Section Eta  Lesson Two: Implications For Physical Health  The Physical Focus  Historically, humanity has focused on the study of human health and based the therapeutic approaches upon the inner workings of the physical form. Although it should be readily apparent that the body comes complete with its owns systems, balances, developmental and healing processes, humanity has assumed the modern scientific understanding to be superior to the wisdom of the body. Although the expansion of scientific self-awareness is a noble and necessary pursuit, at present, the level of understanding is quite meager indeed. The emphasis is still upon the physical manipulation of the form as if matter were an inert, unconscious, malleable putty to be shaped by human hands.  What is not taken into account when viewing the human body is that consciousness (mind) is an integral part of the state of human health and that unless it is addressed and factored into the practices of health maintenance, the physical body takes on little more viability than an automobile and the physician no more empathy than a mechanic.  This level of understanding has based most approaches to the practice of medicine on the central assumption that permanent corrective alterations can be made through introducing external substances and externally manipulating symptoms of inner states. Indeed, when an organ is surgically removed there is a permanent change made to the material body itself. And indeed, there can be some valid benefits in taking such drastic approaches when humanity is in the early stages of its evolution. But this approach only addresses a single aspect of the self-construct, and works only at the level of the body. It manipulates symptoms when actual causes are located in other aspects of the self. Therefore the physical approach cannot help but be shortsighted, and can yield only limited and temporary health benefits.  With the evolution of mankind, it should become more apparent that that which appears to be is more and that the underlying explanation for a condition can be determined with the cooperation of the subject at the deepest level of his/her being.  At present, this assumption is so deeply rooted within mass consciousness that it underlies many common beliefs and daily health practices. Some support good health, but most create a fearful artificial dependency upon external medical caregivers and substances that are necessitated by the lack of faith in the natural healing processes. The modern day health care crises illustrates the absurd level of external power that has been assumed. The government has been forced to become entangled with providing health care due to its misguided efforts to control so many other aspects of human experience. Ultimately, the removal of unnecessary legal restraints and expansion of its educational role will reduce governmental involvement and allow individuals to reclaim their rightful power for self-determinism and well-being.  Ultimately, it is reduced to a question of "control". Who is going to have it? Is it going to be something that will remain within the individual or must it be imposed by an outside source. The state of one's healthful balance and the treatment of an imbalance must, in the end, stay with the individual, until and unless the outside source is invited to play a helping role.  Be aware, internal empowerment is the key to optimal health. And indeed, the focus upon the body can give back a degree of that power. People can, in fact have quite a positive impact upon their health by simply respecting and caring for their body. This is true because the body has its own set of needs and requirements for its peak operation and carries out everyday healing miracles below the level of human consciousness. It must simply be given clean air to breathe, wholesome foods to eat, clear water to drink, the activity and mobility to keep its strength, flexibility, and vitality, its required level of restorative rest, and a lifestyle which honors these six universal needs. These simple requirements underlie the smooth operation of many incredibly intelligent inner systems of checks and balances that when left alone can bring far better heath than might be expected.  Although these "simple requirements" might be considered to be acceptably achieved in the normal course of one's life, there are serious questions about the quality of our food and water, the opportunity for sufficient mobility, the chance for necessary rest and the emphasis being placed upon these requirements by those who can have an impact upon our environment, whether it be in the workplace or in our homes.  Active Faith In The Body  The first strategic approach then becomes accepting the accountability for one's own health and embracing the natural wisdom of the body. This will involve replacing any limiting ideas about "natural" disease processes, vulnerability to communicable diseases or pollutants, and genetically inevitable disorders of any kind, with the simple and well-founded faith in the body. The body's ability to cleanse, to adapt, to manufacture anything it needs, and to control and protect its "self" are far and away more reliable and effective than any external medical methods. Indeed it is the spirit that works beneath the mind's conscious focus to ensure health and immunity, and its available information of how to do so is vastly unlimited compared to even the best of modern minds. Truly embracing this understanding naturally brings the necessary feelings of faith.  