Program Yourself For Perfect Health
MIND/BODY ATTUNEMENT
A Journey Into Health

From the desk of Joseph Patrick Jakubal

It seems that new methods of healing are breaking onto the North American scene almost daily. These new methods include vastly different treatments, from herbs, to meditation, to aroma therapy. These alternative choices to health care were once considered to be too “far out” for most people, but now they are quietly entering into the mainstream.

Alternative remedies are attractive because they usually produce fewer side effects and are effective for many people. Be careful, however, because you'll find very little in the way of scientific studies to back up the methods. For this reason you must take an active role in maintaining your own health. Develop an interest in and be willing to research the alternative methods of your choice.

The suggestions offered in this book are not intended to conflict with the medical industry. Traditional methods and treatments are also effective in many circumstances and may well be your best choice. For example, if you fractured your arm you would most likely prefer the services of a physician to an acupuncturist.

It is important to stress that "thinking" is an important factor in the process of healing or maintaining good health. A positive attitude brings harmony to the body and allows it to heal itself. The body is a miraculous organism that silently works in your best interests, provided that you do not interfere with it.

Feeling Great

Medical doctors typically prescribe synthetic drugs like Prozac for chronic depression. But Prozac is known to cause adverse side effects in many users.

As an alternative choice people are turning to herbs like St John's wort, gotu kola, fenugreek, and wild cherry.

Others are stimulating their body's production of morphine-like substances called "endorphins" with acupuncture to induce feelings of mild euphoria.

And still others are improving their state of mind with deep relaxation, meditation, aroma therapy, message therapy, music, and exercise.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT

Virtually any treatment can be of value providing that the user believes in the ability of the method to work for them (and providing that it does not have detrimental effects on human physiology). Even witchcraft and voodoo have been known to elicit miraculous results for practitioners who "believe".

By researching and investigating alternative lifestyles and medicines, you are effectively adding to your beliefs (when you discover something that "works"). Once it becomes incorporated into your personality as "effective" the only limits as to how well it works for you are the limits that you place upon it in your own mind.

A group of pregnant women who are suffering from persistent nausea are given a chemical known to be a powerful "vomit inducer" ... but they are told that the chemical will definitely cure them ... and miraculously the women's nausea and vomiting stop.

Japanese children are taught from birth to avoid the lacquer tree ... and later in life when they are touched with harmless leaves that they are told came from the lacquer tree ... they break out in a rash of hives.

A young man discovers that he unknowingly ate a hen, which is strictly forbidden by his culture ... and later that day dies.

The power behind these occurrences is the power of belief. At one time scientists thought that belief in a medical cure would result in healings 1/3 of the time ... but now it appears that this estimate is very conservative. This effect is called the "placebo effect" by medical practitioners and modern day estimates range as high as 90%.

But even 90% appears to be a conservative estimate ... the capabilities of human beings are constantly being revised upwards and the catalyst is the power of belief.

THE NOCEBO EFFECT

People who make mountains out of molehills ... or constantly worry about things they cannot control ... or dwell upon worst case scenarios ... send stress messages throughout their bodies.

Now, stress is a natural part of life but constant stress becomes distress and has major detrimental effects on the human body. Distress is associated with heart attacks, strokes, cancer, irrational thinking, insomnia, ulcers, memory loss, and a host of other ailments.

When the body is constantly exposed to distress from worries, doubts, fears, etc. ... then the body is in danger of remembering distress too often until it becomes a "thinking habit". And once distress becomes a habit then you find yourself sick more and more.

What Are Beliefs?

Beliefs can be thought of as "thinking habits" ... ideas that continually "lurk" in the background of the mind (as all habits do) to affect thoughts, attitudes, and performances.

The beliefs that affect people the most are their deepest beliefs ... often developed early in life like fire is hot ... or, I cannot fly ... or, everyone dies.

