Drugs Should Be Avoided

Unless physical pain is involved, drugs should be avoided — particularly for those in depressive states, this is why you should visit, quitmarijuana.org if you’re resorting to Marijuana as a way to cope and deal with stress. Other people use marijuana for recreation, in the same way many use alcohol. We live in a society that values the virtue of liberty, so this should be allowed. Many don’t even smoke it the traditional way, preferring to use a vape instead. The 510 battery is a popular choice for many.

The so-called uppers soon require downers for mood regulation, and the mind ends up in a state of confusion, and often a stupor. Such drugs should also literally be considered dangerous for use in old-people’s’ homes, for those considered senile, or even demented. With some variation these drugs are actually sometimes given to overactive children, where their effects can be very unpredictable, and result in moods that encourage suicidal tendencies, even in those so young.

Many people who use drugs socially are playing a kind of psychological Russian roulette. Their feelings can run something like this: “If I’m meant to live, these drugs won’t hurt me, and if I’m meant to die, what difference does it make what I take?” They are taking a certain kind of chance with their own lives, however — those who indulge in such activities — and the stakes can be high.

It is true that some schools of knowledge almost glorify the use of some drugs as encouraging the expansion of consciousness and the release of repression. In some ancient cultures, drugs were indeed utilized in such a manner, but their use was well understood — and more importantly, their use was socially acceptable. Those societies were, however, highly ceremonial, and quite as stereotyped in their ways as our culture may seem to us.

Doctors should be extremely cautious in prescription of mind-altering drugs of any kind, and certainly not encourage their use for people in depressed states. Under drugs, choices become limited, and certainly people have committed suicide while under the influence of drugs — who may not have otherwise. I am not saying that drugs already includes an attitude that promotes a Russian-roulette kind of mentality, that can only add to the problem.

People use drugs also in order to “let go.” It seems as if some drugs permit an individual to let down barriers of fears and repressions, and to emotionally transcend the problems of daily life. The fact is, however, that many such people use drugs instead as a kind of chemical blanket that has a tendency to smother rather than relieve.

To “let go” is to trust the spontaneity of our own being, to trust our own energy and power and strength, and to abandon ourselves to the energy of our own life. The word “abandon” itself may strike some readers as particularly strong, but each element of nature abandons itself to the life-form. So does each atom of our body. To abandon oneself, then, to the power of our own life, is to rely upon the great forces within and yet beyond nature that gave birth to the universe and to us.

One of the very first steps toward mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health is precisely that kind of abandonment, that kind of acceptance and affirmation.

The will to live is also inbred into each element of nature, and if we trust our own spontaneity, then that will to be is joyfully released and expressed through all our activities. It can also quite literally wash depression and suicidal tendencies away.

Those feelings do indeed encourage expression of consciousness, and release intuitive information that may otherwise be buried beneath tensions and fears.

Such realizations have their own biological effects, stimulating all of the healing properties of the body — and also easily propelling the mind toward “higher” organizations, in which all of life’s seeming inadequacies are understood to be redeemed.

This feeling of abandoning oneself to the power and force of one’s own life does not lead to a mental segregation, but instead allows the self to sense the part that it plays in the creative drama of universe. Such understanding often cannot be verbalized. They are instead perceived or experienced in bursts of pure knowing or sudden comprehension.

The natural world itself is a gateway to other realities. We do not have to try and blot out the physical world, or our ordinary consciousness, in order to achieve the necessary knowledge that leads to vibrant health or experiences. In fact, the natural world is itself a part of other realities, and the source of all realities is as present in our existence as in any other.

The more fully we 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 of fanfare, but suddenly the most innocuous, innocent birdsong 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.

In the case of the suicide, however, we see the opposite attitudes at their most drastic. To a strong extent, such individuals reject their own lives, and often the conditions of life in general. Many of them object that they did not want to be born in the first place, and they feel that way because they have so thoroughly repressed the will to life within them. They also often express a strong feeling of alienation from their parents, friends, family and their fellow men in general. Along the way they have forgotten the cooperative, playful ventures of childhood, and the expression of love itself becomes most difficult.

