Methods For Inducing A Lifestyle Change

Lesson 91 - Methods For Inducing A Lifestyle Change

Introduction

The Gift of Potential

At the moment of birth, all humans are endowed with a common gift, the gift of potential: potential to think, to solve problems, to dream, to accomplish.

Perhaps the greatest of all the potentials with which we are endowed is that of achieving a level of health and functional capacity far beyond our present knowledge, experience, and expectation.

Most of the data which gives us a glimpse into the enormous possibilities for superior health and achievement in our endowment is derived from gifted and highly trained individuals. Only rarely do we catch a glimmer of understanding of achievement of some aspects of the dimensions of human potential as it is revealed in a Leonardo da Vinci, the artist; or in a Socrates, the philosopher; or in an Owens, the Olympic gold medal winner; or in a Spitz, the swimmer, who captured seven gold medals; or in a Mozart, the child musician; or in a Buddha, the ethical leader of billions of people.

It has long been established that few achievements in any field of endeavor, except perhaps in the bizarre, are ever accomplished by persons sick of body or mind. It would appear reasonable to assume, therefore, that the basis for full achievement in any field or endeavor is to be found only on a base of perfect health, a commodity so rare in our day as to be practically nonexistent.

But, the potential remains inherent. The potential for achieving perfect health lies in us all so long as we are not fundamentally deranged. We know that the possibility of a long, happy, productive, sickness-free life is there. Only the conditions for fulfillment must be established.

We also know that the organic requisites of life that sustain humans in perfect health are relatively few, very simple and easily possessed.

We have also learned that these fundamental needs of the living organism apply equally in sickness and health; that when a healthy individual satisfies all his basic needs adequately, but not in excess of need, he will retain his health; and, conversely, also, that when a sick person changes his attitude and lifestyle so that it now adequately answers these same needs, that sickness ceases. An evergrowing state of health then permeates the whole being. This is one of the miracles of life.

On a sliding scale of 0 to 100, we rarely, if ever, witness either extreme, most individuals falling somewhere within the middle, with some few failing greatly and, at the other end of the spectrum, some few achieving mightily. Some few dally on the outskirts of life, some few are high achievers. Generally speaking, the individuals who seek the

The Gift of Potential

help of a Hygienist are on the outskirts because they suffer some degree of diminished health. However, while they may have lost some part of their health, they still have potential.

It is the purpose of this lesson to impart to you the ways and means of inducing clients to make whatever changes in their lifestyles that are necessary for the restoration of any possible higher level of health considering the potential they presently possess. Changes made, of course, must be based on established Hygienic principles.

The Three Requisites For Change

There are, of course, many ways to induce individuals to undertake change in their lifestyles so that they may enjoy a higher degree of health but basically they can all be categorized into three groupings:

1. Inspiration.
2. Motivation.
3. Knowledge of what to do and how to do it.

This last category implies the need for the client to have guidelines to follow, which are plainly marked, at least at the beginning of change.

In this lesson we will consider each category in sequence and see how we can employ it in our contacts with individual clients.

Inspiration

The “show-and-tell” technique is as old as history. Because it has proved to be an effective tool to inspire persons to increase performance in widely-diversified areas of interest and to induce change, among even the most reluctant, and has done so in all cultures throughout all of time, it merits our consideration in the context of this discussion.

The classic way for a Hygienic practitioner to use this very simple technique is by means of case histories.

To be most effective, the case histories should be of persons who have recovered from the kind of disease presently being experienced by the client who seeks your help. For example, if your client suffers from some rheumatic ailment, he will not be particularly moved or inspired to “go and do likewise” if you present him with a case study which relates how John Doe made a spectacular and complete recovery from asthma within a period of two days. He will not be motivated because he does not equate John Doe’s recovery from asthma with his own aches and pains.

But, on the other hand, if he learns that Mary Williams who lives down the street from him and who he knows used to have rheumatoid arthritis so severely that it prevented her from ever leaving her own house, is now able to play golf two or three times a week down at the public golf course where he used to play, he will, all other things being equal, be inspired to believe that he can do the same. Hope is aroused.

If he also knows, because Mary Williams told him so, that you are the practitioner who taught Mary Williams what she had to do, how she had to change, so that this miracle might be accomplished then, in all likelihood, he will have faith in you, so much so that he will follow your directions implicitly and without question.

And, similarly, if Ava Smith has psoriasis so badly that she sheds a cloud when she walks, she will hardly be persuaded to do as you suggest simply because you tell her (in words alone) that K. Singh living in far off Malaysia is now able to control his psoriasis to the extent that he is completely free of lesions except when he reverts to his former unhealthy ways of living. Not knowing K. Singh, she will not be inspired to follow his example, even though it be a truthful account and well presented by you. K. Singh is an unconvincing figure.

However, if Ava Smith were given a printed case history, even if it is about the same K. Singh, and it is read aloud to her by you in her presence, the impact on her conscious mind will be fortified in two respects: by the sensation of sight and by the sensation of sound. This is a common technique which is more effective than using either one in isolation from the other. If it were possible also to present before and after photographs of K. Singh showing full recovery, this would, of course, provide further reinforcement of your contention that Ava Smith can also experience full recovery from this distressful condition.

Even more convincing, of course, would be if Ava Smith could talk face to face with Gertrude Jones who is a recovered psoriatic (former) client of yours.

Thus, using case histories can be a highly-effective tool which can be used as a means of inspiring clients to change their lifestyles to conform to systemic need. However, when using the case history method to inspire performance, at least two important things should be kept in mind in order to encourage positive follow-up performance:

1. The case histories presented by you to the client should be applicable to him/her in as many particulars as possible, and
2. The case histories should be reasonably verifiable. That is, they should come from a reliable source, from some person whom either you or the client knows, or from some writer in whom both you and the client have explicit faith. Also, the person represented in the case history should be real, visible if possible. Preferably, of course, he should be capable of being contacted by the client either in person or by mail. This, of course, is not always possible.

When case histories are well-presented and answer the above criteria, they usually prove both convincing and inspiring to all but the most skeptical.

Motivation

The majority of sick people who seek out a Hygienist lack deep motivation or much hope. They have usually “been the rounds” before they come to your office. They have listened to and followed the advice of many others who promised “cure” and failed to deliver. They often approach you with many reservations, and even perhaps with tremulous fear. Their motivation to do as you suggest maybe feeble.

The feeling of helplessness is widespread. Only a relative few will not accept defeat and come to you already armed with conviction, convinced that they will turn sickness into health!

Dr. Elizabeth McCarter was one of these. Suffering the severe pains of the arthritic, unable to walk without help, she remembered a saying of her mother often repeated in her presence when she was a little girl: “Elizabeth, if you ever have a problem that is seemingly unsolvable, there is usually a book out there somewhere, in some library, that will provide the answer. Your real problem is to find that book!”

Thus, when she was forced with this very real problem, she determined for herself that she could solve her problem, that she would find the way to restore herself to health, that she would overcome this pain, this suffering. It took her well over five years of searching to find the book, five years during which she travelled the world and looked in many libraries, but finally she did find the book. She and I found it right here at home, in the U.S., in a little health food store in Solana Beach, California. What was the name of the book? Why, of course! It was Dr. Shelton’s masterpiece, Orthotrophy, Volume II of THE HYGIENIC SYSTEM.

To the scientific mind this book has the impact of a thousand candles upon the darkness of night. It has served to motivate hundreds of thousands of people, both the sick and the well, to desert the herd and seek after the ways of health. Elizabeth is but one of many who were thus motivated and followed through to a successful conclusion, witnessing and participating in a lifestyle change into a high status of health.

Strangers now marvel that, at 82, Elizabeth has the vitality to do all that she does. One reporter even commented quite recently that she has “the grace of a ballet dancer.” It is sometimes difficult for us even to remember the “once that was.”

Motivation is difficult to define, methods differing as individual clients differ. Some clients have psychosomatic disorders brought about by introspective experiences for which there are few, if any, observable correlates.

For example, the feeling of helplessness that so many clients have, may, in part, be rooted in childhood experiences which led to their feeling of having been caught in a trap from which they could not escape. Some develop this feeling because of recent unsettling events or perhaps from continued and exhausting stress which drained their fund of nerve energy.

Sheep that were given tasks to solve but could not soon became neurotic, highly nervous, “unglued,” as we say. P.O.W.s, to their credit, often felt trapped and helpless, but maintained some semblance of poise throughout their ordeal. Some became depressed and developed neuroses of one kind or another or various physical disorders. Some actively sought to solve their dilemma and got out of the trap. Jack B. Story, the celebrated Marine hero of the infamous Shanghai prison escape of World War II, is a classic example of motivation followed by action. When properly motivated, people seek after solutions, and when they find a solution adaptable to their peculiar problem, they usually try with all their might to follow through to a successful conclusion; not always, but usually.

Sometimes peoples’ minds are so cluttered with toxins, they never do find their way. The Hygienist should understand that, as Dr. Alexis Carrel, M.D., so well stated in Man, The Unknown, “Mind and organism commune in man, like form and marble in a statue.” As practitioners we must, understand that with clients whose physical ailments are psychosomatic in origin, the concept of capability, just replace helplessness before meaningful progress can be expected, this whether the immediate trouble is simple or complex and, even, perhaps when the ailments are purely and demonstrably physical, although usually there is a close and often undefinable relationship between diseases of emotional origin and diseases which are more physical. Rarely can they be precisely defined. Regardless of kind, location pr type, they all have a common origin: a toxin-saturated body or toxicosis.

Just this morning a woman, approaching her 50th year, sat in our office recalling the immensity of the restraints placed upon her by her powerfully-built, beer-drinking husband, a man seemingly possessed by an obsession to dominate the very thought processes of his wife.

For over 20 years, during which time she had endured a veritable parade of illnesses, she had meekly submitted to this man, following his every command without question. She became almost a mindless being.

But, one day (and we know not, nor do we care, what caused her to change), her mind suddenly became aware, aware that life had more to offer than this. She determined to improve her health and to get out of her rut before all of life had passed her by.

So it was that four years ago she came to us. She began to learn about Natural Hygiene. She became our private student. She took her physical inheritance and fasted for 14 days on two separate occasions, once at Dr. Shelton’s and again with Dr. Vetrano. She made amazing progress physically. The mental changes were slower in coming but they came.

She is taking assertiveness classes now at the local college. She attends Al-Anon. The metamorphosis, the change, has been wondrous to watch.

This morning we discussed the I CAN concept of living with her. The need is to change an attitude of helplessness to one of “I can,” to watch over our own conduct and cease being critical of others, the need to develop a commitment to the improvement of self. This is not the first time we had spoken in this vein to her but one of many. We pointed out to her that it is now time for her to establish a new goal, to select one all-important goal and to direct her thoughts toward it. It is also time perhaps for her to remove herself finally from her restraints, to cast them all aside.

Our client has changed, she has grown. Her husband, unfortunately, has remained just as he was, in a box of his own making. He is sick, but she is now well. She has proved herself because she was willing and even eager to make changes in her lifestyle. He has remained in his box because, stubbornly, he refused to change. His box is made of inferior materials: of beer, steaks, frog legs and wine. She is committed to adventure, determined to explore life and to understand its full meaning.

What did this woman require of us to help her to get out of her box? It took knowledge, it took empathy toward her very real problems, to her pain and suffering; it took repetition time and time again of concepts and principles. It took encouraging words, reminding her of the possibilities. At times, it even took scolding. But, most of all, it required improved health.

The days of whining and wondering are almost over. Our client has set her new goal and we believe she will attain her desire: to be so healthy that no challenge will be too great. Perhaps she will never have it all, but we know she’ll give it a good try! And, we think, too, that life will know that this woman passed by and achieved something worthy while she lived.

George S. Weger in his book, The Genesis and Control of Disease, gives us another classic example of how the mind can sometimes control us and even create disease. A young man of 33, happily married, a father, mentally keen, extraverted type, with no vicious habits, and successful in business began to fail in health. He had a nervous breakdown and suffered digestive disturbances, jaundice and became highly emaciated. Like so many others he endured many examinations and much drugging. He became emotionally disturbed.

