"In many instances people exercise quite simply because they are afraid of what will happen if they do not. They may run to avoid heart disease, while their own fear can help to promote the very eventuality they fear. I do not mean to imply that exercise is detrimental to good health. It is true, however, that the reason that you exercise is actually more important than the exercises that you perform. The reason can promote your good health or actually impede it. Your ideas about your own health are even more important than those steps you take to promote it."

"You will discover that so-called diseases perform certain services. They fulfill purposes for you that you may BELIEVE you can achieve in no other way. The reasons for such illnesses are not deeply buried in the subconscious, as you may think. They are much closer to the conscious mind, and usually consist of a series of seemingly innocuous decisions that you have made through the years. Other illnesses, of course, may be caused by sudden decisions that are a response to a particular event in your life."

"The way toward health is simplicity itself. It is the natural, easiest way to behave, yet this natural mental behavior is often quite difficult for the intellect to understand, since the intellect is apt to enjoy playing with complications and solving problems. Therefore, to the intellect it often seems ludicrous to imagine that the answer to a question lies within the question itself....It is perfectly fine to make plans for the future, yet each individual should live day by day, without worrying about the outcome of those plans. The physical body can only react in present moment. Worrying about future events, or dwelling upon past unfavorable situations, only confuses the body’s mechanisms, and undermines their precise activity in the present moment."

"I am not saying that anyone should pretend that unfavorable circumstances do not sometimes exist, or that they may not be encountered in the past, present, or future. It is also true, however, that advantageous events occur with a far greater frequency than do negative ones - otherwise the world that you know simply would not exist. It would have disappeared in the throes of destruction or calamity."

"All creatures are also born, then, with a keen sense of self-approval. Each creature is born proud of itself, and loving itself. That same self-approval is also experienced in varying ways not only by creatures as you think of them, but also by atoms and molecules, and by all orders of matter."

"Do not think of the mind as a purely mental activity, and of the body as a purely physical one. Instead, think of both mind and body as continuing, interweaving processes that are mental and physical at once. Your thoughts actually are quite as physical as your body is, and your body is quite as nonphysical as it seems to you your thoughts are. You are actually a vital force, existing as part of your environment, and yet apart from your environment at the same time."

"When you become too serious you overwork your intellect and tire your body, for then it seems that your entire life depends upon the reasoning of your intellect alone. Instead, of course, your intellectual abilities are supported and promoted by that inner mixture of spontaneity and order that so magically combine to form both your reality and the reality of the world."

"It should be noted before we begin that death itself is -- a deliverer -- of your species and all others. It is not negative in itself, but instead is the beginning of a different kind of positive existence. It prunes the planet so to speak, so there is a room and time for all, energy and food for all...If death disappeared even an hour all of life would soon be threatened."

"There are innumerable stages of health, from high, sheer, energetic exuberance to lethargy and discomfort. There are, in fact, an almost infinite number of stages connected with the state of health. You could invent a completely different way of regarding human health by numbering and defining each of those stages. Instead, of course, your society has chosen to recognize and define all of those stages that are detrimental to health -- stages that are recognizable because of health’s absence to one degree or another."

"You also possess what is often called the subconscious, and this merely consists of feelings, thoughts or experiences that are connected to your conscious mind, but would be considered excess baggage if you had to be aware of them all of the time."

"There is no magic connected with suggestions - but repeated often enough, and believed in fervently, such suggestions do indeed take on a deeply habitual nature. They are no longer examined, but taken for literal truth."

"The mind grows wiser with age when it is allowed to do so. There is even an acceleration of thought and inspiration, much like that experience in the adolescent years. that suddenly brings a new understanding to the aged individual, and provides an impetus that should help the person to achieve greater comprehension - a comprehension that should quell all fears of death."

"When people become ill, worried or fearful, one of the first symptoms of trouble is a lack of pleasure, a gradual discontinuance of playful action, an over concentration upon personal problems. In other words, illness is first often marked by a lack of zest or exuberance."

"Immediately begin to live in the present as much as possible. Refuse to worry. When your thoughts do touch upon your particular problem in that present moment, imagine the best possible solution to the dilemma."

"Many diseases are actually health-promoting processes. Chicken pox, measles, and other like diseases in childhood in their own way naturally inoculate the body, so that it is able to handle other elements that are a part of the body and the body’s environment. When civilized children are medically inoculated against such diseases, however, they usually do not show the same symptoms, and to an important extent the natural protective processes are impeded. Such children may not come down with the disease against which are medically protected, then - but they may indeed therefore become prey to other diseases later in life that would not otherwise have occurred."

