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By Karin Whitney Cooke
“ Okay, you had a cancer diagnosis, you underwent treatment, it’s over.
Now it’s time to get on with your life”. As if nothing else
has changed. Yeah, right!
I am a Registered Nurse, a Wellness Advisor/Life Coach. The
physician I worked with as a research coordinator had made the above
statement to me. When I responded to him by stating I felt the
need for more time in order to process the whole experience and look at
some mind-body-spiritual issues that were coming up for me, he was less
than understanding. He just didn’t have any sense of what I might
be talking about. But, I refused to take any of that
personal! He just wasn’t at an evolutionary stage that would
enable him to see the deeper meaning; that is, beyond the medical model.
But, the ‘current medical model’ had betrayed me. I had had
regular PAP smears. My physician of 20 plus years knew me
well. He knew I was ‘into’ integrative healing. But, he
took it upon himself to tell me my PAPs of several years were all
normal, when indeed they were not. I found out later when I requested
my past records, that each test result was a little more
threatening. He had decided I didn’t need to know anything until
the result became a cancer diagnosis, “because there was nothing to do
for the abnormality until it became time for a hysterectomy”.
Well. That was not an accurate assessment, even in the western medical
model! And, I was angry!
Yes, I had reason to be angry. But, I knew that anger would only
serve to worsen my health unless I could find a way to forgive.
Not forget, but forgive. I had gathered a wealth of ‘life tools’
by this time that I shared with others in healing crisis. Now, I needed
to focus on those tools myself.
I took more time off work than the surgical recovery called for and it
was one of the smartest things I ever did for myself! I went away
alone for a few days on retreat. My needs were met, but I also
had all the privacy I wanted and needed to get in touch with my inner
self. I played and laughed by myself, I cried, I screamed.
I went for long walks. I rode a bike. I sat. I
meditated. I did Qigong. I stayed in the moment. And
when I wanted nurturing, there were loving people nearby who responded
appropriately.
As a Life Coach and Wellness Advisor I had wanted to start a cancer
retreat center and share the tools I had gathered over the years with
others. Now, I felt the need for such a retreat for myself!
Today, I am past the ‘magical’ 5-year post-cancer milestone and remain
cancer-free; I feel very blessed! I know my personal cancer
experience was an epiphany, it gave me a profound appreciation for
every single moment as well as a deeper level of understanding
and wisdom that I feel called to share with others!
My husband and I own a beautiful Cancer Retreat Center on the
paradisiacal Big Island of Hawaii where we have the opportunity to
share peace and love and healing techniques such as Qigong, Reiki,
meditation, guided imagery, mindfulness, nature and laughter with
others who have been touched by cancer.
For information, please see our website www.cancer-retreats.org or call
us at 808-889-9893.
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October
2005 Sat Dharam Kaur
Sat Dharam Kaur, ND 
Increasingly we are discovering the subtle and powerful linkages of
mind and body through imagery. Jeanne Achterberg, author of Imagery
and Healing, believes that the image can alter cellular mechanisms
and the intelligence of the cell. Bruce Lipton (author of The
Biology of Belief) and Candice Pert (author of Molecules of
Emotion)
have demonstrated that neuropeptides located on cell membranes
throughout the body direct the DNA within our cells, and these
neuropeptides are strongly influenced by our thoughts and feelings. We
think in images which can shift the cellular machinery so that it
performs unnatural functions, or conversely, a healing response. What
we imagine in our minds has a direct correlation to how our body
responds to life.
Achterberg has found that imagery is
able to deeply affect us in the following ways. There is an unplanned,
non-deliberate body-mind shift due to an event or to external
environmental sensory stimulation; for example, the biggest effect on
infertility is for a woman to call a fertility clinic to make an
appointment, for women often become pregnant just knowing that they may
receive help. On the other hand, walking into a typical doctor's office
causes most people's white blood cell count to go down and blood
pressure to go up.
Imagery can positively affect the
mind-body when we adopt a new identity. If we have been ill, we can
take on a new persona, change our previous life-script, so that "we are
not the same person we were when we became ill." We can "imagine" and
embody our new identity with an inner commitment to helping ourselves.
This is a deliberate effort of moving the mind-body in a healing way.
For example, the cancer patient who shifts from being a "pleaser" or
"victim" and initiates life changes to do what she's always wanted to
do for herself may appear selfish and different to those who have
known her previously.
Take a minute to think about this for yourself. What would your new
life script look like if you could rewrite the character in the play?
How would you be different? How would you act differently to those
around you?
Imagery affects the body-mind through a conscious
and deliberate attempt to connect directly to the workings of the cell.
This may occur through hypnosis, biofeedback, or specific visualization
of anatomical parts and physiological processes. There is a direct
relationship between the image
and cellular function.