Dr. Weger also fasted his patient as we did our woman for a period of two weeks and, in the following six months, the man showed remarkable, recovery. Dr. Weger uncovered some amazing psychic aspects which had previously been entirely overlooked by other practitioners.

Health and the Psyche

As quoted from Weger: “The psychic aspects of the case were as follows: During early childhood an elder brother took particular delight in threatening his younger brothers and sisters with bodily injury, even menacing them with knives and declaring that he would kill them. The patient developed a fear-complex which became more assertive as he grew to maturity. As his health became impaired, he developed an obsession which he tried desperately to repress. He became the victim of an almost unconquerable urge to kill his wife and children. These obsessive inclinations left him in a cold sweat, trembling, weeping, and aghast at the enormity of his weakness. When he learned how this complex had originated in the subconscious and what a momentous effect the repression had on his physical well-being as well as on his mental morale, his complex became sublimated. He was an apt student and soon understood how it was possible for his mental repression to exert a like influence on his physical organism, overstimulating certain endocrines (such as the suprarenal and thyroid) and depressing other glands (such as the pancreas and liver), and how this included also all the functions of digestion and elimination. Understanding in this case was the equivalent of cure.”

In the case of our woman client, she was motivated to change by the desire to remove herself from the restraints imposed on her by her thoughtless husband. In Weger’s case, understanding that the cause of the psychic aspects of his physical ailments lay in his childhood experiences, motivated him to control his thoughts, to redirect them in more positive channels. In both cases, correction resulted when they became aware that they could be in charge of their own lives. They replaced Helplessness with Capability, the changes in lifestyle then followed, the toxic condition was alleviated by fasting and both moved on to new and more rewarding lives.

Once a client understands that whatever ails him/her is capable of solution and that you, the Hygienic practitioner, have both the understanding of cause and the knowledge of how to solve the client’s problem, and that it is possible to change sick ways into health-promoting ways, simply by making certain changes in lifestyle, the client will be more favorably disposed to make whatever ‘changes’ you propose; at least to take the initial, hesitant first steps.

Sometimes the mere revelation of the source of psychic disturbances, talking them out with a willing listener, will assist the recovery process. It seems that cleaning out the cobwebs that clutter the mind often opens up unknown depths of long-unused thought, and makes one more receptive to change.

A case study we have previously written about comes to mind. This woman, as a child, had been subjected to much physical and mental abuse from her father, a prominent politician. Incest had been only one of many frightening experiences. As a teenager, there had been two attempted rapes. When she came to us, she was in her middle sixties and, up to this time, had never revealed any of these sordid details to another single soul, not even to her husband or children. The story came out in a torrent, the tears poured down her cheeks as she opened wide her soul and revealed how ravaged and unclean she had felt throughout her lifetime.

It was like washing the windows to reveal the day. From then on it was comparatively clear sailing. She was highly motivated to go the distance, to clean out every corner of her physical body just as she had cleaned out the poisons from her mind. She now understood that it had been this mental poison that had gradually taken away her health.

Motivation must always precede recovery. The recovery, of course, will necessarily have a dynamic basis and must be conceived in force, desire, goal or drive. The individuals must devoutly and fervently want health. Indeed, they must be imbued with an inner drive to reach a goal of superior health because it is now a very personal goal.

When the goal becomes a personal thing, even if obstacles arise, as, for example, a temporary healing crisis, they will not be defeated or even diverted from pursuing the goal. The individuals understand that they must cope with any problems confronted because they want to solve them; i.e., they desire to improve health so much that they will do whatever is required, make whatever changes are necessary to attain health, even if it means deserting the herd.

To Change, We Must Desert the Herd

Individual clients must be motivated to desert the herd. As a child we are all biologically dependent on others. As adults we are expected to take command of our own selves. We must remove ourselves from all cultural dependence, from media dependence; otherwise, we devalue Self. Appreciation of Self is important to recovery from sickness. Furthermore, if we don’t, we soon lose control of Self.

As Hygienists we equate sickness with the herd mentality. Statistics prove the point for, as a group, the herd is sick. When clients understand this, they become better motivated to withdraw themselves from the herd and adapt more readily to the concept that change is vital.

Sometimes accepting divorcement from the herd and the need to change gives rise to temporary conflict. A conflict, however, which when satisfactorily addressed, serves in

the end to motivate a person to remove him or herself even more from the masses, even to the extent that an individual will completely reverse his/her attitude toward life and what is required to achieve the goal of attaining superb health.

But, when sufficient motivation is lacking, failure will surely come. Fortunately for humankind, where sufficient motivation already exists and it is accompanied by an inner urge, desire, force, or drive, success is almost always assured.

It is the happy duty of the Hygienic practitioner to devise ways and means to motivate clients. An emotionally or psychologically healthy person is one who has learned to cope successfully with him or herself and his/her environment. We must motivate our clients to become more poised, to direct them skillfully in such a way that they will attain the superb health which may presently be but a vague dream or hope having no substance.

Motivation is a melding together of want, wish, desire and purpose. Certainly sick clients want to improve their health, they wish they were healthier than they now are, they have a certain amount of desire to cooperate with you and we should encourage this and, also, we must supply them with knowledge so that they will pursue the purpose which brought them to you.

The Hygienist’s Knowledge

The Hygienist who is well-versed in the principles of Natural Hygiene—Life Science—has sufficient knowledge to change the world.

If the world understood and practiced the principles that you are learning in this course and had full understanding of the scientific truth of toxemia being the basis for all diseased states, and lived accordingly, all ailments, diseases, pain and suffering would be no more. The members of the world population would soon forego their whining, warring and worrying in favor of enjoying the fruits of healthful living. There would be ample food to feed the world because soil culture would replace what appears to be deliberate sickness culture. Productivity in presently unknown areas of human endeavor would be stimulated as euphoria replaced depression. The hours now spent in laboring would be dramatically reduced and used instead for the full enjoyment of life.

Yes! Natural Hygiene is capable of causing changes which could rock the world. And, the Hygienic practitioner who is well informed can be a full participant in the Grand Event. When you have completed this course, if you have been diligent in your studies, you will be fully prepared to do your part.

And, you can do your part as you meet every day on a one-to-one basis with the individual clients who seek your help. You can impart to your clients the knowledge of health-promoting practices which, if followed as circumstances permit, will restore them to the vibrant health that is our natural heritage.

At first meeting, however, unless proven otherwise, you must assume that your client has little or no knowledge of Life Science. Obviously, you cannot impart full understanding in one easy lesson.

Clients can often be turned off and become discouraged if we expect too much, too soon. Clients can also be disenchanted by any display of arrogance, the “know-it-all” attitude, on the part of the practitioner.

We will shortly take up some preferred and proven ways to direct clients in their education more effectively so that new practitioners can develop more confidence in their practice, perhaps more patience with their clients, and become leaders in their field.

Perhaps the knowledge learned in this lesson will induce some of our more experienced students to take courage and learn from their failures and in so doing improve their own human-client relationships to the mutual advantage of all.

Practical Methodology

In Lesson 90, the student has been presented with some of the psychological aspects of counseling as they may apply in the day-to-day practice of a professional Hygienist. We have in this discussion divided methodology into three main categories and an enlargement on each of these will follow. We should bear in mind, however, that the psychology of counseling can never actually be completely divorced from the more mundane aspects of counseling, from the techniques. The two are inextricably intertwined.

How to Inspire Your Client

We have already put forth our thesis that using specific case-studies may well be the single most effective tool to inspire clients to “go and do likewise.”

We have stated that case studies of persons who have successfully recovered from a like ailment will, all other things being equal, have a greater impact on the psyche than will unrelated case studies.

Also, case studies which are given to the client in a printout form and then the information contained therein reinforced by the reading together of the information, combined with an opportunity for the practitioner to point out specific details and/or to clarify others, and for the client to ask questions, will prove a much more effective tool for providing encouragement than using either method alone.

Furthermore, the print-out may be taken home by the client for subsequent re-reading, thus reinforcing the first psychic impact.

Me, Too!

Inspiration and reinforcement (support) can be augmented by using the “Me, Too!” technique, an easily workable tool. It embodies the “If you can do it, I can, too!” philosophy.

The supporting methodology used here is simple. It is a gathering together of persons with similar affections in a ding, held either at the practitioner’s office or home, or the home of a cooperative client.

This group should, ideally, have at least one member who has either made a remarkable recovery applying Hygienic principles in his/her own lifestyle or who, at least, has already witnessed sufficient improvement in his/her condition as to want to share experiences with others.

In the early days of your practice, you may not have worked with a sufficient number of similar conditions to be able to put together this kind of group. In this event, simply set up a support group composed of a few clients having a variety of troubling conditions, perhaps only three or four, just so that they can share their experiences and learn from one another.

Either grouping will work. Indeed, it is difficult to predict in advance which grouping will prove to be the more effective for you. Try them out and see!

The Meeting

At the beginning of your meeting, have a round of introductions. At first, just use first names. As time goes on, individuals will seek out and become friends with those persons best suited to them. Repeat these introductions at every meeting so that new-

comers will feel at ease within the group and also so that group members will become more closely knit.

The practitioner may pass out case study print-outs—one or two are usually sufficient. These studies may be gleaned from various works by Hygienic writers. They are good to use as an opening wedge to encourage discussion by individual group members.

Discussions may range from the negative to the positive. We should not be discouraged by negative stories since such can often provide an excellent base for learning. The practitioner can give explanations of why certain “negatives” (healing crises) occur from time to time and what their portent is.

For example, many clients are disturbed by the initial weight loss so common in the early stages. When the weight loss is explained in terms of tearing down an old structure prior to building a new one, clients, more often than not, accept the rationale of the fact of weight-loss as a prior condition for later health improvement.

We use the blackboard frequently. It can be especially helpful in explaining weight loss. Progress is so often impeded simply by fear when clients do not thoroughly understand why they are losing pound after pound. They begin to question the validity of their whole program! We use the Diagram Method in such situations.

Early Stages: Weight loss begins to accelerate, then slows down somewhat but still goes on, due to catalytic tearing-down and discarding of inferior and diseased parts. All happens under the control of body’s intelligence center. Anabolism, the building phase, is submerged to catalysis. Weight is reduced. Swiftly at first, less as time goes on.

At the Mid-Point: Here equilibrium is established. There is no further weight loss because the intelligent control center decides that sufficient inferior tissue has now been removed.

Final Adjustment: As the correct lifestyle is continued, Anabolism begins to accelerate, Catabolism slows down. The individual is well on the road to superior health.

The above is just one illustration of how a practitioner can use group meetings to explain away questions which may trouble many clients. This permits the practitioner to address individual problems in greater depth in private consultations.

At group meetings, all persons should be given an opportunity to speak, to ask questions, to share and to encourage one another. The practitioner should use such meetings to guide, direct, encourage participation and to explain when explanations are in order. As students of this course, you will be well prepared to handle most questions as they may arise from time to time.

Spouses and/or other concerned persons may, with the permission of the client, be invited to these meetings and, indeed, should be encouraged to attend. Hygienic practices are usually totally foreign to their thinking, too, and unless they fully understand and are in accord with what is suggested and taught by you, they may well prove an insurmountable obstruction to your client’s future progress.

The key to success in these group meetings may be how well spontaneity is encouraged, and this may well depend on the attitude of the practitioner. Never permit yourself to be bored. Try always to cultivate concern, interest, that deep desire to help. Sick people often suffer much and the spontaneity they feel at your meeting can prove a powerfully positive influence for good.

Spontaneity may be difficult to achieve but if one makes a conscious effort to make these discussions free and open, a time for sharing both successes and failures, more courage seems to develop.

All of us, at times, have to learn to “take it on the chin” when healing crises arise, but often these meetings with other individuals, who have experienced exactly what you are now going through, can enable you to pick up the pieces and begin again, confident that when the crisis is over, you have passed a major milestone on your road to full recovery. If you have to “wing it alone,” sometimes you can become discouraged and falter.

