Health

While I was laying in the ER yesterday I remembered an oldie but goodie. "The peace of God is now established in the hearts and minds of all humankind". (an affirmation for world peace obviously)

Many times I have modified it for prosperity or health. So I did that yesterday and tailored it to myself. "The health of God is now established in my whole mind and body." That calmed me enough to start me thinking of all the other people in the other rooms. So I switched back to "all mankind" wishing I could send peace and healing through the walls. At some point I opened my eyes and instead of the bright white light from the ceiling fixture the light had taken on a disfuse golden color and seemed to be moving outward from the center.

My blood sugar which had gone bizarrely high came down over 100 pts before I left. Fast enouogh that no medical intervention was taken.

God has been showing me perpetual comfort and love in the last months. I have been resuscitated 3 times in April and May. First from an mysterious respiratory failure and the twice from something called digoxin toxicity. Laying around in ICU turns you into rag doll so I am fresh out of a rehab place and into a lot of PT. When I went into the cardiologist office 3 days ago, I asked the receptionist to sign me in as I do everwhere, because I can't sign my name (tremor). I said my name and she said "Yes, we all know who you are." I said, it's nice to be notorious. My dr. keeps telling me I am a walking miracle.

So here I am. You are reading the words of a notorious, recently dead person. Now I think I will stop this and go have a glass of sacred iced tea. (This is Alabama, sweet tea is special here, even artificially sweetened)

I am sorry you had to go through all that. ((((Teka))

Teka, welcome back from the grave! I'm sorry you've had such a rough time but it sounds like you're on your way to a full recovery, eh? That was a great affirmation, btw.

You ought to pick up "The Hell I Can't!" by Terry McBride sometime if you enjoy reading and have the time. He's a New Thoughter who was 'destined to die' and used the Spiritual Laws to his advantage, it's an interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/THE-HELL-I-CANT/dp/0974585009

http://www.terrymcbride.net/thic.html

Divine Love dissolves and dissipates every wrong condition in my mind and body.

Thank you Mother/Father God for perfect life.

I tried to be good and be still. I just can't. I do not believe that divine love disolves and dissipates every worng condition in the mind and body. I think our minds are powerful tools and can be harnessed to help us be heathy and happy. It doesn't solve all illnesses nor keep them at bay when we become ill. It takes a combination of mind and body. Sometimes what happens to us is beyond control. I sure didn't do anything to merit having glioblastoma multiforme. I have tried to eat well. Exercise is probllematic. I wasn't and am still not good about it.

I know you are affirming your feelings about wellness and a good life. I appreciate that and honor you for it. But there is considerably more to our health or lack of it.

Thank you for reading here despite your non belief in my beliefs.

We probably agreed that we can harness the mind to help the body heal sometimes. And we probably agreed that a mindset of fear will make illness worse most of the time.

All my affirmations do for me is to bring my mind to a place that is most helpful to me. They just fill up mental space so negativity and fear have no mental space.

I am not good at explaining my use of affirmations, at least I do not know the answers a pro would use. If I am coming down stairs I frequently say "Thank you God for perfect life",several times. If I didn't do this and just gave in to Teka's mind tapes, the stuff running through would sound like, "Don't fall you old fool. What were you thinking when you came up here? How many days do you think your insurance will cover if you break a hip? blah blah blah". Of course holding on to the railing, looking at my feet and going slowly and carefully , are my part. So is the decision not to think those negative thoughts and to be grateful for the health I do have. I spare myself the feelings of fear my 'tapes' would stir up.

The affirmation about dissolution is an old one in Unity and the language is some what stilted for this day and age. It probably replaced one that said 'As a child of God I do not inheirit illness.' Or "The appearance of illness is powerless to take or keep vibrant health from me." All oldies and goodies but changing a bit all the time.

Do I believe there is a Power out there , doling out or with holding love?....no. Do I believe that when I can get into a mental state where I feel I have tapped into love it helps me to support my body's healing mechanism?.......yes.

Once I feel that joining, it does not matter what my physical state is to me anymore. I cannot concieve of living forever nor do I want to. I can imagine feeling secure, at peace and loved for as long as I have feelings.

