Thoughts for Growing In The New Year...

HTH newsletter Vol. 11, #12

December 31, 2011

Dear friends;

 Lois and I took a long walk on Saturday, ‘cuz we didn’t know how many days we had left to walk on bare ground without (to us) the fuss and bother of snow.  Minnesota’s Lake Shetek is only a few miles from our farm home, and Lois uses it as a locale for her wildlife pictures.  We drove down there, saw a few deer (not all had been shot by hunters), and decided to walk over to Loon Island.  Loon is one of several respectably sized islands within Lake Shetek, and most are connected by rock causeways from the island to the land.  These were constructed by a WPA camp of a few hundred guys established nearby during the depression.  They also constructed the bathhouse, a picnic shelter or two, and some of the roads of the area.  The construction of the Keeley Island causeway was interrupted by WWII-- the labor force was needed for more important jobs elsewhere.  I’m not old enough to remember FDR and the depression, but I’m grateful that he found some kind of work for the guys at that time.  That feeling of satisfaction that comes from meaningful work is very important.

 A few days ago, we had our annual Christmas celebration.  (We postponed twice last winter, due to snow and storms; darned near just gave up on the whole business and rescheduled to mid July!)  And as usual, my wife and I were were debating ‘what to buy‘ for the grandkids.  I ALWAYS turn toward books, and I found a few around the topic of “What I’m going to be when I grow up” .  There were firemen, and carpenters, doctors and nurses, writers and musicians, and, and..... I especially liked those with the flavor of, “I can BE anything that I WANT to be”, for I still believe that, even in our present day chaotic lives.   But should we also raise the question, “What should I be DOING as I GROW, in order that when I become an adult, I will be in a position to DO what I wish to do??”  Are there various kinds of TRAINING that I can engage in, to make myself more capable in later years?  Here’s my take on it, from where I am now:

 1.  Become a good friend of BOOKS.  A book that’s worth the paper it’s printed on, has likely involved the blood, sweat and tears of the author for at least a year, often much longer, so in spending the few bucks to purchase it , one gets the benefit of much of the author’s serious thinking and channeling over that period of time-- a very good “deal” for many writers.  (My favorite author is Richard Bach, of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions fame.  A close second is Mark Twain, and his forgotten classic,  The War Prayer:  On the front inside cover of the dust jacket of War Prayer are the lines,  “...Behind its every supplication sounds a savage war cry.  Eloquent prayers for victory in the name of “an ever-merciful and benignant Father” ask (H)im to “Help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells” and “help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire........ New weapons, new tactics, new policies come and go; men--and women--are left with death, destruction and, presumably unquestioning devotion to flag and country.  Twain sums up his comment on the divine messenger who is sent to reveal the hidden intent of the war prayer: ‘It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.”  It was first published in 1923, for as Twain relates in his introduction, “....To Dan Beard, who dropped in to see him, Clemens read the “War Prayer,” stating that he had read it to his daughter Jean, and others, who had told him he must not print it, for it would be regarded as sacrilege.   ‘Still, you are going to publish it, are you not?’  Clemens, pacing up and down the room in his dressing-gown and slippers, shook his head.  ‘No,’ he said, ‘I have told the whole truth in that, and only dead men can tell the truth in this world.  It can be published after I am dead...’ ”

 2.  Study physics and mathematics:  Physics is our best understanding of the “rules of how the universe operates”, and mathematics is the language by which physics seems oft best expressed.  You will learn to think more clearly, become more focussed in your thinking, by the study of these disciplines.  Yes, history is also important, for it can provide a record of those human efforts that worked and those which did not.  A history book written by a NON-American author can at times be more truthful.  A basic course in economics can be helpful, though as the saying goes, “In a room with a dozen economists, there are likely to be at least TWO dozen competing economic theories.  Economics without psychology (the economics of peoples’ thinking) may not be very helpful.  