Include the quiet ones in the group discussion by addressing them directly as, for example, “Sue, what do you feel about all this?” Note the use of the word FEEL instead of the word THINK.

We all have feelings and most people, even the timid ones, will respond to a FEEL question where they might panic at a “What do you THINK” one!

Ending the Group Meeting

Always end your group meetings on a high note! Encourage your clients to hold their head up, to lift up their hearts as well, to turn their thoughts inward to positive channels of “I CAN!” Urge them to unify their energy, to draw down a blind, as it were, on matters of lesser importance and to keep their minds on an inner vision of what they SHALL become. Encourage them to emulate Lillian Russell’s way of pushing aside the unlovely, who said that she put a sign on her mental door that read: “Only the serene and the lovely can enter here.” She said that a thousand voices might call her away from her resolve, but she trained herself not to hear them. All of us must train ourselves not to hear the negative voices that cry aloud, in favor of keeping our thoughts focused in the direction we wish to go. We cannot let the distracting disruptive outer forces weaken our own resolve. The future can be too beautiful!

Gather your group together in a circle. Let them clasp hands and repeat in unison some simple CREDO, such as:

I AM WHOLE!

I AM PERFECT!

I AM STRONG!

I AM HAPPY!

BECAUSE I AM IN TUNE WITH MYSELF AND I AM HEALTHY!

SO BE IT!

The saying together of a simple CREDO will help your clients to accept the cor-

rectness of their program. It will help them to believe that they can have anything they desire, especially superb health. All that they will be required to do is to approach life’s problems constructively, maintaining, all the while, a vision of the possible, and then to work at fulfillment.

Meetings such as we have suggested can challenge those present to continue on, to work for maximum recovery. As conditions of individual clients begin to improve, you will observe that, one by one, they gradually leave the side of the negative newcomers and pass over to become a member of the more positive “Me-too-ers!” Each passover serves to inspire your other newer clients to go forward, not to become discouraged, and, importantly, you, the practitioner, too!

Before closing your meeting, announce a time for gathering together again. Meetings should be held at least once a month. Officers may be elected or appointed to take care of routine announcements.

Usually, a few clients will volunteer to provide certain necessary services such as reminder telephone calls, etc. It is well sometimes to suggest to your clients that they “think” about a certain topic as, for example, “How Important is Exercise in Your Plan for Health?” Then, this subject may be the focus of the group’s attention at the upcoming meeting. Be sure to ask those in attendance to sign a registration sheet. After you have been meeting for awhile, clients may ask if they can bring a friend. Encourage them to do so. It is within your right to request a minimal fee from clients for your services at these meetings. The money may be used to cover your time and expenses.

Don’t forget that you must be a visible example of poise and peace, of successful accomplishment of what the clients themselves desire so fervently. When you are, you have a certain magic about you that you unconsciously impart to those who seek your help and you will be especially successful in conducting these important group meetings.

The Practitioner at Work

As a practicing Hygienist, you will be pursuing your career at every private and public appearance: when meeting with individual clients, when hosting or conducting a small group for purposes of furthering their education in Hygienic practices, philosophy and principles; and, certainly, when you begin to hold classes and seminars for the public, which we hope all of you will consider doing, and this as soon as practicable.

You will greatly influence not only the progress of your clients, but also your own, in a number of ways. Intelligent practitioners who wish to become sought out for their expertise will ask themselves many questions, and future success will depend, in great measure, upon what they do to improve in these areas of concern. We especially recommend that you address the following areas:

Questions to Ask Ourselves

1. Am I a reasonably good example of what I teach?
2. Do I speak positively, with authority,butnotinanarrogantmanner?Or am I too hesitant in my pronouncements?
3. Am I able to impart verbally and by my body movements and facial expressions the sense of empathy and concern I feel toward my clients? Do they sense that I really know exactly how they feel; that I understand their anxieties, their concerns? Do I convey to them a confidence in my words?
4. Do I listen more than I talk? Do I use the pronoun “I” too often?
5. Do I appreciate my own value?

Number 1

If the practitioner has recovered from some specific condition, s/he is usually more likely to speak with authority on that subject and perhaps also on the general subject of how best to regain one’s health. S/he may even choose to specialize in a particular disorder as, for example, rheumatic or heart disorders.

However, having recovered from a particular malady is not, of course a prerequisite for practicing as a Hygienist! Even being capable of maintaining a high level of health under the prevailing unhealthful conditions and circumstances, can be, in and of itself, an inspiring challenge to induce lifestyle changes in your clients. In fact, this may well be considered a “plus!”

One’s past experiences may well color the tone of the voice, impart a certain glow to one’s manner and add conviction to statements, all helpful influences. But, a practitioner should not pretend to know what s/he does NOT know nor act a part being something s/ he is not! Deception will always fail. Knowledge imparted honestly will always be more conducive to trust. If a client asks you a question and you do not know the answer, just say that you do not know, but add that you will try to find the correct answer.

If you are still recovering from some condition, say so. Share your progress, even your regressions, with your clients. We recall one time when Elizabeth broke out in a wild rash. It began behind her ears and on to her cheeks. She was a sight to behold and, to make matters worse, the itching was intense. And, to top the whole affair off, we were just about to open an advanced course of study!

We went right ahead with our plans! The class consisted of a mix of old and new students. Elizabeth stood up bravely and announced to those present that the subject of the day was, you guessed right! Healing Crises! We all learned a lot from the experience as the days passed. Students learned about fasting and about what occurs in the body during these days. In fact, those students watched the progress of this entire healing crisis and learned much from it. We are confident that the students who attended that class will not panic when they are confronted with their first healing crises! They will continue on making whatever changes are required in their lifestyle to accomplish their ultimate goal.

The lesson to be learned from this episode is that, if you feel you are lacking in some respect, then you should try as best you can either to remedy the situation or to use it; to cope with it or to accommodate yourself to it. All of us can probably improve our appearance, our attitude, our confidence, in many areas. It is well to take a frank appraisal of one’s appearance and assets and to seek actively to improve in those areas where improvement is indicated, or where it might well be to your advantage to do so. Nobody’s perfect, but we can all strive for perfection, even if we never achieve it! Remember that you are a living example of all that Natural Hygiene promises. Therefore, why not promise them the best! That will surely influence your clients to make the lifestyle changes you deem appropriate.

Number 2

Do I speak positively, with authority in my voice, but not in an arrogant manner? Or am I too hesitant in my pronouncements?

What has all this to do with inducing clients to change bad habits into good habits? A great deal! You will be able to induce constructive changes in your clients’ lifestyles effectively and consistently, the more talented you become in presenting the changes you deem necessary for a particular client and then follow by explaining the reasons why such changes are vital to your client’s well-being. We accomplish this largely through our spoken words, perhaps because they are more personal.

If you are presently hesitant in your manner of speaking or have some other limiting factor, it might be well for you to take a course in public speaking. These are offered from time to time by most schools and colleges and very inexpensively, too, if not altogether at no cost.

Be happily appreciative of your clients. You will reveal this in your manner and in your voice. Your clients have honored you by seeking you out. Leave all arrogance or impatience out of your voice, for such will only serve to turn people away from you.

Everybody likes to hear nice things about themselves. Tell your clients that you appreciate them and especially, remember always to compliment them as they reach a Hygienic milestone. Such appreciation encourages them to go forward and not to either stand still or regress. It inspires them to make the required lifestyle adjustments. Just take a few moments of your consultation time to compliment your client about something. Practice on your friends, the people you meet in the supermarket, wherever you go, and it will soon become natural to you to be more appreciative of others. Remember to compliment those who attend your meetings, the little ones and the big ones. They have given you a compliment by coming, give them one in return. Inspire your clients by being appreciative of small accomplishments if you sincerely want big changes to follow.

Dale Carnegie admonished his students always to say “WE” instead of “you.” Instead of saying, “John, I want you to do such and such,” it is better to say, “John, don’t you believe we all would be better served healthwise, if we would do thus and so?” The former gives the impression one is talking down to his client. The latter includes you—the authority—as well as the client—the student. You must make certain lifestyle changes, too!

Avoid the negative in your attitude, your looks and in your words. In fact, having a positive attitude and a positive look about you will often speak louder than words. It may, of course, be necessary to scold a client occasionally, but don’t make a practice of it. Avoid it if you can. The shrew soon loses a mate. The scolding or arrogant practitioner soon loses his/her clients and they lose their opportunity to live their lives healthfully.

Talk with your clients, not down at them. Talk in terms they can understand about their concerns, their worries, their problems. Show them how to get rid of their health problems so that their other concerns will either be completely solved or their impact lessened. We are reminded of a session we had one time with a very obese gentleman, the president of a large corporation. We were obviously concerned about his excess weight, his high blood pressure and other ailments, about how best to address these issues and how we were to persuade him to make the necessary changes in his lifestyle. We had been consulting with this man for some six months and, of course, had made some progress, but it was limited due to the fact that, like so many obese ones, he had a tendency to revert to his former bad habits from time to time, even to bingeing, all of which retarded his progress. He was psychologically wedded to his old ways and reluctant to change.

However, at one of our consultations he confided that he was extremely concerned about his future. Here was a man in his early fifties. Where he had once been a proud, highly-confident man, he was now a frightened man. It seems he had just been fired from his highly-lucrative position, one he had occupied, and successfully so, for many years, because of certain overseas developments which required worldwide reorganization.

It would have been useless for us to have lectured him about his shortcomings or, indeed, to have talked about anything else. Such a disregard for his feelings and valid concerns would have been inexcusable because his mental state was such as to negate physical reconstruction of the rest of his body anyway. So, during that entire session, we never once directed our attention to his obesity, to his high blood pressure. Instead we listened and interjected, from time to time, some positive thoughts about how old doors close and new ones open, that we make our own world, our own opportunities; that we can attain whatever we want in life or in this world if we determine what is required of us, what is needed, and then follow through with the doing. We did suggest that becoming healthier, by making positive changes in his eating and living habits, would serve to clear his mind and that this important change would serve to open many doors for him.

When he came back three months later for his next appointment, his blood pressure had dropped dramatically, an examination had showed that over a dozen existing polyps in his colon had either completely disappeared or were greatly diminished in size. He announced with a happy smile that he had a new position which seemed very promising. He had made many of the necessary changes; he had corrected many of his bad habits. Indeed, he was so enthusiastic about his new way of life that he came armed with a whole list of questions for us to answer.

Welcome questions from your clients. Don’t be impatient and think that answering them is taking up your valuable time. Your clients are interested or they would not ask!

Always remember that your clients will be more inclined to change incorrect habits of eating and living when they discuss the rationale with you on a one-to-one basis, when they receive a sympathetic ear to their queries and problems. The questions may seem too simple to devote your valuable time to them, but remember they are important to the one who asks.

Be sincere and open with your clients. Your inner conviction of the rightness of what you have to offer will help to bridge the gap of misinformation which restrains your clients’ forward progress and prevents their making necessary changes. Use the spoken word in a confident, but sympathetic way and your clients will usually respond favorably and follow your wise counsel.

Number 3

Am I able to impart verbally and by my body movements and facial expressions the sense of empathy I feel toward my clients? Do they sense that I really know exactly how they feel; that I understand their anxieties, their concerns? Do I convey to them a confidence in my words?

As students of Life Science you are preparing for one of the most rewarding careers it is possible for you to pursue. You are preparing for a career of service which, if well done, will fulfill your reason for being—to help others to grow in body, mind and spirit; as well as rewarding you financially and in many other perhaps intangible ways.

If you naturally feel empathy toward your clients and concern about their needs, you will instinctively impart to them the sense that you understand their needs and are vitally interested in helping them. There will be a “oneness” between you and them and they will respond more positively and be more inclined to follow your directions.

If, however, you do not, by nature, feel this kind of empathy and are planning to enter into Hygienic practice solely for the purpose of making money, then you will surely fail because you will be wrongly motivated and if you are wrongly motivated, you will be unable to convince people to change their ways of eating and living.