When I posted that affirmation I had been having breathing problems for 3 days. They are better today, improved. Am I healing ? I think so. I have always felt as you do that I must do certain things for my health . It doesn't have to be some big life changing project. It can be symbolic with the intention of bringing healing to myself. This is my idea of engaging the Christ within me. Excuse me, more of that New Thought lingo, but you probably have a term more meaningful to you that signifies the same thing.

Why in the world do we suffer? Do we bring it on ourselves? I think only the obvious things that we can easily do something about. But being human seems to start and end with some kind of suffering.

It must be a fearful thing to take that first breath and taking the last.....well.....we usually have years to work up a good fear of that.
And for myself my intellect has no fear, but I have learned my body has different 'ideas', it appears to prefer a fighting finish.

My only comment about the 'blame game' LOA stirs up is that I don't accept the standard version. I do believe I will make an effort not to give into the worry wart kind of fear because of the mental suffering it causes.

If negative thought manifested itself so easily, all of my children would have killed themselves falling out of trees, off of swing sets or crossing the road. In fact this thinking alone would have depopulated the earth. My parents would have both dropped dead when I was a teen come to think of it. LOL

I think people worry and wonder a lot too much about "why did this happen?" and indulge in a lot of magical thinking that if they can just get in the right meditational state or believe the right stuff, etc. why then they will be protected from all harm and stop being a human. I think that trials and tribulations happen to every living thing, not for a reason, unless you consider life a reason. Every living thing is created, lives and dies. It is an age old pattern, repeated in the smallest cell on up to us, if you consider us the pinnacle of creation.

Things happen in life, good, bad or indifferent. A lot of people think there has to be a reason for each and every one of those things. I don't. Life is grab bag. I think it is a pattern of actions/consequences and random occurrences, that is heavily influenced by a person's genes and life experiences. You can make the best of it or not, it is up to you. I do think that a positive attitude and affirmations improve a person's life because it encourages a person to look at life as a glass that is half full, rather than a glass that is half empty. That cheerfulness improves the quality of life for the person and the people around them.

I think, for the average person, life is a grab bag of experiences. Those of us in New Thought though find that through meditation or whatever connection we can get to the Divine, our life situations change sometimes dramatically. It's not just a matter of placebo effect, however, thinking positively does promote a positive attitude and then better effects along with it.

Since this is the New Thought board, I'll throw out a quote from the Textbook.

"Since the dawn of consciousness in the race, man has thought. He has thought spontaneously with little regard to the type of thought, and with practically no knowledge of the fact that he could and should control his thinking. Man has free will in his thinking; from boyhood he has been influenced by the world around him. Quite naturally he has based his decisions upon appearances and formed his opinions through observation of the outer as it has registered upon his consciousness through the senses. In its immaturity man’s thinking has been centered on the world of conditions about him. He has emphasized negative conditions; illness, accident, disaster, war, sorrow, etc., and as a result he is living in a world filled with such experiences.

Gradually during the progress of man’s slow growth through the ages, individuals here and there have discovered that thought is of great importance; that it is a determining factor in making man’s outer world; that it is a ready too for improving his affairs. In this day many more are learning the value of the practical laws of right thinking." http://tigerseyedowsing.com/ds/home_study_courses/ds_textbook/ds_textbook_4.html

TED, just to be contrary, I don't think that anyone can prove that man didn't, from the very beginning, control his or her thinking just like he controlled his or her limbs. I don't think that it is a sign of immaturity to center one's thoughts on what is going on in the material world. That often affects life and limb and the next meal. I think that it is sane and proper to focus on illness, accident, disaster, war and surviving them. These are all external events that can deeply affect the here and now. I think that Americans have grown very complacent because of material wealth and physical isolation and forget that the remaking of our outer world is the result of a lot of deprivation and hard work on the part of the people who died to give it to us.

But I also believe that directed will can affect change. That's what we call magic in my religion.

Thank you every one. I think that our minds and bodies are completely and intimately connected. What affects the one affects the other. I believe that we can have a powerful and positive impact on our physical, emotional and mental health. We can help ourselves to heal our selves in many ways.