Visualization Exercise
Jeanne Achterberg has found that if we visualize that we have more
T-helper cells and T-killer cells that improve our defense against
cancer cells, we can actually increase their numbers. She developed a
drawing exercise to assess an individual's likely prognosis with an
illness. Using 14 specific parameters, she was able to predict over 90%
of the time who would die and who would go into remission from cancer.
First, she ensured that the patient was in a comfortable position,
preferably lying down. The patient listened to tape-recorded relaxation
instructions and was given a brief education regarding the disease
process, how treatment might be helping the patient, and how the immune
system works. The listener was advised to imagine these three factors
in action.
It was the listener's choice to imagine her cancer
cells or white blood cells any way she chose: "Describe how your cancer
cells look in your mind's eye."
"How do you imagine your white blood cells fight disease?"
"How is your treatment working in your body?"
The patient was then asked to draw a picture of the body, the immune
system, the cancerous process, and the treatment.
The interview protocol plus the drawings were scored according to the
following 14 parameters:
1) vividness of cancer
cell
2) activity of
cancer cell
3) strength of
cancer cell
4) vividness of white
blood cells
5) activity of white
blood cells
6) relative comparison
of size of cancer and white blood cells
7) relative comparison
of number of cancer and white blood cells
8) strength of white
blood cells
9) vividness of medical
treatment
10) effectiveness of
medical treatment
11) choice of symbolism
12) integration of whole imagery
process
13) regularity with which they
imagined a positive outcome
14) ventured clinical
opinion on the prognosis
Jeanne Achterberg's work reinforces the fact that what we believe
andimagine about our bodies has an incredible bearing on how we deal
with anillness. Our minds create the most powerful drugs during the
healing process. We can believe in our body's innate capacity to heal.
We can familiarize ourselves with our immune system and visualize its
components doing their jobs efficiently and perfectly.
Guidelines for Creating Healing Imagery
1) Portray the cancer cells as being few in number, small in size,weak
in strength, and lacking vividness.
2) Portray the white blood cells as being vivid, very active, strong
and powerful, large and abundant, and overwhelming the cancer cells.
Believe more in the potency of your body's ability to heal than in the
disease process, and understand that nothing is fixed — it is a process
than can go either way.
3) Portray the naturopathic and medical treatments with
vividness and effectiveness.
4) Choose strong, powerful, active imagery that is well integrated yet
personal.
5)
Practice the imagery frequently, at least twice daily. Keep drawing,
over and over, until it's as powerful as it can be for a healing
response. Draw so that you believe it.
6) Visualize that your
body's healthy cells are easily able to repair any slight damage the
treatment might cause; that the dead cancer cells are flushed from the
body easily and completely; and that at the end of the imagery, you are
healthy and cancer-free.
7) See yourself accomplishing your
goals and fulfilling your life'spurpose — relate to your future rather
than your past. Explore what your ideal future might be and shift your
life in that direction so that your immune system responds with you.
Draw one or several of your long term goals that you are moving towards
achieving.
Sat Dharam Kaur is a naturopathic doctor
practising in Owen Sound. She has written two books on breast health,
the most recent one being The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast
Cancer. Sat Dharam will be lecturing on women's health at the Whole
Life Expo in Toronto on Nov 25, 26, 27. For more information, see www.healthybreastprogram.on.ca
or call Sat Dharam at (519) 372-9212
April
16, 2001
Mind Over
Malignancies
Jeanne
Achterberg is convinced that the prayers of friends and colleagues kept
the cancer in her eye from killing her
BY MICHAEL D. LEMONICK
She wasn't the first to explore the link between mind and disease, but
few practitioners have delved as deeply or successfully into the topic.
Jeanne Achterberg was 32 when she read an article that described how
oncologist Carl Simonton helped cancer patients fight malignancies not
just by using medicine but also by drawing on their emotional reserves
and the support of other patients. Achterberg, now 59, was so taken
with this revolutionary notion that she sought out Simonton and his
wife so she could work with them
In the three decades since, Achterberg has become a force in the world
of mind-body medicine. She is best known for a healing technique called
guided imagery, in which the patient meditates on her disease, her
immune system and the medicines coursing through her body. And while
nobody knows precisely how it works, guided imagery has shown clear
benefit in reversing weight loss in cancer patients, reducing the
length of hospital stays and easing the pain and fatigue of a number of
ailments.
Achterberg's greatest challenge came in 1999, when she developed cancer
in her left eye. She refused treatment: "I couldn't have my eye taken
out." Too upset to perform guided imagery on herself, she relied on
prayers and vicarious healing imagery from friends and colleagues. So
far, she has survived 18 months - doctors gave her six - and is now
studying the curative powers of communal prayer that she calls
"transpersonal medicine."
Whatever the outcome, her earlier work has earned Achterberg a place in
the history of both conventional and complementary medicine. The guided
imagery she pioneered is now being practiced in hospitals all around
the world.