However, if you are sincerely interested in helping people to change incorrect habits of eating and living into a more correct lifestyle, then you can develop certain techniques which will assist you even though, at present, you do not naturally feel empathy toward people; and you can do this simply by practicing it!

You may have to pretend at first, to act a part, but all of us do that every day, don’t we? By practicing you will soon begin to evidence in word, deeds, facial expressions, body movements, a gesture here and there at the right time, that you really DO care about your clients.

Sincere interest, an encouraging word when needed, a smile instead of a frown, a hand on a shoulder, just touching a troubled person in a friendly and gentle manner at a time of need can change a worried person’s whole demeanor and outlook on life, can encourage them to go on when they might otherwise be inclined to give up.

So, enrich your personality by consciously striving to develop a “ONE-NESS” with your clients. It will not only help them over their more difficult crises, but will help you in your career.

Sincere interest will cause people to be more confident in their relationship with you and when confident of you and of your understanding of them, they will be less likely to falter and more willing to follow your suggestions.

Consider yourself a rebuilder of men and women, for that is what you are. To rebuild a human structure, unlike beginning to fashion a house of wood and stone, you must have understanding of the mind and soul before you can build a worthy structure.

Work on your personality. If necessary, take personality lessons. Begin with positive attitudes, work at understanding people’s concerns, and learn how to support your clients through their most difficult times. Having a sincere empathy toward those who seek your help will not only bring you success in many ways, but it will serve to give many back their lives, to give them another chance to live in health for many years to come. There can be no more worthy calling!

Number 4

Do I listen more than I talk? Do I use the pronoun “I” too often? There is an old French proverb which, when translated, reads, “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.” Just so, clients change bad habits into good habits and learn how to rebuild their bodies.

The ability to listen to other people is a requirement for success in any profession. It is absolutely essential to the successful Hygienic practitioner.

We have to learn how to give up our set notions of how a meeting should proceed and especially of how a consultation should proceed. Of course, we should always have a plan, but sometimes we have to let the wind blow where it will. Crises come and crises go and current happenings revealed to you as you listen can often direct your immediate course of action.

Always have something in reserve to talk about, of course, some points you wish to express or discuss with your clients, but keep the ingredient of spontaneity alive. Let your clients talk. You be a good listener. More often than not, the greatest good will come to your client when s/he has an opportunity to tell another human being about anxieties that lie heavy on the heart and trouble the soul.

Once these have been revealed, they may well influence the changes in lifestyle which you may then suggest as the next desirable course to follow. And, of course, shared concerns and anxieties are already half “cured!” Letting your clients talk can be highly therapeutic.

A part of listening well is learning when to ask the right questions. Sometimes the appropriate question interjected at the right time will lead the interview in the direction you have planned and bring out a consciousness of further need for change on the part of your client.

For example, a woman came to us with many serious health problems. She was so satisfied with her progress by the time her second appointment had come and gone that she failed to keep her third one.

We called to remind her of our appointment, at which time she said how excited she was at her progress and how well-pleased she was that everything was going along so well—so well that she thought she had no further need to consult with us.

We listened as the voice went up and down and when she was apparently finished, we simply suggested that perhaps after some forty years of building disease it might take just a little longer and a little more guidance to rebuild her body the way she would like to and did she not think perhaps that she might learn something more about herself and about how she functions so that she could have it ALL!

The woman thought a minute and said, “I believe you’re right. I guess I really have just made a start. When do you want to see me?”

The appointment was made and a new study begun. We have been working together on rebuilding her body now for almost a year. Our client has found that there were many more adjustments that were yet to be made and that making them correctly has yielded rich rewards. She now has so much confidence in us that she knows that we will advise her when we think she is ready to “go it alone.”

Listening and knowing when and how to ask the right questions is a talent possessed by all successful people. Cultivate it well and you will find your clients much more amenable to change. To be successful we must use every attribute we possess to influence clients to change their lifestyle. Becoming a good listener is one of the best! Number 5.

Do it appreciate my own value? Inspiring clients rests on both the tangible and the intangible assets of the practitioner. Hygienists, more than any other practitioners in the whole health sciences arena, should appreciate their own value and, especially the value of their services to their clients.

As a student of this course you have gleaned true scientific facts of life, you have learned the true science of healing. The Hygienists alone (among the “healers” of the world) understand that people are the “architects of their own miseries” and that it is the Hygienist who can lead people into a harmony of body, mind and spirit which will enable them to reap the wonderful rewards of a life correctly lived.

We Hygienists need to be confident of the Tightness of what we impart to our clients, to appreciate its worth and be able to convey our confidence in that worth to our clients. How else can we expect them to trust us with their most precious possession, their lives?

We Hygienists are valuable and especially so when we have applied and continue to apply Hygienic truths in our own lives; when we ourselves have made the necessary changes in our own lifestyles to demonstrate the worth of what we propound. Once we have conquered ourselves, then we are prepared to become worthy and wise teachers of the healing truths learned in this science of life and living.

It does not matter if you are not handsome or if your face is lined with the ravages of past pain. When you smile at your clients, your value to them shines through. When we are certain of our worth, we can forget self and become genuinely interested in others, and this ability to be un-self-conscious and take interest in other people is actually in a direct relationship to our personal estimate of our own worth!

We should, of course, set our standards high. They should be in keeping, on a par with, our value. Only then will we be able to cause clients to appreciate what they themselves can become, to appreciate their own potential and to strive to attain their goal. It is you that can impart to them the reality of organic existence, that life and nature are with them at all times, working on their side, planning and overcoming obstacles and all in their behalf. And it all happens through you, the knowledgeable Hygienist!

In other words, the magic of the sense of your own value will serve to enhance their appraisal of their worth and encourage them to work harder to make the necessary changes called for by their own bodies so that they can become worthy of all that life has to offer to those all too few individuals who are healthy enough to hold it precious. Inspiring clients to make the necessary changes in their lifestyles can be accomplished in many ways. We have named a few. As Hygienists we understand the need for change, and are called upon to use every asset legitimately at our command to encourage the sick ones to change sick habits into more health-promoting habits. The practitioner who can, by word, deed, attitude and by his sense of self-worth, inspire others to leave off the old destructive ways and begin a new and healthier lifestyle, will become a leader among peers.

Motivation

In the second edition of Foundations of Health Science by Henkel, Means, Smolensky and Sawrey (Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Poston, 1972. Page 159) we are told that “motivated behavior is behavior that is directed toward the attainment of some goal, object, or purpose. Motives have to do with the wants, wishes, desires, and purposes of the individual and the manner of their attainment.”

It would be difficult to find a better way to define motivation as it particularly applies to the relationship between a practicing Hygienist and the client. The successful practitioner should always bear in mind that those persons who seek you out are already motivated to a certain extent to perform. They have a goal and a purpose for being in your presence. They wish to become well again and they hope you have the knowledge either to work some magic or to tell them what magic is needed for them to attain their objective.

The first part of motivation then may be to “disillusion” them, i.e., to help them to reach an understanding that there is no magical road to lead them to a higher status of health. Few understand, of course, that superb health can only be achieved through a process of discarding bad habits followed by a joint effort which involves rebuilding and maintaining. The practitioner must build on the existing foundation of many false ideas and superstitions and then go on to disabuse the client of his original false concepts and change them, to direct clients into new and perhaps unfamiliar and “strange” ways of living and eating.

In Hygienic practice, motivation, in almost every instance, involves “holding out the carrot;” imparting to the clients an enlarged view of what the future CAN hold for them PROVIDED they do “thus and so.”

As practicing Hygienists we learn to judge individual clients’ capabilities rather quickly. How well do they respond to large changes? Are they more comfortable, less emotionally disturbed, perhaps, with smaller, less-challenging changes? We adjust our thinking and our suggestions accordingly after full explanation of the fact that an abrupt about-face is always more conducive to a rapid and more complete return to full health than are smaller changes.

However, some clients may be frightened if proposed changes appear too much for them either to understand or to handle, and when this is the case, they do not continue on a Hygienic program for very long. With such clients, we and they are better served when we provide reasonable suggestions which may immediately be met. With these more reluctant clients, a planned program of instructive changes combined with a developing insight into the cause-and-effect relationship in building health can lead to a fuller understanding of the need for certain changes which have been designed by you to bring them into the desired fullness of health.

Group meetings to which family members are invited (a family night, for example) often helps the clients by motivating members of the family to be more cooperative and supportive of their efforts to obtain their goal of better health.

If the suggested changes prove too demanding, then they must be simplified. In other words, they should be adjusted to more realistic expectations. Avoid placing the clients in a position of strong conflict either with themselves, their families, or with you. Some conflict may, at times, be inevitable, but we should strive to minimize it. Remember that individuals differ in their maturity and we have to be in tune with these differences when we voice our suggested changes.

The Hygienist Is a Teacher

Hygienists are basically teachers of the ways and means whereby the present state of ill health of a client can be changed to one of improved health. In order to bring their efforts to a successful conclusion, they must employ many of the modern tools of education. We will, of course, not be able to suggest all the possible tools of the trade but, hopefully, we can give you some of the ones we have found most useful in our own practice.

When to Use Fasting

Fasting represents, in most instances, a giant leap. To fast is always a first priority change when feasible according to the emotional stability and prior “knowledge of a particular client with respect to what is involved in fasting.

We suggest that, from time to time, you hold classes on fasting at which time procedures are given. At these classes case studies may be presented, as well as personal experiences related by clients who have themselves fasted to good advantage. These meetings give a time for learning, for asking questions and for becoming familiar with a hitherto unknown procedure.

The “Baby Steps” Technique

Recommended for more timid clients. Both the practitioner and the client should understand that sometimes the recovery period is prolonged and at times even discouraging. Generally this is a limited technique to use to help less stable clients to make required changes and/or to use with poorly-informed clients. However, the choice between 1 and 2 must be made and all clients will have to be evaluated as to which will prove the more effective and/or acceptable, emotionally, to them.

The Historical Review

Sometimes clients become discouraged and think they are making little or no progress even though you know this to be untrue. At such times, it is well to review a client’s historical record, noting on a blackboard, when possible, various symptoms shown on first meeting and reminding the client of the positive changes (which you have diligently noted on the client’s record at each meeting) which have subsequently occurred, even though these be minor ones.

With some clients it may be advisable to call the client’s attention to these improvements at each meeting. This may be especially advisable when a client suffers from a major disorder which is difficult to manage as, for example, muscular dystrophy, which is generally conceded not to be amenable to Hygienic practices especially insofar as expecting a complete “cure” is concerned.

In such cases small improvements can be very significant. We sometimes have to show the carrot frequently, to reassure and reassure, time and time again, in order to encourage the clients to keep their gaze on the light at the end of the tunnel rather than focusing their minds on the troubling symptoms that presently annoy.

The Inner Circle Concept

This concept is applicable in more difficult cases and especially with clients who may experience rather frequent healing crises. It helps one to keep clients on course,

making the necessary changes in their lifestyles that you feel appropriate at a particular moment in time.

The Inner Circle shows that healing does not occur in a straight line but rather in cycles. We progress from one healing crisis to the next but these become less frequent and less severe until finally, by our diligent attention to correct living and eating, we reach the Inner Circle, at which time our body, mind and soul are in perfect harmony. Our goal has been reached.

The Inner Circle Concept can be depicted from time to time as need arises to remind clients of the cyclical nature of healing. They often like to estimate how far they have progressed in their healing.

The Direct Challenge

Sometimes it becomes necessary to confront a client who is reluctant to make certain changes with a direct challenge. Are you less strong than So and So? So and So can be another client, but remember to use a client’s name only if you received permission to do so and only then. Otherwise, let the challenge refer to a nameless person, or to a person depicted in one of the printed case studies which you have previously reviewed with the client. Try to incorporate in such clients the “I CAN, do it if So and So can do it” concept. Generally, retaining an inner vision of something we yearn for can sustain us through the rough times and carry us forward to a successful attainment.

Family Counselling

When all members of the family are convinced of the need for them to change their lifestyles and to make a mutual effort to do so, success is generally assured. We recently experienced such a happening and have seen how effective the combined motivation can be in achieving a common goal.

