Take control of your mind

The mind is your powerful ally: in order to heal, you need to have faith in the type of treatment that you are undergoing. In order to achieve this, the first battle you need to win is in your mind.

Overview

Your mental outlook greatly affects your healing.  Those who have come to terms with their disease tend to positively engage their minds and bodies, and therefore do better with their treatments.  One of our greatest challenges is helping you get over your anxieties and fears.   No doubt you may be scared and anxious, however you have to have faith to get over your fear otherwise it is going to affect your healing.   

                                                 Patients who have a lot of fear and anxiety are always tough to heal. 

Your emotions and intentions should be in sync for it is your ‘voluntary’ choice that supports your immune system and your health. 

Very often we come across patients arriving at our center feeling overwhelmed, scared, depressed and anxious.  Many are not only afraid of the disease, but they are also terrified of their oncologist who may pressure them to do certain treatments.  

Your emotional and mental states play significant roles, both in susceptibility to and recovery from cancer.  Your mind is capable of making your body ill, and it is also able to stimulate your body to heal itself. 

Therefore, if emotionally receiving conventional treatment and the support of the medical community behind you is what you need in order to feel confident and positive, then that’s where you should be.    

However, if you choose the integrative route, be wary that not everyone will support your decisions.   It may not be you, but your husband/wife, cousin, daughter/son, doctors who think that there is no scientific basis for integrated healing therapies and in fact fear that it might interfere with the conventional therapy that you are currently on.  In this scenario, if you choose to go ‘integrative’ with your treatment you have to be strong in your conviction as you may not get the support for this kind of medicine from your oncologists or family and you may also be subjected to criticism and ridicule.

Believe In Your Therapy

When you believe, you are more likely to comply and be in harmony with your belief system.  This can lead to powerful biological changes that will support the healing process.  However, if you don’t, but proceed with it anyway, your mind may sabotage your own healing process. 

It therefore takes great courage to take control of your own health and be independently able to make treatment decisions.  It is also very important for you to be at peace with the treatment decisions you have made.  Quite often we find that patients achieve a great sense of relief which can be liberating once they get past this point.  We consider the decision to be a good one when the patient is at peace with the decision made.   Ample time and space to reach the decision is vital.  Therefore, get your mind to work with you not against you.

OWN YOUR TREATMENT PROGRAM

It is your personal responsibility to believe in your treatment program and be committed towards it.   See it as your ally and believe that it is there to help you instead of feeling that you are being forced to undergo the program.  (No doubt some treatments that you decide to pursue can be painful - still, see it through.  Otherwise change your course - it is important not to be indecisive).

IT'S ALL IN THE MIND - Not all changes are negative - it's all in the mind.  There are people with cancer who have reported positive changes in outlook such as gratitude, appreciation that life is short and special, awareness of life, a shift in priorities and clarity about the meaning of life.  All these positive changes resulted because now everyday matters.

Battling cancer is more than a physical battle with cancer through radiation and administering powerful drugs.  Personal beliefs, positive attitudes and hopeful expectations make a contribution to cancer recovery.  If you have received a cancer diagnosis, you know that the hundreds of questions and concerns you have about what's to come can be as stressful as the cancer treatment itself.   However, if you mentally prepare yourself to handle cancer treatment by getting stress and anxiety under control, you can improve your quality of life and become an active participant in your own recovery.   Therefore, engage your mind to work with you and for you in your healing journey.

 

“I fight because I’m finally happy. I love living life… A lot of people when they’re   diagnosed look at it as “I’m dying,” the way I look at it, I’m living until the day I die.”   Source: A cancer patient

To find out ways to empower your mind read up the section on Unleash the power of your mind to heal