Health Archives | Page 65 of 68 | Natural Health with Merrilyn Hope

The Ha Ha Ha Breath/Quit Smoking

The cessation of the smoking habit can be made easier through yoga breathing exercises. Below, I have listed a few of my favourite ones.This list includes exercises such as the ‘Ha’ ‘Ha’ ‘Ha’ breath, which improves lung function and helps eliminate toxins, including nicotine and tar, from the lungs. This is a useful exercise to learn because it is a quick exercise to do. Yoga Nidra, which helps to oxygenate and cleanse the blood, takes longer, but it also relaxes the mind so that it can realize the new aspirations you have for it.

The HA HA HA BREATH. A great oxygenator of the blood which helps to expel toxins from the lungs. It is very easy to do:

Stand upright. Put the hands in prayer position in front of the chest. Inhaling, stretch up above the head with the hands still joined together in the prayer position. Hold the breath as you bend forward to put the hands on the bended knees. Lean the body forward, suck the tummy hard in, keep eyes bulged wide open with eyebrows stretched upward, mouth open, and say ‘Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha… Ha…’ until you have completely exhaled the breath. Make small, sharp ‘Ha’ sounds, more like a panting breath rather than a chant.

Put the hands together in prayer position again. Reach straight upward as you breath a deep breath in. Hold, then put the hands on the knees as before and repeat the ‘Ha’ ‘Ha’ breath until your lungs are empty.

Do once more from the beginning so that you do three complete rounds.

ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATH. This is good for the mind as well as the lungs. Sit in cross-legged position, left hand over the left knee with thumb and middle fingers joined, palm upward. Close the eyes. Put the right hand forefinger and middle finger between the brows. Block off the right hand nostril with the thumb. Take a breath in through the open left nostril. Hold the breath, block off the left hand nostril with the fourth finger, and breathe out through the open right. Breathe in again through the right as you keep the left nostril blocked with the ringfinger. Then change sides as you hold your breath – block off the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand – the two fingers still over the eyebrow centre – and breathe out through the open left nostril. Breathe in again through the left nostril, as the thumb holds the right nostril down. Change fingers so that the left side is held down, release the thumb from the right nostril and exhale ……. and so on. Do five full rounds, then take the hand down from the brow to place over the right knee.

Now take one full breath in – hold- and breathe slowly out out as you sit, eyes closed. Repeat the full exercise another five rounds. (A round is the full cycle of breath in on one side, out through the other nostril, in through the same nostril, and out through the first nostril)

This exercise is very good for balancing the right and left side of the body. We tend to favour one side, but this exercise helps the weaker side of the body. Left brain and right brain functions are given energy and power through the practice of this exercise.

The BUTTERFLY EXERCISE. This is a beautifully gentle rejuvenating exercise, as the name implies. It is another great oxygenator of the lungs and blood, but it has value also because of the calm mind and emotions which result from its practice. Its calming effect is very helpful for people who are giving up smoking or some other addiction. It is safe to do as often as you feel the need for its benefits.

Stand facing the sun or an open window if you can. Arms are in a nice rounded position against the body, the fingertips of both hands touching lightly together at thigh level. Now we begin the first of the butterfly movements: Eyes open, look ahead and breathe in slowly and deeply as you bring the arms up together in front of the body, fingertips of both hands still touching as you do so. Keep the movement going upward, hands touching, as you continue to inhale.

You now should have a full breath in, and the hands are directly stretched out above the head, fingertips toughing. Now, breathe out SLOWLY as you separate the hands, bringing them down to the side of the body like a butterfly so that they are level with the shoulders. This is the halfway position.

Now, breathing in again, move the arms up above the head, again like a butterfly, until the fingertips touch. You have a full breath in at this point.

Now, breathing slowly out, take the butterfly movement all the way down the side of the body, arms outstretched, until the hands meet at the thighs. The arms now are nicely rounded as they were when we began this exercise.

