Read the introduction to the book here
Read the first chapter, “Breathing” here
Awakening Your Power of Self-Healing:
Virtuoso pianist Arthur Rubenstein developed crippling arthritis throughout his whole body, except for in his hands. Their consistently fluid, effortless, and balanced movement during years of performance kept his hands in wonderful shape, even as the rest of his body failed him. Our book, ​Awakening Your Power of Self Healing​, is designed to teach you to bring the power of healthy movement into every part of your life. It contains revolutionary knowledge you need to grow healthier by the day, prevent disease in the future, and improve your current conditions.
Most people believe in the benefits of exercise. On one end, we see that some people live longer, more productive lives because they exercise vigorously. Sadly, people often injure themselves or even shorten their lives through improper attempts at fitness. This is a reality we don’t always admit. ​Awakening Your Power of Self Healing ​teaches how to perform exercises in the wisest possible way – a way that will never hurt you, but will only improve you.
A small minority don’t believe much in exercise, but work instead on developing great bodily awareness. They work with stretches, posture, breathing, and subtle movements to improve the body’s function. Out of the billions of us, only a few million people have turned to this sort of work.
Awakening Your Power of Self Healing ​combines both varieties of self-care. We help you to develop a deep awareness of your body and to engage in rigorous exercise at the same time. We want to help people understand that there is a way to exercise their bodies safely. We want to help you become aware of your body’s needs, and respond to them.
The book is written very specifically to be easy to follow. We include 600 exercises, many of which are otherwise unavailable, along with 300 hand-drawn illustrations meant to clarify the movements for our readers. ​Above all,​​ we worked hard to make the book practical, applicable, and useful.
We wrote this book chronologically, according to the body’s needs. We begin with a chapter on breathing, to teach you to breathe slowly, deeply, and with effort only on the exhale. We also teach visualization, to help you become more aware of both your internal and external worlds. There is no way to hurt yourself if you focus on your breath, and avoid breathing in a shallow way. We also teach you to explore the state of your body through the observation of your breath.
Circulation
The next chapter is on circulation, and particularly, how to improve it. We can often boost circulation with activity, but relaxation of the joints and muscles also improves blood flow in the extremities, thus reducing the load on the heart. We believe in aerobics, but only when they are performed wisely – without tension and undue constriction of the vessels. Improper aerobic workouts may lead to more blood flow for a moment, but it may be less for the rest of the day. We want to increase circulation with movement, but also with perfect rest, which allows for better blood flow and recovery.
The Spine
We have ten muscles for every one that we use. The next chapter is on the spine – it talks about relaxation of the whole body, and movement that activates your dormant muscles in an even, balanced way. We have given up on many of the movements available to the human body, and the muscles we use suffer from great contraction, tension, and hardened connective tissue that limits mobility. With balanced use of more of our muscles, we reduce our tension and prevent many spinal injuries that require long treatment. We can prevent most prolonged, unresolved pain, but we can also help with pain you already may have.
The Joints
Some people never think about their joints, and others are in such pain that they aren’t able to think about anything else. Our next chapter, dedicated to your joints, is based on the same principle of creating balance. We teach you to use the full mobility of the joints, and to recruit the muscles we normally don’t use. Along with all we learned from the previous chapters, this knowledge will prevent and treat most joint problems.
The Muscles
The next chapter about Muscles is very near and dear to our hearts. Many people overwork the muscles, and work with only a few of them with great intensity. We teach you to use muscles you’ve never used before instead of the ones you may overuse, and we teach you to integrate your new movements with the ones you’re used to. At the same time, we teach you to strengthen your muscles in a balanced way, which promotes a strong, supple body even into your 70’s and 80’s.
The Nervous System
The next chapter is on optimizing the nervous system. We teach you how to give good feedback to the central nervous system, to use it in a new way via coordination exercises, to connect your brain to your muscles and joints, and to create a profound affinity between your brain and body.
We give the example of me, the author, breaking long-existing patterns in my running that led to a great increase in my overall health and ability. We also discuss the development of the
nervous system, and the importance of relearning how we learned to move in childhood, from crawling to walking on all fours, to reinvigorate the central nervous system.
In the same chapter, we teach you how to control the autonomic nervous system. We live in a time when the fight-or-flight part of the nervous system is not balanced with the relaxation part of nervous system. We talk about learning to strategically increase and release tension in the body with special breathing exercises, as well as special exercises for the ring-shaped sphincter muscles that influence our glands. While we work on the sphincters of the body, we develop deep relaxation. We teach principles of anatomy and physiology in such a simple, practical way that anyone can learn and benefit from the knowledge.
Massage
We follow with a nice chapter on massage, which is great for bodyworkers and the rest of us. Massage is great for self-image, circulation, and general health. We share the value of massage in combination with exercises.
Vision
Part I concludes with a chapter on the principles of vision improvement, wherein we demonstrate that you can actually learn to see better. We show how to recognize and combat the overuse of near vision, and to overcome the strain caused by looking at computers, tablets, and smartphones. We show you the principle of natural vision improvement by relaxing the eyes and activating the periphery, which is essential to the health of the eyes and body. Part I is dedicated to bringing about excellence in the body.
