02.06 – Transforming False Beliefs – Part 1

For me to glibly tell you to “Follow your instincts” is easy. For you to actually do it, in our modern world, is virtually impossible. We humans are, apparently, the first species on this planet to have the ability to intentionally and dramatically disregard and ignore our instincts. Our arrogant cleverness… our over-reliance on our mental faculties, has greatly imbalanced our ability to holistically perceive and tune into our natural world. We have lost touch with Nature and with ourselves so thoroughly that many people now believe human instincts are primitive and irrelevant.

You may say that you can no longer trust your instincts… and you are correct. That is because you can no longer feel them. If you can’t properly feel them, then you definitely won’t trust them. An instinctive urge may pop up from time to time, but your conscious intellect overrides it almost immediately. When conscious intellect kicks in, you begin questioning or doubting what your instincts are telling you. And even if you do get an instinctual urge and you initially agree to go with it, you intellectual programming (aka beliefs) will resist, argue, and debate you about your decision.

For example, you get the instinctual urge to drink water because you are thirsty. The mind kicks in and asks endless questions, “What kind of water? Is it pure enough? Does it have minerals in it? How much should I drink? Drink now, or later? With food, before food, or after food?” The left-brain intellect always needs to over-analyze everything to a ridiculous degree. It gets annoying. Sometimes you just have to say to yourself, “Stop!” And simply drink some water.

Like billions of other people, you have defaulted to relying on the mental constructs, theories, and beliefs, created by other people, for your answers and guidance. You do this instead of relying on yourself. At least 90% of the so-called knowledge and beliefs you have taken on throughout your life are from other people. You did not create your knowledge and beliefs by yourself. They have been programmed into you by others – parents, teachers, friends, employers, preachers, doctors, textbooks, scriptures, media of all kinds, and so on. Someone else told you their beliefs, along with their built-in opinions and assumptions, and you swallowed them whole, with little if any consideration or examination.

Or perhaps you took on beliefs and habits by example, watching and listening to what others said and did, and you simply mimicked them… following along without question. You believed them and made their beliefs and actions yours.

Sometimes, of course, relying on the advice of others is useful and necessary. But for most people, far too much faith and trust is automatically given to others. We need to be more careful with whom we place our trust and how quickly we believe and act on what they say.

Going back to the previous example, you think to yourself, “I was told that 8 glasses of water per day is necessary for proper hydration. So that is what I must do to stay healthy.” The truth is that 8 glasses of water per day is simply someone else’s idea of how much water to drink. That so-called ‘truth of hydration’ has nothing to do with optimal health, which you will learn as you put into practice the Natural Hygiene way of life you are learning here.