Fighting Parkinson’s, and a pep talk for my 30-day challenge 2017

For those of you who are working hard through this first week of my 30-day November to Remember Challenge 2017, good for you! For those of you who are not working hard through this first week of my 30-day November to Remember Challenge 2017, there is still time! For those of you who read my challenge and started thinking about doing the scaled-down version of the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® instead of actually doing it, are you aware that five days have passed you by? What are you waiting for? Make this your November to Remember and start your recovery from Parkinson’s!

Today, I want to give all of you a pep talk to inspire you to take action in your recovery. Since some of you are new to this blog and may have missed earlier posts, my pep talk is from my August 12, 2011 blog post entitled, “Fighting Parkinson’s, and faith, attitude, action, progress.” Here it is:

“I was on a coaching call a couple of days ago and was questioned about how Qigong works, basically, what is it really doing because sometimes it is hard to know if it is doing anything at all. After a deep discussion about Qigong in general, followed by a discussion of Qigong in the Recipe for Recovery, it made sense to the person, and she suggested I write about because she felt it would be meaningful for all of you. Ultimately, it comes down to faith, attitude, and action to make progress…I will begin, as I did with her on Wednesday, and start with action.

Action. In my Recipe for Recovery, there are Qigong exercises that require us to take action to fight our Parkinson’s. These are not general Qigong exercises that one would learn taking an introductory Qigong class. These are medical Qigong exercises designed to heal the liver and kidneys and help them function better. Since I view one of the causes of Parkinson’s as: “Kidney and Liver Wind Deficiency, which is caused by overwork and insufficient rest which unbalances the body’s natural rhythm,” I researched medical Qigong to focus my initial action to rectify these deficiencies.

Qigong in general. Our hearts pump our blood through our bodies. Our lymph system needs our assistance to move it throughout our bodies to build up immunity and cleanse toxins. Enter Qigong. Qigong is known as a soft exercise in that it does not require a whole lot of physical exertion, but it still still builds up internal energy because we are moving our bodies slowly and stimulating our lymph system.

Medical Qigong for Liver and Kidneys in the Recipe for Recovery. The slow Qigong movements are focused on these specific organs. However, there are additional benefits. The liver is paired with the gallbladder as an organ system. The kidneys are paired with the bladder as an organ system. And, the lungs (it is not possible to do these Qigong exercises without breathing in a whole lot more oxygen than just sitting around) are paired with the large intestine as an organ system.

So, by doing these Qigong exercises, we are working on healing our liver, gallbladder, kidneys, bladder, lungs and large intestine. It is why many people have reported back to me that within days of beginning the Recipe for Recovery, they notice an increase in energy, their bowel movements have become regular and easy, their sense of smell has returned, that although they still feel pain their shoulders and knees are looser, they can turn their head and look back when backing up their car…these are small signs of progress, but they are signs of progress nonetheless.

Here is how I envision the Qigong is working: I am going back to my Titanic analogy, but taking it to the next level. Here is what I have said on this point in the past: “You did not get Parkinson’s the day you got diagnosed, and it is not going to go away the day after the diagnosis. The captain of the Titanic only saw the tip of the iceberg, if that, but an ice mountain had been growing for a long time beneath the surface. When Parkinson’s finally breaks to the surface, there are a mountain of layers below that need to be dealt with to beat the disease.”

Now, envision the mountain of ice below the surface that sunk the Titanic. Further, envision that you are placed deep into the center of this mountain of ice and you have a tiny hammer and chisel. Your goal is that each day you will chip away at the ice in a symmetrical manner. To an onlooker at the surface, they cannot even see you are in there chipping away. To an onlooker at the surface, the iceberg looks just as solid as it did the very first time they saw it.

