Reuben Post Halleck - "History of American Literature"

John Lothrop Motley - "The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1572 73"

Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v2: The Contented Cuckold and Others"

Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v8: The Ephesian Matron and Others"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: Nature Cure

H >> Henry Lindlahr >> Nature Cure




The inherent faculties, capacities, and powers of the human soul can
be developed only by effort and use. The savage, living in the most
favored regions of the earth, depending for his sustenance in
perfect faith and trust on Nature's never-failing bounty, has
remained savage. Through ages he has risen but little above the
level of the beasts that perish.

The great law of use ordains that those faculties and powers which
we do not develop remain in abeyance, and that those which we
possess weaken and atrophy if we fail to exercise them.

The Master, Jesus, emphasized this law of use in many of his
parables and sayings.

"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more
abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even
that he hath."

What does this mean? Those who have the desire and the will to work
out their own salvation, acquire greater knowledge and power in
exact proportion to their well-directed efforts; but those who have
neither the desire nor the will to help themselves, lose their
natural endowments and the possibilities and opportunities which
these would have conferred upon them.

The anatomy and physiology of the human brain reveal the fact that
for every voluntary faculty, capacity, and power of body, mind, and
soul which we wish to develop, we have to create new cells and
centers in the brain. In this respect, Nature gives us no more and
no less than we deserve and work for. If we "try to cheat" by
usurping the perfection and the power which we have not honestly
earned and developed, then sometime, somewhere we shall have to
"square the balance."

The Right Way to Pray

After all, the only true prayer is personal effort and self-help.
This does not mean that we should not invoke the help of the Higher
Powers, of those who have gone before us, of the Great Friends and
Invisible Helpers, and of the Great Father, the giver of all life,
all wisdom, and all power. But we should pray for strength to do our
work, not to have it done for us. The wise parent will not do for
the child the home tasks assigned him at school. Neither will the
powers on high or the Great Friends perform our allotted tasks for
us.

This life is a school for personal effort. If it were not so, life
would be meaningless. From the cradle to the grave, our days are
one continuous effort to learn, to acquire, to overcome difficulties.
Only in this way can we develop our latent faculties, capacities,
and powers. These cannot be developed by having our tasks done
for us, nor by assuming that we already know and possess everything.

The athlete must do his own training. No one else can do it for him.
The assumption of superiority over his opponent will riot develop
his suppleness of body and strength of muscle. To be sure, faith and
courage are essential to--victory, but they must be backed by
careful and persistent training. Vainglorious boasting alone will
not win the contest.

So in the battle of life, the more faith we have in God, in the
Great Friends, and in our own powers, the wider do we open ourselves
to the inflow of wisdom and strength from all that is good and true
and powerful in the universe. But through persistent and
welldirected effort alone can we control the powers and fashion the
materials which Nature has so lavishly bestowed upon us.

The creative will, actuated by desire and enlightened by reason,
brings order and harmony out of chaotic forces and materials. And
yet certain metaphysicians tell us that we ourselves must do nothing
to overcome weakness, sin, and suffering, that we must depend
entirely upon the efficiency of metaphysical formulas, that the
deity and the powers of Nature are jealous of our personal efforts,
that we must not try to help ourselves lest we forfeit their good
will.

Is it not blasphemous to assume that God would blame us and withhold
his aid because we dared to use the faculties, capacities, and
powers with which he has endowed us? You say, "Nobody is foolish
enough to claim such things." But this is the teaching of a powerful
healing-cult. Its members are forbidden, on penalty of expulsion, to
use in the treatment of human ailments the most innocent natural
remedies. The giving of an enema, or the common-sense regulation of
diet are regarded as sufficient to nullify the power of their
metaphysical formulas and to prevent the working of Nature's healing
forces.

One of our patients who had been under such treatment until she was
in a dying condition, told us afterwards that her bowels often did
not move for a week, and that, when she complained to her "healer"
about this condition and asked permission to take an enema, he
answered her: "Pay no attention. The Lord is taking care of that in
some other way."

The man who said this had been a prominent allopathic physician
before he turned "healer." He, too, like so many others ignorant of
Nature's simple laws, had swung from one extreme to the other, from
allopathic overdoing to metaphysical underdoing. In this instance,
the Lord "took care" of the patient's bowels until she was taken
down with a severe attack of appendicitis and peritonitis.

Amidst all the extremes, Nature Cure points the common-sense middle
way. Basing its teachings and its practices on a clear understanding
of the laws of health, disease, and cure, it refrains from
suppressing acute diseases with poisonous drugs or the knife,
realizing that they are in reality Nature's cleansing and healing
efforts. Neither does it sit idly by and expect the Lord, or
metaphysical formulas, or the medicine bottle and the knife, to do
our work and to make good for our violations of Nature's laws.

