Great Read! “Starving you Way to Vigor”!

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

Friends, here’s a great read for you, an article by Steve Hendricks in Harper’s.  This piece is so much spot on. It will save many people’s lives and improve that of so many others.

http://harpers.org/archive/2012/03/0083829

Fasting. Been there and done it myself. Once for three weeks, twice for one week each. Very often for one day, especially during New Moon or Full Moon, for reasons I leave up to your curiosity to discover.

After reading this article Johanna thought you might be interested where the pain in the lower back comes from which many a fasting person experiences to some degree. Actually a great many people suffer from the very same condition when getting up in the morning. They experience a slight to severe lower back pain which disappears after between ten to sixty minutes. When talking about this during lectures about half of the audience nods in recognition.

This pain is caused by stressed out kidneys – again caused by eating a “normal” dinner after 7 to 8 pm, especially if this dinner contained a lot of wheat. Via energy meridians (the highly “unscientific” ones) the kidneys communicate their plight to the lower back. Fasters experience it because they hardly ever drink enough to prevent it. Most of the time this pain disappears after a few hours and doesn’t come back.

And another tidbit: The headache or downright migraine around the third day of a fast is due to withdrawal symptoms from eating a meat based diet. Vegans don’t experience that (well they hardly ever fast in the first place).

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Get up and …

Posted on February 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

All people are born with a natural delight in movement. Music is in everybody’s blood. Whether the present moment finds you slender, strong, in the prime of life, athletic and a gifted dancer, or a pear-shaped clumsy bear, or a stiff framework of skin and bone – living or rediscovering this inborn joy is a solid foundation for staying healthy through your own efforts. The reason for this is in thousands of books; but a single sentence would suffice to explain it: What does not move falls into decay.

There are numerous influences from childhood onwards that mar the happiness of this activity, so essential for life, and literally close down parts of our body – from signs that say “No ball games” and constant admonitions to “Sit quietly!”, to the school desk, to the office chair and the compulsion to achieve. To be sure the greatest obstacles later in life are thoughts such as: “I can’t do it; I won’t make it; I’m no athlete; what if someone sees me like this!” – all of which start out from the conviction that movement, dance or sporting performance must always satisfy certain standards or external forms and alien requirements. Why is that there are so many books on physical training, all of them utterly useless and uninspiring?

 This is because the real meaning of movement does not consist in doing something ‘correctly’. So many teachers and therapists in this field convey the message, consciously or more often unconsciously, that with movement some sort of measurable goal has to be reached. “Bring your head between your knees; lift your arm above your head; keep your legs straight; no that’s not right; oh well, you’ll get it right in time…” – that, more or less, is the way the nonsense goes, making us forget what healthy movement and above all physical exercises for the sick are really about.

The sole aim of movement should be joy and flowing energy. If your arms can only move so far and no further – well and good! If you can only run so far, bend over so far, jump so far, dance for so long – that’s excellent! You should never take another person, let alone a sport or PE instructor or a book, as a model for what you wish to, or even have to attain. And if anyone smiles at your ‘style’ then that means only one thing: pride goes before a fall.

Once again the only criterion for the success of your intention is your personal instinct. When you sense how even with the slightest movements a force is gradually beginning to flow, just feel this force. Straighten and stretch yourself for a minute (maybe right now!), just as you might in the morning after getting out of bed, and feel what is happening. Feel how the force is flowing and what pleasure that brings and how the pleasure and energy from the smallest movement and stretching spreads out over the whole body. And then only remember the joy and force – not how far, how high, how fast. Whether this joy then spurs you on to some kind of sport – to gymnastics, dancing, chopping wood, or aikido – is completely unimportant. It is not the method that makes the force flow, but your instinct and self-confidence. You should always bear this in mind.

What counts in sport and movement is never the external form. You should never overstep your limits and above all never overstep the ‘pain threshold’. Each morning stretch what can be stretched, but stop short of ‘breaking point’ , whatever that may be. And never compare yourself with anyone in the world. You are unique from the word go.

Every day doctors express thousands of admonitions that we should move more, do more sport – physical training, swimming, table tennis, hiking, running. We don’t want to repeat them, because admonitions and proofs are worthless. The only thing that helps is understanding. One old and valid rule of health runs as follows:

Once a day work up a sweat.

Once a day feel really hungry.

Once a day get really tired.

Unnecessary maybe, but certainly of interest to the ‘proof-hungry’ or simply as an anecdote: the above rule recently received confirmation in a comprehensive study of more than 5000 people in the USA, who had reached their hundredth birthday in good health. The researchers had originally made it their aim to track down the secret of these people’s longevity. What common factors could be observed? Did it depend on diet, lifestyle, attitude to life, abstinence, mega-garlic-ginseng, mysterious herbal elixirs? The result astonished the scientists: apart from one thing there was no common factor! Some of them smoked like chimneys, some drank half a litre of red wine every day; some were vegetarians, others got up at one in the morning to polish off a mighty chunk of bacon; some had fifteen children and seventy grandchildren, others lived like monks – and so it went on. In other words there was absolutely nothing that pointed to a universally valid recipe for health and long life. There was just this one exception: all of those questioned stated that they worked up a good sweat every day – by running, chopping wood, dancing, lovemaking, or whatever.