This is a most significant paragraph and one that holds much potential to the state of good health. If we are truly spirit beings, with minds that have total control over our physical nature, as these 'Lessons' seem to strongly suggest, than it is not unreasonable to presume that we can and do have control over our state of health and well-being. That said, we must also factor in the belief system under which we were raised and we now operate. The drugs and outside treatments we accept for our healing are our conditional placeboes, without which we have difficulty operating. Yet, with the exposure of our minds to this new 'Enlightenment' we have an opportunity to consider a basic point of understanding and, hopefully, move in the direction of universal health, as it was/is intended.  This faith motivates taking active responsibility for one's health and designing a lifestyle best suited to supporting, rather than interfering, with the automatic unconscious bodily mechanisms. This faith will be courageous enough to listen to medical advice or to take in the latest scientific information, but to do so without embracing any limiting ideas which create fear. When faith is stronger than fear, and integrity and honor for the body is stronger than denial of the personal responsibility and creative power, the limits of the world need not become the limits of one's mind. With faith and relative absence of limiting beliefs, the spiritual energy will flow naturally and unobstructed, the immunity and healing processes will operate at peak performance. This approach will spur a natural evolution and betterment of the lifestyle in general as the individual finds higher and higher levels of meaning within daily experience.  The key to any state of health and well-being is faith in the best possible nature of our being. This 'faith' transcends all of life's operations, whether they be tied to our vocational practices or our accepted health practices. In the end, nothing will give us satisfaction or relief unless we believe we are gaining physically, mentally and spiritually from that which we process into our lives.  There is far more individuality than might be suspected in lifestyle approaches that can bring equal health and vitality. This faith will include adherence to the spiritual feedback in designing the individual lifestyle. Like all human systems, health is a self-evolving condition which is directed by the genetic challenges and propensities and spiritual desires of the entity, and mediated by the energy/information provided by the feeling system.  This suggests that we may inwardly know as individuals what is best for our physical state of being, even if our health problems are related to our genetic make-up and have little to do with any current, environment conditions. If we can offset the external causes of illness with faith in what we can become, we can also alter the genetic codes that we are supposedly conditioned to be victims of, should we so decide.  As individuals are allowed to explore life, follow inner urges, and learn through active experience and spiritual feedback, they will develop the best internally directed approaches to all aspects of health. As these lessons suggest, feelings of pleasure and pain are the essential language of spirit that speaks specifically to each aspect of the self. An essential rule of the body is: "If it feels good, do it". Of course, this advice comes with the usual caution about denial, escapist short-term pleasures, and self-destructive tendencies based on reduction of pain, but pleasure by its very nature is health-giving.  A warning is suggested here that the consumption of recreational drugs for the obtaining of immediate and temporary "pleasure" is simply escapism at its worst, not to mention its ultimate, destructive consequences. The true feelings of pleasure come from the unobstructed sources deep within our nature and must be gained without such outside stimulation.  The Pleasure Principle  Creating the conditions which invoke emotional pleasure releases hormones which affect all organ systems and make physical changes to the form itself. Sensate pleasure and pain is the language of body, with emotional neuropeptides and receptor cells in every area of the body to reap their benefits. The natural pleasures need never be questioned, for they are as valid as any other universal truth. They are integral to the self-developmental process and intimately connected with meeting the universal needs, whether or not the mind is yet aware of the details.  It is the natural pleasures that are too often stifled by feelings of supplanted guilt which, when so effected, often lead to other substituted pleasures offered from outside oneself. These pleasures come in the form of legal or illegal drug forms and soon fall beyond the realms of control. Whereas the natural pleasures of life, when tied to altruistic emotion, can be most beneficial in spiritual development.  Although pleasure is an individually defined pursuit, there are some general validities which affect all human forms. The life-giving habits have already been offered which can facilitate this process and enhance the state of vitality through specific expressive activities. A lifestyle which incorporates creative movement, vocalization, and touch into the daily routines can bolster the physical health no matter what other choices might be made. Explorations into any number of ways to give the body pleasure can yield many surprising methods of invigorating and restoring the body.  Nothing can bring pleasure to the spirit, (and thus the mind and body,) like an activity carried out with an expression of love, whether that be in contact with another human being or in some collective or artistic fashion. Tapping the creative juices is the equivalent to touching the spiritual, inner self.  