View source for Planning A Transition To Better Living

= Lesson 92 - Planning A Transition To Better Living =
== The Typical Client ==
The typical client who consults with a Hygienic practitioner will most likely have had recourse to various “therapies” and will have plied him or herself well with a variety of chemicals which may well have ranged from all manner of prescribed drugs to over-the-counter concoctions; to vitamins, herbs, and a variety of assorted supplements. Many will also have sought a magic release from their many ailments from practitioners of diverse disciplines. Almost without exception, they will be lacking in hope and seek out the Hygienist as a last recourse, lacking any real faith that this time they will be successful in their quest, the finding of a “cure” for whatever ails them.

It will be rare, indeed, to find clients who will appreciate the fact that, so long as sufficient vital force exists to power the effort, the erstwhile dream of attaining a higher level of health can become an accomplished reality and this through something they had all along: the healing power within. And, too, they will fail to realize that the magic solution they have sought for so long will require effort on their part; that the attainment of better health requires a planned transition, a gradual organized rebuilding which will, when adhered to in all particulars, take them from their present here of sickness and suffering to the there of dreams fulfilled and euphoric joy in living.

=== Fred—Case Study ===
Fred was typical. In his late 70s, Fred came to us suffering from digestive trouble and a prostate enlargement which caused him to urinate frequently, especially at night, and was the source of much discomfort. For several days prior to his first visit, he had been unable to retain any food, vomiting, as he said, “even a poached egg.”

A widower for some ten years, Fred was lonely. He recounted a sad tale of how he and his wife had travelled many miles and counseled with many “specialists” in search of a cure for his wife’s cancer, but to no avail.

Sadly, he told us that it has “cost me well over $70,000.00 to bury my angel.”

It was obvious that Fred was still grieving and living in the past. Like so many others, following his wife’s death he, too, had begun to fail and, like so many others, too, he had begun yet another, so far unsuccessful, search for a better life. He recounted how he had consulted with several medical men, including a specialist in internal medicine how, almost in desperation, he had finally gone to see naturopath and a nutripathist; all without, of course, a noticeable improvement.

Fred told how he had taken the pills, the enemas (low and high), the various drugs, herbs and vitamins. In fact he said that he had a whole box of vitamin bottles and with a gesture, indicated a box large enough to house a food processor! Fred sadly shook his head. He knew that he had foolishly spent a fortune on yet another fruitless pursuit. And now, said he, “I am here to see what you have to offer.”

Fred’s predicament is not at all unusual or rare. Unfortunately, his case, while not wholly typical in all particulars, does demonstrate the emotional valley it which so many of our new clients find themselves. The practitioner must be ready to respond in a constructive way to this kind of negativity. Perhaps the most valuable service the Hygienist can offer in the initial stages of transition is to supply the missing ingredient of hope.

==== Our First Move ====
To instill an element of Positivity into Fred’s thinking we invited him to one of our potluck parties. At that particular meeting, we had 13 guests besides him. He was surrounded by people in various way stations along the transition road. All had achieved some measure of success some amazingly so. Fred had to take notice!

We watched and listened as Fred asked questions received positive input and encouragement. One couple, in particular, cornered him and we heard the give and take One little child, age eight, a recovered asthmatic, climbed up on his knee and asked, “Do you like fruit, too?”

The table was spread with all manner of salad makings. The washed fruit filled a number of plates. There were steamed potatoes for Fred and some steamed green beans, and he wisely ate very little. But, his eyes darted hither and wonder watching what other guests chose for their meal.

Fred asked for his second appointment before the evening was over. We asked him to keep a record of his food intake and set a time for our next meeting. Fred was ready to begin his own transition into better living. The meeting together with friends had successfully supplied the missing elements in Fred’s life: faith and hope.

== Superb Health The Norm ==
Almost every person who consults with a practicing Hygienist will be experiencing some degree of diminished health, sometimes even serious.

Few clients will comprehend that superb health should be the norm. Few, if any, will understand that (aside from that which may come as a result of accidental injury), all disease, all suffering, all sickness and, in fact, all the accompanying and/or subsequent pain and travail that so often comes with impairment of health, are signs that the body is in an abnormal (or toxic) state, and is trying to cleanse itself.

This may well be the first important concept that must become a part of a client’s thinking. This is the first “Baby Step” most are required to take as they begin their hesitant transitional steps to better living. And yet, for some, this will be a giant leap into a strange new world, a world of new thoughts, new ideas, new concepts.

The client must learn that each person creates his own suffering, his own pain, by a series of multiple errors in eating and living and that the amount of diminished health which is presently being experienced can, in all instances, be traced back to and accounted for by some rather simple principles.

Each of us represent the sum total of countless generations of people and, for this very reason, we enter the world with our very own personal collection of strengths and weaknesses. We all have strong parts, but we also have a few weak ones. The sum total, of course, represents our constitution. All of us, too, make mistakes. Our present condition represents a lifetime of multiple errors in eating and living, errors which no doubt began on the day of our birth.

Most clients willingly accept this concept but there is also another concept which they must learn and it is even more important, and that is that the converse of the preceding negative aspect of life is also true: namely, that it is possible to manage our lifestyle, beginning now, at this moment, in such a manner as to cause us to progress from the present HERE of pain and suffering forward to a THERE of euphoric joy, at which time full health becomes our constant companion, replacing the former dour shadows of sickness.

Additionally, the practitioner should make clear to his client that this transition can be accomplished by faithfully following a planned sequence of biologically-acceptable, scientifically-sound, steps and procedures designed to change a health-damaging lifestyle into one more in tune with all hidden systemic needs.

In other words, the client can become somewhat inspired if s/he comes to appreciate the fact that it is entirely possible within the framework of sound scientific principles to change frustration and despair, always the unwanted fruits of a diseased state, into a wonderful joy-filled experience. Developing a more positive attitude about life and living will, in and of itself, help one and all to take new forward steps less timidly.

And, finally, in the context of this present discussion, clients who become actively involved in the planning and execution of a pattern of behavior will, all other things being equal, be more willing to further actively their own cause: THEIR transition into better living.

Perhaps the hardest concept for new clients to accept is the knowledge that there is nothing outside of the body that has any power whatsoever to heal body hurts and, even more vital, that there are no outside wisdom, guidelines, or intelligence which can fully assess, define, determine the complete nature or the extent of the client’s own peculiar needs; that there are no gadgets or machines which can accurately determine the cause or possible multiple causes of the particular sickness or ailment. The client must gently be urged to an understanding that there are no outside forces or substances or combination of forces or substances which can fabricate blood, lymph and other body fluids, or direct them to where they are most needed. As practitioners most of us once stood, figuratively speaking, where the clients now are and we must be aware of the existing deep medically-oriented programming that has up-to-now dominated their thinking. It will be difficult, on first hearing, for them fully to comprehend the truism that there is no outside force(s) or substance(s) which can correctly evaluate the situation and decide which cells are to be replaced or retained, or just where the precise place is where they may be needed to enhance systemic functioning or meet structural needs. Should some be discarded, or perhaps recycled? Most of us don’t have sufficient wisdom to make this determination consciously, but, wondrously so, it is inherent in our subconscious being.

To most clients the exposure to this life knowledge will represent a new dimension in their thinking, one that requires them to discard the “magic bullet” concept, the belief in a health fairyland, in favor of mind and self-control, certainly not an easy transition to make. This kind of reorientation requires considerable change in the clients’ thought processes and it may take time for them to fully grasp the entire significance of the idea that all healing power lies solely within the body itself and that making it fully operational will depend upon how well individuals meet their own very personal needs and that the extent of wellness it is possible for them to achieve will depend on how well they meet those needs and upon the amount of vitality they yet possess to power the transition to a successful conclusion, to the better living they so fondly envision.

In other words, at the outset, the client should be helped to reach this understanding. Briefly stated k means that all healing, by the very nature of the life process, must be and is a biological evolution. Old and sick cells must first be torn down and usable parts salvaged before new and healthier cells can be formulated by a commingling of recycled materials with the incoming tide of higher quality nutrients.

The client must be brought to an understanding that the first new cells represent only a beginning, a start on a transitional process that will witness a parade of generations of cells, each being just a little healthier than the preceding generation.

This fascinating journey towards better living represents an amazing series and variety of transitional implementations, a biological rebuilding which proceeds cell by cell. In no way, can this transition be brought about by a single giant leap over mountains of hidden systemic obstacles accumulated perhaps over a period of many years; impedimenta composed of the residues of pills, potions, procedures—the multitudinous errors of the past.

Healing is a very human happening, one made operational the moment the inner self receives the tools of life: good food, fresh air, pure water, friendships, warmth and sunshine—the essences upon which life depends. In other words, if we would walk in health, we must walk in the ways of health!

== Introducing The Toxemia Connection ==

=== Early Introduction Advisable ===
In working with our own clients, we feel it is advisable, at an early opportunity, to introduce the Toxemia Connection. This concept, like that of self-generated healing, will generally be completely foreign to clients’ thinking and accepting it as a totally valid premise may also require some major adjustments on their part.

Most clients have followed the herd all their lives. Almost without exception, they will have been nurtured on the germ theory of disease. Almost all will have willingly accepted the prevailing idea that their pain and suffering are the direct consequence of the foul work of some outside agent, be it germ or virus. They also have dutifully been well-programmed to believe that healing will require some powerful force to “do away with” whatever is at fault. Certainly, of course, and in their view, their illness is hardly of their own doing.