"I am not advising my readers to refuse to have their children vaccinated, since you now have to take vaccination into consideration because of the prominence of it in society. It is very possible, however, that science itself will in time discover the unfortunate side effects of many such procedures and begin to reevaluate the entire subject."

"The body is more than agreeable, and more than able, to bring about an extraordinary recovery."

"I do not mean that ill children should not be treated with kindness, and perhaps a bit of special attention - but the reward should be given for the child’s recovery, and efforts should be made to keep the youngster’s routine as normal as possible....Children, however, may be quite conscious of the fact that they willed themselves to become ill, in order to avoid school, or an examination, or a coming feared family event. They soon learn that such self-knowledge is not acceptable, however, so they begin to pretend ignorance, quickly learning to tell themselves instead that they have a bug or a virus, or have caught a cold, seemingly for no reason at all. Parents frequently foster such behavior. Some are simply too busy to question a child about his own illness. It is far simpler to give a child aspirin, and send a child to bed with ginger ale and a coloring book. Such procedures unfortunately rob a child of important self-knowledge and understanding. They being to feel victims to this or that disorder. Since they have no idea that they themselves caused the problem to begin with, then they do not realize that they themselves possess the power to right the situation. If they are being rewarded for such behavior in the meantime, then the pressure is less, of course, so that bouts of illness or poor health can become ways of attaining attention, favorite status, and reward....Parents who are aware of these facts can start helping their children at an early age by asking them simply the reasons for their illness. A mother might say: You don’t need to have a temperature in order to avoid school, or as a way of getting love and attention, for I love you in any case. And if there is a problem at school, we can work it out together, so you don’t have to make yourself ill."

"To a child, play and work are often the same thing, and parents can utilize imaginative games as a way of reinforcing ideas of health and vitality. When a child is ill-disposed or cranky, or has a headache, or another disorder that does not appear to be serious, parents can utilize this idea: have the child imagine that you are giving it a better and better pill. Have the child open its mouth while you place the imaginary pill on its tongue, or have the child imagine picking the pill up and placing it in its mouth. Then give the child a glass of water to wash the pill down, or have the child get the water for himself or herself. Then have the youngster chant, say, three times, I’ve taken a better and better pill, so I will shortly feel better and better myself....In other cases of a child’s illness, have the child play a healing game, in which he or she playfully imagines being completely healthy again, outdoors and playing; or have the youngster imagine a conversation with a friend, describing the illness as past and gone. Play can also be used even in old people’s homes, for it could revive feelings of spontaneity and give the conscious mind a rest from worrying."

"There is also a rather conventional stereotype version of karma that may follow such beliefs. Therefore, you may be punished in this life for errors you have committed in a past one, or you may actually be making up for a mistake made thousands of years ago. Again, all of a person’s reincarnational existences are, indeed, connected - but the events in one life DO NOT CAUSE the events in the next one."

"Remind yourself constantly that the most favorable solution to a problem is at least as probable as the most unfortunate solution. Remind yourselves also that despite all of your worrying, the spirit of life itself is continually within your experience, and forms your physical body."

"We must also remember, however, that in a fashion BELIEFS THEMSELVES ARE TOOLS, and that in some situations beliefs that seem quite negative can also clear the way for more beneficial ones. With all of this discussion of negative beliefs, therefore, it is a good idea not to call any beliefs BAD or evil in themselves. They are no more bad or evil in their own way, say, than viruses are in theirs. If you look upon them in that manner, you will avoid being overwhelmed by what seems to be an endless parade of negative thoughts and beliefs that can only lead to destruction. Instead, compare the negative beliefs, for example, with the STORMS that sweep the country: they have their purposes - and all in all those purposes tend to promote and support life itself."

"The thoughts and beliefs that we want to re-arouse are those that were often predominant in childhood... They are spiritual, mental, emotional and biological beliefs that are innately present in the birth of each creature. Children believe not only that there will be a tomorrow, and many tomorrows, but they also believe that each tomorrow will be rewarding and filled with discovery. They feel themselves couched in an overall feeling of security and safety, even in the face of an unpleasant environment or situation. They feel drawn to other people and to other creatures, and left alone they trust their contacts with others. They have an inbred sense of self-satisfaction and self appreciation, and they instinctively feel that it is natural and good for them to explore and develop their capabilities. They expect relationships to be rewarding and continuing, and expect each event will have the best possible results. They enjoy communication, the pursuit of knowledge, and they are filled with curiosity. All of those attitudes provide the strength and mental health that promotes their physical growth and development. However simple those ideas may sound to the adult, still they carry within them the needed power and impetus that fill all of life’s parts. Later, conflicting beliefs often smother such earlier attitudes, so that by the time children have grown into adults they actually hold almost an opposite set of hypotheses. These taken for granted that any stressful situation will worsen, that communication with others is dangerous, that self-fulfillment brings about the envy and vengeance of others, and that as individuals they live in an unsafe society, set down in the middle of a natural world that is itself savage, cruel, and caring only for its own survival at any cost."