The power of belief was probably best summed up by Jesus when he said . . . "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Mark 11:23

A "belief" is a thought that the body distributes into all of the events and circumstances of it's life ... it is like a filter that you add to a camera lens that alters the true image.

Every new piece of information coming into the body is first compared with prior beliefs before it is ... accepted as "fact" ... discarded as "false" ... or categorized as "maybe".

Beliefs Color Our World

Our beliefs can be thought of as contact lenses that filters the messages we receive from our senses. For instance, if we believe that the world is basically friendly then we are more receptive to friendly people ... we notice them in restaurants and other public gatherings.

And in the opposite vein of thinking ... when we believe that the world is a hostile place then we are more receptive to the frowning people of the world.

The brain responds to messages it receives from the world we live in ... messages like a boss's demands ... or a news telecast you watch on television. After interpreting the message through the lens of our beliefs, it sends out a reaction through the body's nervous system which can tense muscles and release chemical hormones.

Research indicates that the brain cannot tell the difference between a real event and one that is vividly imagined. Simple thoughts "trigger" body functions which can be therapeutic ... they can also trigger functions that can be harmful.

THE RELAXATION RESPONSE

You can use your beliefs or you can let them use you.

Beliefs can be created or altered by simply creating habits ... and the more you repeat the habit the more powerful it becomes as a belief.

The strongest habits you have are the one's you repeat the most ... and one of your very strongest habits is one you have performed every day of your life. It is called the relaxation response and it occurs every time you fall asleep. It's a simple tool anyone can use for creating and altering their habits.

The word was first coined by Herbert Benson to describe the lowered heart and breathing rates, reduced blood pressure, and body calm that occurs when you drift into sleep.

If you analyze yourself as you are falling asleep you will notice that your muscles automatically relax as you drift into the blackness. Just before "entering" your body feels as if it is falling due to gravity pulling your muscles "downward" as you relax. This is why we call it "falling asleep".

This relaxation response is a powerful habit which you can perform at anytime (even when you are not tired). By simply duplicating the conditions of "falling asleep" ... your brain will send out the same relaxation messages to your body that it does every night ... and your muscles will relax.

But the relaxation response is only evoked for a small portion of your life, remember that only one third of your life is spent sleeping ... and even then you are not relaxed during all portions. For instance, while you are dreaming you will note that muscles are contracting ... sweat may build-up ... and your heart may speed up ... depending on the nature of your dream.

How Does The Relaxation Response Affect Beliefs?

The more relaxed you are ... the less effect your beliefs have at filtering new messages entering your brain.

An example of this would be a dream in which you have the ability to fly through the air. You do not question the reality of the dream while it is happening ... you accept it as a real experience.

Relaxation can be thought of as "letting your guard down" and you can use it so that you can accept new messages that would normally be rejected. By repeating specific thoughts and ideas over and over you can create powerful beliefs that will work either for you or against you.

This is why it is so important to think only good thoughts as you fall asleep at night ... this is not the time to engage in negative thoughts and emotions which can slip into your mind and become a part of your beliefs. The only thoughts you should have as you are falling asleep are positive thoughts that can only benefit you.

How To Do It With Prayer

A time honored method of implanting positive thoughts and ideas prior to sleep is the process of prayer. But we are talking about positive prayer ... not negative prayer like, "Dear Creator, why do bad things always happen to me?", or, "Please God, let something bad happen to my co-worker so I will get the promotion".

A simple prayer that I use is, "Love, health, and prosperity for all". I do not say, "Dear God please eliminate my enemies so I can obtain love, health and wealth" ... I simply impregnate my mind with the concept of love, health, peace and prosperity.

By creating positive thinking habits like these ... how can you go wrong? ... and at the very least they cannot do you any harm.

But what happens if we implant negative thinking habits like, "Dear God, Don't let me die before my 50th birthday like my mother did." Well this is an example of how not to pray because your "guard is down" and the following ideas are entering your brain "unchecked" ... ideas like, "die", "die before my 50th birthday", genetics may cause me to die "like my mother did".

