This blog and our recovery community keep a positive message of hope and faith, but some people still struggle with whether their hope and faith are real or whether they are engaged in false hope. To them, I say to keep your hope and faith strong: Parkinson’s recovery is real!
I went to Google and typed in false hope. The number 1 listing was Wikipedia, and here is what it had to say.
“Hope is the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life.”
“The term false hope refers to a hope based entirely around a fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.”
Recovery from Parkinson’s is not “hope based entirely around a fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.” Recovery from Parkinson’s is not false hope! I am fully recovered, Marie is fully recovered, Pratima is fully recovered, Betty is fully recovered, Helen is fully recovered, and all of you are in various stages of recovery. That’s right, if you are doing the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery®, the soul, mind, and body Recipe, then you are in a stage of Parkinson’s recovery, too!
It should be pretty clear by now that I do not advocate hope and faith without action. On the flip side, if you are suffering from Parkinson’s and you believe that recovery from Parkinson’s is “a fantasy or extremely unlikely outcome,” you probably will have a difficult, if not impossible time, with recovery. If somebody who does not have Parkinson’s tells you that you are engaged in false hope and faith, they not only are incorrect, but they cannot fully understand Parkinson’s because they never have lived in a Parkinson’s body and thought with a Parkinson’s mind and had hope or lost hope with a Parkinson’s spirit. Please have compassion for them.
Okay! Let’s get back on the path to recovery. Sometimes in this recovery, it feels like you have “hit the wall.” I say to hit it again or go around it or climb over it or knock it down. The “wall” is Parkinson’s, and it does not want you to prevail.
In the morning one day prior to my full recovery, I read this passage from the book Not Always So by Shunryu Suzuki, and it assisted me in forgetting about my old self (Parkinson’s) and stepping into my new self (no Parkinson’s):
“Forget this moment and grow into the next. That is the only way. For instance, when breakfast is ready, my wife hits some wooden clappers. If I don’t answer, she may continue to hit them until I feel rather angry. This problem is quite simple — it is because I don’t answer. If I say ‘Hai!’ [‘Yes!’], there is no problem. Because I don’t say ‘Yes!’ she continues to call me because she doesn’t know whether or not I heard her.
Sometimes she may think, ‘He knows, but he doesn’t answer.’ When I don’t answer, I am on top of the pole (attached to the idea that reaching the top of pole you are climbing is enlightenment). I don’t jump off. I believe I have something important to do at the top of the pole: ‘You shouldn’t call me. You should wait.’ Or I may think, ‘This is very important! I am here, on the top of the pole! Don’t you know that?’ Then she will keep hitting the clappers. That is how we create problems.
So the secret is just to say ‘Yes!’ and jump off from here. Then there is no problem. It means to be yourself in the present moment, always yourself, without sticking to an old self. You forget all about yourself and are refreshed. You are a new self, and before that self becomes an old self, you say ‘Yes!’ and you walk to the kitchen for breakfast.”
Each time you “hit the wall,” leave your old self there at the wall and walk into your new self in each moment. When you say to yourself, “I cannot do this anymore,” after a moment, that is your “old self” that cannot do this anymore…and step into your “new self” filled with renewed hope and renewed faith, and say “I can do this!” “I have the power to heal myself.”
This is not fantasy…no, this is reality. Parkinson’s reality is hitting the wall again and again and again, and having to tell yourself, “I have the power to heal myself” again and again and again. And then you have to walk into your new self and do something in furtherance of your path to recovery. Remember, when you hit the wall, Parkinson’s is the wall…chip away at it a piece at a time and you destroy the wall.
You can do this.
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Hi Howard, I love the idea of becoming the new self even while experiencing the old self. It puts a whole new perspective on handling the brick wall ( which seems to be following me around 🙂 ) but I’m onto it, staying strong. 🙂
The voice of my soul is louder these days than the voice of my mind. 🙂
Big Love to all warriors. Bless you Howard.xx
Karen xx
Thank you Howard for your encouragement and continued dedication!
Howard, are you psychic? I feel like I’ve run into a wall for at least two weeks. All my symptoms have intensified and doing the exercises has become a huge challenge. Your message is exactly what I needed to hear today! I will apply it and go forward into a new, constantly improving life.
Thank you and God bless!
When Mr. Parkinson’s gives me grief on any given day, I just smile and talk to him!
