling, perception and physical response is the goal of the psychological
pathway. Such changes take practice and commitment.
The first step is to notice and identify the feelings associated with stress, then to
implement strategies consciously to take care of yourself. Beyond mental techniques
—such as prayer, biofeedback, therapy, meditation and numerous self-regulation
techniques—physical activities also can be helpful, including exercise, breathing
techniques, yoga, massage, saunas and hot baths. Understanding how the mind
affects the function (or malfunction) of our cells enables us to make the positive
choices that enable us to maintain or improve health.
Keeping a healthy outlook is both one of life’s great challenges and one of life’s
great opportunities. Having a purpose, a higher meaning to your life than mere
existence, is a critical part of the whole picture of health.8
T
HE
 P
HYSICAL
P
ATHWAY
“Many of the things we call biomarkers of aging might
actually be biomarkers of inactivity.”
William Evans, Ph.D.
The Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
Y
ou’ve heard the advice before: If you want to stay physically fit and healthy, get
plenty of exercise and sleep, and stay away from drugs, tobacco and alcohol. You
may have heard it so often, in fact, that you no longer are paying attention. Also
because this advice is common—the kind of thing “your mother told you”—you may
think that you know all that you really need to know.
Think again! There is more to the story. Without understanding how everyday
choices affect your health at the cellular level, you may not recognize the risks to
avoid, nor the benefits you can reap. For example, missing too much sleep may
create more than dark circles; it may cause brain damage. Breathing the right way
may help you feel better and live longer. Exercising your eyes, in simple ways, may
help you to avoid needing eyeglasses, or to discard eyeglasses you already wear.
Using hairdryers, electric razors, cellphones and other electrical appliances may
increase your risk for cancer, as does exposure to medical X rays. Simple choices


 foods one by one to ﬁnd out which items cause problems and avoid these in future.
Annetta Freeman cured herself of Parkinson's disease with an extensive  (and expensive) supplement program. Unfortunately, some
of the supplements are no longer available due to the action of health authorities. Nevertheless see her articles on www.ceri.com  and
speciﬁcally www.ceri.com/parkpage.htm .
Drug Holiday
The best way to improve advanced Parkinson's disease, especially if levodopa therapy is no longer effective, is to have a 'drug
holiday'. This should improve the response to levodopa and reduce any side effects. It may ideally be done in a health retreat but is
possible at home. It is best to wait with this until the proposed drug, supplement and diet program is already in effect for several
weeks or months. For up to one week try to leave off all levodopa, while continuing with a high intake of supplements and fresh
vegetable juice, preferably including ample grass juice or alternatively barley grass juice powder.
Oxygen therapy may be helpful, especially in the form of a good or medi cal type air ioniser. Also an oxygen mask can be very helpful
when not on daily levodopa therapy, and may greatly reduce the need for levodopa; however it is detrimental while on daily levodopa,
as it causes dopamine to be oxidised at an increased rate, thereby intensifying drug side ef fects.
Deprenyl or Selegeline
Deprenyl is a selective mono-amine oxidase inhibitor that slows the breakdown of dopamine in the brain, thereby reducing the need
for levodopa by up to 30% and great ly extending the time after diagnosis of Parkinson's disease before levodopa therapy is required.
However, this levodopa-sparing effect gradually diminishes with long-term use. There is also evidence that it has a protective effect
on brain cells as compared to levodopa, which appears to lead to more rapid deterioration. I prefer deprenyl to any of the other
Parkinson drugs.
Deprenyl got a bad press from a report in 1995 by the P.D. Research Group of the U.K. that showed an increased mortality from
taking levodopa combined with deprenyl. This ﬁnding is very strange in that the increased death rate occurred only for about 6 - 12
months in the middle of the 6-year study. A more recent study published by the American Academy of Neurology demonstrated that
deprenyl in combination with levodopa is safe and the death rate with this combination was lower than with levodopa alone.
THE DIET
The following diet recommendations are offered as an ideal to show in which direction to proceed. It is up to you to decide how fast
and how far to move in the indicated direction.
The main principle is to use an abundance of nutrients with the ability to regenerate the body, and especially the brain. This means
the diet should be predominantly fresh, raw and organic. Most of the brain, nervous system and cell walls consist of unsaturated fatty
acids and other lipids, such as lecithin. Therefore, unheated fats and oils are a top priority. Most beneﬁcial are the omega-3 fatty
acids in ﬁsh oils, and arachidonic acid and phospholipids in raw egg yolk. Also good are high-quality linseed or ﬂaxseed oil, extra
virgin olive oil and fresh coconut milk. Raw fats and oils also help to detoxify the body in a gentle way.
Next in importance are unheated proteins, including (minced) meat from free-ranging or organically raised animals, ﬁsh and other
seafood, sprouted or fermented seeds, spirulina, pollen and ground linseed. For details see the High-Quality Diet and the Raw Food
Diet. As protein can interfere with the absorption of levodopa, it is best to have just protein snacks or small protein portions during the
day and a bigger protein meal in the evening after taking the last levodo pa of the day. Always take levodopa 20 to 30 minutes before
any protein.
Other beneﬁcial foods are bone broth (see Recipes ), purple foods and fresh vegetable and grass juice, use uncontaminate d water.
Avoid or minimize foods that are restricted in the High-Quality Diet.
Supplements
You may try the following supplement program, and adjust it to your needs. Soon after rising take a multivitamin-mineral tablet, 1 g of
the amino acid L-tyrosine (before any food), 1-3 g of vitamin C, 500 mg of natural vitamin E as tablet, grape seed extract, L-carnitine,
the herbs ginkgo biloba, brahmi, ginseng, and any other remedy that may increase energy levels. Shortly afterwards take a spoonful
of spirulina with 2 spoonfuls of bee pollen in some juice.
At lunchtime again take vitamin C, E, grape seed extract and possibly ginkgo biloba, brahmi and ginseng. With the evening meal or
with the last levodopa of the day take 500 mg of magnesium as chelate or magnesium chloride, 1 g of the amino acid L-tryptophane
(take before food), 1-3 g of vitamin C, 500 mg of vitamin E and grape seed extract. Instead of tryptophane you may get similar beneﬁt
from 500 mg of niacinamide.
As a general rule, take 500 - 1000 mg of the amino acid tyrosine before meals whenever you are not on levodopa at the time in order
to stimulate dopamine production. Experiment with a multivitamin-mineral tablet with lunch and evening meal; continue using it only if10/30/24, 4:15 PM Health-Science-Spirit - Parkinson's Disease
https://health-science-spirit.com/Diseases/Parkinsons-Disease.html 5/9it seems to be beneﬁcial.
Shaking may improve with high amounts of vitamin B6 (up to 500 mg daily) and magnesium (up to 1000 mg) in divided doses and
gradually increasing amounts. However, high amounts of vitamin B6 interfere with levodopa medication, and you may need to stop
using it while experimenting with vitamin B6. During stressful periods you may keep a lightly chewed tablet of 400 mg magnesium
orotate in the mouth.
Various other supplements may be tried to improve vigour and wellbeing. Take a capsule of shark or halibut liver oil with most meals;
additional magnesium as well as kelp, lecithin and ground linseed (keep refrigerated). Use additional selenium if it is not provided
with the trace mineral supplement.
The herb milk thistle helps to improve liver functions. In advanced condit ions vitamin B12 (1000 mcg) may initially be injected once a
week, or a vitamin B12 tablet may be absorbed under the tongue. Royal Jelly may help regenerating the body; take it before meals.
Coenzyme Q10 improves energy production; the herbs Ginkgo biloba, Brahmi and Fo-ti-tieng are speciﬁc brain and gland tonics. Not
all of these need to be taken, just try out what is available and see what  works best for you. Also experiment with other supplements
that appeal to you.
Increase amount and variety of supp lements gradually and after improvement reduce to a comfortable maintenance dose. The more
you adopt the suggested raw food diet the less supplements may be required. Various Bach Flower Remedies and other Flower
Remedies  may be used to improve the emotional response. Also see: http://www.ceri.com/parkpage.htm  for a comprehensive and
successful supplement program.
ADDITIONAL  THERAPY
Clean your body of microbes and parasites by using a Beck-type electronic zapper and magnetic pulser; see the article Electronic
Zapper & Magnetic Pulser. Initially use the pulser for only a few pulses on the spine and top of the head, as this may produce a
strong reaction. Gradually extend the exposure time depending on your body reactions.
To ease tremors and muscle rigidity have a hot magnesium chloride or Epsom salts bath about once a week. Buy a fertiliser bag of
magnesium salts and use half to one kg of it for each bath. Use just enough water to cover the body to make it as strong as possible.
After the bath it is beneﬁcial to wrap yourself in sheets and blankets and induce sweating.
Preferably have regular professional  deep tissue massage, alternatively a friend or relative may press hard into tense muscles, hold
the pressure for a minute or two and knead tense muscles. In addition have gentle relaxing massages. Also have foot reﬂexology
done, especially pressing the brain and neck areas around the big toes, all of the spine, the liver and abdominal reﬂex areas (see
Reﬂexology) and wherever you ﬁnd a spot that is tender when pressed. Repeat this once or twice a week.
To improve the blood ﬂow to the brain try sleeping with the head lower than the feet, e.g. raise the foot end of the bed by the height of
one or two bricks. Also build or acqu ire a slant-board on which you can rest and meditate with the head considerably lower than the
strapped feet. Alternatively, you may acquire inversion equipment to hang upside down.
Frequently do deep breathing-tensing exercises: inhale deeply while tensing all muscles, hold for several seconds and exhale while
fully relaxing. Repeat this frequently during the day


 organs.
(D) Thymus Gland Chi
   Next in  the descen ding order  of the  hormonal  path way is the
thymus  gland,  or gland  of rejuvenation,  located  at the gland  of
- 148  -Chapter  VI
When fully develope d, the
Pineal Gland beco mes the
compass gui ding the sp irit to
the pr imeval Tao.
