In the evolution of the human race, we humans had to exercise to survive. We had to be able to run from an enemy, catch our food, climb trees and mountains, and ford rivers; every moment of life was purchased with physical effort. Our ancestors had no need of an exercise program; the physical struggle to stay alive was exercise enough. The body that we have today is the end product of a process of survival—of thousands of years of genetic selection, and during all that long and exciting history survival was associated with physical labor and movement.
As civilization advanced and we moved into an age of mechanization and push-button ease, we found less and less need to use our bodies in our daily lives. Yet our need to move has in no way diminished. Our muscles, glands, organs, mind, and spirit still require daily movement to function properly.
Our 600-odd muscles must have tone and the ability to expand and contract. Each of them requires daily movement—exercise—to retain elasticity, power, youthfulness, and vigor. The muscles must hold the organs in position so they can function properly. Exercise is essential to keep the glands performing their complicated tasks, to maintain sexual vigor, to keep the blood circulating, and to fight the pull of gravity that produces protruding, sagging middles, dropped stomachs, sluggish livers, blood-starved hearts, clogged arteries, and unsightly fat—to mention just a few of the evil consequences of inactivity. Postural weaknesses and improper development and use of muscles result in over seven million cases a year of back trouble and other orthopedic aches and pains, which have now superceded colds as the major cause of absenteeism from work.
Humankind has always had to develop and maintain the physical capacity necessary for the body to be adequate to support the rest of life’s activities-thinking, creating, carrying the responsibilities of business, profession, social and community life, and procreating and child-bearing. And to those who would attain spiritual as well as intellectual and material heights, I quote the good advice that Edgar Cayce often gave in his readings, of which so many were devoted to restoring health.
Then, be a well-rounded body. Take specific, definite exercises morning and evening. Make the body physically, as well as mentally, tired, and those things which have been producing those conditions where sleep, inertia, poisons in the system from non-eliminations, will disappear. And so will the body respond to the diets. (341-31)
Exercise is one of the most powerful preventive medicines in staving off the disabilities of middle and old age, as well as an important therapeutic tool in repairing the ravages of disease. It is an absolute essential to the maintenance of health, beauty, reproductive ability, weight control, longevity, mental equilibrium, and spiritual harmony.
In controlling weight, exercise is fully as important as diet. Dr. Roger J. Williams, the eminent biochemical researcher in nutrition, in his excellent book, Nutrition Against Disease,1 reported on laboratory experiments in which rats, which otherwise have no tendency to become obese, were kept in a warm room in a very small cage where they could move very little; they invariably became obese. They may eventually weigh two or three times as much as rats that are allowed to exercise by having a larger cage. If the animals are kept in very small cages in a cool room, they get enough exercise by wriggling and shivering to prevent extreme obesity.
“Get plenty of exercise,” Dr. Williams admonishes, “is therefore good advice to give those who wish to prevent obesity.”
“Lack of sufficient exercise constitutes a serious deficiency comparable to vitamin deficiency,” warns famed physiotherapeutic authority Dr. Hans Kraus.2 “Physically inactive persons (those who do not exercise) age earlier, die younger, and are more prone to backaches, ulcers, lung cancer, appendicitis, prostatic disorders, psychiatric (mental) illness, cirrhosis of the liver, and hemorrhoids. Death from coronary heart disease occurs twice as often among the physically inactive,” adds Dr. Kraus.
We know that muscles can atrophy through lack of exercise—witness hospital patients who eat perfectly balanced meals and get out of bed too weak to walk. The reason is that muscles are nourished by thousands of miles of hairlike capillaries, which transport food and carry off wastes.
In the sedentary adult, large numbers of these capillaries are collapsed, and hardly ever function briskly. Exercise alone can open them up and provide better muscle nutrition.
In past years, Dr. Lawrence A. Golding, director of the Applied Physiology Research Laboratory in the Kent State University School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, conducted an experimental exercise program for adult men as part of a twenty-year research study into the effects of daily exercise in relationship to coronary heart disease.
In 1975 the study reached the halfway mark. Dr. Golding reported that preliminary test results have proven that daily exercise does reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and obesity in adult men between thirty and sixty years of age.
An article in the New York Times (August 22, 1973) headlined this fact: “Backaches Multiply, But Country Takes Threat Lying Down.” The article, by Virginia Lee Warren, went on to say, “It appears likely that plain, old-fashioned ailment, the backache, will be the most common leveler of Americans in about three years, replacing the common cold.”
“It’s the curse of our time,” states Dr. Howard Rusk, head of the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. “This condition is already causing more discomfort, loss of time from work, and disability than any other.”
If you wish to avoid ending up one day with an aching back, a daily exercise program is absolutely essential. Posture, correct body movement or body mechanics, abdominal muscle tone, hip and lateral muscles, the extensor muscles of the spine, and leg muscles are all involved in keeping a back strong and out of trouble.
Physical fitness does not apply only to muscular and athletic efficiency, but also to the activation of nutrients in your body—to making them work.