Understanding the Law, Nature Cure believes in cooperating with the
law; in giving the Lord a helping hand. It teaches that "God helps
him who helps himself," that He will not become angry and refuse His
help if His children use rightly the reason, the willpower, and the
self-control with which he has endowed them, so that they may
achieve their own salvation.

Nature Cure from beginning to end is one grand, true prayer. It
teaches The Law on all planes of being, the physical, the mental,
the moral, and the spiritual; and it insists that the only way to
attain perfect health of body, mind, and soul is to comply with the
law to the best of our ability. When we do that, we place ourselves
in allgnment with the constructive principle in Nature, and in exact
proportion to our intelligent and voluntary co-operation with the
laws of our being, all good things will come to us.

Therefore we pray: "Father, give me of Thy strength that I may live
in harmony with Thy law, for thus only will all good come to me."



Chapter XL


Scientific Relaxation and Normal Suggestion


Under the strain of work-a-day hurry and worry, your nerve
vibrations are apt to become more and more intense and excited. They
run away with you until, as the saying goes, "you are flying all to
pieces."

A good illustration of this condition of the nervous system may be
found in a team of horses shying at some object in their path. The
driver, panic-stricken, has dropped the reins, the frightened horses
have taken the bits between their teeth and are dashing headlong
down the road, until their master regains control, checks the
animals in their maddened course, and compels them to resume their
ordinary pace.

So the high-strung, oversensitive individual must gain control over
his nervous system and must subdue his runaway mental and emotional
activities into restful, harmonious vibrations.

This is done by insuring sufficient rest and sleep under the right
conditions and by practicing scientific relaxation at all times.

The "nervous" person gets easily excited. Comparatively little
things will cause an outbreak of intense irritation or emotional
hyperactivity.

Usually, the victim of unbalanced nerves is of the high-strung,
sensitive type, naturally inclining to more rapid vibrations on all
planes, capable of greater achievement than the stolid, heavy,
slow-vibrating person who doesn't know that he has any nerves, but
he is also in greater danger of mental and emotional overstrain and
physical depletion as a result of the excessive and uncontrolled
expenditure of life force and nervous energy.

Relaxation while Working

At first glance this expression may seem paradoxical, but experience
will teach that it is not only possible, but absolutely necessary
that we perform our work in a relaxed and serene condition of body
and mind. The most strenuous physical or mental labor will then not
cause as much exhaustion as light work done in a state of nervous
tension, irritability, fretfulness or worry.

Relaxation while working necessitates planning and system. Most
nervous breakdowns result not so much from overwork as from the
vitality wasted through lack of orderly procedure. Therefore, take
some time to plan and arrange your work and form the habit of doing
certain things that have to be done every day as nearly as possible
in the same way (making sure that it is the right way) and at the
same time of the day. Such orderly system will soon become habitual
and result in saving much valuable time and energy.

Always cultivate a serene and cheerful attitude of mind and soul,
taking whatever comes as part of the day's work, doing your best
under the circumstances, but absolutely refusing to worry and fret
about anything. Do not cross a bridge before you get to it, and do
not waste time regretting something that cannot be undone.

Relaxation while Sitting

Sit upright in a comfortable chair without strain or tension, spine
and head erect, the legs forming right angles with the thighs (the
chair should be neither too high nor too low), feet resting firmly
upon the floor, toes pointing slightly outward, the forearms resting
lightly upon the legs with the hands upon the knees. This must be
accomplished without effort, for effort means tension.

Dismiss all thoughts of hurry, care, worry or fear and dwell upon
the following thoughts:

"I am now completely relaxed in body and mind. I am receptive to
Nature's harmonious and invigorating vibrations--they dispel the
discordant and destructive vibrations of hurry, worry, fear and
anger. New life, new health, new strength are entering into me with
every breath, pervading my whole being."

Repeat these thoughts mentally, or, if it helps you, say them aloud
several times, quietly and forcefully, impressing them deeply upon
your inner consciousness.

After practicing relaxation in this manner, lie down for a few
minutes' rest--if circumstances permit--or practice rhythmical
breathing (see Chapter Twenty-Eight). Then return to your work and
endeavor to maintain a calm, trustful, controlled attitude of mind.