The first client was a diabetic married daughter in a certain family. She had been diagnosed as being insulin-dependent. Her improvement was dramatic and swift with considerable reduction in her insulin intake. Then a sister who suffered from systemic lupus joined her.

Next, came a son, age 7, the child of the first daughter. He was an asthmatic. His improvement was also excellent. Then came the grandparents, the father and mother of the two sisters. They were both in their middle fifties. Finally, the oldest daughter and her husband joined in the program, all with individual problems and goals.

We eventually, by the consent of all, gathered the entire family together in a single series of conferences devoting two hours to each such meeting. At these gatherings, questions and answers were given; each person presented a progress report; there was sharing and planning for the future good of all. Progress was so satisfactory that now we hold these family conferences at three-month intervals, at which time we review, appraise present states and progress, and provide encouragement. Where changes are required, they are suggested.

All members of the family are very supportive of one another and highly enthusiastic about their new way of eating and living. The grandparents have a pool and the daughters, their husbands, and all the grandchildren often gather for a family party around the pool. They tell us that even those who do not actively attend our conferences are slowly “getting into the act.” At any rate, they are all enjoying their “carrots!”

Using a Placebo

This technique is sometimes useful when working with elderly, very emotionally distraught clients, who are reluctant to take the first timid “Baby steps.”

All of us would probably agree that using a supplement of any kind is unHygienic in principle. However, it can be a useful tool in exceptional circumstances such as when an emotional person needs a rope to hang on to. At such times we have recourse to a pill, one made of vegetables dehydrated in a vacuum at low temperatures. It is relatively harmless, certainly far less so than a sugar pill. We advise our clients that this pill is to be used for a stated limited time to “fill in anything missing” in their diet. This seems to reassure these disturbed individuals. It often calms them down emotionally and gives them the confidence they require to make the first primary changes in their lifestyles. Once this hurdle has been taken, the others seem to follow more easily.

Only One Way to Go!

When all medical resources have been exhausted and have failed, as they invariably do, clients are usually more amenable to change. You will all have clients who are in this position. They are, at one and the same time, both easy to work with and difficult.

One of our students was faced with such a situation. She had taken a course in nutrition when she learned that her husband was terminally ill with cancer of the bladder. Armed with her new knowledge about the science of living in health and in disease, she made a complete turnaround in her lifestyle. She refused to place her husband in the hospice, refused to remove him to the hospital as demanded by the consulting oncologist, and said she would care for him by herself and in their own comfortable home. The specialist and a representative from the hospice were permitted to visit whenever they chose to do so. A nurse from the hospice visited several times each week.

The man’s diet was changed abruptly to an alkaline diet of fresh uncooked fruits and vegetables. Two items only were served at a meal. On some days only juices were served—fruits and vegetables at suitable intervals. Sunbaths were taken when possible and the man exercised every day to the extent possible. Toward the last, he was gently massaged by his wife and this several times during the day and especially along his spinal cord.

It is interesting to know that this man required no pain killers except an occasional aspirin until the last 24 hours, when he took six aspirin tablets. At his funeral, which we attended, we asked one of the visiting nurses from the hospice if she had ever witnessed such a peaceful conclusion to a terminally-ill cancer patient. She shook her head and then commented that she had never seen anything like this before in her entire practice.

Overcoming Compulsive Habits and the “My Doctor Says” Complex

These are perhaps the most difficult of all changes for the client to make, with overeating probably being the most difficult of all bad habits to overcome. In fact, it is said that only about 5% of the obese are successful in reducing their weight to what it should be.

Encouragement and constant prodding are helpful. Consultations should be much more frequent than with other clients. We ask our obese clients to keep a weekly weight record and at each consultation we record any changes. We find it necessary constantly to remind the reluctant ones of their goal, of what obtaining a more normal figure and weight might mean to them in health benefits and of the social and business doors that might well be opened to them.

We also generally ask our obese clients to keep a record of their meals. They usually “confess” to their sneaking and their “bingeing.” The old saying states, “Confession is good for the soul!” Perhaps asking for such confession will sometimes be helpful.

Getting over the “my doctor says” complex stubbornly maintained by some clients requires patience on your part. In fact, to overcome it, you have to come up with a better product, so to speak, to be successful with this kind of individual. Of course, we can always remind them, as and when the subject comes up, that they are here—in your office and consulting you—because “my doctor” did NOT have the answers!

In other words, when possible, these clients, if they are to attain their desire to be healthier than they presently are, must be led finally to accept the reality of past failure and replace it with the new opportunity for success now offered to them simply by applying their newly-learned Hygienic ways of living and eating in their own lifestyles.

The Bionutritional Blood Test Analysis and Profile

We find this a highly-motivating tool for change and it is so with most clients, almost without exception. By word and by picture the Analysis and Profile presents to the client the realities of blood condition as revealed by a series of tests made at a standard laboratory which are interpreted and plotted for the client’s study. The necessity for change, when such exists, is made clear. We suggest that our clients have these made at six-

month intervals. When good changes are observed, as is generally the case when Hygienic changes in lifestyle are adopted, clients are further motivated to improve and make any additional indicated changes.

Grouping Clients

The practitioner should take time out to study clients’ records, grouping them together by type of disorder being experienced, as follows:

1. Arthritic Clients
2. Diabetic Clients
3. Clients with nervous disorders
4. Clients with heart disorders
5. Clients suffering from respiratory diseases, etc., etc.

Make a critical study of the following as shown in past and present history: Emotional, Lonely, Very angry, Fears death, Jealous, etc. Poisons, Coffee, tea , Smokes, Alcoholic, Cocaine, other drugs etc. Endotoxins, Uric acid, High cholesterol, Calcium deposits, Purines etc. Deficiencies, Poor marriage, Eats junk food, Lacks sufficient money, etc. Symptoms, Each client Make a special listing for excesses, such as: works too hard, eats too much, etc. This will help you to guide individual clients and to suggest appropriate further changes to be made.

When feasible and practical, have group meetings for mutual discussion and analysis of methods used, changes already made, improvements forthcoming, and future planning. Where good results have been slow in coming, these meetings can sometimes be a means of ferreting out hidden causes. They can also provide a meeting of the minds, so to speak, an understanding by all participants of he need for change and for time to accomplish the required healing and, perhaps, even a better understanding of the commonality of cause among participants.

Only those clients who are willing to participate in a frank and open discussion should be included in this type of group discussion because they amount to a “Show and Tell” meeting which sometimes requires disclosure of more intimate details of one’s lifestyle. Some clients, of course, are reluctant to participate in frank and open discussion, but with willing clients, the results can often prove highly motivating.

“Sell the Rose, Not the Thorn”

Always hold out to your clients the vision of the possible. Do not dwell on the present nor on the past overly long. Clarify all issues involved as they come up, of course, and make clear the possible consequences of incorrect habits, but place emphasis on the salubrious effects of making all appropriate changes in lifestyle. A positive approach is always more effective in selling. Salesmen are advised to sell the benefits accruing to the buyer. The successful practitioner must sell the benefits of living Hygienically and these are legion!

Keep nudging clients along, inch by inch, if necessary. The results can so often be spectacular! A single case study will make our point. Four years ago a woman came to us seeking help. She had had several massive heart attacks, a mastectomy with lymph nodes extirpated, her shoulders and back were severely curved, and she was fainting seven and eight times a day. Her blood tests revealed an almost impossible state. As we write this today, we have received a letter which reads, in part, as follows: “We have enjoyed our summer and I am glad to report that I haven’t had such a feeling of well-being for ages. I really feel good.” She is still having some minor problems, a few hemorrhoids, for example. But, her improvement demonstrates the magic of Life Science. Sometimes, we and our clients can become discouraged, but motivation and inspiration return once we view results such as this woman has experienced.

Knowledge of What To Do—and How to Do It

This is where Hygienic practitioners come into their own! They have the knowledge of what their clients must accomplish in the way of making specific changes in their lifestyle if they wish to attain a higher level of health, and also, on broad terms at least, of how they must proceed.

The practitioner must, at one and the same time, become the parent who evaluates the situation and determine the proper course of action, the teacher who expounds on methodology, and the overseer who follows procedure to a successful conclusion.

All practitioners have their own personal equipment: ability to lead, respect for the client’s needs, sincerity, emotional maturity, sense of humor or lack thereof, appearance, ability to empathize with the client’s sufferings. The higher their equipment quotient, the more likely that they will be able to transfer their knowledge of “what, when, how,” etc., to clients and thereby maximize results.

The average person’s knowledge about him or herself is abysmal though much information is available, indeed an extreme abundance. But, at one and the same time, there is also an extreme confusion about humans and what is required of them to maintain them in a state of excellence.

The modern child has not been taught to read and/or to consult various authors or sources on matters of health, but rather has been taught to follow the advice given in the media, these imparting only the medical view of how to obtain health and to keep it. Early in their lives, people are programmed to consult the medical mentor for guidance as to what to do and how to take care of themselves in sickness and in health and, to the masses, only the medical view is valid.

“Science” divides humans into fragments. Life Science alone treats people as a unitized whole which is governed by immutable laws. Orthodoxy fails to take into account the ethnic, epidemiological and historical nature of man. Hygienists have a conscious realization of cause and effect and it is this that differentiates the Life Scientist from other more traditional practices and beliefs. It is this difference which must be imparted to clients if they are to fulfill their potential destinies as human beings.

We are required to learn man in his entirety, about the symbiosis of his inner parts and his symbiotic relationship with his environment.

It is impossible, of course, to impart to new clients at first, second or even third meeting, all that we know in this regard. Therefore our practice becomes a matter of intelligent selection, choosing the more relevant and discarding that which, for the moment at least, is of lesser importance. Evaluation of need, therefore, is a first priority. In our next lesson we will discuss the initial interview. For now, let us merely state that this first meeting is critical but not all-important. We learn a little more about our clients at each consultation, at group meetings, at potlucks, whenever we are in each other’s presence. All precise information and all impressions must be considered and evaluated for their importance.

Following evaluation of need we must construct a plan of action based on need as is revealed by past history, impressions, etc. A study of possible causes follows. Here one usually discovers a plenitude of possible causes such as the most common cause of overeating; extremely traumatic events in the past or on-going in the present, such as physical cruelty; overworking; psychological trauma such as worry, fear; perhaps assuming too much responsibility in civic affairs; or exercising beyond one’s present capability; eating junk foods; drinking tea, coffee, soft drinks, etc; alcoholism; prior surgical extirpations of organs and parts; and on and on.

An evaluation of the more important causes should precede the construction of a plan of action. We must always be aware of the fact that most people manifest only an elementary knowledge about themselves and are capable only of revealing things they know to be harmful, and this knowledge is limited. They are usually capable of only tackling easy tasks; this is especially true at the beginning.

We generally find that most people are watchers and followers—not instigators, performers, or doers. They are wary, too, of you and of your advice, unless perhaps they have been referred by someone in whom they have explicit trust. This is especially true when ii concerns their physical selves. Most are deficient and sick. They must, therefore, be led and guided, prodded and pushed—but gently. As Alexis Carrel wisely said in Man, The Unknown, “Humanity has never gained anything from the efforts of the crowd. It is driven onward by the passion of a few abnormal individuals, by the flame of their intelligence, by their ideal of science, of charity, and of beauty.” As Hygienists, our knowledge of what to do and how to do it and when must become our passion, our bright flame, so that our knowledge of life’s beauty and its potential as governed by law, can pass over and become a pan of conscious being of those who, because they suffer, seek our help.

Remember that the mental acceptance of Hygienic principles and practices is a wonderful thing that will come through exercise of the mind. Just as bones and muscles develop through physical exercise, so will the mind enlarge and accept new ideas as it is exercised. As each new principle and practice is expounded by you and practiced by the clients, they will advance another step toward their ultimate goal of better health.

