the science of being well wallace

8/16/2019 The Science of Being Well Wallace

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-science-of-being-well-wallace 1/164



Dedicated to Jessica Rae

by

Luke A. Wheldon

2015

Pocket Positivity ®

This Edition-December



Copyright, SEPTEMBER, 1910 by

WALLACE D WA!!LE"



P$E%ACE

volume is the second of a

series, the first of which is

As that book is intended soley for thosewho want money, so this is for those whowant health, and who want a practicalguide and handbook, not a philosophicaltreatise. It is an instructor in the use of theuniversal Principle of Life, and my effort hasbeen to explain the way in so plain andsimple a fashion that the reader, though hemay have given no previous study to NewThought or metaphysics, may readily followit to perfect health. While retaining allessentials, I have carefully eliminated allnon-essentials; I have used no technical,abstruse or difficult language, and have keptthe one point in view at all times.

&

HIS

''THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH.''



PREFACE

As its title asserts, the book deals withscience, not speculation. The monistictheory of the universe--the theory thatmatter, mind, consciousness, and life are allmanifestations of one Substance--is nowaccepted by most thinkers; and if you accept

this theory, you can not deny the logicalconclusions you will find herein. Best of all,the methods of thought and actionprescribed have been tested by the author inhis own case, and in the case of hundreds ofothers during twelve years of practice, with

continuous and unfailing success. I can sayof The Science of Being Well that it works;and that wherever its laws are complied with,it can no more fail to work than can thescience of geometry fail to work. If thetissues of you body have not been so

destroyed that continued life is impossible,you can get well; and if you will think and actin a Certain Way, you will get well.If the reader wishes to fully understand themonistic theory of the cosmos,

'



PREFACE.

he is recommended to read Hegel and

Emerson; to read also ''The Eternal News,'' apamphlet by J.J. Brown, 300 Cathcart Road,Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. Someenlightenment may also be found in a seriesof articles by the author, which werepublished in The Nautilus, Holyoke, Mass.,

during the year 1909, under the title, ''What IsTruth?''Those who wish more detailed information asto the performance of the voluntaryfunctions---eating, drinking, breathing, andsleeping---may read ''New Science of Living

and Healing,'' ''Letters to a Woman'sHusband,'' and ''The Constructive Use ofFoods,'' booklets by W. D. Wattles, whichmay be obtained from the publishers of thisbook. I would also recommend the writingsof Horace Fletcher, and of Edward Hooker

dewey.Read all these, if you like, as a sort of buttressto you faith; but let me warn you againstmaking the mistake of studying many con-

+



8

flicting theories, and practicing, at the sametime, parts of several different ''systems''; for ifyou get well, it must be by giving yourWHOLE MIND to the right way of thinkingand living. Remember that THE SCIENCEOF BEING WELL claims to be a completeand sufficient guide in every particular.Concentrate upon the way of thinking andacting it prescribes, and follow it in everydetail, and you will get well; or if you arealready well, you will remain so. Trusting thatyou will go on until the priceless blessing ofperfect health is yours, I remain,

Very truly yours,

Wallace D. Wattles.

PREFACE



C(AP!E$

!he Principle of Health.

the Science of Being Well,

as in that of the Science of

The prefectly natural performance offunction constitutes health; and the perfectlynatural performance of function results fromthe natural action of the Principle of Life.There is a Principle of Life in the universe; itis the One Living Substance from which all

things are made.This Living Substance permeates, penetratesand fills the interspaces of the universe; it is

in and through all things, like a very

refined and diffusable ether. All life

9

Getting Rich, certain fundemental truthsmust be known in the beginning, andaccepted without question. Some of thesetruths we state here:--

the personal application of N



T HE SCIENCE OF

comes from it; its life is all the life there is.Man is a form of this Living Substance, andhas within him a Principle of Health. (Theword Principle is used as meaning source.)The Principle of Health in man, when in fullconstructive activity, causes all of the

voluntary functions of his life to be perfectlyperformed.It is the Principle of Health in man whichreally works all healing, no matter what''system'' or ''remedy'' is employed; and thisPrinciple of Health is brought intoConstructive Activity by thinking in theCertain Way.

I proceed now to prove this last statement.We all know what cures are wrought by allthe different, and often opposite, methodsemployed in the various branches of thehealing art.The allopath, who gives a strong dose of acounter-poison, cures his patient; and thehomeopath, who gives him a diminutivedose of the poison most similar to that

10



BEING WELL.

of the disease, also cures it. If allopathy evercured any given disease, it is certain thathomeopathy never cured that disease; and ifhomeopathy ever cured an ailment,allopathy could not possibly cure that

ailment. The two systems are radicallyopposite in theory and practice; and yet both''cure'' most diseases. And even the remediesused by physicians in any one school are notthe same. Go with a case of indegestion tohalf a dozen doctors, and compare their

prescriptions; it is more than likely that noneof the ingredients of any one of them will bein the others. Must we not conclude thattheir patients are healed by a Principle ofHealth within themselves, and not bysomething in the varying ''remedies''? Not

only this, but we find the same ailmentscured by the osteopath with manipulation ofthe spine; by the faith healer with prayer, bythe food scientist with bills of fare, by theChristian Scientist with a formulated CreedState-

11



THE SCIENCE OF

ment, by the mental scientist withaffirmation, and by the hygienist withdiffering plans of living. What conclusioncan we come to in the face of all these factsbut there is a Principle of Health which is the

same in all people, and which reallyaccomplishes all the cures; and that there issomething in all the ''systems'' which, underfavourable conditions, arouses the Principleof Health to action? That is, medicines,manipulations, prayers, bills of fare,

affirmations, and hygenic practices curewhen ver they cause the Principle of Healthto become active; and fail whenever they donot cause it to become active. Does not allthis indicate that the results depend uponthe way the patient thinks about the remedy,

rather than upon the ingredients in theprescription?There is an old story which furnishes sogood an illustration of this point that I willgive it here. It is said that in the middle ages,the bones of a saint,

1.



BEING WELL.

kept in one of the monasteries, wereworking miracles of healing; on certain daysa great crowd of the afflicted gathered totouch the relics, and all who did so werehealed. On the eve of one of these

occasions, some sacrilegious rascal gainedaccess to the case in which the wonder-working relics were kept and stole the bones;and in the morning, with the usual crowd ofsufferers waiting at the gates, the fathersfound themselves shorn of the source of the

miracle working power. They resolved tokeep the matter quiet, hoping that by doingso they might find the thief and recover theirtreasures; and hastening to the cellar of theconvent they dug up the bones of amurderer, who had been buried there many

years before. These they placed in the case,intending to make some plausible excuse forthe failure of the saint to perform his usualmiracles on that day; and then they let in thewaiting assemblage of the sick and infirm.To the intense astonish-

1#



THE SCIENCE OF

ment of those in the secret, the bones of themalefactor proved as efficacious as those ofthe saint; and the healing went on as before.One of the fathers is said to have left ahistory of the occurence, in which heconfessed that, in his judgement, the healingpower had been in the people themselves allthe time, and never in the bones at all. Whether the story is true or not, theconclusion applies to all the cures wroughtby all the systems. The Power that Heals is in

the patient himself; and whether it shallbecome active or not does not depend uponthe physical or mental means used, but uponthe way the patient thinks about the means.There is a Universal Principle of Life, asJesus taught; a great spiritual Healing Power;

and there is a Principle of Health in manwhich is related to this Healing Power. Thisis dormant or active, according to the way aman thinks. He can always quicken it intoactivity by thinking in a Certain Way.

1/



BEING WELL.

Your getting well does not depend uponthe adoption of some system, or the findingof some remedy; people with your identicalailments have been healed by all systems

and all remedies. It does not depend uponclimate; some some people are well andothers are sick in all climates. It does notdepend upon avocation, unless in case ofthose who work under poisonousconditions; people are well in all trades and

professions. Your getting well dependsupon your beginning to think--and act--in aCertain Way. The way a man thinks about things isdetermined by what he believes about them.His thoughts are determined by his faith,

and the results depend upon his making apersonal application of his faith. If a manhas faith in the efficacy of a medicine, and isable to apply that faith to himself, thatmedicine will certainly cause him to becured; but though his faith be great, he will

not be cured unless he applies it to himself.

15



THE SCIENCE OF

Many sick people have faith for others butnone for themselves. So, if he has faith in asystem of diet, and can personally apply thatfaith, it will cure him; and if he has faith inprayers and affirmations and personally

applies his faith, prayers and affirmationswill cure him. Faith, personally applied,cures; and no matter how great the faith orhow persistent the thought, it will not curewithout personal application. The Science ofBeing Well, then, includes the two fields of

thought and action. To be well it is notenough that man should merely think in aCertain Way; he must apply his thought tohimself, and he must express and externalizeit in his outward life by acting in the sameway that he thinks.

1'



BEING WELL.