“Alright, Mr. Parkinson’s, I know what you’re doing. It’s not gonna work. YOU are temporary. The cure is real! YOU are on your way out! You know your time is short
and YOU are on your way out!!’
I laugh in his face and just shake my head. I am bigger than he is. He doesn’t live here.
He’s an interloper, here temporarily, uninvited!
When I’m challenged by Mr. PD I say ” With every Prayer, Intention, Thought, Word Action and Deed there is healing, I am healing, I am healing myself.” Thank you Howard for your invaluable support, your sincere generosity and your intense dedication to our overcoming fear. I stand in awe of you!
You continue to inspire and encourage us each week Howard with new ways to cope and overcome PD. I love the idea of walking into my new self moment by moment. It forces me to leave behind any fear or negative thoughts that are trying to occupy my mind (and they seem to be always trying) and step into fresh and positive possibilities. This moment will be great! And this moment! And this moment!
Love all the comments! Thank you all.
About 20–25 years ago I had a long struggle with a condition that none of the healers I worked with were able to diagnose at that time. Somehow I discovered that part of the illness was manifested as a yeast (candida albicans) overgrowth. As I came to focus on the candida, I realized that “yeast’ was composed of a multitude of living creatures, bent on their work which is to cleanse the gut and body of dead organisms. I used to have daily discussions with the crowds of candida beings, thanking them for all the good work of cleansing me and explaining that they had done such good work for me that clearly there was nothing left to do. Out of gratitude I lovingly released them. I visualized them drifting off every time I thought of them. To this day I no longer notice any of the symptoms I used to have.
Howard recommends that we ask dopamine and adrenaline to work together to establish the best balance between them in our bodies. He also suggests we have a chat with the creator god about handling any difficulties or distractions we are experiencing so we can focus on healing ourselves.
Thanks for the good advice from all of you and thanks to Howard for keeping us on the path to wellness!
A couple of weeks ago I made a comment about perseverance but I’ve since realised that I don’t need to “persevere” with doing the Recipe. I simply need to stay tuned in to my knowledge that the Recipe works and to the faith in my heart and to act on the basis of that. It has become so much easier and more enjoyable to do the Recipe! Thank you Howard and numerous fellow pilgrims whose comments nudged me towards this realisation.
I like the idea of when hitting the wall I just go over it, around it or under it to get past it whatever I need to do to press forward in faith and with Hope of putting it behind me once and for all.
Dear Howard,
I am still in awe at the fabulous interpretation you gave instantaneously to my dream on Skype yesterday, an interpretation that has so much to do with this post. You showed me how strong, not only in my conscious mind but also in my subconscious mind, my “belief in a positive outcome” of this recovery journey has become. It feels great, I have been celebrating since yesterday. Thank you once again for your wonderful wisdom and understanding!
These days I am restudying slowly and thoroughly the mental and spiritual parts of the in-depth Recipe you posted in December (parts 11 to 15). It seems to me that, only working on these mental and spiritual parts of the Recipe, there is more than a real hope of accomplishing at least 80% of the healing journey. So, when one day one should be too exhausted to do the physical exercises, it is a good idea to do something of the mental and spiritual parts, for example to sit in an armchair, to meditate and to calm down. Such a day is not lost for recovery, quite to the opposite. And anyway, little or false hope is better than no hope at all.
Thank you and a big hug to you, Howard, and I wish a strong hope and faith and a good, bright feeling, when doing the Recipe, to all fellow warriors of this wonderful community.
Rainer
The reality is we are all going to be healed and rid of Parkinson’s forever. Just like we went out of balance we shall all return back into balance. We are still the same people on the inside our souls do not have Parkinson’s. So let your soul shine because your soul is stronger than the Parkinson’s! And in the end it’s the soul that beats it!
Thanks to a beautiful community and to Howard for the heart felt posts. I can feel them with my heart. I am grateful for the many moments that I have been given to not only live, but to enjoy, to love, to grow and to learn. I am grateful for my ability to leave the old me behind and constantly step into the new. I am grateful for the opportunity that I am constantly given to change and to be choose me life. I choose faith, I choose recovery, I am worth it. I am doing this 🙂
Have the best week ever
Love to all
Debbie
Hi Trish, Nice to see a fellow Coloradan on the same journey. I’ve been following Howard for awhile but don’t post since typing is a challenge .Thought I’d say hi and wish you all the best! Karen
hello my friends its so nice hear all the new brothers and sisters that are fighting this condition . we have a all powerful GOD that is just waiting for us to ask for his help to heal us . WE cant lose , just believe he will do the rest JAMES MICHAEL
It is great to hear all these positive comments. I am daunted by am inability to sleep at present and while I stay positive the physical seems to dominate. Too much time spent trying to relax seems to take away that ability, with the mind taking over with nerves. Anybody else have this trouble?
