 chronic diseases.
Mood, Thought or Behavioral Problems
The ability to think quickly and clearly—to concentrate, learn and remember—are
the benefits of healthy cells and a healthy body. A problem with any of these
indicates deficiency and toxicity at the cellular level, usually the result of
inappropriate diets, environmental toxins, lack of exercise and unresolved stress.
Brain cells function normally when they have all the nutrition they need and do not
have toxins that interfere with them.
The person who flies off the handle with little provocation is often seen as having
a particular personality type. The same for those who have problems getting along
with others or working out conflicts in a calm and rational manner. Most of the time,
however, these problems point back to the same two causes of disease: deficiency
and toxicity. We are currently experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of
depression, learning disabilities, violent behavior and other types of mental disease.Many of these “mental” problems actually result from the fact that the function of
our brains and nervous systems has never been more compromised. Worse,
physicians usually try to “solve” these problems by giving those afflicted toxic,
mind-altering chemicals.
Building a Better You
Now that you have a sense of your state of health and have perhaps identified
some early warning signs of disease, start to build the foundation of a new lifestyle:
• Keep a food diary for a week, writing down everything you eat and drink. How
much of your diet is eaten raw? Do you buy truly fresh, organic vegetables and
fruits? Is the meat you eat treated with antibiotics and hormones? Do sugar,
white flour, dairy products and processed oils bog down your diet? Do you
combine the wrong foods together at a meal? Is the food you buy genetically
modified?
• Keep track of the amount and kind of exercise, movement, or other physical
stimulation (saunas, etc.) you participate in during the week.
• Consider the products you use on your body: Are the ingredients in your
deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, makeup and skin cream natural and nontoxic?
• Take a look at the products you use to clean your house. Consider, too, the
furnishings, including your rugs. List the sources of emissions within your
house, including your carpets, furnace, hot-water heater and stove.
• Consider the ways in which social connections, work and community
involvement nurture you, or fail to do so.
• Take stock of the stress in your life.
• Think about the doctors you visit, the treatments or tests that you approve of,
the medicines that you take. Are they doing you more harm than good? Are
your doctors and your medical treatments addressing all your pathways to
health, or is their focus narrow and incomplete?
• Do you take vitamins or other supplements consistently, and are they of high
quality? Do they contain cheap, ineffective ingredients such as carbonates and
oxides, or toxins such as artificial colors?
Each of these choices is part of an ongoing process of promoting— or
antagonizing—your health. Keep track of all six pathways and do your best along
each of them, all the time. Doing a great job for a week and then forgetting about it
is pointless. Track the process—there is no endgame, no checkmate to seek—there is
only process.
Either you are going about the process of getting well and staying
well, or you are going about the process of getting sicker.
Keep trying new things
until you discover what works for you.After you have identified some of the problems in your lifestyle—ways in which
your body is becoming deficient or ways in which toxins threaten you—begin today
to make changes.
• Make sure at least some and preferably most of your diet is eaten raw. Buy at
least some organic fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as organically produced
meat. Cut down or eliminate the Big Four: sugar, white flour, dairy products
and processed oils.
• Practice tips for proper food combining and effective food preparation
methods to ensure you are getting the best nutrition from the food that you buy.
• Begin taking high-quality nutritional supplements.
• Make exercise and movement a part of every day.
• Nurture your social and family connections. Make a plan and then make a
concerted effort to make it happen.
• Identify the drugs you take (medical or recreational), and begin to imagine
how well you might function without them.
A Radical Shift in Perspective
As you consider your lifestyle and identify the areas that must change, take a
close look at your overall perspective on health and disease. Health is something we
all want, yet so few of us give it serious thought until we get sick. That approach
does not work. The practical new system for choosing health presented in this book
is different from typical approaches. This new way to “see” health and disease is so
simple it empowers the individual to take charge. That empowerment can help to
end our current epidemic of chronic and degenerative disease, dramatically
improving the health of our people.
As I have told you, one of the first people whose perspective I helped change was
my brother, diagnosed in 1991 with advanced prostate cancer. The specialist who
made the diagnosis informed him that the tumor was so large and so widespread that
surgery was not an option. My brother was told that there were no traditional
medical treatment options available for his advanced stage of tumor. “Modern
medicine” had nothing to offer, and my brother felt he was doomed. He eventually
found a caring physician who was willing to operate, despite the poor odds. The
surgery was a success, with limitations, as the surgeon was unable to remove all of
the cancer, and biopsies indicated cancer had spread throughout my brother’s body.
His life expectancy was estimated between six months and three years, and no one in
his condition had been known to live beyond five years.
As I am writing this chapter, eleven years have passed since my brother’s surgery.
He is living a high-quality life. How did he do it? First, he had to change hisperspective. The existing belief system said he should have died a long time ago.
Rather than accept his cancer as a death sentence, my brother took on the challenge
of restoring normal function to his cells. The new understanding of one disease says
disease has only two causes—deficiency and toxicity—and that addressing those
causes along the six pathways can heal virtually all disease.
My brother’s recovery came as the result of radical changes in diet and the
addition of vitamin supplements, essential fatty acids and frozen shark cartilage—
not chemotherapy and radiation. Conventional cancer treatments do nothing to
reverse the underlying causes of cancer (abnormal cell chemistry), and they do
devastating damage to the body.
The most important steps you can take to change your perspective about health,
and thereby reduce morbidity and mortality, is to shift your view from one side of
these equations to the other. That is, reconsider the differences between
• Disease care versus health care
• Diagnosing symptoms versus preventing disease
• Treating symptoms versus restoring health
• Relying on doctors versus relying on yourself
• Eating make-believe food versus eating real food
• Germs causing infection versus compromised immune systems
• Toxic versus nontoxic living
• An active life versus sedentary sickness
Let us take a closer look at each of these shifts in perspective.
Disease Care Versus Health Care
Existing medical practice is not about health care; it is about disease care. Modern
medicine is based on the belief that you are healthy until you have a diagnosable
disease, after which the task is to give the disease a name (diagnose) and then
suppress (treat) its symptoms. This perspective waits for disease to happen; makes
no attempt to measure health in its initial decline; ignores the effects of nutrition,
toxins and behavior; and gives little or no recognition to the body’s self-healing
abilities. The patient is not empowered, and the personal and monetary costs are
enormous. Modern medicine excels at treating emergencies and trauma, and in doing
surgery, but does poorly at preventing or healing disease because it is almost totally
unequipped to diagnose and treat the two causes.
The new perspective on health presented in this book is based not on waiting for
disease to happen, but, rather, actively working to prevent disease. If disease does
occur, then we must look for the true cause and restore health by addressing that root
cause. This approach recognizes the body as self-regulating and self-healing, and
seeks to optimize health by helping the body to function as it is designed to do. Thisapproach incorporates all we have learned about the effects of nutrition, toxicity and
behavior. The underlying inspiration is that health is a choice and that almost all
disease is preventable.
Diagnosing Symptoms Versus Preventing Disease
The process of diagnosing a patient rests on waiting for illness to strike and then
matching the symptoms to a so-called disease, thus giving that group of symptoms a
category and a name. This activity can be very expensive and time consuming, and is
often hazardous to the patient. Yet, what does it achieve? Does this tell us what
caused the problem or how to fix it? Not very often. Because only one disease exists,
spending a lot of time, money and resources to give a group of symptoms any one of
thousands of meaningless names is not a productive activity.
Because of its focus on diagnosing and treating disease after it occurs, modern
medicine has paralyzed itself, which is why it cannot reverse our epidemic of
chronic disease. We cannot continue to perceive disease as something that strikes
like a bolt of lightning;


  of cases of that dread disease; and  yet
after his death, not one of his colleagues  or one single hospital could be
induced to take up the treatmer,  ‐so firmly had  the dogma taken hold
of the Medical Profession  that cancer must  be treated exclusively  by
the knife or radium.  His book  is now out of print. But another  book by a
Surgeon, Mr. C. P. Childe, advocating  speedy interference  with the knife
the moment a lump looks  at all suspicious,  is still in print, or was so
until quite recently. (See  Doctors, Disease and Health, also Victory over
Cancer, and Health, Diet and Commonsense,  by Cyril  Scott.)
I am not  prepared to pronounce  on the merits or demerits  of Dr.
Forbes‐Ross's  method, for I have ‐  lot required to try it. But the
treatment  of his book shows  how little the spirit of democracy  prevails
in the Medical Profession,  and  should give intelligent  members  of the
public an inkling as to why cancer is still said to be an incurable  disease
pow that the dictum is no longer true… if it ever was strictly  true. It
would have been more  veracious  to say that many patients suffering 35
 from cancer have proved to be incurable.  But as I have elsewhere
implied, so have many patients suffering from influenza.
As for surgical treatment  of cancerous  growth,  the late Dr. Rabagliati,*
of Bradford,  admitted to me that in the earlier part of his career, before
I knew him, he had  performed  no fewer than five hundred major
operations  for growths, and that it was the uniform lack of success  with
the knife that had caused him to search for other means of more
effectively  treating cancer‐though unfortunately  in vain.
(*) Dr. Rabagliati  was well  known  in the Medical Profession,  and  his
name occurs in many medical books  published  both in this country and
in U.S.A.
My first  case  of medically  diagnosed  cancer was that of a nurse in the
late sixties. She had nursed  over fifty cases of malignancy  in the course
of her professional  activities,  and it says little for the policy of
extirpating  cancerous  growths, that long before she herself developed
one, she had  vowed  that never would  she submit  to the knife. She was
one of many of those in a position to know  from the sufferings  she had
witnessed  that however painful a growth may  be before an operation,
the pain is mild in comparison  to what is experienced  after it when the
cancer recurs.
When I first  saw her, she had had  the growth for some months, and  it
had  already extended  from both breasts right over both shoulders.  It
gave her little trouble beyond occasional  twinges. She had  not
consulted  a doctor  about it, but one day, being laid up with influenza,
she was obliged  to send  for a medical man, who, while examining  her, 36
 discovered  the condition  of her breast, lamented  the fact that it was
already too late to operate‐ and gave her ten days more  to live!
The case  then came into my hands. A short fast on the patient's own
urine, plus water,  was undertaken.  It lasted ten days. Then a light diet
was prescribed  on the one meal a day plan, along with  the free  internal
use of the urine passed.  No effect on the growth was  observed;  but the
general health and  spirits of the patient i mproved  in an astonishing
manner.
Subsequently  the growth  itself  'gave her no further  trouble.  She retired
to a seaside place to live with a relative who scoffed  at my theories, and
though doctors had  failed to cure her of asthma, worshipped  at the
shrine of medical orthodoxy.  My erstwhile  patient died six years later,
two hours  after a physician  had given her some innocent looking pellets
for a cold. I had only seen her once  after  1918‐19.