The extent of forward progress will depend on the client’s inner discipline which is so often tempered more by peer thinking than by the working of logic. As teachers we must lead clients toward healthier habits of lifestyle by logic, by inspiration and by example, rather than away from bad habits by scolding and lecturing, by imparting to them the wondrous vision of what is possible for them to achieve and to enjoy. We must not express that which must be taken away, but instead tell about that which will be given. Few clients will learn the right way to live and eat solely by lecturing. The desire to know the beauty of life lived in its fullness is that which can attract, guide, and hold.

The greatest desire of humankind is for health and youth. Men and women alike spend their lives and their gold most often in a fruitless search of illusions. It is well known that we wear ourselves out more often than not by our excesses, our lack of moral discipline, our overdoing in so many ways. The science of life is Truth-gold. It is based on the known facts of physiology and anatomy, not on illusions or ideas; on natural and universal law not on mere concepts. It shows us up for what we have been but also opens up the door to what we can become.

Once we have imparted to our clients the secrets of life, we will have taught them how to keep their bodies whole; we will have returned to them their control and have placed them at the steering wheel of life. They will have received knowledge of many of life’s secrets so that for all of life they will be able to keep intact the vigor of their body, its beauty, and the capacity to enlarge their mental sphere.

To accomplish all that we might like to accomplish requires a well-thought-out plan of action. The practitioner should have a general plan which can be modified to fit individual clients’ needs. The plan must address all of the biodynamic requisites of organic existence: how much exercise, precisely what changes are required in feeding, what bad habits must be eliminated immediately, etc. All must be considered and addressed as individual need dictates and as progress is reported from time to time.

Mice kept overlong in cages in close confinement and subject to manifold stresses soon wear out, but when given freedom in larger pens where they can burrow and explore, and when they are fed and fasted appropriately, their life spans are extended in health. So it is with people. When simple Hygienic habits of organic existence become a part of our clients’ thinking and doing, they receive the gift of a knowledge which will favorably influence them for the rest of their extended life spans.

Clients will, of course, experience adjustment difficulties. Some will fall by the wayside and then we must learn to “let go.” We must not waste our energies in futile pursuit but rather expend it in more useful ways and with more receptive people so that greater success will be assured.

Basically then, we must ascertain the facts to the best of our ability, exploring our clients’ knowledge about both the past and the present. Then, we are called upon to formulate a plan of action realizing full well that a plan is just that. It is not a rigid edifice which cannot be changed as need arises. The Hygienist who meets need as it arises with a correct solution will be successful, not only financially, but in having satisfaction in work well done.

It is wise to cultivate both in one’s self and in one’s clients positive attitudes which will yield positive results. Every forward step, every replacement of a bad habit by a positive change in lifestyle is conducive to improvement in the quality of life. We need to impart to our clients the idea that they have the greatest health-building machine ever built and that when they work with it and answer its simple needs, it will provide them with a fulfillment of riches beyond all their fondest dreams.

Questions & Answers

It seems to me that holding group meetings and giving lectures would take up a lot of time. Do you think the time spent in such activities is worth all the effort and expense?

Definitely! I say so for several reasons. Practitioners who keep to themselves will soon have no clients, for one thing. For another, they will become stale. They will not be in tune, as we say, with clients’ needs as well as when they meet frequently with clients in group meetings and also when they have contact with the public. Group and other public meetings provide a time for the exchange of ideas, to hear other points of view, to learn what is going on in the community, to keep abreast of developments. Additionally, it is interesting how often your words spoken perhaps a year or more ago will remain in the minds of those who heard you speak and cause some persons to seek you out when need arises.

I have a client who is quite elderly, in her late sixties; she is frightened of fasting. What would you suggest as a possible procedure for me to use in handling her case?

Each client is different, of course. However, with such timid and uninformed clients, I would not insist on fasting unless the condition is so far advanced as to require it. But, even then, I think it advisable to take some time, if at all possible, to

teach the client about fasting, to provide study materials about fasting, and lay the groundwork which might cause greater willingness to fast.

Sometimes, too, we are called upon to use alternative methods, such as a 24-hour or a 36-hour fast followed by mono or duo meals which place limited stress on the digestive organs and conserve energy resources.

I think we have to remember Alexis Carrel’s statement that the mind and body are inextricably one. I believe he said, as if etched in marble, so intertwined are they. A client beset by fear will not progress very well. Sometimes it is necessary to back off, before we can go forward. So, my advice would be to take it easy and make small but important changes before taking a giant leap.

You make it all sound so easy. Is it really as easy as this lesson makes it out to be to influence clients to change?

I’m glad you asked that question. The answer is a resounding “No!” Of course not. Theories and methodology are always comparatively easy to recite but can be extremely difficult to put into practice, unless one is very skilled in handling people. However, these are workable tools to use. Using them day after day, month after month makes us grow in our ability to work with people. Remember that practice makes perfect! We become more skilled as a practitioner the more we practice. It takes time to build a house. It takes time to build disease. It takes time to build health. It also takes times to build one’s skill in helping people.

Article #1: Faith

Obviously, if we are to be successful in our endeavors, we are called upon to have faith in the fact that what we do is correct. If we are not convinced that our program has merit, that it will bring health; indeed, that it is the only possible way to achieve a better life for ourselves, then we will never reach our goal. Even a poor regimen will often produce astounding results, if the patient believes with all his/her heart that it will make him/her better. And how much more spectacular the results can be when the regimen adopted is one in perfect harmony with our body’s needs.

Once upon a time, or so the story goes, there was a Sultan who, for some time now, had been very, very ill. He was much beloved by his people and they begged his learned physicians to make him well. The exalted men of science had given him numerous remedies and drugs, they had bled him and given him snuff, this being the medical custom of that day. But, it had all been to no avail. The Sultan continued to grow ever weaker.

At length, one of his physicians, wise among men, instructed the Sultan’s craftsmen to fashion a hammer of wood. He told them to make a hollow hammer, both the ball and handle were to be hollow inside. When they had finished the hammer, they were instructed to bring it to the sage together with a block of wood fashioned in a hollow cube. And so it was done, according to the wise man’s instructions.

When the hollow hammer and the hollow cube were brought to the exalted one, he filled them, each in turn, with many different drugs, remedies selected by the most learned men in the kingdom. They came from far and wide with offerings of their art. When all the hollow parts were filled, he instructed the craftsmen to seal up the hammer and the block so that none of the powerful and exotic drugs could escape. Then, the wise one went to the Sultan, there on his bed so close to death, and directed that the bed and the Sultan be lifted up and carried out of doors into the open courtyard. And, it was so done.

The great man told the king that, early in the morning before “breaking fast,” he was to strike the hollow cube with the hollow hammer, now filled with the potent drugs, until such time as the Sultan should sweat profusely. He told the poor sick king that the aroma wafting from the drugs encased within the wood would, in this manner, be gently wafted about his royal person and, at the proper time, the Sultan would be cured. Day after day, the king followed instructions. And, it came to pass as it had been predicted.

The Sultan grew strong and vigorous, the people rejoiced and waxed eloquent in their praise of the wise physician. He was given much gold and silver and robes of purple and gold.

While this is only an allegory from the Arabian Nights, it imparts to those who see and understand, much wisdom. It tells us the futility of using drugs in any program for health. By inference, we know that it was not the drugs that brought the gift of life, but rather exercise, rest, fresh air, pure water, time and FAITH. Faith plus the doing can make health happen!

Article #2: Desire Plus the Doing

Desire is not enough! We must also have the doing! Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) wrote as follows: “We denounce unto men that they will give over trifling, and not imagine that so great a work as stopping and turning back the powerful course of nature can be brought to pass by some morning draught, or the taking of some precious drug; but that they would be assured that it must needs be that this is a work of labor, and consisteth of many remedies, and a fit connection of them amongst themselves.”

We can have all the desire in the world and yet never achieve our goal of being healthier than we now, are. As Sir Francis indicated, we must gather together all the known attributes of health, the Biodynamic Principles of Health applied according to the Vital Laws of Life, and with these we must work at building health. There will, of course, be times when all will not appear to be going well but, like Robert the Bruce, we must continue to do those things which we know to be required if we ever expect to be better than we now are.

Many long years ago, Cicero said, “The only difficulty, if any there be, consists in making a beginning.” So, here we are. We have travelled a lifetime together; we have learned many new and wonderful things about living. We know that this earth might well become a place of joy, if man would but follow natural law. The sages of all time have taught us that the simple ways of life bring health to body, mind and soul. It is the simple ways that cause the blood to move gently within the arteries and to course merrily through the veins. Obedience to Law causes movement to quicken and the spirit to soar, the memory to clear and wisdom to come. We know that sickness shortens our years, even as health prolongs and gladdens them. We must now make a beginning, for each one of us is required to travel this magic road to health alone; it must be our desire and it must also be of our doing.

In this century, a young woman spent her body’s energies caring for an invalid mother. She, too, lay sick and dying. So ill, in fact, was she that a new young doctor in the village where she lived, was afraid to be seen treating her. He feared that, if he offered his services to this dying girl, that he might lose the few patients he had just obtained. There was no other doctor to whom she could turn.

Her family, knowing no other way, closed her up tight in her room thinking to keep her warm and snug. They fed her freshly boiled broths and did their best. However, this giving, loving girl continued to weaken and her pain became almost unbearable. She finally concluded that death would be a welcome release from an existence such as this. She begged her troubled father to carry her out to the lawn and there to place her on a mattress. She told him to bring her no food and no drink for she was determined to die, but she was also determined to die under God’s heavenly blue sky. She asked him to bring her a stick and then to leave her there.

The father, himself weary with life, did as his daughter quested. He carried her out of the comfortable warm house and placed her on a mattress there on the lawn. No one brought her food or drink, only some pure fresh water. The girl amused herself with her stick, feebly digging from time to time in the earth, first on one side, then on the other.

She looked up at the blue sky and watched the birds on the wing. She talked upon occasion with the passersby. And so the day passed by, but still she lived.

The next day she continued to dig, but she ate no food and had no drink; only, pure, cool water. The days passed, days turned into weeks and weeks into a month and still she did not die. This feeble woman, no more than a child in years, began to dig deeper and deeper. A strange and unexpected thing began to happen: she grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, one day she decided she wanted to LIVE!

In fact, she knew that the reality of life could be hers and it was revealed to her how she could bring it all to pass.

How excited she was. She cried out for food, and they brought her the foods she requested: only God’s sun-ripe fruits would she have, and these in abundance. Soon, she was able to sit up and they then placed her on a couch, still under the blue sky. She continued to dig, rolling first on one side and then on the other, reaching down to the round.

In time, she arose from her couch, and her joy was complete. Like the birds she had watched for so long, she, too, was now on the wing. Health had returned, a gift of nature. It had been there to receive all along but it had taken a deep desire to live and then the knowledge of how to achieve life plus living according to the demands of the human structure and function.

Sometimes we, like the young girl in our story, require no food. Perhaps we can use only the sun, the air, the fresh cooling breezes. Perhaps all we need to do is to forget that we are sick and look around us at this beautiful world and enjoy the free gifts that can bring health. Perhaps all we need is cool, pure water until that time comes when we, too, can reach out and touch a life that is beginning to blossom again. Knowledge, Desire, followed by the Doing! Could these be the magic keys to health?

Article #3: A House Divided

“A house divided cannot stand!” We are all familiar with this saying. It applies to families, to countries, and to professions. The voices are loud in extolling the advances of mankind, yet does it not seem paradoxical at this time in our history, when so much progress is reported in so many diverse fields, that we are witnessing so much confusion in the field of health science?

We walk on the moon and communicate to the far reaches of space. We explore the innermost depths of land and of sea with equipment and instruments from a never-never land of make-believe. More money, time and effort are probably being spent in research into the realm of disease than ever before in the long history of mankind. The amount of dollars expended in this country alone troubles the mind.

Astronomical sums are gathered each year for the investigation of our modern day scourges: arthritis, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and heart trouble. Name the disease and there is probably a fund being collected somewhere. Each year, with a regularity that provokes admiration, come the appeals for money, offering ever anew the hope of meaningful progress around some illusive corner. The hunters are on the loose, or so we are told, ready to search out and destroy all the deadly robbers of health—if they can only find them. But, it takes money! and MORE money! and still MORE!