Now, breathing in again, slowly bring the butterfly arms right up to the side of the body until they are above the head again. Your lungs should be full of good fresh air. Hold the arms and the breath briefly, then exhale slowly, bringing the arms down in FRONT of the body until they are in a nice curved position, fingertips of both hands touching lightly, the hands resting on the thighs.

This is ONE full round. Do another two rounds to make three full rounds. Then rest, breathing normally with the hands at thigh level.

YOGA NIDRA is a wonderful exercise for everybody who wishes to enhance their health and their enjoyment of life. See my post on YOGA NIDRA to save me from retyping this in here.

The SALUTE TO THE MOON is a soothing exercise which is very easy to do. It is good to do any time of the day if you are under stress. It can help you to sleep if you practice it before bed.

Kneel on the floor, or the grass if you are outside. Place the hands at the side of the body on the floor. Breathe in a full breath. As you breathe out, lean the body forward. Slide the hands, which are flat down on the floor, forward , alongside the knees. They should end directly in front of your head which is reaching to touch the floor in front of you. Join the hands together by making a triangle on the floor, thumbs touching, and index fingers touching above that. This forms the ‘moon’. Place your head into this triangle and rest there, breathing normally. Stay for three full breaths, then, as you inhale again, lift the body slowly to the upright sitting position and slide the hands along the floor until they are back where they started, beside the body and touching the floor.

Once you get the hang of it, you can do the movement easily and fluidly without looking at the instructions. Do three times in a row, with a full breath rest in between each ‘salute’.

This exercise is useful for flushing out poisons in the head area. This inverted posture is one which most people could do safely, whereas other inverted postures might prove difficult and unsafe for some.

Maximize Your Prana Intake

THE FIVE MINUTE ‘KOW-TOW-TO-THE-SUN’ EXERCISE

This exercise is one of the most effective, most simple, and most economical exercises which one can do in order to vitalize the body and mind. It is a combination of yoga breathing and simple postures which, when done simultaneously, allows maximum prana to be taken into the body.

Photo by Holly 2012.

The routine was formulated by a medical doctor who turned to acupuncture and spiritual healing in his last years of practice. With his knowledge of acupuncture points, he worked out this routine to help with his own spiritual healing methods, and to help others. Unfortunately, I have lost the brochure which he distributed which had this exercise on it, so I can’t give you his name.

Practice the exercise three times a day, morning, noon and night. It takes only five minutes of your time which will reap huge benefits for your health and your sense of well-being.

It is an excellent routine to do for self healing, but also is beneficial to the recipient of a spiritual healing: Practice this routine prior to one giving spiritual healing to another person.

THE KOW TOW EXERCISE; Stand in a position which faces the sun. Standing bare-foot on damp grass in the early morning is the ideal way to practice this exercise, but if you cannot do this, standing on a verandah in the open air facing the sun, or looking at it through a window will do just as well.

So – you are facing the direction of the sun, even if the sun is not out today. Stand upright and tall, feet together. Place the fingertips of both hands into the centre of the stomach, the solar plexus chakra area. Press the fingers in gently and keep them there. Now count the breath as you breathe in slowly, deliberately and deeply. Say ‘ONE’ silently to yourself as you breathe in, and ‘OM’ as you breathe out. ‘OM’ can be said either silently, or aloud. Carry on breathing and counting in this fashion until you have reached’ TEN’ with an ‘OM’ sound to finish.

Visualize the sun’s energy and the life force entering your solar plexus area and infusing through the whole of the body as you do this. Imagine healing taking place in the area needed; imagine recovery from addiction or whatever ails you; or simply imagine your body and mind becoming more vitalized so that you are better equipped to help others.

Now, clasp the fingers together. Hold the clasped hands over the solar plexus area.

Breathe in, slowly and deeply, as you slowly bend forward in a Kow Tow towards the sun. The clasped hands are still cupped over the solar plexus. As you reach the full Kow Tow, when your upper body will be parallel with the floor, you should have full lungs. Hold for a second, then slowly come up to upright position, exhaling as you go. Repeat this three times.

