Diet
You all know that pure food brings pure blood. You should avoid the two extremes of gluttony and daily fasting and abstemiousness. You should know (1) What to eat (2) How to eat (3) When to eat.
Concentrated food such as contains the maximum amount of nourishment in a minimum quantity should be used. The student should study some reliable hand book on the relative values of food and use his judgment. We ourselves use nuts, milk, fruits, whole wheat bread, rice in very small quantity, pulse, etc. Those who are non-meat eaters–and we advise it strongly–will do well to see to it that their menu has a good supply of albuminous food, as vegetarians often run the risk of being overfed as to starch and underfed in nitrogenous foods.
(2) Chew and masticate properly so as to extract the food-Prana in full and break up the food-substance into very small bits, reducing it to pulp. Do not be in a hurry to bolt your food but let it linger in your mouth so as to be properly insalivated and so that the nerves of the tongue, cheek, etc., may all absorb energy from food. Remember your stomach is not lined with rows of teeth. This will give you double the nourishment you get ordinarily, avoid constipation, prevent malnutrition, non-assimilation and over-eating. Out of a very small quantity of food you can extract perfect nourishment and thus you avoid loading and “stuffing” the stomach with unnecessary food. It is also economical in case you are a thrifty soul! Eat to live. Don’t live to eat.
(3) Eat when you are hungry. That cultivated “appetite” that craves for satisfaction at certain stated intervals of the day and brings on an “all-gone” fainting, nauseating sensation in the stomach is not real “hunger.” In real hunger there is absolutely no sensation in the stomach but there is a rich and continuous flow of saliva in the mouth and that sort of thing makes you enjoy the plainest of fares. Even a dry crust of bread will taste sweet as Manna. Cut off your breakfasts. Drink cold water instead. Eat one good, nourishing meal at 12 A. M., and one light meal in the evening.
Lastly, students, let plain living and high thinking be your motto. Do not be afraid to eat when you are hungry and so long as you exercise and work with brain and body even two square meals a day are permissible. Do not grow ethereal and airy, because then you will not amount to much in the world’s work. Students, who are perfect Brahmacharies, will not care half as much for lots of food as ordinary folk do. A constant feeling of satisfaction and fullness is present in such. But hard workers must never present in such. But hard workers must never be under-nourished and they require more food than others.
SLEEP.
It is the depth and relaxation in sleep that counts. High-strung people find it hard to relax and keep tossing on their pillows. Bathe your feet in cold water in hot season and in cool water in cold season. That will draw off the surplus blood gurgitating in your brain. Also bathe the nape of the neck. The student should engage in meditation before falling to sleep, as during sleep the Man leaves the physical form and goes to super-physical planes and it is the last train of thought in your mind that determines and conforms you to the special super-physical influence you are to obtain. The physical benefits too shall be great. You will feel more rested in this way and your sleep will be sleeping a sounder and more refreshing sleep than otherwise. One of the chief signs of success in Mental and Physical Control is that your sleeps are undisturbed and peaceful.
During sleep you are in a passive, relaxed condition and all sorts of unseen influences play around you. It is good therefore to enclose yourself in an Astral Shell. Concentrate upon your aura and picture it as extending some 18 inches all around you and forming a shell around you. Now take this affirmation to concentrate your mind.
1. I am charging my aura with my Will-Force.
2. It is strong, strong, strong and can and will resist, repel and drive off all bad influences and admit only pure and holy influence.
3. It will remain around me right along the period of my sleep.
The student is advised to surround himself in this “auric Shell” even when awake so that it may beat off all malign and harmful thought-forces. As he grows in Will-Power and Self-Confidence, a Protective Aura will form around him naturally and will be felt by others.
RELAXATION VERSUS CONTRACTION.
The student should learn to relax his body completely so that it shall lie still and limp and soft as cotton. He should be able to tense and contract his muscles so that they will become hard as iron. In all the physical exercises you will find two special actions (1) Muscle contraction (2) Stretching. When you contract muscle and harden it, you have sent currents of nerve-force and will to that part; when you relax it, you “let go” completely. What we want is Strength in Repose ready to leap into action in the flash of an eye. We have taught you how to relax in Lesson 2 on Will-Force. You all have noticed a cat crouching for its prey. How intensely still it is; yet you know what such stillness means. It is very far from laziness. Relaxation husbands and conserves nerve-force. It is a great thing to be calm and silent. Calmness is the centralization of tremendous power. Practise being calm, as far as you can.
SOLAR ENERGY.
There is great electrical and thermal power in the sun’s rays. If the human body be properly exposed to the sun during the first five hours in the morning and the evening, the body would absorb energy therefrom and gain in strength. Do not over do this, especially you of the warm climate.
LAST WORD ON HEALTH.
Trust Nature. It is her office to keep your body-machine running in perfect order. “Prevention is better than cure”–they say. Observe the healthy man. See how he lives and follow his example. But note that body is yours to control and God will not do that work for you. Also get rid of the stupidity that God sends diseases. Think, study and observe and you will know what Health Laws are.