X
Hi Mayarita,
I used to have great difficulty sleeping. I remember so well that problem of it becoming more impossible to relax, the harder I tried. For me, one of the really important things in breaking that cycle was to actually get out of bed if I’d been lying awake for more than half an hour. I’d sit on a chair in my bedroom and read until I started to feel sleepy and then get back into bed. Some nights I had to repeat this process several times before I dropped off but it was a really important part of breaking the cycle of lying awake. The other thing I’ve found really helpful is using yoga nidra guided meditation, both for help with going to sleep and for relaxing during the day. I have some on my ipod but you’ll also find loads on Youtube if you just search “yoga nidra”.I’m very grateful that I usually sleep well these days: my good night’s sleep often makes its way onto my gratitude list. I hope this might be of some help to you Mayarita.
Very best wishes,
Anita xx
I also remember Howard recommending getting out of bed and doing a few rounds of medical qi gong for the liver.
I remember so well when, like you, I was on my own with young children, not being able to sleep sometimes felt like the last straw. I send you much love…
xx
Buna prieteni.Eu cred ca toti ne confruntam cu insomnia si cautam solutii in faza in care am ajuns cu simptomele.Eu adorm mai usor daca imi spun rugaciuni,,apoiimipun pe frunte mir de la manastire,ma asez in pat si ca sa nu-mi vina in minte ganduri negre incepp sa numar pana oboseste mintea si adorm 2 ore apoi incep sa tremur iar daca incerc sa ma ridic ceva foarte greu ma apasa si ma zbat asa pana adormm de epuizare aceasta e una din dramele vietii mele .Oare este ereditara ? ar fi posibil sa o mosteneasca copiii ori nepotii mei in acest caz regret ca m-am nascut pe aacest pamint. Acum plinge sufletul meu LEO
Translation:
Good friends. I am faced with insomnia and seek solutions because I have reached this stage with symptoms. I fall asleep easier if I say prayers, I sit in bed and not to blame me in mind dark thoughts begin to count up tired mind and fall asleep 2:00 then begin to shiver and if I try to I get up I hit something very hard and I struggle to fall asleep of exhaustion so it’s one of the tragedies of my life. Is it hereditary? If it would be possible to inherit my children or grandchildren in this case I regret that I was born on earth. Now my soul cries LEO
Hi Leo,
Thank you for your heart-felt comment. Since I am not coaching you, the only things I know about you and your Parkinson’s are based upon previous comments you have posted on the blog. I know that you are taking a large amount of medications and I do not know if you are doing the Recipe, soul, mind, and body. That being said, I would like for you to consider some things.
Western medicine says Parkinson’s is not hereditary. However, even if it was, my feeling is that what one would inherit is the susceptibility of getting the disease. It is how one is living one’s life, soul, mind, and body, that gives the disease the opening to rise to the surface as diagnosable symptoms.
So, let’s look at this a different way. If you are doing the Recipe, then you are setting a wonderful example to your children and grandchildren about your strength as a human being and your not giving up hope and faith. They will be stronger people in life from watching your example.
Comfort your soul in the knowing that you are a beautiful, radiant soul, and your soul is not touched by Parkinson’s. See your own inner beauty and feel that joy in your heart. Heal your soul this way, and your mind and your body will follow.
Love and blessings,
Howard
Thank you Anita for your advice and leo I am suffering similarly tormented as you so my heart felt sympathy to you. Yes I am often get out of bed to do exercises but often get straight back in from exhaustion.
I had a crisis in faith in myself and became so obsessed with healing myself that I had virtually put my whole life on hold. I am now trying to force myself to join in with life even though exhaustion and a feeling of being awful try to dominate. I mean awful physically and in appearance as buying clothes and caring for myself is at present difficult. Plus a feeling of confusion as to what to do with any spare time apart from obsess.
Howard has helped me a lot, but I know I must do the work.
Love
Thanks, Howard! This post is amazing. Also, I obtained a copy of the book, “Not Always So”.
Peace, love, joy, and faith to all,