Welcome to the third annual 30-day November to Remember Challenge to those new people to the blog and to those who have been inspired about recovery, but who are still thinking about whether or not to do the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. The last two years have turned out really well for those who decided to accept the challenge and begin an abbreviated version of the Recipe. So, here are some thoughts, followed by this year’s challenge.
As we head into the last two months of the year, this is a time filled with the additional stress of the holidays, balancing family, work, friends and extended-family during the holidays. Stress exacerbates Parkinson’s. Fear and worry exacerbate Parkinson’s. Wouldn’t you rather head into the holiday season with less stress, less fear, less worry, and physically feeling a little better? Wouldn’t that make you and your family and friends actually see that you are on your path to recovery?
For those who are new to the blog or who are inspired but have not yet started doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, it is my challenge to you to make a personal commitment to yourself to do the scaled-down version of the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® for the month of November to get on your path toward recovery. It costs nothing. There is no sign up sheet. There is no catch. There is nothing to lose. There is much to gain.
My 30-day challenge to you: Embrace the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® for 30 days and make this your November to Remember!
There are some parameters to go over for my 30-day challenge 2013, and here they are:
1. The body. At a minimum, perform Medical Qigong for Liver, Clearing Liver Wind Qigong, Standing and Balance Qigong, Brain Vibration Chanting (these are numbers in Mandarin Chinese in a sequences to stimulate vibration activity in the brain). There are videos of each of these in the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. Also, add the Neck Exercises and the Medical Qigong Sound for Kidney Health (there are not videos of these).
2. The mind. a). At a minimum, stop doing research on Parkinson’s remedies and “cures.” This will start to reduce being in Adrenaline Mode, and it will send a message to your Parkinson’s that says, “I am committed to the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. I believe in the Recipe and I believe in myself.” Commit to the Recipe for 30 days, and during the 30 days, stop looking for something different. If you are looking for something different, you are not committed to what you are doing. Use your extra time reading a book, watching TV or a movie, talking to friends…getting back into living life; I am certain if a new miracle cure turns up during the 30 days, somebody you know will tell you about it. b). Getting rid of fear. When fear arose, here is what I did: I gave it away to my Higher Power, and I have provided another way of giving away fear by bailing fear from your boat. Additionally, click here for more on fighting fear. c). Calming your mind. At a minimum, for 5 minutes, one time per day, sit in a quiet spot, close your eyes, and count your breaths from 1 to 10 (out breath first, then in breath, count that as 1 breath) and start over counting 1-10 and start over again, etc.
3. The soul. a). Practice acceptance. When something occurs, instead of visiting it with a negative emotion, just look at it and say, “Okay, I accept what just happened.” And then deal with it without the negative emotions. Stress is caused by the mind’s refusal to accept reality. Accept what is occurring, create a solution, and reduce your stress. Click here for more on stress reduction through acceptance. b). Compassion. Practice compassion every chance you get…compassion for others and for yourself. Practically everybody, including you, is suffering at some level, physically, mentally, and/or spiritually. Practice compassion and unburden some of their load, and unburden some of yours. c). Gratitude. Every day write down 10 things for which you are grateful. If 10 things do not come to mind, think of something bad that did not occur, and be grateful that it did not occur. If you run out of new things, you may repeat things you have written on previous days. At the end of the month, you will have between 10 and 300 things for which you are grateful. The closer you are to 300, the more your heart will have opened, and the more your natural dopamine will be flowing.
Not only is this the November to Remember 2013, but it also is No Excuses November 2013!
1. Objection to doing the Recipe, “I do not want to go on a vegetarian diet.” My response, “Don’t.” However, during the 30 days, see if you can add a little more fruits, vegetables, greens, and whole grains into your diet, and see if you can reduce a little your fried foods, dairy, and refined-sugar sweets.
2. Objection to doing the Recipe, “I cannot do the Qigong exercises because, a. I do not understand them, b. I am physically unable, c. Both a. and b.” My response, “I will help you.” (See my “My Commitment to All of You” below in this post).
3. Objection to doing the Recipe, “I cannot do the Qigong perfectly, so I know it is not worth my time because if I cannot do it perfectly, I know I cannot recover.” My response: “The only “perfect” Qigong is the one your body is allowing you to do in the moment you are doing it, and it is good enough.”