For example, human touch and massage provides a great deal of pleasure because it stimulates and influences many of the automatic bodily processes--including the muscular, central neural, and lymphatic systems, as well as providing human connection. Vocalization from speaking and singing to shouting and crying not only vent emotions, but they give the body, a rest from the effects of the mind, and they cleanse and move blocked energy. Such expressions help restore the bodily feelings of freedom.  If one can get a good massage from a devoted masseuse, share a hot tub with someone who can indulge in a meaningful conversation or just sing one's lungs out in the morning shower, then there is a restoration of the circulatory system in all aspects of being.  Pleasure and pain is always a valid spiritual guide. One simple truth, however, is that many humans at present will experience physical pain and emotional resistance to needed levels of physical activity. Movement satisfies needs for freedom, creativity, meaning, connection, and builds self-esteem as the body is actively respected and consciously honored and new challenges and worlds are conquered.  A form of daily physical activity is essential to the maintaining of a state of balance in the system, not to mention what it does for one's sense of well-being. Whatever momentary periods of pain may be involved, these are more than offset by the positive results. This is because such overemphasis has been placed upon the mind and its abilities, the body has been neglected. Mental work and play have replaced many of the active forms resulting in sedentary lifestyles. Physical activity will be painful at first, and the long-term gains and pleasures must be the driving force to get past these growing pains of the body. But the required activity is so well accommodated within the natural flow, that the body itself compensates for any temporary growing pain with natural chemicals that reduce the pain and allow the natural pleasures to take over. Endorphins are released that find purchase within pain-reduction receptor cells, the heart gets pumping, and the body comes alive with vitality and enthusiasm. Pain is often symptomatic of very neglected, sedentary bodies that have begun to atrophy for lack of vital activity.  Some pain is essential as a signal to alert us to a deteriorating situation and a reminder that allowing that state of deterioration involves a price for correction. Happily, the mind helps to reduce the severity of the lesson by instructing the brain to reduce the severity of the needed pain with a naturally produced chemical. With this kind of assistance and a little discipline, the individual can recover from the self-inflicted state of imbalance.  Athletes that utter the mantra "no pain no gain" are aware of higher pleasures that follow activity and the more normal functional realm of the body once such deficit states have been transcended. But one need not be an athlete to enjoy the life-giving pleasures of movement. (Any simple, but regular regimen of dancing, walking, running, Yogic posturing, Tai Chi-like movements, sexual activity, sports activities, etc., ----anything which honors the integrity of the body, that allows the breath to increase, the heart to pump, the cleansing sweat to flow, and the feelings of free-flowing spiritual vitality to arise, will do.) Generally, any action is better than inaction, but a routine of such movement three to five times per week for 15-45 minutes each is sufficient for vibrant health.  A vigorous walk every other day for a half hour may be just enough to get one back on track. Then, whatever additional activity one might feel comfortable with, would only be an added plus. Age is a relative factor and subject to the human will. A 30 year old might become a skilled athlete, while a 90 year old might end up doing a slow jog. Each person will provide for his/her self whatever is wanted and needed. Physical health can also be enhanced by ensuring the body adequate rest and relaxation. There are physical and mental approaches to relaxation, both of which bring pleasure and restoration. Winding down periods of relaxation after mental and physical exertions are also necessary toward keeping the overall balance of health. The body responds well to muscle relaxation techniques, deep breathing, saunas or hot baths, massage, or even moderate alcohol consumption. The mind responds to music, to expressing feelings and concerns to loved ones, to absorbing tasks, to engaging hobbies, watching television, working puzzles, playing games, meditation and creating visual imagery, as well as to some natural mind altering substances. All pleasures which bring active learning, self-development and expression are divine by natural dictate.  To the degree that we wish to, we can gain in physical, mental and spiritual development by the simple actions of indulgence. If a good walk is followed by a drink and a little soft music or television, then to that level, there is gain. Should it be a degree of meditation, followed by an act of reading and written communication, so that will be the level of gain. We all select our own timetable and compete only with our inner selves.  Sleep itself is a highly individualized process, but human sleep cycles have been dramatically affected by the cultural choices and conventions of humanity. For example, six hour sleep periods alternating with six hours of wakeful activity are much more suited to peak physical health. Short restful naps also enhance mental acuity and physical coordination. Meditative sessions are also helpful for many reasons, but do not compensate for lack of sleep.  