A conversation with a friend on cancer
At Body Focus, the place where I work, I was talking to a really neat spunky fellow who is now over 4 years into being free from pancreatic cancer. I told him I was reading the Deepak Chopra book "Quantum Healing." I decided to pick it up again because I have a friend dealing with breast cancer and she is exploring aspects of self-healing.
This fellow is really beating the odds. He told me that often a patient who is diagnosed with his kind of cancer is dead within four months or so. He said he agreed that we are not even close to appreciating the role of the mind in combating disease. He said when he was diagnosed that he had an unusual calmness and a firm positive attitude to live fully whatever time he had left. I see him working out diligently two times a week. He is thin but not frail. And he is still calm and positive.
One comment from Chopra's book that impressed me early on is a point he makes about relaxation and healing. "In Ayurveda, a level of total, deep relaxation is the most important preconditon for curing any disorder." My friend who is in a struggle with breast cancer is finding that this point is both a necessity but also very difficult to accomplish as the anxieties pile up. She is finding that some of the ideas my previous post are becoming all the more essential --- deep relaxation breathing and meditative practices. Something that impresses me about both these individuals is that they are not passive bystanders to their condition but are active mentally to find their own way in response to illness. Both have explored their own sense of calmness. I'll keep you posted on their progress.
This fellow is really beating the odds. He told me that often a patient who is diagnosed with his kind of cancer is dead within four months or so. He said he agreed that we are not even close to appreciating the role of the mind in combating disease. He said when he was diagnosed that he had an unusual calmness and a firm positive attitude to live fully whatever time he had left. I see him working out diligently two times a week. He is thin but not frail. And he is still calm and positive.
One comment from Chopra's book that impressed me early on is a point he makes about relaxation and healing. "In Ayurveda, a level of total, deep relaxation is the most important preconditon for curing any disorder." My friend who is in a struggle with breast cancer is finding that this point is both a necessity but also very difficult to accomplish as the anxieties pile up. She is finding that some of the ideas my previous post are becoming all the more essential --- deep relaxation breathing and meditative practices. Something that impresses me about both these individuals is that they are not passive bystanders to their condition but are active mentally to find their own way in response to illness. Both have explored their own sense of calmness. I'll keep you posted on their progress.
posted by Jeff Rooney at 2:42 PM
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