Next, simply rub the stomach and solar plexus area in a circular movement, clockwise, if you were to look down. Complete three large circles as you continue breathing deeply.

Now put the thumbs of both hands underneath the armpits and press the inner part where the arm joins the chest. Holding the thumbs underneath the armpits, breathe in slowly, coming up onto the toes as you go. Hold up on tip toes for a few seconds, then release the breathe slowly as you return the heels to the ground or floor where you are standing. Repeat three times.

Then put the right hand thumb onto the right side of the brow. Put the left thumb at the left side of the nape of the neck. Take a slow deep breathe in. Hold the breathe for the count of five, then breathe out.

This is the extent of the routine – very easy. You only need to do the sequence of exercises once. Then…….

If you wish, you can continue with healing on yourself or on another person. Simply place the hands over the area needing assistance. Continue to breathe evenly and deliberately as you were when you took the initial ten ‘OM’ counts.

Concentrating on the forehead to help anxiety is a treatment which is generally beneficial. Close the eyes as you mentally visualize prana from your hands healing and restoring either yourself or the person you are helping.

I did this exercise every day, three times a day, when I was recovering from toxic poisoning with resultant candida. I also did the tummy-to-brow breathing exercise daily.

These things helped my recovery, of that I am sure. The very least that these exercises do, which you can observe in your daily life, is that they teach you to breathe more deeply and more regularly. The practice of deeper, more regular breathing puts more oxygen into the blood which helps all the organs, including your brain. Then there is the relaxing effect which these exercises do for you, not to mention the indefinable spiritual qualities which they impart.

See post on Spiritual Healing to follow

Curing Candida

Candida albicans is a naturally occuring organism which lives in the intestines. When the body becomes too acid, or becomes toxic because of effete matter congested in the bowel, candida albicans can overgrow. This tips the delicate balance of intestinal flora so that the favourable organisms get outnumbered, with candida albicans dominating the field.

See Merrilyn’s post: http://merrilynhope.com/roundup-herbicide-causes-severe-candidiasis/

Candida can also take over when the immune system has been shocked. Emotional shock, or environmental shock such as sudden exposure to harmful chemicals, or radiation from X rays, can weaken the immune system drastically and kill off the organisms which we need in order to digest food properly. On-going radiation such as that emitted from electrical transformers, cell phones and overhead high tension wires can also kill the beneficial organisms in the bowel as quickly as pesticides and herbicides can and do.

Chemicals in the environment can cause candida overgrowth.

A deficiency of vitamins and minerals can cause candida overgrowth.

An acidic diet with lack of green vegetables and vitamin c rich foods can cause candida.

The symptoms of candida infection are many and varied. You might get one or many of the following: migraines, constipation, loose bowel movements, nausea, dizziness, lethargy, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, sinus trouble, bone pain, nerve pain, arthritic swelling, heart palpitations, insomnia, memory loss, allergies, eczema or depression.

The candida diet is interchangeable with the diet for hypoglycaemia. The idea is to keep the blood sugar regulated without it fluctuating dramatically, hence the accent on avoiding sugar and all foods which have a high sugar content, or are converted to sugars too quickly.

The candida diet is very simple, but you need to exercise a great deal of perseverance in order to get well. This is because, initially, after following the diet for a week or two, you will begin to feel much better. This can cause you to believe you are recovered, which in turn can lead one to lapse on the diet and allow sugars or other problematic foods into the diet. This can set the health back severely, as the candida albicans will race away again at the reintroduction of sugar into the diet. This will result in a rampant candida infection which will require all your best and concentrated efforts to overcome. The diet therefore is as demanding as that modelled for treating cancer patients -generally, you need to stick at it for at least six months, by which time the immune system should be much strengthened, and you might be ready to introduce other foods into the diet, like fresh fruit in moderation, and other grains like barley, oatmeal and rye.

The ALKALINE MAINENANCE DIET FOR CURING CANDIDA is as follows:

The aims – keep the body alkaline, keep the body detoxifying.To do these things,the bulk of the diet should consist mainly of raw green vegetables. Cooked greens such as broccoli can be added to the diet after an initial cleansing period.