The accepted adage that everyone needs eight hours of uninterrupted sleep daily is probably not sound advice when it comes to physical and mental health, particularly when artificial drugs, (i.e. sleep-eze, etc.), are taken to guarantee that full eight hours. A mid-day nap, in a cultural environment that encourages such, can be much more beneficial to one's overall well being.  In sum, the simple, unobtrusive, care and feeding of the body can make profound differences in one's state of health. Simply attuning to and answering the bodily urges will lead to meeting needs and ultimately to conscious understanding of unconscious bodily wisdom. But with the human mind, comes the ability to take over conscious control of many of the body's subconscious processes. Indeed, the challenge of the physical realm is to learn how to manipulate matter with mind and create the conditions which allow for the broadest expansion of spirit. But with mind also comes the capacity to reap ignorant destruction upon the body. Thus far, the effects of individual mind and mass consciousness have been far more detrimental than necessary due to the lack of enlightened self-understanding.  We live in an era of spiritual ignorance. Religious institutions have failed in their efforts to teach their members the importance of balancing the qualities of body, mind and spirit. Consequently, our societies have become equally unbalanced, one feeding upon and contributing to the other. The solution to this detrimental influence lies within, should we elect to seek it.  The Power Of The Mind  For mind creates the reality of its beliefs, and the generally accepted mixture of conflicting directives within the concept of health and medical care is enough to burden even the finest minds---and negatively impacts even the finest bodies. The mind can imagine and create any number of maladaptive beliefs, attitudes, and strategies that can interfere with nearly every automatic process.  We can, in effect, end up being our own worst enemy when it comes to creating an environment for growth and even stability. We tend to thrive on contradictions and are satisfied to ignore the end result in order to worship methodology. To answer the question of "Why", we need to explore further.  For example, the widely held belief that health lies in the hands of a medical practitioner. With this belief, healing and cure can be stimulated simply by a conversation with a medical practitioner, or it can be impeded by the thought of one's physician being incompetent or uncaring. Suggestions of potential diseases which fit nicely into limiting belief networks, judgmental attitudes, and unresolved spiritual challenges, can manifest those very conditions if fear is allowed to take root over faith. These kinds of limiting beliefs are so deeply ingrained within many societies that people often suffer much shorter lives simply because they believe themselves to be without the medical support needed, or hopeless victims of the latest popular disease.  Our pervasive medium of education in western society has now become the television set or the printed word. The evening news brings into our home environment a high level of negativity regarding, among other things, our personal health and well-being. Not a day goes by without a new threat to worry about. What else but a state of "dis-ease" is likely to thrive in such an atmosphere.  As stated, the body is an elegant cloak designed with incredible resiliency and tenacity toward maximum vivacity and health---unless the conscious mind misguidedly decides otherwise and actively interferes. (Indeed, having no mind at all is often better than one which works against its master). The body responds incredibly well to the directives of mind, for the mind is intended to consciously expand and become the willful, creative controller of the self. An elegant example of the bodily adaptive cooperation with mind is what has been called the "placebo effect". Even with minimal suggestion, the body can heal itself or stop pain simply by using the energy that comes with the idea of cure.  People of little capacity for rational thought or focus, such as those in mental institutions for most of their adult lives, manage to enjoy relatively good health well beyond their expected life span. Those of low intelligence, as we tend to measure it, will recover from illnesses or maintain a state of good health, with no more stimulation than a suggestion from a respected source.  No matter if the curative property is a sugar pill, a strong chemical, or a ritual chicken sacrifice, the body responds to the idea embraced in the chemical or ritual. Generally, this is enough to release bodily chemicals to right imbalances, but soon enough conflicting beliefs will return and negate its effect. Indeed, the body can produce far more substances than are yet recognized, when maintained properly. But it is not the property that has cured, it is the belief in its power which has channeled will energy into consciously altering the body. (Hypnotic suggestion and exploration will be a future area where much will be discovered of the mind-body interactions.)  In our present state of "mind" western man is still too caught up in a mentality that dictates those limited beliefs of a mechanical nature toward the treatment of the human body. Each part is regarded as a separate, disconnected section and a cure is the result of such limited focus. The "placebo effect" is not to be accepted into this paradigm. It simply doesn't fit. As long as mind is regarded as a product of physical evolution, it can not be allowed to play a part in the creation of reality. It is this particular belief that serves as the essential flaw in our physical/mental/spiritual progression.  