Every day you are chipping away more and more, and every day the onlooker at the surface sees no progress. On one particular day, somebody who knows you are in there tells the onlooker, “Hey, there is a person in the middle of that iceberg with a small hammer and chisel chipping away.” The onlooker shakes their head and tells the person, “If that is so, they are crazy and they are wasting their time. I have been looking at this iceberg every day and I see absolutely no change at all.”

Ask yourself this: “If every day I am inside that iceberg chipping away and watching the hole inside get larger and larger, aren’t I making progress?” And, ask yourself this: “If every day I am inside that iceberg chipping away and watching the hole inside get larger and larger, does it really matter what the iceberg looks like on the surface in determining whether I am making progress?” How about this: “When I chip away at this iceberg in a symmetrical manner and I finally reach the outer edges, won’t the entire iceberg go away and won’t it happen quickly?”

There it is in a nutshell (or iceberg), how the Recipe for Recovery works. After nine months of doing the recipe and seeing very little improvement of my symptoms, I started seeing a lot of improvement and two weeks later I had no symptoms. The causes were removed and the disease went away. This is also known as full recovery.

The Qigong in the Recipe amounts to us taking action. The Qigong in the Recipe amounts to us chipping away at the iceberg from the inside out. To an onlooker, we look like we are accomplishing nothing, that we are crazy and wasting our time. Yes, our symptoms are an annoyance and an inconvenience, but I was not focused on relieving my symptoms. Instead, I was focused on ridding myself of Parkinson’s, and then the symptoms would go away. Actually experiencing the symptoms is what gave me the insight to understand what needed to be accomplished to beat this disease. I saw the enemy, I was able to endure what it had to deliver, I learned what I needed to learn to defeat it, and I took action. Every day we do something to defeat this disease we are making progress.

That is Qigong for the Liver and Kidneys…even though we may not feel our organs healing from deep inside, they are. How do I know this? Faith, and success. I recovered. It is why I named today’s post “Fighting Parkinson’s, and faith, attitude, action, progress.”

Faith. At the beginning, we have to have faith in our own recovery and faith in the process we are using to lead us down the path to recovery.

Attitude. We have to keep a good attitude that no matter how we feel, we are making progress because we have faith that we are on the correct path.

Action. I have said many times that faith without action is meaningless for Parkinson’s recovery. Action proves faith! Action says, “I so firmly believe that I will recover that I am willing to do Qigong exercises every day even if I cannot actually feel them healing me from deep within and even if I do not get immediate relief of my symptoms.” Some people think this kind of faith is crazy. I feel that this kind of faith leads to recovery. Did you ever stop to think that the same people who call this kind of faith crazy actually have no faith at all in recovery — they still feel that one cannot recover from Parkinson’s. We are proving them wrong.

Progress. Every day you wake up in the morning you are making progress in the path of life. Every day you do something in furtherance of fighting your Parkinson’s you are making progress on the path of Parkinson’s recovery. With strong faith, a great attitude, and proper action, you come to the realization that every day you employ this formula, you are making progress.

And, one day you may wake up making progress in the path of life and realize that you have successfully completed the path of Parkinson’s recovery. It will be overwhelming.

So, what are you doing in the moment, NOW? Why not grab onto some strong faith and a great attitude, and start taking some proper action, NOW! Aren’t you worth it?”

Yes, you are worth it!

Don’t you want to finish your Parkinson’s journey before you finish your life’s journey? I thought so! So, here’s what you need to do: Accept my 30-day challenge and make this your November to Remember for your Parkinson’s recovery!!!

Make the commitment to cure yourself from Parkinson’s!

Okay, everybody, put big smiles on your faces and chant together so the whole world can hear:

“Parkinson’s is curable.
I am my own Parkinson’s cure.
I am halting, slowing, and reversing the progression of my Parkinson’s.
I am extraordinary.
I am recovery.
I am doing great!

AND, I AM WORTH IT!!!”

Yes you are. Each and every one of you is WORTH IT!!!