Fig. 6.8 Activating the Pineal Gland
- 149  -Orgasmic Upward Draw
 heart  ener gy center  and descending  from, covering  and overlap ping
the upper  portio n of the heart.  This is a l ymphoid  organ  (related  to
the lymphatic  glands  which reaches  its greatest  size at the  beginni ng
of puber ty and gradu ally diminishes  in side  and activity  as time
goes  on. The Taoists consider  this to  be a  gland  that,  when prope rly
activated  and harmonized  with the energ y from the  pituitar y gland
energy  center  and the genera tive force  of the  sexual  organs,  can
reverse  the aging  process.
(E) Pancreas  Gland Chi
   The energ y then  descends  to the  pancre as, located  betw een
the lower part of the  stomach betw een the liver  and spleen.  The
pancreas  is a gland  that maintains control  over  digestion,  body
temperatur e and blood  sugar  levels.
(F) Adrenal Glands Chi
    Next, in  descendin g order  are the adrenal  glands  situated  atop
the kidney s at the  adrenal  glands’  energ y center  or T-11.  The adrenal
glands’,  or energ y glands’,  function  is to  support  the kidney s, but
they are also the  major producers  of adre nalin  in the  body. Adrenalin
is a hormone  which stim ulates  the heart,  thymus gland,  liver spleen
and pancreas.  In addition,  the adren al glands  suppo rt the functions
of the  kidne ys, spine  and nervous  system, brain,  bones  and bone
marrow. Stimulation  of the adre nal glands  adds  strength  and
alertness  to both  physical and mental activity.
(G) Sex Gland s Chi
   Stimulation  of the  kidney s occurs  when the kidney  meridian
running  through  the breasts  is ma ssaged.  In turn,  all the other  glands
beco me stimulated  until  finall y the sexual orga ns, last in descendin g
order  of the  hormone  path way, beco me energized.  Horm one
secretions  from the  sex glands  are responsi ble for sexual  respons e,
sexual  energy  and reproducti on. The sex glands  include  the vagina,
uterus  and breasts,  but it is the  Ovarian  Palace  which houses  the
woma n’s sexual  energ y center.  All other  ener gy now is aw akened.
   Balancing  and raising  the energy  level  of the  glands  in the  body
is an important  part of the  Taoist w ay of developi ng, healing  and
strengthe ning the physical body. This is crucial to the  higher  levels
of practice  in which all the  glands  provide  nourishment to  the
formation  of a spiritual  body.
- 150  -Chapter  VI
(2) Organ  Chi Arousal
  With the glands  activated,  a respons e can be felt in  the organs.
This response  will have  physical and mental manifestations
described  as follo ws:
(A) Lung and Large Intestine  Chi (Fig. 6.9)
   The first  Chi that  can be felt  is the  Chi of the  lungs  and their
associated  organ,  the large  intestine.  The prope rties of the  lungs
are dryness and coolness:  their  virtue  energies  are courag e and
righteous ness.  The feeling  of righteousn ess can be as differe nt as
each  person.  It might feel  straight  or tall, or like a bright  white color
pure,  fresh  and uplifting.  Feel  this ener gy gener ate from the  lungs.
   The negative  emotions  of the  lungs  are sadness  and grief.  The
feelings  can be experience d as flat, or  like a collapsed  ball:  they
can be gra y, musty, cold  and low, with no force:  dow ntrodden. Since
you do not  like to  feel this w ay, cultivate  good  virtue  and connect
yourself with the good  feelings  of the lungs  mentioned  above:  pure,
fresh,  uplifting.  Bring  these  good  feelings  to the breasts.
   The lungs’  Chi readin ess is ma nifested  physicall y by faster
breathin g and copious  saliva, w hich you feel mu st be  swallowed
quickly. These  signs  indicate  that the Chi of the  lungs  is read y to
come forth.
(B) Heart and S mall Intestine  Chi (Fig. 6.10 )
   Second  is heart  Chi: the  heart’s  associated  organ  is the  small
intestine.  The heart  contains  hot energ y. Its virtues  are hono r;
respect,  joy and happiness.  These virtues  are man ifested  in feeling
straight  and open:  they  are bright  red, warm, full, comfortable,
secure  and satisf ying. The negative  manifestations  of heart  and
small intestine  Chi are  impatience,  hastiness  and cruelty. This can
feel spiny  or sharp,  muddy,  burnt,  noisy, irregul ar and irritating,  all
feelings  that you do not like  to have  in your system.
   The ph ysical manifestations  of heart  energy  are revealed  by
observing  the tongue  becoming mobile, saliva seeming to  overflo w,
and a gro wling sound  emanating  from the  throat.  These  are signs
that the Chi of the  heart  is prepare d.
- 151  -Orgasmic Upward Draw
Lungs
Large Intestin es
Ovaries
Fig. 6.9 Lung s and Large Intestine  Chi
- 152  -Chapter  VI
Heart
Small Intestines
Ovaries
Fig. 6.10  Heart and Small  Intestine Chi
- 153  -Orgasmic Upward Draw
Stomach
   Spleen
Pancre as
Ovaries
Fig. 6.11  Spleen,  stom ach and Pancreas Chi
- 154  -Chapter  VI
(C) Sp leen,  Stomach  and Pancreas  Chi (Fig. 6.11)
   The third  Chi is felt from  the spleen  and its associated  orga ns,
the stomach and  pancre as. Mild,  harmonic energ y is the  propert y
of the  spleen.  Fairness  its good  virtue,  and the feeling  can be a
wide-open  chest,  clean,  soft and balanced,  even  smooth. The
negative  emotion of  worry feels irregular  cloudy, humid, uncert ain
and out of propo rtion.
   The ph ysical manifestation  of these  orga ns’ energ y can be
observed  when your hands  have  the desire  to grasp  and squeeze
the breasts.  This indicates  that the spleen  ener gy is in readi ness.
(D) Kidneys and Bla dder Chi (Fig. 6.12 )
   Next is the  Chi of  the kidney s and their  associated  organ,  the
bladder;  Their prope rty is cold  energ y, and their  virtues  are
gentleness.  alertness  and stillness. This can  feel round,  full,
expansive,  bright  blue,  fresh,  cool  and comfortable,  pleasant  to the
ear: mild, and  honey -like in taste.  The negative  feelings  are fear,
stress,  fright,  awkwardness, tiny, com pressed,  dark,  gray, cloud y,
a cold  chill, tight  or closed  in, and  scattere d.
   The ph ysical manifestation  of these  orga ns’ Chi can  be observed
when you feel as if yo u are drow ning with fluid in  the vagina.  This
means that  the Chi of  the kidney s is ready.
(E) Liver  and G all Bladder Chi  (Fig. 6.13 )
   Liver  Chi w ill be felt next.  The liver’s  associated  orga n is the  gall
bladder.


expand	your	list
of	those	to	forgive.	Remember:
Family
Teachers
Kids	at	school
Lovers
Friends
The	work	environment
Government	agencies	or	figures
Church	personnel
Hospital	personnel
Other	authority	figures
God
Myself
Most	of	all,	forgive	yourself.	Stop	being	hard	on	yourself.	Self-punishment
isn’t	necessary.	You	were	doing	the	very	best	you	could.
Sit	in	front	of	the	mirror	once	again	with	your	list.	Say	to	each	person	on
your	list,	“I	forgive	you	for	————————.”	Breathe.	“I	forgive	you	andI	set	you	free,”
Continue	to	go	down	your	list,	if	you	feel	free	from	anger	with	a	person,
cross	them	off.	If	you	are	not	free	of	anger,	put	them	aside	and	come	back	to
the	work	later.
As	you	continue	to	do	this	exercise,	you	will	find	burdens	melting	off	your
shoulders.	You	may	be	surprised	to	notice	how	much	old	baggage	you	have
been	carrying.	Be	gentle	with	yourself	as	you	go	through	the	cleansing
process.
MAKE	A	LIST
Put	on	some	soft	music-something	that	will	make	you	feel	relaxed	and
peaceful.	Now	take	a	pad	and	pen,	and	let	your	mind	drift.	Go	back	into	the
past,	and	think	of	all	the	things	that	you	are	angry	with	yourself	over.	Write
them	down.	Write	them	all	down.	You	may	discover	that	you	have	never
forgiven	yourself	for	wetting	your	pants	and	being	embarrassed	in	the	first
grade.	What	a	long	time	to	carry
that
	burden!
Sometimes	it	is	easier	to	forgive	others	than	to	forgive	ourselves.	We	are
often	hard	on	ourselves,	and	demand	perfection.	Any	mistakes	we	make	are
severely	punished.	It’s	time	to	go	beyond	that	old	attitude.
Mistakes	are	the	way	we	learn.	If	we	were	perfect,	there	wouldn’t	be
anything	to	learn.	We	wouldn’t	need	to	be	on	the	planet.	Being	“perfect”	will
not	even	get	your	parents’	love	and	approval-it	will	only	make	you	feel
“wrong”	and	not	good	enough.	Lighten	up	and	stop	treating	yourself	that	way.
Forgive	yourself.	Let	it	go.	Give	yourself	the	space	to	be	spontaneous	and
free.	There	is	no	need	for	shame	and	guilt.
Remember	how	wonderful	it	was	to	run	free	when	you	were	a	child.
Go	outside	to	a	beach,	a	park,	or	even	an	empty	lot,	and	let	yourself	run.
Do	not	jog,	Run	wild	and	free-turn	somersaults-skip-and	laugh	while	you	are
doing	it!	Take	your	inner	child	with	you	and	have	some	fun.	So	what	if
someone	sees	you?	This	is	for	your	freedom!
Review	the	checklist	below,	taken	from	page	91.	Find	the	corresponding
affirmation	below	for	each	negative	belief.If	You	Believe:
Your	Affirmation	Is:
I’ll	never	forgive	them.
This	is	a	new	moment.	I	am	free	to	let
go.
They	don’t	deserve	to	be	forgiven.
I	forgive	whether	they	deserve	it	or
not.
What	they	did	to	me	was
unforgivable.
I	am	willing	to	go	beyond	my	own
limitations.
They	ruined	my	life.
	I	take	responsibility	for	my	own	life.	I
am	free.
They	did	it	on	purpose.
	They	were	doing	the	best	they	could
with	the	knowledge,	understanding,
and	awareness	that	they	had	at	the
time.
I	was	so	little	and	they	hurt	me	so
much.