No sugar at all

No alcohol at all

No wheat flour products, including bread. Use brown rice in moderation instead of wheat flour. Eat this with alkaline greens, raw and cooked, and olive oil or butter, plus some protein. Millet and buckwheat may be eaten after you have brought the infection under control by following the alkaline maintenaance diet outlined here. Eat the millet or buckwheat with oils or butter and almonds. Don’t forget to eat some salad greens either with the grain, or directly afterward.

Eat a green salad with EVERY meal. Never eat food without something raw. Mung bean sprouts are very good, but must be fresh, as yeasts begin to grow on the sprouts after a few days. Wash them well in salted water before using. Other beans and peas can be sprouted. Eat these with protein foods and butter or a good quality oil like olive oil.

No dairy products, except for butter. Fresh, raw goat’s milk might bo good to use at a later date when you have recovered, but for the meantime, no milks.

Use olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil or butter every day. Candida thrives on a diet which excludes these good quality oils and proteins. Oils and butter slow down the aborption of converted sugars into the bloodstream and nourish the nervous system.

No foods containing yeasts.Vinegar is the main thing to watch out for, as it is in many products. avoid: vinegar, alcohol, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chutneys, vegemite, as all these are made with yeast. Eating any food with yeast in it will cause the candida infection to recur. This includes all breads, unless you make an unleavened bread out of something other than wheat, but this is best left until you have recovered and can more safely experiment.

Keep off fruits until you are better. Raw celery is best used as a substitute for fruits, as it is excellent for treating cnadida. This is because it is very alkaline. It has an antiseptic effect whilst providing roughage which cleans the walls of the bowel. It is good also for cleansing the blood, strengthening the bones and providing iron.

Protein can be taken from a variety of sources, animal and vegetable. Vegetable proteins include:

Almonds. These are especially good, and some should be eaten every day. Avocados are easy to digest and rich in oil which is needed to combat candida. Make sure they are not over-ripe, as they will be harbouring yeasts which will encourage the candida to grow if they are over-ripe. If chemical poisoning has occurred and your immune system is still very weak, you might need to avoid avodacos for some time.

Sprouted grains and beans. These need to be very freshly sprouted. It is important to rinse them well several times a day. Keep in the fridge once sprouted, and keep no more than two or three days. If you have a rampant candida infection, then you will need to wait before introducing any sprouted grains and beans into the diet. Use plenty of celery in this last case.

Animal protein: Two raw egg yolks can be eaten per day instead of eating meat. These must be from an organic, free-range source. Do not eat the white of the egg, as this can cause mucous problems and is hard to digest.

If you follow the alkaline diet, avoid wheat, dairy foods and sugar COMPLETELY, your colesterol will not be affected by eating just two free range egg YOLKS daily. This practice is very good for the health, as egg yolk contains lecithin which helps the liver in the absorbtion of fats and is rich in iron, Vitamin E and other goodies.

Lean meat can be used in moderation – several times a week.

Try to eat a small can of sardines once a day and eat the oil with it. This is a good source of iodine and calcium as well as protein, all of which are needed to overcome candida infection.

Eat GARLIC with every meal. This prevents candida from taking over.

SEA SALT can be used dissolved in water and used as a mouth rinse after meals. This inhibits candida growth in the mouth. Just half a teaspoonful in half a cup of water is enough.

ACIDOPHILUS tablets or powder can be used. Avoid taking yoghurt which has acidophilus, as yoghurt is not only a milk product, but is a fermented food which can start candida infection again.

ENEMAS are very important to help you recover quickly. These are needed, especially in the initial stages of detoxification, as many poisons will be eliminated. These can make you feel worse if they are not taken away quickly from the bowel, as they get reabsorbed through the bowel walls and into the blood. Taking enemas will prevent this type of auto-intoxication.