"I want to assure you that regardless of your circumstances, age, or sex, you can indeed start over, re-arousing from within yourself those earlier, more innocent expectations, feelings and beliefs. It is much better if you can imagine this endeavor more in the light of children’s play, in fact, rather than think of it as a deadly serious adult pursuit."

"There is no need to search endlessly into the past of this life or any other, for the original causes for beliefs. Making a change in the present of a certain kind will automatically alter all beliefs across the board, so to speak."

"The child plays at being an adult long before he is one, and so you can play with more desirable beliefs while you are still growing into that more beneficial picture."

"Your body repairs itself constantly, and your mind thinks - all without your normally conscious attention. The same applies to all of those inner processes that make life possible. Your thoughts are conscious, but the process of thinking itself is not. Spontaneity is particularly important in the actions of children, and in the natural rhythmic motion of their limbs. Feelings also seem to come and go in a spontaneous fashion."

"The body often wears out because it has been used less and less - and that is because little study has been given to the true capabilities of the healthy physical body in the later years of life. That period also contains certain RHYTHMS IN WHICH NORMAL HEALING PROCESSES are highly accelerated, and the life force itself does not wear out or lessen within a body. Its expression may be impeded at any time, but the unique energy of each individual IS NOT DRAINED AWAY because of old age alone....basically speaking there are no diseases brought about by old age alone."

"No matter how depressed you may feel, you do still want to live, or you would be dead by now - so there is a part of you that seeks life and vitality, and that portion also deserves expression."

"Some people might say, I have a right to die, when they are arguing the case for suicide. And while this is true, it is also true that the people on your planet need every bit of help and encouragement they can get from each person alive. In a certain sense, the energy of each individual does keep the world going, and to commit suicide is to refuse a basic, cooperative venture."

"It is also true that persons in ordinary good health who often contemplate suicide have already closed themselves away from the world to an important extent. Even their physical senses seem blurred, until often they seek further and further stimulation. These same attitudes are apparent in a lesser degree to varying extents in period of mental or bodily illness or in unsatisfactory life situations. If you are such a person, however, there are also other steps that you can take. Project yourself into a satisfying future. Remind yourself that the future is indeed there if you want it, and that you can grow into that future as easily as you grew from the past into the present."

"The natural world itself is a gateway to other realities. You do not have to try to blot out the physical world, or your ordinary consciousness, in order to achieve the necessary knowledge that leads to vibrant health or experiences."

"The more fully you learn to live, the more the seemingly hidden ‘mysteries of the universe’ begin to appear. They do not necessarily make themselves known with great clamor or fanfare, but suddenly the most innocuous, innocent bird song or the sight of a leaf might reveal knowledge of the profoundest nature. It is ironic, then, that many people who seek to discover the ‘hidden’ mysteries of nature ignore nature itself, or consider the physical body as gross or somehow composed of lesser vibrations."

"People with life-threatening diseases also often feel that further growth, development, or expansion are highly difficult, if not impossible to achieve at a certain point in their lives. Often there are complicated family relationships that the person does not know how to handle. To numbers of such individuals crisis points come and are conquered. Somehow the person learns to circumnavigate the unpleasant situation, or the conditions change because of other people involved - and presto: the disease itself vanishes."

"In all cases, however, the need for value fulfillment, statement, and creativity are so important to life that when these are threatened, life itself is at least momentarily weakened. Innately, each person does realize that there is life after death, and in some instances such people realize that it is indeed time to move to another level of reality, to die and set out again with another brand new world."

"It is also vital that these patients are not overly medicated, for oftentimes the side effects of some cancer-eradicating drugs are dangerous in themselves. There has been some success with people who imagine that the cancer is instead some hated enemy or monster or foe, which is then banished through mental mock battles over a period of time. While the technique does have its advantages, it also pits one portion of the self against the other. It is much better to imagine, say, the cancer cells being neutralized by some imaginary wand. Doctors might suggest that a patient relax and then ask himself or herself what kind of inner fantasy would best serve the healing process. Instant images may come to mind at once, but if success is not achieved immediately, have the patient try again, for in almost all cases some inner pictures will be perceived. Behind the entire problem, however, is the fear of using one’s full power or energy. Cancer patients most usually feel an inner impatience as they sense their own need for future expansion and development, only to feel it thwarted."