Scientists, nutritionists, dieticians, physicians of all persuasions—all offer “cures,” “treatments,” and opinions, these latter being almost as diverse as the grains of sand on the shore of the sea! There are divisions within divisions. Preventive medicine is also a “Big Thing” but even here there is disagreement as to how to prevent disease in the first instance.

Where are the teachers of health? We do not find them among these. All seem to be concerned with the sick, with disease, few with health! How can we know anything about health when we concentrate solely on disease? Where are those who teach the laws of the body—laws which have always determined our state of being, whether we are healthy or whether we suffer from some degree of diminished health? Where are those who can show people how to build a health bank account and can point out and demonstrate forcefully by their own doing, the exciting and as yet unexplored realms of discovery that may lie ahead for the person whose health account is in good order?

Instead, depending on whom we consult, we may be told that our sickness is just a sign of the times. We probably suffer from acidosis or anemia, either a high or a low blood pressure. Perhaps we take too few calories, or could it be, too many? We no doubt eat “too little” protein. Everybody does, you know! Our metabolism is, without a doubt, sadly disarranged and our body chemistry is surely a mess. We need iron, or iodine, or folic acid, perhaps; and of course, Vitamins C, X, Y, and Z!

In all likelihood, too, we could use a little magnesium, potassium, zinc, or some other mineral right off the chemist’s shelf. And then, it’s easy to see that we must, of necessity, shed that pot-belly, or could it be that we could use just a wee bit more padding to balance us off? To top it all off, of course, our endocrine system is worn to a frazzle giving us severe emotional problems and we definitely need a few shots and a psychiatrist. And, of course, there’s always the possibility, too, that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with us. Of course, that’s it! It’s all in our mind and we’d better get with it, or else! And so, humankind sickens and dies, often prematurely and in great pain.

...Sickness is everywhere about us, but no one sees the message to be found in sickness. Sickness and death give way only to more of the same. The hope of humankind lies in understanding the ways of health—THE HYGIENIC WAY!

We Must Get Involved

A house which is so divided causes confusion and many problems. It gets nowhere. Therefore, we feel it is important for all of us, whether we are actually engaged in this business of teaching health or whether we are just ordinary persons who want to live out our days in joyful health—all of us must become more open-minded, more informed, so that we can get some new ideas. We must trade the consensus of sickness for the consensus of health. We must learn the Vital Laws of Life which are circumscribed for all living creatures, even Man, and we must understand that unless we live in accordance with these laws, that we have no choice but to become a part of the herd; a part of all the sick, the suffering and the diseased, all those who cry out in pain among our midst.

Man is so easily misled. He tends to place his trust in man instead of in Nature, which provides a grand design for man, a design planned to the last detail: the food he should eat and the environment in which he must live. Man has always tried to improve on Nature or to make Nature accommodate herself to his own ideas of the way things should be and the way they should be run.

It might, of course, be very nice indeed if all of our parts and systems would adapt themselves to our wishes and whims but, unfortunately, they just won’t! We are unable to change our physical equipment in any real way; it works in its own sequence and patterns to sustain life. So it appears, that at least for the present, we must learn to accommodate ourselves and our habits of living to our physical self because, if we refuse, the parts will wear out in far too short a time and we simply won’t have a chance to back up and try again for, you see, we will be very, very dead.

Excerpted from “Superior life Management”—5 study lessons—by Robert and Elizabeth McCarter.

Article #4: The Several Doors to Your Personality

Your voice is the “front door” to your personality, and like the front door on a real house, much of the impression that folks get of what YOU are like “inside” depends upon the atmosphere about that “front door” of yours. If it is warm, friendly, sincere, and readily opened, folks will get the impression that they are going to LIKE what they find inside.

When you open that door to let your personality COME OUT, the kind of person people see and hear leaving that “house” of yours will depend upon what you say, and HOW you say it. So, your “personality house” will need several doors.

It will need the door of good conversation, through which you enter into cooperative relationship with others, by the exchange of ideas and thoughts, by intelligent listening to others, and by asking complimentary questions.

It will need the door through which you can step and make effective presentations of your good ideas to groups of people, guided by thoughtful, prepared speech, delivered in an interesting, attention-claiming manner.

It will need the door through which you use your voice and, words, to inform others—to instruct—to guide—to influence. Those you meet as you step through this door will be your family, the people with whom you work or have social relationships. (And, of course, your clients!—The Authors.)

The best “hardware” with which to hang these important “personality doors” is a broad vocabulary, an ever-expanding vocabulary, acquired by listening and reading, and choosing new words and phrases as your own.

Put This Bright Finish on Your House

Now with your “house” structure completed, we can add some of the finishing touches, starting with the color scheme. One basic material is yours to work with here, and with it you can put the most attractive finish on your house. This material is OPTIMISM. (Remember that when the principles of Life Science are applied by a person filled with sufficient residual energy to initiate and sustain the recovery process, you will approach a success rate of 100%!—The Authors.)

Take a good look at this world of ours, and what is happening every day, and at just how we are getting along. Take a GOOD look, and you’ll see that this old place is basically going along in an OPTIMISTIC manner! Things aren’t perfect—but there’s a lot more on the POSITIVE side than on the negative. And if you CONCENTRATE on this fact, you will ALWAYS find that there are two sides to every condition—no matter how “dark” something may seem at any one moment.

You can add the perfect decor—the perfect “color scheme” to your personality, by DEMONSTRATING that you can and do find the “bright side” of this world—OFTEN—very often!

Optimism—and all the congenial, happy attitudes it infers—will make YOUR “house” an outstandingly attractive one in the eyes of everyone.

How Fine You Look!

Then, of course, you will want to add the distinctiveness of a good landscape job, so you accomplish this through DRESS and GROOMING.

You know, if we went around in practically nothing but our skins, as do some of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, (totally in keeping, of course, with Hygienic principles!—The Authors), we might say that we could greatly simplify this whole matter of wardrobes, and taking care of our clothes, and being concerned about how we “look.” But just suppose that we did make a fantastic switch in our culture, and decided to try it the “South Sea Island” way, with loin cloths, and beads and grass skirts the “fashionable” dress. It doesn’t take any imagination to picture what would happen to the personalities of all of us, does it? I don’t think I would want to argue the merits of such a “fashion” for myself.

I am sure that when you consider the ramifications of the two extremes of culture, the “grass-skirt” motif as compared to the fully-clothed motif, you will see the great responsibility and dependence we place upon clothes and grooming in the kind of society in which we live.

Others don’t see the real skin-clad you. They see the clothes you wear, and the condition of the exposed portions of your body, such as hands, arms, face, hair. Therefore, they are constantly appraising and evaluating you, upon the basis of the quality, cleanliness and good taste of your clothes and grooming.

Harmonious color combinations, good choice of accessories, well-cared-for hair, all add up to the way to “landscape” yourself, so that people will have a continuously agreeable reaction to the kind of person you are. For this reason, your wardrobe should be considered an INVESTMENT—and your grooming a careful preparation for your appearance as an actor or actress on the “Stage” that is your everyday world.

Unlimited Choice of Furnishings

And finally, of course, you will want to furnish your house. Here you have unlimited choice of materials, because you furnish your “personality house” with KNOWLEDGE. Learning, the seeking of knowledge, the ACQUIRING of knowledge makes your personality grow and prosper. Through an expanding pattern of knowledge in your life, and its expansive effect on your personality, the adding of days and months and years to your life, ACTS IN YOUR FAVOR. Each day that brings you NEW knowledge adds to the power of your personality, and if each changing day brings this knowledge from a DIFFERENT source, adding variety to your inner resources, your personality IM-

PROVES with age! A most desirable circumstance, isn’t it?

In your “personality house,” there are many rooms to furnish, and so there are many

opportunities for using a variety of knowledge. Seek to furnish each room distinctively, through positive, progressive knowledge concerning your vocation, your avocation, your interests, world affairs, community affairs, and the people with whom you associate. Good knowledge of all people and things that concern your everyday living will make your “personality house” one that is COMFORTABLE for you and for others.

Now you know what it takes to make an ideal “personality house.” You know the materials that are required to build one, or to “remodel” your present one. You know HOW to do it. Most important is the fact that you can have a “personality house” that is distinctive for YOU, and which will be seen by others as being most ATTRACTIVE.

You can create the attitude within yourself that will ENABLE you to have this house by doing two PROGRESSIVE things, TODAY!

Do This Today for a Guaranteed Future

First, make an honest inventory of your personality assets and liabilities, by comparing your present habits and attitudes (and the results as they affect your life), with the STANDARDS’ set out for you, as we build that IDEAL “personality house.” Persons who have objectively made such an inventory, under this plan, have had good experiences, because they ALWAYS found that the “remodeling job” suggested to them was easily within their ability to accomplish. The important thing was the they MADE the inventory, so they knew exactly what to do. This is equally important to you, and the results will be equally valuable. (Could this be an appropriate tool, also, in helping clients the better to understand areas of concern in their lifestyle habits?)

Second, based upon your inventory, make a plan to do that “remodeling job”—beginning TODAY! The very act of making this plan, and of taking your first step to ACT according to the plan, will result in a favorable change concerning your future.

From then on, each step that you take to improve your “personality house” will be a forecast of a favorable future.

A Strong Ally for a Bright Future

You have an intimate ally which will go to work WITH you, as you take this inventory, and make this plan. Perhaps I should say that this is an intimate ASSOCIATE, since it can conceivably NOT be an ally.

I am referring to your subconscious mind, that inner part of your mental resources that records all you do, and in turn, influences you to act the way you do. It has always been working this way, and it influences negatively or positively, depending upon what you caused to be recorded there. Record an abundance of negative reactions from the things that you do, and your subconscious mind will be impressed accordingly, and will tend to cause you to continue to act this way. But if you record an abundance of positive ideas and thoughts, your subconscious mind will be impressed by THESE, and will try to get you to continue along the same path. In that case, it will be your ally. Right?

If you apply yourself wholeheartedly to your inventory and your plan, your subconscious mind will be greatly impressed, and it will HELP you go into action on your plan. I know that this is what you are going to do, so I know it will be your ally.

... For every moment of the future that is controllable by you, your attitudes and habits as reflected in this IMPROVED personality, will work POSITIVELY to effect a FAVORABLE control.

Your “personality house” is you. Make it comfortable, pleasant and secure for yourself, and distinctive in the eyes of others, and the future for YOU is predictable. It cannot help but be a fortunate future!

From Personality and Your Future by Charles M. Simmons

Article #5: Excerpt from Man, The Unknown by Alexis Carrel, M.D., Nobel Prize Recipient

Young and old people, although in the same region of space, live in different temporal worlds. We are inexorably separated by age from one another. A mother isn’t usually a sister to her daughter. It is difficult for children to understand their parents, and still less their grandparents. Obviously, the individuals belonging to four successive generations are profoundly heterochronic. An old man and his great-grandson can be complete strangers. The shorter the temporal distance separating two generations, the stronger may be the moral influence of the older over the younger.

From the concept of physiological time derive certain rules of our action on human beings. Organic and mental developments are not inexorable. They can be modified, in some measure, according to our will, because we are a movement, a succession of superposed patterns in the frame of our identity. Although a human being is a closed world, his/her outside and inside frontiers are open to many physical, chemical, and psychological agents. And those agents are capable of modifying our tissues and our mind. The moment, the mode, and the rhythm of our interventions depend on the structure of physiological time. Our temporal dimension extends chiefly during childhood, when functional processes are most active. Then, organs and mind are plastic. Their formation can effectively be aided. As organic events happen each day in great numbers, their glowing mass can receive such shape as it seems proper to impress permanently upon the individual. The molding of the organism according to a selected pattern must take into account the nature of duration, the constitution of our temporal dimension. Our interventions have to be made in the cadence of inner time. (Emphasis by the Authors.) People are like a viscous liquid flowing into the physical continuum. They cannot instantaneously change their direction. We should not endeavor to modify a person’s mental and structural form by rough procedures, as one shapes a statue of marble by blows of the hammer. Surgical operations alone produce in tissues sudden alterations which are “beneficial,” but recovery from the quick work of the knife is slow. No profound changes of the body as a whole can be obtained rapidly. Our action must blend with the physiological processes, substratum of inner time, by following their own rhythm ... Our interventions in the building up of body and consciousness have their full effects only when they conform to the laws of our duration.