All my best,

Howard

MORE INSPIRATION FOR YOU

Below you will find the comments of your fellow travelers posted on my previous blog post. Thank you to all of them for sharing their journeys with all of us:

Lynn McIvor says:
November 1, 2017 at 9:07 am

Recently, my son requested a gift for his birthday. It was a list of
200 positive things in my life. Of course, Howard and The Recipe
received high billing. For those of you who are commencing the November
challenge – you won’t be sorry. You have nothing to lose and everything
to gain. Congratulations, you are taking charge of your life. I
often marvel at Howard’s consistent dedication to helping us get rid of
Parkinson’s. He is sincere, honest, ethical, informative and totally
committed. I have been doing the Recipe for 4 years and have
experienced many changes. The first was regaining my sense of smell and
taste, which had been lost for 2 years. My medications have been
greatly reduced, helping me to think more clearly. I often think
wouldn’t it be nice to hear a Dr. say, “You have PD, BUT it is curable.”
How different our attitude would be. So you can say it now and believe it.

Incidentally, I’m at number 120 on my list.

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Karen in Ireland says:
November 1, 2017 at 10:05 am

Happy happy 1st Day to all warriors. We ROCK!
Big Love
Karen xx

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Barbara Marks says:
November 1, 2017 at 10:20 am

I am happy to recommit.
Thank you Howard and everyone who shares here.
Barbara

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Smita Shinde says:
November 1, 2017 at 12:38 pm

I was calmer, relaxed and composed today.. mind listening to my soul… adopting “can do” attitude .. being kind to my body, having compassion and it helped today to clear the brain fog..
Much love to you all..😊

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janet says:
November 1, 2017 at 4:34 pm

I am doing the “Shifke Shuffle” and it takes me all day to do what I can of the recipe.
I hope it is enough and I am cheering and praying for us all.

Peace and blessings to all

Janet in NY

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Trish in Colorado says:
November 2, 2017 at 4:32 pm

Janet, I haven’t written to the blog for awhile. Been kind of down and writing is hard. But you really made me laugh with your “Shifke Shuffle” remark! I just had to write and thank you for the giggle. We can lift each other up if we just stay in touch.

Howard, if you’re eaves dropping, you are fantastic in your constancy, week after week, month after month giving yourself away. I love you!!!

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Veronica Urquhart says:
November 1, 2017 at 4:39 pm

Today I hand my fears over to God and focus on my commitment. Blessings to you Howard and to you all.

Veronica 🌱🌺

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Beth of CA says:
November 3, 2017 at 7:26 pm

Right at this moment, I am re-commiting all my fears and all my negative thoughts to God. Trusting him and having faith in him that he will take care of it for me.
Blessings to you Howard and to everybody doing the recipe.

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Tery and Werni says:
November 1, 2017 at 5:18 pm

First day with hope and joy to all of us! What an inspiration Howard, you really are amazing with your ideas to help us not to lose faith!!! THANK YOU!🌺🌺

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Steve Alten says:
November 1, 2017 at 7:10 pm

I’m in, buddy!

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Pippa says:
November 1, 2017 at 11:24 pm

I’m in too. Thank you Howard

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carmel sawle says:
November 2, 2017 at 1:47 am

I am ready to immerse my self in the Parkinson’s recipe for recovery. This November IS going to be one to remember. It’s such a blessing to have you guiding us Howard and giving us your support. Thank you for giving us a way to recover :)x

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Lisa says:
November 2, 2017 at 11:37 am

I am also in!

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Marie says:
November 2, 2017 at 1:10 pm

Sending heartfelt best wishes to all of you who are making this commitment for November. Be compassionate with yourself and trust the process~ From personal experience, I know it works! Literally everyday, I give thanks to Howard for the Recipe for Recovery. Following it to the best of your ability changes your life on every level.

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Waseema says:
November 4, 2017 at 8:11 am

I’m in Howard and Warriors. It’s wonderful to be part of a community and feel supported. Thank you again.
Love and blessings to all

Waseema