I	am	grown	up	now	and	I	take	loving
care	of	my	inner	child.
They	have	to	apologize	first.
My	spiritual	growth	is	not	dependent
on	others.
My	resentment	keeps	me	safe.
I	release	myself	from	prison.
I	am	safe	and	free.
Only	weak	people	forgive.
It	is	strong	to	forgive	and	let	go.
I’m	right	and	they	are	wrong.
There	is	no	right	or	wrong.
I	move	beyond	my	judgment.
It’s	all	my	parents’	fault.
My	parents	treated	me	the	way	they
had	been	treated.	I	forgive	them	and
their	parents,	too.
I	don’t	have	to	forgive	anyone.
I	refuse	to	limit	myself.	I	am	always
willing	to	take	the	next	step.
“I	give	myself	permission	to	let	go.”POWER	POINTS
1.	We	are	each	responsible	for	our	experiences.
2.	Every	thought	we	think	is	creating	our	future.
3.	Everyone	is	dealing	with	the	damaging	patterns	of
resentment,	criticism,	guilt,	and	self-hatred.
4.	These	are	only	thoughts	and	thoughts	can	be	changed.
5.	We	need	to	release	the	past	and	forgive	everyone,	including
ourselves.
6.	Self-approval	and	self-acceptance	in	the	“now”	are	the	keys
to	positive	changes.
7.	The	point	of	power	is	always	in	the	present	moment.10
WORK
“It	is	a	joy	to	express	my	creativity	and	be	appreciated.”
Work	Checklist
	I	hate	my	job.
	My	job	is	too	stressful.
	No	one	appreciates	me	at	work.
	I	always	get	dead-end	jobs.
	My	boss	is	abusive.
	Everyone	expects	too	much	of	me.
	My	co-workers	drive	me	crazy.
	My	job	offers	no	creativity.
	I’ll	never	be	successful.
	There	is	no	chance	for	advancement.
	My	job	doesn’t	pay	well.
H
ow	many	of	these	sound	like	you?	Let’s	explore	your	thinking	in	the
work	area.
Our	jobs	and	the	work	that	we	do	are	a	reflection	of	our	own	self-worth	and
our	value	to	the	world.	On	one	level,	work	is	an	exchange	of	time	and
services	for	money.	As	long	as	we	are	doing	an	honest	day’s	work,	our	self-esteem	can	be	in	order.
However,	the
kind
	of	work	we	do	is	important	to	us	because	we	are	unique
individuals.	We	want	to	feel	that	we	are	making	a	contribution	to	the	world.
We	need	to	use	our	own	talents,	intelligence,	and	creative	ability.
There	are	problems	that	can	occur	in	the	workplace,	though.	You	may	not
get	along	with	your	boss	or	your	co-workers.	You	may	not	feel	appreciated	or
recognized	for	the	work	that	you	do.	Promotional	opportunities	or	a	specific
job	may	elude	you.
Remember	that	whatever	position	you	may	find	yourself	in	...	your	thinking
got	you	there.	The	people	around	you	are	only	mirroring	what
you
	believe
you	deserve.
Thoughts	can	be	changed.	Situations	can	be	changed	as	well.	That	boss	that
we	find	intolerable	could	become	our	champion.	That	dead-end	position	with
no	hope	of	advancement	may	open	up	to	a	new	career	full	of	possibilities.	The
co-worker	who	is	so	annoying	might	turn	out	to	be,	if	not	a	friend,	at	least
someone	who	is	easier	to	get	along	with.	The	salary	that	we	find	insufficient
can	increase	in	the	twinkle	of	an	eye.	We	could	find	a	wonderful	new	job.
There	are	an	infinite	number	of	channels	if	we	can	change
our
	thinking.
Let’s	open	ourselves	up	to	them.	We	must	accept	in	consciousness	that
abundance	and	fulfillment	can	come	from	anywhere.	The	change	may	be
small	at	first	such	as	an	added	assignment	from


 correlate.
  3.  The body keeps in balance through complex rhythms and cycles
—these biorhythms are our connecting link to the larger rhythms
of Nature.
  4.  When the body is in balance, it sends out signals of comfort;
when it is out of balance, it sends out signals of discomfort.
Comfort indicates that a person is in harmonious relationship to
his environment; discomfort indicates that some kind of
disharmony has arisen.
  5.  Living in harmony with the body’ s rhythms overcomes entropy
by allowing a frictionless flow of biological information. Living
in opposition to the body’ s rhythms produces an increase in
entropy, leading to disorder.
If my intention is to live in harmony with my environment, my single
best indicator of success is my body’ s feelings of comfort. We go through
so many experiences in life that it is difficult to be aware of the actual basisfor comfort; many psychologic al and physical factors are blended into
every moment of existence. But Nature has programmed us biologically
with rhythms and cycles that remain strikingly similar for most people. A
new science called chronobiolo gy (the biology of time) has studied the
effects of these cycles on everyday life. Founded and named by Dr. Franz
Halber g, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota,
chronobiology asserts that our bodies have an internal music that we can—
and should—tune in to.
In order for you to move your eye from my last word to this one, for
example, a dozen activities have to mesh with total precision. Each retinal
cell and brain neuron pulsates hundreds of times per second with electrical
charges created by the pumping of potassium and sodium ions across the
cell membrane; the synapses, or gaps, between neurons fire bursts of
neurotransmitters to send signal s down the optic nerve and throughout the
visual cortex; the minute muscles that move the eye twitch continually like
an idling engine throbbing with chemical dischar ges; all of this cellular
pulsation in turn depends on incredibly rapid vibrations of atomic “clocks”
at the quantum level.
Biorhythms have many medical implications: Everyone’ s body
temperature has a daily cycle, and hormones move in complexly interwoven
cycles, with daily rhythms enme shed in larger monthly and seasonal cycles.
(Growth hormone, for example,  changes daily, while a woman’ s menstrual
cycle reflects monthly hormonal rhythms.) Rheumatoid arthritis hurts most
in the morning, when the body’ s natural inflammatory agents appear to be
low; this is the best time to take aspirin or other painkilling drugs. Blood
pressure and adrenaline peak in the morning, which may explain why so
many heart attacks and strokes occur at 9:00 A.M. In asthmatics, bronchial
tubes are more constricted in late evening than in morning. By studying
patients’ individual cycles, we may be able to prevent disease. Some babies
may show blood pressure cycles  that predict hypertension in adulthood, for
example, and heat fluctuations in the breast may predict tumors.
Dr. Halber g has made fascina ting findings about how the timing of
surgery and chemotherapy can significantly alter a patient’ s outcome. For
instance, women  who underwent breast cancer surgery in the week before
and around the time of their period were four times more likely  to suffer arecurrence of their disease and to die within ten years than were women
who had surgery between day 7 and day 20 of their monthly cycle (this
finding is according to a preliminary study at New York’s Albany Medical
Center). The reason may be that the hormones released around a woman’ s
menstrual period suppress the immune system. At mid-cycle, however,
scavenging immune cells may be present in force and destroy stray
malignant cells that were missed by sur gery.
Timing chemotherapy to match the body’ s biorhythms has also helped
patients with bladder, colo-rectal, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer, according
to researchers at the University of T exas at Houston. Since cancer cells have
different activity patterns from normal cells, it is best to give drugs when
the cancer cells are active and the normal cells inactive; thus, lower doses
can be given and toxicity reduced.
After extensive testing of many critical functions at various times of day,
chronobiologists have derived a timetable for peak ef ficiency:
Morning Alertness gets increasingly sharp
Short-term memory is at its best
Sensitivity to aller gens dips
Sex hormones peak
Noon Body temperature peaks, heightening vigilance
and alertness
Mood is at its best
Sight is sharpest
Afternoon Manual dexterity peaks
Flexibility is at its height
Long-term memory is at its best
Late
afternoon/early
eveningBest time for easy repetitive tasks

Best time for physical workout
Taste and smell are at their sharpest
Worst time for aller giesEvening Worst time to eat lar ge meal if you want to lose
weight; metabolism at its lowest
Midnight to dawn Alertness at worst between 3:00 and 6:00 A.M.
Most accident-prone period
Most common time to give birth
Whether it is advisable to try to live according to these precise times is
debatable. The fact that the body, if left to itself, naturally wakes and sleeps
on a twenty-fiv e-hour cycle (known as the circadian rhythm) does not
prevent us from waking and sleeping on a twenty-four -hour cycle without
harm. On the other hand, studies of night-shift workers have demonstrated
that their bodies never completely adjust to the reversal of the wake-sleep
cycle. Night workers suffer a higher incidence of colds and depression than
day workers and tend to have chronically weakened immune systems.
What is fundam entally importan t about biorhythms, I believe, is that they
provide the basis for the state of dynamic non-change. I used this phrase to
describe the balance of opposites that must be maintained in order for the
body to resist disorder. It is necessary that we think, feel, and move in
balanced cycles. If you decided to run in a marathon and your body insisted
on keep ing to its “normal” levels of functioning, you would quickly
collapse. A faster heartbeat, higher body temperature, and elevated blood
pressure have to kick in for you to be able to run. Medically speaking, a
runner has gone into mild fever, tachycardia, and hypertension, but these
are perfe ctly normal under running conditions, assuming that they are kept
within a healthy range and return to their balance point when the runner
comes to rest again.
We are awash in a tide of balance and imbalance surging back and forth.
Dozens of bodily functions are disturbed every second, meaning that any
fixed definition of health becomes meaningless—one might as easily try to
define a symphony by stopping the orchestra on one chord. Food, water,
and air flow through us in rhythmic patterns determined by dozens of
variables, and residues of exper ience are built up like shifting sand dunes.
Structure and motion, the fixed  and the changing, both count. Your doctor
may tell you that you have a resting pulse of 80, blood pressure  of 120/70,
and body temperature of 98.6 degrees F., all of which are considerednormal. Yet this assessment is purely for convenience. Such measurements
are good  only for the moment they are taken, for each dance s around its
balance point, creating the music of the living body.
When the Music Dies
Aging is marked by a loss of many of the body’ s key balance points.
