The cancer conversation is entrenched in fear. In most parts of the world, cancer is not seen as a physical imbalance the way it is seen in India, instead it is seen as sinister, the enemy, something to be safeguarded against at all costs.
I learned this first-hand after my Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis.
I was bombarded with the fear-based mindset of well-meaning people who knew what I should do, which specialists I should visit, which treatments I should receive, which books I should read. These were good people, who had my best interests at heart, people who had been in my life for years, but their intentions were fueled by fear and I had no room for that energy on my path to healing.
Be aware of the people you surround yourself with.
Fear shows itself in many forms; anger, hate, jealousy, guilt, shame….and in my time of healing, I had no room for any form of fear. I knew if I wanted the best possible outcome, I had to remove myself from the atmosphere of fear surrounding me.
I realized, I was surrounded by people who were motivated by fear for most of my life. When I vented to my oncologist, he wisely recommended that I take a break from having them around for the time being. I didn’t know at the time that he was far ahead of the game, not just in cancer methodology, but in managing the mindset necessary to heal. He knew that fear, in any form, plays no role in healing.
Detach from fear & plug back in to YOU.
Trust me, I know this is easier said than done, especially if you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer or any disease for that matter. But, there is a line from A Course in Miracles that asks, “would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?” You would be right if you said that cancer was unfair, painful and scary, but what would you have to say about cancer in order to be happy? What would you have to focus on in order to feel as good as possible right where you are?
I knew that cancer was going to bring a huge energy shift in my trajectory. I chose to embrace the shift and a healing lifestyle as part of my treatment. It was a choice, just as it was a choice to manage the energy (see above, detaching from fear) around me. I knew that I also had to learn to control the energy that was me. I had to find a way to bring myself back into alignment. Cancer is a disconnect. A disconnect between our mind, body and spirit. As a holistic nutritionist I know that food is the best medicine for the body. But cancer is not only a physical disease; it is also a spiritual one; one that demands a spiritual cure.
If a doctor marches you into chemo or radiation most of you go, no matter how painful, because you place your trust in experts. That takes care of the physical—in some instances—but what about the spiritual? Surely if you are willing to go through the painful process of chemo you might also be willing to do the gentle things that will nourish the spirit like yoga, meditation, or connecting with nature.
You can’t fight a disconnect, you can only plug yourself back in. We allow our doctors to pass out death sentences and infect their patient’s spirits with morbid timetables. When we unplug from the need to know the unknown, we detach from fear.
Tapping into your intuition to heal.
My whole life, I had gotten so caught up in listening to what I should be doing that by adulthood, my inner voice was drowning, just like we allow the voices of medical professionals to drown out the voice of infinite intelligence located within each and every one of us. But, my voice gave it one last go and SCREAMED at me to follow my heart and my belief system.
For the first time in my life, when I set fear aside and put my well being first, that inner voice began to speak to me. Your inner voice/gut feeling/intuition (however you want to say it) is the only voice that knows the best path forward for you.
In my heart, I believe you can heal yourself from anything, if you believe you can. Which is why treating your errant thoughts is just as important as treating your physical symptoms. Listen to the whispers of your life, check in with your body, what is it trying to communicate with you? You don’t have to have cancer to do this. We should all be doing this everyday. Just like working out and eating right are physical maintenance—this is spiritual maintenance.
Ultimately, no one has final say over how cancer is going to affect their body, but they have a powerful say in how it is going to affect their emotional well being
I believe we are on the verge of a paradigm shift regarding cancer, but first the shift has to take place within each and every one of us. First we have to stand up once and for all and acknowledge that we are more than just our bodies and release ourselves from the fear based mentality that we operate in.