“Exercise stimulates body tone, sending minerals to your muscles, skin, organs, blood vessels, and other body parts,” writes Carlson Wade in Magic Minerals: A Key to Better Health.3 Exercise causes minerals to help keep your body properly hydrated, to get rid of waste materials properly, and to keep you operating at optimum level with little fatigue or loss of quality.
When minerals are stimulated by exercise, they work to help pass food along your digestive tract, to enable you to inhale air into your lungs, and to regulate blood-vessel action when more pressure is needed in an emergency.
Minerals that are activated via exercise will speed up circulation to furnish more oxygen to the billions of your body cells, helping them remove waste material. The faster minerals bring oxygen to your cells, the better you feel. You “come alive.” The increased mineral activity brings more blood to your brain, too, making you more alert—an aid to a powerful personality!
The faster mineral action of the circulatory system also helps the functioning of the internal organs. Your heart becomes stronger and steadier. Your lungs are fed by minerals and are now capable of taking in more oxygen. Elimination of body wastes is properly regulated. Without exercise, minerals may remain inert and lazy, and so will you! In most cases, people grow tired because minerals cannot be sent moving to various body parts. This causes a gradual deterioration of the entire body and mind. So you can appreciate the value of movement by exercise.
Some years ago, at the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, scientists made an important and still-mysterious discovery about potassium losses in astronauts during space flights. (Potassium, a natural element, is the most abundant electrolyte in the cells of your body and is critical to the reactions necessary for all muscle contraction, including your heart muscle, which pumps blood throughout your body.)
In space, the astronaut’s “weightlessness” has profound repercussions. Blood, which normally accumulates in the legs, is redistributed throughout the body. Movements and work are easier because the astronaut no longer has to lift things—only direct them—thus decreasing the normal exercise work. This results in serious potassium depletion.
Potassium is normally plentiful in the fluid portion of the circulating blood. However, under certain conditions its excretion in urine is increased. Prolonged immobility in the case of the astronauts resulted in the excretion of excessive potassium. Hence special space-type exercises were prescribed for the astronauts to help protect them from potassium loss. (Incidentally, the amount of exercise prescribed for the astronauts has been substantially increased between the first and second Space Station flights.)
Potassium deficiency manifests itself in muscle weakness, slow reflexes, and mental confusion. It also produces degeneration and death of heart fibers.
About 90 percent of the body’s potassium is located in cells. Barely 8 percent is found in blood plasma and lymph, but this extracellular potassium cannot be decreased without causing heart problems.
It appears that physical exercise activates the expulsion of potassium from the cells and increases plasma potassium, which is used by the heart.
Basically, any muscular activity helps, provided it is done regularly without unnecessary strain.
The psychological benefits of exercise have been well validated by research and experience. An experiment at the University of Wisconsin revealed that anxiety decreased in both normal and neurotic people after they exercised.
One of the ways that the POWs of the Vietnamese war, particularly those captured by the Vietcong, sustained themselves throughout their ordeal—which exerted great pressure physiologically as well as psychologically and emotionally—was that they exercised a lot. One of the prisoners set a record of 300 pushups and 600-700 knee bends.
They kept themselves sustained because they found that even if they were in small cells they were still able to get some amount of exercise through posture changes. They exercised for two or three hours a day and found that it was one of the things that helped them keep their sanity.
So next time you feel overwhelmed or defeated by problems—exercise!
It is quite possible to counteract the many negative aspects and impacts of life by stimulation of the circulation and the vital forces of the body organs. If we maintain the right physical condition, the “worry throw-off” effect of a vigorous workout can border on the miraculous. Even prolonged negative pressure can be diminished by that technique. But even if you are not in condition for a good workout, you can make use of such exercise equivalents as hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, and manipulation. Many of these you can do by yourself. If you like the luxury of having someone skilled do them for you, the cost need not be great. It might be a lot less expensive than a breakdown or dragging around half alive. These exercise equivalents can, in the elimination of toxins from the system, increase and stimulate the circulation and vital forces, and relax the nerves. When a lack of good physical condition makes a real exercise workout impractical or impossible, exercise equivalents furnish relief or retreat from the pressures and tensions of modern living. These exereise equivalents, or “EEs” as I term them, are fully explained in other chapters of this book.
Writing this chapter reminds me of an experience I had back in the early years of the Great Depression. In conjunction with my city establishment I was conducting a health farm. One day we had a visitor—a man in his middle fifties and a very popular and well-known figure in the vaudeville and entertainment field. In the course of our conversation I learned that he had amassed a fortune of $300,000 and in the crash of 1929 had lost over two-thirds of it. I noticed his head and shoulders were bobbing and weaving as he talked, and he dipped up and down on one leg as he walked. He twitched and weaved and “dry washed” his hands when he spoke. He had more nervous tics than a dog has fleas. He couldn’t eat, sleep, or do many other things. The loss of the greater part of his savings had taken away, in addition to his money, his spirit and feeling of security, and now his sense of humor and his health were on their way out. After we chatted a bit, he asked if I could help him. I said I could if he would agree to obey orders, give me his full cooperation, and arrange to stay for at least three weeks. This he promised and we were ready to start.
