Students guide to health ... Asserting the debt of strength to weakness, of health to sickness, and addressed to all those who seek redemption for the body

Front matter

STUDENTS GUIDE £•■-..

TO HEALTH

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Foreword

In the preparation of this book, I have not attempted to follow systematic intellectual methods, but to put both method and self aside, with the hope that I might meet the urgent need of those who suffer, with a simple, practical system of self treatment. To be immediately helpful to men and women who are hopelessly in bondage to some form of physical inharmony is my excuse, if excuse were needed, for the publication of this work. It is, like all things else, imperfect, but still sufficiently complete to be a safe guide to those who are in any way, or degree, afflicted. I have endeavored so to present the subject that even the child-mind could not miss the idea involved, nor fail at the point of application. The supremacy of mind, — its power over matter, — is almost universally conceded, and admitted by the medical profession to be a most potent factor in the recovery of the sick. Every physician knows that if he can thoroughly arouse the mind of his patient to expect certain results, the tendency will be in the direction of such expectancy. This fact points to a certain order in the nature of things — to a law of mind, which, if understood and obeyed, must invariably produce certain effects. It is to this law that I call your attention in the following pages — the law of suggestion. If I have succeeded in showing you how, without hypnotic control, the involuntary mind can be

4 FOREWORD.

influenced, and so co-ordinated as to insure a proper rebuilding: of the cells which compose the organs of the body, thus practically making you a new creature, and so restoring you to perfect health, I shall have fulfilled all my desire, and find in your restoration to health a just recompense of reward, for I shall win true gratitude from all who, by this means, find life's greatest blessing — health.

DeWITT TALMAGE VAN DOREN.

Every man's progress is through a succession of teachers, each of whom seems at the time to have a superlative influence, but it at last gives place to a new. Frankly let him accept it all. Take thankfully and heartily all they can give. Exhaust them, let them not go until their blessing be won, and after a season the dismay will be overpast, the excess of influence withdrawn, and they will be no longer an alarming meteor, but one more bright star shining serenely in your heaven, and blending its light with all your day. — Emerson.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Section <§>ne* P a ge 5 .

Preliminary. The Law of God. Soul and Spirit. Thought Creates. Changeless Law. Mental Heredity. God's will is Good. Thought Substantial. Unity of Life. Evil a Negation. Besire is Right. Attraction. Sowing and Reaping. The Kingdom of God. Faith in Goodness. Evil Effects of Fear. The Curse of Worry. Dual Mentality.

Section five. MENTAL STATES

/CULTIVATE a serene and reposeful state of ^^ mind. Develop a consciousness of your oneness with God, — with all life, all love, all beauty, all harmony.

Carry the soul up to the highest possible degree, until it becomes practiced, trained, habituated, in the highest forms of moral attainment ; until it has, as a part of its daily experience, a transcendent perception of divine being ; until it not only sees God by voluntary thought, but sees Him everywhere involuntarily ; until the world itself changes as it were, its aspect, and everything bears the impress of divinity ; as the poet sees all natural objects in the light of beauty ; as the artist sees all things in nature in the line of art ; as the mechanic sees the forces and principles in the material world in the light of mechanical laws ; as the scientist looks upon nature in relation to his science ; so let everything that exists in nature and society, suggest to you the sense of God. All things reflect Him. They are symbols of Him. Every voice has something of the divine voice. EAery form of glory brings something of the divine to the mind. Every thing that is great or little draws the soul toward, and not away from, the Divine Being, till one can say, "He fills the heavens; He fills the earth; He fills the body ; He fills the soul ; I am filled with all the fulness of God, My life is hid in his life ; I am made every whit whole ".

Out of this higher realm of experience, you may speak truths, which shall take away the coarseness of lower forms of truth; — in fact, shall banish from the body every expression of error, for no form of disease can resist the argument of holiness (or wholeness) brought in a personified form before the soul.

You are seeking now the greatest blessing within the gift of nature, and by sources divine, for all law is of God, and nothing can be accomplished contrary to orderly methods. You attract to you that which you hold in your mind. The prophet says, "it shall be even as I think". Job says, "the evil that I feared has come upon me ". Hold in your mind that which you desire, and you attract it to you. Think health, wealth, honor, happiness.

Create an ideal, and then put forth your best efforts to actualize it in your life. Hold, all mankind in your thought, for good ; speak evil of no one, and refuse to listen to acrimonious conversation. See only the good in everything, and everybody, and wish for all who are afflicted the same great blessing, that you are seeking for yourself.