I had the good fortune to meet Walter Last in 1976, and to gain from his insights. This was after my family and I had been aerial sprayed with 245T in the previous year. After the blackberry surrounding our house had been sprayed by helicopter that day, we grew very sick. When my unborn child arrived, she could barely breathe. She died three months later in the hospital where she was being treated for an unidentified illness, although, strangely enough, she died not directly from the 245T poisoning, but from another kind of poisoning – an overdose of ventalin which a 14 year old nurse aid administered. A test tube full of ventalin syrup was poured down my baby’s throat as I watched, dumbfounded, unable to reach her before the act was done. She suffered heart failure within half an hour which resulted in brain damage. One month later, after we had been whisked away by the authorities to another hospital, more or less to get away from the scene of the crime, I felt, she died.

Six months later, my two year old son and I were no better. I had suffered asthma-like breathing from the time the spraying was done, with enormous fever. My son had chronic eczema. This is when a friend from Whangarei suggested I see Walter Last.

Walter recognized the candida yeast condition, and researched it, long before others began to write about it. He gave me a handout on his findings about the the mysterious organism which he thought was responsible for 60% or 70% of the ailments of the New Zealanders whom he was treating at the time.

The methods outlined above are modelled, more or less, on Walter’s prescription for recovery- including the enema.

At first, I followed Walter’s programme religiously, except for one thing – the ENEMA. I thought it would not make a lot of difference, as long as I was thorough about everything else he advised me to do. Not so – after initial recovery within the first two or three weeks, I suddenly grew extremely sick. We made the journey back to Walter’s clinic. He did a quick iris diagnosis which took all of about half a minute of gazing into my eye, then he angrily said:

‘You have not been taking the enemas I told you to do. If you don’t do what I tell you to, then don’t bother coming back’, and he thrust an enema kit into my hands, charged me for the kit and the consultation, and sent me packing. There was nothing else to do except use it, as no further help would come from Walter until I did exactly as he said. This was the turning point in my recovery.

EXERCISE ENJOYMENT AND SUNSHINE Remember to enjoy the sunshine and the outdoors. You need sunshine on the body for good health. Sun-bathe for about 10 or 15 minutes every day. Sun-bathing is best done before 10AM and after 4PM in the summer. It is important not to get burnt. Take country walks, walks on the beach, walks in the bush. Swimming in sea water is very healing and is especially good for helping to cure candida. Rinse the mouth out with the salt water and rinse the sinus passages while you are swimming. Light jogging or skipping is very good also. Anything which speeds up the heart rate a bit is good – candida tends to thrive in people with low blood pressure. Yoga practice is very good – even if you choose just three or four exercises to do each day.

Breathing exercises are good. Yoga Breath, and also the post on Maximize Your Prana Intake.

Deep relaxation should be practiced every day: read my post on Yoga Nidra

Prevent Migraines

Get Rid of Migraines Through Detoxification: Migraines are usually a sign that either the bowels are in a toxic condition, or that you have been exposed to chemicals or radiation, either of which has set the migraine off.
A quick and safe way to rid yourself of a migraine, apart from taking 2 aspirin, which won’t hurt you as long as you are not allergic to the stuff and you are not on other medications, is to take 1000mg of calcium ascorbate immediately. This will alleviate the pain, as well as help to quickly detoxify the body of the contaminant causing the problem. Take another dose of 1000mg four hours later. Calcium ascorbate is an alkaline form of vitamin C which is very easy on the stomach. It is the best form to use in the treatment of candida infection. Candida infection, which arises because of imbalances in the body, is sometimes the reason people get migraines.

Many things in our environment can cause a migraine in my experience. Exposure to constant cell-phone use, or sleeping with a cell-phone close to the body can cause a migraine. Sleeping with your head near electrical wires in the walls, or electrical appliances turned on, such as an electric blanket, can cause a migraine.

Sleeping with pot plants in the same room can cause a migraine. Some plants are worse than others, depending on the potency of their properties. Orchids, begonias and cacti are very potent and should always be removed at night from the lounge where you ‘hang out’, and the room where you sleep. Cut flowers have the same effect, especially lillies and orchids. Very few flowers don’t produce an effect on the body. The longer the flowers are in the water, the more potent the water becomes, and the more it will affect you. Roses, daisies and marigolds are some non-toxic flowers which don’t usually have the effect of producing migraines so long as their water is kept fresh and there is no other added foliage to the arrangement. I find these have a beneficial effect when brought indoors.