All of the suggestions in this blog can indeed help break down those habitual thought patterns, however, and if such a person is seeing a therapist, it is an excellent idea if the entire family join in the therapy.

Oftentimes this is financially impossible, but the inclusion of such an individual in some kind of a group situation is an excellent procedure. Communication between several people, all of whom have contemplated suicide, can also set up an excellent supportive situation, particularly with some direction set by a therapist. All would-be suicides do not follow through, and many end up leading long and productive lives, so that even when negative ideas are present in their most severe forms, there is still hope for improvement and accomplishment.

Those same unfortunate beliefs, feelings, and attitudes are also present to a lesser degree, and in different mixtures, in the cases of life-endangering diseases. However, those beliefs may not be nearly as observable, and many people may deny that they are present at all. They are often triggered, finally, by a traumatic life situation — the death of a spouse or parent, a major disappointment, or any experience that is particularly shocking and disturbing to the particular person involved.

These attitudes are often present in certain cases of cancer, severe heart problems, or other diseases that actually threaten life itself.

In such instances, an understanding of one’s beliefs, and a generation of newer, more biologically vital ones, will certainly serve to better the situation, and help relieve the condition.

The would-be suicide’s problem is usually not one of suppressed rage or anger, it is instead the feeling that there is no room in his or her private life for further development, expression, or accomplishment, or that those very attributes are meaningless.

The will to live has been subverted by the beliefs and attitudes mentioned earlier.

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, expression, 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.

Often, seriously ill people quite clearly recognize such feelings, but they have been taught not to speak of them. The desire to die is considered cowardly, even evil, by some religions — and yet behind that desire lies all of the vitality of the will to live, which may already be seeking for new avenues of expression and meaning.

There are those who come down with one serious disease — say heart trouble — are cured through a heart transplant operation or other medical procedure, only to fall prey to another seemingly unrelated disease, such as cancer. It would relieve the minds of families and friends, however, if they understood that the individual involved did not “fall prey” to the disease, and that he or she was not a victim in usual terms.

This does not mean that anyone consciously decides to get such-and-such a disease, but it does mean that some people instinctively realize that their own individual development and fulfillment does now demand another new framework of existence.

Much loneliness results when people who knows they are going to die feel unable to communicate with loved ones for fear of hurting their feelings. Still, other kinds of individuals will live long productive lives even while their physical mobility or health is most severely impaired. They will still feel that they had work to do, of that they were needed — but the main thrusts of their beings still reside in the physical universe.

Each person’s purposes are so unique and individualistic that it is quite improper to try to make any judgments in such matters. There is also the overall picture, for each family member plays a certain part in the reality of every other member.

A man might die very shortly after his wife’s death, for example. Regardless of the circumstances, no one should judge such cases, for regardless of the way such a man might die, it would be because the thrust and intent and purpose of his life was no longer in physical reality.

The Person Who Contemplates Suicide Often

If you are a person who contemplates suicide often, you should indeed talk to a confidante about your problem.

This communication on our part will help clear the air to some extent. Such a person is considering an irreversible step — one certainly that should not be taken lightly. Often such people are in a very depressed state of mind, so that they have already closed their thoughts to the reasons for living, and only keep reminding themselves of the availability of death.

Often other people can make some small, seemingly innocuous comment that suddenly opens the disturbed person’s mind to new possibilities. Because the entire mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual portions of the self are always stimulated to seek further growth and development and satisfaction, then it is quite possible for the mind to seize upon even the smallest event that will spontaneously release the person at least momentarily from depression, or even despair. A momentary distraction, however, is not a cure from these dark thoughts. There needs to be a long-term way to prevent these dark thoughts from occurring in an individual’s mind. Luckily, things like CBD, a cannabinoid of the cannabis plant, is excellent at reducing this heavy cloud that hangs over many. CBD can be taken in many different forms, of which you can view at getcherrycbd.com/products/cherry-cbd-roll-on. If depression and dark thoughts are something that troubles you, it may be worth looking down this avenue of CBD.

If we are in such a situation, do remind oneself that it is far more natural and probable for any problem to be solved, and that every problem has a solution. Death is not a solution. It is an end in a very basic manner.

