Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/60

60 "stayed cured" depended upon whether they again exchanged Hunger for Appetite.

Natural hunger—like natural Thirst—expresses itself through the nerves of the mouth and throat. When one is hungry, the thought or mention of food causes a peculiar sensation in the mouth, throat and salivary glands. The nerves of those parts manifest a peculiar sensation, the saliva begins to flow, and the whole of the region manifests a desire to get to work. The stomach gives no symptoms whatever, and is not at all in evidence at such times. One feels that the "taste" of good wholesome food would be most pleasurable. There is none of those feelings of faintness, emptiness, gnawing, "all-goneness," etc., in the region of the stomach. These last mentioned symptoms are all characteristic of the Appetite habit, which is insisting that the habit must be continued. Did you ever notice that the drink habit calls forth just such symptoms? The craving and "all-gone" feeling is characteristic of both forms of abnormal appetite. The man who is craving a smoke, or a chew of tobacco feels the same way.

A man often wonders why he cannot get a dinner such as "mother used to cook." Do you know why he cannot get it? Simply because he has replaced his natural Hunger by an abnormal appetite, and he does not feel satisfied unless he gratifies that Appetite, which renders the homely fare of the past an impossibility. If the man were to cultivate a natural hunger, by a return to first principles, he would have restored to him the meals of his youth—he would find