This case, from my point of view,  was, of course, unsatisfactory.  But it
serves in some measure to show what many unorthodox  physicians
have maintained,  viz., that if growths are not interfered  with by the
knife, they do not necessarily  kill the patient, and  even may cause no
trouble.
A case  is cited in one of the medical books, relative to an old lady who
lived to 96, and had had a cancerous  growth  of the breast  since she was
forty! Various  doctors she had  called in for minor ailments had  wished
to excise it, but she had always refused on the grounds  that it gave her
no pain or inconvenience.  Moreover  she did not believe in the knife.
Since my first  " cancer" case, I have treated, in various stages of the
disease, a large  number  of further cases diagnosed  as cancerous,  and 37
 even after some of them had been treated either medically  or surgically
in consequence,  I have been enabled  to collect much interesting  data
on the subject‐most of which  conflicts with allopathic  theories and
popular assumptions.  Seeing,  however the dogma obtains that  genuine
cancer is incurable,  and  seeing that a law has been passed  prohibiting
any layman even to hint  that he can cure  (or presumably  has cured)


ottlen eck.”  When under  stress  and emotional
strain,  the neck begins  to accumulate and jam with tension.
    The neck  is the  passage way of ma ny meridians  chann eling  the
organs’  Chi energy  to and from  higher  centers.  In the  middle of  the
neck runs the Govern or Channel,  while the bladder,  triple  warmer
and large  intestine  meridians  travel  along  the sizes of  the neck.
Emotions,  gener ating  from the  organs  (anger  from the  liver fear
from the  kidney s and bladder,  grief  from  the lungs  and large  intestine.
- 238  -Chapter  VIII
hastiness  from  the heart  and the small intestine,  and worry from
the spleen,  stom ach, and pancreas ) “jam” in the  neck causing  the
neck to be  stiff.
    Oftentimes wh en your partner  has lost too  much sexual  energ y,
it will result  in an  increase  in tension,  creating  a great er emotional
“jamming” in the  neck.  As a result  your partner  will be easil y
angere d, fearful,  and frustrate d. The neck point  is a marvelous  place
to release  the tensions  arid emotions  of your partner.  Hold this
point  gently.
    There  is no  need  to contract  the anus,  just hold your partner
and mentally  guide  the sexual  healing  energ y to me lt the  tensions
and emotions  away. You can lightly massage  to help release  the
tension.  This w ill increase  your partn er’s relaxation  tremendously
Fig. 8.24 Base of  the Skull  (Jade Pillow)  Energizing  Point
H. Jade Pillow  Energizing  Point
   The eighth  energizing  point,  the Jade  Pillow, is located  between
C-1 and  the base  of the skull (the  occipital  bone)  in a little hollo w
betw een two muscle bands  and outsize  of the spinal  colu mn.
Embrace y our partn er quietly  and place  your left palm  over  the
base  of the  skull on  the hollo w place,  with the right  palm  over  his
sacru m. (Fig.  8-24)  Feel  the heat  that is gener ated as the sexual
healing  ener gy passes  to your partner  while your partn er’s energy
passes  to you. There  is no  need  to contract  the anus.  Use your
concentrati on to direct  your energ y to melt tension  and clear  the
mind.
- 239  -Dual Cultivation
   Radiating  the ener gy in the Jade  Pillow  will impart to  you a sense
of being  able  to dra w inspiration  in. This point  is connecte d very
much wi th our breat hing,  as w ell as a part  of the brain  that is located
there.  When it is blocked,  the sensation  is of  a burde n that is
suffocating  you. As you guide  sexual  energ y to this point,  and the
energy  accu mulates  there,  you can work out this block. The brain
revitalizes,  the mind clears,  consciousn ess increases,  and memory
improves.  There is a limitless feeling  as of  a sk y. As it opens,
breathin g becomes easier  and an inspiratio nal sensatio n occurs,
as if som ething  beyond our imagination  can enter  and operat e
through  us. Rest  your attention  at this  point,  quieting  the mi nd, and
look into  the spaciousness  and luminosit y. This point  also  influences
the eyes, ears,  nose  and mouth.
I. Crown Energizing Point
    The ninth  point,  at the  top of the  head  above  the mid-brain,  is
called  the crow n point  (the Pai-Hui, or  GO- 20), and is the  seat of
the pineal  body. Its functions  are related  to sensitivit y and the sexual
cycle. The cro wn point  gover ns hearin g, body rhythms, equilibrium,
the perception  of light throug h the eyes and skin, and  is the superio r
counter  support  of the brain  and spinal  cord.  In Chinese  it is called
the “Hundred  Point Joint:”.
    When the  crow n energy  point  is closed,  we do not feel  in charge
of our  lives,  but rather  out of control  and reckless.  We are filled
with delusions  and pride,  and experienc e erratic  mood s wings and
headach es. When the  crow n is open,  we are guided  by higher
forces.  We radiate  happiness,  blossom ing like a  flower giving off a
fragranc e. We rule over our own expressio n and experienc e.
    In the latter  part of the  higher  Taoist practice,  this point  serves
as a compass directing  a person’s  soul and spirit to  the place  where
he or she  is eventuall y supposed  to go.  Once  this point  is full y
develope d, you will see a  clear  creative  light,  giving  direction  and
sustenance  to your spirit bod y.
    Once  you reach  this higher  level  of sexual  healing  energy, very
slightly  pull up the front,  middle and  back  of the anus  and the Chi
Muscle,  and bring  the Chi to  the top of  the head.  (Fig.  8-25) Assist
this mo vement by looking  up with your eyes while concent rating on
the highest  point.  In the beginning  you might feel pressu re or a
sense  of expansio n in the mi ddle of the  head.  This is an  indication
of energ y reaching  this point.  Use yo ur mind, y our eyes and all the
- 240  -Chapter  VIII
senses  to mo ve the ener gy in a clockw ise motion, circulating  it
nine:  eighteen,  twenty-four, or thirty-six times, dependi ng upon  how
you feel.
Fig. 8.25 Crown  Energizing  Point
     Again  it is im portant  to emphasize  the opening  of the  Microc osmic
Orbit.  With the  Orbit open,  you will easil y be able  to guide  the sexual
healing  ener gy up to the  top of the head,  and when energ y has
filled this  point,  it will overflo w, pouring  down to the  middle of the
eyebrows where the pituitar y gland  is housed.  The Taoists rega rd
this point  as the “Original  Cavit y of the Spirit.”  The crow n energizing
point  houses  the master endocrine  control  gland,  the pineal  gland,
regulatin g growth, gonadal,  adrenal  and thyroid functions.
J. Third  Eye Point
     The third  eye point,  located  betw een the eyes in the  center  of
the forehea d, radiates  like sunshine,  or the opening  of a flo wer as
the sexual ener gy flows down from the top  of the head  to this area.
When the foreh ead is open  there  is a sense  of purpose,  a direct
and simple know ledge, an intuitive wisdom and  sense  of direction
in life. A sense  of your own personal  being  emerges.  As the  positive
energy  accu mulates  there  and ripens,  you smell fragra nces,  taste
the nectar  trickling  down onto  the tongue,  or see a  beautiful,  blue
pearl.  When closed,  the feeling  is of  the mind wa ndering and
indecisive,  fickle, and  often  agitated.  An internal  dialogue  of self-
criticis m and invalidation  continu es endlessl y. When this  center  is
closed,  you feel y ou have  no direct  knowledge or perception.
- 241  -Dual Cultivation
K. Throat Center
   From the third  eye point,  the energ y will continue  to flow down to
the nasal  passages,  the palate,  the tongue,  the throat  center .The
throat  center  is located  at the notch  at the  base  of the throat  and
top of the  sternum. It is a  place  of com munication  and change.
When open,  our expressions  flow, both  verbal  and non- verbal.  This
point  has the po wer of the  word: what you say and what you ask


-depressant, prednisone, and a medication to preventacid reflux. Although she was taking thyroid medication, likemany people, she was unable to convert the thyroid she wasgiven into the active form, so she remained hypothyroid inspite of being treated. This, of course, contributed to herfeeling tired all the time.
Rhonda was estrogen dominant and low in progesterone.
This was the cause of her miscarriages, difficulty with concep-tion, morning sickness, fibroid tumors, and endometriosis.Another symptom of low progesterone levels is high insulinlevels. Insulin controls blood sugar: when insulin goes up,blood sugar goes down. When the brain doesn’t get enoughblood sugar, it falls asleep. This, too, contributed to heroverall sense of fatigue.
Yet another factor contributing to her fatigue was depres-
sion. Some of Rhonda’s depression was related to suppressedanger, which manifested as fibromyalgia, a condition in whichthe body contracts its muscles even during sleep. Patients withthis condition wake up stiff in the morning, often in pain, andfeeling as though they haven’t had enough rest. Prolongedmuscle tensing uses up energy, causing daytime fatigue.
Estrogen dominance and low progesterone levels also
contributed to Rhonda’s developing allergies and asthma. Shewas placed on antihistamines, which unfortunately com-pounded her fatigue. The prednisone she was taking forasthma elevates sugar levels. The high blood sugar led to more43 HORMONAL F ATIGUE AND RHONDA Y.   insulin production, which added to Rhonda’s hypoglycemia, a
condition that results in feelings of fatigue.
The anti-depressant Paxil has its own list of multiple side
effects, including weight gain, loss of libido and—you guessedit—fatigue. When you add up all of the fatigue-inducingchemicals she was both ingesting and producing within herown body, it’s a wonder Rhonda was able to accomplishanything at all.
Again, my approach to this patient was simply to deal with
the underlying causes rather than the symptoms of her fatigue.Adding progesterone balanced her estrogen dominance andrestored her insulin level to normal. This in turn eliminatedher asthma, part of her depression, her hypoglycemia, and herallergies, which allowed me to wean her off the fatigue-induc-ing medications prednisone and Paxil.
At this point we were halfway home. The patient had more
control over her life, she was feeling better, and as a result, shewas not feeling so angry. Then her fibromyalgia, with all theassociated muscle tensing and fatigue, went away. Adding T3,the thyroid hormone her body was craving, gave her even morefeelings of well-being, allowing her to lose weight and moveeven further away from depression.