To discard these popular notions requires some mental handsprings, as it were, by the clients. The toxemia theory of disease which they must now learn represents the firm foundation upon which all Hygienic practice is based. Therefore, the connection between toxicosis and disease must be set forth in plain terms for the clients’ enlightenment. It is vital for each client to develop a deep understanding of all that is involved in the toxemia connection and what can reasonably be predicted to evolve, and therefore reasonably be expected to happen in their own selves, once the theory has been well examined, cerebrally accepted and then intelligently acted upon.

Briefly, as Life Science students have already learned, the Toxemia Connection is based on the fact that all diseases, barring those of accidental origin, have their beginnings in a deranged state of the fluids of the body, in a departure from the norm brought about by an abnormal accumulation of metabolic acid debris which has more less exhausted vital power.

The nature of the disease itself will depend on the kind of poisons present, upon the amount of waste present and, to some extent, upon the peculiar inherited weaknesses of the affected individual. The extensiveness and intensive-ness of the ailment will likewise be similarly influenced; the possibility for full recovery, upon the vital power.

Multitudes now live in pain. More multitudes have died writhing in agony because they did not have this knowledge, or, being informed, refused to walk in the ways of health.

=== Orienting the Client as to How They Relate to the Seven Steps to Pathology ===
The client’s next mental adjustment concerns the fact that any departure from the normal condition of the body fluids will always result in a biological evolution, but this time it will be a reverse evolution from the norm to the abnormal. This departure will always proceed in a more-or-less predictable fashion from simple cellular fatigue (enervation caused by cellular constipation), in its earliest manifestation, to a more-or-less complete saturation of cells, fluids and tissues with acid metabolic waste debris, this last in its later stages. Such accumulation and the ensuing defensive measures instigated and kept operational by the nervous system in an effort to retain the life of individual eventually exhausts the vital force, at point death ensues.

Concisely put, the Toxemia Connection simply means that most people become ill and subsequently die prematurely, not from a particular disease, per se, but rather from organ failure; usually the failure of the liver, or kidneys, or heart, or some combination of poorly-functioning organs which can no longer meet the systemic needs of the life process due to a derangement brought about by the accumulating poisons.

Thus, the body cells that make up the faltering organs and the total society of cells, overcome as they are with acid wastes, simply are forced to cease their functional duties, causing the life process to come to an end: the electrical power that sustains life is no more.

Throughout the entire reverse biological evolution many cries for help are constantly being given off by body cells in the form of pain and suffering. The disease itself, however manifested, represents the body’s attempt to reestablish normalcy and it is only when the vital force becomes exhausted that the pains of protest and the systemic attempts to normalize the situation, the symptoms formerly expressed, now cease because the healing vital power has been wasted. None remains to fuel the effort.

=== Building Reasonable Expectations ===
Here is where the blackboard becomes almost indispensable. As our practice is strictly educational in all respects we use this tool frequently. We write down the seven step; in the evolution of pathology which have previously been delineated in this course; to review, they are briefly Toxicosis, Enervation, Irritation, Inflammation, Ulceration, Induration and, finally, Fungation.

Next, we note the various symptoms characteristic of each stage and encourage the clients to share with us any symptoms they may recall from their own past. Clients are then amazed at how closely their own medical history will correlate with what they now see on the blackboard before them. By this kind of active participation they begin to develop an understanding of the nature and origin of, disease and, what is even more important, just how their own past lives, their errors and omissions, may have contributed to their own reverse biological evolution.

Additionally, the practitioner can perhaps, at a later time, when the clients may become discouraged by their seemingly slow progress, remind the clients of this evolutionary transgression and to what stage they may have progressed before beginning their own transition to better living. The building of reasonable expectations often depends on the client being exposed early in the transition to this knowledge.

Of course, full acceptance of such a radical change in thinking may require some time. However, we do not hesitate to suggest, even at this early stage, that it is possible now to set the stage for a more or less complete turn-around; to put the brakes on, to make a new beginning, this time in the opposite direction, toward health. In other words, we have an opportunity to encourage the clients to begin their own transition towards better living.

Often we find that gaining this new understanding of the nature of healing and coming to realize that it may be entirely possible for them to reverse the biological evolution, to turn it in a more positive direction, is often sufficient to supply the missing element in their thinking: the Hope mentioned earlier.

Hope often supplants their former fear because they can now see both where they have been and the positive direction they can now begin to take, provided that they learn what they themselves must do to enjoy this totally new experience, this transitional journey from HERE to THERE, to the time and place when superb health will be their constant companion.

Using the blackboard to define and illustrate the transition that must be made in every instance helps the client also to an understanding of the fact that the more severe their symptoms (that is, in whatever stage they place themselves, either correctly or incorrectly, in one or perhaps even in several), the longer it will probably require for them to achieve full recovery if that, indeed, be yet within the realm of probability, considering their present condition. In other words the foundation for reasonable expectations can thus be laid even this early in the transition, possibly alleviating future disappointments.

Enthusiasm for this new way of living coupled with Desire, Hope, the Will to Act and having Reasonable Expectations may well prove to be an unbeatable combination!

=== Zeroing In ===
Clients usually have some difficulty in grasping this new concept of the nature of disease and, since this understanding is essential to future progress and peace of mind, the true nature of the disease process should necessarily be introduced early in the transitional reeducation period.

Certainly, if this theory is correct—and it is becoming increasingly accepted among modern cellular scientists if not among the orthodox hanger-on, and if symptoms were not forthcoming, the individual would soon die. Thus, the diagrams can help the new client to understand the WHY and the IMPORTANCE of Symptoms.

Using the blackboard and/or the diagrams to illustrate the role of toxicosis in diseasemaking provides a graphic representation, to the clients of their own past, the present and future possibilities. Intelligent clients soon realize, perhaps for the first time, that an opportunity is being presented to them to begin a totally new life, one filled with attainable promises of a better life and this, too, for ALL life!

Blackboard and diagrams help the client to realize that if the body did NOT unload its excess acidic waste, the cells must soon be adversely affected, both in functioning ability and in their structural integrity; in other words, that these acids will damage. Also, a natural conclusion follows that organs composed of these deranged, confused and damaged cells would then, in due course, likewise deteriorate in the same manner. Once this understanding is reached, it is only a simple and direct conclusion for most students to make that if they desire a better life, they must reduce their own systemic toxicity, that they must begin a program to normalize their own body fluids.

== A Practical Demonstration Of Procedure ==
Let us go back and see how we worked with our client Fred whom we met at the beginning of this discussion. At age 77, a widower, very lonely, without relatives, he was in a very depressed state of mind. At 5 feet, 7 inches, he weighed 169 pounds. A review of his medical history showed the following:

1. Pyloric end of his stomach excised some years ago, time uncertain.

# Part of vagus nerve removed.
# Diagnosis of prostatitis made.
# Desert fever.
# Nodule in lung.
# Unable to retain food for the last three days with frequent vomiting prior to that time.
# Constipated. Necessary to take frequent enemas.
# By prescription of naturopath, he was presently taking 26 vitamins and other supple ments daily.
# Feeling terrible.  
Recommendation: Fred was to brew a day’s supply of vegetable broth made from carrots, potatoes, green beans celery and zucchini. For a total of four days he was to make a fresh supply of this broth. Also, he was told to remain in bed, having access to fresh air at all times. The broth was to be taken in quantities of 6 to 8 ounces every two hours, or as needed, from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., after which only distilled water could be had, as and when required only.

Following the four days bed rest with broth, Fred was to rest for two hours during the day and then to be up for two hours. At two-hour intervals he was to have freshly made vegetable juices (Fred owned a juicer), extraction them from carrots and celery, these to be alternated with freshly-extracted fruit juices (orange or grape). These juices could be sipped slowly every two hours, if needed. For his evening “meal,” Fred was told that he might enjoy a single variety of fresh fruit. We call this our “Two-Two Transition Program.”

Following the four days bed rest, Fred was encouraged to do some elevated leg exercises, just a few at first. These exercises are done lying flat on the floor and raising the legs to a vertical position. The legs are then “pumped,” bending the knees and then extending the legs again to the vertical position.

Fred was advised to reduce his vitamin intake but was cautioned about the possibility of a crisis should he attempt to eliminate them completely at this time. Obviously, Fred had become accustomed to false stimulation.

Fred was provided with our study book on the colon.

'''Three Days Later'''

Fred telephoned. It seems that, in the intervening few days, he had experienced rather annoying pains in the abdomen (perhaps a mild crisis?). However, he reported that he was now feeling much better and would renew the Two-Two Program. We suggested that he might find a hot bath useful should he again experience any pain, this to be followed by bed rest using a hot water bottle.

'''One Week Later'''

Our second consultation: Fred had lost 14 pounds. Said he felt MUCH better and was definitely more relaxed. The chief difficulty during the previous week had been the expelling of gas. A discussion on fermentation and putrefaction followed and Fred was advised of the pressures caused by such gas production on various organs including the prostate gland, the heart, etc. He was advise that poor posture can add to this discomfort. The study book on the colon was gone over with the client. A chart of “Good Things to Eat” was reviewed, as well as informative charts about the colon, the digestive system; list of flexibility exercises was provided with several being pointed out as being advisable in Fred’s case. Face and neck exercises were demonstrated. A new dietary program was suggested, as follows:
# Meal One—Fruit—A single variety.
# Meal Two—Salad plus vegetable soup.
# Meal Three—Salad plus:

# Lamb or chicken, OR
# Ricotta cheese, OR
# Baked or steamed potato

Fred was now to eliminate salt, pepper, and all beverages except distilled water. Since he had never used any of these to any great extent, we all felt he could make this part of his transition rapidly.

Once his future course of action was agreed upon, we have a brief discussion on the Seven Steps in the Evolution of Pathology and Fred left with his next study book which uses the condition of arthritis as a means of illustrating this biological evolutionary process.