C(AP!E$

The Foundations of Faith

man can think in the

Certain Way which will cause his

All things are made from oneLiving Substance, which, in its original state,permeates, penetrates, and fills theinterspaces of the universe. While all visiblethings are made from It, yet this Substance,in its first formless condition is in and

through all the visible forms that It hasmade. Its life is in All, and its intelligence isin All. This Substance creates by thought,and its method is by taking the form of thatwhich it thinks about. The thought of aform held by this substance causes it to

assume that form; the

17

diseases to be healed, he must believe in

certain truths which are here stated :--

EFORE



THE SCIENCE OF

thought of a motion cuases it to instututethat motion. Forms are created by thissubstance in moving itself into certainattitudes or positions. When OriginalSubstance wishes to create a given form, itthinks of the motions which will produce

that form. When it wishes to create a world,it thinks of the motions, perhaps extendingthrough ages, which will result in its cominginto the attitude and form of the world; andthese motions are made. When it wishes tocreate an oak tree, it thinks of the sequence

of movement, perhaps extending throughthe ages, which will result in the form of anoak tree; and these motions are made. Theparticular sequences of motion by whichdiffering forms should be produced wereestablished in the beginning; they are

changeless. Certain motions instituted in theFormless Substance will forever producecertain forms.

Man's body is formed from theOriginal Substance, and is the result of cer-

13



BEING WELL.

tain motions, which first existed as thoughtsof Original Substance. The motions whichproduce, renew, and repair the body of manare called functions, and these functions areof two classes: voluntary and involuntary.The involuntary functions are under thecontrol of the Principle of Health in man,and are performed in a perfectly healthymanner so long as man thinks in a certainway. The voluntary functions of life areeating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping.These, entirely or in part, are under thedirection of man's conscious mind; and hecan perform them in a perfectly healthy wayif he will. If he does not perform them in ahealthy way, he cannot long be well.So we see that if man thinks in a certainway, and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleepsin a corresponding way, he will be well.The involuntary functions of man's life areunder the direct control of the Principle ofHealth, and so long as man

19



THE SCIENCE OF

thinks in a perfectly healthy way, thesefunctions are perfectly performed; for theaction of the Principle of Health is largelydirected by man's conscious thought,affecting his subconscious mind. Man is a thinking center, capable of

original thought; and as he does not knoweverything, he makes mistakes and thinkserror. Not knowing everything, he believesthings to be true which are not true.Man holds in his thought the idea of diseaseand abnormal functioning and conditions,

and so perverts the action of the Principle ofHealth, causing disease and abnormalfunctioning and conditions within his ownbody. In the Original Substance there areheld only the thoughts of perfect motion;perfect and healthy function; complete life.

God never thinks disease or imperfection.But for countless ages men have heldthoughts of disease, abnormality, old age,and death; and the perverted functioningresulting from

.0



BEING WELL.

these thoughts has become a part of theinheritance of the race. Our ancestors have,for many generations, held imperfect ideasconcerning human form and functioning;and we begin life with racial sub-conscious

impressions of imperfection and disease. This is not natrual, or part of the plan ofnature. The purpose of nature can benothing else than the perfection of life. Thiswe see from the very nature of life itself. Itis the nature of life to continually advance

toward more perfect living; advancement isthe inevitable result of the very act of living.Increase is always the result of active living;whatever lives must live more and more.The seed, lying in the grannary, has life, butit is not living. Put it into the soil and it

becomes active, and at once begins to gatherto itself from the surrounding substance,and to build a plant form.It will so cause increase that a seed head willbe produced containing thirty,

.1



THE SCIENCE OF

sixty, or a hundred seeds, each having asmuch life as the first. Life by living, increases. Life cannot live without increasing, andthe fundemental impulse of life is to live. It

is in response to this fundemental impulsethat Original Substance works, and creates.God must live; and he cannot live except ashe creates and increases. In mutiplyingforms, He is moving on to live more.

The universe is a Great Advancing Life,

and the purpose of nature is theadvancement of life toward perfection;toward perfect functioning. The purpose ofnature is perfect health. The purpose of Nature, so far as man isconcerned, is that he shoud be continuously

advancing into more life, and progressingtoward perfect life; and that he should livethe most complete life possible in hispresent sphere of action. This must be so, because That which livesin man is seeking more life.

..



BEING WELL.

.#

Give a little child a pencil and paper, andhe beginns to draw crude figures;

That which lives in him is trying to expressItself in art. Give him a set of blocks, and hewill try to buils something; That which livesin him is seeking expression in architecture.Seat him at a piano, and he will try to drawharmony from the keys; That which lives inhim is trying to express Itself in music. Thatwhich lives in man is always seeking to livemore; and since man lives most when he iswell, the Principle of Nature in him can seekonly health. The natrual state of man is astate of perfect health; and everything in him,and in nature, tends toward health. Sickness can have no place in the thoughtof Original Substance, for it is by its ownnature continually impelled toward the fullest

and most perfect life; therfore, toward health.Man, as he exists in the thought of theFormless Substance, has perfect health.Disease, which is abnormal or pervertedfunc-



THE SCIENCE OF

tion--motion imperfectly made, or made inthe direction of imperfect life--has no placein the thought of the Thinking Stuff.

The Supreme Mind never thinks ofdisease. Disease was not created or ordained

by God, or sent forth from him. It is whollya product of seperate consciousness; of theindividual thought of man. God, theFormless Substance, does not see disease,think disease, know disease, or recognizedisease. Disease is recognized only by the

thought of man; God thinks nothing buthealth. From all the foregoing, we see that healthis a fact or TRUTH in the original substancefrom which we are all formed; and thatdisease is imperfect functioning, resulting

from the imperfect thoughts of men, pastand present. If man's thoughts of himselfhad always been those of perfect health, mancould not possibly now be otherwise thanperfectly healthy.

Man in perfect health is the thought

./



THE SCIENCE OF

from inorganic matter, but it is notproduced after the organization of matter.

Life is the principle or force which causesorganization; it builds organisms. It is a princilple or force inherent in

Original Substance; all life is one. This Life Principle of the All is the

Principle of Health in man, and becomesconstructively active whenever man thinksin a certain way. Whoever, therefore, thinksin this Certain Way will surely have perfecthealth if his external functioning is in

conformity with his thought. But theexternal functioning must conform to thethought; man cannot hope to be well bythinking health, if he eats, drinks, breathes,and sleeps like a sick man. The universal Life Principle, then, is the

Principle of Health in man. It is oneOriginal Substance from which all things aremade; this substance is alive, and its life isthe Principle of Life of

.3



THE SCIENCE OF

there is no curative power in strings ofwords. All the sick who have been healed, by

whatsoever ''system'' have thought in acertain way; and a little examination will

show us what this way is. The two essentials of the Way are Faith,and a personal application of Faith.

The people who touched the saint'sbones had faith; and so great was their faiththat in the instant they touched the relics

they SEVERED ALL MENTALRELATIONS WITH DISEASE, ANDMENTALLY UNIFIED THEMSELVESWITH HEALTH. This change of mind was accomplichedby an intense devotional FEELING whichpenetrated to the deepest recesses of theirsouls, and so aroused the Principle of Healthto powerful action. By faith they claimedthat they were healed, or appropriated healthto themselves; and in full faith they ceased tothink of themselves in connection withdisease

#.



BEING WELL.

and thought of themselves only inconnection with health. These are the two essentials to thinkingin the Certain Way which will make youwell: first, claim or appropriate health by

faith; and, second, sever all mental relationswith disease, and enter into mentalrelations with health. That which we makeourselves, mentally, we become physically;and that with which we unite ourselvesmentally we become unified with

physically. If your thought always relatesyou to disease, then your thought becomesa fixed power to cause disease within you;and if your thought always relates you tohealth, then your thought becomes a fixedpower exerted to keep you well.

In the case of the people who are healedby medicines, the result is obtained in thesame way. They have, consciously orunconsciously, sufficient faith in the meansused to cause them to sever mentalrelations with disease and enter into mental

relations with health.

##



THE SCIENCE OF

mental image or picture of yourself as beingwell, imagining a perfectly strong andhealthy body; and to spend sufficient time incontemplating this image to make it yourhabitual thought of yourself.

This is not so easy as it sounds; itnecessitates the taking of considerable timefor meditation, and not all persons have theimaging faculty well enough developed toform a distinct mental picture of themselvesin a perfect idealized body. It is much easier,as in ''The Science of Getting Rich,'' to forma mental image of the things one wants tohave; for we have seen these things, or theircounterparts, and know how they look; wecan picture them very easily from memory.But we have never seen ourselves in a perfectbody, and a clear mental image is hard toform. It is not necessary or essential, however,to have a clear mental image of yourself asyou wish to be; it is only essential to form a

CONCEPTION of

#'



BEING WELL.

perfect health, and relate yourself to it. Thisconception of health is not a mental pictureof a particular thing; it is an understandingof health, and carries with it the idea of

perfect functioning in every part and organ. You may TRY to picture yourself as

perfect in physique; that helps; and youMUST think of yourself as doing everything inthe manner of a perfectly strong and healthy

person. You can picture yourself as walking

down the street with an erect body and a vigorous stride; you can picture yourself asdoing your day's work easily and withsurplus vigor, never tired or weak; you canpicture in your mind how all things would bedone by a person full of health and power,

and you can make yourself the central figureof the picture, doing things in just that way.Never think of the ways in which weak orsickly people do things; always think of theway strong people do things. Spend yourleisure time in thinking about the

#+



THE SCIENCE OF

starved to death in ten days or less did sobecause they believed that death wasinevitible; an erroneous physiology hadgiven them a wrong thought aboutthemselves. When a man is deprived of foodhe will die in from ten to fifty days,according to the way he has been taught; or,in other words, according to the way hethinks about it. So you see that an erroneousphysiology can work very mischieviousresults. No Science of Being Well can be foundedon current physiology; it is not sufficientlyexact in its knowledge. With all itspretentions, comparatively little is reallyknown as to the interior workings andprocesses of the body. It is not known just

how food is digested; it is not known justwhat part food plays, if any, in thegeneration of force. It is not known exactlywhat the liver, spleen, and pancreas are for,or what part their secretions play on thechemistry of assimilation. On all these and

most other points we theorize, but we do not

/0



BEING WELL.