Although nervous and in a very run-down condition from worry and lack of sleep (the sedatives and sleeping pills he had been taking for a long time were no longer even temporarily effective), his heart and the basic condition of his arteries were found satisfactory upon medical checkup. The first day of conditioning was really difficult. It was hard for him to concentrate on anything for long, and we really had a difficult chore in making him exercise and do his work therapy. I felt like Svengali by the end of the day.
Along with his physical activity we made certain that he had plenty of complete rest periods. At the end of the day he was also given some fatigue-relieving and relaxing hydrotherapy and massage. This helped to ease his tired muscles and relax him in general. He had little appetite that first day and slept little the first night. He said he just felt too tired to sleep. When I asked him what he was thinking about during this sleepless first night, he replied, “I was too darned tired to even think, but it was nice just not having to do anything—just lying in bed and resting this tired, old body—that felt mighty good.”
The next day we gave him exercise and occupational therapy (sawing wood, digging in the garden, clearing paths through the woods, etc.), finishing with hydrotherapy and massage. After a light dinner he quickly went to bed. That night we know he slept, for we could hear him snoring. By the third day his appetite was picking up, and the fourth day he was competing with all of us in eating and sleeping.
After my friend had been with this conditioning program for about two weeks, he told me he would like to call New York City. “You know,” he said, “I’m starting to feel pretty good, and I thought I might like to have my agent come up to visit me for the weekend. I think I have some ideas for a new act and would like to check with him.
“You know, Reilly, I have over $50,000 left from the crash. That’s still a lot of money. In another few weeks I’ll finish the skit I showed to my agent, and I think it’s going to knock them into the aisles.” He did make a comeback and was “knocking them in the aisles” for many years after that.
Physical conditioning had relieved the tension and nervous tics, and restored normal eating and sleeping habits. Best of all, it had given him a vigorous and optimistic outlook on life and the capacity to enjoy what he had and not get into the deadly postmortem routine of what he had lost. Yes, if we were to lose all our possessions but retained good health and physical fitness, we would be far from defeated. We would still possess the intelligence and drive that made for success in the first place, and we would have an added advantage of experience. Only the handicap of being physically inadequate would retard our comeback. To feel fully adequate in a changing world we must have some basic security. For many this can be found in religion and philosophy. The addition of health and physical fitness will strengthen and intensify all other securities.
Exercise can be a very effective therapeutic tool whether the disturbances are psychosomatic or physiological.
A number of my most spectacular cures have been with stars of the music world whose careers were seriously threatened by physical disabilities.
B.H. is a six-foot-two bass-baritone, whose imposing stage presence and voice have brought him acclaim on the opera stages of Israel, Europe, and Puerto Rico, and on the concert and light-opera stage in America, where he has been appearing for some years with a Gilbert and Sullivan company. When B.H. came to see me, he was suffering from a severe case of thrombophlebitis and was in fact scheduled for a surgical operation to relieve this extremely painful condition. The surgeon was just waiting for the swelling to subside to operate for the removal of the outer veins of the legs, which had caused the condition. This tall man—young and vital—was like a hobbled giant unable to walk or stand on his affected legs.
B.H. in an interview told Mrs. Brod, “Dr. Reilly told me that if I did have the veins taken out that it was very possible that within a year the inner veins, having to take over the work of the outer veins as well as their own function, might become so overtaxed that they could also get varicose and then they would have to be removed and then I would wind up being crippled for life. He said that if I promised to do special exercises faithfully two or three times a day, have special massage on the buttocks and feet (not on the legs), and the right kind of food and sitz baths, I could get the valves to start working again in the outer veins and not have them removed.
“The main feature of the diet was getting a lot of rutin—all the citrus fruits, green peppers, mustard greens, dandelion greens . . . were easy to get. I gave up the coffee as Dr. Reilly instructed me to do and substituted herb teas, which I really now like and enjoy. I never liked meat that much, I prefer seafood, so that wasn’t hard to readjust, although he allowed me a little lamb or chicken.
“He gave me five different exercises. I started with six each and am now doing sixteen of each twice a day. It takes about thirty-five minutes and I rest in between and I do breathing in between them. [The exercises will be found in Chapter 7.]
“After the evening exercises, when the body is well-warmed up, I take a cold sitz bath—for about sixty to ninety seconds.
“I went once a month for checking and massage. Dr. Reilly watched me do the exercises. He thought that one of them was bad for my voice because it caused a strain on the vocal chords and he told me not to do it. He has a remarkable understanding of those things that go into performing. [The exercise here referred to was the double-leg circles, described in Chapter 7.]
“After the first month I got fantastic results. The veins went back to inside the leg. They were all sticking out before and when I went back to the specialist, he had to look twice to see which was the bad leg—they were both bad, but the left one was worse than the right. The surgeon examined me and said he thought the veins would still have to come out and he wanted to set an appointment for the operation. I told him I would call him and let him know. I just never called back.
“The leg is completely normalized now.
