X. A Few Practical Applications
1908 first edition, complete ten chapters; scan-reviewed OCR, verse, three figure captions and original emphasis
Laura M. Westall
A FEW PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
HEADACHE.— This is usually due to nervous collapse (of the brain), and this causes a derangement of the circulation. The blood congests or stagnates in the membrane which lines the brain.
The obvious treatment is to stimulate the brain and bring the circulation to the normal.
First, open the window, then lie down on the back, with the feet as high as the head and relax the muscles; this takes the tension off the heart and brain.
When the body is completely relaxed, begin to inhale long, deep breaths, regularly, and suggest or imagine that the blood is passing out of the head and to the feet; follow the course of the blood in imagination.
The primary effect is to intensify the pain because more blood rushes to the head ; but if the treatment be persisted in for twenty to thirty minutes, the circulation will be regulated; and no congestion, no headache.
There should be continued relaxation and breathing for a half-hour or less, during which one should stop thinking, and let the brain rest.
With intermittent headaches there should be a daily relaxation and treatment until they are brought under control. If there is great debility of the brain and sympathetic centers, this may take several years; it depends upon the age and general condition.
As there is usually more or less derangement of the stomach and liver in such cases, an excellent hygienic measure is to wash out the stomach with hot water on first rising and whenever the stomach is empty.
Constipation. — This requires local treatment. Concentrate the attention upon the bowels, placing the hands upon them. Hold the mind steady and affirm or imagine that nervous force is passing to the parts; that the increased activity of the nerves will fill the blood-vessels with blood, and that therefore the intestinal muscles will be stimulated to action; that this will free the bowels and keep them free.
At first there will be a sensation of heat, and sometimes pain ; but a half-hour treatment, or in some cases less, for a week, will prove efficacious, and if persisted in until tone has been restored to the nerves will forever avert the use of cathartics.
As all the involuntary activity of the body is automatic, regulate movements by the clock. Fix upon a certain hour and expect reUef .
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After one has "got in practise" he will find it possible to stimulate the action of the liver in the same way.
A hygienic measure is copious drafts of water. Children are rarely constipated because of the free use of water. If a pint of water, hot or cold, be drunk on first rising, and a glass or more every time the stomach is empty, the intestinal canal will be "flushed " and the membrane kept clean.
Colds. — One "takes cold" only when the vitality is low. Anxiety, mental strain, despondency, and fatigue are some of the causes of lowered vitality. A sudden chill contracts the pores of the skin, stops insensible perspiration, and through its action upon the sympathetic center deranges the circulation, causing the blood to stagnate in the membrane which lines the air-passages of the head and throat.
It should be arrested in its incipient stage. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
As soon as the symptoms are perceived begin at once to take full, deep breaths, and keep it up. This tends to hold the circulation normal, and no congestion, no cold. Assist the circulation with the imagination and set the will against the cold. An act of will stimulates the brain, and increases the mental energy so that you have more strength to fight the cold.
Open the bowels; if you drink hot water freely, it will tend to do this, and also keep up the temperature.
Eat very little, if at all, until the cold is under control; one needs all his vital force to conquer the cold, and a full stomach needs energy with which to digest the food.
Catarrh. — This is a devitalized condition of the nerves (vasomotor) of the mucous membrane which lines the air-passages of the head and throat, due to numerous past colds. It becomes constitutional because of the passing into the blood of the bacilli in the mucous matter secreted by the membrane. Treatment should be inaugurated by taking a tonic for the blood prescribed by a physician.
The psychophysical treatment is deep breathing of fresh air to build up the brain and improve vitality, and concentration of attention upon the mucous membrane. Stimulating the nerves will improve the circulation and eventually restore tone to the membrane.
If the general condition is much below par, it will take several years to effect a cure ; otherwise, a decided gain will accrue in a few months.
Nervousness, Nervous Exhaustion, AND Neurasthenia. — These disorders are due to a debilitated brain. The mind should be held calm, and care and worry put aside; above all, fatigue should be avoided. Absolute rest is demanded, mental and physical. Since the brain is the organ of mind, the more one thinks the more one uses the brain ; hence one should learn to vegetate "like the cattle on a thousand hills."
Lie out of doors in the sunshine, with muscles relaxed and mind at rest, and breathe, full and deep, hours at a time. Get control of the circulation by imagination and send an excess supply of blood to the brain.
The exercises already described may also be used to advantage.
Indigestion. — This is one of our commonest ailments, and those who suffer from it will find by observation that worry, mental strain, despondency, disappointment, and fatigue invariably increase the discomfort. It is oftener the quantity, rather than the quality, of the food which causes distress, and the mode of life is also of moment.
If it is to be overcome, the taint, sometimes hereditary, must be wiped out of the mind and brain. Since it has a depressing effect upon the mind, suggestion and will must be employed to throw off the incubus. Diverting the mind at mealtime and after, cheerful society, laughter, and fresh air, are valuable aids. "Brooding" is especially to be avoided.
Also the brain and sympathetic nerves should be toned up by habitual deep breathing.
For the local treatment: Direct the mind to the stomach, placing the hands upon it. Take two or three long breaths and at the same time imagine that the vital force is flowing to the part, kindling the nerves to action. Suggest, if you like, that the blood-vessels are filling with blood; that your stomach is strong and fully capable of digesting the food you eat, etc.
If you concentrate your mind well, you will shortly perceive a sensation of heat, and perhaps a quivering of the nerves. After a few moments, the feeling of fulness, weight, and cold will pass off, and very probably gas, if there is fermentation.
This process will have to be repeated daily for an indefinite period to effect a cure, but one can always modify distressing symptoms by such measures.
It goes without saying that if one eats slowly and masticates thoroughly, he will do much toward aiding the other forms of treatment.
Rheumatism and Neuralgia. — In chronic cases the blood contains an acid for which medical treatment is demanded.
The low nervous state, as in gout, is due to the debility of the brain, sometimes caused by organic changes. Both hygienic and mental treatment should be added to the medical.
Deep breathing, sun-baths, and copious drafts of water are valuable in toning up the brain and nervous system.
As no distinction can be made between a mental and a nervous pain, a strenuous attempt should be made to get control of the mind. Fear of the pain and the "expectant attention" should be overcome. By means of suggestion, daily practised, one may in a few months more or less mitigate the receptivity of the brain (cortex) and the mental sensibility. If one takes hold of it, mentally, when the first symptoms appear, he may by proper suggestions succeed eventually in driving it off. It takes practise, however.
Functional Disorders of Women. — Those incidental to middle life are caused by organic changes taking place in the brain and sex-organism. Nature alone can effect a cure, but the multitudinous discomforts may be mitigated by hygienic and mental treatment.
Recreation will do much toward mitigating mental depression.
Sun-baths, riding and walking, and abundant sleep are hygienic necessities.