your conception of perfect health, and getinto the way of thinking about perfect healthuntil it begins to have a definite meaning toyou. Picture yourself as doing the things astrong and healthy person would do, andhave faith that you can and will do those

things in that way; continue this until youhave a vivid CONCEPTION of health, andwhat it means to you. When I speak in thisbook of a conception of health, I mean aconception that carries with it the idea ofthe way a healthy person looks and does

things. Think of yourself in connectionwith health until you form a conception ofhow you would live, appear, act, and dothings as a perfectly healthy person. Thinkof yourself in connection with health untilyou conceive of yourself, in imagination, as

always doing everything in the manner of awell person; until the thought of healthconveys the idea of what health means toyou. As I have said in a former chapter, youmay not be able to

&9



THE SCIENCE OF

it can and will give him health and wisdom.When man holds steadily to the purpose tolive more abundantly, he comes intoharmony with this Supreme Intelligence. The purpose of the Supreme Intelligence

is the most Abundant Life for all; thepurpose of this Supreme Intelligence foryou is that you should live moreabundantly. If, then, your own purpose isto live more abundantly, you are unifiedwith the Supreme; you are working with it,

and it must work with you. But as theSupreme Intellegence is in all, if youharmonize with it you must harmonize withall; and you must desire abundant life for allas well as for yourself. Two great benefitscome to you from being in harmony with

the Supreme Inteligence. First, you will receive wisdom. Bywisdon I do not mean knowledge of facts somuch as ability to perceive and understandfacts, and to judge soundly and act rightlyin all matters relating

''



BEING WELL.

to life. Wisdon is the power to perceivetruth, and the ability to make the best use ofthe knowledge of truth. It is the power toperceive at once the best end to aim at, and

the means best adapted to attain that end.With wisdom comes poise, and the power tothink rightly; to control and guide yourthoughts, and to avoid the difficulties whichcome from wrong thinking. With wisdomyou will be able to select the right course for

your particular needs, and to so governyourself in all ways as to secure the bestresults. You will know how to do what youwant to do. You can readily see thatwisdom must be an essential attribute of theSupreme Intelligence, since That which

knows all truth must be wise; and you canalso see that just in proportion as youharmonize and unify your mind with thatIntelligence you will have wisdom. But I repeat that since this Intelligence isAll, and in all, you can enter

'+



BEING WELL.

Professor James has pointed out thatthere is apparently no limit to the powers ofmen; and this is simply because man's power

comes from the inexhaustible reservoir of theSupreme. The runner who has reached thestage of exhaustion, when his physical powerseems entirely gone, by running out in aCertain Way may receive his ''second wind'';his strength is renewed in a seemingly

miraculous fashion, and he can go onindefinately. And by continuing in theCertain Way, he may receive a third, fourth,and fith ''wind''; we do not know where thelimit is, or how far it may be possible toextend it. The conditions are that the runner

must have absolute faith that the strengthwill come; that he must think steadily ofstrength, and have perfect confidence that hehas it, and that he must continue to run on.If he admits a doubt into his mind, he fallsexhausted, and if he stops running to wait for

the accession of strength, it will never come.His

71



THE SCIENCE OF

faith in strength, his faith that he can keepon running, his unwavering purpose to keepon running, and his action in keeping onseem to connect him to bring him a newsupply.

In a very similar manner, the sick personwho has unquestioning faith in health, whospurpose brings him into harmony with thesource and who performs the voluntaryfunctions of life in a certain way, will receive

vital energy sufficient for all his needs, and

for the healing of all his diseases. God, whoseeks to live and express himself fully inman, delights to give man all that is neededfor the most abundant life. Action andreaction are equal, and when you desire tolive more, if you are in mental harmony

withy the Supreme, the forces which makefor life begin to concentrate about you andupon you. The One Life begins to movetoward you, and your environment becomessurcharged with it. Then, if you appropriateit by faith,

+.



BEING WELL.

it is yours. ''Ye shall ask what ye will, and itshall be done unto you.'' Your Father givethnot his spirit by measure; he delights to givegood gifts to you.

+#



BEING WELL.

thoughts save those of perfect health, thefunctions of his physical body will beperformed in a manner of perfect health. If you would consciously relate yourselfto the All-Health, your purpose must be to

live fully on every plane of your being. Youmust want all that that there is in life forbody, mind, and soul; and this will bring youinto harmony with all the life there is. Theperson who is in conscious and intelligentharmony with All will receive a continuous

inflow of vital power from the Supreme Life;and this inflow is prevented by angry, selfishor antagonistic mental attitudes. If you areagainst any part, you have severed relationswith all; you will receive life, but onlyinstinctively and automatically; not

intelligently and purposefuly. You can seethat if you are mentally antagonistric to anypart, you cannot be in complete harmonywith the Whole; therefore, as Jesus directed:be reconciled to everybody

+&



BEING WELL.

with yourself at all. And, as far as may be,shut out of your mind all thoughts ofsickness in connection with others.Surround yourself as much as possible withthe things which suggest the ideas of

strength and health. Have faith in health, and accept health asan actual present fact in your life. Claimhealth as a blessing bestowed upon you bythe Supreme Life, and be deeply grateful atall times. Claim the blessing by faith; know

that it is yours, and never admit a contrarythought to your mind. Use your will-power to withould yourattention from every appearance of diseasein yourself and others; do not study disease,think about it, nor speak of it. At all times,

when the thought of disease is thrust uponyou, move forward into the mental positionof prayerful gratitude for your perfecthealth. The mental actions necessary to beingwell may now be summed up in a single

sentence: Form a conception of your-

++



THE SCIENCE OF

self in perfect health, and think only thosethoughts which are in harmony with thatconception. That, with faith and gratitude, and thepurpose to really live, covers all the

requirements. It is not necessary to takemental excercises of any kind, except asdescribed in Chapter VI, or to do wearying''stunts'' in the way of affirmations, and soon. It is not necessary to concentrate themind on the affected parts; it is far better not

to think of any part as affected. It is notnecessary to ''treat'' yourself by auto-suggestion, or to have others treat you in anyway whatever. The power that heals is thePrinciple of Health within you; and to callthis principle into Contructive Action it is

only necessary, having harmonized yourselfwith the All-Mind, to claim by Faith the All-Health; and to hold that claim until it isphysically manifested in all the functions ofyour body. In order to hold this mental attitude

+3



THE SCIENCE OF

C(AP!E$ VIIII

When To Eat.

'U cannot build and maintain a

perfectly healthy body by mentalaction alone, or by the performance

of the unconscious or involuntary functionsalone. There are certain actions, andimmediate relations with the continuance oflife itself.

These are eating, drinking, breathing,and sleeping. No matter what a personsthoughts or mental attitude may be, hecannot live unless he eats, drinks, breathes,and sleeps, and, moreover, he cannot be well

if he eats, drinks, breaths, and sleeps in anunnatrual or wrong manner. It is therefore

vitally important that you should learn theright way to perform the voluntary functions,and I shall proceed to show you this way,beginning with the matter of eating, which is

most

30



THE SCIENCE OF

ing a sensation called hunger. Wheneverfood is needed, and can be used, there ishunger; and whenever there is hunger it istime to eat. When there is no hunger it isunnatrual and wrong to eat, no matter how

great may APPEAR to be the need for food.Even if you are in a condition of apparentstarvation, with great emaciation, if there isno hunger you may know that FOODCANNOT BE USED, and it will beunnartrual and wrong for you to eat.

Though you have not eaten for days, weeks,or months, if you have no hunger you maybe perfectly sure that food cannot be used,and will probably not be used if taken.Whenever food is needed, if there is powerto digest and assimilate it, so that it can be

normally used, the sub-conscious mind willannounce the fact by a decided hunger.Food, taken when there is no hunger, willsometimes be digested and assimilated,because Nature makes a special effort to

3.



BEING WELL.

perform the task which is thrust upon heragainst her will; but if food be habituallytaken when there is no hunger, the digestivepower is at last destroyed, and numberlessevils caused.

If the foregoing be true--and it isindisputably so--it is a self-evidentproposition that the natrual time, and thehealthy time, to eat is when one is hungry;and that it is never a natrual or a healthyaction to eat when one is not hungry. You

see, then, that it is an easy matter toscientifically settle the question when to eat.ALWAYS eat when you are hungry; andNEVER eat when you are not hungry. Thisis obedience to nature, which is obedienceto God.

We must not fail, however, to make clearthe distinction between hunger andappetite. Hunger is the call of the sub-conscious mind for more material to beused in repairing and renewing the body,and in keeping up the internal heat; and

hunger is never felt unless

3#



THE SCIENCE OF

there is need for more material, and unlessthere is power to digest it when taken intothe stomach. Appetite is a desire for thegratification of sensation. The drunkard hasan appetite for liquor, but he cannot have a

hunger for it. A normaly fed person cannothave a hunger for candy or sweets; the desirefor these things is an appetite. You cannothunger for tea, coffee, spiced foods, or forthe various taste-tempting devices of theskilled cook; if you desire these things, it is

with appetite, not with hunger. Hunger isnature's call for material to be used inbuilding new cells, and nature never calls foranything which may not be legitaimatelyused for this purpose.