“Even before the first month was up and I went back to see Dr. Reilly, I knew that I was going to continue the exercises, because I already had so much extra energy that I knew this was something that I was going to do the rest of my life.
“I still want to take the sitz baths because I sleep so much better than I ever did—it is a great preventive, too. I always had poor blood circulation, because every winter I suffered terribly. I couldn’t get warm no matter how many sweaters and coats I was wearing. I was always cold. And after I started on the Reilly regimen and did the exercises—I went through the entire winter, December, January, February, without having a cold or suffering from the cold.
“I had read many books about Cayce and I was quite prepared to accept the treatments. However, it was nice to hear Dr. Reilly tell me: ‘You realize that you did it yourself. All I can do is tell you what exercises and baths are good for you, but you have to have the will and purpose to do it and to heal yourself.’”
I have always believed that in the end the patient has to heal him- or herself. My standard prescription is a daily dose of “RIP” (resolution, information, and perseverance). “Take this every four hours,” I tell my patients. “When you get up in the morning—exercise; before each meal—eat the right food and don’t overeat; and before retiring—exercise, and you will not have to worry about the ‘RIP’ (‘Rest in Peace’) you see on tombstones for many, many years.”
B.H. was a good example of the healing virtues of RIP. It is even more dramatically illustrated in the case of F.L., a famous concert cellist, who could visit me only twice before leaving for Europe. He suffered from muscular tension at times that made it difficult for him to keep up his grueling schedule of practice and concerts while on tour. I taught him the arm-and-shoulder exercises (see Chapter 7), prescribed Epsom salt soaks, showers—letting water as hot as possible run on his shoulders—and self-massage with peanut oil. He followed the regimen with resolution and persistence entirely under his own discipline while in Europe.
“The tension and cramps in the shoulder subsided,” F.L. told Mrs. Brod. “I felt light and free. I could play for hours, and I was able to perform during my entire European concert tour.”
A Daily Dose of “RIP”
Ihave always believed that in the end the patient has to heal him-or herself. My standard prescription is a daily dose of “RIP”:
“Take this every four hours,” I tell my patients. ‘When you get up in the morning—exercise; before each meal—eat the right food and don’t overeat; and before retiring—exercise, and you will not have to worry about the ‘RIP’ (‘Rest in Peace’) you see on tombstones for many, many years.”
—H.J.R.
The noted American composer-conductor Alan Hovhaness suffered for years from crippling bursitis and arthritis. Finally, the stiffness in his arms threatened to end his conducting career. But a few weeks after he came to me he was a new person. The massage and manipulation helped, but what really saved Hovhaness was what he did for himself in my prescribed stretching and bending exercises. (See Chapter 7.) “It brought new life to my arms and legs,” the composer told author Jess Stearn, who wrote about it in Edgar Cayce—The Sleeping Prophet.
Some time later Hovhaness wrote to me: “... as I always think of you and do your exercises every day, without ever missing one day, and always spending about twenty minutes to half an hour or more. Your wonderful help has given me years of the greatest success and activity in my musical career, and I want to thank you for it . . .
“We wish you great success with your new book and hope you are well and prospering in every way. Many thanks for all you have done for me ...”
Mrs. E.P., an interior decorator in a large department store, had to leave her job because of bleeding hemorrhoids so severe that she was confined to her bed for six weeks. After a series of colonics, the use of hot compresses, and above all daily performance of the Cayce hemorrhoids exercises, she was able to return to work.
Dr. H.R.D., the headmaster of a Connecticut private school, was referred to us by another patient, who was the president of Queens College in New York. Both men were golfers and suffered from arthritis, which impaired their movement and activity. The headmaster was placed on a graduated program of physical exercises similar to the ones you will find in the next chapter, and a correct diet. He had some massage and manipulation, since his visits to me were limited. Some months later, he reported back to us that his golf game had improved so much everyone wanted to know what he was doing. More significantly, his doctor told him that the exercise program had given him three or four years of physical activity beyond what the X-rays indicated would have been the case.
Ruth Hagy Brod was told by an eye specialist that she had the beginning of a cataract over her left eye. After practicing the Cayce head-and-neck exercises and Reilly eye exercise, she returned to the doctor. He admitted he was surprised. The cataract not only had not increased, it had partially dissolved. Further, she didn’t need stronger glasses.
Mrs. H.H., a New Jersey housewife, had been coming to me regularly for some time for help for her deformed hip. One day she complained of difficulty in breathing and a medical examination confirmed the fact that she was developing emphysema. When I gave her some balloons to blow up and told her to take them home and keep blowing on them several times daily, she thought I was joking. Actually this is a very effective exercise for asthma, emphysema, and other disorders of the lungs and breathing mechanisms. In addition, I taught her daughter to give her mother a “cupping” massage, which is very effective in breaking up chest and back congestion. (This type of massage, so useful in chest colds, is described in Chapter 8.)
A television interviewer once asked me, “Which are the best exercises?”
My reply was, “The ones you do.”
