Here Bernard offers some ideas about liquids and health and possible uses of various herbal teas. Bernard was not a licensed medical practitioner, or herbalist so please treat his ideas only as suggestions.
As it is a popular topic, Bernard offers ideas for Finding a Cottage in the Country, shares a students success with the Tube exercise, Subconscious Problem Solving and in The Two Commandments, he then comments on a students attitude to debt.
Blessings,
William M.
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LESSON FIFTEEN: Liquid Life Force
My dear Student,
Most people are uncertain as to how much liquid they require. Some think they need a lot and gulp down quantities with their meals, turning their food into a kind of soggy mass inside. Well, we do need liquids, but not mixed with everything we eat! Far better to have the liquids first or, if the meal has been fairly dry, to have no more than one small cup of a favourite drink about half an hour afterwards.
Of course, tea is the most important drink in this country (the UK), but, taken by itself is not really very good for us. I sometimes add something to our tea before it goes into the pot, and you will be surprised at the varieties used! Raspberry leaves, blackberry leaves, the whole plant of Avens, rose leaves (not petals) have all been well washed, dried slowly until crisp and added in equal quantities to tea. You can scarcely tell any difference, either, except that the tea is milder, which we prefer.
Sometimes we have had friends to tea and they have remarked: “What a lovely cup of tea. May I ask what blend it is?” When we have told them they have had a great surprise I have also experimented with rose-leaf tea on its own, too, and found it quite a pleasant change, though very pale in appearance. I have merely cut a handful of leaves off a rose tree, washed them well, put them in the tea-pot and poured on boiling water. About a half-teaspoonful of tea added is welcome, though.
Then there is Maté tea, which you buy at the grocer’s. It is most beneficial and can be added to ordinary tea. You can also buy packets of dried raspberry leaves from a Health Store and add these to the tea.
As to the quantity of liquids needed, it is better to be guided by one’s own desires in the matter. Do not, however, make the mistake of having too little. It causes elimination troubles. Or too much; it causes excess fluid in the body. Just enough to satisfy the thirst without slowing down or clogging, should be the rule.
And speaking of beverages, have you ever tried Treacle Tea? It is nourishing, energy-giving, slightly laxative and really excellent for children. And it actually looks exactly like ordinary tea. This is a great advantage with children who want to have the same as the grown-ups for it can be made in a teapot and poured out in the usual way. To make one, cup put a small spoonful of black treacle into a cup. Fill up with almost boiling water and add milk as usual. Black treacle, too, is excellent if added to a glass of hot milk or milk and water. It gives it a pleasantly “malty” taste; it is energy-giving when you are tired; it is soothing; it is a mild laxative and also it eases sore throats and tight chests. So it is worth while to keep a tin of black treacle in the house, don’t you think?
If you put the suggestions contained in these Lessons into practice, you will find that your health will improve amazingly. That is why I shall not write separately about such things as chest and kidney complaints, and the like. All these disturbances arise from impurities in the blood and, so long as it has not been going on too long, will yield to these natural, cleansing methods. Even in longstanding, severe cases there is bound to be an improvement. If, however, you want extra help for your particular trouble, go to a herbal store. Then you can get some herbs to assist you on your way to recovery.
Kidney trouble, I know, can be greatly lessened, or even eliminated entirely by taking “tea” made from dried raspberry leaves. Digestive disturbances can be allayed by a drink of hot “tea” made from an infusion of thyme leaves. Liver disorders can be helped with a strong infusion of dandelion leaves.
Chest complaints can be eased with thyme-leaf tea, also, and this drink, taken hot last thing at night, helps the restless to sleep well. (I discovered this for myself accidentally one day. Having a cough one winter I took a cup of thyme-leaf tea during the evening and found myself utterly unable to keep awake. I had a wonderful night’s sleep and only read in an old herbal book, months later, that it was a good sleep-inducer!) People with coughs will find relief with turnip juice and honey. Peel and grate the turnip, or cut small. Put in a basin, pour over a couple of tablespoons of honey and leave for 12 hours. Sip the juice when required.
I could go on for a long time, telling you of many homely weeds, wild flowers, herbs and leaves which have healing properties, but most of you will be too busy to pay frequent visits to the country, gather, wash and dry these things. That is why I suggest the Health Store
If you are really going to take an interest in healthful matters, I expect you would like to take in a magazine. This is a great help as you get all kinds of tips from other readers, lots of recipes, and interesting accounts of how readers cured themselves by natural methods. I suggest “Health For All” {No longer available, but there are alternatives in magazine section of shops. – William M} to begin with. You will discover others for yourself.
Finding a Cottage in the Country
In our last Lesson I told you that we would talk again about this fascinating topic of living in the country. There are so many people who are interested in the subject – and as I have achieved this ambition myself, I can claim to know a little more than I did when I was a town dweller
As I mentioned before, it would be possible to live very cheaply if one had the time to till the garden and spend quite a while in the careful preparation of food. Wild foods take up time, too, both in searching for them and preparing them afterwards. But to anyone who loves the country, this is a most satisfying life and well worth the hours spent in such a way.