THE FUEL TO KEEP FAMILIES RUNNING
Rhonda continues to do well with her weight and, more impor-
tantly, with her energy and ability to function in her family. Ihave had other patients who weren’t so lucky. I have seenmarriages flounder on the issue of fatigue. Without a highenergy level it’s almost impossible to be effective as a homemakerand mother. 44 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  When I read the statistics about the vast number of
American women taking anti-depressants, I wonder how manyof them would be better served having their metabolismsenergized through the use of natural hormones. I would like tosee more doctors understand the role hormones play increating and sustaining a normal zest for life—something thatis everyone’s birthright.45 HORMONAL F ATIGUE AND RHONDA Y.   MIGRAINE HEADACHES
AND KAREN H.
chapter FIVE
Karen is a fashionable woman in her 50s who came to me to solve
a post-menopausal weight problem. Her medical history indicatedthat she’d suffered from migraine headaches all her life. She wasamazed when I told her that the migraines were curable. She’dtried to get help with them, spending a considerable amount ofmoney, but to no avail. Readers who have been toleratingmigraines should learn from her example: it’s never too late todefeat an old enemy like migraines, although the earlier youaddress this problem the better. I’ll let Karen tell you her story:
I’ve gotten migraine headaches about three or four times a month
for my entire life. There would be this intense throbbing behind myright eyeball, in my temples, a neck ache, and nausea. Doctors didn’tdiagnose these headaches as migraines because I didn’t see “auras”—the white light migraine sufferers typically see. I also was not sensitiveto light and I did not need to go into a dark room. Only when I wasin my 50s, was I told they were migraines.
So when I was young I just called them “my headaches” and took
codeine to lessen the pain. When I was 29 years old, I had one so badthat it sent me to the emergency room at the local hospital. I wasvomiting, the pain was excruciating, and I thought, “Nobody has
47headaches like this. ” I asked my friend to drive me to the emergency
room. They treated me with a muscle relaxant and Valium. The nextday I just soldiered on and went to work.
The second time I went to the emergency room with a migraine,
one of the doctors said it was a severe sinus headache, and he recom-mended nose surgery. I did have nose surgery and it didn’t do a thing.
The third time a migraine sent me to the hospital, the doctors
wouldn’t let me leave without doing a spinal tap on me. My symp-toms were nearly identical to what you see in people who are aboutto have a stroke, an aneurysm, or who have spinal meningitis. Thatgives you an idea of how severe the migraines were.
I was told the headaches might go away after menopause, but
they didn’t. When menopause failed to give me relief, I finally wentto see a neurosurgeon. My headaches were diagnosed as migrainesand I was given two medications that finally helped. He gave meInderal and Imitrex. The Inderal reduced the frequency of theheadaches to once every six weeks or so, which was a blessing.Whenever I did feel a headache coming on, I would self-injectthe Imitrex, which would stop the progression and leave mewithout pain.
Naturally, I was grateful for this relief after all those years of
suffering. But I would later find out that Inderal and Imitrex werejust masking the pain, not getting to the cause of it.
Meanwhile, I stopped smoking. The combination of stopping
smoking and going through menopause caused me to gain 50 pounds.This was scary to me. I had always been pretty close to the weight Iwanted to be. I was one of those Twiggy-generation people who wasalways trying to lose 10 pounds—you can never be quite thinenough— but, generally speaking, I didn’t have a weight problem.But once I had gained the 50 pounds I was scared. I looked matronly,felt old, and I didn’t know whether I would ever be able to losethis weight.
I heard a friend talking about Dr. Platt, and she spoke so highly48 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  of him that I decided to go to him for weight loss.
I went to see him and we talked for an hour. I was comfortable
with him, and I was fascinated that he’s a traditionally trained M.D.who has a philosophy that crosses over into alternative medicine. Hetold me he could eliminate my migraine headaches and that losingthe 50 pounds would be just the icing on the cake.
He put me on progesterone, thyroid medication, and DHEA
and started weaning me off the Inderal as well as the HRT mygynecologist had put me on at menopause.
At some point during the weaning from Inderal I had a terrible,
terrible night when I couldn’t put my head on a pillow because myhead hurt so much. It wasn’t like a migraine; it was like every one ofmy hairs hurt my scalp. If I touched my hair, my scalp was in agony.I spent the night sitting up, catching whatever sleep I could, and thenext morning I called Dr. Platt’s office and went to see him.
He told me what was happening—that I was getting my nerve
endings back. The drugs I’d been taking had numbed them, and nowthey were coming back to life. He told me the symptoms would begone within 36 hours, and he was right. It is now 20 months sinceI first saw Dr. Platt, and I have not had a single migraine headache.
It was also the easiest weight loss I have ever experienced. I stuck
to the diet religiously and the pounds just melted off. I lost eightpounds the first week and about three pounds every successive week.I started in September and by Thanksgiving I had lost 32 pounds.I felt great, I wasn’t hungry, and I wasn’t getting headaches! AtThanksgiving I went off the diet because I had tons of guests andrelatives coming in for the holidays, and my passion is cooking forpeople. But I plan to go back on the diet at some point to lose the last18 pounds.
The weight I lost was a different kind of 32 pounds—I can’t
quite explain it, but I had this feeling


 it is there, in real-life
settings, that we have found our best laboratory. Instead of relying on
isolated individ uals who achieve extreme longevity, we can examine a
whole population who were instilled with that ambition from childhood on.
The results have been remarkable, despite the absence of scientific
involvement.
OceanofPDF.comSecrets of the “Long-Living”
Abkhasia, a remote mountain region of southern Russia, is a land of almost
mythical old age. It is the only place I have ever heard of where there is a
separate word for great-great-great-grandparents, which is applied only to
the living. The legendary longevity of the region excited world attention in
the late 1960s when Western visitors were invited to meet the
“supercentenarians” of Russia. These were rural villagers, almost all of
them illiterate field workers, who were reputed to have reache d incredible
ages of 120, 130, and upward of 170.
Outside the Soviet Union, such claims hardly seemed credible. It was
widely accepted  by gerontologists that the upper limit of human life span
was betw een 115 and 120. Even that was a theoretical limit, since at that
time no one with a reliable birth certificate had ever lived beyond 113. But
in Russia the oldest of the supercentenarians, a man named Shirali
Mislimov, was reputed to have been born in 1805, seven years before
Napoleon march ed on Moscow. Mislimov lived in a remote village in the
state of Azerbaijan west of the Caspian Sea, where he died in 1973 at the
incredible age of 168. Toward the end, he had been secluded from visitors
due to ill health. If they could not visit the oldest man who had ever lived,
Westerners could interview the oldest woman of all time.
She was Khfaf Lazuria, a native of Abkhasia who claimed to be
approximately 140. With a mixture of fascination and skepticism, foreign
visitors, including doctors and news correspondents, began to trickle in.
From the first moment, Abkhasia was an enchanting place to anyone who
came there from the crowded, polluted cities of the United  States and
Europe. The countryside was green and idyllic. Most Abkhasians lived at
altitudes between seven hundred and a thousand feet above sea level, in
neat two-story homes, often built out of walnut, with wide verandas and
airy rooms.The climate in the hills just inland from the Black Sea was temperate
year-round, somewhat on the brisk side at a mean temperature of 50 to 55
degrees. But the rugged Abkhasians relished this slightly chilled air,
claiming that it contributed to their long life. Except for the kitchen stove,
their houses generally had no heat.
Although the region had suffered from malaria and typhus epidemics
until the lowland swamps were drained by Soviet engineers in the 1930s,
Abkhasia boasted five times more centenarians than any other part of the
world, and 80 percent of the “long-living”—the word old was never appli ed
to them —were active and vigorous. It was common for both men and
women to work in the local tea fields for decades past the official Soviet
retirement age of 60—champion tea pickers were given certif icates when
they reached 100.
In his book The Methuselah Factors,  Dan Geor gakas describes his
meeting with Abkhasian centenarian Vanacha Temur: “Wearing a snappy
leather hat, the venerable, alway s referred to only by his first name, walked
smartly across the garden and took up the responsibilities of a host. Spotting
an infan t among  his guests, Vanacha insisted that a cow be milked so the
baby could have some wholesom e country refreshment. For the other guests
baskets of apples from his best tree and a round of drinks were brought out.
Only when these essentials were accomplished was he prepared to speak….
“Unlike most of the other centenarians, [Vanacha] had a baptismal
certificate. Acco rding to the dates of this document, he was 106, but he
explained that his baptism had been delayed until he was in his fourth year
because his parents lacked funds to pay the priests. Although this was an
echo of an excuse [the visitors] had frequently encountered, Vanacha’ s
vigor, even at 106, was incredib le. A man of about five feet with twinkling
blue eyes and an elegant white mustache, he was the personification of a
kindly and playful grandfather. He credited his slim, wiry body to light
eating, horseback riding, farmi ng, and walking in the mountains. These
days he slept more than he used to, but he felt fine and was looking forward
to the sixty-first anniversary of the Revolution.”
Although Vanacha Temur was considered one of the healthiest of the
long-living (an American docto r measured his blood pressure at a youthful
120/84), he was not atypical. In Geor gakas’ s analysis of a survey of allAbkhasians over age 90, 85 percent were judged to be mentally and socially
active, only 10 percent had difficulty hearing, and only 4 percent had
eyesight found to be poor. Both men and women in the culture shared a
passion for racing horses, and it was a point of pride for centenarians to
appear on horseback in village parades.
In America the concept of remaining extremely active into old age was
just beginning to gain medical credence, but for centuries in Abkhasia
sedentary retirement was unknown except in cases of disability. Typically,
older workers shortened their hours in the fields as they approached 80 and
90; inste ad of laboring for ten to fifteen hours, they might quit after three to
five hours. Yet, this toil was not forced on them. Love of hard work was
deeply ingrained among the Abkhasians, and records showed that a woman
of 109 was paid for forty-nine full workdays in the tea fields one summer.
The entire Caucasus mountain range had been famed for centuries as a
“longevity belt.”  Bordered by the Black Sea on the west and the Caspian
Sea on the east, three separate Russian states laid claim to
supercentenarians: Geor gia (which contains the state of Abkhasia),
Azerbaijan, and Armenia. A mixture of races lives throughout this whole
area, which is only sparsely industrialized; the religion shifts from Moslem
to Christian depending on where  you go, and the climate varies widely from
high alpine (the Caucasus is the tallest range in Europe, cresting at eighteen
thousand feet) to subtropical. These details were important to
gerontologists, because with such a wide diversity of culture, race, and
climate, there was no isolated gene pool to account for the longevity of the
region, nor was there one favored geographical locale—a Shangri-la in
Russia—responsible.