'''Second Week'''

Fred returned for his third consultation the following week. The student will observe that only one week was given between consultations with this client. This was felt best since, being alone, he required encouragement to keep him on course.

He was asked how he had managed. Response: Fred was well pleased and felt much improved. On his new diet, he had experienced much less gas and very little discomfort. Additionally, he was now sleeping well, being required to get up only once each night. (Previously, he had gotten up to urinate as often as five or six times every night.) He was delighted with his progress. Fred had eliminated most of his vitamins and other supplements on his own.

The origin of pathology was reviewed and the seven steps in its development. This time, the various symptoms indicative of each stage in this evolutionary process were depicted using the blackboard. We suggested that our PLAN was to reverse this process of toxemia buildup and thus prevent further damage. We pointed out to Fred that his present condition was the result of 77 years of systemic mismanagement and that it would take time to have the level of health he desired. In the first study book Fred learned what errors may have led to the development of the colitis condition which had been diagnosed some years previously. He actually was able to cite many of his former errors. These same errors, as time went on, had perhaps led to benign growths that had also been diagnosed and to the proctatitis condition.

In the second book and through our discussions, he saw revealed, for the first time, the evolutionary nature of body damaging and recalled many of the symptoms experienced in his own life that had been characteristic of the seven stages. Now, he was ready for his third study book, this one to present the four categories of causes of toxicosis. By this time, Fred could hardly wait to get on with his studies because he was naturally of an inquisitive mind. We contrasted for Fred the high cost of using apheresis to cleanse the blood with the Hygienic way, the former costing as much as and perhaps even more than $32,000.00 for a series of “treatments;” the latter, the Hygienic way, simply adherence to principles and practices ordained by human design. We pointed out to Fred that the Hygienic way is self-help, working with biologically-sound principles, while the other represents a purely-mechanical cleansing which is hit-or-miss at best, and one that carries no guarantee. We emphasized that the Hygienic self-help plan not only cleanses the body fluids but also removes the cause(s) of impairment while apheresis is, at best, only a temporary expediency, a refined type of bloodletting, a technique long ago discarded as debilitating and useless, since cause remains behind to make future trouble.

Over fifty years ago animal experimentation showed that the blood of animals could be removed, cleansed and then be replaced. This was all well and good, of course, but it was soon learned that, in a very short time, the blood returned to the exact same condition it had been in before the cleansing procedure!

Why did this reversal occur? Simply because the tissues had not been changed, the organs remained as they were, and functioning efficiency of cells remained unchanged. Cause, you see, had not been removed—It seems obvious, does it not, that apheresis will be similarly ineffective long-term as a means of restoring health and for the very same reason: cause remains. Only natural methods have any chance to restore.

'''The Fourth Consultation'''

Another week had passed. Fred was immediately asked what he had done to assist his body’s cleansing efforts. He said that he had been gaining considerable insight into what had brought about his present condition. He had reviewed all his studies and now, having read this newest lesson, he understood many of the things he himself had done, and had failed to do, which had led to his being so uncomfortable. He felt that overnutrition; overstimulation through the use of coffee, salt, sugar and meat; the emotional stresses of his wife’s long illness and her subsequent death; the financial worries during this long period; and, finally, his self-imposed social isolation and subsequent loneliness—all had contributed to his “downfall.”

He reported that, being a good religious man and at our suggestion, he had attended church during the last week, something he had not done for some time. We encouraged him to continue to do so and also to attend weekly meetings at church and to go to some of the community’s programs for older citizens. In other words, we encouraged him to socialize. We also invited him to another of our “parties.”

On examination, we say that Fred’s tongue was a nice pink. He said his stomach felt like a new stomach. He thought he could begin his exercise program in earnest now, so we provided him with a series of exercises we thought suitable for his present capacity and encouraged him to walk every day. He promised to do so.

We then reviewed all past lessons and told him that, since he had done well, he was ready now to learn about proper food combining. For the next two weeks he was to read and study about how to formulate his meals correctly and to practice doing so. We requested him to keep a record of his own meals and to bring this to his next appointment, at which time we would all go over them together to see how well he had done. We supplied him with a copy of The Tree of Life, and a Food Combining Chart, this last to hang in his kitchen as a guide to meal-planning.

What Was Accomplished in These Four Weeks?

# Fred became convinced that his former visits to various other practitioners, and there were many, had all been in vain.
# Fred learned that healing was residual within the body and could not be put into the body from some outside source or by “treatments.”
# He learned that health comes only as the fruit of healthful living.
# Fred resolved to learn how to live so that he could enjoy a higher level of health.
# Fred learned about the colon and its purpose in the body.
# Helearnedabouthowtoxemiaaffectsallcellsofthebody,andeventuallydamagesor gans and tissues. He has stopped taking pills.
# He learned the seven steps in the evolution of pathology and characteristic symptoms  of each.
# He learned about the four categories of toxemia and related them to his own life experience.
# He found that his body responded favorably as he put his new knowledge to work in the marketplace—in his own body—and he was pleased with the results.
# He became imbued with enthusiasm to continue his studies, to learn more, so that he  could become even better physically, mentally and spiritually.
# Fred made the initial transition quite successfully.
# He is looking forward to his next consultation because we have told him that, at that  time, he will learn how well he has done with his own food combining and then will  learn about the six steps he must take to perfection.
# Finally, his blood pressure which was, on first visit, hovering around the 200 mark, is  now reading 120 over 78. Fred is ecstatic.

=== Symptomizing ===
Symptomizing, of course, often causes new Hygienists to “snap back.” Consequently, they fail to find themselves. It is vital, therefore, for new clients to understand that the continuance of life actually depends on this gift of life: the body’s ability to channel a toxic overload to various accessory exit points whenever a toxic overload presents an emergency situation, one that is life threatening.

The symptoms that arise, whatever they may turn out to be (and each individual will respond with his own peculiar symptoms which may be either severe or light, or even somewhere in between, depending on many variables; and may even be nonexistent in some cases) can reveal much about the client. The greater the amount of residual vital force, the more violent the symptoms are likely to be. As the individual grows older and his vital force has been wasted to a considerable extent, the healing symptoms may be quite mild, if at all. This is, of course, why chronicity becomes established. As the individual lives his years wasting his vital force needlessly because of a destructive manner of living, the horrendous spectre of chronicity makes its entrance when the power has been so reduced that health-saving symptoms are no longer possible. Thus, diseases of late years tend to become progressively more intensive and extensive, symptomizing more emotionally trying.

However, when clients adopt a more Hygienic way of living, they have the opportunity, with the help of the practitioner, to establish in their minds that, from this point on, health-building will become their business. If they can do this, they will develop a belief in themselves, in their ability to create their own lives and to create them in the very best image of themselves. Belief in one’s self can be equated with success. Clients who believe in their bodies’ inner power to heal will be more inclined to begin the business of health-building and will recognize each symptom experienced as a success story, a confirmation of their own creative abilities. It will help them to give consistency of effort and bring their efforts to a successful conclusion. Confidence in self, in the Hygienic program, in the practitioner, will all help to keep hesitant clients on course and make the transition a successful one.

Developing an understanding of the possibilities involved in the transitional process can often rapidly metamorphose students’ thinking and cause them to become very enthusiastic about their own possibilities. How far can they go? Could it be that they could become like “him or her, or them”? Even practitioners sometimes have to remind themselves that, with full acceptance of responsibility for one’s self, an amazing amount of recovery awaits their clients’ best efforts. We must remember, too, and tell our clients that symptomizing means that the business of health-building is being successfully pursued.

=== Levels of Tolerance ===
Clients will, of course, have developed their own levels of tolerance. They should, in our view, learn something about this concept early in the transition. It will help them better to understand this matter of symptomizing. We provide study materials about how the constant introduction of poisons into the body from external sources or by the generation of excessive amounts of metabolic poisons within the system itself through life’s errors, can not only damage cells, tissues and organs, but can actually lead to an increase in the systemic toleration to: 1. individual specific poisons and/or 2. to poisons in general.

Of course, the client should be led to an understanding that there, is an unfortunate result of such increased toleration: the body constantly functions under a handicap and thus wastes the vital force. The higher the level of toxic toleration, the greater the wasting effect.

Rapid wasting naturally leads to such disorders as, for ‘example, Alzheimer’s disease, organic brain syndrome, and many others generally, but incorrectly, associated with the aging process.

=== The Evolution Of Pathology ===
{| class="wikitable"
|I. TOXICOSIS
|Cellular constipation starts to build.
|-
|II. ENERVATION
|General Feeling of malaise, of not being “up to par.” Cellular functioning ability decreases.

Person may feel irritable, nervous, anxious, depressed without sufficient cause, etc.
|-
|III. IRRITATION
|Sensation of pain. May come and go in predisposed areas; of varying intensity.

Previous symptoms, if evidenced, tend to worsen. Constipation

Occasional diarrhea

Headache

Dry cough

Itching, pimples, mild rashes, etc.
|-
|IV. INFLAMMATION
|Fever, redness.

Runny, red nose.

Some swelling and mucus formation.

Previous symptoms tend to worsen.

All “itis” diseases, named according to location.
|-
|V. ULCERATION
|Hardening of tissues, stiffening of movement. Walling off of lesions;

benign tumors form.

Scar tissue.

Sclerosis.

Advanced degeneration of organs, especially of liver and kidneys.

Onset of senility, abnormal behavior patterns.
|-
|VII. FUNGATION
|Cellular replication out of control: true cancer. In early stages:
|-
|
|organ failure, especially of the heart, kidneys, liver. Tuberculosis
Gland malfunctioning—breakdown of hormonal system, especially the hypothalamus and pituitary.
|}
== Decision-Making Time ==

=== The Power of the Past ===
Certainly the client’s present condition should have made him fully aware of the power of the past. His past errors have produced his present. The life script of the past is gone, it cannot be relived. He has an opportunity now to create a new life script. He must not permit himself to resist becoming the best he can be in favor of the past. Unfortunately, it would appear that far too many humans feel they don’t deserve being the best they can be. They tend to hold back, to retain the past, until they simply get “fed up” with the present.

