It’s more than 50 years ago now but I can still remember standing outside the doctor’s office looking down at his prescription in my hand to help me with the pain in my stomach. He said it came from stress. He himself however, was grossly overweight and kept nodding off while he wrote the prescription. I was only 17 yet I stood outside his office thinking, “He can’t even help himself so how can he help me?” So I tore it up and began my search into the realm of alternative therapies.
For years, while I worked for doctors in hospitals and private clinics (both as haematology technician and doctor’s assistant), I read and studied about many approaches to staying healthy, including taking vitamins, jogging, exercise. I was immersed in a multitude of therapies, religions and new age thinking over the years and came to realize that we are, indeed holistic beings — with body, mind and soul. I believed that if I was to be as healthy as I could be, I needed to examine and work with each of these aspects of my being.
On the emotional front, I knew I was attacked by stress on a daily basis. It is said that stress can cause 85% of any psychosomatic illnesses- the body-mind connection. I discovered that I needed to examine my thoughts to see just how many belief systems I was living under, each one affecting my state of being. I turned from Transcendental Meditation to alternative sources of relaxation, from spas to drugs and alcohol. I could never find relief but I kept searching.
I studied and practiced hypnotherapy under the covering of Dr. K but when someone asked me if I could hypnotize her to revert to a past life I had to admit that this was an area that was completely foreign to me. I attended a seminar on the subject and was confused by what I had seen. I believed that the power of the mind was awesome but there was something more happening here. Next I was invited to a seminar given by a person who channelled a spirit from another realm and this experience made me very aware of the spiritual aspect of our beings. I was hooked into a whirlwind of spiritual experiences which caused a downward spiral in my life during which I almost lost my life. It is a long, interesting experience and one I would not change because it helped to form me into the person I am today.
Several years later, after my search into everything else failed to heal the deep emptiness inside me, I was introduced to the Torah. At first I didn’t want to read it but there was nowhere else to go. In it, I discovered a deep connection with my own history and rich heritage as a Jew which I never had. Suddenly everything began to turn around. As I applied its principles to my life, I started to be led into a direction that I could never have planned for myself. The emptiness was one day simply gone and a deep excitement and hope replaced it.
It is interesting that the Tanach says, “As a man thinks, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). I had believed this but didn’t know how true it really was. A great rabbi said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
On the physical side, I know that I am blessed with good genes since there is long life in my family. I know that, outside of exercise, I needed to feed my body the food it requires daily, with the proper vitamin and mineral balance in an absorbable form. I knew that I had to find a way to deal with the ever-increasing environmental hazards on our beautiful planet. It is sad that no countries observe the Sabbath year of the land as written in Torah, allowing the land to replenish itself and thus giving us a rich and plentiful harvest. As a result, the foods we eat lack many of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need. We must supplement, but with what?
When I met Cyndi, which I wrote about it in A Modern Miracle I discovered a wonderful new food source. I was always open to new products to improve my health and supply me with much needed energy for my very hectic schedule. Finally, I found one and want to tell you about it. When I was Israel with Cyndi I watched her drink every day a mixture of a variety of powders called Reliv. Cyndi, by the way, was going to be 50 at that time, with six children and was in Israel to donate a kidney! I noticed that she had one day of jet lag and I suffered through four. I noticed that she had loads of energy and I was dragging myself everywhere, even though I have been involved in alternative health methods since I was 17 years old.
I had been taking an excellent, absorbable set of vitamins in pill form for many years and thought I was doing pretty well for my age. I did notice that I had bouts of bad colds and flu but attributed it to my singing at the hospital so often. I also had days when I was dragging myself around with no energy at all and attributed that to hormones and low bio-rhythms.
Cyndi suggested I try a few shakes of Reliv. It wasn’t long after I did so that I noticed I was feeling stronger. When I returned home to Canada, I decided to order the product and try it on a regular basis. I was sceptical and decided to simply watch myself without trying to imagine any symptoms.
Within the first month, I noticed that I was waking up in the morning without foggy eyes. I also noticed that, after a full day, I would come home in the evening and still have plenty of energy. Everyone tells me that I am already a person with plenty of energy, but I had never experienced anything like this before. I thought it would wear off soon and I’d be back to my old self. One month, everyone around me came down with a bad cold and I got nothing. One morning I woke up with a slightly sore throat and started to feel as if I was coming down with a cold. In a conversation with Cyndi, she told me to take two of the products in warm water. I did and the next day all my symptoms were gone! I am amazed at how I feel.
Nothing is a cure-all and we all need to search within for why certain things happen to us. Sometimes we suffer because of genetic defects and sometimes it is simply due to the “sins of our fathers”. These are curses that can be broken. Sometimes we are stricken by diseases triggered by emotional or physical stress. Sometimes we experience disease because of spiritual issues. I believe in a holistic approach to good health and that we need to examine all areas — physical, emotional and spiritual — in order to do everything possible to live a full and happy life.
Torah teaches us that no one is perfect and that the only one in whom we can depend is the Almighty. Its principles are rich and help us to deal with the everyday stresses of our lives. I am not a religious person but I have been given a strong faith by the Creator and know that each day is a challenge to take that faith (Emunah) and turn it into Betachon (trust). When we trust that all things have a reason, we can live life to the fullest. He has given me purpose, hope and a very rich and full life looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. Baruch ha Shem!
Yom Atzmaut Sameach 5775
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