In the late 1960 s and early 1970s, the heart-attack epidemic following
World War II reached its peak, and cancer rates had not significantly
changed since the 1930s (the same holds true today, after another three
decades of lavishly funded research). The long-living had avoided both
scour ges to a remarkable degree, and much of the credit for this, besides
frequent exercise, went to diet. Favored with rich land and a climate
suitable for corn, tomatoes, and all manner of truck produce, the population
subsisted on home-grown vegetables and dairy products, with small
amounts of nuts, grains, and meat to round out the fare. (Yogurt, a staple intheir diet, has long had a reputation as a longevity food; to capitalize on
this, one American yogurt comp any ran a series of delightful ads showing
an 89-year -old Abkhasian sampling their product while his cheek is being
pinched by his 1 17-year -old mother.)
Despite the fact that most of the long-living consumed cheese, milk, and
yogurt every day, total intake of fat and calories was unusually low by
Western standar ds, between fifteen hundred and two thousand calories a
day. In order to eat that frugally, many Americans would have to cut fifteen
hundred to two thousand calories from their diets! Daily fat intake for
Abkhasians was sixty grams, exactly half of the U.S. average. Although
they liked to drink the local applejack, only a few supercentenarians
smoked, and this rarely includ ed women, who traditionally shunned this
practice as a prerogative of male life. Almost all were married and had been
since their twenties. Since the region had few paved roads, it was customary
for people to walk distances up to twenty miles a day.
One of the first Americans to penetrate this amazingly healthy culture
was Dr. Alexander Leaf, an enlightened Harvard Medical School professor
who was an early champion of prevention. T o bolster his belief that exercise
and diet were the cornerstones of lifelong good health, Leaf made a
pilgrimage to all the places in the world where legendary longevity was to
be found. Abkhasia excited him enormously; there Leaf witnessed firsthand


inthefaceandeyesandarealways
worsebeforeandduringastorm.
Jointpain
SymptomsPains:inarms/legs/shoulders; drawing;
tearing.
Betterformovement;forstretchinglimb.
Worseforchangeofweather;forsittingdown;for
stormyweather;forwetweather.
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Rhustoxicodendron (Rhus-t.) •141
Toothache
SymptomsPains:spreadingtotheear;grumbling
Fefferaftereating;forheat;warmcompresses.
Worsebeforeastorm.
RHUSTOXICODENDRON (Rhus-t.)
Familyname:Anacardiaceae
Commonnames:poisonivy;mercuryvine;poison
ash;poisonvine;pubescentpoisonoak;trailing
sumach
Thisdeciduousshrubgrowsinfields,woodsand
alongfencesalloverNorthAmerica.Therootsends
upmanystemswhichdivideintowoodybranchesand
trailalongthegrounduntiltheymeetwithsupport-
forexampleawall,oratree-whichtheywillclimb.
Theplantproducesamilkyjuicewhichturnsblackon
exposuretotheairandishighlypoisonous.
Poisonivy'smedicinalpropertieswerefirstnotedin
1798byaFrenchdoctorwhoobservedthatafteran
accidentalpoisoningbytheplantapatientofhiswas
curedofalong-standing herpeticeruption(rash)on
hiswrist.Hewentontousetheivytocuresimilarskin
diseasesaswellastotreatparalysisandrheumatism
withsomedegreeofsuccess.
Inplaceswheretheplantgrowsfreely,accidental
poisoningsarecommon;symptomsbeginwithan
extremelynastyrash,oftenwithaviolentfever,lossofappetite,nausea,headacheanddeliriumfollowedby
swollenglandsandulcersofthemouthandtongue.
Therashishot,itchesviolentlyandblisterspainfully.
Forthehomeopathicpreparationthefreshleaves
arecollectedwhenthepoisonismostactive:beforeit
flowers,duringthenight(itisthoughttobealmost
innocuouswhenexposedtosunlight)andindamp
weather(seeGeneralSymptoms).Theleavesare
choppedandpoundedtoapulp,thenlefttostandin
alcoholbeforebeingstrainedandsuccussed.
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Complaintsfrom:gettingwet;changeofweather
tocoldtodamp;gettingchilled.Facered.Glands
swollen.LikesmilkLipsdryPains:burning;
pressing;shooting;sore,bruised.Sweat:worsefor
lvingdownanduncovering;worseforslightest
physicalexertion.Taste:mouthtastesmetallic.
Tonguered-tipped.
Betterforchangingposition;forfreshair;formove-
ment;forsweating;forwarmthofbed;forhotdrinks.
Worseintheautumn;forchangeofweather;for
cloudyweather;forcold;forcold/wetweather;
forfoggyweather;forcolddrinks/food;fordamp;for
draughts;onbeginningtomove;forlyingdown;
forbeinguncovered;swimmingincoldwater.
Rhusfarisoneofthemainmumpsremedies,indicated
bythehard,swollenglandsthatoftenfeatureinRhus
toxacuteillnesses.Thetongueiscoatedwhiteor
vellowvwhiteandhasatriangularredtiptoitthat
maybesore.
Thesepeoplefeelbettergenerallyforsweating,
especiallyduringafever,butgettingchilledwhilst
sweatingwillaggravatetheirconditionsandproduce
acoughorcold.Theyareextremelychilly-theyhate
thecoldinanyform:coldfoodordrink,swimmingor
washingincoldwater,andcoldandwetweatherin
anyform(cloudy,foggyordamp).Theyaresosensi-
tivetocoldthattouchingcoldthingscanaggravate,
andputtingahandoutofbedintothecoldaircan
makethemfeelworse.Eveneatingice-creamonahot
daywhenapersonisoverheatedcanbringonan
aggravationofsymptoms.Theyfeelasifthecoldness
isrunningthroughtheirbloodvessels,althoughthis
mayalternatewithafeelingofheatinthevesselsif
thereisanaccompanying fever.Notsurprisingly,they
feelbetterfortheheat,forwarm,drycompresses(heat
packs)andforhotbaths.
Theyarealsoverysensitivetothedamp,sothat
whenautumncomes,bringingadampatmosphere,
thosewithRhustoxrheumatism willstarttomoan
andcomplain.Thisisoneofthemostimportant
homeopathicrheumatic/arthritic remedies,solongas
thegeneralsymptomsagree.
NBSEEALSOPAGES203-26FORGENERALADVICE,DOSANDDON'TS.
142•Rhustoxicodendron (Rhus-t.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
Rhustoxpainsaretypicallyaching,soreandbruised
withtearingorstitchingpainsthatareworseonfirst
movingafterarest.Theseeaseoffafterthejointhas
beengentlyexercisedby,forexample,gentlewalking.
Butafterawhilethepersonwillfeeltired,thepains
maystartupagainandtheywillneedtorestonce
more,onlytofeelthattheyneedtomoveafterashort
periodofsitting.Andsothecyclecontinues.The
patientssufferaterribletortureofnotbeingcomfort-
ableinanyposition;theyarerestless,andneedtobe
constantlyonthemove.Theirpainscausethemtoget
upatnight,preventingsleep.Lyingonahardfloor
mayhelp.
LikeArnica,itisalsoaremedyforthesortofphysical
strainthatcancomeonafteraperiodof'overdoing it',
(forexample,gardeningorspringcleaning).How-
ever,withRhustoxthestiffness,achesandpains
actuallyimproveafterabitofgentleexercisewhereas
Arnicatypesstaysoreandbruisedinspiteofany
movingabout(thoughofcoursewithRhustoxthereis
thecharacteristicaggravationonbeginningtomove,
whichthenwearsoff).
Theyhaveafearofflying,mainlybecauseofhaving
tokeepstillforsolongwithoutfreshair.
EMOTIONAL/MENTAL SYMPTOMS
Anxious:indoors;inbed.Confused.Depressed.
Irritable.Restlessinbed.Tearful.
Thisisoneofthemostrestlessremedies;thesepeople
cannotgetcomfortableinanypositionandarethere-
foreconstantlyonthemove.Therestlessness is
causedbyphysicalpain,butitisalsoanervous
restlessness,whichwilldriveapersonoutofbedat
night.Itcanbeseenduringanacuteillnesswitha
feverwhereapersonjustcannotkeepstillbuttosses
andturnsandhastogetup.Theanxietyisworsein
bedatnightbecauseofhavingtobestillthen,espec-
iallyaftermidnightwhenthemindwilldwellon
unpleasantpastevents.
Theyfeelworseinotherwaysatnight,beingirri-
tableandfearfulthen,andtheymayactuallyfeelabit
betterforawalkinthefreshair.
Thepatientsmaysufferfromdepression,which,
thoughnotverydeep,maybeconstant,andtheymay
suddenlyandinvoluntarilyburstintotearswithout
knowingwhy,andtheywillusuallysayso.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Backache
SymptomsPains:inlowerback;insmallofback;
inneck;aching;sore,bruised;rheumatic.With
STIFFNESS.Betterforlyingonahardsurface;formovement;for
walking;forheat.
Worseonbeginningtomove;ongettingupfrom
sitting;forreachingup;forwetweather.
Causesdampweather;draughts;injury;lifting;
sprains.
Thebackfeelsweak,lameandtired,andthepains
compelaconstantmovingaboutinbed.Gettingup
aftersittingdownforalongtimeisextremelydifficult.
Thepainmayresultfromsittinginadraughtorfrom
lifting,orfromasprain,oritmayberheumaticky
painindamp,wetweather,butthereisalwaysim-
provementfromwarmth,andanaggravationonfirst
movement.
Chickenpox
SymptomsSkinrashitchesseverely.
Therewillbegreatrestlessnesswiththeitching,and
alsothecharacteristicRhustoxred-tippedtongue.
Coldsores
SymptomsSoresonlips.
Cough
SymptomsCough:irritating;short;tickling.
Betterforhotdrinks.
Worseforgettingcold;forbeinguncovered;onsingle
partsofthebody;foruncoveringhands.
Causesswimmingincoldwater.


adonna,  p. 69), have a direct effect on the body, reducing spasms, relieving pain,
and drying up bodily secretions.
Vitamins
Though often overlooked, many medicinal plants contain useful levels of vitamins. Some are well known for their vitamin content, for example dog rose (Rosa canina, p. 263) has high levels of vitamin C, and carrot (Daucus carota, p. 201) is rich in beta-
carotene (pro-vitamin A), but many are less well recognized.
Watercress ( Nasturtium
officinale, p. 239), for
example, contains
appreciable levels of
vitamins B
1, B2, C, and E as well
as beta-carotene, while sea
buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides, p. 220) can be regarded as a vitamin and mineral supplement in its
own right.Glucosilinates
Found exclusively in species of  the mustard and cabbage family, glucosilinates have an irritant effect  on the skin, causing inflammation and blistering. Applied as poultices to painful or aching joints, they increase blood flow to the affected area, helping to remove the buildup of waste products (a contributory factor in many joint problems). On eating, glucosilinates are broken down and produce a strong, pungent taste. Radish (Raphanus sativus, p. 261)  and watercress (Nasturtium officinale,  p. 239) are typical glucosilinate-containing plants.