Honestly I do not believe that we can do that solely with our minds and emotions. Our minds and bodies are powerful but things can and do go wrong. That was and is my point.

Most of you here know that I have been battling a very aggresive cancer for the last fifteen months. I am not asking for sympathy. From my perspective my illness is as much a part of my body as is the surgery and treatment for it. What I have pointed out here and elsewhere really is not meant for or directed at any of us that are part of this forum. It is a reminder for those people who find our site and read it. I didn't communicate that very well and I do apologize.

After my initial surgery and diagnosis I did what I think is the sensible thing and did a lot of research about it. Much of what I found was very informative and was very good information. I expect that any one here would have done the same thing. It only makes sense.

I also found a lot of sites that prey on people in desperate circumstances. I am not speaking about any one here in our lovely little corner of the web I am speaking about other sorts of people. Those kind of people how look for some one who is vulnerable,desperately ill and who may not have good options for treatment. Perhaps these are people who are out of options and have no where else to trun for to help manage with their illness. For someone who is gravely ill, or in my case terminally illl and has no where else to go, well, there are people who troll the web looking to make money. I have found all sorts of sites that attempt to prey on dpeople in dire circumstances. I was trying, in an very inept way, to point this out. I shold have qualified my post to let my friends here know what i was trying to get across about my post. I did a pretty poor job.

Tiger, Teka, I have great repsect for New Thought. I don't know nearly as much as I really should about your religious walk. What I do know strikes me as profound, life affirming and life changing. NT seems to me to be a marriage of mind, body and spirit.

Gilly, you have very profound points. You always give me a lot of things to think about and chew on. Thank you.

Those kind of people how look for some one who is vulnerable,desperately ill and who may not have good options for treatment.

I encountered several such a few years ago when I became obsessive about raw foodism.

I got into it thinking that it would be healthier. There were a couple of much-needed benefits: I lost weight to the point that my blood pressure which had been borderline high was normal again. Also, I discovered that I'm apparently gluten and dairy intolerant as I my chronic sinus cleared up dramatically within about a week after I started eating two raw meals a day and a mostly raw third one.

Then, I began seeing claims that diabetics had been able to go off insulin solely from eating 100% raw. People who felt unwell on a partially raw diet were urged to be 100%. Those who were 100% and were having problems were told that they must not be completely raw unless they insisted they were. Then, it was that they weren't eating a properly balanced diet or--worse still--would be asked suspiciously if they were SURE they were entirely raw.

Ultimately, one woman who was a moderator who'd been completely raw for five years began having digestive problems and felt generally unwell. She posted pics of herself, and she looked really ill. She mentioned that her hair was falling out by handfuls.

The hardcore types were vegan raw foodists. Some "rawies" eat a bit of dairy or sushi now and then and the rest of their diet raw veggies and fruit.

To make a long story short, some of us urged this woman to get to a healthcare professional, that it sounded like she might have a nutritional deficiency.

She did, and posted that she had learned that she was dangerously deficient in some important nutrients. (She didn't say specifically what.)

She was openly berated on the boards for abandoning vegan raw eating and starting to eat some chicken and fish. Soon after, she resigned from moderating and left the site.

That was the point at which I realized that I'd begun believing that I could cure some longtime health problems I have by eating only raw foods. Thankfully, I didn't get crazy enough to quit taking my medication, but I went more than somewhat nutty for a while.

It's easy to do if you have obsessive tendencies anyway and could be very easy indeed to fall into such magical and possibly delusional thinking if you have a life-threatening illness. The hardcore vegan raw foodists claim that eating 100% raw can cure ANY disease.

Very dangerous for vulnerable people, I agree, itty.

That is eye opening Dot. The idea one reatment or diet will cure any and all health issues raises a huge red flag for me. Our bodies are so somplex and, for me, miraculous. I try to take a balanced approach. In my instance I combine my treatment with guided imagry, meditation and what I hope is a balanced diet. I am a firm believer inpersonal affirmantion and the effacy of postive thinking. My experience has been that thinking out of the box and searching for options has helped me in many, many ways.