Movement makes energy start to flow. Flowing energy loosens blockages in the body, head and heart. Loosened blockages release joy and strength. Released joy helps us to stay healthy or get healthy – throughout body, mind and soul. Stiffening is the basis of death, movement the basis of life.

 

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The Art of Staircase Climbing

Posted on January 29, 2012 | 3 comments

Question: How do you explain the fact that elderly mountain farmers climb up steep hillsides effortlessly every day without experiencing knee problems, or that Sherpas carry heavy loads to base camps without any prior physical training? Why do so many young people have knee problems and lack endurance?

Little by little we will provide answers to these and other questions. Today, however, we would like to disclose a secret that, at first glance, seems hardly to be headline material. Still, you will understand its significance immediately. In the long term it will have a positive effect on your daily life. The secret that mountain farmers and Sherpas know, next to healthy living, is the correct way of climbing!

Whether it is mountains or stairs, over the years we observed just how little is known about this technique. Even in mountain regions today, the “art of climbing” is frequently unknown among young people. When we are young, there are no serious consequences. Our body is strong and can tolerate bad posture and unnatural moves. Only in the evening we may notice that we have overexerted ourselves. Discs, muscles, tendons, bones and cartilage may have been overtaxed, but the true long-term effect is often not felt until our thirtieth birthday has passed. By then, the old habits are so ingrained that correct climbing must be learned anew.

Let’s put it in a different way: If you were to know how to climb correctly, you could climb the endless stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower without aching knees, without breaking into a sweat, and with no risk of a heart attack. And you could do that at any age. That is a promise. We could, of course, better show you this miracle technique with photos or in a video, but let’s try it here anyway. Its most important element is a “mental trick”, a feeling that you should take a look at.

Let’s start with an exercise in sensing. We are asking for your personal body awareness. Stand totally relaxed – knees slightly bent. Keep your body from your hips up balanced and straight in such a way that you do not need to tense any muscles above your hips in order to remain upright. Slightly move your upper body back and forth in order to find this center. You found it? Wonderful!

Keep reminding yourself that you never need to leave this center, whether you are climbing steep or shallow steps, gently sloping roads or steep terrain. If you climb without this technique, you can still do it, but you will need strength and lots of it!

So you are now focusing on the center. Combine the feeling of the center with the movement of climbing. Here, too, you need to learn only a feeling. It does not require a special performance or physical effort. This is how it is best done:

You are standing at the bottom of a staircase. You are standing straight and centered. Raise the leg with which you would normally begin climbing stairs and put it on the first step. Remain upright and relaxed. Do not bend forward, not even slightly. Remain centered and balanced – mentally and physically. And here is the “trick” that for centuries has allowed mountain dwellers, young and old, to climb the highest heights. Instruct the leg that is resting on the first step and therefore slightly bent to “straighten slowly”. Don’t tell it “lift me” – only tell it “straighten”.

Now, straighten the leg and remain centered. You have already conquered the first step. Put the other leg on the next step and repeat the thought “straighten slowly”. The second step is reached. You are essentially using natural hydraulics to steer your knee joint. Please continue slowly until you feel “I am centered and my legs must only straighten in order to lift me.”

There is no effort involved, no exertion, no burden, no groaning. Simply put, it is not difficult for your leg to straighten from a slightly bent position to lift your weight, even if it is a lot of weight. Meanwhile, your other leg can relax, since it must only lift its own weight to the next step.

Practice this for a little while – straighten your slightly bent legs. Your upper body need not do anything other than to feel balanced (and keep the balance) and to pick the spot for the next step or to enjoy the view. Practice and enjoy what you are experiencing. For many people this is an eye opener.

Experiment also to see what happens when you don’t tell your leg to straighten. Instead tell it to lift your entire body. Feel the difference that these two thoughts bring about, even though your leg    appears to be doing the same thing. It is important that you never take two steps at once even if you can do so effortlessly. We tend to do this when we are young, often as a sign of exuberance and strength. However, this creates unnecessary stress on muscles and tendons, and is a waste of energy. In the long run, this practice leads to overexertion.

Some time ago a 92-year old participant in Johanna’s wellness week mentioned that he had been feeling great since he started following our recommendation not to eat animal protein. The only problem he had was climbing the stairs in the hotel, since there was no elevator. Johanna showed him how to climb properly. He was so excited that he was not out of breath that he climbed the stairs of the four-story hotel twice – from cellar to attic.