Elderly people often find that their body temperature recovers more slowly
from extremes of heat and cold;  their sense of balance is impaired, making
walking difficult; blood sugar, hormone levels, and metabo lic rate are
thrown of f. To understand why this happens, we can turn to one of the worst
imbalances of aging, high blood pressure. Left untreated, high blood
pressure cuts life short by an average of twenty years, making it far more
lethal than any single disease. Hypertension is not a disease but a skewed
cycle in the body’ s natural rhythms. Blood pressure is controlled by the
brain, which sets up a cycle that rises and falls throughout the day,
responding to all sorts of inner and outer cues. Taking a blood pressure
reading is therefore like taking one snapshot of a roller coaster—you need
at least three widely separated readings to glimpse the peaks and valleys of
your blood pressure cycle, which sometimes takes several days to complete.
Blood pressure rises and falls in everyone, but for some peopl e the fall
will not return to its former level; elevated pressure begins to creep in, and,
over time, the cyclic swing will become skewed toward hypertension. This
tendency is so common as people age that it follows a predicta ble general
pattern. Here is the chart for males between the ages of 20 and 70:
AVERAGE MALE BLOOD PRESSURE
Age 20 122/76
Age 30 125/76
Age 40 129/81Age 50 134/83
Age 60 140/83
Age 70 148/81
The chart shows  a steady increa se in both the lower (diastolic) and upper
(systolic) readings, but at different rates, with the diastolic or resting blood
pressure movin g half as fast. (The same tendency holds for women,
although the rise in pressure


in
bed,wellwrappedup,withthewindowswellshut
andtheheatingon.
EMOTIONAL/MENTALSYMPTOMS
Violentlyangry.Impulsive.Irritable.Sensitive:
generally;torudeness.Speedy:generally;eating;
speaking.Over-sensitivity isthespecialfeaturethatruns
throughoutthisremedy.Hepartypesareextremelv
sensitivetopainandmayweeporevenfaintinanti-
cipationoforduringtheirpains.Becausetheyare
sensitivetopressurethevdonotwanttobetouched
whensick.Theyareastouchymentallyastheyare
physically.Theyaremorose,difficult,irritableindi-
vidualswhoareeasilyoffendedandarepronetofitsof
anger.Whensicktheyareextremelydifficult,andwill
oftenbeobstructtveingivinginformationandatthe
sametimedemand(angrily)tobecured.Thevarealso
impulsiveandspeedy,likeArgentinanitriciim.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Abscesses
SymptomsAbscess:ofglands;ofrootsofteeth.
Heparisoneofthemajorabscessremediesandis
generallyonlyusefulbeforetheabscesshasopened
andstartedtodischarge. Itisindicatedattheswollen,
painfulstage,especially ifthisisaccompaniedby
splinter-likepainsandagreatsensitivitytotouch.
Boils
SymptomsBoilsinflamed.
Theboilisredaroundtheedge,andverysore.
Commoncold
SymptomsNasalcatarrh:dripsdownbackof
throat;smelly;yellow.WithSneezingonuncovering.
Worseforbeinguncovered.
Thebonesofthenosemayfeelsoreandthesenseof
smellmaybelost.Thesneezingisbroughtonby
draughts.
Constipation
SymptomsStoolsoft.
Thisconstipationmayaccompanyanyoftheacute
symptoms,suchasthecoughortheearache.Thestool
ispassedwithdifficulty.
Cough
SymptomsCough:barking;dryduringtheevening'
night;looseduringthemorning;hacking;irritating;
suffocative;violent.Mucus:copious;sticky;thick;
tough;yellow.Withhoarsevoice;retching;sweat-
ing;VOMITING.
Worseforcolddryair;forbeinguncovered;onsingle
partsofthebody;foruncoveringhands;eveningin
bed;beforemidnight.
Causesexposuretocolddrywind.
Thisisabadcoughwithirritationinthelarynx,and
thechestbecomessorefromcoughing. Itisworsefor
beinguncovered(anarmoutofbedcancausea
coughing fit).Thesimpleactofgoingtobedcanalso
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Hypericumperfoliatum(Hyp.) •95
setthecoughoff(assoonasthepatientcloseshis/her
eyestogotosleepthecoughstartsupagain).Coughs
upprofuse,thick,yellowmucus.
Croup
SymptomsRecurrent.Withsymptomsofcough(see
above).
Manyofthegeneralsymptomsandcoughsymptoms
willbepresentinthecroup.AHeparcroupisusually
worseintheearlymorning(ifitisworseintheevening
itismorelikelytobeanAconitecroup),andthe
slightestbreathofcoldaircausescoughing,asdoes
uncovering.Patientschokeandwheezeandrattle
withthecroup,butbringingupthemucusisdifficult.
Diarrhoea
SymptomsDiarrhoeapainless.
Theremaybemuchrumblingintheabdomenaccom-
panyingthisdiarrhoea.
Earache
SymptomsDischargesmelly.Painsstitching.
Betterforwrappingupwarmly.
Worseforcold.
Fever
SymptomsHeatalternatingwithchills.
Betterforheat.
Worseforbeinguncovered.
Theperspiration iscold,sour-smellingandprofuse.
Theslightestexertioncanbringonsweatingand
coughing;butthesweatingwillnotprovideanyrelief.
Injuries
SymptomsCuts/wounds:withinflammation;slowto
heal;painful.Pains:sore;splinter-like.
Thisisforcutsandinjurieswheretheskinhasbeen
brokenandhealingistakinglongerthanexpected.
Thereissomeredness(inflammation)aroundthesite
oftheinjuryanditisgenerallysensitive,especiallyto
touch.
Jointpain
SymptomsPains:infingers;inhip;inshoulder;
bruised;pulling;tearing.
Betterforheat.
Worseforcold.
Causesgettingcold.
Sorethroat
SymptomsPains:spreadinguptoear;raw;splinter-
like.Tonsils:swollen.
Betterforhotdrinks;forwarmcompresses.sore,Worseforbreathingincoldair;forcoughing;for
swallowing;forturningthehead;forcolddrinks;in
winter.
Causesgettingcold;exposuretowind.
Thethroatfeelsasiftherewereasplinterorafishbone
stuckinitandthepainsradiateuptotheearon
swallowing,turningtheheadandsometimeseven
whenvawning.Thetonsilsareswollenandulcerated
andtheneckitselfissensitivetopressuretouchand
betterforbeingwrappedupwarmly.
Toothache
SymptomsGumsbleeding.
Worseforcolddrinks;inwinter.
Causesabscesses.
Hypericumperfoliatum (Hyp.)
Familyname:Hypericaceae
Othername:StJohn'swort
Thisherbgrowswildinwoods,alongthebordersof
fieldsandmeadows,andisalsocultivatedinmany
gardensthroughoutBritain,Europe,AsiaandNorth
America. Itgrowsfromonetothreefeethighand
flowersfromJunetoAugustwithbrightyellow
flowersthatexudeareddish-purple juiceonbruising.
Itsdarkgreenleavesarefulloftinvholeswhichare
infactoilglands;itwassaidthattheseholesresembled
96•Ignatiaamara(Ign.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
theporesoftheskinandthatthereddishjuiceofthe
flowerswaslikeblood,sothatitwasthereforeaplant
whichwasusefulforwoundstotheflesh.Likewise,a
plantwithkidney-shaped leaveswasthoughttobe
capableofcuringdiseasesofthekidneysandthose
withyellowsapwerefordiseasesoftheliverorbilious
problems,andsoon.Thisancientwavoflookingat
thehealingpotentialofplants-ofdrawingsimilarities
betweenthephysicalaspectsoftheplantandof
thecomplaint-iscalledthe'doctrineofsignatures',
anditwasforcenturiesthebasisformanvaherbal
prescription.
Beforethenineteenthcenturythegreatherbalist
GerarddescribedHypericum'smostimportantuseas
a'mostpreciousremedyfordeepwounds...orany
woundwithavenomedweapon'. Itwasalsousedto
reducefevers,toexpelwormsandtostimulatethe
kidneys,amongstothersymptoms,aswellasatonic
orrestorativetocalmthenerves.
Forthehomeopathicpreparationthefresh,whole
floweringplantischoppedandpoundedtoapulp,
mixedwithalcoholandlefttostandforeightdays
beforebeingsuccussed.
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Complaintsfromaccidentinjuriestonervesto
coccyx.Painsshooting.
Worseforcold;forpressure.
Hypericum isthefirstremedytothinkofwhena
nerve-richpartofthebodyisinjured,thatis,fingers,
toes,spine(especiallythecoccyx),eyes,lips,andso
on.Intensepainsshootalongthecourseofwounded
nervestowardsthetrunkorupthespine.Theyare
usuallytearing,severepainsandaresensitivetotouch
orpressure. ItisoftennecessarytogiveArnicafirstto
preventswellingandbruisingandthentofollowit
withHypericum,repeatedeveryfewminutesifthe
painisexcruciating.Usetheexternalremediestoclean
dirtywounds.
EMOTIONAL/MENTALSYMPTOMS
Shockfrominjury.
Thisremedyhasveryfewemotionalsymptomsbutit
isamarvellousfirst-aidremedyforcertaintypesof
injuryandwillalsodealwiththeshockthataccom-
paniessuchinjuries.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Backache
SymptomsPains:incoccyx;inlowerback;sore,
bruised;shooting;tearing.Causeschildbirth;forcepsdelivery;epidural;injuryto
coccyx;injurytospine.
Hypericum is


 most profound pas-
sages ever written. It is reproduced here from Corinthians 13, on
“Love.”
95
WAYNE W. DYER
And now I will show you the most excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the
gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love,
I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my
body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrong. Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies they will cease,
where there are tongues they will be stilled, where there is
knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we proph-
esy in part. But when perfection comes, the imperfect disap-
pears. When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a
child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put child-
ish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a
mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I
shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain; faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is Love.
Yes, the greatest of these is love. It will make the imperfect disap-
pear, and it will allow you to move into that spiritually fulfilling world
of co-creating your life based on the model of unconditional love.
I am well aware of the improbability of living an unconditionally
loving life in all of our moments. I imagine your ego is protesting that
96
Manifest Your Destiny
this idea is absurd because you are only human and humans have
shortcomings. Nevertheless, I ask you to do this exercise for a few
days or a week. You see, I know that it will become habitual when
you feel the richness of your life with this new awareness.