A child may be compared to a brook, which follows any change in its bed. The brook persists in its identity, in spite of the diversity of its forms. It may become a lake or a torrent. Under the influence of environment, personality may spread and become very thin, or concentrate and acquire great strength. The growth of personality involves a constant trimming of our self. At the beginning of life, a person is endowed with vast potentialities. People are limited in development only by the extensible frontiers of ancestral predispositions. But at each instant a choice must be made. And each choice throws into nothingness one of their potentialities. They have, of necessity, to select one of the several roads open to the wanderings of existence, to the exclusion of all others. Thus, they deprive themselves of seeing the countries wherein they could have traveled along the other roads. In our infancy we carry within ourselves numerous potential beings, who die one by one. In our old age, we are surrounded by an escort of those we could have been, of all our aborted potentialities.

Every human being is like a fluid that becomes solid, or a history in the making, or a personality that is being created. And our progress, or our disintegration, depends on physical, chemical, and physiological factors, on viruses and bacteria, on psychological influences, and, finally, on our own will. We are constantly being made by our environment and by our self. And duration is the very material of organic and mental life, as it means “invention, creation of forms, continual elaboration of the absolutely new.” (Quoted from Creative Evolution by Henri Bergson, Henry Holt and Co., Inc.)

Article #6: Excerpt from “In Tune with the Infinite” by Ralph Waldo Trine

Fear and lack of faith go hand in hand. The one is born of the other. Tell me how much one is given to fear, and I will tell you how much s/he lacks in faith. Fear is a most expensive guest to entertain, the same as worry is: so expensive are they that no one can afford to entertain them. We invite what we fear, the same as, by a different attitude of mind, we invite and attract the influences and conditions we desire. The mind dominated by fear opens the door to the entrance of the very things, for the actualization of the very conditions, it fears.

“Where are you going?” asked an Eastern pilgrim on meeting the plague one day. “I am going to Bagdad to kill five thousand people,” was the reply. A few days later the same pilgrim met the plague returning. “You told me you were going to Bagdad to kill five thousand people,” said he, “but instead, you killed fifty thousand.” “No,” said the plague. “I killed only five thousand, as I told you I would, the others died of fright.”

Fear can paralyze every muscle in the body. Fear affects the flow of the blood, likewise the normal and healthy action of all the life forces. Fear can make the body rigid, motionless and powerless to move.

Not only do we attract to ourselves the things we fear, but we also aid in attracting to others the conditions we in our own minds hold them in fear of. This we do in proportion to the strength of our own thoughts, and in the degree that they are sensitively organized and so influenced by our thought, although it be unconscious both on their part and on ours.

Children, especially when very young, are, generally speaking, more sensitive to their surrounding influences than grown people are. Some are veritable little sensitive plates, registering the influences about them and embodying them as they grow. Those who have them in charge should be very careful in their prevailing mental states, and a mother should be especially careful during the time she is carrying the child, since mental and emotional aim on her part will so greatly assist her approach to labor and to the care of her newborn infant. Let parents be careful how they hold a child, either younger or older, in the thought of fear. This is many times done, unwittingly on their part, through anxiety, and at times through what might well be termed overcare, which is fully as bad as undercare.

I know of a number of cases where a child has been so continually held in the thought of fear lest this or that condition occur, that the very things that were feared have been drawn to the child, which probably otherwise never would have come at all. Many times there has been no adequate basis for the fear. In case there is a basis, then it is far wiser to take exactly the opposite attitude, so as to neutralize the force at work, and then to hold the child in the thought of wisdom and strength that it may be able to meet the condition and master it, instead of being mastered by it.

But a day or two ago a friend was telling me of an experience of his own life in this connection. At a period when he was having a terrific struggle with a certain habit, he was so continually held in the thought of fear by his mother and the young lady to whom he was engaged—the engagement to be consummated at the end of a certain period, the time depending on his proving his mastery—that he, very sensitively organized, continually felt the depressing and weakening effects of their negative noughts. He could always tell exactly how they felt toward him; he was continually influenced and weakened by their fear, by their questionings, by their suspicions, all of which had the effect of lessening the sense of his own power, all of which had an endeavor-paralyzing influence on him. And so instead of their begetting courage and strength in him, they brought him to a still greater realization of his own weakness and the almost worthless use of struggle.

Here were two who loved him dearly, and who would have done anything and everything to help him gain the mastery, but who, ignorant of the silent, subtle, ever-working and all-telling power of the thought forces, instead of imparting to him courage, instead of adding to his strength, disarmed him of this, and then added an additional weakness from without. In this way the battle for him was made harder in a threefold degree.

Fear, worry and all kindred mental states are too expensive for any person—man, woman or child—to entertain or indulge in. Fear paralyzes healthy action; worry corrodes and pulls down the organism and will finally tear it to pieces. Nothing is to be gained by it, and everything to be lost. Long-continued grief at any loss will do the same. Each brings its own peculiar type of ailment. An inordinate love of gain, a close-fisted, hoarding disposition will have kindred effects.Anger, jealousy, malice, continual fault finding, lust—each has its own peculiar corroding, weakening, tearing-down effects.

We shall find that not only are happiness and prosperity concomitants of righteousness—living in harmony with the higher laws—but bodily health as well. The great Hebrew seer enunciated a wonderful chemistry of life when he said, “As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death.” On the other hand, “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” The time will come when it will be seen that this means far more than most people dare even to think as yet. “It rests with ever-growing splendor and beauty, or in a hovel of his own building—a hovel at last ruined and abandoned to decay.”

The bodies of almost untold numbers, living their onesided, unbalanced lives, are every year, through these influences, weakening and falling by the wayside long before their time. Poor, poor houses! Intended to be beautiful temples, brought to desolation by their ignorant, reckless, deluded tenants. Poor houses!

A close observer, a careful student of the power of the thought forces, will soon be able to read in the voice, in the movements, in the features, the effects registered by the prevailing mental states and conditions. Or, if he is told the prevailing mental states and conditions, he can describe the voice, the movements, the features, as well as describe, in a general way, the peculiar physical ailments their possessor is heir to.

We are told by good authority that a study of the human body, its structure, and the length of time it takes it to come to maturity, in comparison with the time it takes the bodies, of various animals and their corresponding longevity, reveals the fact that our natural age should be nearer a hundred and twenty years than what we commonly find it today. But think of the multitudes all about us whose bodies are aging, weakening, breaking, so that they have to abandon them long before they reach what ought to be a long period of strong, vigorous middle life.

Then, the natural length of life being thus shortened, it comes to be what we might term a race belief that this shortened period is the natural period. And as a consequence many, when they approach a certain age, seeing that as a rule people at this period of life begin to show signs of age, to break and go downhill as we say, they, thinking it a matter of course and that it must be the same with them, by taking this attitude of mind, many times bring upon themselves these very conditions long before it is necessary. Subtle and powerful are the influences of the mind in the building and rebuilding of the body. As we understand them better it may become the custom for people to look forward with pleasure to the teens of their second century.

There comes to mind at this moment a friend, a lady well on to eighty years of age. An old lady, some, most people in fact, would call her, especially those who measure age by the number of the seasons that have come and gone since one’s birth. But to call our friend old would be to call black white. She is no older than a girl of twenty-five, and indeed younger, I am glad to say—or I am sorry to say, depending upon the point of view—than many a girl of this age. Seeking for the good in all people and in all things, she has found the good everywhere. The brightness of disposition and of voice that is hers today, that attracts all people to her and that makes her so beautifully attractive to all people, has characterized her all through life. It has in turn carried brightness and hope and courage and strength to hundreds and thousands of people through all these years, and will continue to do so, apparently, for many years yet to come.

No fears, no worryings, no hatreds, no jealousies, no sorrowings, no grievings, no sordid graspings after inordinate gain, have found entrance into her realm of thought. As a consequence, her mind, free from these abnormal states and conditions, has not externalized in her body the various physical ailments that the great majority of people are lugging about with them, thinking in their ignorance that they are natural, and that it is all in accordance with the “eternal order of things” that they should have them. Her life has been one of varied experiences, so that all these things would have found ready entrance into the realm of her mind and so into her life were she ignorant enough to allow them entrance. On the contrary she has been wise enough to recognize the fact that in one kingdom at least she is ruler—the kingdom of her mind, and that it is hers to dictate as to what shall and what shall not enter there. She knows, moreover, that in determining this she is determining all the conditions of her life. It is indeed a pleasure as well as an inspiration to see her as she goes here and there, to see her sunny disposition, her youthful step, to hear her joyous laughter. Indeed and in truth, Shakespeare knew whereof he spoke when he said, “It is the mind that makes the body rich.”

... Would you remain always young, and would you carry all the joyousness and buoyancy of youth into your maturer years? They have care concerning but one thing—how you live in your thought world. This will determine all. It was the inspired one, Gautama, the Buddha, who said, “The mind is everything; what you think you become.” And Ruskin had the same thing in mind when he said, “Make yourself nests of pleasant thoughts. None of us as yet know, for none of us have been taught in early youth, what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought—proof against all adversity.” And would you have in your body all the elasticity, all the strength, all the beauty of your younger years? Then live these in your mind, making no room for unclean thought, and you will externalize them in your body.

In the degree that you keep young in thought you will remain young in body. And you will find that your body will in turn aid your mind, for body helps build the mind the same as mind builds the body.

... Full, rich and abounding health is the normal and the natural condition of life. Anything else is an abnormal condition, and abnormal conditions as a rule come through perversions. God never created sickness, suffering and disease; they are man’s own creations. They come though his violating the laws under which he lives. So used are we to seeing them that we come gradually, if not to think of them as natural, then to look on them as a matter of course.

... Give the body the nourishment, the exercise, the fresh air, the sunlight it requires, keep it clean, and then think of it as little as possible. In your thoughts and in your conversation never dwell on the negative side. Don’t talk of sickness and disease. By talking of these you do yourself harm and you do harm to those who listen to you. Talk of those things that will make people the better for listening to you. Thus, you will infect them with health and strength and not with weakness and disease.

To dwell on the negative side is always destructive. This is true of the body the same as it is true of all other things ... “We can never gain health by contemplating disease, any more than we can reach perfection by dwelling upon imperfection, or harmony through discord. We should keep a high ideal of health and harmony constantly before the mind...

“Never affirm or repeat about your health what you do not wish to be true. Do not dwell upon your ailments, nor study your symptoms. Never allow yourself to be convinced that you are not complete master of yourself. Stoutly affirm your superiority over bodily ills, and do not acknowledge yourself the slave of any inferior power ... I would teach children early to build a strong barrier between themselves and disease, by healthy habits of thought, high thinking, and purity of life. I would teach them to expel all thoughts of death, all images of disease, all discordant emotions, like hatred, malice, revenge, envy, as they would banish a temptation to do evil. I would teach them that bad food, bad drink, or bad air makes bad blood; that bad blood makes bad tissue, and bad flesh bad morals. I would teach them that healthy thoughts are as essential to healthy bodies as a strong willpower, and to brace themselves against life’s enemies in every possible way.

I would teach the sick to have hope, confidence, possibilities. No person’s success or health will ever reach beyond his/her own confidence; as a rule, we erect our own barriers.

“Like produces like the universe through. Hatred, envy, malice, jealousy, and revenge all have children. Every bad thought breeds others, and each of these goes on and on, ever reproducing itself, until our world is peopled with their offspring. The true physician and parent of the future will not medicate the body with drugs so much as the mind with principles. The coming mother will teach her child to assuage the fever of anger, hatred, malice, with the great panacea of the world—Love. The coming physician will teach the people to cultivate cheerfulness, good-will, and noble deeds for a health tonic as well as a heart tonic; and that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”