Some things are so simple that they are very difficult to grasp. We think too much and observe to little. Once correct climbing has become second nature to you (and your body will see to that), then you most likely will take a closer look when you see in old movies how a Sherpa or a true mountain farmer moves and works.

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Old Wisdom for New Beginnings

Posted on January 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

So you started full of optimism into this year 2012, did you? You may have had a pocket full of New Year’s resolutions for a better you and/or a better world. Almost 90 % of all New Year Resolutionists will have failed by now, a few days into the year and chances are, you are one of them.

Good news, no need to worry!

New Year’s day 2012, like most of the first days of any year, was not very helpful when it comes to “energies in the air” conducive to starting anything new successfully.

There are such days, and one of them is coming up on the 23rd of January. It’s a day of the New Moon, which helps to start something new and to get rid of the old and outdated and superfluous and destructive. Every New Moon day has that quality.

Adhering to this rule is comparable to summoning a steady-blowing favorable wind. Set sails now and head for your goal, you will have this wind in your back like a good friend for company.

You like skiing? Starting something new on a New Moon day is like receiving your skis back from the service, expertly waxed and providing a happy downhill feeling even on level ground.

Of course there are no warranties. The most favorable breeze has to blend in with the expertise of a skilled captain. His common sense shouldn’t stay behind on the shore. Lastly, if smoking is what you want to give up on the 23rd or on the next New Moon (New Moon in spring is the most powerful) then don’t forget that you should drive extra carefully during the first three days.

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Birthday Numbers – There`s more than meets the eye

Posted on January 7, 2012 | 7 comments

Our first book for an US-American readership: “The Code – Unlocking the Ancient Power of Your Birthday numbers“, published by BeyondWords Publishing. Here is the introductory article we wrote about it:

The Code – A Key to your Dreams

Some people seem to sail through life’s calm waters and life’s storms, minor or raging, with true peace of mind. As if they were born with the delight of being a seasoned captain who loves his job, who follows his true calling with all his or her heart. A joy to have them around, a more or less silent envy in the eyes of others, who trudge and tread through life with their glasses half empty at all times and without ready access to the sources of optimism and love for life. Follow me for a few minutes and I will acquaint you with one of the major reasons for this difference and I will disclose a working access Code to cross over into the coveted company of the great captains of life and you won’t have to spend a fortune, be it time or money. Hidden talents exist within you, you were born with them, they showed up in your earliest dreams, and they deserve to come to light. No longer will you have to pay the price for ignoring them.

In 1991 my wife Johanna Paungger and I achieved an extraordinary breakthrough. We made available to the public an ancient knowledge Johanna had grown up with in a Tyrolean mountain farmer’s family – a knowledge pervading all walks of life, from the beneficial timing of surgeries right down to the art of cutting hair in harmony with natural rhythms. Our ten books on the subject so far became the basis for a minor revolution. Today millions in the German speaking countries consult them before visiting a surgeon, a hair dresser, a dentist, a carpenter. We had presented a 1001 small ways and methods for improving and transforming anyone’s life for the better. Today, after over 20 million copies sold in 24 languages, we are extremely happy to offer one of these treasures for the first time to an American readership. What has been passed down from a long lineage of the wisdom of our forefathers we are blessed to pass on to you.

Our tenth book “The Code – Unlocking the Secret Power of your Birthday” (Beyond Words) deals with the most exotic part of the ancient lore. To sum it up: Each number in your birthdate points to a very special set of talents that you were born with from day one. The challenge and blessing involves their harmonious discovery and unfolding in the course of your life. The structure of this Code can be understood easily. Numbers are assigned in pairs to one of five groups. Each group represents very different characteristics. Altogether, there are 31 possible group combinations, the so-called Signatures. When looking at individual birthday numbers for evaluation do not count the first two numbers of your birth year (19 or 20). And when there are zeros before the day or month of your birth (e.g., 05/05/2008), only the actual number of the day or month is used (e.g., 5/5/08). Here is an example of the promise of the Code, see if these brief descriptors relate to you. If any of these numbers exist in your birthday they can help describe most of your major strengths, whereas the missing numbers point to some of the opposing forces:

Birth numbers 1 and 6: Provide stepping stones into the public eye. Don’t work behind the scenes, openly show your talents! These numbers impart vibrancy, curiosity as well as visionary qualities and courage. Occupations: Writer, attorney, politician, positions in public relations, media, inventor, etc.

Birth numbers 3 and 8: Provide sensibility and the ability to see through people and things. Empathy, tolerance and creativity are part and parcel of your innate talent set. Occupations: Healer, musician, nursery school teacher, caretaker, preacher, singer, organic farmer, etc.

Birth numbers 7 and 2: The “People of the South” tend to be naturally vivacious. They are entertaining, communicative, energetic, independent, enthusiastic and thrifty. They love change and are rarely bored. Occupations: Architect, researcher, painter, minister, dancer, singer, etc.