No matter how depressed we may feel, we do still want to live, or we would be dead by now — so there is a part of us that seeks life and vitality, and that portion also deserves expression. Natural products like CBD could go a long way to un-cloud the fog of depression that looms around the heads of those contemplating suicide due to its antidepressant qualities. There is always help on offer to anyone who suffers from depression and is contemplating suicide. To stop feeling this way, it may be in your best interest to seek out treatments if you are not yet ready to talk to a medical professional. Have a look at Canopy Botanicals who is an online vendor who distributes natural products as well as kratom supplements which should help depression sufferers to feel better. Or, read through sites like this (www.renewedfreedomcenter.com/can-depression-and-anxiety-cause-ocd-like-symptoms/) to understand better what your brain may be putting you through. But please, if you are thinking about suicide, find someone you trust to speak with. It is a good idea to put off making any decision for a while. After all, if we do choose suicide, we can always kill oneself. If we commit suicide, however, our choices for this life are over.

Tell oneself we will make no decision until after our birthday, of after the holidays, of that we will put off any decision for a month, or even a week — whatever we feel most comfortable with.

Any therapist can also follow through by making such suggestions, thus gaining the client’s cooperation at the same time by letting the individual choose the time period for which such a decision will be delayed.

It is futile to tell such a person that he or she can not, or must not, commit suicide — and indeed, such a procedure can be quite dangerous, hardening the person’s leaning toward a death decision. The idea of making choices should be stressed: to live or to die is indeed each person’s choice.

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 our 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 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 burred, until often they seek further and further stimulation. These same attitudes are apparent in a lesser or in unsatisfactory life situations. If we are such a person, however, there are also other steps that we can take. Project oneself into a satisfying future. Remind oneself that the future is indeed there if we want it, and that we can grow into that future as easily as we grow from the past into the present.

Many depressives concentrate almost devotedly upon the miseries of the world — the probable disasters that could bring about its end. They remind themselves that the planet is overpopulated, and project into the future the most dire of disasters, man-made and natural.

Such thoughts are bound to cause depression. They are also painting a highly prejudiced view of reality, leaving out all matters concerning man’s and woman’s heroism, love of his or her fellow creatures, his or her wonder, sympathy, and the great redeeming qualities of the natural world itself. So such people must change their focus of attention.

The other creative, positive, achieving portions of life are ever present, and thoughts of them alone can bring refreshment and release from tension.

The point is that all of the world’s problems also represent great challenges. Young people in particular are needed to work for the promotion of peace and nuclear disarmament, to take up the tasks of deregulating and redistributing food sources, and of encouraging nations to join in such a creative venture. Those are indeed worthy and stirring causes, as noble as any that faced any generation in the past. The world needs every hand and eye, and cries out for expression of love and caring. To devote oneself to such a cause is far more praiseworthy than to steadily bemoan global problems with a sorrowful eye and mournful voice.

If we are lethargic, resolve to take the first small steps toward action, however small they might be. Remind oneself that life implies action and motion, and even the activity of the most despondent thought flows in great burst of rhythm.

All of the suggestions given here will also help in lesser situations, in ordinary bouts of worry, stress, or poor health. Even those with very serious diseases can always hope for improvement, so even if an individual is considering suicide because of severe health dilemma, the matter should be carefully weighed.

The most seemingly irreversible physical situations have changed even drastically for the better, so each tomorrow does offer that possibility. Again, however, the individual must take his or her own choice, and without facing the additional burden of worrying whether or not the soul itself will be condemned for such an act.

Nature does not know damnation, and damnation has no meaning in the great realm of love in which all existence is couched.

The Will To Live

Starting over — changing one’s belief, is a bold endeavor. It is quite possible that along the way we may become discouraged or disillusioned.

At such times it is a good idea to give oneself time to relax. Turn one’s attention to something else entirely, and mentally say, “To hell with it all for now.” The entire idea involves a process in which we try and not try at the same time, in which we do not strain to achieve results, but instead gently begin to allow ourselves to follow the contours of our own subjective feelings, to uncover those spiritual and biologically valid beliefs of early childhood, and to bring to them the very best wisdom that we have acquired throughout our life so far.