Whether it is the entangled slivers about health care, its own misguided need-meeting strategies, or its inefficiency in the role of converter of spiritual will energy, the mind is truly the source of health. If individuals are to simply look to their lifestyles and the beliefs that support their choices, they will see many, many practices that work against the simple bodily requirements.  If mind is eventually accepted to be the source of illness and cure, then it will have to be accepted as an essential creative force of the state of optimum health and well-being. Ignoring the obvious can only prolong a general state of suffering. Western society will have to begin by facing the reality of things as they are and then move in the direction of what spirit wants them to become.  For example, the concept of food and what it means, sets people up for many mind traps. Food becomes entangled with many of the psychological needs, with cultural and social rituals, resulting in many dietary preferences, habits and attitudes that close the mind to the wisdom of the body and the benefits of ongoing development. Food then is no longer considered primarily as a nourishment mechanism, but becomes an avenue for pleasure that is missing in other areas of unfilled need. Mental deficits, not physical ones, may prompt dietary choices and result in lifestyles that compromise the body's balances. Such choices over time can contribute to weight problems, digestive problems, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, cancer, and many other disorders and diseases.  Do we eat to live or do we end up living to eat. Eating out and consuming lavish amounts with regularity results in exaggerated appearances and, more seriously, internal and incurable states of illness. Intermittent pleasures override the simple need for nourishment. Our excessive "gain" results in unanticipated "pain".  An effective strategy to counteract the habits and patterns which often inhibit the body, are cyclic dietary restorations. Since the body develops tolerances and accommodates many debilitating habits, it can be reset, by periodic fasting. Breaking a rigid dietary habit pattern can allow the body to return to a more natural state of balance and actually alter conditioned taste preferences and habitual impulses, allowing the actual hunger and satiety conditions to change. Indeed, it honors the body to regularly, perhaps once per year, undergo a three-to five day period of cleansing with juices alone as the diet. Then the gradual introduction of solid foods over the next two weeks, beginning with fresh fruits and raw vegetables and relatively smallish portions taken regularly throughout each day as directed by the urges of the body. This restorative fasting allows many processes to return to much more natural states, and new preferences and patterns to emerge. Indeed, any habitual pattern should be broken from time to time, to simply invite innovative alternatives.  Such activity reflects a trust of the body to know what is good for it and assists it in moving toward its natural state of balance. It is the "trust" that motivates the process. The very act of fasting and abstaining is appropriate to reinforce the connection between mind and body. This natural bonding can not but help achieve positive results. It is comparable to the "bonding" which takes place between mother and child and the long term consequences which have been observed to follow.  A mindscape with a simple, natural approach to food drawing upon the gifts of nature, without much mindful intervention, will experience something much closer to peak physical vitality than even the most complex knowledge of vitamins, supplements, and curative potions. Nature has provided all the organisms and seasonal rhythms to offer many forms of the basic nutritive requirements, as well as the inner self guidance system to evolve the best personalized approaches to diet.  If this is a matter of doubt, make a close and unbiased observation of nature when not exploited by man. Balance is the base line upon which all natural life on the planet thrives. There is a constant act of communication going on between plant/animal life and that higher source of its being. Only when interfered with, does the system break down.  As the natural self-developmental process unfolds, the mind automatically seeks higher and higher levels of meaning, and there is a corresponding alteration in the evolving lifestyle of the individual. Thus, there are as many approaches to food, exercise, and health as there are levels of spiritual development. If the mind is truly doing its job, the spiritual feedback signals will bring continuous improvements to the strategies that underlie health. As denial and blame are replaced with accountability for all of life's experiences, the importance of building health will take a much higher priority, and a corresponding change in diet, exercise, and general faith in the body will naturally unfold.  The key to our growth and maintenance in our physical state is an appreciation of our ubiquitous spiritual environment and nature. As we continue to raise our ideals and intentions, we invite the balancing aspect of nature to come to the fore. The two are a blend that is not to be separated for as long as we occupy this physical state. When we have completed our understanding of our capacity to manipulate our physical environment, we can take the value of that lesson on to a more etheric state and continue to expand upon the process.  