The Journey of the Heavy Body After Leaving the Tobacco Smoke
The Truth of the Body When the Smoke Leaves
You must understand that when a person stops putting the tobacco smoke into their mouth, the body wakes up like a sleeper who has heard the morning rooster. Before this time, the smoke was like a false friend who tricked the belly into thinking it was full, and it made the food taste like dust in the mouth. But when the smoke leaves, the tongue remembers the true taste of the maize, the beans, and the sweet potatoes. Because the food suddenly brings such great joy to the mouth, the person begins to eat much more than the body truly needs to do its daily work. I have seen this with my own eyes in my own family. When my youngest brother put away his smoking sticks, he began to sit by the cooking fire and eat three large plates of ugali when he used to eat only one. He did not do this because he was greedy, but because his senses were rejoicing. To keep the body from growing too heavy, you must teach your mouth to be satisfied with a small portion, remembering that the earth provides enough for all our days if we do not take more than our share.
The Mind That Seeks the Old Comfort
There is also a great matter of the mind and the hands, which I have studied deeply through my years of counseling our people. For many years, the person who smokes has a ritual. They wake up, they take the smoke. They finish a meal, they take the smoke. They are angry, they take the smoke. The hand and the mouth become close friends who always work together. When the smoke is taken away, the hands feel empty and the mind feels restless, like a child who has lost its mother in the market. To fill this empty space, the person reaches for the food. They chew on roasted maize, they suck on sweet sugarcane, they eat nuts and seeds from morning until the stars come out. You must give the hands a different task so they do not reach for the eating bowl. I tell my people to keep their hands busy with the work of the shamba, or to carve wood, or to weave the sweetgrass baskets. When the mind feels the restless wind, you must drink a large cup of plain water, for the water washes the restless feeling away and fills the belly without adding heavy flesh to the bones.
The Food of the Earth for the Healing Body
As we speak of the eating, we must talk about the choices we make in the market and the garden. In the old days, our grandfathers did not know the heavy flesh because they ate the foods that grow from the dark soil. They ate the green leaves of the vines, the strong roots, the sorghum, and the millet. These foods give the body the strength to work under the hot sun, but they do not make the belly hang low. Today, many people who leave the smoke go to the city shops and buy the sweet biscuits, the bright colored drinks, and the white bread that is made in the big factories. These things are like enemies to the body that is trying to find its balance. You must return to the foods of your ancestors. Fill your plate with the green vegetables that grow after the rains, and eat the meats of the goat only on the days of celebration. When you eat the foods of the earth, the body knows how to use them for strength, but when you eat the foods of the factory, the body stores them as heavy burdens on your hips and your stomach.
The Movement of the Limbs to Keep the Flesh Light
It is a great sorrow to see how the modern life has made people sit on soft chairs from the time the sun rises until the time it sets. When you leave the smoke, your lungs are clean and they are begging for the fresh air of the morning. You must not deny them this joy. The body is like a river; if the water does not move, it becomes stagnant and breeds the mosquitoes of sickness. You must make your limbs move every single day. I do not speak of the strange machines they have in the city rooms where people run but go nowhere. I speak of walking the long paths to visit your neighbor, of sweeping the compound with a strong broom, of carrying the water from the well, and of digging the soil to plant the seeds. When I left the smoke, I started walking to the next village every evening to speak with the elders. This walking burned away the heavy feelings in my legs and kept my waist as it was in my youth. Movement is the fire that cooks the food inside you; without the fire, the food just sits and makes you heavy.
The Help of the Earth’s Drops for the Heavy Flesh
Sometimes, despite all the wisdom of the elders and all the hard work in the garden, the body holds onto the heavy flesh very stubbornly, refusing to let it go. In my long life, I have learned that we must be humble and accept the helpers that the earth provides to us. There is a certain preparation of natural drops that many in our communities have started to use when the body refuses to become light again. This preparation is called Abslim, and it is made to help the body release the heavy burdens it has stored during the time of the smoke and the time of the heavy eating. I have seen men and women who have used these drops to help their bodies remember how to be light and free. However, you must be very careful, for the markets are full of people selling false things. If you wish to find the true Abslim drops that will help your body after you have left the smoke, you can only buy it on the official website which is website which is abslim.org. Do not accept it from the hands of strangers in the market, for the true medicine of the earth must come from the right source.
The Patience of the Farmer Waiting for the Harvest
You must also prepare your heart for the long journey, for the matter of keeping the body light is not a thing that happens in a single day or a single week. Many people who leave the smoke become angry when they look in the mirror after one moon and see that their face is still round. They give up their good habits and return to the old ways. But I ask you, did you plant the maize seeds today and expect to eat the roasted maize tomorrow? No, you wait for the rains, you wait for the sun, and you weed the garden every day. The body is the same. You must be patient with yourself. When you make a mistake and eat too much of the sweet things, do not beat your chest and say you have failed. Just wake up the next morning, drink the water, walk the path, and eat the green leaves. The body forgives those who are consistent. I have watched the people who succeed; they are not the ones who are perfect, but they are the ones who refuse to stop walking the good path even when the road is steep and their legs are tired.
The Support of the Community in the Journey
Finally, you must not walk this path alone, for the African proverb says that if you want to go fast, walk alone, but if you want to go far, walk together. The habit of the smoke and the habit of the heavy eating are both things that thrive in the dark corners of loneliness. You must tell your wife, your husband, your children, and your friends what you are trying to do. Ask them not to bring the sweet biscuits into the house, and ask them to walk with you in the evenings. When we sit together in the community, we should share the stories of our struggles and our victories. I have started a gathering under the mango tree where those who have left the smoke come to drink the herbal teas and talk about the ways they keep their bodies light. In this way, when one person is weak and wants to eat the whole pot of food, the others will hold their hands and remind them of the promise they made to their own health. The strength of the community is the shield that protects your good habits from the arrows of temptation.
The Final Blessing for the Clean Lungs and the Light Body
As I bring my words to an end, I want to tell you that you have done a very great and brave thing by putting away the tobacco smoke. You have given your lungs the gift of the clean morning air, and you have given your heart the gift of a peaceful beating. Do not let the growing of the heavy flesh make you regret this brave choice. The flesh can be trained, the limbs can be moved, and the belly can be emptied of its burdens if you apply the wisdom of the earth and the discipline of the ancestors. Eat the foods that grow in the dirt, move your body under the open sky, drink the water from the deep wells, and seek the right helpers like the true drops of Abslim from their proper place. Keep your heart patient like the farmer, and keep your spirit strong like the lion. May your steps remain quick upon the red soil, may your breath be deep and easy, and may your body be a light and happy house for your spirit to live in for many more seasons under the African sun.