Thus you attract to you all beneficent forces ;

you create an atmosphere of harmony, which is tonic to the body, and at the same time inimical to the condition you are seeking to change. Not only is this mental state to be desired, because in accord with the teaching and principle of Jesus Christ, but, also, it becomes a constant reminder, or object-lesson, to the involuntary mind, and thus strengthens greatly the direct suggestion given daily in self-treatment. The supreme object in this system of cure, is by any and every means, to keep in the subjective mind of the patient, the proper suggestion ; and whatever works to that end is invaluable, no matter how unimportant it may seem to be, in itself considered. It is for this reason that you should devote as much time as may be consistent with your strength and various duties, to reading such books and magazines as are abreast of this new, and higher thought.

This is why I have said, you should not read the sensational articles published in the daily and weekly papers,

You receive from these sources, whether you are aware of it or not, suggestions which are good or bad, according to the nature of that which is absorbed and assimilated by the objective mind.

If you have inherited, or acquired, a habit of worry ; if it has been your nightly practice, before going to sleep, to think of those things which have been subjects of worry during the day, and you have fallen asleep in a disturbed and anxious frame of mind, — by so doing, you have unconsciously forced the soul, or true self, into an atmosphere and conditions, corresponding to that which you have consciously lived during your waking hours. You have hoped, in sleep, to lose all consciousness of those things which have been a burden and a sorrow to you, amid the associations of life, t and so find rest and surcease of sorrow. And in a sense it is true, that for a time you have found rest, in sweet unconsciousness. But, at the same time, your thinking has determined the plane of the soul's activities, and through the hours of sleep it abides amid the scenes and worries of your waking thoughts ; therefore you keep the subjective mind, day and night, under a depressing and body-destroying suggestion, for all night long, even as you sleep, the involuntary activities of the body are co-ordinated, to produce inharmonious physical conditions. You awake in the morning from dream-disturbed slumber, with a feeling of lassitude and fatigue, as pronounced as that which you felt on retiring. Evidently something is wrong. This is not as it should be. You should sleep so soundly as not to dream, or rather, retain the impressions of sub-conscious mental action, and awake refreshed and invigorated, with a feeling of renewed and quickened life. It is wholly in your power to correct this abnormal condition, and to establish a habit of mind which will be a permanent suggestion for physical strength and visor.

A life without forethought or plan must be weak and fruitless, and it is. not against the forecast of wise and enterprising economy that I speak, but against an outlook into the future which wears and frets the soul, and destroys the body.

Too great stress of thought, and too anxious a foresight, is the fault, if not the sin, of multitudes of people. Thinking ahead, and planning forward, is not wrong ; but a painful, morbid forelooking, is not only wrong, but destructive of every interest held dear. You have no right to convert the outlying future into a battle-ground, and attract to yourself its dangerous fire. It is insane action. It is acting from illusions, not from realities. It is putting yourself under the influence of a disordered imagination. It is a libel upon your faith in God. The future belongs to hope, and not to fear. The great Teacher of humanity, when He would rebuke the needlessly fretted and worried disciples, pointed them to the birds and to the flowers, saying, " God feeds one and royally robes the other". How? out of natural law, without care, without worry. What is the use of all the difference between a bird and a man, if it only leads to fear, and fret, and worry ? Every one is better for thinking hopefully, joyously, trustfully ; but there is a morbid pessimistic thinking which is hot, and dries up the very fountains of life, leaving the body, " the temple of God ", an unsightly ruin, because day and night, this morbid mind is, by nature's law, expressed in the body.

Looking forward to every least thing with fear and apprehension, with grinding anxiety, with gloom and suffering, is not right, nor is it profitable from any view-point. The whole success of life, as well as health, depends upon the wholesomeness of one's mind.

Banish all thoughts of worry. Dwell in thought upon all beautiful and desirable things. See yourself as you are, — a soul, a spirit, in God's likeness, — perfect, well, happy, rich, honored. Create, — " thought creates" — an atmosphere of sunshine, of gladness, of love, of joy. Feel God's nearness to you, in tropic winds, in blooming flowers, in song of bird, in hum of bee, in laughing brook, in star, and sea. Cherish the beautiful. Regard with reverence the profuse and princely gifts, which flow perpetually from the great soul of God. Bring into expression out of the invisible universe of thought, that which constitutes your thought of heaven. All beauteous forms, all unalloyed delights. This objective mental state, as you *' fall on sleep", will hold a power so potent over the soul, that all the night through, the wonder-working inner mind, will labor to produce a corresponding harmony and beauty in the sick and worn-out body.