If you want a cheap cottage, though, don’t just call at a few estate agent and tell them. They will probably smile at your optimism, as they did at ours! Instead, get a number of country weekly papers and watch the advertisements. But don’t rely on this, either. Farmers are notoriously bad letter-writers and, although they may have a cottage to sell, may not “get around” to writing out an advertisement. This is what happened to us. We had been watching the country papers for some time and then decided to advertise our wants. Immediately we had a reply. It was from a farmer who wanted to sell but just didn’t do anything about it. The cottage was actually vacant – and I have known cottages stand vacant for months, unadvertised, until some local people have come along and bought them.
Well, there are a few hints to go on with and presently I will write of lesser-known ones. In the meantime, country-lovers, get a few weekly papers – and browse, and dream. It is a pleasant occupation.
Now here is an article from a former copy of B.W.N. It is about “dreams”, so it really belongs here, as I think you will agree. It is called:-
FOLLOW THOSE IDEAS!
How delighted you have all been with my articles about an “Abundance of Optimism” lately! Some of you have written to say they were most inspiring, that when you read them your own optimism rose up and life looked rosy for you, too. I am so glad. One of my most important “jobs ” is to get you all feeling really happy and hopeful, so that your subconscious minds will get busy and bring to you the Abundant Life I want for you all.
There is, however, more to it than feeling optimistic. When we feel this, and so educate our subconscious minds in the way they should go, ideas begin to rise up to the surface of our conscious minds. These ideas, if followed, will lead you on and on to your goal – if you are wise enough to follow them! For instance, suppose you have a business and you begin to educate your subsconscious mind with feelings of thrilling optimism. You visualise the business flourishing and customers pouring into your shop…
Then, gradually ideas flash into your mind. You remember, perhaps, some preference a customer has expressed, or some business “tip” given by a successful man. Follow these ideas in order to give better service and value – and you’ll soon be “riding on the top of the wave”. “You are lucky”, your competitors will say – but you will know better; you will know that you not only hoped and dreamed but you acted on your hunches, too! So if you want a “change” in your life, don’t give your mind a “holiday”, will you?
Success with the Tube Exercise.
Here is a copy of a Student’s letter. It appeared in a former B.W.N. I think you will find it encouraging.
“He completely changed his mind.” By D. G.
“I have enclosed the Report Form. I must say I find each Lesson more interesting than the last. I have carried out the breathing exercises and find them very good. Things are going along very smoothly for me just at present. Today things still seem to be working out and the one big thing I have been building for since the first Lesson seems, slowly but surely, to be getting nearer; what first seemed to be a ‘blind alley’ seems to be opening up and certain obstacles are being removed. I have also had one or two little successes with healing. You may remember that in an early letter I mentioned a person who had tried to do me a lot of harm in the past but who seemed to be getting a little more friendly. About three weeks ago he took a certain step which could have led to some unpleasantness. I ‘built’ for things to work out smoothly and the next morning he came and knocked on the door and said he had completely changed his mind as it had come to him how very unfair he had been.”
Subconscious Problem Solving
As this Lesson is partly about ideas, I shall give you a real-life instance from my own experience.
Some time ago I wanted to solve a problem. By evening it still seemed difficult – in fact, there seemed no way out and through it at all I was not in the least troubled by this, though. Before going to sleep, I said silently within myself: “My mind has many parts, and while the conscious part sleeps, I want the other part to consider this problem and to find the solution for me.” I then silently addressed my inner mind, saying, “Now, Inner Mind, listen to this problem ” (I then briefly outlined it.) “I want a solution, please. I am confident that I will have this. I am confident that I will have this. I am confident that I will have the solution to this problem.” I then fell asleep. When I awoke, my first thought was:
“I haven’t the solution to the problem yet, but it will come.” By eleven o’clock, it had. By eleven-thirty I had written out several pages of notes – and the problem was very soon dealt with successfully. This is a method for you to use also. Remember though that it concerns ideas to be investigated and not “heavenly commands” Reason about and test your ideas. Your friend, I think this will interest you:
THE TWO COMMANDMENTS
A Student wrote: “I am in need of money for everyday expenses and I am in debt. However, I cannot make money the subject of prayer and thought building for I remember the commandment to ‘love God with all thy strength and mind’.”
In my reply, I wrote: Have you also remembered the second of those two great commandments, to “love thy neighbour as thyself”? If you wish to renounce a desire for your own money, that is entirely a matter for you to decide, but as you are in debt, it is other people’s money that is under consideration! These people will want their money, as they have a right to do. When you have returned it to them in full by paying all your debts, then is the time to decide on your future attitude towards money. In the meantime, love God’s Truth and wisdom with all your heart, and practise it by also considering the welfare of your neighbour as equal to your own. This you can do by a very clear-cut and earnest desire to repay your debts in full.
Your friend,
Bernard