 3.  If you have the gift of music (most children do, until they become older..), by all means develop it; music will bring you joy and peace.  The practice of music (yes, practice helps) develops coordination and helps to enlarge the areas of the brain involved in motor skills.  (Ask any clarinetist or pianist if they are also good keyboard people.) 

 4.  Learn something about nutrition-- do not bother much with the “pyramids” of nutrition; they are biased by agricultural and corporate interests, and do not seem to have helped the overall health of the nation very much, at least judging by health costs nationally.  A good place to start is Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by dentist Weston Price.  In his many sorties to investigate “primitive cultures” globally, Dr. Price “discovered” that when the nutrition is correct, there may be VERY LITTLE disease, or crime for that matter.  (Go to www.ppnf.org to purchase a copy of his thick book.  You’ll get the gist of it very quickly:  A diet RICH in vitamins and minerals, from natural sources, will tend to protect you from disease.)

 5.  Value exercise-- not necessarily so much that you wear out the joints (I’m not a great fan of marathons), but the kind of exercise that one might imagine was a part of the culture of primitive man.  

 6.  Learn and daily do, some of the healthful practices of antiquity.  Some are like calisthenics for the brain as well as the body, and can help to eliminate the ‘monkey‘ in the brain (lack of focus).   I happen to meditate--I learned “TM” back in 1975, and have done it ever since.  I also like yoga and I like Tai Chi.  If a practice has been around for a few hundred years, chances are it has merit to it.  Most of these are easily learned for a few hundred dollars or less, and cost nothing to do on a daily basis.  They also tend to be “anti-aging”.  They can be very helpful for children also, especially the squirrelly ones, and perhaps especially the kids low in self esteem because of body build, family status and such.  There is another excellent (and more modern) practice which I learned years ago, called “Image Streaming”  (17,100,000 Google hits for this one)  When teaching at SMSU years ago, we did some of the first research on this technique, and although “IQ” is a tough thing to measure, I concluded that an hour or so of this gentle, fun, “imagery” practice can actually increase general intelligence by an IQ point, perhaps more.  (See http://grasshopperx.com/research/dr-charles-p-reinert’s-study-on-image-streaming-and-iq/ )  In my work with Image Streaming, I also satisfied myself that it certainly increases creativity-- when I was doing it on a daily basis with my physics classes at SMSU in Marshall, I found that after a month or so of consistent practice, 20 minutes daily,  my “intuitive flashes” would come  so often that I scarcely had time to tend to them.  If you aspire to help  your child to get scholarships and high achievements without getting all bent out of shape with continuous studying, you could do well by teaching him/her to do Image Streaming.  Image Streaming is also cathartic-- it can be helpful in clearing intense emotions from the mind, as may happen due to an automobile accident or a military experience.  Be a bit careful with whom you do Image Streaming, however (I.S. is best done with a partner in the beginning), for you just may fall in love with your I.S. partner!  

 7.  If it works for you, learn to take a daily nap.  Twenty minutes of a deep, calming “nap” can work wonders for energy, prevent unnecessary aging, provide insight into problems, and keep you healthy.  I grew up with a father who was not very healthy-- heart problems and lung problems, part genetic and part environmental-- whenever Dad finished his noon dinner (yes, it was called “dinner’ in those days, not lunch), he would lie down on the daybed for a 20 minute nap.  Since he was the one who directed my efforts on the farm when I was young, there was nothing for me to do during that time than to take a nap myself!  

 8.  Avoid, as much as you possibly can, all OTC and prescription meds.  Dr. Jonathan V. Wright MD, a family physician who leans toward natural therapies, has a word for these chemicals-- he calls them “alien molecules”, for this reason:  In order to receive a US patent for a medicine, it is necessary (US patent law) that the molecule be at least SLIGHTLY different from what is available in nature, that is, it must be slightly different from anything that has been around for the past 40,000 years.  In such a case, it’s fair to call the critter an “alien molecule”-- not naturally present on Earth-- that’s what an alien molecule is!  Now, as it happens, our understanding of the human body is that IT has not changed much in the last 40,000 years.  So, when our own biochemistry encounters a molecule that has been made in a chemical factory, it tends to not know just what to do with it-- basically treats it as a toxin.  Too many toxins invariably leads to trouble in the body.   Get your medicines from food insofar as possible, and this should be food of good quality, not necessarily the shrunken fruits and veggies we see on the shelves of SW Minnesota in the middle of February.  With intensive agriculture as it’s practiced nowadays, even the “good quality” food may be seriously lacking in vitamins and minerals.  As we know from the work of Dr. Weston Price, the way to be really healthy and avoid degenerative disease seems to be to have far more of these vitamins and minerals than is called for by current US minimum standards.  