The value of this nightly suggestion may not be apparent in a week, but thirty nights of reverie amid such scenes, will convince you that there is power in thought to change the physical expression, go GUIDE TO HEALTH.

and all outward conditions also, until it shall be true to you, — " Behold, I make all things new ".

Before giving instruction in the method of direct and positive suggestion, there are other important subjects to which I desire to call your attention. You will at once agree with me that sunlight is a vastly important factor in the economy of life. Expose the affected parts of the body to strong sunlight for from twenty to thirty minutes each day, or every other day if more convenient. You can do this without extra expense, and with little inconvenience to yourself, or to others. This daily sunbath will be of great benefit to you, no matter what may be the nature of the disease. Many people seem to be at cross purposes with the sunlight. They seek, by every means, to resist the aggressions of what seems to them to be an enemy. They seek shelter from the direct rays of the sun, under parasols and in the shade of trees ; they exclude him from the home, through the medium of drawn shades, closed shutters, and tightly shut windows and doors, as if he were a pestilence to be dreaded, rather than the benefactor that he is, dispensing life and health on every hand.

It would seem that they prefer a delicate skin and feebleness, to a bronzed face and robustness ; unfaded carpets and tapestry, with dampness and death, rather than sun-drawn colors, with light and life.

Open your house to the sunlight, and so drive out the enemies, damp and darkness, that threaten your life.

You can better afford to renew carpets, and curtains, and furniture, each year, than you can afford the risk of disease which you inevitably incur, excluded from the beneficent influence of the sun. If you need to be convinced of the value of sunlight, study shaded vegetation ; behold the flowers that strive in vain to unfold their beauty in darkened rooms. Visit the homes on shaded sides of your city streets, and note the baneful effects of shadow upon those who dwell therein ; or go into the mines where men toil excluded from the glorious orb of heaven, and see the wasted, emaciated bodies, afflicted with a thousand ills. According to Pliny, Rome had no physicians for six hundred years, because of the universal habit of sun-baths and proper exercise. Dr. Winslow says, " The absence of light deteriorates by materially altering the physical composition of the blood, thus seriously prostrating the vital strength, enfeebling the nervous energy, and ultimately inducing organic changes in the structure of the heart, brain, and muscular tissue ".

Unless your affliction is of the eyes or head, expose the part affected to the direct rays of the sun, for a brief time each day. Florence Nightingale says, in her notes on nursing, " Put the pale, withering plant and human being into the sun, and if not too far gone, each will recover health and spirit ".

While exposing the body to the sunlight, a profitable mental exercise, would be to consider the relation that the sun sustains to every form of life in the earth. Contrast the face of nature in the spring - time and summer, with the earth when locked in the cold and sunless embrace of winter. This mental attitude in correspondence with*that of the body, constitutes a dual suggestion, and compels the attention of the subjective mind.

Another practical and valuable adjunct to the treatment by suggestion, — is, properly flushing the colon.

The colon is the great intestine extending upward from the appendieula vermiformis towards the liver, thence passing across the abdomen, to the left side, where it is contorted like the letter S, and descends to the pelvis ; hence it is divided in this course into the ascending portion, the transverse arch, and the sigmoid flexure. When it has reached the pelvis, it is called the rectum, from whence it proceeds in a straight line to the anus.

The colon is provided with numerous glands, which assist in removing the waste matter from the blood. Also, it is believed to have the power, to some extent, of digesting food, as persons unable to swallow have been kept alive for some time, by nourishing liquids thrown into the colon by enema. This canal is about four-and-a-half feet long, and will easily hold a gallon of water. It is important that this organ, which is practically the sewer of the body, should be kept clean, and especially so, if one is afflicted with any chronic disease. As a matter of cleanliness, simply, the colon should be thoroughly flushed with hot water, as often as once a fortnight. I have not omitted this internal bath once a week for twenty years, and I speak from actual knowledge of its value. I believe that Dr. Hall, of New York, was the first physician in this country to put it into practice, and to advocate its merits. Its merit is to-day recognized by all physicians, and it is utilized in hospitals and sanitariums generally. However, it is with this as with everything else, there is a right and a wrong way to use it. Unless properly used, it may do more harm than good. I have taken great pains to find out how properly to use it, and find that so used, it is an invaluable aid, in almost all cases of disease.

From the beginning of the treatment, and for the first month, flush the colon thoroughly twice a week. After that time once a week until you are well. Realizing, by the time' you are fully recovered, the comfort derived from this internal bath, I am persuaded that you will elect to continue the practice as a luxury you cannot afford to forego. I will give here minute directions as to the method, so that you can be in no doubt whatever as to how to take this bath.

