The trouble with us is that modern "civilization" has drawn us so far away from Nature, that our natural impulses and tendencies have been smothered and stifled... -from "Natural Laws of the Body" Mind over matter... The natural over the artificial... These were the unspoken mantras of the proponents of New Thought, the mystical movement at the turn of the twentieth century that sought to unleash the forces of the universe within humanity. One of the most influential thinkers of this early "New Age" philosophy promises here, in this 1909 book, to show the reader how to "to spread the glad tidings of Health and Strength," by using the body's Prana, or Vital Force; by direct control of the body's cells via the mind, or mental healing; and by calling the light of "higher thought" down on the body, or spiritual healing. An appreciation of our "higher nature," the yogi reminds us, will result in an healthy sense of physical rejuvenation. A century later, it's a lesson many of us-in our anxious, stressful times-can continue to benefit from. American writer WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON (1862-1932)-aka Yogi Ramacharaka-was born in Baltimore and had built up a successful law practice in Pennsylvania before professional burnout led him to the religious New Thought movement. He served as editor of the popular magazine New Thought from 1901 to 1905, and as editor of the journal Advanced Thought from 1916 to 1919. He authored dozens of New Thought books-including The Philosophies and Religions of India, Arcane Formula or Mental Alchemy and Vril, or Vital Magnetism-under numerous pseudonyms, some of which are likely still unknown today.
The trouble with us is that modern "civilization" has drawn us so far away from Nature, that our natural impulses and tendencies have been smothered and stifled... -from "Natural Laws of the Body" Mind over matter... The natural over the artificial... These were the unspoken mantras of the proponents of New Thought, the mystical movement at the turn of the twentieth century that sought to unleash the forces of the universe within humanity. One of the most influential thinkers of this early "New Age" philosophy promises here, in this 1909 book, to show the reader how to "to spread the glad tidings of Health and Strength," by using the body's Prana, or Vital Force; by direct control of the body's cells via the mind, or mental healing; and by calling the light of "higher thought" down on the body, or spiritual healing. An appreciation of our "higher nature," the yogi reminds us, will result in an healthy sense of physical rejuvenation. A century later, it's a lesson many of us-in our anxious, stressful times-can continue to benefit from. American writer WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON (1862-1932)-aka Yogi Ramacharaka-was born in Baltimore and had built up a successful law practice in Pennsylvania before professional burnout led him to the religious New Thought movement. He served as editor of the popular magazine New Thought from 1901 to 1905, and as editor of the journal Advanced Thought from 1916 to 1919. He authored dozens of New Thought books-including The Philosophies and Religions of India, Arcane Formula or Mental Alchemy and Vril, or Vital Magnetism-under numerous pseudonyms, some of which are likely still unknown today.