From time to time, in my sixty years of experience, I have seen exercise fads come and go: the best “daily dozen,” the “serious seven,” the “Royal Canadian,” isometric, isotonic, aerobic, jogging, rope-skipping, yoga—I have no objection to any of them. They are all good if done regularly and correctly, with the proper preparation after a good medical examination has described the parameters of your personal limitations. The next important thing is to exercise regularly every day. There are no Sabbaths in exercise.
I do have reservations about isometrics, which oppose one muscle against another or against an immovable object, and I am glad to see others speaking out against them, such as Dr. Charles B. Mullins of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, who said: “Isometric exercises don’t help your cardiovascular system. Such exercise elevates blood pressure and could be dangerous for people with heart trouble,” he cautions. “The heart is made to pump volume. With isometrics, the heart doesn’t pump much more volume, but has to work against higher pressure.”
With general exercise you pump a lot more blood with only a little more pressure.
Cayce told a thirty-three-year-old woman, “Walking is the best exercise, but don’t take this spasmodically. Have a regular time and do it, rain or shine.” (1968-9)
In fact, he prescribed walking in 280 of the 1,469 cases in which exercise was part of the general therapy.
In the case (1530-2) of a fifty-year-old woman whose ailments included arthritis, poor circulation, hypertension, neuritis, rheumatism, and toxemia, he said, “Well that the body take each day a certain amount of exercise, or as much as possible in the open. Walking is the best exercise, but this—though—in the open when at all practical.”
To a man suffering from nervous tension, which had produced a great many physical complications, Cayce, when asked, “What exercise is best?” answered (277-1), “A general exercise, but—as stipulated—a great deal of the exercise would be given the body, that makes for a better balancing in the system. The better is walking or rowing.”
Cayce also frequently recommended swimming, bicycling, horseback riding, tennis, badminton, and any exercise that could be enjoyed in the open air.
“The entity should keep close to all of those things that have to do with outdoor activities, for it is the best way to keep yourself young—to stay close to nature, close to those activities in every form of exercise that breathes in the . . . beauty of nature . . . breathe it into thine own soul, as you would a sunset or a morning sun rising. And see that sometimes—it’s as pretty as the sunset!” (3374-1)
In the case of a patient (2533-6) suffering from hypertension, who asked the sleeping prophet to “give a simple method of reducing the blood pressure of this body to normal,” the answer given was, “The simple method is to keep away from fats, and this will keep it near to normal.
“Walk in the open early of mornings. This brings better activity of oxygen and ozone as to keep the balance in the blood flow through lungs, heart, liver, kidneys. These are the sources from which either the pressure or repression causes disturbance.”
Many eminent doctors agree with Edgar Cayce’s enthusiasm for walking, among them the noted heart specialist Dr. Paul Dudley White, who is quoted as saying, “A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good than all the medicine and psychology in the world.”4
The American Medical Association’s Committee on Exercise and Physical Fitness states, “Walking briskly, not just strolling, is the simplest and also one of the best forms of exercise.”
Of course, we are not referring here to strolling or a window-shopping walk. Walking can be made extremely beneficial when performed vigorously. There are a variety of ways of walking, but I recommend stride walking, which can be performed with short, medium, or long strides. I would suggest that perhaps the last fourth of a mile in your walk should be done in the fastest way possible, with long strides so that one can work up a good perspiration.
The benefits of brisk walking and striding are increased exercise for the heart, increased oxygen intake, and improved blood circulation.
Bristol-Myers has included in its advertising campaign the following message on the benefits of walking:
“The body has about 60,000 miles of blood vessels—mostly capillaries. These tiny vessels bring oxygen to the muscles. Only a few are open when a muscle is inactive, but 50 times as many open up when the muscle is being exercised. Another benefit is in returning blood to the heart. The body’s muscles work like an extra blood pump. When a muscle is being actively used, it squeezes the blood out of the capillaries and back toward the heart.
“So next time you have a short errand, don’t drive—walk briskly.”
I have often been asked about the merits of jogging. If it’s done carefully, especially after one has received a doctor’s approval after a cardiovascular checkup, jogging can be a very beneficial exercise. However, it can also be detrimental, and there have been a number of unfortunate fatalities when undertaken without a proper buildup. I would say the best preparation for jogging is a series of walks, gradually increasing the length and speed of the walk. For the beginner, ordinarily after having done a few weeks of increased distance and speed walking, one of the best ways to start jogging would be to walk about 300 ordinary paces, then jog slowly with small steps about 100 paces, then 300 more walking paces, and 100 more jogging paces. One can do that for about half a mile, or about 1,600 paces.
Then after the second week, if you do this three times a week, you can decrease the walking by 100 paces and increase the jogging by 100 paces. After two more weeks you can decrease the walking again by 100 paces, so in about six weeks you would jog a little less than one-half mile.
I would suggest, if you go on to the second half of the mile, that you repeat the same formula: after jogging the half mile you increase the jogging as outlined above. By building up slowly, there is almost no limit to your ultimate capacity and you can get the most benefit from it; it is also by far the safest method. This way you exercise to increase your endurance and vitality, not to use up what little you might have, so keep your ego under control.
