The Science of Being Well

There is a Principle of Life in the universe, and it is the One Living Substance from which all things are made.  This Living Substance permeates, penetrates, and fills all the interspaces of the universe.  It is in and through all things, like a very refined and diffusible ether.   All life comes from it -- its life is all the life there is.  A human being is a form of this substance, and has within him a Principle of Health.  (The word "principle" is used as meaning "source".)  The Principle of Health in a person, when in full constructive actiivity, causes all the voluntary functions (eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping) of his life to be perfectly performed.  It is the Principle of Health in a person which really performs all healing, no matter what "system" or "remedy" is employed, and this Principle of Health is brought into Constructive Activity by a Certain Way of thinking. 

Biochemical Individuality

Chronic Illness

Science of Being Well

Sleep

Exercise

The Science of Being Well is a little book written in 1910 by Wallace Wattles.  It outlines what he calls a Certain Way of thinking that results in perfect health.  He calls it a science because it was his intention to lay out the logic of how healing and health occur in the human body.

I include Mr. Wattles' work in this website because I find his work as relevant and leading-edge in its thinking now as it surely must have been 100 years ago. 

"Health is the result of thinking and acting in a Certain Way, and if a sick person begins to think and act in this Way, the Principle of Health within him will come into constructive activity and heal all his diseases. This PrincipIe of Heath is the same in all, and is related to the Life Principle of the universe. It is able to heal every disease, and will come into activity whenever a person thinks and acts in accordance with the Science of Being Well. Therefore, every person can attain perfect health."

Acting in "a certain way" may seem a bit vague, but his book outlines some very specific parameters that seem to me to be in perfect harmony with today's leading research on the subject of wellness.

"A person cannot think only thoughts of perfect health unless he performs the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy manner. These voluntary functions are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. If a person thinks only thoughts of health, has faith in health, and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps in a perfectly healthy way, he must have perfect health."

One example of "performing voluntary functions in a healthy manner" is his recommendation to never eat anything without what he called Earned Hunger.  Wattles contrasts appetite and hunger and suggests we must learn to differentiate genuine hunger from the habits of appetite.  His proposition is that once one feels genuine hunger, the necessary digestive function is prepared to fully digest and assimilate the food that is consumed.  Aside from the fact that today we have various chronic illnesses that were virtually non-existent in 1910, such as diabetes or hypoglycemia, which may require an individual to eat more frequently, I find this advice to be very useful.