Constantly think about death and dying ... especially when your guard is down ... and see if it doesn't come about. Instead, do not dwell on death or what may happen someday in the future ... dwell on positive concepts that will become a "self-fulfilling prophecy" and propel you to a long and healthy life.

Of course, prayer is not the only time honored method of altering one's beliefs ... meditation, yoga, visualization, self-imagery, and cybernetics are all effective.

How Does Relaxation Affect The Body?

Temporary stresses are natural and a part of life but a persistent stress over a long period of time is not natural and causes diseases and illness.

As with any habit, the relaxation response can be modified. By repeatedly tensing-up the back of your neck ... you will find that your relaxation response becomes modified to keep your neck stressed even when you are sleeping.

As life becomes more and more stressful due to the increased pace of modern living, it is well advised for you to consciously take time out of your day to evoke your relaxation response and interrupt muscle tensions. Research indicates that total relaxation only requires 20 minutes of your time.

The body works quite well when we live in harmony with nature but modern society has taken us so far away from it that our normal relaxation processes are not adequate to maintain good health and longevity over a lifetime.

But by using "common sense" we can counteract the stresses that would decrease our satisfaction with life and use the relaxation response to live long, happy, glorious and healthy lives.

Doing Is Believing

If you speak and act as though something is true, you yourself will come to believe it.

For example, if you like Fords but buy a Chevy for some reason ... then you will end up liking Fords less. In other words, actions affect your thoughts.

When you speak as though you have certain beliefs and feelings, you begin to really feel and believe that way. You are an individual with many different attitudes ... attitudes like heroic, intelligent, athletic, vengeance, strong, weak, etc..

You can add new attitudes to your repertoire by duplicating someone you admire and then "faking it" repeatedly until it becomes a "habit". It then becomes one of your attitudes.

Your beliefs determine how you view the world. If you view the world as inhospitable then the expressions on your face and the tones in your voice will cause people to look at you in a suspicious manner and reflect your belief that the world is inhospitable right back at you.

It must be pointed out that doing is not only physical activity ... it is also "thinking" ... in other words, your habitual thoughts will also shape your beliefs.

Brainwashing

"But isn't this all simply a form of brainwashing to dodge reality?"

For one thing, this is not brainwashing ... brainwashing is accomplished by putting terrible stresses on a person and then ... after confusion and fatigue sets in ... ideas are forced upon the individual which ultimately are accepted.

What I propose is that people choose thoughts and ideas that will become a part of their belief system to ultimately benefit them.

And secondly, reality is different for everyone ... because no two people have the exact same beliefs.

People can, and should, create their own positive realities because all the evidence suggests that people who see the world through rose-colored glasses are happier and healthier than those who consider themselves pessimists.

THE POWER

There are numerous things about the human body which mankind hasn't a clue about ... like, "how the nervous system works" ... or, "how the brain thinks" ... or, "extra-sensory perception".

But even though we do not understand it, we can make logical inferences like ... "the body makes decisions and enacts solutions"... and we don't even realize it as it is happening.

This "intelligence" inside of you is the power that gives life to your body ... it "knows" how to heal your wounds ... it makes the "rules" that allows your body to function.

This "intelligence" has the "power" to take the food you eat and automatically use it to keep your body alive. The "power" is "good" because it is always working on your behalf to keep you alive and healthy. Without the "power" source how could you make your kidneys work? ... or your thyroid gland? ... or your liver? ... How could you breath when you are asleep?

The body is an amazing thing that we know very little about ... ask any good physician and he/she will tell you ... "doctors merely 'dress' a wound so that the body can heal itself".

The "power" that we seek appears to be "physical" in nature because the energy that drives our bodies is drawn from the elements of a physical universe ... but upon closer inspection we can see that it is also spiritualistic! We know this to be true because we can create pictures on the "spiritualistic" blackboard of our minds ... and the very definition of "spiritualism" is, "a belief in that which cannot be perceived in the physical world".