4. Objection to doing the Recipe, “It takes too much time.” My response, “You are worth the time it takes to cure yourself from a disease from which the professionals say there is no cure. Plus, for those of you doing daily Parkinson’s research, once you stop doing daily Parkinson’s research (Part 2a of the challenge), you will find yourself with extra time to do the Recipe and many other wonderful things.”
5. Objection to doing the Recipe, “I am currently taking medications and I do not want to reduce them.” My response, “Don’t.” I feel that you will benefit greatly from doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® even if you are currently taking medications. I do not believe that you can reach full recovery while on medications, but doing the Recipe and cleansing your liver will help your body process your medications better and help you function better, and maybe some time in the future you will decide that reduction makes sense to achieve your recovery. Click here for more on medications and medications reduction.
For those of you who already are doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, I want this to be your November to Remember as well. Please re-commit yourselves to doing the Recipe, and please consider adding into your daily practice the Gratitude List outlined in Part 3c of the challenge above. Also, I welcome your comments at the end this post as a way to encourage and inspire those who are new to the blog or undecided in accepting the 30-day challenge 2013.
My Commitment to All of You
People have expressed to me that they feel I was successful in curing myself because of my confidence in what I was doing and my commitment to doing it, the “it” being the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®. I am just as confident in all of you, and just as committed to all of you being successful, so I make this offer:
If you feel that you are unable to do any of the things outlined in my 30-day challenge above, let me know, and I will provide you with a 30-minute conference in person, by phone or by Skype at no charge. Send me an email at howard@fightingparkinsonsdrugfree.com and I will coordinate the conference with you.
I will help you understand the Recipe better, and I will modify the Qigong exercises so you can receive the same benefit as those people who can do them just as they appear in the Recipe.
If you are in the Tampa area, I will meet with you or have a call or a Skype. If you are outside the Tampa area, but in the United States or Canada, we may have a call or Skype. If you are outside the United States, we may have a Skype.
I am committed to all of you. I am committed to assisting you to accept my 30-day challenge, and I am confident in you being able to do the Recipe. Also, I am confident that the Recipe will work for you, and at the end of the 30 days you will see enough positive results in your recovery that you will know you are on your path to recovery and you will know the full Recipe is right for you.
Also, throughout the month of November, I will be posting information to assist you in successfully completing this 30-day challenge. Please check back regularly to this blog, or if you wish to receive an email notification of the blog posting updates, please go to the Home Page of this website and fill out the blog update subscription form on the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
I am committed to you and your recovery from Parkinson’s.
Why not accept the abbreviated Recipe challenge, get on your path toward recovery, and commit yourself for 30 days to the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®!
Parkinson’s is curable! Be your own cure!
Why not make this your November to Remember!
YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!
All my best,
Howard
Thank you Howard, for your consistent support and love.
I’m IN!
The first thing on my gratitude list is the recipe and the chance to fully recommit to it. I just celebrated my second year of being Sinemet free and looking forward to being PD free as well. Hope that anyone who has not yet joined on this journey will do so
My fellow Pilgrims,
I do feel we are pilgrims on the road to recovery from Parkinson’s.
Last Thursday I went to Mayo clinic/Jacksonville to have a conference with my neurosurgeon. He is my PD doctor and needs to know what I am doing. I wanted documentation of what is going on with my body. I knew I was improving because I have increased the span of Sinemet from 4 hrs. to 4 hrs. 45 min. And eliminated my last pill before going to bed. Recently in the Mayo newsletters there have been references to Qigong (though I don’t think they fully understand it, but neither do I). So I took those with me; as well as an 8 page supplement on “Mindfulness”.
I am 70 yrs. old and have been taking Sinemet for 8 years with increases along the way. I started the Recipe seriously in August. I have committed to every day; but don’t always finish the whole list. Notice the word “try” is not in the above sentence. My feeling is when you just try you don’t make it; purely personal.
Well, my friends, my neurosurgeon verified (after going through the usual drills) something positive is going on. He definitely saw an improvement and was ecstatic. He looked like someone had plugged him in and turned him into a Christmas tree. He kept shaking my hand and finally we gave that up and just hugged.
The plan is to keep doing what I am doing and let him know when I have increases. My last increase was 3-five minute increases over 15 days. That is what my body was comfortable with.
He did tell me there have been cases of Dopamine turning back on; but no one knows why.