There are no necessarily right or wrong approaches to meet the body's requirements, and an overemphasis upon which approach is "the highest" can sacrifice the faith in the body and bring unnecessary fear. For example, vegetarianism. As entities begin to evolve the self-concept to include all life forms, it can become dissatisfying to choose to eat animal flesh and rob a conscious life form of its experience. Such choices are well within the range of necessary human experience as the species' evolution unfolds. But at the present level of mass consciousness, the limited concept of a "life form", the illusions of space-time, and the tremendous disconnection from spirit create a good deal of confusion. Honoring the natural urges and learning from all emotional experience is the best way to honor all spirits as well as design a dietary lifestyle.  Because of what we have likely been exposed to in the usual programming under which we were reared, there is a tendency to become dogmatic about the proper way of going about conducting ourselves. It is best to avoid doing so (being dogmatic), lest the means becomes more important than the end. All roads can lead to Rome, if that is one's destination. Keeping the ultimate goal in mind will serve as a guide to whatever individual road we choose to take.  At present, removing slivers is the first challenge to the mind's role in maintaining health. For a mind choked with conflicting beliefs invests its energy so poorly that its higher potentials cannot even present themselves, let along develop. There must first be an unblocking of energy, before the full vital force can flow. Then there will come an individual developmental process where each person attunes more to the feeling signals of body and embraces many available intuitive insights about what the body needs at any given moment to bolster its vitality.  Habits of thought die hard. Breaking a pattern may involve altering an environment or those within it. In the end, we are nothing more than the result of our intentions. With that in mind, we can not fail in the long run.  The idea that the form is the only controlling force has blinded researchers to the role mindful experience plays in the onset of most disease processes. As individuals embark upon this developmental process, they will become acquainted with the bodily predispositons and the spiritual challenges they represent. As the challenges are surmounted, certain symptoms begin to disappear. Many disturbances with symptoms such as allergic reactions, cancerous tissue overgrowth, and hormonal imbalances are the direct result of emotional stress that has not been properly understood or addressed.  As we continue to expand the stress in our society and in our individual lives, we will invite the consequences which follow. When we begin to backtrack from the end result to the primary cause, we will also begin to experience the benefits. It may become unaffordable, economically and otherwise, to continue the patterns of poor health and a state of "unaffordability" may ultimately end up being the motivating factor.  As the divine self-regulation system provides its unifying guidance, many apparent genetically inevitable conditions will simply reverse or not arise. Hidden beneath a pile of conflicting and limited beliefs about health, lies the valid need for the mind and body to constantly interact in the divine feedback process.  Pause, look and listen. The answers to our problems lie within nature and within ourselves. It has always been this way and will continue to be so.  Managing Emotional Stress  An essential part of maintaining health in the world at present lies in understanding and mediating the daily stressors. Reconnecting to the inner spiritual guidance will put the concept of stress in its proper context, as the cumulative level of unresolved emotional conflict. Stress is the symptom of conflict between the self and world, due to the opposition between body and mind. Each conflict obstructs the flow of spiritual energy and begs for correction. The more the stress, the bigger the physical detriment. Stress then has both a role in the natural feedback process, and in how emotional energy builds, accumulates and creates disruption. At present, the ability to understand and manage stress is essential to building health.  Stress has been identified by conventional wisdom as a major contributor to a state of poor physical and mental health. However, that having been done, a permanent alleviation of the problem has not been addressed. There have been partial solutions suggested but none truly address the whole problem. While it is agreed that stress is essential to our normal activity in this physical world, more is not necessarily a good thing.  The divine self-regulation system is the instrument for effecting purposeful internal and external change. Since this divine self-regulation system is intertwined so completely within the human biology, emotional arousal has a direct effect upon the physical immune system. It is to be expected that any sort of change will bring emotional signals, and the more unexpected and dramatic the change, the stronger the feelings will be---both good and bad. But in a general sense, stress is the cumulative effect of lingering negative feelings of fear, anger, guilt, envy, resentment, etc. Embracing the concept of growing pains and responding to the slightest signal will ensure that unhealthy amounts of stress do not accumulate.  It would seem that the wisest way to deal with any kind of stress is to invite the body/mind to recognize it early and deal with it accordingly. The greater the accumulation of negative stress, the greater the risk of damage being done to oneself. When not dealt with and relieved, the negative feelings associated with it, will pile up like bricks creating a wall. As the wall becomes higher, it separates us from the All That Is. The amount of momentary stress or emotional dissonance, experienced in any given moment can range from minor anxious growing pains, to a shocking and overwhelming emotional reaction that can even overtake consciousness and cause one to faint dead away. The highest stressors have to do with major losses, such as death of a loved one, loss of health, businesses, jobs, or major need-meeting resources. The worst experiences often surround the power, freedom and connection needs. In the world today, sudden, unexpected, and painful life events will surely arise, until fully enlightened mindscapes are in place and events are created in line with all desires.  