It is reasonable to assume that there is an "intelligence" of some sort that controls the internal functioning of the human body - this "intelligence" seems to exist as a "genetic code" found in the cells.

The "intelligence" knows what to do and how to do it. It operates perfectly well until we give it orders to do otherwise. However, orders are not given directly ... they are given by way of our beliefs.

Beliefs are the things which our "body intelligence" accepts as true ... they are formed by repetition and emotion.

It is also reasonable to assume that all life on the earth is linked with this same life-enhancing "power" because of shared similarities. For example, a wound heals in the same manner regardless of whether it belongs to a dog, cow, or human.

Many names have been given to this "power" that controls our internal body functions ... names like "body intelligence", the "inner self", "karma", "soul", the "unconscious", the "subconscious", etc.. But no matter what you call it there is little doubt that "it" exists because of the overwhelming evidence that it produces.

How Powerful Is "The Power"?

Many scientists are now describing the limits of human memory as "infinite" ... and if the "power" can control something that is infinite then we can argue that the "power" is infinite.

Probably the only limitations that the human body has are the limits that we place upon it with our beliefs. In other words, "nobody ever did anything that they absolutely believed they could not" ... if you believe you cannot do something then you can be sure that you can not. Each of us was given a miraculous "power" called a body that can do many and wondrous things but we prevent it from reaching it's potentials with "limiting beliefs".

Probably the best way to understand the awesome power that exists within us is to relate a few cases of healings.

Dr. James Esdaille

Between 1843 and 1846 a Scotch surgeon worked in India before ether or anesthesia was invented. Dr. Esdaille performed approximately 400 operations of all sorts ... operations like amputations, removal of tumors, eye and ear surgeries. All of these operations were performed under hypnotic anesthesia only ... and with amazing results!

Patients felt no pain during the operations and not one person died while being operated on ... and it must be remembered that this was before Louis Pasteur discovered that bacteria caused infections due to unsterilized instruments and procedures.

Overall mortality rates for these hypnotized patients was between two and three percent ... which is extremely low by today's standards.

When asked about his method Dr. Esdaille revealed that he "suggested" to his hypnotized patients that they would feel no pain and that no infection or septic condition would develop.

Of course everyone concluded that it was hypnosis that caused these events but now we know that hypnosis merely "quiets" the mind and allows us to communicate directly with the "body's intelligence".

Your power seeks to preserve your life and restore you to health ... if you eat something "bad" then your "power" will cause you to "throw-it-up" or neutralize it in some other way.

Madame Bire

The case of Madame Bire is well known and authenticated ... she was a blind woman living in France ... doctors said that her optic nerves were atrophied and useless ... after visiting the shrine at Lourdes she miraculously regained her sight. After repeated examinations by doctors they concluded that the optic nerves were still atrophied and useless and that by all accounts she should not be able to see.

A month later she was re-examined and her optic nerves were normal and healed (McCall's magazine).

Valentin Greatrakes and pain

Valentin Greatrakes was born in Ireland and was the best known and most successful faith healer of the 17th century.

In 1662 he had a revelation that he was able to cure Scrofula ... which was a swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck.

In the three years that followed his "gift" increased and he was able to cure a large array of illnesses including wounds, ulcers, and convulsions.

His greatest successes however came in the treatment of pain. One of his techniques was to move the location of the pain to the foot ... in order to remove it from the body. It was then "drained" to the toes and then out of the body.

It is interesting to note that if Greatrakes was distracted and had to stop the procedure then the pain would remain where it was rather than return to it's original location.

The Bronze Buddha

Of course, religious healings do not only occur for Catholics or Christians, but for peoples of all faiths and religions throughout the world.

In Japan there is a 40 foot high bronze statue of the Buddha ... it is a world famous shrine called Diabutsu where numerous healing have been reported.

Benjamin Franklin's Conclusion

Benjamin Franklin was commissioned in 1784 to investigate the new science of Animal Magnetism which had been responsible for numerous cures throughout Europe.

