Current Parkinson’s “treatment” is management of the disease. If you want to be cured of Parkinson’s, you have to realize that you are your own cure. Yes, the Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® is your road map of a cure, but you have to do the Recipe — this means that you are your own cure!
Being responsible for being your own cure is daunting for some people. We have become reliant upon others to “cure” us from our maladies, so when the others say, “There is no cure for your Parkinson’s,” what other choice do we have? We either accept what the others say that we cannot be cured, or we say, “I refuse to accept the status quo. I have the power to heal myself…and I will!” This make you your own cure.
In the beginning of my journey after I had researched Parkinson’s, I knew a handful of important things:
1. When my mother died two-and-one-half years prior to me getting the disease, she was mostly in a wheel-chair, had a nurse-caregiver as well as my dad as a caregiver, and she had lost her mind to the long-term usage of the medications three years prior to losing her life.
2. The medications had not prevented my mother from reaching wheel-chair-bound physical disability.
3. My liver was deeply malfunctioning as well as my kidneys.
With all of this in mind, I knew medications were not for me. That was my choice. My fear was not Parkinson’s. My fear was not creating my own path. My fear was the known path…my mother’s treatment path, which is the current medical standard treatment path for Parkinson’s.
So, I sat down with Sally. I outlined my treatment plan (the Recipe) and told her I knew I would fully recover. However, I did add this to the conversation: “Even though I have complete faith and I know in my heart I will recover some day, if I am wrong and the doctors are right, then at the end of the path, I think I will be completely paralyzed.” Sally’s response was instant, and it was simple: “It is just a body. You won’t lose your mind like your mother, so I won’t lose you. If you can tolerate what the disease dishes out to you, I am all in.” And off the cliff we went into the abyss…we took a leap of faith. That was nearly nine years ago.
I share this with you so what I am going to tell you next will make sense. With Plan A only, I was forced to see the silver lining in every cloud. That was not my normal way of being. However, the normal-way-of-being-Howard is the guy who got Parkinson’s, so thinking and acting outside of what had been my norm seemed like a good idea. I recommend it to all of you.
Make it a game for yourself. I will provide you some examples of what I mean, and you all are bright enough to run with it from there:
1. Pain. If I had pain in an area where I previously felt nothing, instead of being angry about the pain or fearful of what it might mean (i.e. Parkinson’s getting worse — isn’t that what every change in your symptoms you do not like ultimately adds up to in your mind?), I would say something like, “This is great! Pain means that the electricity is flowing from my brain to the part of my body that hurts or I would not be experiencing pain. This must mean all that stuff in my brain that the doctors say is dead is not really dead.”
2. Stiffness, fatigue, and slowness. “My body is using my available energy to open blockages, so it is making me more stiff and fatigued and slower than usual. It will improve when the blockages are opened. This is great!”
3. Increased tremors. “Wonderful. Tremors are created when electricity hits blockages or escapes from the protective neural covering. Increased tremors means I am creating more energy in my low-energy brain, so I shake more. This is great!”
I think you get the point. Everything was “great!” Why? First, because that is exactly what was happening in my body and I felt it was true. Second, because even if it was not exactly what was happening in my body, I had Plan A only, no Plan B, so fear of Parkinson’s was a luxury I could not afford. I forced myself to find something “great!” about whatever was going on.
In the end, I must have been correct…apparently, there was nothing to be afraid of and everything that was happening was “great!” I was my own cure.
I know, some of you are thinking, “Howard may not have taken medications, but he sounds like he still lost his mind.” True:
“Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you come to your senses.”
-Socrates, Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior-
Here is the mind I had to lose. I had to lose my Adrenaline-mode mind. I had to lose my I-need-to-do-everything-perfectly mind. I had to lose my I-need-to-be-in-control mind. I had to lose my you-are-not-worth-it mind. I had to lose my it-is-not-okay-to-like-yourself-or-love-yourself mind. When I lost that mind, then, and only then, did I completely come to my senses. The whole world changed. Actually, all that had changed was me. I started viewing the world from my heart, and there I have stayed.
Be your own cure!
Each and every one of you has it within you to cure yourself. Challenge yourself or make it a game — focus on positive thoughts, focus on silver linings. If you do this, you will begin to feel it. Once you feel it, you will realize how good it feels. Once you realize how good it feels, you will want to do it again and again and again.
And then, one day, you will awaken and say, “Wow, I must have been correct…apparently, there was nothing to be afraid of and everything that was happening was “great!” I was my own cure.” That will be a day you will remember forever.
The Parkinson’s Cure. Be it!
You are worth it!!!
All my best,
Howard
Great reminder Howard. Thank you..
Great stuff, Howard.
I want to share something.
My worse PD symptom is struggling to walk when I am worn down. My right leg will start hitching and my upper body will follow. When this happens at night, I know I must push myself to get on the stationary bike and ride for 4-6 minutes. After I do that I stretch and push myself to do the recipe. On the nights I can get through that, I don’t have trouble walking.
On the nights I am tired and fall asleep in my easy chair – I have trouble.
Translated: If I sit down and rest, the PD wins.
If I keep my body moving, I can keep my ability to move and I win.
Thanks Steve, I have found this true for me as well.
Just what I needed to hear this morning! Thank you for making it your life mission to help the rest of us!💗
I have just purchased your book. I will read it on my Kindle. I love your positive attitude and I am looking forward to doing the recipe to heal myself. Thank you for being a positive and loving soul.
Hi All,
Thank you for your comments.
Waseema and Gina, keep up the positive attitude and hard work you are doing in your recoveries.
Steve, thank you for sharing what you are doing and how you are coping.
Beth, welcome to the blog! Thank you for purchasing a copy of my book. I am grateful.