MIND-BODY
HEALING and QI
GONG
"Maintaining
order, rather than correcting disorder, is the ultimate
principle of wisdom."
From
Nei Jing
(medical
classic from 200BC)
By Karin Whitney Cooke, RN, BS
Qigong (also spelled chi kung) is a practice that is over 4000
years
old in China. It is meditative, healing and spiritual and has
been found to be a powerful way to maintain health, treat disease, and
cultivate wisdom. Tai chi is related to qigong as the martial art
form of the science. There are hundreds of forms of qigong in
China today that vary in forms and techniques. The aim of all
qigong forms is the same: to help people achieve their optimum level of
wellness; to make a positive impact to the well being of humanity.
How does Qigong work? The body is enlivened by a
life-force
energy, which when blocked or weakened, can predispose a person to
illness. Treatments, such as Qigong, that can increase the energy
flow can be curative. Like a radio with a spent battery, a human
body with low levels of energy (qi) performs poorly. Qigong is
the practice of bringing qi (energy) from the universe into the body,
and the cultivation of that vital energy to flow throughout the body
unimpeded by blockages. Blockages are formed throughout our meridians
(energy pathways) by stress, improper diet, pollution and other
environmental toxins. Qi is the true energy of being alive, it
keeps us healthy. According to Chinese medicine, when qi and
blood are circulating freely, there is no disease or pain.
Qigong masters refer to Qigong as a biological science. It comes
from the struggle of mankind against a toxic environment and illness,
and has been effective for centuries in improving health and curing
disease. The effectiveness of Qigong comes from treating the mind
and the body as a whole. It is a physical as well as a mental
exercise that regulates the three essential elements: MIND, BREATH, and
BODY. To practice Qigong regularly will optimize health
continuously.
Masters profess that by combining both physical and mental work,
Qigong
transforms energy into qi (bioenergy, vital force, life-force, prana,
ki, mana), which stores spirit, and in turn, spirit then nourishes
qi. In every movement there is exercise of the mind as well as of
all parts of the body; while the qi is being directed to the internal
organs simultaneously. This process cleans out the channels
(meridians) and nourishes the qi and blood. Energy, qi, and
spirit will then be sufficient in the body to nourish the inner organs
and limbs so illness can be prevented or overcome and health
improved. This is an active therapy, capable of tapping
one's natural potential and curing disease with one's own
power. The purpose here is to prevent disease, recover health,
and prolong life to make a greater contribution to society.
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The
curative
mechanisms
of Qigong are
the result of
exercising the
muscles, bones and skin externally,while
refining energy,
qi and mind
internally. |
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Through this
exercise of the mind, breath and body,
the qi and blood are allowed to flow freely around the body without any
blockage. Qigong treats the mind and body as a whole, thus is very
effective. With continued Qigong practice, the accumulation
of vital energy in the body will steadily increase. As this
energy gains momentum, it is capable of killing bacteria and malignant
cells and increases resistance to disease. The more time spent on
one's practice, the better the results
Qigong trains the will and the powers of concentration and can
be an
efficient tool in the transformative process. To have a profound
influence on the well being of the individual can collectively have the
same positive influence on the nation and on the world. Therefore
it is worthy of our greatest efforts.
There are three important aspects to improving one's health,
curing disease and profiting from Qigong. The first is
CONFIDENCE. You need to believe that through hard work and
consistent practice, health will be improved and disease cured.
The second aspect is DETERMINATION. Make up your mind to overcome
all the difficulties. Find time in your busy schedule to make
your practice a priority. PERSEVERANCE in carrying on your
practice is important.
A regular life and healthy diet are an important part of Qigong
practice. Let positive feelings leave no room for the
negative. Accept things as they are. Those who suffer from
chronic illness should take an active part in regaining their health.
HAVE POSITIVE
IDEAS,
BECAUSE
POSITIVE IDEAS BRING POSITIVE QI!
AS QI FILLS THE BODY-
THE BODY FILLS WITH LIFE!
ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES!
"Qigong is not connected to any religion or superstition. Qigong is a
very special kind of life science. It studies the essence of humans,
how to improve our potential through the connection with Qi, and how to
enhance the quality of life resulting in good health, joy and longevity.
The universe is made up of Qi. In Qigong
theory, Qi is invisible to the human eye, but can be sensed by the
human mind. Our thoughts are a unique type of Qi. This kind of Qi is
linked to everything in our existence. It affects ourselves and
everything around us. Everything in the universe is material, including
our ideas. Most of our thoughts are wasting our body energy but people
become more careful to keep the Qi field clear when they realize that
our thoughts affect our health, emotions and every action. It's very
special. Once we are able to master the Qi, then we will be able
to master our fate."
– Jianshe Liu, Qigong Master
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If we can cause disease manifesting in our bodies, then
why cannot we manifest health????