Unconditional love is the ultimate mystery of life. It may appear
simple, but it is so powerful that it will shake you free of your ego
domination if you give it even a short tryout in your life. Until we
learn to transcend the ego we continue to contribute to the insanity
that we witness in the world. Detaching and becoming an uncondi-
tionally loving observer is the way to cultivate a healthy, balanced
relationship between ego and spirit.
THE PROCESS OF DETACHED OBSERVATION
One of the great meditation exercises that I learned many years
ago involves imagining lifting yourself out of your body and floating
into space so far that you are actually observing the entire planet. If
you do this, try to imagine what the earth is like without you on it. It
is a very difficult task for your ego to even contemplate the world
without you in it. Next, begin to observe the planet without any
judgment, refusing to label anything as good or bad, right or wrong.
Simply instruct yourself to notice, allow and send unconditional love.
You probably will find it easier to send out unconditional love when
you are not there to interfere. That is, you can love unconditionally
when your ego is out of the way. This is a technique that will help you
to project unconditional love.
If all you are is a being of unconditional love, you are not involved
in ego concerns. When you operate from this perspective you are
practicing detachment in a state of gentleness, which makes you a
compassionate witness toward everyone and everything you come
into contact with. It is magical to be able to extend this kind of con-
sciousness beyond your form. This is the resolution of that great
97
WAYNE W. DYER
mystery of how to connect to and know God. That is, not to know
about God, but to know God.
The process of being a detached observer occurs in the silence of
your contemplations or meditations. Begin by seeking out time to be
quiet and enter this inner place of love. It is in that silence that you
will come to truly know this divine energy of unconditional love.
Most people in the western world have a great deal of difficulty
with any prolonged periods of silence. They fill those moments with
music, conversation, radio and television and anything else they can
use to avoid the silence. Our culture is a noisy culture. ;
When I attempt to meditate and just observe the silence, I deal
with vacuums, power mowers, tree trimmers, portable leaf blowers,
edgers and the many machines that move earth and sand, bulldoze,
clean and on and on. All of these noise machines have power sources
that pollute the world with loud noise. It takes practice to learn to
transcend this by going within and screening out the noise pollution.
The noisy world will still filter into quiet time unless you can get far
enough into nature to avoid it.
Our preoccupation with noise satisfies the ego’s need to escape
the serenity and unconditional love of the divine intelligence that is
God. But you can become a detached observer if you make the
choice to simply remove your ego from the story line and allow your
higher self to take over. Become an unconditionally loving observer
rather than an ego-involved participant.
Let go of your inclination to judge and moralize and take person-
ally what you notice. Simply become the noticer. You are then align-
ing yourself with God, allowing all to bask in his loving blessing
instead of the ego frantically insisting that there is a superior way.
Being godly means expressing the love that is within you. It is much
more than simply being close to it. You must be it in oneness with
the universal being of God.
98
Manifest Your Destiny
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN ONENESS
What has come to be referred to as “the will of God” is an inven-
tion of man to gain control over others. If you are convinced that
there is a God’s will that is separate from you, then those who claim
they know God’s will can dominate and control you. If you adopt this
belief system, then you fall into the trap of “his will versus my will.”
You want to do certain things, but the “will of God” dictates other-
wise.
Unconditional love and becoming a co-creator in your life is pos-
sible when you know that God is not separate from you. You and God
are one and the same. In the New Testament Jesus says to the multi-
tudes, “... I have said ye are Gods,” and later, “When a man believes
in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
When he looks at me he sees the one who sent me.” (John, 10:34;
12:44)
What it means to be in a state of oneness is that you know the
unconditional love that God has for all of creation is also the uncon-
ditional love that can be you, if you make that choice. Your free will is
your freedom to embrace any thought that you desire. This free will
is your gift from God. Use this free will in a spirit of love that has no
conditions imposed on it.
The love that God has for you is without condition. There is no
restriction or censorship placed on this love granted to you by the
divine creator. You have complete freedom to do as you will, for your
will and God’s will are one and the same. You have the freedom to
choose your thoughts within this grand scheme of unconditional
love.
If it is the same as God’s love for you, then you are living uncondi-
tional oneness. If you place restrictions on that love, or withhold it
dependent on your judgments and hatreds, then you make it a condi-
tional love and remove yourself from the possibility of co-creating
a
WAYNE W. DYER
with God. You are in conflict with the divine essence that is God.
This conflicted state is nothing more than the imposition of condi-
tions on your ability to love.
Suppose that God decided to withdraw his unconditional love
from you and the world and conditions were placed upon everything.
In this kind of world the people in it would have to function without
freedom of thought and expression. The entire cosmos would col-
lapse in an instant.
Life flows with the freedom of unconditional love. This is the very
essence of life. No deity demands that you think a certain way or you ©
will be cursed and destroyed. In our world we have unconditional
freedom for our thoughts to be what they are. That is how you are
loved. That is your gift from the divine creator, expressed through
your individuality. Take that freedom away and you are no longer a
human being. You lose your humanity when you lose the uncondi-
tional love


 from which emerges a tall spike of green-white flowers.
Habitat & Cultivation  Native to North
America, helonias grows in low, moist, well-drained ground east of the Mississippi river. In view of its rarity in the wild, it is best to use alternative herbs such as black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa, p. 79) and wild yam (Disocorea villosa, p. 91).
Parts Used  Rhizome (lifted in autumn).
Constituents  Root contains steroidial saponins
(up to 9%), including chamaelirin and diogenin.
History & Folklore A traditional Native
American medicine, Helonias was prized as  a woman’s herb and used to treat a range of gynecological problems. There is some confusion about its precise use since several herbs share the same (or similar) name. Seeds
Ceratonia siliqua (Fabaceae)
Carob
Description  Evergreen tree growing to a height
of 30 ft (10 m). Has compound leaves, green flowers, and large violet-brown fruit (bean pods).
Habitat & Cultivation  Native to south-
eastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, carob flourishes in poor soil in warm temperate
US_180-201_Brassica_dictamnus.indd   186 26/02/16   12:47 pm187Chelidonium majusother medicinal plantsMedicinal Actions & Uses  In Western
herbal medicine, helonias has been valued as a key
remedy for conditions affecting the uterus and
ovaries. It is thought to have a “normalizing” effect
on the female reproductive system. It is thought to
regulate the release of hormones by the ovaries
and encourage a regular menstrual cycle. It has
also been used to treat conditions such as
endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and menopausal
problems. As it is now an endangered species,
other herbs (notably black cohosh) are routinely
used in its place.
Caution  Do not take during pregnancy.
Chamaemelum nobile syn.
anthemis nobilis (Asteraceae)
Roman Chamomile
Description  Aromatic perennial growing to
20 in (50 cm). Has feathery leaves and daisy-like
flower heads.
Habitat & Cultivation  Native to western
Europe, Roman chamomile is now cultivated
across Europe, and also in other temperate regions.
The flowers are harvested as they open in summer.
Parts Used  Flowers, essential oil.
Constituents  Roman chamomile contains up
to 1.75% essential oil (including tiglic and angelic
acid esters, chamazulene and other sesquiterpene
lactones), flavonoids, coumarins,
and phenolic acids.
History & Folklore
Though called Roman
chamomile, this herb was
not cultivated in Rome
until the 16th century,
probably arriving there
from Britain.
Medicinal Actions & Uses  A remedy for
the digestive system, Roman chamomile is often
used interchangeably with German chamomile
(Chamomilla recutita, p. 77). However, an infusion
of Roman chamomile has a more pronounced bitter
action than its German namesake. It is an excellent
treatment for nausea, vomiting, indigestion, and
loss of appetite. It is also sedative, antispasmodic,
and mildly analgesic, and will relieve colic, cramps,
and other cramping pains. By stimulating digestive
secretions and relaxing the muscles of the gut,
it helps normalize digestive function. Roman
chamomile may also be taken for headaches
and migraine, even by children. Its marked anti-
inflammatory and antiallergenic properties make
it helpful when applied to irritated skin.
Cautions  Do not use the essential oil
internally except under professional supervision.
The essential oil is subject to legal restrictions in
some countries.Habitat & Cultivation  Native to southern
Europe, wallflower is now found throughout the
continent. It grows on cliffs and old walls, and is
a common garden plant.
Parts Used  Leaves, flowers.
Constituents  The herb contains cheiranthin and
other cardioactive glycosides.
History & Folklore  In 1735, the Irish herbalist
K’Eogh described wallflower thus: “It provokes
urination and menstruation and expels a stillborn
child, and the afterbirth if a decoction of the dried
flowers or a little seed is drunk in wine.”
Medicinal Actions & Uses  Although
wallflower was formerly used as a diuretic, there
was no understanding of its powerful effect on
the heart. In small doses it is cardiotonic, supporting
a failing heart in a manner similar to foxglove
(Digitalis purpurea, p. 202). In more than small
doses it is toxic, and is therefore rarely used in
herbal medicine.
 RQ Cautions  Use only under professional
supervision. Do not take during pregnancy.
The Greek physician Dioscorides (1st century ce) used
wallflower roots to treat gout. Chamaenerion angustifolia
syn. epilobium angustifolium
(Onagraceae)
Rosebay Willowherb
Description  Perennial growing to 61⁄2 ft (2 m).
Has an erect stem, narrow leaves, and long spikes
of pink-purple flowers.
Habitat & Cultivation  This herb is found in
Europe and western Asia, and grows in clearings,
along roads, and in open areas. It is picked
when in flower in late summer.
Parts Used  Aerial parts.
Constituents  Rosebay willowherb contains
flavones and tannins.
History & Folklore  In Siberia, an alcoholic
drink has been made from this herb and the fly
agaric mushroom ( Amanita muscaria ).
Medicinal Actions & Uses  Demulcent and
astringent, rosebay willowherb treats diarrhea,
mucous colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. It has
also been made into an ointment to soothe skin
problems in children. Rosebay willowherb is used
to treat prostate problems.
Cheiranthus cheiri (Brassicaceae)
Wallflower
Description  Evergreen perennial growing
to 18 in (45 cm). Has lance-shaped leaves and
yellow-orange flowers appearing in spring.