However, it is decision-making time for the clients. The diagrams hopefully will make them appreciate the fact that, as human beings, they can change. The knowledgeable practitioner can help make clients fully aware of the fact that, as human beings, they can put an end to their former destructive manner of living which produced negative degeneration and a poor quality of life, and create, instead, positive regeneration of mind, body and soul: the “I CAN” philosophy.

Clients must ask themselves these questions: Why am I here? What am I doing to change? Where do I want to go? How would I like to look and feel? Is health REALLY important to me? How important? Can I make the required changes? WILL I? Will I desert the herd, the past, in favor of a more promising future? In their answers lie the success of both the clients and the practitioner.

=== What’s Wrong with Medical Science ===
But, there may remain one question that may arise in a practitioner’s initial dealings with clients and it must sometimes be addressed, that question being, “What’s wrong with medical science?” The answer, of course, to this question which is so puzzling to many clients, has been given by many writers and can best be summarized, we feel, as follows: Namely, that medical science is wrong because it is always changing!

Truth never has cause to change because truth is always truth, in any age and in all circumstances. We can never depart from truth and remain truly scientific.

The ability of the human body to heal is always there so long as life remains. That doesn’t change! The replication of cells goes on and on and on, generation after generation, so long as life power exists. That doesn’t change! It may become a more feeble effort, but it is there. The body secretes the same secretions, in the same way, and for the same purposes, each possessing its own specificity. That doesn’t change! All things, forces, actions which are characteristic of life remain. The only changes which take place are in the wasting of body power through erroneous behavior and the subsequent wasting of cellular functioning capability, and thus, too, of organs and systems.

It is never pleasant for any person to hear that he has been worshipping at the feet of a false god. We had a consultation at one time with a man whom we’ll call Albert. We had just covered much of the information discussed thus far in this lesson. Albert listened attentively as he learned how it is often possible to retrace the downward path and restore a higher level of health. His face soon began to reveal deep frustration and anger. He commented, “What a fool I’ve been! I have wasted not only my health but also my wealth in pursuit of a mirage. Just a month ago, I attended a lecture and the lecturer offered a panacea for all my ills. I fell for his line and it cost me well over a hundred dollars. I have done this countless times, and for what? For a lie! Now I can see that I have played a leading role in a total farce!”

To cite another case. Morrie weighed over 300 pounds and suffered from arthritic pains. He recounted how he had consulted a total of 26 medical doctors over the past years and had found no relief. To the contrary, he has seen his pains worsen, the swellings grow larger and become harder, his muscles stiffen. His last physician had referred him to a specialist in rheumatic troubles. This consultation had been “the last straw” for Morrie. It had lasted a total of 15 minutes. His bill had been $60.00. His advice? “Take aspirin whenever you feel the pain.”

Morrie had been taking aspirin for years! Completely baffled and disillusioned, confused and desperate, Morrie was a prime target for some medical “quack” to take him on. Fortunately, he came to us. It was now our immediate task, as it will be for all practicing Hygienists, to make real the body’s ways: of the healing inner power, of the body’s awesome wisdom to manage the healing effort, to bring it to a successful conclusion. If this is not done, the transition road may well prove to be difficult because a mind clouded by its past shadows will remain filled with doubts, even fear. It behooves all practitioners to “set the stage” as near perfectly as possible. In so doing, they help their clients to make a successful transition from the past into better living.

To be successful, we have to motivate if we expect clients to change. Otherwise, they tend to invest their energies (vital force) in staying where they are rather than making those changes all humans must make if they desire success. An established faith must be cultivated befon hope of progress can become a realized fact. Clients must be encouraged to invest their vital force now in building a better life rather than in staying as they now are; if not indeed, becoming increasingly worse. Life is such that each one of us has this choice: to remain a prisoner of our past errors or to get on with the business of living into a better life, perhaps one that will be even better than we might ever hope to enjoy. Thus, during the first phase of client’s transitional journey, we must set the stage. We introduce to our clients some new thoughts, new ideas new concepts, a new faith and new hopes. In other words we introduce Natural Hygiene!

== The Six Steps To Perfection ==
The client must now begin his personal transition to better living. The first step entails a clear recognition by him and the practitioner of the PROBLEM, its extent and its intensiveness. Various tools are pertinent here: the medical history, the diet profile, conversational give and take.

The client must realize that acknowledging the problem and/or the vulnerability to a particular condition is the first step to solving it and that, whatever this may be, it is capable of solution through the systematic application of proven Hygienic (truthful) practices and principles, all the concepts gained in this Life Science course. We must reach the subconscious mind and establish a BELIEF, perhaps not complete at this early stage, but beginning to emerge, the belief that, “YES! I CAN DO IT! I can make this transition!” The Master Plan Chart which follows can be used to good advantage as an explanatory tool.

== The Plan ==
The second “P” toward Perfection is the formulation of the client’s personal PLAN OF ACTION. In order to formulate such a plan the practitioner working with the client’s cooperation must first examine the four categories of possible causes of illness (Poison Habits, Deficiencies in eating and living, Excesses in eating and living, and Emotional Causes) and then ferret out those considered most responsible for the client’s present impairment. The Master Plan can prove useful here.

For example, clients will see that exercise is an organic requisite, part of the MASTER PLAN OF LIFE. If clients have heretofore lived rather sedentary lives, they will more readily accept the fact that now, if they desire to live better, in the full meaning of that term, then they MUST exercise. As part of their plan, a suitable exercise program should be included, this being one of their first “baby steps” to Perfection.

The Diet Profile must be studied and changes in the dietary regimen made as may be indicated. Each organic requisite in the Master Plan can be considered in turn until the client’s own PLAN is complete.

As we were writing this section, the gentleman whom we met early in this lesson, Fred, telephoned. He is eating and enjoying his meals and, what is more, he is sleeping throughout the entire night now, something he has not been able to do since his wife’s death. Additionally, the terrible gas pains that seemed to grab at his heart are completely gone. He confessed that be had been gripped by a fear that he, too, would die of cancer and, remembering his wife’s years of torture, he had, at one time, even contemplated suicide. He called because he wanted his next appointment to be scheduled earlier, if possible. Fred is now in a hurry. He sees perfection now as a real possibility! And for him, too!

Clients must be brought to realize that they can no longer live in the “World of If.” IF I had only eaten correctly! IF I had kept up with my tennis. IF I had only rested more and partied less! IF only I had accepted the responsibilities of being human. IF only I had not eaten all those horrible foodless junk foods! The World of IF must be laid aside. It is time to weed out all the causes of ill health, one by one, perhaps; or even all at once if that is so indicated.

Specific errors in lifestyle will be revealed by the client from time to time as confidence in the practitioner, and in Hygienic practices and philosophy, grows. Each should be addressed at the time.

The most difficult of all poison habits to identify are, without a doubt, those of emotional origin. The importance of the psyche upon physical wellness is also one of the most difficult to bring to the conscious attention of the client. Clients hesitate generally to advance to public view their private fears and to weigh the deadly effects of such imprinting.

Joan provides us an excellent example of how one client coped with a devastating emotional web of fears and sorrow. In her late 60s, Joan was a widow. She had recently buried her husband, a victim of cancer. She went through some of the early steps of transition hesitatingly because she had mental reservations. We had been working with her for well over a year before we found out that she harbored deep fears about her future. Alone, without close family ties, she wondered about her economic well-being, her health future, about her ending up her days in a nursing home like so many of her peers, or even perhaps in the agony of terror she had witnessed in her husband’s last days. Fears and sorrow pervaded her very soul and limited her progress.

We encouraged this woman to join a bereavement group. There she found companionship. As she grew in health, she began to make plans. She sold her home, the upkeep of which cost her heavily, and subsequently moved into an apartment complex where she was constantly with people of all age groups, particularly at the little recreation center maintained by the owners. She began slowly to put her fears aside and the first thing we knew Joan was laughing again. And, as her joy in living increased, so did her wellness. Joan now looks for solutions, instead of suffering defeats.

Most of us have been brainwashed in the past and by current medical teachings to separate the cerebral centers from the rest of the body. In reality, however, this cannot be done, for our cerebral centers consist not only of isolated nervous matter but also of fluids which bathe the cells. By virtue of human design, these fluids have their composition regulated by the blood serum which, in turn, contains all the secretion emanating from all the cells of all the glands and tissues, these permeating and diffusing throughout the entire body.

Every organ contributes to the chemistry of the brain, as does every cell; and the brain imprinted thusly sends out its constant messages. There is not a square centimeter within the entire community of body cells that will not be imprinted by the distress of cerebral cells exhausted by emotional upheavals or by toxins contained in the fluids which sustain them.

An ever-present fear of what the future may bring can cause that future to materialize and become the present. Worry can impair and even paralyze the digestive organs. So it is, that hidden fears must be found and the client led into a deeper understanding of the importance of mind control. Positive action must replace the “If s” and concerns of the past.

The client and the practitioner both must comprehend that there is no such thing as suspended forward motion. For health to happen, we must change into health. This is why formulating a workable PLAN—one deemed so by clients themselves—is essential to future progress. If clients are ever to break the toxemia connection and begin a transition into better living, they must identify and recognize their problems, develop an understanding of possible causes of their problems, and then, with the practitioner’s help and guidance, develop a sound, workable plan to solve the problems.