Appetite is often largely a matter of

habit; if one eats or drinks at a certain hour,and if especially one takes sweetened orspiced and stimulating foods, the desirecomes regularly at the same hour; but thishabitual desire for food should never bemistaken for hunger.

3/



BEING WELL.

Hunger does not appear at specified times.It only comes when work or excercise hasdestroyed sufficient tissue to make the takingin of new raw material a necessity.

For instance, if a person has been

sufficiently fed on the preceeding day, it isimpossible that he should feel a genuinehunger on arising from refreshing sleep. Insleep the body is recharged with vital power,and the assimilation of the food which hasbeen taken during the day is completed; the

system has no need for food immediatelyafter sleep, unless the person went to his restin a state of starvation. With a system offeeding, which is even a reasonable approachto a natrual one, no one can have a realhunger for an early morning breakfast.

There is no such thing possible as a normalor genuine hunger immediately after arisingfrom sound sleep. The early morningbreakfast is always taken to gratify appetite,never to satisfy hunger. No matter who you

3&



THE SCIENCE OF

are, or what your condition is; no matterhow hard you work, or how much you areexposed, unless you go to your bed starved,you cannot arise from your bed hungry. Hunger is not caused by sleep, but by

work. And it does not matter who you are,or what your condition, or how hard or easyyour work, the so-called no-breakfast plan isthe right plan for you. It is the right plan foreverybody, because it is based on theuniversal law that hunger never comes until

it is EARNED. I am aware that a protest against this willcome from the large number of people who''enjoy'' their breakfasts; whose breakfast istheir ''best meal''; who believe that their workis so hard that they cannot ''get through the

forenoon on an empty stomach,'' and so on.But all their arguments fall down before thefacts. They enjoy their breakfast as the toperenjoys his morning dram, because it gratifiesa habitual

3'



BEING WELL.

appetite and not because it supplies anatrual want. It is their best meal for thesame reason that his morning dram is thetoper's best drink. And they CAN get alongwithout it, because millions of people, of

every trade and profession, DO get alongwithout it, and are vastly better for doing so.If you are to live according to the Science ofBeing Well, you must NEVER EAT UNTILYOU HAVE AN EARNED HUNGER. But if I do not eat on arising in the

morning, when shall I take my first meal? In ninety-nine cases out of a hundredtwelve o'clock, noon, is early enough; and itis generally the most conveinient time. Ifyou are doing heavy work, you wil get bynoon a hunger sufficient to justify a good

sized meal; and if your work is light, you willprobably still have hunger enough for amoderate meal. The best general rule or lawthat can be laid down is that you should

3+



THE SCIENCE OF

eat your first meal of the day at noon, if youare hungry; and if you are not hungry, waituntil you become so. And when shall I eat my second meal? Not at all, unless you are hungry for it;

and that with a genuine earned hunger. Ifyou do get hungry for a second meal, eat atthe most conveinient time; but do not eatuntil you have a really earned hunger. Thereader who wishes to fully inform himself asto the reasons for this way of arranging the

meal times will find the best books thereoncited in the preface to this work. From theforegoing, however, you can easily see thatthe Science of Being Well readily answersthe question: When, and how often shall Ieat? The answer is: Eat when you have an

earned hunger; and never eat at any othertime.

33



BEING WELL.

C(AP!E$ ;

What To Eat

HE current sciences of medicine andhygene have made no progresstoward answering the question,

What shall I eat? The contests between the vegitarians and the meat eaters, the cookedfood advocates, raw food advocates, and

various other ''schools'' of theorists, seem tobe interminable; and from the mountains ofevidence and argument piled up for andagainst each special theory, it is plain that ifwe depend on these scientists we shall neverknow what is the natural food of man.

Turning away from the whole controversy,then, we will ask the question of natureherself, and we shall find that she has not leftus without the answer.

Most of the errors of dietaryscien-

39



THE SCIENCE OF

tists grow out of a false premise as to thenatrual state of man. It is assumed thatcivilization and mental development areunnatural things; that the man who lives ina modern house, in city or country, and

who works in modern trade or industry forhis living is leading an unnatural life, and isin an unnatural environment; that the only''natural'' man is a naked savage, and thatthe farther we get from the savage thefarther we are from nature. This is wrong.

The man who has all that art and sciencecan give him is leading the most natural life,because he is living most completely in allhis faculties. The dweller in a well-appointed city flat, with modernconveiniences and good ventilation, is

living a far more naturally human life thanthe Australian savage who lives in a hollowtree or a hole in the ground. That Great Intelligence, which is in alland through all, has in reality practicallysettled the question as to what

90



BEING WELL.

we shall eat. In ordering the affairs ofnature, It has decided that man's food shallbe according to the zone in which he lives.In the frigid regions of the far North, fuelfoods are required. The development of

brain is not large, nor is the life severe in itslabor-tax on muscle; and so the Esquimauxlive largely on the blubber and fat of aquaticanimals. No other diet is possible to them;they could not get fruits, nuts, or vegetableseven if they were disposed to eat them; and

they could not live on them in that climate ifthey could get them. So, notwithstandingthe arguments of the vegetarians, theEsquimaux will continue to live on animalfats. On the other hand, as we come toward

the tropics, we find fuel foods less required;and we find the people natrually incliningtoward a vegitarian diet. Millions live onrice and fruits; and the food regimen of anEsquimaux village, if followed upon theequator, would re-

91



THE SCIENCE OF

sult in speedy death. A ''natrual'' diet for theequitorial regions would be very far frombeing a natrual diet near the North Pole; andthe people of either zone, if not interferedwith by medical or dietary ''scientists.'' will be

guided by the All Intelligence, which seeksthe fullest life in all, to feed themselves in thebest way for the promotion of perfect health.In general, you can see that God, working innature and in the evolution of human societyand customs, has answered your question as

to what you shall eat; and I advise you totake His answer in preference to that of anyman.

In the temperate zone the largestdemands are made of man in spirit, mind,and body; and here we find the greatest

variety of food provided by nature. And it isreally quite useless and superfluous totheorize on the question what the massesshall eat, for they have no choice; they musteat the foods which are staple products of thezone in which

9.



THE SCIENCE OF

must select therefrom according to yourindividual taste; if you do, you will find thatyou have an infallible guide, as shown in thenext two chapters.

If you do not eat until you have an

EARNED hunger, you will not find yourtaste demanding unnatural or unhealthyfoods. The woodchopper, who has swunghis axe continuously from seven in themorning until noon does not come inclamouring for cream puffs and

confectionary; he wants pork and beans, orbeefsteak and potatoes, or corn bread andcabbage; he asks for the plain solids. Offerto crack him a few wallnuts and give him aplate of lettuce, and you will be met withhuge disdain; those things are not natrual

foods for a working man. And if they are notnatrual foods for a workingman, they are notfor any other man; for work hunger is theonly real hunger, and requires the samematerials to satisfy it, whether it be inwoodchopper or banker, in man, woman or

child.

9/



BEING WELL.

It is a mistake to suppose that food must beselected with anxious care to fit the vocationof the person who eats. It is not true that thewoodchopper requires ''heavy'' or ''solid''foods and the bookkeeper ''light'' foods. If

you are a bookkeeper, or other brain worker,and do not eat until you have an EARNEDhunger, you will want exactly the same foodsthat the woodchopper wants. Your body ismade of exactly the same elements as that ofthe woodchopper, and requires the same

materials for cell-building; why, then, feedhim on ham and eggs and corn bread andyou on crackers and toast? True, most of hiswaste is of muscle, while most of yours is ofbrain and nerve tissue; but it is also true thatthe woodchopper's diet contains all the

requisites for brain and nerve building in farbetter proportions than they are found inmost ''light'' foods. The world's best brainwork has been done on the fare of theworking people. The world's

9&



THE SCIENCE OF

greatest thinkers have invariably lived onthe plain solid foods common among themasses. Let the bookkeeper wait until he has anearned hunger before he eats; and then, if he

wants ham, eggs, and corn bread, by allmeans let him eat them; but let himremember that he does not need one-twentieth of the amount necessary for thewoodchopper. It is not eating ''hearty''foods which gives the brain workerindigestion; it is eating as much as would beneeded by a muscle worker. Indigestion isnever caused by eating to satisfy hunger; it isalways caused by eating to gratify appetite.If you eat in the manner prescribed in thenext chapter, your taste will soon become sonatrual that you will never WANT anythingthat you cannot eat with impunity; and youcan drop the whole anxious question ofwhat to eat from you mind forever, andsimply eat what you want. Indeed, that is

the only way to do if you are to think no

9'



BEING WELL.

thoughts but those of health; for you cannotthink health so long as you are in continualdoubt and uncertanty as to whether you aregetting the right bills of fare. ''Take no thought what ye shall eat,'' said

Jesus, and he spoke wisely. The foods foundon the table of any ordinary middle-class orworking class family will nourish your bodyperfectly if you eat at the right times and inthe right way. If you want meat, eat it; and ifyou do not want it, do not eat it, and do not

suppose that you must find some specialsubstitute for it. You can live perfectly wellon what is left on any table after the meathas been removed.

It is not necessary to worry about a''varied'' diet, so as to get in all the necessary

elements. The Chinese and Hundus build very good bodies and ecellent brains on adiet of few variations, rice making almost thewhole of it. The Scotch are physically andmen-

9+



BEING WELL.