In rainy or stormy weather one could practice jogging indoors by running in place. When you do that, you could lift your knees up high and just keep a running movement in the same place without covering any distance, legs up and down in a jogging rhythm.
In addition to walking and other outdoor sports, Cayce recommended a regular program of calisthenics and frequently used specific exercises as therapy:
We find that the exercises such as the setting-up exercise when the body first arises of a morning would be well, for this will bring strength to the lungs, vitality to the blood supply, and a new life, as it were, to the muscular forces of the body. Take then, at least five to ten minutes of exercises of the arms and limbs when the body first arises each morning. (4462-1)
In general he advocated that breathing and vertical exercises should be done in the morning in order to force as much oxygen as possible into the body, for we breathe shallowly while sleeping.
He considered horizontal exercises to be the most beneficial in the evening. Since most people work sitting or standing during the day, the horizontal exercises have a tendency to normalize circulation and take the strain off arterial capillaries and veins of the lower extremities.
In reading 1773-1, we find Cayce advising the following (see Fig. 1):
Mornings upon arising take for two minutes an exercise in this manner—where the body, standing with the feet flat on the floor, gently rises to the toes at the same time bringing the arms high above the head. Then bring these as far back as possible or practical swinging both arms back. Then gradually bring them towards the front, then let down. Breathe in as the body rises and out as the body brings the hands to the front, slowly. Do this three or four times each morning . . . This is an excellent exercise for posture and for aiding in keeping this balance which will be set up by the general manipulations as combined with the osteopathic corrective forces.
In reading 2454-2 he says this (see Fig. 2):
Then in the morning before dressing, exercise the upper portion of the body; [by swinging] the arms up and down, straight up, straight down; then the turning motion as of swinging the arms around, for the movement . . . from the diaphragm upward . . . from the ninth dorsal upward—these exercises will take away the heaviness and the tendency to get tired easily.
In reading 470-37 Cayce remarks thus (see Fig. 3 series):
[Each morning before dressing] rise on tiptoe slowly and raise the arms easily at the same time [reaching] directly above the head, pointing straight up. At the same time, bend head back just as far as you can. When let down gentle from this, you see, we make for giving a better circulation through the whole area from the abdomen through the diaphragm, through the lungs, head and neck. Then let down, put the head forward just as far as it will come on the chest, then raise again at the top, bend the head to the right as far as it will go down. When rising again, bend the head to the left. Then standing erect, hands on hips, circle the head, roll around to the right two or three times. Then straighten self . . . will change all of those disturbances through the mouth, head and eyes, and the activity of the whole body will be improved.
My own breathing exercise, a Reilly variation of the Cayce classics, goes like this (see Figs. 4A and 4B): Rise on toes, at the same time raising your arms out to the side and then up over the head, inhaling through the nostrils. On the exhalation, bring arms down, lower heels, cross arms, and hug the body at the waist as you bend forward, forcing all the air out of the lungs. Finish with a “Ha, ha!” or a grunt to empty all the air from the lungs before beginning the next inhalation.
Cayce also occasionally recommended alternate nostril breathing—a standard yoga exercise that is supposed to be very energizing.
In the following reading, Cayce describes how this exercise can be performed:
Of morning, and upon arising especially (and don’t sleep too late)—and before dressing so that the clothing is loose or the fewer the better—stand erect before an open window, breathe deeply, gradually raising hands above the head, and then with the circular motion of the body from the hips bend forward; breathing in (and through the nostrils) as the body rises on its toes—breathing very deep; exhaling suddenly through the mouth, not through the nasal passages. Take these [exercises] for 5 to 6 minutes. Then as these progress, gradually close one of the nostrils (even if it’s necessary to use the hand—but if it is closed with the left hand, raise the right hand; and when closing the right nostril with the right hand, then raise the left hand) as the breathing in is accomplished. (1523-2)
The evening exercises are to be performed for the most part lying on the floor. Cayce’s rationale is expressed in reading 288-11, when he says that to take blood away from the head, in exercising the lower body, lie prone and use circular or swinging motions of the legs.
Other Cayce classics are the cat crawl and rolling exercise and the buttocks walk:
No better exercises may be taken than . . . the cat-stretching exercises, which includes, of course, being able—(put very coarsely)—to do the split, be able to put the head on the feet, to put the feet behind the head, to make the head and neck exercises and all of those activities that may be said to be of the feline or cat exercise. To be sure, in the present period, present development, present conditions that exist, must be gone at gently; but be persistent morning and evening, working at it, still not letting it become rote, but purposeful. (681-2)
Be careful if you try this one:
The rolling exercise is to put the head between the knees and have someone roll you over two or three times. (308-8)
... let the exercise preferably be for the lower limbs [in the evening] . . . a movement as of sitting on the floor and walking across or swinging the limbs one in front of the other for 3 to 4 movements. (2454-2)
Now we come to the most popular exercises of all, the Cayce head-and-neck exercise and rolls. These are prescribed for both morning and evening, and are particularly valuable to relieve muscle tension for people engaged in desk work, typing, piano playing, and other activities that strain head, neck, eyes, shoulders, and arms.