Using rat poison and insecticides such as fly spray and ant and cochroach poison is very bad. These things are absorbed through the pores of your skin. Even if you have rat poison stored away in some hidden place, it will still be affecting your health, as it is an extremely potent poison. You don’t need to touch it to be affected by it, but chances are, if there are rats and mice about, then they will be transferring the poison and you will have a a trail of it through the house.

Even handling boxes or wearing clothing, either of which has been stored near rat poison for a period, can cause a migraine. Clothing should not be stored near petrol, kerosene or other petro-chemicals, or insecticide or herbicide, as this will affect you homeopathically, causing anything from heart palpitations to migraines.

Cosmetics should be avoided: no hair spray, hair dye, nail polish or face creams unless they are truly organic. Weleda products are reliable, but most commercial make-ups and face creams contain harmful petro-chemicals, even if they have good things in them like aloe vera, or Vitamin E. These last items can dupe us into believing that the product is healthy, but beware: read the small print on the back of the product, and you will most likely find many chemicals which could be the cause of your migraine.

Photocopied material can cause migraines: the inks used in photocopying, and the chemicals in the paper used for photocopying are absorbed readily through the pores of the skin and into the bloodstream. The radiation from photocopied material is also a hazard to one’s health. If you must do any amount of photocopying, or you work in an environment where you handle much photocopied material, then you should wear protective surgical gloves. Otherwise, you run the risk of not just getting migraines, which are an indication of something amiss in the diet or environment, but of getting cancer, arthritis, alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis or another degenerative condition.

Diet can help migraine sufferers greatly. Stick to an alkaline diet of plentiful greens and fresh fruit. If you have candida, or suspect that you might, then you will avoid the fruit until you recover. Candida sufferers can use raw celery as a replacement for raw fruit. Celery is extremely alkaline and has an antiseptic action in the intestines which helps to balance out the bowel flora so that candida albicans is not dominant. Use brown rice instead of wheat. Cut out dairy foods except for butter, unless you are allergic to it. Eat: Almonds, fish once a week, lean meat occasionally, organic eggs.
Avoid all sugar.
Some sort of cleanse is very helpful: Castor oil is recommended if you have a chronic migraine attack. Follow the castor oil treatment with an enema within 5 hours. Get into the habit of using enemas at least once a week if you get migraines often.
1000mg of Vitamin C can be taken safely with the castor oil cleanse, but to get maximum benefit from the Vitamin C, take it an hour before you take the castor oil.
It may take a little time before you fully recover, but the attacks should become less frequent if you follow these methods.

Detox Diets

Fasting and Cleansing: It is very important to regularly cleanse the body by a fast of some kind, especially in this modern age, when so many people die of cancer and other degenerative disease. These diseases can be helped, or even cured, by different diets which are really types of cleansing diets to help the body eliminate the toxins which are causing the disease.

In the case of treating cancer, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or even conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, cleansing diets are adapted to become maintenance diets. These diets give maximum nutrition to sustain the body and build the immune system so that it can stave off the disease. At the same time, the cleansing diet maximises the elimination process so that toxins are expelled quickly from the body. Enemas are an important part of the treatment if you have a serious disease like cancer. These are also very helpful if you undertake a simple cleansing diet such as one of these given below, especially if your body is in a toxic state and/or you have never folowed a cleansing diet before.

If don’t want to use an enema, you could visit a colonic clinic. They will rinse out the bowel for you. Colonic cleansing by a professional is not cheap, but it is well worth the money to have most of the poisons washed away. It really gives you a new lease on life. If you opt for this, then I recommend going to the clinic on the third day of your fast or cleansing diet.