Sit down to the table with confidentcheerfulness, and take a moderate portion ofthe food; take whatever thing looks mostdesirable to you. Do not select some food

because you think it will be good for you;select that which will taste good to you. Ifyou are to get well and stay well, you mustdrop the idea of doing things because theyare good for your health, and do thingsbecause you want to do them. Select the

food you want most; gratefully give thanksto God that you have learned how to eat it insuch a way that digestion shall be perfect;and take a moderate mouthful of it. Do not fix your attention on the act ofchewing; fix it on the TASTE of the food;

and taste and enjoy it until it is reduced to aliquid state and passes down your throat byinvoluntary swallowing. No matter howlong it takes, do not think of the time. Thinkof the taste. Do not allow your eyes towander over the table, speculating as to what

101



THE SCIENCE OF

you a perfectly healthy body; and youcannot prepare the materials perfectly inany other way that the one I am describing.If you are to have perfect health, you MUSTeat in just this way; you can, and the doing

of it is only a matter of a little perseverence.What use for you to talk of mental controlunless you will govern yourself in so simplea matter as ceasing to bolt you food? Whatuse to talk of concentration unless you cankeep your mind on the act of eating for so

short a space as fifteen or twenty minutes,especially with all the pleasures of taste tohelp you? Go on, and conquer. In a fewweeks, or months, as the case may be, youwill find the habit of scientifically eatingbecoming fixed; and soon you will be in so

splendid a condition, mentally andphysically, that nothing would induce youto return to the bad old way. We have seen that if man will think onlythoughts of perfect health, his internalfunctions will be performed in

10/



BEING WELL.

a healthy manner; and we have seen that inorder to think thoughts of health, man mustperform the voluntary functions in a healthymanner. The most important of the

voluntary functions is that of eating; and we

see, so far, no especial difficulty in eating ina perfectly healthy way. I will heresummarize the instructions as to when toeat, what to eat, and how to eat, with thereasons therefore:-- NEVER eat until you have an EARNED

hunger, no matter how long you go withoutfood. This is based on the fact thatwhenever food is needed in the system, ifthere is power to digest it, the sub-consciousmind announces the need by the sensationof hunger. Learn to distinguish between

genuine hunger and the gnawing andcraving senasation caused by unnaturalappetite. Hunger is never a disagreeablefeeling, accompanied by weakness, faintness,or gnawing feelings at the stomach; it is apleasant anticipatory

10&



THE SCIENCE OF

desire for food, and is felt mostly in themouth and throat. It does not come atcertain hours or at stated intervals; it onlycomes when the sub-conscious mind isready to receive, digest, and assimilate food.

Eat whatever foods you want, makingyour selection from the staples in generaluse in the zone in which you live. TheSupreme Intelligence has guided man to theselection of these foods, and they are theright ones for all. I am referring, of course,

to the foods which are taken to satisfyhunger, not to those which have beencontrived merely to gratify appetite orperverted taste. The instinct which hasguided the masses of men to make use ofthe great staples of food to satisfy their

hunger is a divine one. God has made nomistake; if you eat these foods you will notgo wrong. Eat your food with cherful confidence,and get all the pleasure that is to be hadfrom the taste of every mouthful. Chew

each morsel to a liquid, keeping

10'



BEING WELL.

your attention fixed on the enjoyment ofthe process. This is the only way to eat in aperfectly complete and successful manner;the general result cannot be a failure. In theattainment of health, the law is the same asin the attainment of riches; if you make

each act a success in itself, the sum of allyour acts must be success. When you eat inthe mental attitude I have described, and inthe manner I have described, nothing canbe added to the process; it is done in aperfect manner, and it is successfully done.

And if eating is successfully done,digestion, assimilation, and the building ofa healthy body are successfully begun.We next take up the question of thequantity of food required.

10+



103

THE SCIENCE OF

C(AP!E$ X II

is very easy to find the correct answer to the question, How

much shall I eat? You are never to eat untilyou have an earned hunger, and you are tostop eating the instant you BEGIN to feel

that your hunger is abating. Never gorgeyourself; never eat to repletion. When youbegin to feel that your hunger is satisfied,know that you have enough; for until youhave enough, you will continue to feel thesensation of hunger. If you eat as described

in the last chapter, it is probable that you willbegin to feel satisfied before you have takenhalf your usual amount; but stop there, allthe same. No matter how delightfullyattractive the dessert, or how tempting thepie or pudding, do not eat a mouth-

T

Hunger And Appetites.



BEING WELL.

ful of it if you find that your hunger has beenin the least degree assuaged by the otherfoods you have taken.

Whatever you eat after your hungerbegins to abate is taken to gratify taste andappetite, not hunger and is not called for bynature at all. It is therefore excess; meredebauchery, and it cannot fail to workmischief. This is a point you will need to watch withnice discrimination, for the habit of eatingpurely for sensual gratification is very deeplyrooted with most of us. The usual ''dessert''of sweet and tempting foods is preparedsoley with a view to induce people to eatafter hunger has been satisfied; and all theeffects are evil. It is not that pie and cake areunwholesome foods; they are usuallyperfectly wholesome if eaten to satisfyhunger, and NOT to gratify appetite. If youwant pie, cake, pastry or puddings, it isbetter to begin your meal with them,finishing with the plainer and less tastyfoods. You will

109



THE SCIENCE OF

find, however, that if you eat as directed inthe preceding chapters, the plainest food willsoon come to taste like kingly fare to you; foryour sense of taste, like all your other senses,

will become so acute with the generalimprovement in your condition that you willfind new delights in common things. Noglutton ever enjoyed a meal like the manwho eats for hunger only, who gets the mostout of every mouthful, and who stops on the

instant that he feels the edge taken from hishunger. The first intimation that hunger isabating is the signal from the sub-consciousmind that it is time to quit. The average person who takes up this

plan of living wil be greatly suprised to learn

how little food is really required to keep thebody in perfect condition. The amountdepends upon the work; upon how muchmuscular excercise is taken, and upon theextent to which the person is exposed tocold. The woodchopper who goes into the

for-

110



BEING WELL.

est in the winter time and swings his axe allday can eat two full meals; but the brainworker who sits all day on a chair, in a warmroom, does not need one third and often onetenth as much. Most woodchoppers eat two

or three times as much, and most brainworkers from three to ten times as much asnature calls for; and the elimination of this

vast amount of surplus rubbish from theirsystems is a tax on vital power which in timedepletes their energy and leaves them an easy

prey to so-called disease. Get all possibleenjoyment out of the taste of your food, butnever eat anything merely because it tastesgood; and on the instant that you feel thatyour hunger is less keen, stop eating. If you will consider for a moment, you

will see that there is positively no other wayfor you to settle these various food questionsthan by adopting the plan here laid down foryou. As to the proper time to eat, there is noother way to

111



THE SCIENCE OF

decide than to say that you should eatwhenever you have an EARNED HUNGER.It is a self evident proposition that that is theright time to eat, and that any other is awrong time to eat. As to what to eat, the

Eternal Wisdom has decided that the massesof men shall eat the staple products of thezones in which they live. The staple foods ofyour particular zone are the right foods foryou; and the Eternal Wisdom, working inand through the minds of the masses of

men, has taught them how best to preparethese foods by cooking and otherwise. Andas to how to eat, you know that you mustchew your food; and if it must be chewed,then reason tells us that the more thoroughand perfect the operation the better.

I repeat that success in anything isattained by making each seperate act asuccess in itself. If you make each action,however small and unimportant, athoroughly successful action, your

11.



BEING WELL.

day's work as a whole cannot result infailure. If you make the actions of each daysuccessful, the sum total of your life cannotbe failure. A great success is the result ofdoing a large number of little things, and

doing each one in a perfectly successful way.If every thought is a healthy thought, and ifevery action of your life is performed in ahealthy way, you must soon attain to perfecthealth. It is impossible to devise a way inwhich you perform the act of eating more

successfully, and in a manner more in accordwith the laws of life, than by chewing everymouthful to a liquid, enjoying the taste fully,and keeping a cheerful confidence the while.Nothing can be added to make the processmore successful; while if anything be

subtracted, the process will not be acompletely healthy one. In the matter of how much to eat, youwill also see that there could be no otherguide so natrual, so safe, and so reliable asthe one I have prescribed--to stop

11#



THE SCIENCE OF

eating on the instant you feel that yourhunger begins to abate. The sub-consciousmind may be trusted with implicit relianceto inform us when food is needed; and itmay be trusted as implicitly to inform us

when the need has been supplied. If ALLfood is eaten for hunger, and NO food istaken merely to gratify taste, you will nevereat too much; and if you eat whenever youhave an EARNED hunger, you will alwayseat enough. By reading carefully the

summing up in the following chapter, youwill see that the requirements for eating ina perfectly healthy way are really very fewand simple. The matter of drinking in a natural waymay be dismissed here with a very few

words. If you wish to be exactly and rigidlyscientific, drink nothing but water; drinkonly when you are thirsty; drink wheneveryou are thirsty, and stop as soon as you feelthat you thirst begins to abate. But if youare living rightly in regard to eating, it will

not

114



BEING WELL.

be necessary to practice asceticism or greatself-denial in the matter of drinking. Youcan take an occasional cup of weak coffeewithout harm; you can, to a reasonableextent, follow the customs of those around

you. Do not get the soda fountain habit; donot drink merely to tickle your palate withsweet liquids; be sure that you take a drink ofwater whenever you feel thirst. Never be toolazy, too indifferent, or too busy to get adrink of water when you feel the least thirst;

if you obey this rule, you will have littleinclination to take strange and unnaturaldrinks. Drink only to satisfy thirst; drinkwhenever you feel thirst; and stop drinkingas soon as you feel thirst abating. That is theperfectly healthy way to supply the body

with the necessary fluid material for itsinternal processes.