Dried flower headsChelidonium majus
(Papaveraceae)
Greater Celandine
Description  Thin-stemmed perennial herb
growing to a height of 3 ft (90 cm). Has indented
yellow-green leaflets and 4-petaled flowers, which
appear in clusters in late spring.
Habitat & Cultivation  Native to Europe,
western Asia, and North Africa, greater celandine
flourishes close to human habitation, preferring
open areas, the banks of roadsides, and damp
places. The aerial parts of the herb are collected
in late spring or early summer.
Parts Used  Aerial parts, latex.
Constituents  Greater celandine contains
isoquinoline alkaloids, including allocryptopine,
berberine, chelidonine and sparteine. Several
of these alkaloids are analgesic. Chelidonine is
antispasmodic and also lowers blood pressure.
Sparteine, by contrast, raises it.
History & Folklore  In folk medicine, greater
celandine has often been viewed as a cure-all. It
has also been used for thousands of years to treat
and clear the eyesight, especially cataracts. According
to Pliny and Dioscorides (both writing in the
1st century ce), swallows used the latex that
flows from cuts in the stems or leaves as a
means to sharpen their eyesight. In 1598, Gerard
recommended the herb for eye disorders “for it
clenseth and consumeth awaie slimie things that
cleave about the ball of the eie.”
Medicinal Actions & Uses  Greater celandine
acts as a mild sedative, relaxing the muscles of the
bronchial tubes, intestines, and other organs.
US_180-201_Brassica_dictamnus.indd   187 26/02/16   12:47 pm
188Chelone glabraother medicinal plantsHabitat & Cultivation  Balmony is native
to eastern North America, balmony thrives in
habitats such as marshland, wet woodland, and riverbanks. It is harvested when in flower during summer or autumn.
Parts Used  Aerial parts.
Constituents  Contains resins and bitters.
History & Folklore  Balmony’s genus name,
Chelone, means “tortoise” in Greek, referring to the flower head’s supposed resemblance to the head of the tortoise.
Medicinal Actions & Uses  A strongly bitter
remedy, balmony is principally used to treat gallstones and other gallbladder problems. It stimulates bile flow and has a mildly laxative action. It can be taken to relieve nausea, vomiting, and intestinal colic, and to expel worms. It may also
be antidepressant. Balmony is a suitable remedy


turmeric 22, 35, 37, 38, 51, 90, 155, 198
Turnera, T. diffusa  syn. T. diffusa var.
aphrodisiaca  48, 51, 144
T. opifera 144
T. ulmifolia 144
turpeth 242
Tussilago farfara  13, 20, 278–79
Tylophora asmatica  279
Typha angustifolia  279
U
ulcers  see mouth ulcers; peptic ulcers
Ulex europaeus 198
Ulmus, U. americana  145
U. carpinifolia  20
U. rubra 16, 48, 50, 145, 264
umckaloabo 120
una de gato 280
Unani Tibb see Islamic medicine
Uncaria, U. gambier  280
U. rhynchophylla  280
U. tomentosa  280
Urginea maritima  syn. Drimia maritima  280
urinary infections  314
during pregnancy 317
urinary system, effect of herbs 13
Urtica, U. dioica  33, 63, 146
U. pilulifera  146
U. urens  146
urticaria  303
Ustilago zeae  154
Utricularia  spp. 161
uva-ursi 71, 144, 170, 212
V
Vaccinium, V. macrocarpon  147, 280–81
V. myrtillus 147
V. vitis-idaea 147
vaginal yeast infection  314, 317
valerian 10, 32, 148
Valeriana, V. capensis  148
V. hardwickii 148
V. officinalis  10, 32, 148
V. ulginosa 148
V. wallichi 148
varicose veins  302, 317
varuna 88
vasaka 160
Verbascum thapsus  47, 281
Verbena, V. hastata  149
V. officinalis  46, 47, 149, 151
vermouth 66
Veronica officinalis  281
Veronicastrum virginicum see Leptandra
virginica
vertigo  306
vervain 46, 47, 149, 151
Viburnum, V. opulus  13, 33, 49, 150
V. prunifolium 150, 281
V. rufidulum  281
Vietnamese herbal medicine 22
Vinca, V. major  282
V. minor  281–82
V. rosea  16, 282
Viola, V. canina  282V. odorata  282
V. tricolor  35, 282
V. yedoens  282
viper’s bugloss 204
Virginia peppergrass 227–28
Virginian skullcap 135
Viscum album  13, 283
visnaga 13, 15, 19, 44, 47, 62
“vital force” 24–25
“vital spirit” 32, 35
vitality, general  316, 317, 319
vitamins 16
Vitex agnus-castus  13, 33, 151
Vitis vinifera  15, 81, 283
volatile oils 14
vomiting  see nausea & vomiting
vulnerary herbs, action of 12, 13
W
wahoo bark 208
wallflower 187
walnut 224
Wang Lu 27
“warming” herbs 27, 38
warts  304
washes 297
water figwort 268
water hyssop 175
watercress 16, 239
watermelon 190
watermint 114
wax gourd 177
weeping forsythia 212
weeping skin  300, 303
wheezing & shortness of breath  301
white beet 178
white bryony 180
white deadnettle 226
white elm 145
white horehound 233
white lotus 240–41
white mulberry 237–38
white peony 42, 117
white pond lily 240
white water lily 240–41
white willow 13, 14, 26, 129, 140
wild cherry 15, 257–58
wild chrysanthemum 78
wild cinnamon 182
wild herbs, harvesting 288
wild horehound 208
wild hydrangea 221
wild indigo 176–77
wild iris 223
wild lettuce 225–26
wild marjoram 242–43
wild onion 164
wild sarsaparilla 170
wild strawberry 212–13
wild th yme 143, 276–77
wild yam 9, 15, 49, 186
winter cherry 247
winter savory 267
wintergreen 14, 215
witch hazel 13, 50, 102
withania 38, 152
Withania somnifera  38, 152
Withering, William 26, 202
wood anemone 168
wood apple 210
woolly foxglove 202
World Health Organization 29, 45
wormseed 188
wormwood 13, 16, 66, 67, 172wound-healing herbs 12, 13
wounds, minor  304
see also  cuts & grazes
wu jia pi 94
wu mei 257
wu wei zi  133
wu zhu yu  209
X
xian he cao  162
xuan fu hua  107
Y
yan hu suo  (corydalis) 86
yang (Chinese concept) 40–42, 43
tonics 81
yarrow 33,  56, 291
ye hu hua  78
yellow balsam 196
yellow dock 65, 264–65
Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
(Chinese text) 19–20, 40
yellow foxglove 202
yellow jasmine 13, 216
yellow loosestrife 231
yellow pheasant’s eye 160
yellow pimpernel 231
yellow water crowsfoot 261
yerba dulce 229
yerba santa 205
yew 275
yi zhi ren  61
yin (Chinese concept) 40–42, 43
tonics 83, 95, 125
yin chen hao  172
ylang-ylang 182
yohimbe 245
yu mi shu  154
yuan zhi  252
Z
Zanthoxylum, Z. americanum  48, 153
Z. bungeanum  153
Z. capense  153
Z. clava-herculis  153
Z. zanthoxyloides  153
Zea mays  13, 23, 48, 71, 154, 161, 162
zedoary 198
zhe bei mu  43
zhi mu  168
zhi zi  215
Zingiber officinale  13, 22, 38, 39, 61, 81,
116, 155, 287, 298
Ziziphus, Z. jujuba  283
Z. spinosa 43, 283
US_323-331_Index_General.indd   331 26/02/16   4:43 pm
332
index of herbs by ailmentIndex of Herbs
by Ailment
This index includes a wide range of ailments, listing key herbs used to
treat each one. Page numbers in bold denote a self-help use.
A
Abdominal pain see Stomach spasm
Acidity see IndigestionAcne & boils
burdock (Arctium lappa) 65, 305
calendula (Calendula officinalis) 73, 304clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) 97, 305comfrey (Symphytum officinale) 138, 305dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) 141, 305
echinacea (Echinacea spp.) 92, 305garlic (Allium sativum) 59, 305lemon (Citrus limon) 82, 305myrrh (Commiphora molmol) 85, 305slippery elm (Ulmus rubra) 145, 305tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) 112, 305
Aging & deb


 find passion or some zing in your
life.
S O U R  T A S T E
Sour tas te is composed of the elements Earth and Fire. Its qualities are hot,
heavy (b ut less heavy than Swe et and Salty taste) and it is ligh t and moist
by n ature. Sour taste promotes  digestion, cleanses the tissues, improves
absorption of minerals, and it i s moisturizing; it can decrease and soothe
dryness. It can balance acidity, as well, but too much Sour can be overly
heating and can aggravate inflammatory conditions.
Sour tas te is grounding for V ata (Ether and Air) especially in w inter (Ether
and Air) season but can be overheating for Pitta (Fire and W ater) especially
in summ er mon ths (W ater and Fire); it is too heavy for Kapha (W ater and
Earth), e specially in the spring ( W ater and Earth) months. By understanding
your constitutio n and imbalance and keeping the season in mind, you can
adjust the dif ferent tastes in your meals for a desired ef fect,  and this is
precisely how A yurveda uses fo od as medicine. T oo much Sour taste can be
too hot in the summer heat but can provide needed warmth in the winter
months.
Sour taste can be incorporated into your meals simply by squeezing some
lemon on your f ood, eating a co uple of olives or pickles, or adding a spoon
of sauerkraut to your meal. W e j ust need a little bit to awaken our digestion.
Some co mmon examples of the Sour taste are sour fruits like lemon and
grapefruit. Other foods are sour cream, yogurt, kefir, some cheeses, vinegar,
fermented vege tables, soy sauce, and sourdough bread. Fermented
vegetables are a viable source of probiotics to heal and to maintain a
healthy gut, and to improve digestion.
A small amount of Sour taste ad ds a refreshing quality to the mind. There is
a “wake up” quality to this taste3 and we can lean into this if we squeeze alittle bit  of lemon juice and half  a teaspoon of raw honey into hot water in
the morning. A little Sour taste is needed for us to awaken and too much
can feel too overwhelming.