If you are inclined to be irritable, suspicious, jealous,
fault-finding, envious, etc., dwell on the following thought
pictures:

"I am now fully relaxed, at rest and at peace. The world is an echo.
If I send forth irritable, suspicious, hateful thought vibrations,
the like will return to me from other minds. I shall think such
thoughts no longer. God is love, love is harmony, happiness, heaven.
The more I send forth Love, the more I am like God; the more of love
will God and men return to me; the more shall I realize true
happiness, true health, true strength and true success."

Relaxation Before Going to Sleep

When ready to go to sleep, lie flat on your back, so that as nearly
as possible every part of the spine touches the bed, extend the arms
along the sides of the body, hands turned upward, palms open, every
muscle relaxed. Dismiss all thoughts of work, annoyance or anxiety.
Say to yourself: "I am now going to sleep soundly and peacefully. I
am master of my body, my mind and my soul. Nothing evil shall
disturb me. At .... A. M., neither earlier nor later, I shall awaken
rested and refreshed, strong in body and mind. I shall meet
tomorrow's tasks and duties promptly and serenely."

Simple as this formula may seem, it has helped cure many a case of
persistent insomnia and nervous prostration. Having thus set your
mental alarm clock, with a few times, practice you will be able to
wake up, without being called, at the appointed time and to
demonstrate to yourself the power of your mind over your body.

The quality of your sleep and its effect upon your system depend on
the character of the mental and psychic vibrations carried into it.
If you harbor thoughts of passion, worry or fear, these destructive
thought vibrations will disturb your slumbers and you will awaken in
the morning weak and tired. If, however, you repeat mentally a
formula such as the above, suggesting harmonious, constructive
thoughts, until you lose consciousness, you will carry into your
slumbers vibrations of rest, health and strength, producing
corresponding effects upon the physical organism.

After a perfectly relaxed condition of body and mind has been
attained, it is not necessary to remain lying on the back. Any
position of the body may then be assumed which seems most restful.

My patients frequently ask what position of the body is best during
sleep. It is not good to lie continuously in any one position. This
tends to cause unsymmetrical development of the different parts of
the body and to affect unfavorably the functions of various organs.
It is best to change occasionally from one position to another, as
bodily comfort seems to indicate and require.

Many persons fret and worry if sleep does not come as quickly as
desired. They picture to themselves in darkest colors the dire
results of wakefulness. Such a state of mind makes sleep impossible.
If persisted in, it will inevitably lead to chronic insomnia.

Instead of indulging in hurtful worry, say to yourself: "I do not
care whether I sleep or not! Though I do not sleep, I am lying here
perfectly relaxed, at rest and at peace. I am strengthened and
rested by remaining in a state of peaceful relaxation."

However, the "I do not care" must be actually meant and felt, must
not be merely a mechanical repetition of words.

Nothing is more conducive to sleep, even under the most trying
circumstances, than such an "I-don't-care" attitude of mind. Try it,
and the chances are that just because you do not care, you will fall
fast asleep.



Chapter XLI


Conclusion


Our critics say: "If Nature Cure is all that you claim for it, why
is it not more generally accepted by the medical profession and the
public?"

The greatest drawback to spreading the Nature Cure idea is the
necessity of self-control which it imposes. If our cures of
so-called incurable diseases could be made without asking the
patients to change their habits of living, without the demand of
effort on their own part, Nature Cure sanitariums could not be built
fast enough in this country.

No matter how marvelous the results of the natural methods--when
investigators learn that the treatment necessitates the control of
indiscriminate appetite and self-indulgence and the persistent
practice of natural living and all that this involves, they exclaim:
"The natural regimen may be all right, but who can live up to it?
You are asking the impossible. You are looking for a perfection
which does not exist. Your directions call for an amount of
willpower and self-control which nobody possesses."

Fortunately, however, this is not true. Human nature is good enough
and strong enough to comply with Nature's laws. Furthermore, the
natural ways must be the most pleasant in the end or Nature is a
fraud and a cheat. True enjoyment of life and happiness are
impossible without perfect physical, mental and moral health and
these depend upon natural living and natural treatment of human
ailments.

Strengthening of Will-Power and Self-Control

If I were asked the question: "What do you consider the greatest
benefit to be derived from the Nature Cure regimen?" I should
answer: "The strengthening of willpower and self-control."

This is the very purpose of life. Upon it depends all further
achievement. Self-control is the master's key to all higher
development on the mental, moral and spiritual planes of being; but
before we can exercise it on the higher planes, we must have learned
to apply it on the lower plane, in the management and control of our
physical appetites and habits. When we have learned to control
these, higher development will come easy.