Bitters
Bitters are a varied group of constituents linked only by their pronounced bitter taste. The bitterness itself stimulates secretions
by the salivary glands and digestive organs. Such secretions can dramatically improve the appetite and strengthen the overall function
of the digestive system. With the improved digestion and absorption of nutrients that follow, the body is nourished and strengthened. Many  herbs have bitter constituents, notably wormwood (Artemisia absinthium, p. 66),
chiretta (Swertia chirata, p. 273), and hops (Humulus lupulus, p. 104). Minerals
Like vegetable foods, many medicinal plants provide high levels of minerals. Plants, especially organically grown
ones, draw minerals from the soil and convert them into a form that is more easily absorbed and used by the body. Whether plants are eaten as a vegetable, like cabbage (Brassica oleracea, p. 180), or taken as a medicine, like bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus,  p. 213), in many cases the mineral content is a key factor in the plant’s therapeutic activity within the body. Dandelion leaf (Taraxacum officinale, p. 141) is a potent diuretic, balanced by its high potassium  content, while the high silica content of horsetail (Equisetum arvense, p. 205) supports the repair
of connective tissue, making it useful in arthritis. Slippery Elm
(Ulmus rubra)
Deadly Nightshade
(Atropa belladonna)
Dog Rose
(Rosa canina)
Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale)Radish
(Raphanus sativus)
Wormwood(Artemisia absinthium)
US_014-017_Active_Constituents.indd   16 26/02/16   4:42 pm17 quality control
CalendulaWhat should you look for when buying herbal medicines?
It is usually most convenient to buy capsules, tablets,
essential oils, pessaries, and perhaps tinctures, and to
make up your own infusions, decoctions, and syrups
(see p. 291 and p. 293).
• Buy from a reputable herb store, staffed by
people knowledgeable about herbal medicines.
• Only buy herbs online from established
herbal suppliers.
• Buy organic herbs and products where available.
Buying Dried Herbs
Dried herbs are generally available from herbal suppliers. Buying
from shops is preferable to buying online because the herbs can be
examined before purchasing. However, it is possible some online
companies may supply fresher herbs due to higher turnover. To gain the
best medicinal effect, good-quality produce is essential. Shop around
and bear in mind the following points before buying:
• Herbs should not be stored in clear glass jars or in direct sunlight,
as this causes oxidation, which affects their efficacy.• Good-quality aromatic herbs should have a distinct scent and taste.
• Check for signs of infestation due to poor drying techniques, or
adulteration. This can sometimes be recognized by the presence of
dried grass or other non-medicinal material in the jar.
• Herbs lose their color as they age. Look for bright material that has
been well dried and stored, and that is not too old. Calendula flowers
(Calendula officinalis, p. 73) that are a vivid yellow/orange color are likely
to make good medicine. If they have been sitting on a shelf for
18 months, they will probably look drab and pale.
Buying Herbal Products
When buying products such as capsules, tablets, essential oils,
pessaries, and tinctures, always check the label on the jar or packet.
If it does not do the following, do not buy it:
■ Name all constituents of the product
■ State the recommended daily dosage
■ State the weight of each capsule or tablet, or volume of bottle
■ List the weight of each constituent of a capsule, tablet, etc.
■ List the ratio of herb in the product (for example, 1:3, meaning
1 part herb to 3 parts liquid).Quality is vital for herbal medicine. Without a guarantee that
the correct herb of the right quality is being used, it is hard to
be confident that the medicine will prove effective. In fact, one
reason why the medical profession has generally preferred
conventional medicines to herbal ones is the difficulty of
guaranteeing quality in herbal remedies. Many herbal products
on the market are of high quality but some can be very poor.
A 2006 U.S. study of black cohosh ( Cimicifuga racemosa, p. 79)
found that only 7 out of 11 over-the-counter products tested
contained what was stated on the label. Four contained a
cheaper Chinese species instead. The adulteration of herbal
products, particularly in Chinese and Indian herbs sold in
the West is, regrettably, not unusual.
 Herb quality may be affected not only by deliberate
adulteration, but by the use of wrongly identified or poor-quality
material. The herb may have been poorly harvested, dried, or
stored, or it may be old or decayed. It may even be that the
wrong herb was used. In each case, the lack of attention to
quality results in a product with reduced medicinal value—
or even none at all.
 To try to ensure that only good-quality products are made,
manufacturers of genuine herbal medicines use strict quality-control procedures. Usually this involves comparing the dried
herb material with listings in an herbal or national pharmacopeia
(a standard reference work that gives the characteristics one
would expect to find when analyzing a specific herb). Quality
control involves making routine checks to establish that the
herbal material is what it claims to be and that it meets a number
of minimum requirements. The material is inspected with the
naked eye, and assessed microscopically, to see if its botanical
profile matches the standard. Other checks are made to see
whether it contains appropriate levels of active constituents
and to ensure that the material is free from contamination.
 More sensitive quality-control methods, however, recognize
that the quality of an herb does not depend simply on the
presence of one or two key active constituents. Increasingly,
people in the world of herbal medicine are focusing on the
“fingerprint” of an herb—the unique chemical profile that
represents the complex pattern of constituents found when
good-quality dried herb material is analyzed by sensitive
scientific machinery. By monitoring the sample and comparing
it with this unique fingerprint, it is possible to make a much
broader assessment of quality than when using only one or
two constituents as a standard.Quality control
Making the most of herbal medicine means ensuring that herbs and herbal products
used are of good quality—properly grown, well dried, correctly processed, and within
their sell-by date. Using poor-quality herbal produce is all too often a waste of money
since there is the strong possibility that you will receive little benefit from it. When it
comes to herbal medicine, quality is everything.
Buying Herbal Medicines
US_014-017_Active_Constituents.indd   17 26/02/16   4:42 pm
18
The developmen T of herbal medicineEarly Origins to the 19th Century
In an age of medical specialization in which an expert in neurology will know little about
the latest developments in medicine for the ear, nose, and throat, it is difficult to imagine the
practices of an earlier time, when healing was holistic in nature and heavily reliant on magic, mysticism, and age-old oral traditions.
From the earliest times, medicinal plants have been crucial in
sustaining the health and the well-being of mankind. Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum, p. 109), for example, provided its
harvesters with a nutritious food oil, fuel, a


 treat heavy menstrual bleeding and excessive vaginal discharge.
Related Species See herb robert
(G. robertianum, following entry).
Caution Wild geranium should only be taken for
a few weeks at a time.
Geranium robertianum
(Geraniaceae)
Herb Robert
Description Strong-smelling annual or biennial
herb growing to 20 in (50 cm). Has deeply cleft
red-green leaves, bright pink flowers, and pointed seed capsules.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to Europe and
Asia, herb robert is naturalized in North America. It is gathered in summer.
Parts Used Aerial parts, root.
Constituents Herb robert contains tannins, a
bitter principle (geraniin), traces of volatile oil, and citric acid.
History & Folklore Herb robert’s unpleasant
odor has earned it the name “stinking Bob” in parts of England.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Herb robert
is little used in contemporary European herbal medicine. It is occasionally employed in much the same way as Wild geranium (G. maculatum, preceding entry), as an astringent and wound healer. The herb bears closer investigation as a remedy. According to one authority it is effective against stomach ulcers and inflammation of the uterus, and it holds some potential as a treatment for cancer.Habitat & Cultivation Native to Europe and
central Asia, avens is a common wayside plant. The root is dug up in spring, and the aerial parts are picked in summer.
Parts Used Aerial parts, root.
Constituents Avens contains phenolic
glycosides (including eugenol), tannins, a volatile  oil, and possibly a sesquiterpene lactone (cnicin).
History & Folklore Once known as herba
benedicta (blessed herb), avens was credited with significant magical powers in the Middle Ages. A German text of 1493 states that if avens root is in the house, the devil is powerless. According to tradition, the root should be unearthed on March 25th.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Avens is an
astringent herb, used principally for problems affecting the mouth, throat, and gastrointestinal tract. The herb tightens up soft gums, heals mouth ulcers, makes a good gargle for infections of the pharynx and larynx, and reduces irritation of the stomach and gut. It may be taken for peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, and dysentery. Avens has been used in a lotion or ointment as a soothing remedy for hemorrhoids. The herb may also be used as a douche for treating excessive vaginal discharge. Avens reputedly has a mild quinine-type action in lowering fever.
Dried rootstock
Geranium maculatum (Geraniaceae)
Wild Geranium
Description Perennial growing to 2 ft (60 cm).
Has deeply cleft leaves, pink-purple flowers, and beak-shaped fruit.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to woodlands
of eastern and central North America, the root  is dug up in early spring, and the aerial parts are gathered in summer.Geum urbanum (Rosaceae)
Avens
Description Downy perennial growing to
60 cm (2 ft). Has wiry stems, compound leaves, small, yellow 5-petaled flowers, and fruit covered with hooks.Glechoma hederacea
syn. nepeta glechoma (Lamiaceae)
Ground Ivy,
Alehoof
Description Creeping perennial herb growing
to 15 cm (6 in). Has long rooting runners, notched
kidney-shaped leaves, and purple-blue flowers  in whorls.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to Europe and
western Asia, ground ivy is now naturalized in other temperate regions, including North America. It thrives on the outskirts of woods and alongside paths and hedges. It is gathered in summer.
Parts Used Aerial parts.
Constituents Ground ivy contains
sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, a volatile oil, a bitter principle (glechomine), caffeic acids, and tannins.
History & Folklore Known in parts of
England as “alehoof,” ground ivy was used to flavor and clarify ale, the traditional drink of  the Anglo-Saxons. In Medieval times, it was recommended for fever, and was a popular treatment for chronic coughs. The 16th-century herbalist John Gerard considered it a valuable remedy for tinnitus.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Ground ivy
is tonic, diuretic, and decongestant, and is used  to treat many problems involving the mucous
US_202-223_Digitalis_lutea_Iris_versicolor.indd   216 26/02/16   12:47 pm217 other medicinal plantsGossypium herbaceum
membranes of the ear, nose, throat, and digestive
system. A well-tolerated herb, it can be given
to children to clear lingering congestion and to
treat chronic conditions such as “glue ear” and
sinusitis. Throat and chest problems, especially
those due to excess mucus, also benefit from this
remedy. Ground ivy is also a valuable treatment for
gastritis and acid indigestion. Further along the
gastrointestinal tract, its binding nature helps to
counter diarrhea and to dry up watery and mucoid
secretions. Ground ivy has been employed to
prevent scurvy and as a spring tonic, and is
considered beneficial in kidney disorders.History & Folklore A staple food in much of
Asia, soy has been used in China for at least 5,000
years. Soy was introduced in the United States in
1804 and has become a major crop in the South
and Midwest. It is now one of the world’s most
important food crops.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Although
soybeans and soy produce have little direct
medicinal value, they are highly important as foods,
providing unusually high levels of protein, lecithin,
and essential fatty acids. However, the beans may
have a protective role against cancer, notably
breast cancer. Their significant estrogenic activity
makes them a particularly good medicinal food for
women going through menopause, helping
to relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, and to
protect against osteoporosis. In Chinese medicine,
soybean sprouts (also highly nutritious) are
thought to help relieve “summer heat” and fever.