Cayce, responding to a client asking, “How may my eyes be strengthened so as to eliminate the necessity of reading glasses?” replied, “By the head and neck exercise in the open as you walk for 20 or 30 minutes each morning.” (2533-6) (See Fig. 3 series.)
In fact, Cayce recommended these exercises to 250 people suffering with various forms of eye and ear trouble and to fifty others for a wide variety of complaints. In addition to aiding vision and hearing, it is an excellent stimulant to the thyroid.
Cayce suggested that these be performed in the morning in a standing position and in the afternoon or evening in a sitting position.
I prefer my patients to start off with the sitting position so that they can press their shoulders and back into the back of a chair, keeping their posture erect and head straight and centered, and mentally reaching for the ceiling.
Cayce says (see Fig. 3 series):
When we remove the pressures of the toxic forces we will improve the vision. Also the head and neck exercise will be most helpful. Take this regularly, not taking it sometimes and leaving off sometimes, but each morning and each evening take this exercise regularly for 6 months and we will see a great deal of difference: sitting erect, bend the head forward three times, to the back three times, to the right side three times, to the left side three times, and then circle the head each way three times. Don’t hurry through with it but take the time to do it. We will get results. (3549-1)
An Exercise for Hemorrhoids
The Cayce exercises for hemorrhoids have been widely publicized in books and by the patients who have benefited from them.
In case 2823-2 Cayce had this to say:
But the best for the specific conditions of hemorrhoids is the exercise, and if this is taken regularly these will disappear—of themselves! Twice each day, of morning and evening—and this doesn’t mean with many clothes on!—rise on the toes, at the same time raising the arms, then bend forward, letting the hands go toward the floor. Do this three times of morning, and three times of evening. But don’t do it two or three times and then quit, or don’t do it three or four times a week and then quit, but do it regularly! [See Fig. 1.]
I would like to point out that while most people will find that performing the horizontals before going to bed is very relaxing and conducive to sound sleep, there is the exceptional person who may be overstimulated by them. If you are one of these exceptions, I suggest that these exercises be performed before dinner. A side benefit is that they normalize the appetite of nervous people who tend to overeat or eat too fast at the evening meal. The exercise must be done slowly.
Horizontal exercises will have a tendency to normalize the circulation and take the strain off the arterial capillaries and veins of the lower extremities. Sometimes hard exercise will have a narcotic effect in which the fatigue of the body will relieve the mind of anxiety.
However, such exercises should not be attempted if one has a cardiovascular disorder of any kind, except under expert supervision. Then special exercise can be very good.
Cayce expressed it this way:
Exercises for the blood flow away from head . . . Swinging, circular motion then of lower portion of body in evenings, and the circular motion of hands and upper portion of body in mornings . . . (288-11)
By this he meant exercises of the type such as the leg circles and the leg raises described in the horizontal exercises in Chapter 7.
When Cayce was asked, “Should I make myself take the evening exercise of the lower limbs even when I am so tired and heavy that I can’t put any pep into it?” he answered, “The best way to acquire the correct amount of pep is to take the exercise!” (288-38)
Cayce’s advice to those who have sedentary occupations was: “Be mindful that there is sufficient of the exercises that use the areas through the lumbar and sacral [regions]: the bicycle riding, walking, horseback riding, rowing and the like.” (1968-6)
This one was recommended for the evening. It is especially good for stimulating glandular activity also:
Then of an evening, just before retiring—[with the body prone, facing the floor and] with the feet braced against the wall, circle the torso by resting on the hands. Raise and lower the body not merely by the hands but more from the torso, and with more of a circular motion of the pelvic organs to strengthen the muscular forces of the abdomen. Not such an activity as to cause strain, but a gentle circular motion to the right two or three times, and then to the left. (1523-2) [See Figs. 5A and 5B. NOTE: Beginners may bend the arms at elbows as shown in Fig. 5B.]
To another sufferer he recommended this variation, which seems to be a form of early American acupressure:
Bending the body over—as over a table or chair—and pressing upon the nerves about the anus, where we would hold the ends of the ileum and scrotum plexus, will relieve easily. (555-7)
Then, each morning and each evening . . . Standing erect, raise the hands high above the head as possible, rising on the toes, then slowly bending forward until the hands will almost or quite touch the floor. Do this slowly, but do it at least three, four, five, six times, very slowly, stretching upward and forward and downward. (555-8)
For the feet Cayce gives the following:
(Q) What can be done to strengthen arches?
(A) The massage with the [specific] oils will be helpful. Also an exercise each day . . . would be well, of morning, before the shoes are put on—before the oil massage is given, of course (but do this daily); stand flat on the floor and spring on the toes, rising gently and springing. (3381-1)
(Q) Would you recommend special foot exercise?