It is not so much the nature of stress-causing happenings which are our undoing. Rather, it is lacking of a broader understanding of these events which cause us to react poorly. As we grow in knowledge of our physical, mental and spiritual nature as human entities, we will be better prepared to deal with the stress created by these unexpected events. When age brings wisdom instead of just accumulation and deterioration, then we will be able to integrate the lessons of life and help to pass on this information to future generations.  Indeed, as humans begin to embrace the enlightened understandings, there will be accelerated progress and plenty of change. Individuals will begin assessing the very core assumptions and values which have based long-term decisions. They may outgrow their friends, and even spouses, yet attract entirely new and more suitable comrades. They might change jobs and even whole careers when recognizing and answering their inner urgings. They might end or begin all sorts of group affiliations. Although this brings tremendous progress to the individual, it comes with a good deal of emotional ups and downs---all of which can be reflected in the health unless a solid strategy of stress management is in place.  The art of managing one's stress is just that, an art. To achieve the quality of success necessary in achieving this end would take an equal amount of wisdom and dedication (not to mention discipline), and could not be achieved on any lesser plane than that which would inspire that dedication to change in the first place.  In addition to the tender, enlightened care and feeding of the body, good stress management will involve structured ways to promote enlightened feedback and support for the process of change itself. Such structures will include intimate friendships wherein life circumstances can be discussed. Each human being can benefit tremendously by simply sharing life events, feelings experienced, and solutions in the context of connection and the search for meaning. Such community is tremendously pleasurable as well as offering a forum for exchanging perspectives, information and potential solutions.  Would that such environments could be created and encouraged. Despite all the clubs and organizations that exist as extracurricular activities, few pay tribute to the free flow of ideas and values and the tolerance to consider what might be opposing points of view.  Such structures will also counter negative events with balances of healthy pleasures. Individuals can benefit tremendously from counterbalancing each negativity with one active positively given to the self. This is particularly important in an historical age when selfishness is condemned and martyrdom is advocated. The popular ideas that "suffering is good for the soul", or that giving something to one's self is somehow less noble that giving pleasure to another, are simply unsound and create further emotional stress. With a united body and mind and expanded self-concept, the pleasures of the individual self are never excluded from the pleasures of all. Balanced and appropriate levels of self indulgence are not only recommended, they are required.  To overcome the programming that so many were subject to as young children and which remains so deeply ingrained in the human psyche, we must begin at some defined point in time. For the sake of all concerned, that time must be NOW. If the seed of such change can grow to fruition in only one individual, there is hope for a better world.  Restoring a sense of equity and balance can keep stress to a minimum. Thus, it is essential for each individual to know exactly what brings about personal pleasures. Producing a list from the highest, to even the most minor, pleasures can clarify exactly how the universal needs are fulfilled. When painful changes occur, after the necessary right and light responses are made, it is time for legitimate celebration and reward. A selection from the pleasure list of an indulgence of appropriate size and correspondence to the problem itself can help counter-balance stress as well as motivate quicker corrections.  This is, no doubt, good advice and many people practice it instinctively by seeking pleasures from a variety of possibilities when they have been struck with a most damaging experience. As long as such "pleasure" is not at the expense of or damage to someone else, then it can only be spiritually beneficial.  Even "guilty pleasures", sinful foods, vacation getaways, or expensive gifts when parceled to one's self in a balanced way can greatly enhance health without compromising the contributions to others, the form of one's body or the resources of one's pocket book. Again this is an individual process, but there are indeed many healthy pleasures to be had, with balance and moderation being the key. Universal pleasures, are of course linked to the universal needs. Optimism, altruistic actions, confessional intimacy, continuing education, creative expression, gaining control, life examination and finding meaning, laughter and tears are healthful and life-giving.  