The practitioner must further impart to the client the concept that NOW is the time for him/her to take control of his/her own life, to learn intelligent self management, this to be based on sound physiologically-, biologically-, and anatomically-proven facts; that s/he can no longer afford to base wellness on demographic ally-controlled news releases, or on medical therapeutics which have failed in the past. S/he must now learn to manage the body and mind intelligently according to the capabilities and limitations established by personal design.

All the familiar patterns of self-abuse must be penetrated, identified and corrected. This is why the PLAN can never be static. It must be subject to on-going change and modified from time to time to meet all specific needs as best they can be determined. It should be made quite clear that if the clients manage themselves well and supply adequately the needs of life (the Master Plan) they will begin to enjoy an ever-higher level of health. I they do not, of a certainty, the converse will rear its ugly head.

'''The Client Reports'''

Upon introduction of the initial changes, we ask the client to report back in seven days or, at least, within two weeks. S/he is encouraged to respond to such questions as: How did the stomach react to the dietary changes? Was the client able to sleep better?

How many pounds were lost, if any? We encourage and note all positive responses. These serve to inspire both the client and the practitioner!

The holidays are always difficult times for newcomers to Natural Hygiene. Last Christmas we hosted a Christmas day party. We all enjoyed a Hygienic meal and the fellowship. No one missed the health-destroying practices so prevalent at this time of the year and it is interesting to report that few of our guests suffered from spring cold and not a one “enjoyed” having the flu. We will repeat this kind of party from time to time.

Unfortunately, some clients may meet with resistance from family members or from their peers, and so may begin to falter. It is essential for such as these to “psych” themselves into following their plan exactly. They must learn not to feel guilty about not eating or acting exactly as the other members of the family do, or as the masses. They can be helped over these difficult times by teaching them to reaffirm, over and over again, if need be, both silently and aloud, “I NEED to become healthier than I am. I NEED to eat this way. I MUST eat this way. I WANT to live better and the ONLY way I can enjoy life is to DO WHAT I MUST DO. Therefore, I WILL DO IT! PERIOD!”

Clients must reach, early on, an understanding that everything they may now hope to become depends on how well they meet their basic nutritive needs now. Students of this course have much knowledge to impart to those who seek their counsel. They know how to set up eating formats, about food quality, where to go to purchase organically-grown foods. They know which foods are best adapted to humans by virtue of their structural design and biological requirements. This must be imparted to the clients, else they will forever be dependent on other; Included in the PLAN must always be specific instruction on the subjects of air and water quality, the amount of food to be eaten at any one meal or throughout the day, a well as information on how and when to eat. There is much for clients to learn and so little time to share all the knowledge.

The time of transition is a learning experience. It is period that requires much change, both in thought an practice. Clients must learn the practices, the foods, the substances and forces that are anti-vital, destructive of body cells, of the life force. They must also learn how best to manage themselves into a new and better dimension of life. Ideally, it will progress from the simple initial physiological, physical and sensory, almost resting, phase to the first strange ways of assembling and eating foods; and then the coupling together of a host of helpful changes in the total lifestyle. At the conclusion of the transition, ideally, there should be full acceptance by the client of the Hygienic manner of eating and living, this having been encouraged by the positive results obtained.

'''The Story of Bess'''

The PROBLEM possessed by any one individual can be present in actuality, it can be of the here and now; as, for example, a painful arthritic condition; or it can exist in a VULNERABILITY, a predisposition by virtue of an inherited systemic weakness to some condition, either known or unknown. Erroneous cultural habits often lie at the root of such problems of “vulnerability.” We inherit the cultural errors of our childhood teachers; not, in actuality, the tendency to a disease!

Bess, age 34, presents a classic example of the latter. When she first consulted us, she was beginning to experience some shaking in her hands which, under stress, became quite annoying. She recalled that her mother, toward the end of her days, had suffered from Parkinson’s disease, the “shaking” sickness. Bess was terrified.

We worked out a plan for Bess which was new and strange to her but she followed it successfully for about six months. The shakiness disappeared, even when she found herself under stress. So, Bess became somewhat careless about working her plan and, being single, she began to go out with the girls now and then for a pizza, and then more and more frequently. She failed to keep an appointment, so we dismissed her from our client list.

After about a year, a penitent Bess was back in the fold, this time perhaps even more frightened than before. The shakiness had returned, so much so that she was no longer able to meet adequately the demands of her very responsible position. Her “vulnerability” had finally penetrated Bess’ conscious mind. She knew now, with a far deeper understanding, that she was vulnerable in that her nervous system could not withstand the careless assaults she had been making upon it. All doubt about the need for her to live Hygienically was removed. She knew with a certainty that, from now on, she would have to invest in herself. She decided that she wanted to “let all of life in” and would invest her all in making this new life. This time she decided to take the important THIRD STEP toward Perfection.

== Priority ==
Yes! Bess decided to make the attainment of superb health her FIRST PRIORITY. This is what psychologists refer to as “GETTING TO THE YES POINT.” After reaping a sick harvest from following the ways of the masses, Bess found herself haunted by the sick shadows that walked beside her, ghosts of the past. Thus it was that reality brought her to the YES point. The attainment of superb health, by necessity, became her FIRST PRIORITY.

Previous to this point, of course, Bess had passed through a series of emotional storms wherein she resented the demands of her own Self. Thus, for a time, as many clients try to do, she attempted to fantasize herself into a higher state of wellness and so took the detour which led to many emotional, physical and mental skirmishes which put her back in touch with the realities of organic existence. She found that, like all humans, she was subject to organic laws. She had become submerged and actually enmeshed by FEELINGS instead of in touch with her real self. The results of her fantasizing feelings, instead of keeping in touch with her real self, and her completely unrealistic expectations, finally caused her to become aware, probably for the first time in her 34 years, of the systemic needs of self. This period of storm and uncertainty is often called the period of “Low Think.” Bess survived it and has since adapted fairly well to her new way of life.

Clients can be helped to pass through the period of “Low Think,” and then on to the establishment of superior health as their personal FIRST PRIORITY once they begin to see their own small successes as they follow a series of planned sequences. Printed, well-chosen study materials often can help a client to reach the extremely important understanding that the Hygienist has a larger view of nutrition than the simplistic views espoused by most dietitians and medicos. To the Hygienist, nutrition is not only a mechanical-chemical process vital to life, but also one that is intimately personal, involving, as is always true, emotional, cultural and psychological factors, mores, etc. To the Hygienist, nutrition includes everything that happens to food once it is introduced into the mouth: mastication, digestion, absorption, transportation, assimilation and, finally, elimination; and all the factors, influences and substances that can affect each or the whole. The Hygienist and the client must comprehend all these manifold aspects of the nutrition scene and also that all must be made as nearly perfect as possible, if full health is ever to be achieved.

If the clients decide that they now wish to break the toxemia connection and remove their burdensome toxic overloads, they must give active consideration to this most important aspect of self-management and follow through with intelligent implementation.

The transition period is, first and foremost, a learning experience of major proportions, one contrary, in most instances, to all previous training. It includes necessarily the development of an understanding that the client’s previous heterogeneous manner of eating, drinking and living created systemic frenzy and failed to meet systemic needs. The client must learn that food is used by his/her body solely for replacement purposes. Additionally, s/he must acquire the knowledge that certain common practices, foods,

substances and forces are anti-vital, and actually destructive of body cells and the life force. It must also include discovering how best to manage himself, often against considerable societal and personal odds, into a new and better dimension of life. Ideally, it will progress from the initial physiological, physical and sensory simple changes to the full acceptance of the Hygienic way of life. The practitioner should not forget that this is no mean feat!

But, it is this experience which can finally put clients back in ouch with themselves. They begin to love themselves so much that they no longer have any doubt that the attainment and maintenance of full health must become and remain their FIRST PRIORITY because upon their doing so, all else depends. This is when the client begins to reach an understanding of the practical value of expectations based on organic reality instead of on myths which lack life substance. This is when clients begin to take hold of conviction, and establish as their main purpose in life, the need to build as high a standard of wellness for themselves as it is possible for them to achieve. They will do this not only for themselves but also for the benefit of those they may happen to love and for society at large. Once the windows of the mind have been opened up, the clients can then enter into a new and hitherto untravelled dimension of their lives, one filled with undreamed of opportunities.

== Performance ==
The clients have their problems. With the practitioner’s help, they have devised a plan. After a certain amount of accommodation and soul-searching, they have decided that they love themselves enough to make health-building the First Priority. Now they must work the plan, they must PERFORM.

As practicing Hygienists, we cannot accompany our clients home and supervise their performance. THEY must work their own plan.

Once the plan is instigated and in force, with the needs of the body now being adequately met, the cerebral powers begin to take a new direction according to the following organic law:

“When the quality of the food coming into the body is of higher quality than the tissues of which the body is made, the body immediately begins to discard all lowergrade cells and tissues which are then recycled. All usable materials are incorporated along with the incoming top-grade nutrients, and used to formulate and construct new and healthier tissues, this being accomplished in an ongoing, biological evolutionary process with each generation of cells being healthier than the preceding generation.”

The client, for this reason and according to this law, must expect certain salubrious changes to become operational because his/her own body intelligence will, by due process, recognize immediately that certain improvements, both in lifestyle and in eating, are now forthcoming. Curative, health-building changes will begin which may prove disconcerting at times. It is at such times that the client necessarily becomes acquainted with the power of the only healing ability s/he has, a healing force resident wholly within. S/he has it ALL! And it is a powerful force that will always guide in the direction of perfection so long the Plan is followed. Having a workable plan and working the plan—PERSONAL PERFORMANCE—will inspire the required constructive INNER PERFORMANCE. Personal performance brings positive inner performance and its twin, Positive progress, not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.

