Meditation Helps Cure Cancer

The January Newsletter from Break the Norms has an article by Sarah Anne Stewart about how meditation helped a father cure cancer.

This story is similar to mine in many ways. I had bladder cancer 16 years ago. During one of my meditation sessions, I came up with the following poem:

Lying still,
Breathing in, breathing out,
Healthy cells grow all by themselves.
I am free of cancer.

This poem became the foundation of my meditation experiences when I had cancer and continues to inspire me today.

Meditation Helps Cure Cancer

During my morning meditation sessions, when I do walking meditation, and generally, when I move from one room to another, I remember this poem. During quite meditation, when I breathe in, I think “healthy.” When I breathe out, I think “free.” When I place my left foot on the floor or on the earth, I think “healthy.” When I place my right foot on the floor or on the earth, I think, “free.”

These practices have permitted me to let go and allow my body to do its healing work.

When the doctors wanted to remove my bladder, I knew this procedure was not for me. Replacing the cancerous bladder with an artificial one is still the gold standard for treatment of bladder cancer. I chose not to do so. Instead, I found and convinced my doctors to use a bladder sparing protocol.

My experience with opening and tuning into what my body needed was very similar to Sarah’s dad. At that time, my daughters were 14 and 12 and I think they were in a similar place with my cancer as Sarah was with her dad’s.

Now I teach Mindfulness in Healing on Wednesday nights at the Pine Street Clinic in San Anselmo. This is my way of giving back to the community and inspiring people to be their own medical advocates. We even offer a safe place for caregivers to connect with their feelings and find self-compassion to deal with the hardships of care taking and their loved ones.

Is the power of the mind so great that it can help cure cancer?

Meditation Helps Cure Cancer

While Sarah’s dad and I had similar experiences, I was touched by her article in a way that inspired me to communicate about my experience as well and write about how meditation helps cure cancer. I especially liked what she wrote about the three things she learned from her father:

If you’ve never meditated before, or have trouble setting yourself up for a dedicated meditation practice, here are three things I learned from my father:

1)    Be forgiving. It can be difficult as a newcomer! Forgive yourself and treat every meditation as a learning experience. Know that every time you meditate, you’ll be able to calm your mind a little more easily and a little longer than the time before.

2)    Don’t give up. Had an especially hard practice where it was impossible to concentrate? That just means you need meditation even more! Set a routine and don’t give up. Keep coming back. Dedication is half the battle.

3)    Focus on your breath. Every time a thought comes into your head, let it go with an intentional exhale. Imagine exhaling your thoughts as a way of putting them out of your mind.

These three tips can help you with your meditation practice. You will also find these and other tips that you can use to stop interruptions in meditation and learn to how to concentrate and focus on your meditation and deal with distractions.

If you know anyone dealing with cancer who would like to learn about Mindfulness in Healing or how to use meditation to help cure cancer, have them contact me through the contact us link. I’ll be happy to help in any way I can without charge.

Remember that I am not a physician and that anything you learn from me should be checked by your medical team to make sure it will now harm you.