Of of my focuses in on trying as best I can to find good, reliable information about my illness and then trying to get that information out. I regularly research alternative and complimentary therapies. The first people I go to are my medical team. I am a very gragmatic person. I tend to come down on the side of being a skeptical person who tries to be a realist. I also have to admit to not being a mystical person. I try but my head gets in my way. I figure that the people helping me with my treatment have more education and experience than I do. Doesn't mean I just take them at their word. I am too hard headed for that.

Thank you Dot. Funny I am a vegetarian I am not that for health reasons so that may help. But I like warm food, I of course eat raw fruit, and many raw vegetables, but the whole raw movement to me looked cultist to me.

And thus put me off

Thanks Cap. Leaves me with something to chew on. Pun intended.

MaineCaptain wrote:Thank you Dot. Funny I am a vegetarian I am not that for health reasons so that may help. But I like warm food, I of course eat raw fruit, and many raw vegetables, but the whole raw movement to me looked cultist to me.

And thus put me off

You're smarter than I was, MC, and I tend to be a skeptic about such things. I got a serious wakeup call when I realized that I had bought into the hype far more than I thought I had. I think the movement has definite cultic tendencies.

I remember wondering how safe it all was not long after I got started eating raw when I was flipping through a "cheerleading" book for rawies at a health food store. One man whose testimonial was featured was a fruitarian who said he'd gone from eating anything considered the fruit of a plant such as avocados, coconuts or almonds to eating nothing but what are commonly considered fruits. He mentioned that he'd never felt better or looked healthier in his life, that the human body is supposed to be rangy and muscular and not plumped up with subcutaneous fat.

Then, I turned the page to a picture of him. The man looked emaciated, like a concentration camp inmate. I don't recall precisely, but he was around six feet tall and weighed something scary like 105 or 110.

Healthy??? That he claimed to be healthier than he'd ever before been was frightening.

I sometimes go back to the website where I hung out just to remind myself how crazy I became about it all and what preposterous (and dangerous) claims are made for raw foodism. Now, I wonder how I ever thought the site was anything but scary with so many probably well-intentioned people making claims that could kill someone.

My experience with New Thought and healing have always gone hand in hand with the best medical care my situation affords me. Almost 20 years ago I survived, stage 3 almost 4, Hodgkins and have what is referred to as a durable cure. During the chemo I studied CIM, meditated, and used affirmations. I also read a few books popular at the time about healing. There was a cancer support group that was a blessing. I was intent on doing what I thought of as my part. There were a couple of mentally dark times but I snapped out of them. In the intervening years, I would have spells of fear about the return of the challenge, usually just prior to check ups.

One of the most distressing things was being asked by my minister to talk with others facing similar challenges. It seemed to me that everything that came out of my mouth sounded like, "If you hold your mind just right you can do this." That is so not what I discovered but it is about believing that my love for God is returned in ways unique to my situation at any given moment.

I cannot think how anyone could experience a close relationship with this power outside ourselves without some kind of meditation or personal spiritual practice. Maybe that is why we have such different ideas of that power. We can only express our experience through our own unique divinity.

Itty, You have such a challenge. My prayers will be for a gentle journey, full of as much joy as you can pack into it.

Dot when I first attended Unity I was pretty clueless (still am) and I noticed no one was bringing any meat dishes to our covered dish luncheons. I brought a double recipe of chicken enchiladas. I received many compliments and the dish was emptied. I commented to the minister that it went well for the first meat dish I had ever seen there. She gently told me that most of the members were vegetarian, but not strict about it. Just call me embarassed . From then on I stuck to ginger bread, and uniced cakes or cobblers. LOL

Teka wrote:My experience with New Thought and healing have always gone hand in hand with the best medical care my situation affords me. Almost 20 years ago I survived, stage 3 almost 4, Hodgkins and have what is referred to as a durable cure. During the chemo I studied CIM, meditated, and used affirmations. I also read a few books popular at the time about healing. There was a cancer support group that was a blessing. I was intent on doing what I thought of as my part. There were a couple of mentally dark times but I snapped out of them. In the intervening years, I would have spells of fear about the return of the challenge, usually just prior to check ups.

Oh do I hear you, Teka. Waiting for the MRI is very difficult for me. If you need someone to hold your hand, well, reach out. You find a furry little paw reaching right back. I would be most honored to return the favor.