A good method for strengthening the willpower is autosuggestion. The
most opportune moments in the twenty-four hours of the day for
practicing this mental magic are those before dropping to sleep. At
this time there is the least disturbance and interference from
outside influences, the mind is most passive and susceptible to
suggestion and impressions made under these favorable conditions
upon the "phonograph records" of the subconscious mind are the most
lasting and the most powerful to control physical, mental and moral
activities.

When thoroughly relaxed, at rest and at peace, say to yourself:
"Whatever duties confront me tomorrow, I shall execute them
promptly, without wavering or hesitation. I shall not give in to
this bad habit which has been controlling me. I shall do that only
of which reason and conscience approve."

In order to be more specific and systematic and to obtain results
more surely and quickly, concentrate upon one weakness at a time.
When that has been overcome, take up another one, until in this way
you have attained perfect control over your thoughts, feelings and
actions.

Suppose you have acquired the habit of remaining in bed and dozing
after your mental alarm clock has given its signal to arise and you
dread the effort of going through your morning exercises and
ablutions. Then, the night before, impress upon the subconscious
mind deeply and firmly the following suggestions: "Tomorrow morning,
on awakening, I shall jump out of bed without hesitation and go
through my morning exercises with zest and vigor."

Or, suppose you are subject to the fear and worry habit. Say to
yourself: "Tomorrow or any time thereafter when depressing, gloomy
thoughts threaten to control me, I shall overcome them with thoughts
of hope and faith, and with absolute confidence in the Divine power
of the will within me to overcome and to achieve."

In this manner you may give the subconscious mind suggestions and
impressions for overcoming bad habits and for establishing and
strengthening good habits.

If a serious problem is confronting you, and you are unable to solve
it to your satisfaction, think upon it just before you are dropping
off to sleep and confidently demand that the right solution come to
you during the hours of rest. The inner consciousness is always
awake. It is the watchman who awakens you at the appointed time in
the morning. It will work upon your problem while your physical
brain is asleep. In this lies the psychological justification for
the popular phrase: "Before I decide the matter I'll sleep over it."

In the practice of mental magic, as in everything else, success
depends upon patience and perseverance. It would be entirely useless
to go through these mental drills occasionally and in a desultory
fashion; but if persisted in faithfully and intelligently, they will
prove truly magical in their effects upon the development of
willpower and self-control, and on these depend the mastery of
conditions within and without, the conquest of fate and destiny.
PAIN'S SOLILOQUY

By C. J. Buell, President Minnesota Health League

I

I am Pain--most people hate me,

Think me cruel, call me heartless,

Study ways to bribe and fool me,

Try by every means to slay me,

Dope themselves with anaesthetics,

Fill themselves with patent nostrums,

Call the doctor with his poisons,

Seek the Christian Science healer,

Beat the tom-tom of the savage,

Build the altar, burn the incense,

Seek to sate the wrath of devils,

Pray to saints, and Gods, and angels;

Not to cure the ills within them,

Not to cleanse and purify them,

Just to calm the pain that hurts them,

Just to-kill the guide that warns them.

II

Pain am I, but when you know me,

When you once have learned my secret,

How I come to help and bless you,

Warn you, guide you, teach and lead you

When you know my loving nature,

How at first I gently twinge you,

Lightly twinge you as a warning,

Hoping thus, by kind reminder,

You will bear my voice and listen--

Sure am I that when you know me,

You will gladly then embrace me,

Call me friend and give me welcome,

Call me friend and ask my message.

III

This the message I would bring you,

This the reason for my visits,

This the warning I would give you,

This the secret I would teach you:

When you learn to live as Nature

In her great and boundless mercy,

In her tender, loving kindness,

In her wisdom and her goodness

Meant that men should live and labor,

When you learn to shun the by-ways

Leading off to vicious habits,

When you learn to keep your body

Strong and clean and pure and active,

Give it work in right proportion,

Give it air, and food, and water,

Fit to build its every member,

Fit to nourish every function,

When you teach your mind and spirit

Pure and noble thoughts to harbor,

Drive out fear, and hate, and malice,

Cherish love and kindly motive,

When you learn these things I've told you,

~When you know them, when you do them,

~Then I will depart and leave you,

Then no more will Pain be needed.

IV

This is, then, the truth I bring you,

That I hurt you but to warn you,

Not to harm you but to heal you,

That I come to guide and teach you.

I am God's most blessed angel,

Sent to point the way to virtue,

Sent to teach the noblest manhood,

Sent to fill the mind with wisdom,

Sent to rouse the soul to action.

V

Love me, trust me, heed my message;

I will bring you peace and bless you!