Purchase a fountain syringe that will hold three or four quarts of water. Hang it six or seven feet above the floor, to insure a free flow. Heat your bath-room to about seventy-two degrees, to prevent chill, as it will be necessary to expose some part of the body.

Use water as hot as you can bear the hand in, without discomfort. Be sure, before inserting the tube into the rectum, to run the cold water out of the pipe. Spread a comforter on the floor, with a pillow for the head. Lie on your back, with knees slightly drawn up. Insert the tube, turn off the brake, and lie perfectly quiet. The flow of water into the colon will, of course, distend it, and so you may experience pain at different points of this canal, not unlike colic pains ; do not let this alarm you, as there is no danger in it. At first you may not be able to inject more than a quart of water, without the feeling that you must evacuate it. If you cannot longer retain it, shut off the brake, and evacuate the water. Try it again, and even a third time, that is, if you are each time compelled to immediately evacuate the water. If you can inject two quarts, and retain it ten minutes to begin with, do not repeat the injection, as you have done fairly well, and have succeeded in reducing to quite a degree the inflammation, and relieving the colon also of all fecal matter. When you can inject and retain three quarts of water for twenty minutes, you will have reached very nearly the ideal performance. The better time to take this bath is at night, when the house is quiet, and you are free from intrusion. Do not be in a hurry ; take time to do it well; a little extra nervousness, from whatever cause, will interfere with the muscular and nervous action of the colon, and so prevent a natural and easy evacuation.

This treatment is especially beneficial in all cases of throat, lung, or liver troubles, and in cases of costiveness and diarrhoea. All medicines given to correct the bowels, have a tendency to increase, rather than lessen the evil.

Whether the bowels underact or overact, this treatment is alike efficacious in restoring a normal condition.

There is no danger in this practice of creating a habit of the bowels, as in taking cathartic medicines ; after a time the bowels will move, as nature intended they should do, without the aid of injections. It relieves the system of all poisonous matter, softens the skin, creates hunger, and is tonic to the entire physical system. It has not only intrinsic value, but also is a powerful suggestion, as an object-lesson, to the involuntary mind. If now this matter is not entirely plain to you, write me what there is about it that you do not understand, and I will gladly explain to you more fully.

Plain and nourishing food, air, sunlight, exercise, pure water, cleanliness, inspiring literature, sleep, relaxation, cheerfulness, concentration, agreeable companionship, internal baths, are each and all, an important part of the treatment by suggestion, and not simply because they are rational, and in accordance with the nature of man, but because when observed in an orderly way, and of purpose, they become daily instructors of the subjective mind. The purpose constitutes the suggestion, and the thing itself becomes an object-lesson to this mind which has all to do with the involuntary activities of the body.

Therapeutic as they are, in themselves considered, they become all the more so, as suggestions to this spirit-mind. I have thoroughly tested the value of these things, in hundreds of cases, — cases pronounced incurable, by supposedly competent authority, and with results little less than wonderful, as you may know by the testimonials herein given. These should be sufficient to convince the most skeptical, that there is help for all who suffer, if they will but accept of the proffered assistance. The power to do, all that you desire should be done, is within yourself, if you will believe in it, and consciously identify yourself with it.

I have tried to make the method so plain, that no one could mistake it. Here my responsibility ends. I have no power to compel you to make trial of the system, and would not use it, if I had. I can only say, that if you are suffering from chronic sickness, and you allow your unbelief to turn you away from this certain remedy, you are making the greatest mistake of your life.

I wish now to call your attention to that which is of most importance in metaphysical treatment, viz. :

Direct and positive suggestion.

You may not recognize this fact, but nevertheless it is true, that the mind governs physical life. Every cell that enters into the composition of your body is enlarged, contracted, moved by the impulses of thought that originate from the convolutions of the cerebrum, created by suggestions received from your associations and surroundings. All functions of the body are influenced by what you think. As cause of disease, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, no matter what name may be given to them by physicians, we find the " burden of a troubled spirit ", or an " outraged conscience ". When the mind is tranquil, and in harmony with the laws of God, the functions of the body are perfectly performed. When disturbed, worried, full of fear, and remorse, and anxiety, we have afo-ease, or a diminished resistance to disease. Why ? Because the chronic action of the objective mind becomes a potential suggestion to the subjective mind, which under this constant suggestion rebuilds the cells to produce a corresponding inharmony in the body. The creation of cells is largely influenced by the mental attitude of the person. Mental depression diminishes them, while buoyancy of spirit, lightheadedness, promotes their growth.