Research Soybean is a remarkable nutrient, rich
in protein, fats, and estrogenic substances, all of
which make it an excellent food. The isoflavones,
sterols, saponins, and fiber contribute to soy’s
protective activity against cancer, and countries such
as Japan are thought to have lower levels of cancer
because of the great quantity of soy produce eaten
there. The isoflavones, coumestrol, and sterols are
all phytoestrogens. These appear to inhibit estrogen
within the body when estrogen levels are too high
(for example, in menstrual disorders), and to
compensate when estrogen levels are low (such as
during menopause). Unrefined soybean oil
contains high levels of lecithin and polyunsaturated
essential fatty acids, which support healthy levels of
blood fat such as cholesterol.
Ground ivy is useful
for many disorders of
the digestive system. Marsh cudweed is commonly found in damp areas
in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Gossypium herbaceum (Malvaceae)
Cotton
Description Biennial or perennial growing to
about 8 ft (2.5 m). Has lobed leaves, large white
or pink flowers, and seed capsules surrounded by
fluffy white tufts.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to the
Americas, Africa, and Asia, cotton thrives in warm
temperate and tropical climates. It is widely
cultivated for its fiber. The root and seeds of the
plant are harvested in autumn.
Parts Used Root bark, seed oil.
Constituents Cotton root bark contains
gossypol (a sesquiterpene) and flavonoids. Cotton
seed contains a fixed oil, which is about 2% gossypol,
and flavonoids. Gossypol causes infertility in men.
History & Folklore In India and the Middle
East, cotton has been cultivated since the earliest
times for its fiber and medicinal properties. The
plant was particularly valued for its ability to induce
menstruation. Cotton seed oil’s contraceptive effect
in men was first discovered in China when men
became infertile after eating food cooked in the oil.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Cotton root
bark is rarely used medicinally today. It was once
employed as a substitute for ergot ( Claviceps
purpurea ), the widely used labor-inducing herb.
Cotton root bark is both milder-acting and safer
in effect, stimulating uterine contractions and
hastening a difficult labor. It also promotes
abortion or the onset of a period, and reduces
menstrual flow. Cotton root bark encourages
the blood to clot and the secretion of breastmilk.
Cotton seed oil is used to treat heavy menstrual
bleeding and endometriosis.Glycine max (Fabaceae)
Soy
Description Annual growing to 61⁄2 ft (2 m).
Has leaves with 3 leaflets, white or purple flowers,
and pods with 2–4 beans.
Habitat & Cult


 it is intelligence which is man's title
to nobility. It is intelligence which makes man what he is and
distinguishes him from animals. Actions and instincts
characterise every animal, but intelligence is the exclusive
property of Homo Sapiens.
Action and feelings, on the other hand, have a history of
several hundred thousand years, and it is for this reason that the feelings are so much stronger than thought, that they, and
not thought, govern our actions. Though evolution shows that
the power of thought is steadily growing, yet the feelings are
still predominant.
Homo Neanderthalensis had a smaller and inferior brain
than that of contemporary man. He was exclusively under the
impulse of his feelings. The activities of his brain were very
modest beside those of a Millikan or an Einstein. The great
law of evolution traces the progressive development of
thought. The blind forces of instinct are in diminution, while
man's conscious intellectual forces are growing. Each
generation will see a step towards the eventual dominance of
the intellectual forces over the forces of sentiment. We stand
to-day between the past of instinct and the future of thought.
What is the logical consequence of this state of affairs?
We must aid the course of human evolution by striving to
ennoble and control the instinc tive sentimental forces. It is
only thus that we shall be in harmony with the law and forces
of evolution and that we can sh are in the creation of the man
of to-morrow.
As we are at present, we represent the forces of
retrogression. Man and Society are being destroyed by the
play of blind, instinctive forces. They are the cause of all
crimes and wrongs. All forms of violence and social tyranny
are the product of irrational and unbalanced instincts. In
themselves instincts are neither good nor bad; their value
depends on their quality. If our feelings and emotions are
sources of energy and harmony, they are of great value. But if
they are a source of inharmony, they become a danger. The
practical conclusion to be drawn is that we should ennoble
and refine the feelings which give us balance, and eliminate
those which cause disequilibrium. The feelings and emotions
must be educated according to a certain practical technique.
Thoughts and feelings are divisible into two classes:
those which give us power to carry out actions and those
which paralyse actions.
We must analyse those thoughts and feelings which
inspire creative actions. When we have done a good deed, we
should look to see what thoughts and feelings prompted it.
All those factors which have helped in its performance should
be called into the consciousness. Our thoughts are under our
control, but we cannot provoke the sentiments we wish.
A knowledge of the laws of psychology gives us new
power. The association of ideas and sentiments, coupled with
the factor of time, constitutes an all-powerful force. If
thoughts remain abstract, they will not provoke feelings.
They must be given colour and vitality. Instead of thinking
and reasoning abstractly, we must strive to use creative
imagination. Our thoughts must become living images. This
art, long practised by Orientals, has been neglected and
forgotten in the West.
If we think of many things, we only produce pale images
of reality. In the absence of creative imagination, thoughts
and ideas remain sterile. Instead of experiencing a wealth of
realities, we create mental poverty. We must always imagine concrete forms of beauty and melody. When we think of the
word "force," we must form a picture of concrete forms of
force: the Niagara Falls, the "Last Judgment" of Michael
Angelo, or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In such a way our
dead and anæmic thoughts and ideas will become strong and
colourful, capable of provoking strong feelings and emotions
in us.
This technique is important in medicine. Though
external healing forces (sun, air, water, pure diet, etc.) are
important and indispensable, the internal forces of the human
consciousness are even more esse ntial. A good diet in feeding
is of little use without a diet in thoughts and feelings. If our
thoughts are disorganised, food, however perfect, becomes
poisonous. In order to achieve, a successful cure, there must
be mental harmony and balance.
Will is not a momentary process, but one that is long
and continuous. Its cultivation is the result of prolonged and
patient effort. Nothing worth while was ever created in a
second. Will power can be acquired when one knows the
method and applies it. We must realise that while thoughts
give direction to feelings, it is the latter which give the former
force. Will is nothing but a succession of daily persevering
efforts carried over a number of years. It is like this that the
great discoveries of a Darwin were made— by long years of
painstaking, patient efforts.
We must distinguish the will from what we may term
the "pseudo-will." Will is manifested in a series of daily
efforts, while the pseudo-will is able to make great efforts for
a short time, but unable to keep them up for long. All the
great works of human culture are the result of permanent
effort. Two or three hours of intellectual work every day
spread over a dozen years are able to produce many large
volumes. We can illustrate the difference between the true
will and the false will by comparing the two types of student.
There is the student who does a little work regularly
every day. He learns his subjects  without effort and passes his
examinations without difficulty when the time comes. His
activity is a natural product of the will. Another type of
student will do nothing for months on end, and then, a few
weeks before the date of the examination, will be overcome
by a strong emotion—the fear of failure in the test. As a result
he "crams" day and night in a state of nervousness and
apprehension. He may or may not pass the examination, will
remain as lacking in will po wer as he was before, and will
pay a very high price for his sudden, activity in the form of
physical and mental exhaustion.
When we have learnt to tr ansform our thoughts into
feelings, we must divide the feelings so created into two
categories: those that create ener gy and those that exhaust it.
In order to acquire will, we have to strengthen all the
feelings of the former category and avoid all those that lead to
exhaustion. Superior and valuable feelings are those that
create, while inferior and worthless feelings are those that
exhaust. With the aid of time and the appropriate
psychological processes it is possible to arrive at a state in which our superior feelings create a vast source of energy and
harmony. Gradually we can eliminate all those inferior
feelings which lead to weakness and lack of balance within
us. In brief, we are able to build good character in ourselves
through the expenditure of effort and with time.
The feelings that give us energy are love in all its
manifestations, individual feelings of ambition, creative work
(whether scientific or practi cal), and hours spent with the
masterpieces of human culture. The great works of music,
literature and painting make us capable of higher activities
and awake in us a great store of feelings and ideas. One of the
highest forms of love is an altruistic social activity, which
provides a great source of energy.
The three great enemies of the will, on the other hand,
which exhaust our energies, are dispersion of energy laziness
and sensuality.
Lack of will is the specific disease of our age, which too
often confuses will with superficial agitation and noise. The
active, even hyper-active pers on, who is busy with many
trivial things, but who accomplishes little, is a very common
phenomenon. It is only concentrated effort that can get
results. We can only do one thing at a time if we wish to do it
well.
Here is an example of the dispersion of energies. A
person gets out of bed, washes himself and then begins to
dress. In stead of dressing briskly, he does so slowly, thinking
of many things in the process. He wants to do many things at
once, moving now here and now there, but never completing
any one action. He always lacks intensive energy.
Laziness is a periodic incapacity for work. It is
humiliating and deplorable. Idle and lazy people are generally
unhappy. Work well done is a source of energy and
satisfaction. Idle people be come sensitive to the small
inharmonies and discomforts encountered in daily life. They
are worried by trivialities and find many imaginary obstacles
in their path. For an active worker these things do not exist. A
passive life is a short life and afforts a sense of slavery. When
we look back on an inactive life, we find that the hours and
days have passed rapidly and that the feeling of slavery leads
with force and speed towards death. On the other hand, a life
filled with superior activities ap pears long and gives a sense
of fertility and harmony. Life is a frame and its value depends
on what we put in it. What counts is not chronological, but
psychological time.
The third enemy of the will is sensuality. It consists in
the predominance of a group of inferior emotions. Love, on
the contrary


 i r e c t i o n s
1. Put flour in a lar ge bowl.
2. Add water and stir with your hands until dough forms. Y ou may need
another teaspoon of water to mix all the flour.
3. Knead the dough with your hands until smooth.
4. Cover the bowl with a lid or a wet paper towel and set it aside for 30
minutes.