So when we do become discouraged, a playful diversion should give us refreshing release. An escapist movie or novel, or the purchase of some small frivolous item may also serve to relax our conscious mind. We are actually involved in changing a way of life, in altering our very view of the self and the world in the hopes of acquiring a new sense of harmony with our bodies, our minds, our fellow creatures, and the environment.

Indeed, there is no more exciting adventure, and it will bring about more surprises and discoveries than any expedition to alien landscapes. Our beliefs are indeed alive in their own fashion. Now, instead of taking them for granted, we will begin to notice both their uniqueness and their variety.

If we are talking about starting over, however, we may as well begin at one of the lowest points and work upward. This way we can see beliefs in their darkest form, and then little by little watch them begin to show energy, vitality, and fresh impetus.

In nearly all matters of poor health, or unfortunate living conditions or mental or physical stress, there exists a strong tinge of denial, fear, and repression.

These are seen at their most severe and their most obvious where suicide is involved — particularly in the suicide of the young. In later blogs we will discuss some special cases of reincarnational influence connected with suicide, but for now we will be concerned with the increasing numbers of suicides by young adults.

At one time or another most people consider the possibility of their own death. That is a quite natural reaction to the conditions of life. With some people, however, the idea of death seems to grow obsessive, so that it is felt to be the one escape from life’s problems. It may even achieve an allure in some people’s minds.

The propelling force in all of existence is the desire to be, however — the impetus toward expression, development, and fulfillment. Some people who consider suicide believe in life after death, and some do not — and in the deepest of terms all deaths are somewhat suicidal. Physical life must end if it is to survive. There are certain conditions, however, that promote suicidal activity, and the termination of one’s own life had been held in great disrepute by many religions and societies, though not in all.

Individuals innately want to cooperate with their fellow human beings. They have a need to help other people, and to contribute to the common good. Many people who commit suicide feel to the contrary that they are no longer needed, or in fact that their very existence stands in the way of other people’s happiness. Young adult suicides are not necessarily from the poorest or the lowest strata of society at all. In fact, poverty often serves as a strong impetus, leading the individual to fight for his or her daily needs.

Such a person’s day may be so crowded with desperate activity that there is no time with which to even contemplate suicide, because the struggle for life itself is so intent.

Again, the desire for value fulfillment, development and purpose is so strong that if those seem denied, life becomes — or seems to become — less precious. In many cases it is the son and daughter of the upper middle-classes, of the well-to-do, who run into such life-endangering dilemmas. Some youngsters are so overly provided for by their families that it seems that there is no way for them to achieve any more than they have.

If their parents are overly indulgent, then the youngster may actually feel as if they were adjuncts to their parents, or possessions alone. On the other hand, some upper-middle-class families stress competition to such a degree that it seems to the children that they are only valued for their achievements, rather than being loved for simply being the people they are.

To most people, none of these situations seem particularly drastic, and certainly there are far worse cases of human disillusionment in the world. Yet many such youngsters literally see no future for themselves as adults.

They do not visualize themselves as future parents, or as having certain careers. It is as if their whole lives accelerated to the brink of adulthood — yet they could see nothing beyond. Along the way, whether or not it was obvious to parents, such youngsters begin to feel that life is meaningless. Often such individuals are highly gifted, yet they feel as if that promise will never blossom.

In most cases these youngsters are actually quite secretive — though the self they show to parents and friends might appear to be lively and gregarious.

Such persons can help themselves, however, and they can be helped by others.

First of all, let me make it clear that no one is “damned” for committing suicide. There are no particular “penalties.”

Would-be suicides, for all their secrecy, usually do mention the subject to a friend, relative, or close family member. The subject should not be ignored or condemned, but honestly examined. Part of the mystique of the suicidal impulse is indeed the secretive aspect — so the very expression of the feeling is beneficial, and leads to better communication.

Indeed, part of the would-be suicide’s dilemma may be caused by a lack of communication with others, a misinterpretation of the motives of friends or family members, and a difficulty in expressing one’s own needs and wishes.