When the system is run down and weakened by long-continued sickness, the mind is much more susceptible to suggestion. Every movement, every look, every sight or sound, is cognized by the organs of sense, and pronounced upon by the judicial faculty of the brain, thus setting up throughout the sympathetic nervous system, vibrations for good or evil in every tissue, and organ of the body. Every one knows how easily the mind may be led into healthy habits of thought, or the opposite. This is accomplished by external suggestion in a degree, but much more by the individual himself, through auto-suggestion. Your faith in a physician, and in his knowledge of materia medica, has much to do with the effect of the remedy prescribed. We concede the power of certain drugs to change the vibrations of tissue, or to produce chemical changes in the system, and to that extent, wisely administered, they possess intrinsic value. Still it remains true that the greater value of the remedy lies in what you believe about it, as your belief is a very powerful suggestion to the involuntary mind for cure. An old fisherman, living on the shores of Lake George, for many years afflicted with rheumatism, spoke to me of an infallible remedy for that painful disease. It was simply to carry in one's trousers pocket a small potato. Now it is not only true that in this case the remedy was effective, but in other cases also, to whom this simple corrective had been recommended. Many persons have carried about them horse-chestnuts, and other equally harmless amulets, for a similar reason, and in many instances with beneficial results. Why ? not surely because of any virtue in the object itself, but because there was a vital and potential relation between the object carried and the mind of him who carried it. What he believed about it, — in that, and not in the thing itself, was the power to heal.

It was a constant object-lesson to the involuntary mind, — a constant suggestion for a specific purpose, and the law of suggestion, ignorantly obeyed, wrought out the expected result.

You have known of similar cases, no doubt. Stop and ask yourself the question. Why ? You can find but one logical solution to the problem, namely : the action of subjective mind through the law of suggestion. Granted that this is the true solution, can you not realize what it must mean to you and to others, to intelligently follow this great law, and constantly give direction to the forces that are continually rebuilding the body ?

It is a common occurrence for physicians to prescribe for a patient who does not need medicines, bread pills, or sweetened water, and the therapeutic effect upon the system is the same, as that which the physician indicated to the patient, would be. Recently a prominent and cultured lady of New York was brought to me by her husband for treatment. She had been for months under the care of a specialist, in women's diseases. She could not sleep without taking opiates, and was in a feverish and restless condition; her constant cry was for rest, and escape from insanity. I gave her directions regarding the treatment, and agreed to attend her until she was well, which I assured her would

MM ioo GUIDE TO HEALTH.

be soon. For several nights I consented to her taking- the accustomed dose of whiskey, without which, as she believed, she could not sleep. Realizing that I could accomplish nothing if this practice was kept up, I felt myself justified in practicing deception. I recommended to her a sleeping potion of my own mixing as a substitute for other opiates. Described to her minutely just the effect the medicine would have, putting emphasis, of course, upon the fact of sleep. I gave strict orders to both the nurse and maid, to be careful about giving the potion, thus emphasizing as much as possible the suggestion. I found the next morning that my patient had slept soundly for six hours, after taking the medicine. This I continued to do night after night for about a month, my patient sleeping from eight to ten hours. Her improvement was so rapid in every way, that at the end of a month she no longer felt the need of anything to quiet her nerves, and I discontinued the medicine. Now it is a fact that this patient did not take a particle of medicine of any kind. She thought she did, and the perfectly harmless pills had the effect suggested, because when she took them, she gave herself an auto-suggestion for rest and sleep, and that suggestion in the form of an object-lesson to the involuntary mind, together with the direct suggestion which I myself gave, produced through the action of that mind, the physical condition of quiet and repose. After three months, I dismissed the case, perfect-

\y cured, and there has been no recurrence of the trouble.

If you will closely follow the directions herein given, you will, without doubt, succeed in keeping the proper suggestion in the involuntary mind, whether you are aware of the fact or not. So far as sensation is concerned, you will have reason to think that you do not reach this mind, as you will have no consciousness that you do. Yet you cannot help reaching it, — if you continue to do the things which the law demands.

After a time you will reach this consciousness through the changed condition of the body, and from that time on, it will be less difficult and irksome for you to go on to health. You should dress loosely at all times, even to the feet. Put as little strain upon the system as possible, and take as much time as you can afford for relaxation and repose. The proper time to give yourself positive and direct suggestion, is when you retire, and are ready to sleep. Lie on your back, relax the muscles, breathe full and deep for a moment or two, or until you have somewhat concentrated the mind. Now think of yourself, as a spiritual, instead of a physical being.