11&



BEING WELL.

controlling or formative power. Thethought of a condition produces thatcondition; the thought of a motion institutesthat motion. So long as man thinks of theconditions and motions of disease, so long

will the conditions and motions of diseaseexist within him. If man will think only ofperfect health, the Principle of Health withinhim will maintain normal conditions. To be well, man must form a conceptionof perfect health, and hold thoughts

harmonious with that conception as regardshimself and all things. He must think onlyof healthy conditions and functioning; hemust not permit a thought of unhealthy orabnormal conditions or functioning to findlodgment in his mind at any time.

In order to think only of healthyconditions and functioning, man mustperform the voluntary acts of life in aperfectly healthy way. He cannot thinkperfect health so long as he knows that he isliving in a wrong or unhealthy

11+



THE SCIENCE OF

way; or even so long as he has doubts as towhether or not he is living in a healthy way.Man cannot think thoughts of perfect healthwhile his voluntary functions are performendin the manner of one who is sick. The

voluntary functions of life are eating,drinking, breathing, and sleeping. Whenman thinks only of healthy conditions andfunctioning, and performs these externals ina perfectly healthy manner, he must haveperfect health.

In eating, man must learn to be guided byhis hunger. He must distinguish betweenhunger and appetite, and between hungerand the cravings of habit; he must NEVEReat unless he feels an EARNED HUNGER.He must learn that genuine hunger is never

present after natrual sleep, and that thedemand for an early morning meal is purelya matter of habit and appetite; and he mustnot begin his day by eating in violation ofnatrual law. He must wait until he has anEarned Hunger,

113



BEING WELL.

which, in most cases, will make his firstmeal come at about the noon hour. Nomatter what his condition, vocation, orcircumstances, he must make it his rule notto eat until he has an EARNED HUNGER;and he may remember that it is far better to

fast for several hours after he has becomehungry than to eat before he begins to feelhunger. It will not hurt you to go hungryfor a few hours, even though you areworking hard; but it will hurt you to fill yourstomach when you are not hungry, whether

you are working or not. If you never eatuntil you have an Earned Hunger, you maybe certain that in so far as the time of eatingis concerned, you are proceeding in aperfectly healthy way. This is a self evidentproposition.

As to what he shall eat, man must beguided by that Intelligence which hasarranged that the people of any givenportion of the earth's surface must live onthe staple products of the zone which

119



BEING WELL.

tastes good to you; and then begin your mealwith what you like best. In deciding how to eat, man must be

guided by reason. We can see that theabnormal states of hurry and worry produced

by wrong thinking about business and similarthings have led us to form the habit of eatingtoo fast, and chewing too little. Reason tellsus that food should be chewed, and that themore thouroughly it is chewed the better it isprepared for the chemistry of digestion.

Furthermore, we can see that the man whoeats slowly and chews his food to a liquid,keeping his mind on the process and giving ithis undivided attention, will enjoy more ofthe pleasure of taste than he who bolts hisfood with his mind on something else. To eat

in a perfectly healthy manner, man mustconcentrate his attention on the act, withcheerful enjoyment and confidence; he musttaste his food, and he must reduce eachmouthful to a liquid before swallowing it.The foregoing

1.1



THE SCIENCE OF

instructions, if followed, make the functionof eating completely perfect; nothing can beadded as to what, when, and how. In the matter of how much to eat, manmust be guided by the same inward

intelligence, or Principle of Health, whichtells him when food is wanted. He must stopeating in the moment that he feels hungerabating; he must not eat beyond this point togratify taste. If he ceases to eat in themoment that the inward demand for food

ceases, he will never overeat; and thefunction of supplying the body with food willbe performed in a perfectly healthy manner. The matter of eating natrually is a verysimple one; there is nothing in all theforegoing that cannot be easily practiced by

any one. This method, put in practice, willinfallibly result in perfect digestion andassimilation; and all anxiety and carefulthought concerning the matter can at oncebe dropped from

1..



BEING WELL.

the mind. Whenever you have an earnedhunger, eat with thankfulness what is setbefore you, chewing each mouthful to aliquid, and stopping when you feel theedge taken from your hunger.

The importance of the mental attitudeis sufficient to justify an additional word.While you are eating, as at all other times,think only of healthy conditions andnormal functioning. Enjoy what you eat;

if you carry on a conversation at theta

ble,talk of the goodness of the food, and ofthe pleaseure it is giving you. Nevermention that you dislike this or that;speak only of those things which you like.Never discuss the wholesomeness or

unwholesomeness of foods; nevermention or think of unwholesomeness atall. If there is anything on the table forwhich you do not care, pass it by insilence, or with a word of commendation;never criticise or object to anything. Eatyour food with gladness and withsingleness of

1.#



THE SCIENCE OF

heart, praising God and giving thanks. Letyour watchword be perseverance; wheneveryou fall into the old way of hasty eating, orof wrong thought and speech, bring yourselfup short and begin again.

It is of the most vital importance to youthat you should be a self-controlling andself-directing person; and you can neverhope to become so unless you can masteryourself in so simple and fundemental amatter as the manner and method of your

eating. If you cannot control yourself inthis, you cannot control yourself inanything that will be worthwhile. On theother hand, if you carry out the foregoingintructions, you may rest in the assurancethat in so far as right thinking and right

eating are concerned you are living in aperfectly scientific way; and you may also beassured that if you practice what isprescribed in the following chapters you willquickly build your body into a condition ofperfect health.

1./



BEING WELL.

C(AP!E$ ;V

Breathing.

HE function of breathing is a vitalone, and it immediately concerns

the continuence of life. We canlive many hours without sleeping, and manydays without eating or drinking, but only a

few minutes without breathing. The act ofbreathing is involuntary, but the manner of it,and the provision of the proper conditions forits healthy performance, falls within the scopeof volition. Man will continue to breatheinvoluntarily, but he can voluntarily

determine what he shall breathe, and howdeeply and thoroughly he shall breathe; andhe can, of of his own volition, keep thephysical mechanism in condition for theperfect performance of the function.

It is essential, if you wish to

breathe

125



THE SCIENCE OF

in a perfectly healthy way, that the physicalmachinery used in the act should be kept ingood condition. You must keep your spinemoderately straight, and the muscles of yourchest must be flexible and free in action.

You cannot breathe in the right way if yourshoulders are greatly stooped forward andyour chest hollow and rigid. Sitting orstanding at work in a slightly stoopingposition tends to produce hollow chest; sodoes lifting heavy weights--or light weights.

The tendency of work, of almost allkinds, is to pull the shoulders forward, curvethe spine, and flatten the chest; and if thechest is greatly flattened, full and deepbreathing becomes impossible, and perfecthealth is out of the question.

Various gymnastic excercises have beendevised to counteract the effect of stoopingwhile at work; such as hanging by the handsfrom a swing or trapeze bar, or sitting on achair with the

1.'



BEING WELL.

1.+

feet under some heavy article of furnitureand bending backward until the headtouches the floor, and so on. All these aregood enough in their way, but very fewpeople will follow them long enough andregularly enough to accomplish any realgain in physique. The taking of ''healthexcercises'' of any kind is burnensome andunnecessary; there is a more natrual,simpler, and much better way.

This better way is to keep yourselfstraight, and to breathe deeply. Let yourmental conception of yourself be that youare a perfectly straight person, andwhenever the matter comes to your mind,be sure that you instantly expand your chest,

throw back your shoulders, and ''straightenup.'' Whenever you do this, slowly draw inyour breath until you fill your lungs to theirutmost capacity; ''crowd in'' all the air youpossibly can; and while holding it for aninstant in the lungs, throw your shoulders

still further back, and



THE SCIENCE OF

stretch your chest; at the same time try topull your spine forward between theshoulders. Then let the air go easily.