When To Ignore, Instructions, Suggestions And Resolutions. A New Beginning

The thoughts and beliefs that we want to rearouse are those that were often predominant in childhood, as mentioned in earlier blogs. 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 fell 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 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 take it for granted that any stressful situation will worsen, that communication will worsen,that communication with others is dangerous, that self-fulfillment brings about the envy and even of others, and that as individuals they live in an unsafe society, set down the middle of a natural world that is itself savage, cruel, and caring only for its survival at any cost.

Our body actually lives on large quantities of joyful expectation.

The fetus is propelled by the expectation of future growth and development. It is bad enough to anticipate that most unfortunate situations will worsen rather than improve, but it is foolhardy indeed to believe that mankind is bound to destroy itself, or that nuclear destruction in nearly inevitable.

Many people no longer believe in life after death, and so large numbers of the population are philosophically denied a spiritual or a physical future.

This deprives body and mind of the zest and purpose needed in order to enjoy any pursuits or activities. Such beliefs make any human endeavor appear futile. There are ways of reacting to the dangers of nuclear energy that are far more healthy and beneficial, and we will discuss these in later blogs.

For now, I simply want to suggest that all such beliefs should be understood and dismissed as soon as possible. We hope to show how most natural health-promoting beliefs can be applied to all mental, physical, or emotional illnesses or difficulties. I want to assure that regardless of our circumstances, age, or sex, we can indeed start over, re-arousing from within ourselves those earlier, more innocent expectations, feelings and beliefs. It is much better if we 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.

In other words, we will try to instill a somewhat playful attitude, even toward the most severe problems, for the very idea of play encourages the use of the imagination and the creative abilities.

This starting over. Again, because of simultaneous nature of time, beliefs can be changed in the present moment.

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. It is important, however, that we do not strain too hard to achieve results, but allow ourselves some leeway. We react to our beliefs habitually, often unthinkingly, and in usual ideas of time, and in our experience of it — we must allow oneself “some time” to change that habitual behavior.

As we do, we will discover oneself reacting to the desired beliefs as easily and automatically as we did to the undesirable ones. As we do, keep the idea of child’s play in mind, however. this will allow us to keep the entire affair in a kind of suspension.

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

One of the issues I want to discuss in depth is that of spontaneity in relationship to health and disease.

Our very physical existence itself is dependent upon the smooth functioning of many spontaneous processes. Our thinking, breathing, and motion are all guided by activities that are largely unconscious — at least from the standpoint of what we usually think of as the conscious mind.

Our body repairs itself constantly, and our mind thinks — all without our normally conscious attention. The same applies to all of those inner processes that make life possible. Our 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.

It is indeed as if some inner spontaneous part of the personality is far more knowledgeable than the conscious portion of which we are so rightfully proud.

Many people, however, fear spontaneity: it evokes extravagance, excesses, and dangerous freedoms. Even people who are not so fervently opposed to spontaneity often feel that it is somewhat suspect, distasteful, perhaps leading to humiliating actions. Spontaneity, however, represents the spirit of life itself, and it is the basis for the will to live, and for those impulses that stimulate action, motion, and discovery.

In the truest regard, our life is provided for us by these spontaneous processes. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, at one time the human personality was “more at one with itself.” It accommodated unconscious and conscious experience more equitably. Man and woman were more aware of his and her dreams and so-called unconscious activity.

It is only because civilized man and woman have somewhat overspecialized in the use of one kind of knowledge over another that people fear the unconscious, spontaneous portions of the self. The fear alone causes them to block out still more and more unconscious knowledge. Since the spontaneous portions are so related to bodily activity, they are very important in facilitating good health, and when people feel divorced from their spontaneous selves, they also fell divorced to the same extent from their own bodies. Such individuals become frightened of freedom itself, of choices and of changes. They try desperately to control themselves and their environment against what seems to be a raging, spontaneous mass of primitive impulses from within, and against a mindless, chaotic, ancient force of nature. In the physical world, such behavior often leads to compulsive action — stereotyped mental and physical motion and other situations with a strong repressive coloration. Here any expression becomes almost taboo. The conscious mind must be in control of all actions as much as possible, for such a person feels that only rigid, logical thought is strong enough to hold back such strong impulsive force.