This statement seems so calm compared to the message I left for Howard when I came out of the office. Still a little leery it will be a super realistic dream and I will wake up.
Thank heavens, Howard, has warned us there will still be rough days. I am going to give it my best shot to ignore them. The little book “not always so”, on Howard’s list has been an outstanding aid.
Be well, keep smiling and don’t ever give up,
Pam in Savannah
Thank you so much, Pam, for sharing this. Feel deeply moved, impressed and inspired. May that dopamine turn right back on! Oo! Feel like dancing! Jane
Hi Howard,
I committed to your 30 day November challenge last November a year ago and have been doing it pretty regularly since the first of the year. I am committed to keep going to matter how long it takes. I know I will one day achieve full recovery. While reducing my meds I have had a few setbacks with anxiety so I’ve had to back up a little bit and
go a little slower. I continue to reduce my meds slowly and I’m taking a very small dose of Mirapex
One fourth of a pill every other day. So at this point I’m almost off my meds. completely. I know the recipe is helping me to be stronger every day although my symptoms coming go as far as the severity I know I’m on the mend.
I am totally committed to being cured from this disease and I will continue with the recipe for as long as it takes. There is no Plan B for me and I have quit searching the Internet for another way.
Much gratitude and love for all your support Howard I don’t know what I would do without this plan and the firm knowledge that this is the cure.
Melanie
.
Howard extends his heart and hand to newcomers. They both hold jewels of information, opportunities and love. From the moment I first saw, and heard, Howard in Cincinnati in June of 2012 I knew this man was the ‘genuine article’. I have always believed Parkinson’s was curable and here was living proof.
I commenced a very abbreviated version of The Recipe shortly thereafter and went to the full version in July, 2012. Within 3 weeks my sense of smell and taste returned! They had been gone for 2 years. I was on Mirapex and Sinemet CR and Sinemet IR. I had been playing around with Azilect and decided immediately to no longer take it. Mirapex was the next to go, then Sinemet CR. I now take only 300 mg daily of the generic Sinemet IR, which is a decrease from the 200 mg IR plus 700 mg CR daily. Of course, med reduction has been slow, and often challenging, but it has been so rewarding. My neurologist’s comment, after being informed of the med reduction was “Whatever you’re doing, just keep on doing it”. He was very pleased with my health. Recently I had an acquaintance, I see infrequently, say, “Each time I see you, you’re looking better and better.”
Howard has such a commitment in helping others. Why not start with your own commitment – 30 days of doing the abbreviated version? Like test driving a car before you purchase it. You have absolutely nothing to lose.
Howard offers you a door. You have a choice to walk in or not. If you walk in, do stay for the 30 days, the room you enter is full of wonderful people in various stages of the journey. There’s always room for more.
Lynn
Hello pioneers,
My husband is 47 years old (he does not write directly because we are Italian and he does not speak English and I apologize for my mistakes in advance… ).
In June he began the Recipe small step by small step . Since July he performs all Qigong exercises , meditation, breathing.
Soon after the diagnosis in May he had been prescribed with Azilect and Requip but he decided not to take it after a strong thinking and documentation and talking with neurologist about benefits and side-effects of meds, so he’s drug-free. He has now full force tremors in the left hand, started with a slight tremor in the fingers of the left hand in January 2013. The hand is also rigid and fails to make some fine movements. He’s lucky now compared to others, we know.
What is important is the overall situation which is very good. Fine tune will come!
He says he has never been so well (if it wasn’t from the park :). He was very anxious and had a lot of anger and frustration he is now learning to control and understand making small steps forward every day.
Now sleeps very well thanks to acupressure before going to sleep, while before he had severe sleep disorders (wake-up screaming in the middle of the night or fighting with the air sometimes….) and insomnia very frequently. No more constipation in 5 months, sense of smell returned and he is in a good mood , there’s no trace of depression.
The left arm started swinging again in August.
He knows that his body is healing inside despite of tremors. In the last month I see that he has less fear, fear is going away , even when the hand trembles a lot, he’s not afraid as before. He had some half-day in which the tremor ceased completely and is confident that he will recover, no matter how long it will take. Sometime bad days occur, but they go away and then better days come.
Thank you so much Howard, for your support, to have opened a road .
You all have to try it, all deserve to heal !
Howard is giving so much to us with this blog, I hope I can help someone to decide starting the Recipe. There’s no side effects this is so important.
