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Can we stop the cancer epidemic.
By Davis Seven-Schreiber
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How cancer patients can mobilize their natural self-healing abilities to support their chosen medical treatments:
Welcome to Matara’s cancer support programme - We have taken an integrated approach, exploring ways to optimize the immune system that will minimize the chance of having cancer and mobilizing the self healing abilities for those who have cancer; as well protecting the wellbeing of the careers both family and health care professionals. We will start and end with two life affirming stories.
The Matara Centre was born out of tragedy and hope and is now a place of celebration and inspiration. My partner and soul friend of 25 years, June Higgins, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. June, first and foremost, wanted to get better. But, she also wanted to ensure that others benefited from our journey. Together we designed Matara as a well-being centre and were excited about the possibilities that it provided. It was suggested by one of June’s healers that we should create a place of spirit, like an ark, and that it could take several years before its potential would begin to be realised. Sadly, June died before the centre could be built, but I continued with the project as part of my grieving and healing process. Throughout the construction, I held the intention that Matara would be a special place where people could come to reconnect with their mind, body and spirit. Just as June had wished, I believe that Matara has evolved into that special place – a meditative healing centre, dedicated to the full of expression of the human spirit and a deeper relationship with nature. Matara means different things to different people, but rarely does anyone visit and not feel inspired by some aspect of their experience here. It has been described as a space ‘to be’, a welcoming place where unconditional and open regard for everything is at its core.
Introducing Matara’s cancer support programme:
First a summery of how cancer patients can mobilize their natural self-healing abilities to support their chosen medical treatments. What mobilizes our natural self healing abilities? Love and laughter Commitment to evolve and expand consciousness, and broaden awareness. See illness as a learning experience Have a holistic view of mind, emotions, body and spirit
Recognize: How great emotional loss and feeling of hopelessness relates to cancer The need to regenerate your life in order for cells to regenerate The importance of a will to live- to have a deep meaning in life- and a strong sense of self worth That subjective ways of thinking and feeling can changed and lead to healing See the possibility of achieving enjoyable, fulfilling work you have always dreamed of and loved We need to take a holistic view that integrates spirit, mind, emotions and body
- Action/ experience of the spirit effects the mentalMental can control the emotional
- Emotional can control the physical
Any disturbance or imbalance in one of these levels will have an effect on the others. If something occurs on a physical level, the recovery can be speeded up by acting on other levels as well or instead of the physical. Imbalance on the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical can result in illness. Illness causes the soul to look at what the individual is experiencing and to asses their current way of life and the viewpoint held on all aspects:
Physical: Nutrition, posture, breathing, intrnal clensing to ensure cells have sufficent oxigen and water in order for them to function correctly
Emotional stability, harmony, balance – anger, frustration, fear
Mental clarity
Spiritual recognize, understand and expressing your deep inner yearnings.
Spiritual practices: Spiritual practices has to do with the development and training of your mental state, attitudes and psychological and emotional state
Spiritual expressions Include accepting, compassionate, loving, caring, and tolerant, grateful, respectful, and graceful way of being We need to explore our beliefs systems and attitudes, thoughts and feelings. The nature of our thoughts will weaken or strengthen our immune system, open up the system to new learning’s or close it down for protection. Its so easy to react in a negative, unloving away, especially when we feel threatened.
We need evolving with the universe The universe is evolving. We are a living expression of that universe we are evolving too. Rather than have a fear of disease and illness, we could perceive illness as a learning opportunity, to evolve and return to optimal health. Seeing illness as a learning experience, not to be fought but to be observed to determine where we are on our evolutionary journey. Our physical, emotional, and mental states are ways of understanding where we are in our evolutionary process. We need to be able to adjust any mental, emotional and physical states to our current stage of growth and spiritual needs. We all get cancer many times a day – as the billions of our individual cells divide and multiply -- some lose coherence – but the cancer defence system quickly takes care of the system. Our way of thinking, feeling can breakdown and regenerate our natural immune system.
90% of all illnesses are emotionally based Nineteenth century physicians working with cancer patents did not have biochemical tests, x rays, CAT scans; they had to listen to their patients in order to learn what was going on. They heard about the patient’s feelings and history. The factors of great emotional loss and hopelessness occurred, before the first signs of cancer, and were so repetitive and frequent they could not be ignored. Surgery focuses our attention on cancer as a local disease of a specific part of the body and not as one aspect of the total human being’s functioning, which is the essence of the psychosomatic view. Radiation, when it came along, reinforced cancer as a local body problem. So, gradually, the idea that cancer was related to the total life history of a person disappeared.
Feelings affect body chemistry, which affects the development or regression of a tumour.These, to the most part, are not external events that stress, distress and depress, it’s our internal response that makes the critical difference. A genetic readiness, plus long-term psychological stress, results in cancer, grief is especially associated with the cancer. Deep anxiety, deferred hope and disappointment are quickly followed by the growth and increase of cancer, Previous to cancer, and in most cases, was a loss of hope in ever achieving a way of life that would give real and deep satisfaction, the kind of meaning that makes us glad to get out of bed in the morning. Often, this lack of hope had been brought into being by the loss of a person’s major way of relating and experiencing and the inability to find a suitable substitute.
High risk groups
- Poor relationship with parents, self pity,self degradation,passivity compulsive need to please, inability to rise above depression, suppressed emotions, stuck on glamour - misapplied desire.