These attitudes may be reflected in rather simple compulsive actions: the woman or man who cleans the house endlessly, whether it needs it or not; the man or woman who will follow certain precise, defined routes of activity — driving down certain streets only to work; washing his or her hands much more frequently than other people; the person who constantly buttons and unbuttons a sweater or vest. Many such simple actions show a stereotyped kind of behavior that results from a desperate need to gain control over oneself and the environment.

Any excessive behavior may enter in, including over-smoking, overeating, and overdrinking.

It will be difficult for some people to believe that spontaneity is to be trusted, for they may be only aware of feeling destructive or violent impulses. The idea of expressing impulses spontaneously will be most frightening under those conditions.

Actually the people involved are repressing not violent impulses but natural loving ones. They are afraid that expressions of love, or the need for dependence will only bring them scorn or punishment. Therefore, they hide those yearnings, and the destructive impulses actually serve to protect them from the expression of love that they have somehow learned to fear.

Science itself, for all of its preciseness in some areas, often equates instinctive, impulsive, chaotic, destructive activity as one and the same.

Nature and the inner nature of man and woman are both seen to contain savage, destructive forces against which civilization and the reasoning mind must firmly stand guard.

Science itself often displays compulsive and ritualistic behavior, to the point of programming its own paths of reasoning, so that they cover safe ground, and steadfastly ignore the great inner forces of spontaneity that make science — or any discipline — possible. As I have said before, spontaneity knows its own order. Nothing is more highly organized than the physical body that spontaneously grow all of its own parts.

As our life is provided for us, so to speak, by these spontaneous processes, the life of the universe is provided in the same fashion. We see physical stars, and our instruments probe the distance of space — but the inner processes that make the universe possible are those same processes that propel our own thinking. It is erroneous, therefore, to believe that spontaneity and discipline are mere opposites. Instead, true discipline is the result of true spontaneity.

Value fulfillment of each and every element in life relies upon those spontaneous processes, and their source is the basic affirmative love and acceptance of the self, the universe, and life’s conditions.

Since ancient times religions has tried to help man and woman understand the nature of his or her own subjective reality — but religion has its own dark side, and for this reason religion unfortunately has fostered fear of the spontaneous.

Instead of promoting the idea of man’s and woman’s inner worth, it has taught people to distrust the inner self and its manifestations. Most churches preach a dogma that stresses concepts of the sinful self, and sees man and woman as creatures contaminated by original sin even before birth.

This distorted picture depicts a species of sinners innately driven by evil, sometimes demonic, forces. In this dogma man and woman needs to apologize for his or her birth, and the conditions of life are seen as a punishment set by God upon his or her erring creatures. Unfortunately such concepts are also reflected in fields of psychology, particularly in Freudianism — where, say, slips of the tongue may betray the self’s hidden, nefarious true desires.

The unconscious is understood to be a garbage heap of undesirable impulses, long ago discarded by civilization, while again much religious theory projects the image of the hidden self that must be kept in bounds by good work, prayer, and penance.

Amid such a conglomeration of negative suppositions, the idea of a good and innocent inner self seems almost scandalous. To encourage expression of that self appears foolhardy, for it seems only too clear that if the lid of consciousness were opened, so to speak, all kind of inner demons and enraged impulses would rush forth.

Again, people who have such views of the inner self usually project the same ideas upon nature at large, so that the natural world appears equally mysterious, dangerous, and threatening.

In political terms such persons also look for strong authoritative groups or governments, stress law and order above justice or equality, and tend to see the poorer, less advantaged members of society as impulse-ridden, dangerous, and always ready for revolution. It is quite frequent for persons with those beliefs to discipline their bodies overmuch, take positions as police guards, or set themselves up in one way or another in control of their fellows.

I am not here stating that all police guards, members of the military or whatever, fall into that category. Such people will, however, tend toward a strongly disciplined life. Many of their health problems will deal with eruptions — interior ulcers, skin eruptions, or in very definite mental and emotional eruptions, and great outbursts of force and temper all the more noticeable because of the usual disciplined patterns of behavior.

