A Precarious Existence for the First Eighteen Years of Life
My mother was born and raised in a tiny town in the state of Ohio. She grew up in a time when women, in general, were almost wholly ignorant about sex, conception and childbirth. My mother was not the exception.
She struggled all during her pregnancy with me, being her first conception. She suffered depression, fearing to give birth, because she did not understand the hormonal changes going on inside of her.
When it came time to give birth to me, she labored for so long, the doctors considered C-section, which was not commonly, or routinely performed in that era.
Born into the world with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, I could neither process my mother's milk, baby food, nor water, and became jaundiced, almost dying within the first six weeks of life. When I formed stools, they had to be physically removed.
At six weeks of life, I developed pneumonia and was hospitalized, again. Now, it was an urgent struggle for the doctors to save my life. At six months of age, I was again hospitalized, developing pneumonia, again! And again, the doctors managed to save my infant life.
All during my childhood, I was constantly sick. I had one cold, after another, and one bout of flu, after another.
Added to this challenge, my Irish father was a big, stout, stern and commanding, demanding personality, who was also a heavy meat and potatoes eater. And being his firstborn son, who was weakly, he forced me to eat a lot of meat and potatoes.
I could not process the meat and was allergic to the potatoes. This constant sent my physical health into one long daily tailspin.
It seemed that I was allergic to life itself. My eyes constantly teared, streaming down my face. Everything I ate and breathed adversely affected me.
All during my childhood and teen years, I did not comprehend that my dad, in his own ignorance, was adding insult and injury to my health, because he was a heavy smoker, who smoked in the house. I was exposed to his secondhand smoke which was also making me ill.
Nine Years of Battling Addictions
The next nine years of my life was more unconsciously than consciously spent addicted to cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs.
During this decade, I thought everything bad that could happen to a person was happening to me. It would take another three years to come to grips with overcoming the addictions and beginning a path to achieving optimal health and subsequent spiritual clarity.
I spent the two years, prior to age thirty-two, teaching myself hypnotic self-programming, wherein I would daily envision myself doing my normal routines, without smoking, drinking and ingesting drugs of any kind.
At age thirty-two, in the spring of that year, I had reduced smoking, from four to six packs of cigarettes a day to just four cigarettes a day. One day I made the firm decision to stop smoking, altogether, start drinking purified water, and go on an organic juice fast for seven days, in order to cleanse my body of all remaining nicotine and other toxins.
I succeeded, never returning to my former life of addictions. But for another eighteen months, I would battle the psychological addiction to smoke.
The Present
During the next three decades of living, I focused increasingly on becoming the diligent observer, consciously noting how eating particular foods made me feel, after a meal. And I began to see a pattern of feeling tired, lethargic, lacking energy and having allergic reactions.
Thus, I began a quest to first start eliminating all meats from my
Educating myself regarding the different types of water purification systems, I finally found a system that has been tested and verified to remove 100% of fluoride, chlorine, mercury and other harmful substances, but not removing the beneficial minerals which are naturally in the water.
The study of herbs, both for cooking, cold meal preparations, and taking internally in capsule or liquid form, has been a lifelong study, since 1982.
The most important things I can tell you are these:
1. 34 Years Illness-free: I have not had one episode of ill-health since 1982. Personally, I consider this a miracle exhibition of the healing power of the human body and mind, in the experience of even a formerly sickly (as a child, teen and young adult) individual and an easily addictive type personality.
2. Continual Dietary Refinement: At the present time in my life, I have for several years, now, eliminated all processed foods of any kind from my
3. Purified Water: Purified water is the focal point in my daily dietary regimen. I consume 3 quart bottles of purified water (not bottled water, not distilled water and not purified water from any other source, but my own in-house water filtration system that removes 100% of fluoride, chlorine, mercury, lead and other toxic chemicals and gases.
4. Vegan
5. Organic Juices: My focus is on the intake of a wide variety of many fresh, organic juices, made from fruits and vegetables, drinking them in small amounts of one to two ounces, twice daily. The juices I drink usually contain all of the following, and may vary, from time to time. I juice: carrots, oranges, blueberries, mangoes, bananas, apples, grapes, pears, kiwi, pineapple, spirulina, green tea, spinach, broccoli, barley grass, wheat grass, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, Nova Scotia dulse.
6. Herbs: I ingest chlorella, ginko biloba, astralagus, ginger and fenugreek, and turmeric (curcumin), daily.
7. Organic Herbal Teas: I drink: dandelion root, a combination herbal detox tea, a combination tea for the lungs, and chamomile tea before going to bed.
8. Other: I daily take 2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar, a dime-sized amount of raw bee pollen, a teaspoon of black seed oil, and a teaspoon of organic baking soda. I also walk up to three times, daily, for a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes.
9. Philosophy: In my early twenties, I adopted a set of 28 philosophical principle, by which I chose to live my life. I have never swayed from living, according to these principles. They can all be summed up in interacting with others, as I would want them to interact with me, allowing for the fact that others will almost always fall short in their interactions with me. Expect not. And do not give advice, until it is asked for. Even then, give advice thoughtfully and sparingly. Listen far more than I speak.
10. Spirituality: Religion, for me, is a living inner experience, not an outer one. I practice spiritual unity with all individuals with whom I have the opportunity to communicate. Religious, intellectual, philosophical and scientific uniformity is an illusion and will never be achieved, not even under threat of death. Inner living religion is the direct connection to the indwelling divine presence of God... the still, small and whispering voice within, which will ever guide us toward the eventual achievement of self-control, self-mastery and lasting inner peace and happiness.
My Daily Healthy Regimen
Please Note: It is proper and necessary to clarify that this is my
1. I almost always bound out of bed around 4:00 - 5:00 a.m, sometimes a little earlier and sometimes a little later.
2. I begin my writing and publishing day with a 12 oz. cup of dandelion or detox tea. I do not allow myself to take in nutrition, until I follow the cup of tea with 32 oz. of purified water.
3. Then I take 2 oz. each of four combination juices, along with 1 oz. of Alive Daily Liquid Vitamin. This, again, is followed with 32 oz. of purified water, taking my herbs, organic cider vinegar, black seed oil, and organic baking soda (aluminum free), followed by walking for 15-20 minutes, at a brisk pace.
4. In the late afternoon, I have 12 oz. of another herbal tea, followed by a light meal of cruciferous and leafy vegetables, and lots of turmeric and garlic.
5. This is followed by another 32 oz. of purified water, after 1 hour for digestion. Just before bed, usually around 8:00 p.m., I drink another 12 oz. cup of chamomile or combination chamomile tea.