5. Knead dough again for 1 minute.
6. Heat the tawa on medium heat.
7. T ake a small piece of dough, toss it in dry flour and roll it into a small,
smooth ball between your palms.
8. Flatten the ball with your hands and roll it in some dry flour again.
9. Place th e flatten ed ball on cou ntertop or a wooden board and  roll it
into a circle.
10. Y ou may  need to sprinkle a little dry flour on the surface if the chapati
begins to stick, or simply pick i t up and toss it in the dry flour again.
Finished chapati should be about 6” in diameter.
1 1. Pick cha pati up and toss it from hand to hand, whipping some air into
it. This will make sure that it is light when cooked.12. Drop a little dou gh on the tawa.  If it burns too quickly, turn the heat to
low. If it begins to just brown, th e tawa is ready. Put the chapati on the
pan and cook for about 30 seconds. Flip it over and leave it on this side
longer, frequently shifting it to make sure the entire surface gets
cooked.
13. Flip chapati over again and now  gently press it with a dish tow el. Y ou
don’ t want to smush it down, just gently coax it to balloon up.
14. Remove from heat, butter the chapati and serve hot.
Enjoy!L E N T I L  A N D  R I C E  S O U P  ( K H I C H A R H I )
Khicharhi is a potent blood purifier and also supports proper kidney
function. It’ s great for spring, and it’ s a go-to dish whenever there is nothing
else arou nd to eat. It’ s also ideal when you are not feeling well and want to
eat light.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves 3-4
M a i n  I n g r e d i e n t s
½ cup white basmati rice
1 cup split yellow mung beans (or any type of lentil), or just use 1 cup
khicharhi mix *
4 cups water
* available in Indian grocery stores
H e r b s / S p i c e s½ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
¼ - ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
Pinch of hing (asafetida)
1 teaspoon Spice Mix **
Fresh cilantro
O i l / G h e e
2 tablespoons ghee **
K i t c h e n  G e a r
Medium pot
Small frying pan
**  recipe in Chapter 16
D i r e c t i o n s
1. Soak rice and lentils or khicharhi mix in warm water in medium pot
for 5-10 minutes. Rinse rice and lentils until the water runs clear.
2. Add 4 cups of water to the pot  and cook on medium heat for 10-15
minutes. Skim of f the white fo am. Y ou may have to do this a few
times.
3. Reduce heat and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes or until
the ingre dients a re soft. Add m ore water if mixture starts to dry out;
then add enough water (½ to 1 cup) to ensure mixture is the
consistency of soup. Add ginger and salt.
4. In a separate pan, heat ghee for 15 seconds. Add all whole seed  spices
and stir for 20 seconds. When  the seeds begin to cook, add ½ - 1
teaspoon of spice mix. Cook for one minute.
5. Garnish with cilantro and a little bit of ghee.
Enjoy!M I N T  C H U T N E Y  ( P U D E E N E  K I  C H U T N E Y )
A great digestive aid; good with any meal.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Makes little bit more than 1 cup
M a i n  I n g r e d i e n t s
¼ cup tamarind pulp or juice of 1 lemon
2 bunches mint leaves, washed
4 whole green onions or 1 small onion
2-3 green chili peppers
Lemon juice
H e r b s / S p i c e s
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pomegranate seeds
¼ teaspoon turbinado
O i l / G h e e
–
K i t c h e n  G e a r
Small frying pan
Blender
D i r e c t i o n s1. Soak tam arind p ulp (if you are using it) in 1/2 cup of warm wa ter for
one hour. Mash it up with your hands, remove any hard bits. Set aside.
2. Heat sm all pan on high heat for  2 minutes. Add cumin seeds and turn
the heat of f. Shake the pan slightly so the seeds roast evenly.
3. Add hyd rated tamarind pulp or lemon juice, mint leaves, onions, chili
peppers, and ginger to blender and purée. Add cumin seeds, sugar, salt,
pomegranate seeds and blend for another minute
4. Store in a glass jar and refrigerate. Keeps for 2-3 weeks
Enjoy with meals as a digestive aid.O K R A  ( B H I N D I )
Okra is a specia l vegetable that needs to be washed and cooked dry without
any water. Makes a great side dish with a lentil soup; serve with chapati.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves 2-3
M a i n  I n g r e d i e n t s
½ lb. Okra
H e r b s / S p i c e s
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon spice mix *
¼ teaspoon salt
O i l / G h e e
2 tablespoons coconut oil or saf flower oilK i t c h e n  G e a r
Paper towel
Medium frying pan
*  recipe in Chapter 16
D i r e c t i o n s
1. W ash okra thoroughly and lay on a paper towel to dry.
2. Lay another paper towel on top of the okra and roll gently to dry
thoroughly. Ensure the okra is completely dry.
3. Cut of f and discard the tops an d bottoms of each piece of okra, then
cut r emaining okra into small p ieces. T ake care to ensure you r knife
and hands remain dry throughout this process.
4. Add oil to frying pan and heat on medium heat for 15-20 seconds.
5. Add cumin seeds and spice mix and cook for 15 seconds.
6. Add okr a and salt and stir (okra should be completely dry, as any  water
will make it slimy)
7. Lower h eat slig htly and cover the pot with lid that has been flipped
upside down. Add one teaspo on of water to the lid. (This is a
condensation technique that drips just a little water at a time into the
pot to ensure the okra does not burn, as there is no water in the pan at
the start of the cooking process.)
8. Cook for about 10 minutes and then check to see if the okra is soft.
Serve with a side dish or chapati and enjoy!R A I S I N  D A T E  C H U T N E Y
This is great to h ave around in the fridge as a sweet little-pick-m e-up snack,
or you can put it on toast or crackers and eat with meals.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Makes 2 cups of chutney
M a i n  I n g r e d i e n t s
1½ cups raisins
¾ cup dates, pitted and chopped
⅜ cup orange juice
H e r b s / S p i c e s
1½ teaspoons fennel seeds
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds
3 teaspoons coriander seeds
⅜ teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
O i l / G h e e
–
K i t c h e n  G e a r
2 medium bowls
Paper towel
Small pan
Mortar and pestle
Food processor
Glass container with lid
D i r e c t i o n s
1. Place dates and raisins in separate bowls, cover with water, and soak
for an hour
2. Rinse and drain well and lay on a paper towel to dry.
3. Remove pits from the dates and chop them into small chunks.
4. Put a small pan on the stove o n high heat for 2 minutes. Put fennel,
cumin, a nd coriander seeds in


 to work.
P ATIENT:  It’s a stick shift. I only know how to drive an
automatic.
P ECK:  You could learn to drive a stick shift.
P ATIENT:  Are you crazy? Not on these roads.
What m ade the scene tragic and comical at the same time is
that the woman, despite her absurd stubbornness, was in genuine
pain; sh e was crying during most of their conversation. We all
believe in our story, almos t at any cost. From a therapist’s
perspective thi s woman was skirting any hope of getting b etter by
exhibiting all the classic signs of denial. Who among us hasn’t shut
our eye s when a situation was simply too hard to face? Lif e would
be m uch easier if our proble ms had cut-and-dried solutions, but
they don’t.
Denial is only one element in the big picture, which is that we
live by stories. Denial comes down to ignoring anything that
disrupts your story or contradicts it. Even the healthiest person
psychologically ignores an enormous part of reality. If we see, once
and for all, th at being attached to stories is what we want toovercome, we recognize that there are people who have done just
that. Their inner world isn’t cluttered with the baggage of the past.
They do n’t def end “I am X”  as if their survival depende d on it.
Rather, they live effortlessly in the present. The real issue isn’t
whether such people exist; th e real issue is why we have ignored
them for so long.
T h e  A w a k e n e d
States of awareness long considered mystical in the West—if
not bogus—exist all around us, affecting ordinary people who
almost always keep their ex periences private. A few years ago I
became acquainted with Dr. Jeffery Martin, a PhD social
researcher who had conducted groundbreaking research into
higher consciousness. What made his studies revolutionary is a
single b asic dis covery: many more people are awake than anyone
ever supposed.
Martin gave them a voice. After gaining his doctorate at
Harvard’s School of Education, he started publishing his findings,
which in dicated the prevalenc e of enlightenment as a natu ral state
of awareness, one that many people have already accessed.
Martin’s resear ch began with him posting an online query asking
for responses from people who thought they were enlightened.
To h is surprise, he got more than 2,500 replies, and from  this
pool Martin intensively inter viewed around 50 subjects. At first it
was ha rd to find a comm on language. Feeling that you are
enlightened is personal, and  it also sets you apart from normal
society. Martin’s subjects were sensitized by being outsiders, often
being stigmatized in adolescence for being different. They also
knew o n the inside that the y weren’t normal according to the
social standards around them. For many, revealing their unusual
mental state had led to such things as being sent to a psychiatrist,
put on medication, or even being committed to a mental hospital.
However, very early on, Martin realized that as different as
each of his su bjects was, their experiences fell on a con tinuum.There wasn’t a single enlight ened state, but rather a slidin g scale.
To find some common ground, and to fit the accepted model of
what do ctoral research in psychology must look like, he dropped
the loaded term enlightenment, an d in its place adopted the
cumbersome tag persistent non-symbolic experience. When
someone begins to have such experiences, “[t]here is a shift in
what it feels like to be you,” Martin notes. “You move away from
an individual sense of self, which is considered normal, to
something else.”
Defining what that “something else” is wasn’t easy, because
these people came from different backgrounds an d were
influenced by diverse cultural factors. However, Martin was able
to ident ify specific areas that seemed to stand out as markers of
higher consciousness.
Typically these people said they had lost a sense of being a
separate self—they had no lingering notion of personal identity.
Putting himself in his subjects’ shoes, Martin comments, “I would
be sayin g, ‘There’s no Jeffery here talking to you.’ That’s literally
what they would say to me.”
Another comm on experience was a dramatic reduction in
thinking. “In fact,” Martin sa ys, “they would often report having
no thoughts.” This wasn’t lite rally true, as Martin discovered when
he did further research, but as a self-report, having no thoughts at
all is startling.  Another common experience was a sense of unity,
oneness, and wholeness. This state of completeness, Martin says,
led to a tremendous sense of personal freedom. “There’s a loss of
fear tha t comes with this, a loss of identification with a p ersonal
story.” Many felt that their b odies were no longer bounded by the
skin but extended beyond the physical body.
So now  we have an objecti ve profile of shifting into h igher
consciousness in everyday life, the state of metahuman. Personal
awakening isn’t rare, and according to those who have actually
experienced it, their awakenin g led to a wide range of possibilities.