The client soon realizes that nature’s efforts, unlike the drug response, are not due to simple chemical actions and reactions, but are, rather, vital changes, changes which have been designed with exactitude by the body’s own intelligence to correct that which was incorrect, and that all such will be brought to a successful conclusion, in due course and as may be required, by cell destruction (catabolism) followed by cell multiplication (replication and cell formulation (anabolism). The quality of the performance will, as a certainty, determine the quality o the correcting vital work—and all will be under direction of the sympathetic nervous system.

To state our thesis simply, the client must discover to best to manage self (the Plan), reach the grand decision the First Priority; and then perform in order to realize this potential that lies sleeping within. Perfection awaits the willing performer and in the performing lies a world filled with creative processes intended to write a new life script one which increasingly witnesses the fulfillment of potential. All that is required of the client is that s/he bear faithful witness to organic authority.

'''Rubber-Banding'''

But being a faithful witness to organic authority is sometimes difficult for some clients. Often newcomers to Natural Hygiene have a tendency to revert, to go back to the old, palate-pleasing foods and their tantalizing former lifestyles, even though they may comprehend, at least at the surface of their minds, that these incorrect foods and habits are the very same ones that damaged them.

This very common tendency of people to revert to the more familiar past is called by some psychologists “RUBBER-BANDING,” a snapping back into old habits that please instead of following new directions that challenge and even, at times, become painful. Adaptation and accommodation are required, both mentally and physically, if such snapping back is to be simply a momentary happening.

The practitioner should help clients to recognize the cause of this rubber-banding: receiving false instruction; which come either from a damaged body and mind OR from habitual happenings of the past, many of which were written in childhood memories and are illustrative of the child mind. As health-seekers, clients must now enter into their own new worlds, in which they will constantly receive new instructions of a much higher value instructions programmed by an awesome inner wisdom each designed to transport them into an ever-growing wellness of being.

Clients will make an easier transition if they accept the fact that they are not being deprived of something desirable but, rather, are being offered a splendid opportunity for ENRICHMENT! Once this awareness takes over, they are usually ready to adopt the new pattern for living and begin, too, to set forth their own goals, small reachable goals at first. The wise practitioner permits these easily-attainable goals and then goes on to encourage clients to take the necessary baby steps to reach Goal Number One. At that point, rubber-banding can often be avoided, if a period of adjustment taking a varying amount of time according to individual differences if allowed. This permits a time for body balancing.

When full accommodation has been reached, then Goal Number Two becomes a new challenge. This procedure is then followed until the desired level of wellness the achieved reality; the challenge has been met.

Such helpful guidance encourages clients because the) experience a rewarding pattern rather than feeling they an being deprived of something of value. In this way, the client is helped to assume the: “I AM IN CONTROL!” position instead of being locked in the “Low Think” jail of past imperfection and failure.

== Patience ==
In working his/her plan, the client may not always progress in a straight line; indeed, few will. Many clients become beset with societal concerns that can have severe emotional impact. For example, clients may become worried that other people won’t like them, that they may consider them “odd,” or “different” from themselves.

Let us share a part of a letter we received just this morning from a young man who is beset with just this kind of emotional concern. A salesman, handsome, talented, witty, a man of many talents, had the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis. He was in considerable pain.

This young man, let’s call him Kurt, began his program in a suicidal frame of mind. Because of his youth and willingness to perform, he made rapid progress and soon forgot about his former aches and pains. In their place, however, came a new worry, “I am getting too thin! I look like a skeleton,” he complained. So, he reverted, at least partially, to his past. He became a rubber-band.

In his letter he dismisses us saying, “You have been a great help and inspiration in my life. ... I am not a true vegetarian. It didn’t agree with me or my hectic lifestyle. (He has failed to understand that it may well have been his hectic lifestyle that led to his rheumatic ailment.) I just became too thin, felt weak and started feeling upset. Therefore, I have compromised. No hamburgers, steak, chops, etc. I just eat lots of chicken, fruit, vegetables, but still love mashed potatoes, etc. God bless you.” and he signs his name.

This young man will return to Natural Hygiene. How do we know? Because his symptoms will return! As Dr. Shelton so well said, “We cannot disobey the laws of life with impunity.”

We must encourage our clients to have the PATIENCE to let their bodies fully accomplish the necessary work. Otherwise, they fail and perhaps we ourselves fail to some extent. But, if we do our best, then, of course, we must learn to “let go.” New Hygienists have a choice: to endure a hurting body, or to be content to let other people “do their own thing,” to go their own way while they live into a new and higher level of health such that these others will never be privileged to experience.

Novices in the science of life must develop conviction of the correctness of their plan. This, of course, will come only as the fruit of knowledge, knowledge about themselves and how they fit in with the life process. They must get into life and realize just how important life really is, that it is worth their very best efforts. To make this adjustment can be difficult because all of us are so bombarded by herd mania, but patience will make it happen.

Knowledge can help to build a kind of security system around clients, one that will serve to protect them from outside negative comments, thoughts and forces. A security system based on knowledge coupled with a sense of the worthiness of self will often survive throughout the transition to perfection. Clients must not close the door of their mind to truth but rather they should learn to open it to organic reality.

Kurt, unfortunately perhaps, made too much progress and made it too rapidly, within a very few weeks. His pains left too quickly! He is now thinking, not about his future, but rather about all the pretty young girls he would like to date. We must expect this behavior, from time to time. Those who lack intelligence or who, like Kurt, possess false standards, may not complete their on-going journey toward perfection. They lack patience.

But, the vast majority will! They will come into a full realization that the body will do its own metabolic balancing, that it will somehow and in some manner discard all that needs to be discarded: all the putrid, messy, decaying filth that accumulated in the days before self became important. Kurt mistakenly believes he now has Perfection! Instead, he has been inspired by FIRST IMPROVEMENT to become a rubber-band. His lack of patience will prevent his reaching, at least for now, the ultimate goal of euphoric wellness.

Elderly persons can better appreciate the fact that they must get control of their mind and of themselves. They must have a full measure of patience, sufficient to get on with the involved work of health building.

We must do our best to teach clients to flow with the certainty of the life process, with conviction that there is no other way to have their desire, that perfectly functioning and peaceful body. We must exert our best efforts to develop the understanding that every mistake, every error, will leave a lasting imprint, that it will damage the body. Our clients must be led to appreciate the fact that, upon the patience they now manifest, will depend the quality of all their future life.

Learning about Natural Hygiene means learning about cooperation: all persons with themselves, and themselves and all others. We must do our best to teach our clients to look at life, to anticipate life, knowing that a full, enriched life will surely come to them, if they but have the necessary patience and will to let it happen.

== Perseverance ==
The twin of patience is, of course, PERSEVERANCE. We humans can’t put ourselves on “hold.” We can’t say “maybe” or “perhaps,” or “next week.” The body never remains in a static position. It will move either forward or backwards depending on whether or not we answer systemic needs, these varying from individual to individual.

As the energy level rises, or falls, this movement, whatever the direction, will begin to accelerate. So, once we embark on this transition to better living, we must persevere in the doing, knowing that our plan, our performance, our patience and our perseverance will reward us with gifts, enormous dividends, if you will; to name but a few, in the form of:

# Improved health and peace of body and mind.
# Economic dividends of immeasurable value.
# Internal cleansing to set free formerly-waste dreserves of vitality, these providing an enlarged capacity to live always in health.
# Reductionortotaleliminationofinternalhandicapsthatrestrainandlimitfunctionalecellence.
# Provide new spiritual insight into life’s meaning and one’s purpose for living; a statement of “Why was I born? Why was I chosen to receive this precious gift of life?”
# Remove our former dependence on man made pseudo foods, drugs, potions,and all false  stimulants.
# Provide us with a new beginning, a new dimension of life that can be exciting, provocative, promising and immensely rewarding both to ourselves and to others.
# Establish a permanent euphoric joy in living.
# Provide a worthy example to others of what living Hygienically might possibly accomplish in the lives of those we meet as we travel our own life course.
# A rare opportunity, known to but few, to write our own challenging life script and this, too, regardless of our chronological or physiological age.

== The Call And The Challenge ==
This then is both the call and the challenge of a transition into better living. Someone once said, “We do not ‘ooze’ into health, we choose it!” Each client must love him or herself so much that s/he chooses to follow the Six P’s to Perfection. S/he must come, by whatever means, to realize the authority of organic law and, being desirous of the whole of life, then choose to give far more than lip service to this authority and, instead, choose to live in accordance with it, and, even more important, to persevere no matter how long it may take to reach his/her own ultimate goal.

In other words, the client who will be successful makes the grand decision to desert the sickened herd and chooses, instead, the good rich life, the better life, of perfect health. Once this has been done, all that remains is for the client to focus seriously and deeply on this goal, always motivated by the good results that follow in the wake of intelligent performance.

Harry is a case in point. He had watched himself become a 50-year-old “baby,” completely dependent upon others, a burden to his family and to himself. At our first meeting, his eyes were filled with terror.

Harry has been a Hygienist now for the better part of a year and has reached that point where he is fully confident that one day he will no longer be dependent on others for his total care.

Harry has yet to fast a whole day but, undaunted, he says, “Don’t worry, I’ll make it. I’ll do it!” And we are sure he will. This is the confidence required to reap the rewards of a successful transition. Harry is already looking forward to the day when he can, in person, attend one of our potlucks or other meetings and there tell his own wonderful story so that others may develop his deep sense of the rightness of the Hygienic way. Harry usually replies, “Do you think I can do that?” Our reply comes, “Why, Harry, of course you can do it!” And then a smiling Harry usually replies, “You know, I believe I really can!” The challenge has been accepted.