In most such cases there is a lack of the normal range of emotional expression. Such persons often find it extremely difficult to express love, joy, or gratitude, for example, and this lack of expression is taken for granted by others, who do not see it in its true light, but think instead that the person is simply reticent.

Secondary personalities and schizophrenic episodes are also somewhat characteristic — again appearing as sudden explosive behavior when conflicting beliefs are dammed up and held back. And when it is believed that the inner self is indeed a bed of chaotic impulses, then it becomes less and less possible for an individual to express normal range of activity. The person then feels lethargic and out of touch with work of family.

Expression is a necessity of life, however. Each person feels that drive. When one set of rigid beliefs threatens to make action appear meaningless, then another set of buried, repressed beliefs may surface, providing new impetus precisely when it is needed — but also forming a secondary personality with characteristics almost opposite to those of the primary self.

We will have more to say on all of these issues — but now I want to discuss spontaneity, or its lack, in relationship to sexuality and health. Sexual health is incredibly important for each of the partners involved but especially for women as it can cause many health problems for them if certain guidelines are not followed. If you are looking for expert advice, visit www.advancedgynecology.com by following the link.

All of the negative beliefs just mentioned touch upon sexuality in one way or another. Those with the beliefs just mentioned often think of sexuality as bestial, evil, and even humiliating.

These attitudes are intensified where the female sex is concerned. We have, of course, a strong drive toward sexuality, and if we believe that it is to be shunned at the same time, then we are in a very ambiguous position. Women with such beliefs and conflicts often wind up having hysterectomies, performed incidentally by male doctors, who hold the very same beliefs.

Many men look forward to having sons, while at the same time they revere marriage as a necessary part of respectable family life, and also feel that marriage is somewhat degrading — particularly to a male — and that the sex act itself is only justified if it brings him an heir.

Such a male will seek sex with prostitutes, or with women he considers beneath him. In a strange fashion, he may even feel that it is wrong to have sex with his own wife, believing that the sex act so degrades the both of them. In many cases these people will be great sportsmen, follow conventionalized male pursuits, and perhaps express contempt for the arts or any interest considered remotely feminine.

Many schools of religion and so-called esoteric knowledge have promoted the idea that sexuality and spirituality are diametrically opposed to each other.

People in the sports arena also often encourage the concept that sexual expression is somewhat debilitating to the male, and can weaken his constitution. Priests take vows to ensure sexual abstinence, in other words they tightly fasten the package, and any urges they may have in a form of “sexual discipline”. The fact is that sexual expression is, again, an important element in the entire range of human experience, encouraging mental and physical health and vitality.

Some people may have a stronger or weaker sex drive than others, and yet that drive is a strong part of any individual’s natural rhythm. Damned up, such sexuality still keeps trying for expression, and it is often men or women of habitual “sexual discipline” who suddenly break out in bouts of sexual promiscuity or violence.

In actuality, the combination of a philosophical stress upon discipline, physical and mental, with the belief in the sinful self, often brings about the most unfortunate human dilemmas. These ideas usually ride along with feelings that power is desirable but dangerous. To abstain from sexuality then means to store up one’s own power. People with such beliefs often have severe problems with constipation, and have retention symptoms — retaining water, for example, or salt or whatever.

They may also suffer with stomach difficulties, many being overly fond of extremely spicy foods. Some have unusually heavy appetites, even though these may be regulated by a series of diets — which are then broken by overeating.

There are so many other elements involved in human nature that I do not really want to point out any culprits, yet male-segregated communities are obviously notorious for encouraging that kind of behavior. Every individual in such institutions or societies is not affected in the same fashion, of course — yet we do have these kinds of closed societies, relatively speaking, and they can indeed serve as cradles for fanaticism and rigid stereotypes of behavior. Again, here we find that discipline, rather than free will, is stressed, so that the opportunity for choices is drastically reduced. The more open a society, the more healthy its people.

What I have said also applies to organizations segregated along feminine lines, though to a lesser degree.