The implications for human nature are intriguing, beginning with
what it feels like not to defen d “I, me, and mine.” The source of so
much anger, fear, greed, and jealousy is rooted in the insecurity of
the ego and its endless demands.Putting ourselves in their shoes, these awakened people don’t
keep a runnin g story in the ir heads about what’s happening to
“me.” W hen they think about themselves, “me” fades away as soon
as they  notice it. The same i s true for their emotions, w hich are
fewer and more spontaneous. When anger arises, it fades almost
immediately. Emotions were still positive and negative but rarely,
if ev er, were t hey extreme. Martin’s subjects could be irritated
when somethin g bad happened at work, yet they didn’t c arry the
residue of stress around with  them afterward, and it wou ld never
build in to angry frustration. They felt a sense of inner peace that
could b e interrupted, but quite soon it would return. In a word,
these people were very good at letting go.
To bring order to his findin gs, Martin divided the awakened
state into several “locations” as separate stages of awakening,
according to their intensity. His subjects regarded waking up as a
definite shift, which for some occurred as recently as six months
previously, for  others as long as forty years before. On ce they
arrived in Location 1, as Martin calls the opening stage of
awakening, pe ople usually kept progressing and rarely  slipped
back or jumped ahead. In o ther words, they were experiencing
personal evolution, and the process showed no prospect of
stopping. As Martin described their attitude, they “agreed that
their initial transition was just the beginning of a process that
seemed to be able to unfold, and deepen, endlessly—a never-
ending adventu re.” Everything happened internally, and for many
the shif t wasn’t something they would define as spiritual. It was
just the way they experienced themselves.
“If y ou sat in a roomful of peo ple and a small percentage b elong
to th is a ltered sense of self,” says Martin, “you wouldn’t be able to
spot them. To all outer appearances they are just like you and me.”
So w ho exactly are these peo ple? At the outset, before Ma rtin’s
research began  to expand to many universities and countries, his
typical subject was a white m ale from the United States or Europe.
Martin was disappointed to find that women, for unknown
reasons, were not eager to vo lunteer as enlightened or to discuss
their experien ces of “waking up.” Religious backgroun ds were
diverse, spanning Eastern and Western faiths, yet mos t of the
subjects had done some kind of spiritual practice—they wanted tobe in a h igher state of conscio usness. Curiously, around 14 percent
had done nothing of this kin d. They had spontaneously popped
into higher consciousness or, more typically, drifted into it.
Martin’s resear ch base has ex panded to more than a thou sand
subjects, which means we must ask ourselves if “normal”
awareness isn’t a fixed state at all but a spectrum, with
consciousness evolving much further than anyone has pr eviously
predicted. At the very least, higher consciousness has become
much le ss exot ic. It’s no longe r the province of sadhus and  yogis in
the Himalayas.
When we communicated by email and later met in person, I
accepted why Martin, for academic reasons, had to remain value-
neutral. But waking up has  for centuries been associated with
bliss, for example, or communication with higher beings like
angels, or feeling a divine pr esence. Was all of that abse nt when
modern people woke up? Martin assured me that “outside”
phenomena we re present, but he felt constrained not to mention
them in his doctoral thesis. He found that the spiritual dimension
of some of his subjects had also opened up.


abits	and
patterns	and	renew	your	resolve	to	improve	your	eating	habits.	Feel	in	tune
with	the	bursting	energy	of	spring	by	letting	go	of	heavier,	dense,	or	clogging
foods.	Ditch	the	dairy,	refined	sugars,
gluten,	and	excess	animal	protein,	and
eat	more	light,	plant-centric	meals.
•
Increase	your	consumption	of	raw	apple	cider	vinegar	by	adding	it	into	salad
dressings	or	hot	water	that	you	sip,	as	it	has	antiseptic	qualities	to	help	you
cleanse	for	spring	while	building	healthy	bacteria	in	your	gut.	It	also	offers
the	beauty-balancing	electrolyte	potassium.
•
Sprouts	and
microgreens	very	much	capture	the	emerging	energy	of	the
spring	and	are	bursting	with	living	enzymes,	vitamins,	minerals,	and
phytonutrients.	Wash	them	well	and	sprinkle	them	liberally	into	salads,	on
top	of	soups,	and	on	just	about	any	dish	you	eat.	Even	though	they	are	so
pretty	to	look	at,	you	can	also	throw	a	handful	into	a	smoothie!
•
Add	some	natural	diuretics	to	your	smoothies	and	other	dishes	to	help	flush
out	some	spring	water	weight.	Some	good	options	include	coriander,	parsley,
asparagus,	cranberry,	and	pineapple;	as	it	gets	closer	to	summer,	try	eggplant
and	watermelon.
•
Take	full	advantage	of	your	farmer’s	market,	which	will	have	a	much	wider
array	of	foods	than	it	did	during	the	winter.	Lettuces,	fennel,	broccoli,
asparagus,	watercress,	and	collard	greens	are	just	a	few	of	the	farmer’s	market
spring	treasures	you	will	discover.
•
Sweat	any	way	you	can!	This	is	a	great	time	of	year	to	hit	the	infrared	sauna
or	get	out	into	the	light	of	day	for	some	vigorous	hiking,	walking,	or
jogging.	Sweat	is	a	great	way	to	purge	out	toxicity	and	excess	stagnation	that
built	up	during	the	winter.
•
If	you	have	a	home	yoga	practice,	this	is	a	great	time	to	increase	the	Surya
Namaskars,	or	sun	salutations,	and	other	standing	flow	sequences,	as	you’ll
naturally	feel	like	moving	more	vigorously	this	season.
•
Take	advantage	of	the	growing	light.	Get	up	earlier	to	enjoy	the	mornings,
and	perhaps	take	an	afternoon	or	post-early-dinner	stroll	to	enjoy	the
evening	light	and	watch	the	sunset.	This	is	a	beautiful	way	to	sync	with	the
changing	rhythm	of	the	environment.•
Gently	exfoliate	dead	skin	cells	that	may	have	accumulated	from	winter	with
a	cleanser	that	contains	alpha	or	beta	hydroxy	acids.
•
Try	sloughing	off	excessive	dead	skin	cells	on	your	body	with	a	salt	scrub
rather	than	the	sugar	scrub	you	might	have	used	for	winter.	Salt	scrubs	are
considered	slightly	more	exfoliating,	and	salt	is	said	to	have	a	negative	ionic
charge,	helping	purify	negative	energies	and	impurities	that	you	may	have
picked	up	from	the	environment.
1
	This	is	the	theory	behind	the	rock	salt
lamps	sold	at	local	health	markets,	which	are	said	to	help	neutralize	home
environments	from	electronic	devices	that	are	believed	to	give	off	a	positive
ionic	charge.	Combine	equal	parts	coconut	oil	and	salt	with	15	to	20	drops
of	your	favorite	essential	oil	(such	as	lavender	or	neroli).	Keep	the	mixture
in	a	glass	or	BPA-free	container,	and	gently	scrub	your	entire	body	in	the
shower.
•
Pay	extra	attention	to	moving	stagnation	through	your	lymphatic	system,	as
this	is	the	season	to	detox.	Refer	back	to
this	page
	for	more	tips	on	this.
•
Ayurveda	encourages
Panchakarma
	methods	to	help	cleanse	the	body	and
renew	digestion.	These	are	detoxification	methods	that	include	colon
cleansing.	If	you’re	up	for	it,	try	getting	an	at-home	enema	kit	or	a	gravity
colonic	from	a	recommended	therapist.
•
Increase	your	water	intake	to	flush	out	impurities.	Also	try	incorporating
hot	water	with	lemon	in	the	afternoons	and/or	evenings.	This	is	a	fantastic
cleansing,	flushing	drink.
•
With	the	growing	light,	be	sure	to	properly	protect	yourself	from	the	sun
with	wide-brimmed	hats,	large	sunglasses,	and	nontoxic	sunscreen	(see
this
page
).
•
Synchronize	with	the	creative	power	flowing	through	nature	and	the
universe.	Take	the	time	to	put	energy	into	your	creative	ventures	and
longings,	and	cultivate	them.	Be	selective	with	your	time,	cutting	out
excessive	television	watching	and	other	more	passive	activities	you	might
have	engaged	in	over	the	cold	winter.	Spend	more	time	going	for	what	you
want.	You	have	all	the	power	of	the	universe	supporting	you	now	to	go	for
it!
Summer	Lifestyle	Beauty	Practices
Summer	brings	the	most	intense	sunlight,	which	is	activating	and	exciting.
Depending	on	where	you	live,	it	might	be	extremely	humid	or	extremely	dry	atthis	time.	You	might	also	be	contending	with	a	vacillation	between	hot	outdoor
weather	and	freezing	indoor	air-conditioning.	It’s	important	to	protect	and
nourish	your	immunity	and	energy	during	these	vital	summer	months.	Here
are	some	of	the	most	effective	Radical	Beauty	summer	practices:
•
Eat	lots	of	cooling,	juicy	in-season	fruits,	including	apricots,	grapes,
blueberries,	blackberries,	cherries,	plums,	raspberries,	strawberries,	figs,
nectarines,	and	melons.
•
Enjoy	beets,	cucumbers,	bell	peppers,	radishes,	summer	squash	varieties,
endives,	and	beans.	These	are	among	the	bounty	of	summer	foods	you’ll
find	fresh	and	available	at	your	local	farmer’s	market.
•
It’s	easier	to	get	more	agitated,	impatient,	and	annoyed	during	this	“fiery”
season	of
Pitta
,	which	governs	our	internal	fire.	It’s	a	good	idea	to	avoid
overactive	foods	that	might	enhance	those	qualities,	including	chilies,	spicy
tomatillos,	and	excessive	garlic	and	onion.
•
Drink	cooling,	herbal	teas	such	as	fresh	mint	tea	or	chamomile.	It’s	easy	to
grow	a	little	mint	plant	at	your	kitchen	windowsill	and	have	fresh	mint	tea
all	summer.
•
Honor	your	body’s	natural	inclination	to	eat	lighter	during	the	heat	of
summer.	Listen	to	your	body	and	never	force	it	to	eat.	It’s	important	to
recognize	that	you	shouldn’t	necessarily	eat	the	same	meals	or	foods	during
every	month	of	the	year.	This	is	a	great	time	to	eat	lots	of	raw	foods	such	as
fresh	salads	and	fruit.
•
Drink	coconut	water,	which	is
hydrating	and	helps	to	replenish	electrolytes
and	minerals	that	you	lose	from	sweating.
•
Enjoy	lots	of	raw	greens	this	season,	which	are	by	nature
yin
,	or	cooling.	Be
creative	with	the	range