If cleansing diets are new to you, then it is best that you do your chosen diet for just one day to begin with, especially if you are not going to use an enema. This is because you will be carrying poisons in the body which have been building up over a lifetime. The sudden release of these toxins from the liver and other organs, into the intestines and into the bloodstream, can make you feel sick, and this is why elimination is quickened by the use of an enema in treating disease or even when following a cleansing diet.

Three days is a fairly standard time for a cleansing diet, but you can build up to this by doing your cleanse in steps: Of course, if you have a serious disease, then you will need to follow a maintenance diet over a long period of time until you recover. Details of maintenance diets will follow this post on ‘Detox Diets’. Also look at my posts on ‘Ridding the Body of Cancer’ and ‘Preventing Cancer” for information regarding maintenance diets.

A DETOX DIET-TO START WITH: Follow the chosen method for one day to begin with. This will be, for instance, one day on the grape diet. Then eat fairly normally for two or three days, but omit dairy foods, sugar and wheat including bread. Then do two days in a row on the diet. Then two or three days again on the no-dairy, no-sugar, no-wheat diet. Then do three days at a stretch back on the cleansing diet.

There are numerous different ways in which you can cleanse the body of toxins. Here are a few easy-to-follow cleansing diets with which you can experiment. There are enough to choose from so that you may never get bored by following just one approach. See which one you might find easiest to tackle.

THE GRAPE DIET. This is a favourite of mine and many people I know. Bernard Petersen, an extremely talented psychic healer who lived on Waiheke Island in New Zealand used this diet frquently. Bernard lived to a great old age, into his 90’s, and was still active as a healer until the end. Incidentally, Bernard didn’t believe in using enemas. Grapes were enough for him. He loved grapes, and ate them daily when they were in season. This was easy, because they grew all over the underceiling of the roof in his porch, so that you could sit there in the sun, chatting to Bernard, and munching on grapes to your hearts content.

The grape diet is very simple: All you do is eat as many grapes as you fancy, whenever and as often as you like. A diet purely of grapes can be sustained for many days, but you need to build up to this. Grapes are very nutritious – high in IRON and Vitamin C, and they are high in ROUGHAGE which cleanses the whole digestive system very effectively. They ideally should be like Bernard’s grapes – unsprayed and totally organic.

THE APPLE DIET. You need to have a supply of, preferably, organic apples. Granny smiths are good, or you might prefer a sweet red apple. The method is the same as that for the grape diet – you eat as many as often as you like. You won’t get fat on either of these diets. In fact, they are very good for people who are losing weight. You will lose weight if you were to regularly use either the grape or the apple cleanse, especially if you follow the prescription of no-dairy, no-wheat, no-sugar when you come off the cleansing diet.

Apples , like grapes, are very cleansing and healing. They are rich in Vitamin C and potassium. If your teeth are not good, then you can grate the apples up, skin and all, just before you eat them. This is just about as good as chewing the whole apple: all the goodness of the apple is still there if you eat it immediately after grating, and the volume of roughage just the same.

POTASSIUM BROTH. For this one, you eat no solid food. Instead, you take the vitamins and minerals from cooked vegetables into the body via a broth. On the morning of your fast or cleansing diet, take a large saucepan and cut up several potatoes with their skins on. Add onions, leeks, greens such as cabbage, broccoli, or brussels sprouts, garlic, beetroot, carrots, in fact any vegetables you can find. Try to use some roots as well as greens. Don’t use aluminium. Cover the cut up vegetables with water, bring to the boil, and simmer slowly for an hour. Leave the vegetables in the broth for a few hours before draining off. You can start drinking it after an hour of simmering. Drink one or two cups every hour, on the hour, for the whole of the day – and nothing else.

This is a radical cleanser which provides the necessary vitamins and minerals to heal the body. Build up with the Potassium broth fast by doing a day at a time. Ask your doctor or health practitioner about this one if you are on any type of medication or if you have a heart condition.