Just try, is worth it!!!
Laura
I was on PD meds for 10 years Sinemet 25/100 and Requip 2mg (3x/day). I’m med free since October 19, 2013, started reducing on August 19, 2013. Howard has been a great inspiration and a life saver as well for me. I could not have done this without his help.
After 10 years on meds, my neurologist was eager to increase my dosage. My choice were to go along or took action in rid of those meds by myself. So I started by reducing Sinemet by one tablet in the afternoon since afternoon time gave me the hardest time. But end up with Requip that reacting with the withdrawal of Sinemet. So i decided to take both out. then panic set in – i’m on my own.
Lucky for me that I came accross Howard’s web site and then follow by attending his workshop in LA. Because of my original mistakes in reducing the meds too fast, my journey had been rough, it took me 2 months to rid of those meds but pay a big prize now with low energy since there was no time to recouperate. The withdrawal had be severe.
Without Howard’s encouragement I could not have gone through this recovery journey alone. Howard is committed to our well being and he is always there to guide you and inspire you. I’m on my last path of the journey, I know I’ll fill in the last piece of the puzzle in the near future.
My advice is take the challege, don’t do it on your own and follow Howard’s advise. He has proof that PD is curable.
And thanks a million Howard. You are the MAN that can help us rid of this disease.
Good morning fellow travellers I am so grateful to Howard’s continued support it has kept me going inspired and improving. I have been able to stay off the meds my speech and thinking have got faster and stronger. My walk is a little better I don’t use a stick all the time now and generally I feel I am living life and recovering. The inspiration exercises and guidance are healing me spiritually, physically , emotionally. I am becoming freeer. Thanks to Howard his recipie and my commitment which when I stick with it results are there for me to feel and see. Cheers to the 30 day commitment. I am committed to this recovery till I am pk free x
Dear All,
What can I say? This Recipe of Howard’s is deep magic. It’s rooted in the profound wisdom that is the source of all love and brilliance. It connects us to the root of all the healing of the universe, turning our minds to the light and bathing our souls in luminosity so that we can see, understand and work through all the hidden stuff (anger, fear, etc.) and develop empathy and compassion, acceptance and the ability, above all, to let go of control and instead surrender so that we can at last start to relax and rest, breathe, and trust that the universe is indeed unfolding exactly as it should!
My writing and fine motor skills (doing up buttons, making bows) have returned 70-90%, am standing taller than I have done for years, the right leg shuffle is 80-98% better, the arm swing is intermittent and the tremors less and less–sometimes disappeared. Also, energy and mood are better than they have been for donkeys years: as though I were emerging towards becoming fully alive properly for the first time in my 62 years! Of course, it’s hard, rocky work facing the dark and confronting, and dealing with, erroneous unquestioned assumptions–and in my case sheer laziness too! But nevertheless a very good journey. So rewarding and life giving.
I feel so very blessed that you are this wonderful light Howard, so generously showing the way again and again. Thank you!
I would just like to say a big thank you to Howard and everyone else who is sharing their experiences. It’s so inspiring to hear everyone’s triumphs and joys. I feel as I am part of a big family that are doing wonderful things together. I have been doing the shortened recipe for a few weeks now and am beginning to smell again. Whopee!! I really missed my sense of smell. I am determined to get better with the support and help of everyone here as well as the most generous and caring Howard.
Howard’s encouragement always increases my resolve. I accept his challenge for November. It’s a beautiful Autumn day Here in the UK – a good day to start. Howard you are wonderful as is the community of optimists you have built. Glyn
Howard thank you for this great challenge. What a wonderful way to start the “Season” feeling even better than ever about ourselves. Thank you for your loving support and for lighting my way on my path to Recovery. I gladly accept your 30 day challenge. Marianne
Yes, Michal & I can add our bit that Michal is feeling quite a lot better as far as the pains go. From waking up nights with terrific pains she now sleeps through most nights, and her appetite is better. One evening last week she returned from an afternoon session at swimming coaching, sure that she would just call it a day after expending so much energy, and then suddenly she felt she could do more, and until midnight she was involved with preparations for a family gathering and her energy supplies did not let her down. This was after a week or two of severe weakness. We are doing coaching with Howard (I translate for her) and she is eternally grateful to Howard for his sympathy, empathy and attention to every detail. Our rating? – *****
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