Birth numbers 4 and 9: Cause to be ambitious, success-driven, clever and efficient. You are born with a knack for finances and rarely lack assertiveness. Occupations: Manager, craftsman, inventor, engineer, athlete, etc.

Birth Numbers 5 and 0: Impart stability on their bearers. There is little that will ruffle these people. They are generous, sensible and helpful and display strong principles and practical thinking. Occupations: Gardener, geologist, forester, organic farmer; jobs that require patience.

Sounds familiar so far, when looking at your numbers? Who am I? What is my mission in life? How do I fulfill it? In what mysterious way have I attracted the people in my close surroundings and why? Is it merely by chance? Is it a big test or could it even be destiny? Even the staunchest realists are confronted with such existential questions time and again. In the alpine valleys of Tyrol a century-old treasure has been unearthed that can help us to discover and better understand the purpose of our existence, our relationships and our personality. With its help anyone can quickly find out what they are best suited for, and where their weak spots lie. You can better assess talents and abilities and make small and large changes in your lives. One look at the date of birth of a baby for example and it is obvious whether it is sensitive, fearless, dreamy, curious, musical, etc. Which traits should be encouraged and what should be kept in check shows up at a glance. Parents, children, colleagues, bosses – the Code switches on a different, more tolerant and compassionate light.

 You can quickly counteract, support and move things forward in all areas of your life. Countless professions could benefit from the Wheel of Numerology, human resources professionals, teachers, educators, healers, etc. The Code provides a key to true contentment at any age. The great and able captains of life only wait for you to join their ranks and reclaim what is your birthright: A life lived in loving harmony and at peace with yourself no matter what your station or profession, rank or status.

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A New Day, A New Year, A new Blog

Posted on December 28, 2011 | 4 comments

Friends, let us begin this Blog with a special something – an information to help build not only this Happy New Year 2012 but many Happy New Years in the future for all of us. When our first book The Art of Timing was published in 1991, at first it was received with some degree of ridicule, but Johanna persevered in countless lectures to present this knowledge as a treasure of viable alternatives in many walks and areas of life.

Want to see a movie now? http://youtu.be/dWNr3lOJXS0  is a German TV documentary providing you with a lively picture of our background. If Johanna’s home reminds you of “The Sound of Music” you’re not far off…

For example many courageous farmers simply tried part of the knowledge on small patches of their gardens. The result: The number of farmers converting from industrial to organic rose tenfold in the space of eight years in Germany and Austria. As it turned out among the many factors behind this growth to touch upon the following fact was essential.

 ***

Imagine a family moving into a residential home with a garden backyard. On a whim these good and “green-minded” people decide that a space of say ten by ten feet should remain “wild” and whatever grows there can stay, the soil will not be artificially fertilised or sprayed.

 Nature then proceeds to bring on a very specific diversity of herbs and plants. Exactly which herbs these are depends also on who is living in the house and which plants its inhabitants need for their well-being, and for the prevention, relief and healing of any illnesses that may arise. If one of the inhabitants has a physical weak point or develops a particular illness, the corresponding healing herb will appear, simultaneously, or sometimes even a short while beforehand – as if out of the blue.

Imagine now that after a while this family moves on and another follows to live there. The nature and composition of the herbs in these ten by ten feet of wilderness will change and adapt to the health requirements of the new inhabitants, without any direct intervention on their part.

***

This is so.

What does that tell us?

Meditate a little about this info. Let it sink in. What does it signify? What language does nature speak here?

One thing is for sure: To befriend nature is infinitely more rewarding than to subjugate it. To study it in her wholeness and beauty is infinitely more rewarding than to rip her apart into her elements, “active ingredients” and genes, based on the conviction to thus be able to unlock her secrets. It would entirely be enough just to watch her and accept her gifts. Ours is the decision not to follow that course and follow the “experts” instead. Not ours is the decision to suffer the consequences.

What then is the good sense and meaning of a lunar calendar and its many applications we have written about all these years? (For example also here)

It really is nothing but a marvelous tool to be able to recognize and predict the subtle interactions in the friendly ebb and flow of natural rhythms. The lunar calendar and the natural guidelines and laws it helps to decipher and apply are really nothing but our extended hand to be able to accept natures gifts in their entirety and abundance – her healing herbs and nourishing plants, her successful timing for planting and caring and healing at the right time, her right time for an abundant harvest, long-keeping without any chemicals. The lunar calendar is like a three-dimensional, multicolored clock. Her hands show us how nature, her superior, prefers to be treated – in soil preparing and in sowing as well as in caring, harvest, post-treatment, and resting time before the next developmental circle. With the lunar calendar your caress nature until she purrs und serves us so much more readily. We wish you much joy when beginning to accept this gift.

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