This is the one great excercise forkeeping the chest full, flexible, and in good

condition. Straighten up; fill your lungsFULL; stretch your chest and straightenyour spine, and exhale easily. And thisexcercise you must repeat, in season andout of season, at all times and in all places,until you form a habit of doing it; you can

easily do so. Whenever you step out ofdoors into the fresh, pure air, BREATHE.When you are at work, and thinking ofyourself and your position, BREATHE.When you are in company, and arereminded of the matter, BREATHE. Nomatter where you are or what you aredoing, whenever the idea comes to yourmind, straighten up and BREATHE. If youwalk to and from your work, take theexcercise all the way; it will soon

1.3



BEING WELL.

become a delight to you; you will keep it up,not for the sake of health, but as a matter ofpleasure. Do not consider this a ''health excercise'';never take health excercises, or do gymnastics

to make you well. To do so is to recognizesickness as a present fact or as a possibility,which is precisely what you must not do. Thepeople who are always taking excercises fortheir health are always thinking about beingsick. It ought to be a matter of pride with

you to keep your spine straight and strong;as much so as it is to keep your face clean.Keep your spine straight, and your chest fulland flexible for the same reason that youkeep your hands clean and your nailsmanicured; because it is slovenly to do

otherwise. Do it without a thought ofsickness, present or possible. You musteither be crooked or unsightly, or you mustbe straight; and if you are straight yourbreathing will take care of itself. You willfind the matter of health exer-

1.9



THE SCIENCE OF

cises referred to again in a future chapter.It is essential, however, that you should

breathe AIR. It apears to be the intention ofnature that the lungs should receive aircontaining its regular percentage of oxygen,

and not greatly contaminated by othergasses, or by filth of any kind. Do not allowyourself to think that you are compelled tolive or work where the air is not fit tobreathe. If your house cannot be properly

ventilated, move; and if you are employed

where the air is bad, get another job; youcan; by practicing the methods given in thepreceding volume of this series--''THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH.''If no one would consent to work in bad air,employers would speedily see to it that all

work rooms were properly ventilated. Theworst is that from which the oxygen has beenexhausted by breathing; as that of churchesand theaters where crowds of peoplecongregate, and the outlet and

1#0



BEING WELL.

supply of air are poor. Next to this is aircontaining other gasses than oxygen andhydrogen--sewer gas, and the effluvium fromdecaying things. Air that is heavily chargedwith dust or particles of organic matter may

be endured better than any of these. Smallparticles of organic matter other than foodare generally thrown off from the lungs; butgasses go into the blood. I speak advisedly when I say ''other thanfood.'' Air is largely food. It is the most

thoroughly alive thing we take into the body.Every breath carries in millions of microbes,many of which are assimilated. The odorsfrom earth, grass, tree, flower, plant, andfrom cooking foods are foods in themselves;they are minute particles of the substances

from which they come, and are often soattenuated that they pass directly from thelungs into the blood, and are assimilatedwithout digestion. And the atmosphere ispermeated with the One Original Substance,which is

1#1



THE SCIENCE OF

when asleep than when awake, and thistells us that the Principle of Health requireslarge quantities of some element in theatmosphere for the process of renewal. Ifyou would surround sleep with natrual

conditions, then, the first step is to see thatyou have an unlimited supply of fresh andpure air to breathe. Physicians have foundthat sleeping in the pure air of out-of-doorsis very efficacious in the treatment ofpulmonary troubles; and, taken in

connection with the Way of Living andThinking prescribed in this book, you willfind that it is just as efficacious in curingevery other sort of trouble. Do not takeany half-way measures in this matter ofsecuring pure air while you sleep. Ventilate

your bedroom thoroughly; so thoroughlythat it will be practically the same assleeping out of doors. Have a door orwindow open wide; have one open on eachside of the room, if possible. If you cannothave a good draught of air across the room,

pull the

1#/



THE SCIENCE OF

no fresh air, move. If your bedroomcannot be ventilated, get into anotherhouse. Next in importance is the mentalattitude in which you go to sleep. It iswell to sleep intelligently, purposefully,

knowing what you do it for. Lie downthinking that sleep is an infallible

vitalizer, and go to sleep with a confidentfaith that your strength is to be renewed,that you will awake full of vitality andhealth. Put purpose into your sleep as

you do into your eating. Give the matteryour attention for a few minutes, as yougo to rest. Do not seek your couch with adiscouraged or distressed feeling; go there

joyously, to be made whole. Do notforget the excercise of gratitude in going

to sleep. Before you close you eyes, givethanks to God for having shown you theway to perfect health, and go to sleep withthis grateful thought upper most in yourmind. A bedtime prayer of thanksgivingis a mighty good thing. It puts

1#'



BEING WELL.

the Principle of Health within you intocommunication with its source, from whichit is to receive new power while you are inthe silence of unconsciousness. You may see that the requirements forperfectly healthy sleep are not difficult.First, to see that you breathe pure air fromout of doors while you sleep; and, second, toput the Within in touch with the LivingSubstance by a few minutes of gratefulmeditation as you go to bed. Observe these

requirements, go to sleep in a thankful andconfident frame of mind, and all will be well.If you have insomnia, do not let it worryyou. While you lie awake, form yourconception of health; meditate withthankfulness on the abundant life which is

yours, breathe, and feel perfectly confidentthat you will sleep in due time; and you will.Insomnia, like every other ailment, mustgive way before the Principle of Healtharoused to full constructive activity by the

1#+



THE SCIENCE OF

course of thought and action hereindescribed. The reader will now comprehend that itis not at all burnensome or disagreeable toperform the voluntary functions of life in a

perfectly healthy way. The perfectly healthyway is the easiest, simplest, most natural,and most pleasant way. The cultivation ofhealth is not a work of art, difficulty, orstrenuous labor. You have only to lay asideartificial observances of every kind, and eat,

drink, breathe, and sleep in the most naturaland delightful way; and if you do this,thinking health and only health, you willcertainly be well.

1#3



BEING WELL.

C(AP!E$ ;VI

Supplemantary Instructions.

forming a conception of health,

manner in which you would live

and work if you were perfectly well and very

strong; to imagine yourself doing things inthe way of a perfectly well and very strongperson, until you have a firly goodconception of what you would be if you werewell. Then take a mental and physicalattitude in harmony with this conception;

and do not depart from this atitude. Youmust unify yourself in thought with the thingyou desire; and whatever state or conditionyou unify with yourself in thought will soonbecome unified with you in body. Thescientific way is to sever relations witheverything you do not want, and to enterinto rela-

139

it is necessary to think of the

N



THE SCIENCE OF

tions with everything you do want. Form aconception of perfect health, and relateyourself to this conception in word, act, andattitude. Guard your speech; make every word

harmonize with the conception of perfecthealth. Never complain; never say thingslike these: ''I did not sleep well last night;''''I have a pain in my side;'' ''I do not feel atall well to-day,'' and so on. Say ''I am

looking forward to a good night's sleep to-night;'' and things of similar meaning. In sofar as everything which is connected withdisease is concerned, your way is to forgetit; and in so far as everything which isconnected with health is concerned, your

way is to unify yourself with it in thoughtand speech. This is the whole thing in a nutshell:make yourself one with Health in thought,word, and action; and do not connect

yourself with sickness either by thought,

word, or action.

1/0



BEING WELL.

Do not read ''Doctor Books'' or medicalliterature, or literature of those whosetheories conflict with those herein set forth;to do so will certainly undermine your faithin the Way of Living upon which you have

entered, and cause you again to come intomental relations with disease. This bookreally gives you all that is required; nothingessential has been omitted, and practically allthe superfluous had been eliminated. TheScience of Being Well is an exact science, like

arithmetic; nothing can be added to thefundemental principles, and if anything betaken from them, a failure will result. If youfollow strictly the way of living prescribed inthis book, you will be well; and you certainlyCAN follow this way, both in thought and

action. Relate not only yourself, but so far as

possible all others, in your thoughts, toperfect health. Do not sympathise withpeople when they complain, or even whenthey are sick and suffering. Turn

1/1



THE SCIENCE OF

their thoughts into a constructive channel ifyou can; do all you can for their relief, butdo it with the health thought in your mind.Do not let people tell their woes andcatalogue thier symptoms to you; turn the

conversation to some other subject, orexcuse yourself and go. Better beconsidered an unfeeling person than to havethe disease thought forced upon you. Whenyou are in company of people whoseconversational stock-in-trade is sickness

and kindred matters, ignore what they sayand fall to offering a mental prayer ofgratitude for your perfect health; and if thatdoes not enable you to shut out theirthoughts, say good-bye and leave them. Nomatter what they think or say; politeness

does not require you to permit yourself tobe poisoned by diseased or pervertedthought. When we have a few morehundreds of thousands of enlightenedthinkers who will not stay where peoplecomplain and talk sickness, the world will

advance rapidly

1/.



1/#

BEING WELL.

toward health. When you let people talk toyou of sickness, you assist them to increaseand multiply sickness. What shall I do when I am in pain?

Can one be in actual physical suffering andstill think only thoughts of health?

Yes. Do not resist pain; recognize thatit is a good thing. Pain is caused by aneffort of the Principle of Health toovercome some unnatural condition; this

you must know and feel. When you have apain, think that a process of healing isgoing on in the affected part, and mentallyassist and co-operate with it. Put yourselfin full mental harmony with the powerwhich is causing the pain; assist it; help it

along. Do not hesitate, when necessary, touse hot fomentations and similar means tofurther the good work which is going on.If the pain is severe, lie and give your mindto the work of quietly and easily co-operating with the force which is at work

for your good. This is the time to excercisegratitude



THE SCIENCE OF

and faith; be thankful for the power ofhealth which is causing the pain, and becertain that the pain will cease as soon asthe good work is done. Fix your thoughts,

with confidence, on the Principle of Healthwhich is making such conditions within youthat pain will soon be unnecessary. You willbe suprised to find how easily you canconquer pain; and after you have lived for atime in this Scientific way, pains and aches

will be things unknown to you.What shall I do when I am too weak for

my work? Shall I drive myself beyond mystrength, trusting in God to support me?Shall I go on, like the runner, expecting a''second wind''?