 9.  Bring as much laughter, love and healthy spirituality (not necessarily religion)  into your life as possible.  I’m currently acting as a kind of health advisor for an 80 year young lady from near Fairmont.  She has been given lung cancer as her current challenge, and we’re attempting to help her boost her resistance to cancer as much as possible.  One of the recommendations of the Johns Hopkins University in combating cancer (if you don’t have this list, call us and we’ll send you a copy) recognizes that cancer is really a mind/body/spirit disease, and as such, a positive attitude, laughter, warm relationships are vital.  I’m reminded of a Harvard University study involving (I think) first year medical students.  Two groups were formed; one group of students was asked to view a video of the story of Mother Teresa.  The second group spent the same time viewing a historical documentary of no special spirituality.  When the groups were separately tested for their immune response, it was found that the “Mother Teresa” group had significantly higher immune response than the control group.  Remarkably, when the groups were tested once again just before graduation, one could STILL detect a more robust immune response with the Mother Teresa group, even though they had not seen the movie for 4 years!  Google “Mother Teresa Study” and you may find more on this very enlightening experiment...

 10.  Maintain a healthy respect for spirituality in your life.  My personal understanding at this time of my own life is...

 a.  We have free will, to pretty much live our lives as we see fit.  Help is available when it is asked for.  You may or may not get the help you think you need, just as when we asked for the ‘answer’ to a difficult mathematics problem in school, the professor seldom just handed us the answer,  though s/he probably DID give us what we needed for our growth....

 b.  We may have had some “pre birth” responsibility for the overall design of this “Life Play” that each of us seems to be living.  Google “Helen Wambach Life Before Life” for some of the publications by this remarkable psychology professor, who it is said did some of the most credible work on “life before life”, using hypnosis and hundreds of subjects.  I have her book in our HTH library-- published in the 1970’s, and well done, by my estimation.  At the very least, if you wonder “Why Me?” as you walk through your life, consider the possibility that there were important lessons you needed to learn, so you might well have played a role in “selecting your classes” before you enrolled in the latest round of “Life University...”

 c.  It could just be that the “only” way we will get out of this really SERIOUS environmental crisis is with a complete, COLLECTIVE, change of attitude about ourselves, and about the planet.  It’s not at all clear that politics is going to do it, certainly not the politics which is currently being “practiced” in the U.S. at this time.  Lots of luck to all of us if we think that.  

 Happy and gracious New Year to you and yours!

May we all learn what we need to learn to sustain us during 2012.    

Charles Reinert & the HTH staff  

PS:  Have you heard of "MRSA"?  The abbreviation is usually applied to a particular "bug" which is highly resistant to antibiotics.  We had an opportunity to work with a MRSA patient over the past couple of months, and we seemed to have solved her problem, with a few hundred dollars of supplements.  Her lab tests indicated "no evidence of MRSA", so she is qualified to work fully with her nursing patients.  

PPS:  We continue to have seemingly great response with the "earthing" pads and sheets.  Folks are sleeping better, and those who have chronic pain (many!) report that chronic pain is lessened, sometimes vastly so.  We're stocking the new 10" x 27" pads and the 36" x 84" earthing 'half sheets' at our clinic, for immediate shipment.  A number have gone out as Christmas gifts....

BTW:  Don't take these writings as 'medical advice' for solving any health problems using medicine.  Human health is complex, and don't rely on any one source, licensed or not, for all your answers.