P U N G E N T  T A S T E
The Pungent taste is made up of the elements Fire and Air. Its qualities are
hot, dry and light by nature. It is the hottest of all six taste s and most
stimulating to the digestion. It creates an increased flow of digestive juices,
promoting saliv ation, and it stimulates the appetite and s upports the
metabolism. It can decongest th e sinuses. It is great for breaking down and
metabolizing fa ts, therefore it is considered catabolic (a p rocess that
depletes tissues). Some pungen t spices wipe out low grade fungal and
bacterial infections as well as intestinal parasites. Due to its cleansing
qualities, it is most appropriately added in spring (W ater and Earth) time.
Pungent taste is most balancing for Kapha (W ater and Earth) as it dries out
Kapha’ s excess dampness and m ass. It is least balancing for V ata (Ether and
Air), however, small amounts of this taste with other less drying tastes such
as Swee t, Salty and Sour is okay  for V ata. It can aggravate Pitta (W ater and
Fire), therefore is better taken in conjunction with other tastes than to avoid
it entirely.
Pungent taste is easily added by  using the spices for all body types. Fresh
ginger root or ginger powder i s a great example. A spice mix with just
enough kick to stimulate digestion occasionally is fine for all body types.
Pungent taste is found in chili pe ppers, garlic, ginger, and spices like cumin,
black pepper, cloves, basil and asafetida (hing).
Pungent taste is known for its ability to move things. An example will be
ginger o r cayen ne peppers to c lear out the sinuses. A little ginger pickle
(recipe in Chapter 1 1 ) with meals can boost digestion and metabolism.
Pungent taste can bring clarity to the mind and a craving for Pungent taste
may poi nt to the need to clear out and let go of past, old issu es. Holding
past anger, resentment and grudges may become easier if yo u add somePungent to your meals. Similarly, reducing this taste may be necessary if
one is experiencing a lot of intensity in their emotions.
A S T R I N G E N T  T A S T E
The Ast ringent taste is comprised of Air and Earth. Its qualities are dry,
cooling and heavy. The Astringe nt taste causes a puckering sensation in the
mouth. It has a  contracting quality and can slow down the  digestion.
Astringency absorbs water, tightens tissues, dries fat, reduces secretions,
controls sweating, settles the stomach and intestines (in some cases), and
controls diarrhea.
Astringent taste can cool Pitta (W ater and Fire), due to its cooling ef fect,
and reduce Kapha (W ater and E arth), due to its drying ef fect, however. It is
not usef ul for V ata (Ether and  Air), as it will make people with this
constitution cold  and dry. Reducing Astringent taste in the wi nter months
(Ether and Air) is recommended to avoid getting too dry and cold.
There ar e only a few foods that have predominantly Astringen t taste, and
these in clude u nripe bananas. Many foods, such as cran berries and
pomegranates, h ave a secondary taste of astringency, as they also have Sour
taste. The Astringent taste is secondary in most foods. Some examples of
the A stringent taste are herbs like sage, marjoram and turmeric, as well as
vegetables like broccoli, caulifl ower, artichokes, asparagus, tu rnip, pears,
and drie d fruits.  Other examples in the grain family are rye, buc kwheat and
quinoa.
Craving Astring ent taste may po int to the need to create some bo undaries or
the need to contain your life and increase focus.
B I T T E R  T A S T E
The Bitter taste is composed of  the elements Air and Ether. It is light, dry,
and cooling by nature. It is the coldest and lightest of tastes. B itter taste is
most me dicinal and supports us in many ways. It can reduce in flammation;
it’ s a lso drying and hardening. It clears damp-heat and detoxif ies the liver
and gall bladder. It purifies the b lood, improves circulation, stre ngthens theimmune and respiratory systems, clears congestion by reducing mucous,
supports kidney function and promotes healthy intestinal flora.
Bitter ta ste is the most underused taste but it is highly recom mended for
those with Pitta (W ater and Fire) and Kapha (W ater and Earth)
constitutions; those with V ata (Ether and Air) constitution should use it only
in moderation, as overuse can be drying and depleting to them.
W e d on’ t need to  add much Bitt er taste to our meals. Just a hand ful of bitter
greens a nd other  vegetables will go a long way. It is a great bal ancing taste
for t he h eavy, m oistening qualiti es of Sweet, Salty and Sour taste, so adding
a little to your meals balances them.
Another interest ing ef fect of the  Bitter taste is that it can uplift the spirit by
providing a light and flexible e ner gy to our body. So, it lightens the body
instead of making it heavy, as in the case with Sweet taste. Bitter taste is
found abundantly in leafy greens such as kale, spinach and other vegetables
such as Brussels sprouts, brocc oli and cabbage. Less common vegetables
are bitter melon (see a recipe for  this in Chapter 19 ) and bitter gourd (recipe
also found in Chapter 19 ). These  vegetab les are most commonly found in
specialty grocery  stores, such as Indian or Asian grocery stores. Bitter herbs
include aloe vera, dandelion, cilantro, coriander, parsley, fenugreek, and
turmeric.
A cravin g for cof fee may be an  indication you need to add more Bitter to
your meals, rather than increasing your cof fee intake.  And the
overconsumption of alcohol ma y be due to insuf ficient Bitter taste in the
diet.
A cr aving for B itter taste generally indicates a need to accept th e bitterness
or challenges in life and see beyond them. Adding a handful of sautéed
bitter greens is a great way to ensure Bitter taste in your meals. It is very
useful in  summe r when we may need some cooling of f, and it’ s advisable to
use a little less in winter, especially if you have a small build,  are feeling
depleted or are


man would do them today. The walls were
apparently cleaned and smo othed to give a suitable pale area, a
bare canvas, before the actual painting began. Two woolly
rhinoceroses a re pictured butting heads, reflecting a desire by the
original artist to portray scenes, and many animals are shown in
motion, not like a child’s stick-figure drawings.
As you could im agine, the desire to paint a picture isn’t si mple
and nev er has been. Are these paintings mystical, ritualistic, or
magical? The mental state o f the artists cannot be conclusively
determined. There is beauty in how the animals were drawn, or
are we simply imposing “beau ty” from our own familiar concepts?
Whatever cave  painters had in  mind, it went viral, so to sp eak. The
same images are repeated by cultures thousands of miles apart.
A s maller mystery within the larger one is why the cave
painters didn’t depict them selves. At Chauvet thirty thousand
years ag o, the painters portrayed no full human figures and onlyone par tial figu re (the lower h alf of a female body, with prominent
sexual organs), but there are numerous outlines of human hands
imprinted on the wall. These were done by blowing red ochre
pigment around someone’s hand as it was pressed against the
stone. Outlines of hands also appear in the Indonesian caves
thousands of years earlier, then in Argentina between nine
thousand and thirteen thousand years ago, and in petroglyphs of
the An asazi, or ancient ones, of the Southwest of the United
States. These scattered handprints lead to no definite conclusion.
Perhaps they mark tribal alle giances, or simply the message I was
here.
The explosion of sophisticate d art, on a global scale, testifies to
a hidd en potential comin g to life as an awaken ing in
consciousness, vibrant and full-blown. Art must be considered
evolutionary in Homo sapiens, be cause it h as persisted as a
dominant trait  of our species in every society without dy ing out.
Yet it seems un likely that art somehow provided a survival value.
Cave painting testifies to prehistoric humans’ caring for something
beyond physical needs, and this something emerged directly from
their consciousness.
To me the Chauvet cave paintings clearly drew on the whole
mind. A  prehis toric Picasso didn’t step up to the blank canvas of a
limestone wall  and let fly his genius. Homo sapiens  evolved much
more ho listically. At the very least, the desire to create art involves
the following attributes we ca n all identify with, even if we aren’t
artists:
Curiosity
Intelligence
Purpose
Motivation
Diligence
Eye-hand coordination
Learning a skill setThese m ental traits have to exist in order to build the Taj
Mahal, invent the internal combustion engine, or paint a woolly
rhinoceros on a cave wall. And the whole collection of traits has to
come t ogether into a single intention. Figuring out how this
happens may be impossible  scientifically. There is no way to
gather evidenc e when what you are looking for is invisib le. Even
so, the capaci ty to use the whole mind convinces me that our
remote ancestors contained the seeds of metahuman. Being able
to access the whole mind destroys the myth that our ancestors
were primitive. Their potential was already infinite.

A  B r a i n  T e a s e r
Once Homo sapiens  found a path to whole mind, the
experience became embedded in human evolution. If we examine
ourselves closely, it is clear that we are whole-mind cr eatures.
Let’s te st this proposition with a simple chore like driving to the
grocery store to buy a child’s  birthday cake. Behind the simplicity
of the task is a complex of mental activities we take for granted.
The ingredients in the mix include the following:
Knowing the concept of “birthday cake” and matching the
words to a physical object.
Wanting to do something nice for your child.
Putting the cake on your to-do list.
Knowing how to drive.
Remembering the route to the grocery store.
Giving priority to this task over other demands on your
time.
Selecting one cake out of many, using judgment about
which one your child will like the best.These things span emotion, intention, visual recognition,
memory, moto r coordinatio n, and stored skills—for one small
errand! Neuro science can locate and isolate where some of these
mental activiti es are represented in the brain, but how th ey mesh
into a unified outcome—shopping for a birthday cake—cannot be
explained. The  process of ge tting billions of brain cells t o fire in
sync makes herding cats lo ok simple. It’s more like wrangling
every cat in the world.
Even less can anyone explain how the brain shifts gears without
any visible transition from A to B. One incredibly com plicated
pattern of brain activity spontaneously shifts to another. Unlike a
car, the re’s no transmission or gearshift. Imagine that you are
reading a novel and forget that there’s a roast in th e oven.
Absorbed in The Lord of the Rings  or Jane Eyre, you suddenly
notice the acrid smell of smoke in the air. Instantly, this simple
sensation of smell causes you to leap into action, and the book is
forgotten. Carbon molecules stimulating receptors for detecting
odor th row your brain into a  new pattern of coordinated action.
Relaxation turns to stress in an instant.