No; better not. When you beging to livein this way, you will probably not be ofnormal strength; and you will gradually passfrom a low physical condition to a higherone. If you relate yourself mentally withhealth and strength, and perform the

voluntary functions of life in a perfectlyhealthy

1//



BEING WELL.

manner, your strength will increase fromday to day; but for a time you may have dayswhen your strength is insufficient for thework you would like to do. At such timesrest, and excercise gratitude. Recognize the

fact that your strength is growing rapidly,and feel a deep thankfulness to the LivingOne from whom it comes. Spend an hour ofweakness in thanksgiving and rest, with fullfaith that great strength is at hand; and thenget up and go on again. While you rest do

not think of your present weaknes; think ofthe strength that is coming. Never, at any time, allow yourself to

think that you are giving way to weakness;when you rest, as when you go to sleep, fixyour mind on the Principle of Health which

is building you into complete strength. What shall I do about that great bug-

aboo which scares millions of people todeath every year--Constipation? Do nothing. Read Horace Fletcher

1/&



THE SCIENCE OF

on ''The A B Z or Our Own Nutrition.'' andget the full force of his explanation of thefact that when you live on this scientific planyou need not, and indeed cannot, have an

evacuation of the bowels every day; and thatan operation in from once in three days toonce in two weeks is quite sufficient forperfect health. The gross feeders who eatfrom three to ten times as much as can beutilized in their systems have a great amount

of waste to eliminate; but if you live in themanner we have described it will beotherwise with you.

If you eat only when you have anEARNED HUNGER, and chew everymouthful to a liquid, and if you stop eating

the instant you BEGIN to be conscious of anabatement of your hunger, you will soperfectly prepare your food for digestion andassimilation that practically all of it will betaken up by the absorbments; and there willbe little -- almost nothing-- remaining in the

bowels to be excreted. If you are able

1/'



BEING WELL.

to entirely banish from your memory allthat you have read in ''doctor books'' andpatent medicine advertisements concerningconstipation, you need give the matter nofurther thought at all. The Principle of

Health will take care of it. But if your mind has been filled with

fear-thought in regard to constipation, itmay be well in the begining for you tooccasionally flush the colon with warmwater. There is not the least need of doing

it, except to make the process of yourmental emancipation from fear a littleeasier; it may be worth while for that. Andas soon as you see that you are making goodprogress, and that you have cut down yourquantity of food, and are really eating in the

Scientific Way, dismiss constipation fromyour mind forever; you have nothing moreto do with it. Put your trust in thatPrinciple within you which has the power togive you perfect health; relate It by yourreverent gratitude to the

1/+



THE SCIENCE OF

Principle of Life which is All Power, andgo on your way rejoicing. What about excercise? Every one is the better for a little all-round use of the muscles every day; and

the best way to get this is to do it byengaging in some form of play oramusement. Get your excercise in thenatural way; as recreation, not as a forcedstunt for health's sake alone. Ride a horseor a bicycle; play tennis or tenpins, or toss

a ball. Have some avocation likegardening in which you can spend an hourevery day with pleasure and profit; thereare a thousand ways which you can getexcercise enough to keep your body suppleand your circulation good, and yet not fall

into the rut of ''excercising for yourhealth.'' Excercise for fun or profit;excercise because you are too healthy to sitstill, and not because you wish to becomehealthy, or to remain so. Are long continued fasts necessary?

Seldom. if ever. The Principle ofHealth does not often require twenty,

1/3



BEING WELL.

thirty, or forty days to get ready for action;under normal conditions, hunger will comein much less time. In most long fasts, thereason hunger does not come sooner isbecause it has been inhibited by the patienthimself. He begins the fast with the FEAR if

not actually with the hope that it will bemany days before hunger comes; theliterature he has read on the subject hasprepared him to expect a long fast, and he isgrimly determined to go to a finish, let thetime be as long as it will. And the sub-

conscious mind, under the influence ofpowerful and positive suggestion, suspendshunger. When, for any reason, nature takes awayyour hunger, go cheerfully on with yourusual work, and do not eat until she gives it

back. No matter if it is two, three, ten days,or longer; you may be perfectly sure thatwhen it is time for you to eat you will behungry; and if you are cheerfully confidentand keep your faith in health, you will suffer

1/9



THE SCIENCE OF

from no weakness or discomfort caused byabstinence. When you are not hungry, youwill feel stronger, happier, and morecomfortable if you do not eat than you willif you do eat; no matter how long the fast.

And if you live in the scientific waydescribed in this book, you will never haveto take long fasts; you will seldom miss ameal, and you will enjoy your meals morethan ever before in your life. Get an earnedhunger before you eat; and whenever you

get an earned hunger, eat.

1&0



BEING WELL.

C(AP!E$ ;VII

A Summary Of The Science Of

Being Well.

EALTH is perfectly natural

There is a Principle of Life in the universe; it is the Living Substance,

from which all things are made. ThisLiving Substance permeates, penetrates,and fills the interspaces of the universe. Inits invisible state it is in and through allforms; and yet all forms are made of it. Toillustrate: Suppose that a very fine and

highly diffusible aqueous vapour shouldpermeate and penetrate a block of ice.The ice is formed from living water, and isliving water in form; while the vapour isalso living water, unformed, permeating aform made from itself. This illustration

will explain how Living Substance

151

functioning , normal living.



THE SCIENCE OF

1&.

permeates all forms made from It; all lifecomes from it; it is all the life there is. This Universal Substance is a thinkingsubstance, and takes the form of its

thought. The thought of a form, held byit, creates the form; and the thought of amotion causes the motion. It cannot helpthinking, and so is forever creating; and itmust move on toward fuller and morecomplete expression of itself. This means

toward more complete life and moreperfect functioning; and that meanstoward perfect health. The power of the living substance

must always be exerted toward perfecthealth; it is a force in all things making

for perfect functioning. All things are permeated by a power,which makes for health. Man can relate himself to this power,and ally himself with it; he can alsoseperate himself from it in his thoughts.

Man is a form of this Living Sub-



BEING WELL.

stance, and has within him a Principle ofHealth. This Principle of Health, when infull constructive activity, causes all theinvoluntary functions of man's body to beperfectly formed.

Man is a thinking substance, permeating a visible body, and the processes of his body are controlled by histhought. When man thinks only thoughts of

perfect health, the internal processes of his

body will be those of perfect health. Man'sfirst step toward perfect health must be toform a conception of himself as perfectlyhealthy, and as doing all things in the wayand manner of a perfectly healthy person.Having formed this conception, he must

relate himself to it in all his thoughts, andsever all thought relations with diseaseand weakness. If he does this, and thinks his thoughtsof health with positive FAITH, man willcause the Principle of Health within him

to become constructively active, and toheal all his diseases. He can receive

1&#



THE SCIENCE OF.

additional power from the UniversalPrinciple of Life by Faith, and he canaquire Faith by looking to this Principleof Life with reverent gratitude for the

health it gives him. If a person willconsciously accept the health which isbeing continually given to him by theLiving Substance, and if he will be dulygrateful for it, he will develop Faith.

A person cannot think only thoughts

of perfect health unless he performs the voluntary functions of life in a perfectlyhealthy manner. These voluntaryfunctions are eating, drinking, breathing,and sleeping. If a person thinks onlythoughts of health, has Faith in health

and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps in aperfectly healthy way, he must haveperfect health. Health is the result of thinking andacting in a Certain Way, and if a sickperson begins to think and act in this

way,

1&/



BEING WELL.

the Principle of Health within him willcome into constructive activity and healall his diseases. This Principle of Healthis the same in all, and is related to theLife Principle of the universe. It is able

to heal every disease, and will come intoactivity whenever a person thinks andacts in accordance with The Science of Being Well. Therefore every person canattain perfect health.

1&&



THE SCIENCE OF BEING WELL

AND

GETTING RICH RIGHT

EL>A-E!( !*W=E, Dept, !", (*L:*?E, 4A""

55555555555555555555555555555)o you wand more books on how to succeed; 3ead /ruce "c2lellandAs +@rosperity %hrough %hought $orce,- price, M8.11, to which #lla :heeler :ilco gave nearly a page of space in the ew Bork ournal? and read +How %o 4row Success,- by #lizabeth %owne, I1c. (nd donAt you want to read :allace ). :attlesA ew Science of *iving and Healing,- price, I1c; (ddress

Is further elucidated in THE NAUTILUS MAGAZINEpublished monthly for the express purpose of Making The ManAnd Woman Who Can Do What They Will To Do. It aboundsin practicle ideas in the bright inspiration that impells you tosee the ideas. Use it as first aid! THE NAUTILUS teaches and inspires Health, Wealth, andHappiness in all departments of life.

Wallace D. Wattles who wrote this book teachesConstructive Science in every number of the magazine.How to think so as to promote yourself in Health and Success iswhat you want to know. He teaches it! Elizabeth Towne and William E. Towne teach it, too.They are the editors and owners of THE NAUTILUS, and theirsuccess is worth knowing about and learning from. There are many splendid contributors to THE NAUTILUS--

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Edwin Markham, Thomas Drier,Adelaide Keen, Grace MacGowan Cooke, and Florence MorseKingsley among them. Get in touch with Health and Success,and with Happy and Successful people through THENAUTILUS. There is a Family Councel Department where Elizabeth

Towne answers personal problems for those who ask. In theSuccess Department everybody is invited to say his say, and

prizes are given for best letters. Don't miss Wallace D. Wattles' great new serial story ''As aGrain of Mustard Seed'' which begins in an early number of themagazine. Send $1.00 for a year's subscription to THE NAUTILUS,with a copy of ''Making The Man Who Can'' and ''MaritalUnrest: a New Remedy'' both by Wallace D. Wattles. Or send10 cents for a 8 months' trial, and a copy of ''Marital Unrest.''

the science of being well wallace

Documents