We are entitled to enjoy the best pleasures in life because we are, collectively, the best that life has to offer. If we elect to refrain from this "doing and being" because we have been programmed to believe that the more suffering we experience in this life, the more happiness we will experience in the next, then it will likely be that it will take a long time to break that pattern of thought, regardless of whatever state we find ourselves.  In sum, the mind should be designed around the parameters, needs, impulses, and urges of the body to promote the most natural flow of health and vitality. Take care to attune to and honor the body, to face all growing pains with courage and integrity, and to embrace full accountability for making healthy lifestyle choices. The mind can then ride the wave to faith in the integrity of nature, of spirit, and of the body to build and maintain health and vitality.  In the end, the optimum word is "trust". If we can trust in the universal goodness of All That Is and see that quality in all that surrounds us, we will likely find unlimited possibilities to express our true nature.  Wholism  Fortunately, the time has come wherein humanity is awakening to a bigger version of health and indeed a broader understanding of the human experience. Not only has the power of mind begun to be suspected, but over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in alternative and wholistic approaches to health that also add the spiritual component. Wholistic self-unity is indeed the bedrock for all kinds of health and vitality. It is only when there is disunity that the spiritual energy force cannot flow freely between physical and nonphysical worlds, and freely throughout the physical body.  There is a spiritual force that permeates the physical body and it is the same force that exists in mind and the same force that is Spirit. It is the ocean that exists in a wave and it is only mind and its programming that contrives a state of separation so that there can be a source of control from without. Once this state becomes a realization and is put into practice, the "last" source of control becomes the "first" and the "first source of control eventually becomes the "last". This is the true state of the awakening.  Humanity is poised on the brink of discovering and enjoying a radically optimistic view of health---and life in general---as they embrace the enlightened understandings. It is reclaiming the divine emotional system that shall at last reunite body, mind, and spirit in the vital whole that is intended to regulate and support the most purposeful physical experience.  There are subtle shifts taking place in the thought processes of the "so-called" political leaders that seem to suggest that a new paradigm is beginning to have an influence. At the moment, there is strong resistance from the collective establishment. But like a thief in the night, this "shift" is creeping into the collective unconscious and bringing in the "gems" of enlightenment that spread like the vines in a vineyard, until a wholistic view can no longer be ignored.  As individuals re-attune to this long-lost inner sense, the natural process will unfold. If the right and light responses are made to each painful emotional signal, the mindscape is more and more cleansed of slivers and judgments, awareness of the natural bodily processes evolves and unclaimed potentials will simply emerge. Health and vitality come along with this process, and the unification of body, mind, and spirit in any given lifetime cannot help but promote maximum health and expression in all counterparts and aspects of the entity. Indeed, healing brings a fuller spectrum of spiritual vitality across space-time.  There may be many conventional processes we may have to go through in order for the body, infused with spirit, to take control of the situation and gain that state of balance and unity with Spirit. But being in a state of knowing (as is provided by these Lessons), will spark that process and achieve that healthy state as is desired.  When this unifying sense becomes embraced within mass consciousness, tremendous catch-up progress can be made. The focus will immediately shift to the model of the trinity of self, and the roles of both body and mind will be recognized as integral in the expression of spirit. The body will be rewarded and fulfilled by the mind, and the mind will fully accommodate the spirit through enlightened belief structures, and be free to create any experience of its choosing. As higher and higher levels of meaning are attained, individuals will recognize the constant interactive cycles within and between the physical and non-physical realms.  On a planet where only a small portion of the population can read, it would behoove us to find a way to distribute this information and these insights in a ubiquitous fashion. One such method might well be television. It would require a collective effort on the part of the communicative portion of society to be willing and able to pass along the wisdom these Lessons offer. The internet could not completely serve this purpose, since it normally requires a state of literacy. However, this technology is constantly expanding and greater possibilities are at the fore. What is needed now is a human catalyst, a force of dedication to such a noble cause.  For as purposeful self-development and self-expression occur, there is an actual expansion of consciousness itself. With evolving vibrancy there is a continuous increase in mental abilities where the eventual instantaneous manipulation of matter by mind is entirely possible. Health and healing will be entirely different constructs than those which currently exist within mass consciousness. We can now discuss the first step to this destiny in the new holistic understandings which are becoming known as energy medicine.  Table of Contents