To everybody else…we are a wonderful family of people supporting each other in Parkinson’s recovery. Thank you for being here!
Love and blessings,
Howard
Hey everyone, I’ve never posted, though I’ve been a reader since ’16, the year of my diagnosis. I’ve been doing the Recipe since Dec 09, 2016 and have taken up Howard on his coaching offer.
I too refused drugs (but for a short, ill-advised period of desperation) and have determined to keep my fate in my own hands. I can’t imagine giving up the one life I have to the authority of someone else, other than God. And He has of yet not told me to surrender.
Daunting is saying it right. Viewing pain and loss of ability as something positive resembles obstinance and a rejection of reality. But I’ve already rejected the prescribed reality, and am a firm believer in the body’s ability to heal itself.
I gave myself a test: the efficacy of the recipe. I stopped doing it for a couple weeks to see how I feel. It resulted in worsening symptoms, nightly leg cramps, severe tremors upon waking and spreading symptoms to my left side. Exhaustion and lack of motivation.
Re-starting the regimen was difficult, but on day 7 today, I can definitely attest to it’s effectiveness. No more leg cramps, more energy and mental clarity and I’ve quickly recovered my ability to do each exercise. My symptoms still persist: tremor in my right hand, frozen shoulder, slightly aching right foot and inability to articulate right hand – I never knew the finesse it took to run a Q-Tip around the ear until I lost that ability. :0
But I’m confident Plan A is the only and right path for me. Keep fighting and personalize the advice Howard offers, use your own voice and own your condition and outcome. It certainly is daunting, but lolling around in a wheelchair, regretting loss is probably ten times worse. I aim to not find out.
God bless.
-V
Hi Vincent,
Welcome to the blog as a commenter. I appreciate you sharing your journey, the roller coaster ride of recovery, and your strength, faith, and fortitude in pushing forward and encouraging others. Thank you!
Love and blessings,
Howard
Hi Vincent,
My situation is similar to yours except that my left side is most effected, and I can still handle a q-tip.
Hang in there. I was diagnosed in 2017 and have been using the recipe and Howard’s coaching for about 6 months.
My neurologist at the University of Minnesota recently told me to keep up the good work! So I guess I must be doing something right.
I view Parkinsons as the universe telling me to get going on my spiritual growth. I’d been studying spirituality from many angles for years, but never really got out of the starting gate. Now l feel really motivated…
That’s how I see it anyway. Howard’s been an excellent partner in pursuing this approach.
Best of luck and I look forward to seeing you again on the blog.
Chris Meyer
Thanks Chris, with your right and my left we make a balanced human being.
-V
Nice thought, Vincent.
The other halves constitute a person with Parkinsons who is well on his way to recovery 🙂
– Chris
Excellent post, Howard, and thank you all for the insightful comments. Upward and onward, warriors. V, your comment about the Q-tip reminded me when Howard observed the inability to walk and chew gum at the same time…yes, I know the truth of that :).
Hi Lisa,
Great to hear from you. Yes, “Upward and onward, warriors.” Thank you for your encouragement.
Love and blessings,
Howard
Although hard to accept, everything that happens to me is great. Thanks to reminds us constantly
You are welcome, Eneas,
And, you are great!
Love and blessings,
Howard
Howard, this is a beautiful post and exactly what I needed to read. Thank you so much.
The comments of all fellow travelers are so very valuable and appreciated as well.
Hi Johnny,
We are happy you are here as well. Wishing you the best!
Love and blessings,
Howard
Hi here from Jan in the UK. I got diagnosed out of the blue nearly 6 years ago, when I was referred to neuro for foot dystonia and was told I had PD, it was incurable and progressive, and advised to go and join a local PD group It floored me, having won a battle with cancer 10 years ago and then going on to have a right hip replacement, this last medical declaration knocked me off my feet. When I had cancer I never doubted I would make a full recovery and declined chemo and radiotherapy after surgery as the benefits were only 1 – 2 % improvement and the side effects not good. Like Howard, I never doubted I would recover and had absolute faith in myself and the Divine powers. PD has been different, and until I found Howard’s web site and gracious wisdom, I was a lost soul sinking into depression and fearful anxiety. I have read the book and follow the manual, and little by little am seeing a bit more sunshine. So far I have kept off medication, and those I have tried only make me sick and dizzy. I “get to do” the recipe every day in one form or another .. some days easily and other days with a struggle, so I sit and do them that way. I have a long way to go and have so much to learn, but reading Howard’s inspirational words and knowing that there ARE people who have fought and won over their PD gives me the momentum to keep building my faith until the battle is won. Love and good Karma to all of my fellow travellers, you are all an inspiration. Blessings to Howard x ….. off for some meditation now!
Hi Jan,
It’s fun to hear from someone across the pond. I’m in Wisconsin: one of the Great Lakes states.
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m finding the blog to be a fine instrument for expressing our caring and sharing with one another. I’m certain that this builds positive feelings that most certainly must improve our health and remind us that we are not alone.
Thanks again for sharing and looking forward to future posts,
Chris
Hi Jan
Welcome to our international famiĺy I am also from the UK and was given the news in a similar way! I found Howard a year ago . Like you I was in despair. Since doing the Recipe my sense of smell has returned and although I am a little slower I have not deteriorated physically. At times I find the Qigong challenging but I do my best and Howard assures me it’s good enough. This last year has changed me in lots of ways I have become more accepting and more grateful for what I previously took for granted. I am also learning patience as the path we are on is not a quick fix. The important thing is I know I will fully recover if I keep on doing the Recipe and ĺisten to Howard’s wisdom. Welcome to the path less travelled!
Berni x
Thank you Jan and Berni for your insight and for sharing your stories.
Love and blessings,
Howard