To s ay that you r brain noticed the burning roast doesn’t ex plain
your reaction.  Your brain processed the raw data of smoke
particles entering the nasal passage, but it takes a person to notice
the smell and g ive it significance. The same smell, when applied to
charring a steak on the grill in summer, provokes no alarm, even
though the physical process taking place in the nose and brain is
identical. Elec trochemical a ctivity buzzing around the  cortex
forms one pattern for the house burning down and another for a
barbecue. That’s all a neuroscientist has to work with, and it’s not
nearly enough.
Even if  neuroscience could map every minute area of brain
activity, down to the smallest detail—as is currently being
attempted by the National Institutes of Health through the
federally fund ed Brain Initiative—consciousness would be
undetectable. If the brain is a red herring in regard to a whiff of
smoke, it may be a red herri ng in lots of other ways as well. Two
would-be poet s could be writing a sonnet, causing specific brain
activity to light up on an fMRI scan, but nobody would be  able to
pick out which writer is Shakespeare and which a duffer.Einstein’s brain was autops ied after death to determine if the
world’s greate st genius, as he was popularly tagged, had an
unusual brain; he didn’t. On YouTube, you can find numerous
videos o f child  prodigies playing the piano at the age of three or
four when, according to normal brain development, such a
complex display of muscle coordination shouldn’t be possible.
Attaining skill at piano playin g ordinarily takes years or de cades to
achieve.
Having escape d the constraints of physical evolution, Homo
sapiens  stoppe d being puppets of the brain. Despite every finding
revealed by neuroscience—many of them fascinating and
important—the bottom line is that you rule your brain, not the
other w ay around. The path to metahuman is a path of self-
awareness about this very thing. You can control who you are,
even if you thi nk you can’t. T he trail of clues has led us far along
the path. Now we are ready to undertake a reality shift even more
radical than the mass awakening of our remote ancestors. In the
next reality shift, we will define ourselves as beings endowed with
infinite possib ilities. Metare ality becomes home when everyone
agrees that we belong there.F4

M E T A R E A L I T Y  O F F E R S
A B S O L U T E  F R E E D O M
reedom is the opposite of feeling trapped. We’ve created
virtual reality on such a huge scale that people can go abo ut their
lives no t feelin g trapped. But, in truth, the whole setup is a trap.
Hamlet was trapped in a dil emma over murdering the man who
murdered his father. Indecis ion would lead him either to murder
or t o suicide—eventually it l eads him to both—and at on e point
Hamlet speaks to his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with
all the symptoms of clinical depression:
I have…lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of
exercises, and indeed it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to
me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the
air—look you, this brave o’e r-hanging firmament, this
majestical roof fretted with golden fire—why, it appears
no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapors.No actual person burdened by depression speaks so beautifully


fruit	extract	smells	bright	and	fresh	and	has	antibacterial	and	antiseptic
qualities	as	well.	The	arrowroot	starch	helps	thicken	your	deodorant	into	a	somewhat	solid	form	that
is	easy	to	apply.
3	tablespoons	coconut	oil
3	tablespoons	baking	soda
40	(or	so)	drops	grapefruit	extract
1½	tablespoons	arrowroot	starch
In	a	bowl,	mix	together	all	the	ingredients	until	well	combined	into	a	thick,	paste-like	consistency.
Store	in	the	refrigerator	for	20	to	30	minutes	to	let	the	coconut	oil	resolidify	if	it	liquefied	during	the
mixing	process.	Place	the	mixture	into	a	small	glass	or	BPA-free	container.	Dip	your	fingers	into	the
mixture	and	apply	it	directly	to	your	underarms.	To	keep	your	deodorant	solid,	be	sure	to	store	it	in	a
cool	place,	but	even	if	it	liquefies	a	bit,	it	will	still	work	just	as	well!SHIFT	7:
Practices	to	Nourish	Your	Skin	from
the	Outside	In
In
Pillar	1
,	you	learned	to	boost	your	beauty	from	the	inside	out	by	eating
foods	with	unique	properties	that	help	boost
circulation	and	support	your
body’s	natural	processes.	Many	people	don’t	realize	that	in	addition	to	using
the	right	skin-care	products,	there	are	also	many	things	you	can	do	to	improve
the	body’s	functions	from	the	outside	in.
Supporting	Your	Lymphatic	Circulation	for
Enhanced	Detoxification	and	Slowed	Aging
Most	people	don’t	think	about	it	that	much,	but	we	have	a	second	circulatory
system	devoted	to	healing	and	immunity	known	as	the
lymphatic	system.
Composed	of	your	spleen,	thymus,	lymph,	lymph	nodes,	and	lymph	channels
as	well	as	your	tonsils	and	adenoids,	your	lymphatic	system	works	directly	with
your	cardiovascular	circulatory	system	to	keep	blood	and	lymphatic	fluid	levels
in	balance	and	flush	toxins	out	of	the	body.	Fluid	squeezed	from	the	blood,
called	interstitial	fluid	or	“lymph,”	transports	waste	to	your	lymph	nodes
through	a	series	of	vessels	similar	to	veins.	There,	the	fluid	is	neutralized,
filtered,	and	eventually	returned	to	the	bloodstream.	These	vessels	also	carry
immune	cells	throughout	the	body	to	help	defend	against	infections.
Called
rasa
	in
Ayurveda,	your	lymph	is	part	of	the	plasma	that	is	considered
part	of	the	primary
dhatu
,	or	structure	of	the	body.
Healthy
rasa
	is	key	in	order
to	give	rise	to	the	next
dhatu
,	healthy
rakta
,	or	blood,	and	consequently	the
other
dhatus
	in	the	body.
Rasa
	is	said	to	govern	your	emotional	and	hunger
responses,	which	is	another	good	reason	to	keep	it	flowing.
Unlike	the	cardiovascular	system,	the	heart	does	not	pump	the	lymphatic
system,	which	is	basically	self-circulating.	Gravity,	muscle	contractions,	and
certain	forms	of	movement	and	manipulation	stimulate	this	system.	If	yourlymphatic	circulation	gets	sluggish,	toxins	build	up,	which	is	the	precursor	to
accelerated	aging.
1
	Aches	and	pains	can	also	appear,	and	your	immunity	is
lowered.	This	can	adversely	affect	your	thymus	gland,	tonsils,	and	spleen,	which
in	turn	can	weaken	your	body	against	sickness	and	diseases.
Traditional	Chinese
Medicine	believes	that	your	spleen	plays	a	central	part	in	your	vitality	and
strength.
Because	the	two	systems	work	together,	incorporating	the	foods
recommended	in
Pillar	1
	for	your	cardiovascular	system	will	also	be	beneficial
for	your	lymphatic	system.	However,	since	your	almighty	heart	does	not	pump
the	lymphatic	system,	there	are	specific	methods	to	support	this	system	that	are
applied	to	the	outside	of	the	body.	Here	are	some	great	methods	you	can
incorporate	to	support	your	lymph	system	and	nourish	glowing,	healthy	skin
from	the	outside	in.
GET	A	MASSAGE
Massages	are	incredibly	beneficial	for	detoxification.	Stimulating	the	blood	and
lymph	vessels	helps	move	the	fluids	and	enhance	circulation.	Professional
massages	are	wonderful,	as	well	as	a	regular	practice	of	self-massage.
PRACTICE	ABHYANGA
This	ancient	form	of	self-massage	is	a	powerful	anti-aging	practice	that	can
easily	be	incorporated	into	your	daily	routine.
Abhyanga
	will	make	you	feel
rejuvenated,	soften	your	skin,	and	contribute	to	a	better	overall	skin	tone	while
also	fostering	muscle	tone.	There	is	a	belief	in	Ayurveda	that	working	manually
on	the	surface	of	the	skin	helps	support	the	structure	and	health	of	your
muscles,	as	there	is	a	connection	between	your	skin	and	muscle	health.	Some	of
abhyanga’
s	deeper,	detoxifying	properties	are	meant	to	be	cumulative	and	long-
term,	so	you	may	not	witness	immediate	benefits,	but	you	will	likely	feel
invigorated	by	the	movement	while	you	trust	that	deeper	support	for
detoxification	is	taking	place	beneath	the	surface!	As	you	know,	the	importance
of	improving	circulation	and	detoxification	(which	is	part	of	what
abhyanga
	is
all	about)	cannot	be	overestimated	for	its	long-term	role	in	maintaining	your
health	and	beauty.
Abhyanga
	has	been	part	of
Ayurveda	for	thousands	of	years	and	is	perhaps
the	foremost	anti-aging	practice	you	can	incorporate	into	your	daily	life.	That	is
a	pretty	strong	statement,	but
abhyanga
	can	help	balance	your	entire	mind	and
body,	relieve	fatigue,	provide	stamina,	enhance	sleep,	promote	a	better
complexion,	improve	the	luster	of	your	skin,	increase	longevity,	and	foster	all-
around	body	nourishment.	You	may	be	skeptical	that	a	simple	self-massagepractice	can	really	reap	all	those	benefits,	but	as	you	progress	in	your
understanding	of	the	circulation	and	lymphatic	system,	you’ll	surely	realize
these	benefits	and	appreciate	how	anti-aging
abhyanga
	truly	is.
First,	it’s	important	to	learn	more	about	your	skin.	Besides	being	a	major
elimination	organ,	your	skin	is	the	largest	organ	of	sensory	perception.	Your
skin	takes	in	a	great	deal	of	information	from	the	outside	world	and	is
connected	to	every	part	of	the	body	by	thousands	of	nerves	throughout	your
entire	nervous	system.	As	such,	Ayurveda	believes	that	touching	the	outside	of
your	skin	has	a	big	impact	on	your	nervous	system,	while	your	nervous	system
further	impacts	your	endocrine	system	and	immunity.	An	imbalanced	nervous
system	can	manifest	in	excessive	worry,	decreased	energy,	imbalanced	digestion,
and	can	eventually	contribute	to	deeper	and	more	plentiful	wrinkles,	as	you
generally	age	at	a	much	faster	rate	when	your	nervous	system	is	imbalanced.
Stress	and	toxins	constantly	accumulate	in	the	mind	and	body,	but
thankfully
abhyanga
	can	help	dissolve	them	on	a	daily	basis.	By