MUNG BEAN BROTH. This is used in ayurvedic medecine. Mung beans are easy to digest. They act as a gentle cleanser of the liver, gall bladder and intestines. Take two cups of mung beans and soak for three hours in a litre of water. Simmer until soft. Take the broth with its cooked beans whenever you feel hungry .Cook more beans if you are doing more than one day on this diet. Eat nothing else except for the mung bean broth.

THE LEMONADE DIET: We call this simply the lemon diet in New Zealand. Lemons are very cleansing. Lemons act as an antiseptic within the body and contain lots of Vitamin C which helps in detoxing the body and in healing.

Simply squeeze half a dozen lemons into a large jug. Put quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne, half a teaspoon of powdered ginger, and two teaspoons of powdered garlic into the lemon juice. If you are not diabetic, then you can add half a cup of honey or maple syrup. Dissolve with one cup of boiling water. Add two litres of water. Stir well. Drink one large glass every hour on the hour through the day. Don’t drink any tea or coffee, and don’t eat at all for the whole day.

The lemonade diet is very effective in treating colds and flu. It is antiseptic and breaks down mucous. It helps also in strengthening bone and dissolving bone deformities when done on a regular basis, say one or two days a week, with the maintenance diet to follow.

CASTOR OIL. Castor oil has the ability to attract harmful poisons such as petrochemicals, insecticides, etc. For this reason, it is used by many healers for the treatment of cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, arthritis and other disease. Two tablespoons of castor oil are taken in the morning with one cup of black coffee. This must be made from real coffee grounds.If you would rather, you could use Chamomile tea instead. This works just as well as coffee in stimulating the liver into expelling toxins. If you feel sick after the castor oil, then sip on peppermint tea until you feel better. An enema is recommended with the castor oil treatment. This should be taken within five hours of taking the castor oil. Castor oil is most effective if, after taking the castor oil, you eat only raw apples, whole or grated, or grapes, or drink fruit juice or carrot juice at hourly intervals.

CARROT JUICE. If you have a juicer, then you can fast for a day or so on carrot juice and other vegetable juices. Try to get organic carrots, especially if you are juicing, as agro-chemicals are concentrated in the juice.

Carrot juice is often used in the treatment of cancer and other disease. However, carrot juice is best avoided if you are treating candida. Stick to greens for cleansing if you have candida.

The APPLE AND POTATO CURE. This is a great one for people who don’t feel they can sustain a fast or a detox diet for even a day. With this diet, you can eat more or less what you like, within reason.You simply grate one medium apple with its skin on, plus one medium-sized potato. Mix the two together, and eat half an hour before breakfast.

Follow the same procedure for dinner – one apple grated with one medium-sized potato. Eat half and hour before each meal.

Follow this diet for anything from three days to several weeks. It is extremely healing for the bowel walls because of the pectin, vitamins and alkaline nature of raw apples and potato. It is effective as a cleanser because of the quantity of pure roughage in the mix.

Preferably, avoid dairy, wheat and sugar while you are cleansing on this diet. If you follow this treatment for a week or two, your bowels will not only be clean but be well regulated. It is good for the treatment of any bowel problems such as irritable bowel syndrome and colitis. Many people have reported success in treating bowel disorders with this detox diet.

The ONE-DAY BEETROOT AND APPLE DIET. This is all you eat for the whole day. All you do is grate apples and beetroot together, which makes a very palatable combination. Use the same amount of each.Some olive oil can be added if you wish. Make up enough so that you have plenty to munch on throughout the day. Whenever you are hungry, eat a helping of the grated beetroot and apple. Beetroot is helpful in treating cancer and other diseases. It is high in iron and other minerals and vitamins.

The ON-GOING BEETROOT AND APPLE DIET. For a slower-acting detox you can use the beetroot and apple combination as an ongoing addition to your everyday diet. Preferably, avoid dairy, wheat and sugar if you are doing a week or so on this diet. You can follow the same procedure as for the apple and potato diet. Eat a quantity of the beetroot and apple combination half an hour before breakfast and again half an hour before dinner. This is very nourishing, will help your digestion and tone up the bowel if it is done for a week or so. It is a great cure for constipation, as is the apple and potato diet.