In both cases the sexes are denied any true communication, and an extremely artificial framework is maintained, in which the sexes literally become strangers to each other. This also encourages various kinds of hysterical reactions, as well as a larger frequency of “contagious diseases” than is experienced by the normal population.

These conditions also occur in some varieties of religious cults, whether or not strict sexual segregation is enforced. If human relationships are highly regulated and supervised, or family members encouraged to spy upon their relatives or friends, then we have the same kind of curtailment of natural expression and communication.

People in such societies often suffer from malnourishment, frequent beatings, an excessive use of the enema, and often indulge in physical punishment. The children are strictly raised, and a lack of normal spontaneity is the rule rather than the exception. Members of such organizations often suffer maladies in which their bodies do not utilize nutrients. They are often food faddists of one kind or another, but because they do fear spontaneity to such a degree they will often become afflicted with diseases of maladies associated with the body’s unconscious processes.

We can also find single families, of course, that operate like cults — or an entire nation — that are given over to repression with its resulting violence.

The ideas that we have, then, play a large role in the way the body handles its nutrients, and utilizes its health and vitality. If we believe that the body is somehow evil, we may punish it by nearly starving to death, even though our diet might be considered normal by usual standards. For it is possible for our ideas to cause chemical reactions that impede our body’s ability to accept nourishment. If we believe that the body is evil, the purest health-food diet will or may do us little good at all, while if we have a healthy desire and respect for our physical body, a diet of TV dinners, and even of fast foods, may well keep us healthy and nourished.

If we are talking about health, it is our beliefs that we must look. We have the most efficient and beautiful physical organs, the most elegant joints and appendages, the most vibrant lungs and the most exquisite of senses. It is up to us to form a body of beliefs that is worthy of our physical image — for we are nourished by our beliefs, and those beliefs can cause our daily bread to add to our vitality, or to add to our cares and stress.

The weight of unfortunate beliefs perhaps falls heaviest on the older segments of the population, for the beliefs have had a longer period of time to operate relatively unimpeded.

Those particular beliefs actually take hold in young adults, so that it seems that all of life is meant to come to its fullest flower in young adulthood, and then from that prestigious position fall quicker and quicker into disuse and disarray.

These ideas do not inflict severe difficulties upon older members of the population, but they also have a vital part to play in the behavior of many young people who commit suicide directly or indirectly. It seems to such youngsters that the pinnacle of life is just at hand, to last upon youthful beauty and youthful achievement, so that it appears that all of the rest of life’s activities must suffer by contrast.

Knowledge through experience is not considered a practical-enough method of learning, so that the skills and understanding that come with age are seldom taken into consideration.

Again, to a certain degree, religion and science — and the medical sciences in particular — seem devoted to encouraging the most negative beliefs about human nature. It is taken for granted that all mental, physical, spiritual and emotional satisfactions become lesser with advancing age. It is taken for granted that memory fails, the body weakens, the senses stagnate, and emotional vividness dims. It is often considered scandalous to even imagine sexual activity after the age of even 40 or 50.

Faced with the kind of a projected future, no wonder many adolescents prefer to die before catching sight of the very first hint of deterioration — the first wrinkle or touch of gray in the hair. What forerunner of disaster such natural signs must seem! And at the other end of the scale, older parents are treated by their grown children as if they themselves were falling into a grotesque version of a second childhood. Many people actually speak louder to older persons, whether or not they have any hearing difficulties at all and require the help of cordless phone for hearing impaired or not.

Our entire world of commerce and advertisements, of competition and of business, prolong such attitudes. This is aside from the impact of the entertainment industry, which reflects that same glorification of youth, and that fear of growing old.

There are very definite, excellent side-effects of growing older, such as being able to use a site like www.keyadvice.co.uk/equity-release/calculator to receive equity from the value of your home. That we will also discuss in future blogs — but here I want to assure the blog reader that basically speaking there are no diseases brought about by old age alone.

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 age alone.

We will have more to say concerning older people and their ways of life, and also discuss the many beliefs and ideas that can come almost immediately to their aid. The subject of suicide will also be discussed in a different context, and when I invite my blog readers to start over, I want it understood that we can indeed start over regardless of our age or circumstances.