Someone once said, “Minds grow by reaching, not by resting.” Our clients will surely make a successful transition when we help their minds to reach into the wonder that is life’s scientific truth; when we impart to them the knowledge that life is never static, but rather always a dynamic play of forces; and that, by adhering to nature’s gentle ways, they can participate in a positive dynamism that will, with certainty, fulfill all their dreams. Client and practitioner alike must honor the call and accept life’s wondrous challenge. After all, we are all in the process of BECOMING, and what we will to become, that we will BECOME!

== Questions & Answers ==
'''I know Natural Hygiene works. Remember how my blood pressure dropped from near 200 down to normal? Well, now it’s back up there again. And I’m back on my medication again. I have it under control again and with the lowest dosage I’ve taken in many a year, but I just can’t seem to stay on course. I’m all right until the evening hours. Then, what do you know, I’m at that popcorn and beer again. And, as you can see, I’ve gained over ten pounds since I was here last. What can I do?'''

Many beginning clients revert. We call this “rubber-banding.” I would like to point out to you one very important fact that you have apparently overlooked. In spite of your momentary slipping back into a past bad habit, you tell me your medication level is now at its lowest point. That should tell you something. You have been successful! You have accomplished something you had been unable to do for years. You don’t have to poison yourself. Your Hygienic program is working! Now, you must resolve to take the next step and develop mind control. When the popcorn calls, don’t buy it! Take the dog out for a walk, or drink a glass of hot water, or start working on that crossword puzzle. Direct your mind forcibly into some other activity. Resolve, no matter what, to stay on course. Get to the point where you will no longer require that crutch, the popcorn, or any other crutch. You can do it. Don’t permit yourself to snap back. You know, we usually get what we want out of life. If you want superb health and all that THAT can mean to you, then you will do whatever is required of you to obtain it, even giving up popcorn!

'''At one time in this lesson you said something about the body doing its own metabolic balancing. What do you mean by that?'''

I am glad you asked that question.You see, there are practitioners at large who charge fantastic prices for their counseling. They claim to be able to balance the metabolic activity of their clients by juggling various kinds of mineral and other supplements. One woman we knew had just been released from the hospital after having suffered with pneumonia. Naturally, she felt weak and tired. She was lacking in strength. She got taken in tow by one of these juggling artists. She purchased (from him, of course) dozens of bottles of hormones and enzymes, of vitamins, various kinds of potassium and selenium pills; she took zinc and calcium tablets. In fact, she owned a veritable “health” food store! She was being metabolically “balanced.”

After a time, she was filled with minerals, hormones, vitamins, and with a whole host of supplements. She became even weaker and totally confused. You see, in full health, our, body is never confused. In full health, we are metabolically balanced. We have within us suitable amounts of all nutrients, our cells take in the nutrients they require and give off their wastes which are dutifully rounded up, transported to the proper destination and then promptly eliminated. In full health, a state of equilibrium—homeostasis—pertains. This is what the Hygienists mean by metabolic balancing. And, to set the record straight, there is no exact way to determine the precise needs of any human system at a particular moment in time. Our needs change with each nuance of life, with each nerve message transmission. No human mind can possibly prescribe human-formulated doses to meet this changing kaleidoscope of systemic needs. Only your body can do that. Once we begin our own transition into better living, that is exactly what begins to happen. The body begins to balance itself. And without outside interference, it will do a grand job.

'''My hangup is milk. I manage the fruit meals but I’ve drunk milk for as long as I can remember. My father was a Physician and he used to bring home a whole gallon of milk for us two kids. Will it hurt me if this is my worst habit?'''

The childhood script can often prove to be the most demanding of all our life experiences. You see, your experiences and habits in childhood were reinforced by parental authority in which you had complete trust. However, you and I are now adults. We are each writing our current life script, travelling our own life course. We must excuse parental error. We now know that all milk, except breast milk in infancy, is a nonhuman food; that using it can lead to clogged arteries and damaged hearts, to arteriosclerosis and all manner of degenerative conditions. We must also accept the known fact that milk is an indigestible menace. To the extent that you drink it, you will be damaged. If you are willing to accept that damage, and you, of course, at this time have no knowledge of exactly what it might be, then you can go on drinking your milk, you can go on being a child again. You will have only yourself to blame for whatever the damage may prove to be. We sometimes call this kind of reverting, “killing softly!”

'''I recently went to a clinic and the medical staff there put me through the Cytotoxic Testing, It cost me almost $300.00 but they determined I had some 58 different food allergies. What on earth can I eat? They took me off wheat, office cream, off all meat except lamb. Golly! they’ve taken away just about everything good to eat. What is your advice?'''

My advice to you is to consult with an experienced Hygienic practitioner and begin your own transition to better living. In other words, it’s time for you to place your body house in order! I guarantee you that if you follow the Life Science road, you can soon forget all about your 58 allergies and, furthermore, you will begin to enjoy every mouthful of food you bite into. What is more, you can forget about medical clinics and their personnel and—even more importantly—about their advice! Your allergies are evidence that your body is fighting desperately to protect you from all these so-called “good foods” you have been eating. My friend, I’m afraid you have been living in a fool’s paradise. Remember what we said, “Life is never static.” You are at a crossroads now. I hope you’ll choose the Hygienic transition road to better living. It is a road that can be filled with accomplishments, with promises fulfilled.

'''My daughter is so obese that she was recently discharged from her job because she was so slow in her movements that she just couldn’t keep up with her co-workers. She was watching her diet rather well, we thought, but when this happened, she defrosted a huge pizza, poured some canned hot sauce on it and now she is on a pizza and hot sauce binge and vomiting all the time. What can we do with this girl?'''

In the first place, it’s time you stopped your parenting! Your daughter is approaching middle-age, as it is commonly measured. It is high time for you to stop watching over your baby and enter into a new life, to take care of your Self. As for your daughter, the proper thing for her to do would be immediately to stop eating anything until her system settles down. In short, she should fast until the condition rights itself. I would advise her to go to a Hygienic retreat for an extended rest and fast. She would then look better, feel better, would have greater speed and flexibility; in short, she would be better prepared to manage her own life and to leave you free to do the things you need to do at the here and now in your own life course. In any event, permit your daughter to manage her own life and you get on with the business of managing yours.

== Article #1: Supplementary Text Material by Guylaine R. Aragona ==
Recently we received an Answer Sheet, a final examination paper, from a student in New Hampshire, the wife of a chiropractic physician, who is also one of our students. Her comments are well worth our consideration at this juncture. Therefore, we have included them as supplementary reading.

Most individuals play and use their bodies carelessly, believing that the body is made to function on overuse and abuse. The people of this gender will be your McDonald’s hamburger joint people; candy and potato chip, canned and ready-made, quick-to-prepare-food eaters, laced with every chemical under the sun. They are the ones that feel great, but cannot perform certain tasks, nor do they possess a normal range of motions with their bodies, only because they are not 16 anymore. Poor excuse! My grandmother was in her 80s and could possibly have still turned cartwheels. Of course, she had her own vegetable garden, which she diligently worked in, and she also prepared all of her meals with most of what her garden produced for her. To bed at 9 p.m. and up at 6 a.m., energetically ready to begin her day, with a family, home and all that entailed a day’s work. Now, why is it that in her 80s, she was as fit as a fiddle? Because she was in tune with her body, what went into her body, and with life itself.

These days, people are into trying to make a “fast buck,” overstressing their bodies, and putting into their bodies anything that will satisfy “hunger” or just anything at all that tastes “good,” such as junk foods (candies, chips etc.). When they don’t feel well, they blame it on age, or “the bug that’s going around,” but never on their own self-abuse. Gradually, when arthritis hits them, they search for relief with a drug or drugs, still without realizing that they have to change their gross habits of eating and living: believing that they will miraculously be healed. Why do for yourself what a few pills will do for you? And, if an organ or some bones can be removed or fused, and one can still continue to function, even yet in gross ways. Obviously most people are brainwashed to believe that they can continue to abuse the body and that drugs and chemicals can cure one’s self-inflicted sickness and disease. For shame, that so many people’s lives are regulated by “take this pill for your ulcer at 4 p.m.; take this pill for your gallbladder at 4:30 p.m., and be sure you take your mineral pills at 8 a.m. and, before bedtime, at 9 p.m., etc. etc.” The money spent on chemicals that your body was never intended to absorb to begin with, causes one’s body to work overtime to fight them. This takes away from the body its ability to help itself, its own healing ability. The secret is to teach people how to take charge of their body by proper natural nutrition and proper exercise for their bodies. It will take much to teach them, especially those who do not yet have arthritis, joint degenerative diseases, the fusing of the osseous structures, etc.

All the factors of self-help must be used and this includes feeding one’s body fresh raw vegetables, raw vegetable juices as well as fresh fruit juices and fresh fruits. Also included must be rest and sleep, sunshine and warmth, fresh air; cleanliness, internally and externally; eating at regular intervals. I understand that this may be difficult for an individual, at first, but we can start a bit at a time. In my opinion, any vegetable, whether cooked or raw, is better than none, and most especially, better than meats of any kind and a host of junk foods. To break one of such gross habits, takes patience and also, most importantly, understanding, and, always, great positive direction. (Ms. Aragona has presented the task quite well. Such is the familiar pattern of self-abuse that must be penetrated and corrected. And this is why the Plan cannot be static. It must be subject to on-going change and modified from time to time to meet each client’s specific needs as best they can be determined.)