Part II – Runners
Part II is geared toward improving more specific needs of the body. The first chapter is for runners, teaching them how to run without causing tension in the body or strain on the heart. This allows you to run in the healthiest, most pleasurable way. The first section of the book prepares you for the exercises and principles presented here. It includes otherwise unavailable tips for runners to increase capacity, health, and enjoyment of their running.
Musicians
The chapter, “You Are the Instrument,” is very special to us. It is dedicated to teaching musicians how to play their instruments without repetitive strain injury, and to become more in tune with their instruments and the vibrations they make. These are subtle, powerful exercises that are unknown to most of the world. We teach you to take care of your body, and to truly merge with your instrument.
Office Workers
Office workers suffer severe strain on the body and mind, and so we wrote the next chapter for them. We teach how to compensate for using computers, smartphones, and tablets by using them without tension. In the past, people use to write with much greater difficulty. They engraved in stone, or wrote with ink and quill, and yet there aren’t reports of repetitive strain injury. These days, many have carpal tunnel and other hand problems from using modern technology. We teach you to relax the fingers, shoulders, and neck, and to break for exercises to preserve your body and eyes. It is all described in a practical way, so you can perform these exercises without issue at work.
Asthma
Most doctors hold that childhood asthma may go away on its own, but adult asthma is permanent. In chapter 12, we show that this concept is incorrect. We give practical examples proving that adult asthma can be improved or even made totally latent, and we offer exercises designed to help the asthmatic change their breathing habits permanently and for the better. This chapter works conjunctively with the breathing and circulation chapters.
Blood Pressure
The medical world universally understands the role of blood pressure in general health, but there is a sense that high blood pressure should be regulated mostly by diet, rigorous exercise, and medication. In this chapter, we provide wonderful movements designed to reduce blood pressure without strain or exhaustion. In conjunction with good diet, these exercises minimize or eliminate our reliance on blood pressure medication.
Headaches
Millions needlessly suffer from headaches these days. While headaches come in a variety of flavors and from a myriad of causes, all of them can be improved and reduced if we just handle the body correctly. This chapter shows that forming a positive relationship with our bodies can eliminate most headaches over time, and it offers specific exercises to accomplish that.
Diabetes
Many people manage their diabetes just fine with a mixture of instinct and knowledge. This chapter offers practical ways to move beyond simple management of symptoms toward actual improvement of the condition overall. Through this work, and along with a good diet and proper medical supervision, we can greatly reduce our reliance on insulin and oral blood sugar medications. We can also strengthen the eyes and extremities that so often suffer from this disease.
Arthritis
When our joints work, we rarely think of them. When they hurt, we rarely think of anything else. In this chapter, we learn how to move, breathe, increase movement, and use water to reduce and prevent arthritic conditions of all varieties.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a major concern in the developed world. In this chapter, we teach special methods of massage and movement to increase bone density and overall strength. This chapter is beneficial for all who wish to avoid osteoporosis entirely, or improve the condition once it sets in.
Back Pain
If you don’t have back pain, you’re an exception to the norm. Our habits of sitting, moving incorrectly, and exercising improperly culminate in the perfect storm for ubiquitous back problems. This chapter shows practical, daily habits we can adopt to prevent and eliminate back pain without the side effects of medication.
Posture
Posture is the sum total of how our muscles are put together and how our senses guide them. Our posture changes constantly and naturally depending on how we are feeling, what we are doing, and what we are thinking. Our chapter on posture shows how to improve our general state of mind and body with exercises and habits that anyone can use.
Muscular Dystrophy
We are especially proud of the work we have done with muscular dystrophy. We are heartened to know that our clients who have used the exercises in this chapter have lived longer, happier, more able lives due to their dedication, open-mindedness, and the power of these techniques. This chapter is truly very precious for a group of people that might have otherwise been lost by the modern medical profession.
Polio
The Polio virus has decreased dramatically in the world, but Post-Polio syndrome remains prolific. In this chapter, we show how to use the muscles that many polio survivors give up on. Regardless of the extent of mobility, loss or age, this chapter can help those suffering from the after effects of the Polio virus.
Multiple Sclerosis
Every MS patient knows we are all different. Yet, in all cases of MS, we want to improve the functioning of the nervous system. Our goal is to work with medical professionals to reduce the symptoms and progression of this disease. We are proud of our work and outcomes with MS patients, and in this chapter we share ways to help patients live longer, stronger lives.
Eye Problems
I have forty-six years of experience working with eye problems, starting with my own. With a great sense of triumph, I can tell you how I and many, many thousands of others have improved their vision.
From states of minor vision loss to legal blindness, our clients have used the comprehensive Self-Healing method to heal and improve their vision well beyond what the medical world has deemed possible. This chapter, especially, is the culmination of decades of dedication, experimentation, and fine-tuning of revolutionary eye exercises. All can benefit from the information here, especially those with particular issues like retinopathy or glaucoma.
Conclusion
Awakening Your Power of Self-Healing ​represents the culmination of decades of work, dedication, and demonstrable results. We have written the book to be practical, approachable, informative, and useful. This book will be a close friend for the rest of your life – a life which will be made unquantifiably better by the exercises enclosed.
It is our sincere hope that you and yours benefit from ​Awakening Your Power of Self-Healing ​as much as we have.