The conclusion was that 2 main elements accounted for these cures: Imagination and imitation.

"Illnesses were cured either from one's own inner capacities or the cures were effected because people can influence other people ... the extent as to how much one person can affect another is dependant upon how much the ill person believes in the power of the person to cure him/her."

Basically it is the influence of the imagination on human beings that accounts for the cures of Animal Magnetism (later to become known as hypnosis).

THE LAW OF BELIEF

You will get a reaction from your body according to your beliefs.

The eminent psychologist William James said, "Belief creates the actual fact" ... and the great Mahatma Ghandi said, "Men often become what they believe themselves to be".

Your conscious mind is the captain of your ship --- Your body takes and executes orders that you give it based upon what it accepts as true ... in other words, "If you truly believe something then your body will use every bit of knowledge that you have gained in your lifetime to ensure that what you believe is in fact true, whether it is or not. It will use your memories, your moods, your attitudes, and other "internal powers" that we can only guess about (like extra sensory perceptions).

There are "laws" in the universe that keep it operating in an orderly fashion ... "laws" that prevent planets from colliding with each other ... "laws" that keep us from floating off the earth into airless outer-space.

Everything has a set of laws that governs it's existence ... and one of the primary laws in the universe is the law of cause and effect which states --- For every action there is a reaction. Everything you do causes an effect on the world in one way or another. Sometimes it's difficult to predict just how significant the outcomes of our actions can be.

Consider the following . . . "Everyone in the world is only eight people away from knowing everyone else in the world" .... many of our actions could have a "ripple effect" and travel great distances without our knowledge.

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES

People tend to act in such a way as to make his/her beliefs come true. For example, if you believe that you are inept with tools, then every time you are in situations where you are required to use a tool you end up fumbling and anxious. The job is a "flop" and you have reinforced the belief that you are inept with tools ... and each time you reinforce a belief, it becomes stronger.

The existence of the self-fulfilling prophecy shows that the way the world seems to you is a result of your own actions. Other people, who act differently, will have different experiences and produce different effects.

When you find the world to be unsatisfactory, remember that to some extent, you are creating it. When you find that the world is a happy place, remember, too, that it is making you happy because you believe that it can.

How To Evoke The Relaxation Response

Virtually every religion of the world practices it's own version of the relaxation response. In all of them the steps to attain it are the same ...

(1) a repetitive focus (a repetitive focus can be a sight, a sound, a word, a prayer, or a phrase which is repeated over and over).

(2) a passive attitude toward intrusive thoughts (a "passive attitude" means to disregard everyday thoughts that comes to mind).

The following is a step-by-step method used at the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston ...

(1) Choose a focus word that is comfortable for you, like ... "one", "love", "health", "wealth", "peace", "relax", or anything else that has meaning for you. It should be a word that is well-rooted in your belief system.

(2) Sit or lie down in a comfortable position with hands and legs uncrossed and the spine straight.

(3) Close your eyes.

(4) Relax all of your muscles.

(5) Breath slowly and repeat your "focus word" as you exhale.

(6) Concentrate on the repetition ... and when another thought comes to mind gently release it and return to the "focus".

(7) Continue for as much time as you have available.

(8) Do not end your session immediately ... remain seated and allow other thoughts to enter back into your mind. Then open your eyes and wait for another minute or so ... and finally stand-up.

(9) Practice this technique once or twice a day to turn it into a powerful "thinking habit".

Belief In A Creator

As a final note, it has been argued that man is the only animal that can think about it's own death.

This type of knowledge is sure to cause a lot of stress ... these stresses could easily develop into long term chronic diseases. But, the survival instinct is strong so the body must learn to believe in life after death just to ensure it's own survival.

There is compelling evidence to suggest that belief in a Creator is good for you ... studies have concluded that belief in a Creator lowers death rates and increases health.

One can only wonder why mankind has a built-in "need" to believe in a Creator.

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