== Article #2: The No-Breakfast Plan ==
Note: Sometimes clients cannot accept the No-Breakfast Plan as originally espoused by Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, M.D., an early Hygienist who lived in Meadville, Pennsylvania. To help them overcome is difficulty, the following true story as related by Prof. Hereward Carrington, Ph.D., in his fine book, Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, may prove helpful. The story as told related to a Mr. Van R. Wilcox who fasted for 60 days and used no solid food for a total of 70 days.

The result of this fast was that Mr. Wilcox was completely cured of every one of his many infirmities (we counted 10 such depicted in the text!). In so fine a physical condition was he, indeed, such a high state of health had he attained—that he set about walking across the American continent—from New York to San Francisco—a distance of some three thousand six hundred miles, as walked—which remarkable feat Mr. Wilcox performed in 167 days—an average (taking into account the fact that Mr. Wilcox could not walk as the “crow flies”) of slightly more than twenty-two miles per diem—he carrying, throughout, from twenty to thirty pounds of baggage! During this period, Mr. Wilcox was exposed to dangers and hardships galore; the temperature being at times 125° F. in the sun; at others 13° F. below zero. During all this time, though the physical exertion was as great as it was, not once did he eat a breakfast.

... Surely this should explode once and for all the fallacy that a hearty breakfast is required by those doing hard muscular labor—since there is no exercise more taxing than walking, or one that arouses more keenly the appetite.

Note: If Mr. Wilcox had walked at a consistent pace of 4 miles an hour, he would have had to walk for almost eight hours every single day! Apparently, he did just that!

== Article #3: Holistic Approach: Relying on the Doctor Within by John M. Barry, N.D., D.Sc. & Dawn Lyman ==
You have within you a tremendous capability both to defend yourself against becoming ill and to heal yourself when you do become ill. Medical practitioners have long referred to this capability as your defense mechanisms. These defense mechanisms include your mind and emotions as well as your body.

They include all your physiological and psychological functions as well as all your glands, organs and inner systems. All these functions, glands, organs and systems interact in whatever way is needed for your well-being according to some inner wisdom which is obvious to researchers and practitioners alike, but which is poorly understood.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer called these defense mechanisms your “doctor within” when he advised physicians they would be at their best if they gave the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to work. Your “doctor within” is inborn and functions involuntarily throughout your life to repair injuries and keep you well; or return you to health after an illness. If you give this “doctor” a chance to work, s/he can even “cure” the common cold. S/he can compensate for the loss of a large part of many of your organs, including three-fourths of your liver, an entire lung or kidney or adrenal gland, restoring your functions to nearly normal. S/he restores normal functioning, not because you only needed one lung or one kidney or one-fourth of your liver to begin with and, by some happy chance, just happened to have extra; but because s/he is able to improvise with whatever is left of the injured system to compensate for what has been lost.

Whether you call it “the doctor within,” “innate intelligence,” the body’s immune and defense mechanisms, or whatever, this is the only force capable of healing you of any disease. Only this inborn healing capability knows exactly what is really fundamentally wrong, and how corrections should be made. There is more information stored in the billions upon billions of cells which comprise you than is stored in all the libraries on earth. This information is used for continuous improvisations of your peculiar and specific mental and physical systems. No scientist knows how this works. And, no battery of instruments can indicate how it works. In addition, how it works in your case is entirely different from how it works in others.

You may wonder why you get sick in the first place, if your “doctor within” is so marvelous. Well, even if you weren’t exposed to such debilitating factors as pollution, stress and poor judgment as well as circumstances beyond your control (the new baby has colic and you have to go to work after getting 87 minutes sleep), you would still have to deal with entropy, the process by which all things break down into the elements of which they are composed. Because you are subject to all these deteriorating influences, you need to take some action to assist your “doctor within” in order for him/her to maintain your health.

Most health practitioners try to assist your “doctor within” in one way or another. Of the available methods, the orthodox medical approach is the most popular and most widely accepted. Drugs, radiation, surgery, and dangerous invasive procedures have become part of the orthodox medical approach and supposedly are used to assist your “doctor within.” And, in many cases the need to assist the “doctor within” is secondary to malpractice liability which usually dictates that doctors provide the “correct” (acceptable to the medical establishment) treatment regardless of expected outcomes. The orthodox approach relies on drugs which in most cases are used simply as symptom-relievers. When a symptom poses an immediate threat to your life, it must be dealt with directly and at once, and drugs are used in such cases as a last resort.

However, trying to outwit the myriad of complex and still mysterious chemical, hydraulic, mechanical and electrical systems which comprise your “doctor within” by repressing symptoms with chemicals is a lost cause, like spraying flies around a pile of manure. As long as the manure is not removed, you will always have more flies to spray, no matter how many you kill. No amount of observing of symptoms or performing of tests will show the entire, united, submolecular workings of the human system. Therefore swatting symptoms with chemical drugs does not remove the manure pile of ill health causing the observed symptoms. In fact, some symptoms can be caused by the healing process itself, and are just reactions from the improvising used by your “doctor within” in his battle for maintaining health and should not be interfered with.

In addition, both the safety and effectiveness of any drug is open to question. Each drug is tested by its own manufacturer,” not by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as many assume. Each manufacturer selects the persons used as subjects, selects control groups, designs the experiments, and selects which data it will submit to the FDA. The FDA makes drug decisions based on what the drug company presents as findings about a product from which it hopes to derive a profit; long-term adverse reactions to the drug are never considered.

The orthodox medical viewpoint has emphasis on germs, viruses, and specific abberations rather than on the knowledge that poor health is usually caused by the ele ments of your lifestyle and environment which contribute to eroding the strength of your “doctor within.” Factors contributing to disease are infinitely varied. A partial list might include contaminated water, food or air; improper nutrition; unnatural chemical interference (including prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs); psychological or physical stress; lack of exercise; lack of fresh air; lack of sleep; and allergies including specific food allergies. These disease-causing factors are brought under some control, not by drugs or the technology associated with medical science, but by the actions of farmers, plumbers, legislators, garbage collectors, pest exterminators, food inspectors, and many others. Diseases such as beriberi, pellagra, pernicious anemia, rickets, scurvy, tuberculosis, as well as many of the contagious diseases and parasitic infestations have not retreated in modern industrialized nations because of drug therapy of medical science. They have retreated from improved sanitation, better nutrition, refrigeration, food and drug laws, meat and dairy inspection, rapid transportation of fruits and vegetables, inside plumbing, clean water standards, sewers, proper garbage disposal, more bathtubs, heater-ventilation codes, the forty-hour week, elimination of “sweat shops” in industry, labor laws, etc., etc.

As the methods used by the “doctor within” become better understood, more and more orthodox medical practitioners are turning to a more holistic approach to health. The holistic method acknowledges, in effect, that you can’t repair a broken sidewalk without cement, aggregate and water. To repair a sidewalk you need to use those elements of which the sidewalk was made in the first place. You also can’t repair a sidewalk under adverse conditions (while people are walking on it, for instance, when the temperature is too low). Likewise, the “doctor within” needs favorable conditions in which to make repairs and the elements of which human tissue is made.

The holistic approach is one that assists the body’s defense mechanisms by supplying the proper items and conditions needed for good health. This approach, because it involves your entire lifestyle, requires your knowledgeable participation, since only you are privy to all aspects of your life on a running day-to-day basis. The responsibility for your health belongs to you. A condition of total wellness can be attained only by learning health-building principles and applying them in your life. It is up to you to supervise your own nutrition, sleep, exercise, stress reduction, and mental attitude. You are the one to avoid pollutants and self-destructive habits. You are one that should examine the social and economic factors your life which may be contributing to ill-health. If give your “doctor within” the proper tools and conditions, s/he will provide a state of happiness and harmony within yourself, with others and with the environment.

'''''Reprinted from the Herald of Holistic Health'''''

== Article #4: Pleasures, Instinctive and Acquired ==
Remember the meanings of joys or pleasures are elative. The inveterate cigarette smoker may insist that he gets pleasure from smoking. But this same man will have to agree that this feeling of pleasure primarily had to be acquired. The first cigarette was everything but pleasant, but in spite of it, by conformity the habit is started. Later, the inevitable effects of drug addiction take hold and the smokers find “pleasure” in smoking the smoke containing the alkaloids.

In a similar fashion, sensations of pleasure can be cultivated from the eating of harmful foods. Think about the candy, doughnut, cake and soft drink habit, all giving relative “pleasures.”?

Surprisingly, animal flesh belongs in the same category of providing “pleasure.” In this case it is obtained from the meat containing alkaloids, with their stimulating action. It may be shocking to some of us to learn that we are imbibing narcotics, when partaking in the eating of meat.

We have digressed somewhat to establish the meaning of pleasure. The point is knowing that there are several types. Some pleasures are deeply inherent, instinctive

and satisfy constructively. Other pleasures are of relative significance. They later had to be learned in the overcoming of inborn natural protective instincts. This explains the sickening feeling after the first cigarette or the belching or burning signals uttered by protesting digestive organs. We could also include the resulting disgust most of us experience when passing a butcher shop. The “enjoyment” of meat is definitely a relative and learned pleasure.

What is amazing is to discover our own immense capacities for adjustment. Once the mind has appropriated the truth, an unrelenting change in our feelings surges ahead. Natural instincts again take over, with a reshuffling of pleasure concepts.

Not all of us can benefit from such a reform, directed by our own free will. When I returned from Argentina with the evidence and pictures of Dr. Roffo’s cancer experiments, showing the horrible and gory results of smoking in my professional classes, I could always expect a certain percentage of my students to quit the habit.

I mentioned a “certain percentage,” why not all of them? Simply the message did not go through, their minds refused to accept it. Remember, only some of us, not all of us, do recognize the truth, when it is presented. When the pupil is ready, the master will appear.

'''An excerpt from the book, The Health Secrets of a Naturopathic Doctor by M. O. Garten'''