It's a journey isn't it? What I am inspired and gladdened by people like you, Teka. You give me courage and the will to continue. I have a wonderful on line cancer support group. Their cheerfulness and ability to turn almost any situation into laughter has been a real blessing for me. I remembered to laugh at myself again. There was a time when I had forgotten how. Thought I should be engaged seriously in a serious business. That didn't last. My sense of the absurd stands me in good stead. Well, that and my lovely friends who understand the healing in laughter and refuse to allow me to get too full of myself.

Yes and yes!

One of the most distressing things was being asked by my minister to talk with others facing similar challenges. It seemed to me that everything that came out of my mouth sounded like, "If you hold your mind just right you can do this." That is so not what I discovered but it is about believing that my love for God is returned in ways unique to my situation at any given moment.

I cannot think how anyone could experience a close relationship with this power outside ourselves without some kind of meditation or personal spiritual practice. Maybe that is why we have such different ideas of that power. We can only express our experience through our own unique divinity.

Itty, You have such a challenge. My prayers will be for a gentle journey, full of as much joy as you can pack into it.

Thank you. I do think and believe we are One with the Divine. We ARE Divine. We approach Divinity differently and that delights me. The One understands and is real in the real here and the real now. I feel such joy knowing this.

I have my moments when I can ge gentle and serene. However, I am a bouncy little critter. Also a stubborn old goat. I have to dig my claws into the ceiling and hang on for all I am worth. When I do what all of us must and pass beyond the veil I will be doing it kicking, clawing, yelling and squalling. Not from frear but, honestly, from anger. I don't want a miss a moment of anything. Not one. Not ever. So I alternate between serenity and fuzz, fizz and fight. I have to go at this full tilt. I think you are probably the same. We may have differing ways to do this but it appears we share a zest for life.

now you must excuse me. I have a task to accomplish. itty sneaks on soft paws and crouches behind Tiger. He has been so quiet. Well itty can't put up with that. itty takes a large object out and lobs it at Tiger. SPAT!!! A well aimed Boston Creme Pie lands in the startled feline's face. itty high tails it outta here as fast as her little paws will. Carry her. Tiger is big. itty is small. itty needs a good head start.

Itty you are a pleasure to know. It's wonderful to find you and others here who are not hiding their originality and uniqueness. What would life be without humor and fantasy?

Once I read a Buddhist meditation that suggested you laugh for 5 minutes before getting up in the morning. Since I don't wake up jolly I thought this was not going to work with me. What I didn't realize was all the muscles deep in your body that get involved in laying there saying hahaha, hohoho and hehehe if done with forceful breath behind it. Talk about core exercise...I think your liver gets a workout. Of course, we've all experienced 'side splitting' laughter but you can work your insides without a joke. So I say "Laugh no matter what". If spontaneous is not available, laugh anyway.

Both of you ladies are very inspiring!

LOL....Laughter around here happens often. This gives me an idea. I am going to go a'reasearching to see what laughter, at least on line, is all about.

Between animals, neighbors, friends and family I have a lot to laugh about. Found my little tabby cat, Sass, the other day as she was relaxing. She was upside down in my chair. Literally standing, or sitting, on her head propped up by the chair arm and chair back. She was sould asleep and drooling.

Ew. Cat drool.

Weeeelllllll, I prefer it to dog drool. Cats don't as much nor do they slobber. LOL....Mac, my family's St. Bernard is a champion drooler.

Dog and cat drool contains hundred of times more lysozymes that human drool. So when a St.Bernard runs up to you and vigorously shakes his head in your face (1) he is dispensing a healing antibacterial elixir (2) baptizing you in the love he has for you (3) probably asking you to share spit.

'Licking your wounds' isn't such a bad idea after all, but having a dog do it for you maybe better. Now a cat , knowing what germ carriers we are would have to be lured into licking us. Maybe pour tuna juice in your wound. LOL

There is a SciFi futuristic fantasy book, can't remember the name that has a tribe of people who get into groups and purr over the ill to heal them. Sometimes when my cat is curled up purring on me, I like to think she is doing it with the same intention.