(A) It would be well if there would be this exercise night and morning; night before retiring—but after the massage as indicated, see; and of morning just before putting on the hose—after the massage has been given:
Stand erect (without anything on the feet, of course). Then raise the arms, gently, slowly, over the head—directly over the head. Then gradually rise on the toes. Then, as the body relaxes or lowers itself, lower the hands also—the hands extending in front of the body. Then rock back upon the heels, with the hands extended sufficiently to strain or to exercise the bursa of the heel, or those portions of the heel and the arch, you see, to aid in strengthening. Doing this, together with the massage of the properties indicated through heel and arch, and especially over the frontal portions of the foot, we will bring better conditions for same. (1771-3)
(Q) What is the most effective treatment to follow to stop the progression of structural destruction in my feet?
(A) Rising upon the toes twice a day, morning and evening—upon arising and before retiring. Before putting on shoes and stockings of morning. Raise the arms, rocking back and forth on the heel and toe. Gradually, as the body raises up, raise the arms high also. Such an exercise is most beneficial.
(1620-3)
An Exercise to Improve Assimilation
The better change should come within from the better assimilation of that eaten, which will be found to be more improved by the exercises of stretching arms above the head, or swinging on a pole would be well. This doesn’t mean to run out and jump on a pole every time you eat, but have regular periods. When you have the activities, do have these exercises, for they will stimulate the gastric flow and let that eaten have something to float in . . . (2072-14)
As I have mentioned in earlier chapters, sometimes Cayce spelled out instructions in great detail when he referred men and women to me, and he often left the planning as well as the execution of the program entirely to me.
In any case, there was a striking similarity between Cayce and me, in our philosophy of exercise and even in the actual exercises themselves.
Over the years I have modified and adapted many of his ideas into the exercises and programs that I designed for individual clients both at the Health Institute and in private practice and at the A.R.E. Clinic. You will find them listed in the following pages.
It was as though he had been reading my mind—perhaps that was exactly what he was doing—reading my mind, as well as the minds of all the masters of healing through the ages.
You will note similarities in the exercises in the following pages. Occasionally he even suggested something in a reading that already existed in the Reilly repertoire. For example, he told a thirty-five-year-old woman (540-11) who asked at the end of her reading, “Please give methods for reducing abdomen,” that the answer was, “Roll on a barrel—this is the best!”
Many years ago one of the now-defunct New York dailies featured my exercises with a medicine ball, which can be a great beauty aid, and I had a model demonstrate the same principle of rolling—but on a medicine ball or hassock instead of on a barrel.
Before we get to the matter of the general exercises for conditioning and tone, I would like to say a few things about yoga. I am asked with increasing frequency about it, and its popularity in the modern culture has grown.
I have had a great deal of experience in evaluating the effect of yoga exercises through my association for many years with the world-famous yoga teacher, Blanche De Vries, who has private students at her magnificent estate on the Hudson River in Nyack, New York.
Frequently Blanche has me evaluate her students before they begin their lessons with her, and I have treated some of them with massage and manipulation to speed their progress. Unfortunately, not all yoga teachers are as careful with their students. Mrs. De Vries and I have often discussed a lack of certification by some yoga teachers, and as it has become more fashionable, more and more “instant experts” have arrived on the scene to waste the time, money, and even health of those who are interested in securing its benefits.
Men and women in their middle years, between forty and sixty-five, who have never exercised before, may suddenly become yoga-conscious. They may seek any kind of teacher without inquiring about background or credentials, and may, as a result, develop different kinds of disabilities caused by doing too much too soon. Deplorably, we are treating more and more cases of hiatus hernia (a rupture of the muscles of the diaphragm) caused by such exercises as extreme back bends performed incorrectly or prematurely before the muscles are sufficiently strengthened and stretched.
We are also getting many cases of torn or pulled tendons, especially in the region of the lower back, hips, and groin, and injuries of the neck and shoulder muscles that result from improper instruction. If you wish to take up yoga, be certain you have an experienced teacher with whom there would be very little danger of such mishaps. Some of the pupils of Blanche De Vries are in their sixties, seventies, and eighties, and they have found yoga exercises most beneficial in attaining and retaining the flexibility of youth far into what some call old age.
We find that Cayce’s wisdom in regard to yoga, as in so many other ways, was prescient and just as relevant today as when he gave it. To a forty-four-year-old man who had been experimenting with yoga exercises and who was experiencing some physical and mental disturbances, Cayce gave this caution:
These exercises are excellent, yet it is necessary that special preparation be made—or that a perfect understanding be had by the body as to what takes place when such exercises are used.
For, breath is the basis of the living organism’s activity. Thus, such exercises may be beneficial or detrimental in their effect upon a body.
Hence it is necessary that an understanding be had as to how, as to when, or in what manner such may be used. (2475-1)
I know many of you will have to overcome an initial reluctance to the idea of exercise, a reluctance that will soon evaporate as you “come alive” in body, mind, and spirit as movement sends fresh blood and energy coursing through your veins. I can assure you that the time you spend maintaining health is going to be much more pleasant than the time spent in illness, struggling to repair the ravages of neglect, and to regain your health.