- Ignoring inner spiritual growth
How to mobilize self-healing abilities and bring them to the aid of your recovery There are certain physiological steps people with cancer can take to increase their self- healing and self-repair abilities and bring these strongly to the aid of their medical programme. The same approach also leads to the fullest and richest life – during the time that a person has cancer and for their families.
Why should your immune system respond? What have you got to live for that your immune system would fight for?
The biggest change required is on the inside. You have to learn to take care of yourself, appreciating you are worth taking special care of. A strong belief that you are worth fighting for and taking care of as a special, unique person. Do you see the possibility of achieving work you would enjoy, or doing the things that you’ve always dreamed of and loved, a life that would make you happy and excited to get out of bed in the morning? Without this ‘will to live,’ there is no reason for the body to work hard to save the life, no reason to mobilize the immune system and bring its resources to the aid of the recovery process. We need to use our abilities and express our true natures. Human beings are meant to express all their abilities, mental and physical. Life is an arena of expression. It is safe, natural and healthy to move, explore and express. Exuberance and high spirits are a natural part of our heritage. It is important to recapture those feelings if they have been lost or forgotten. See life as an exciting creative adventure we have chosen. You chose because it is the best suited to your evolution and fulfilment.
Life is expression. It is safe and healthy move mentally, physically, using both psychic, creative, mental abilities to the fullest. The biggest killer: Loss of meaning in our lives.Our experience of all events is subjective. As our focus changes so does the experience of the event.Regardless of what is ‘true’ we are interesting in the phenomenon that heightens the feeling that life is worthwhileHuman beings create meaning. People who discover value in their own existence are strong people. Discovering value in your own existence provides the most meaningful reason for living.People change when their consciousness if focused on the divine aspect of human beings. We need to have something more meaningful in our lives than our own personalities. People who believe in a higher purpose generally live 10 years longer.We encourage people to explore their place in the universe, as a creative expression of the whole and embrace their own life force and unique creative expression.
What are the critical inner changes needed to stimulate the immune system?
You have to be prepared to change you inner ecology in order to be able to experience yourself fully, to be able to recognize and fulfil your dreams. Cancer can be a turning point in your life where you can learn to improve the quality and expression of life both internally and externally.By learning how the mind, thoughts and consciousness works, we can gain access to peace of mind, whatever the outside circumstances and however much we have been conditioned by the past and have concerns about the future. We have to realize going back into the past resolves nothing, we have to look forward and regenerate a life that is all we want it to be.
Traditional therapies do not work for cancer patents
Usual models ask the following questions:
- What is wrong?How did the person get that way?
- What can be done about it?
These questions are central to the therapy process. This process simply does not mobilize a person’s self-healing abilities to bring them to the aid of medical treatments. We have to start with what is right with the person. What is their special, unique ways of being, relating and creating that is their own and natural way to live. What is the special music to beat out life’s unique song that, when sung, makes you glad to get up in the morning. What style of life would give zest, enthusiasm, involvement? Fifty percent of people using this approach have gone into long-term remission. Nearly all found this new way improved the colour and emotional tone of their lives and made the last period of their lives far more exciting and interesting than before they started the process. What is the basic nature of the disease process? We need to explore the relationship between belief systems and attitudes and that determines ones state of health.Thoughts are energetic patterns that have an immediate effect on the body. The nature of the thoughts will weaken or strengthen the body’s immune system, open up the persons system for new learning or close down the system to protect it.The invisible universe of thoughts and attitudes becomes visible though the bodies habitual response. The body will reflect previous through patterns as modifies by genetic, environmental and cultural conditioning.
If one holds a particular negative attitude, a specific muscle will go weak. If you replace the thought with a positive one the muscle will become strong. The connection with body and mind is immediate. The body will shift moment by moment depending on the pattern of thoughts and emotions.All events are created to trigger a specific emotion. All attitudes, thoughts, beliefs are connected to various energy pathways that are connected to all of the bodies vital organs and muscles and act as energy channels to these organs and muscles and organsA miniscule variation in the pattern of inputs – positive/negative response - can result in a very significant change in the output. This is because the repetition of a slight variation over time there can produce a leap to a New Harmony/ disharmony. The effect of a minute variation becomes amplified until it eventually affects the entire system and a new energy pattern evolves.When the mind is dominated by a negative world view, the direct result is a repetition of minute changes of energy flow to the various body muscles and organs. The subtle energy field affects the electron transfer and neural, hormonal balance. It’s the persistence and repetition of the stimulus that though the laws of sensitive dependence on internal conditions result in the observable disease process.If this scheme of disease formation is correct than all illness should be reversible by changing thought patterns and habitual response. This requires a profound transformation of the belief system leading to a sudden leap in consciousness.This can happen in a split second and at take a person 5 years to reach the internal state to achieve the transformation.
- Need to appreciate the need to increase the capacity to love as key to the healing process.
- Have the courage and support to endure the disorientation of exploring an entirely new way of perceiving the world.
- Understand the minds resistance to change and to preserve the personality (ego) at all cost.
Be willing to explore new ways at looking at yourself and your life. This includes the capacity to look and endure inner fears. When belief systems are shaken, people cherish and cling to their hates, spite and revenge as well as illness, rather let go and forget and forgive. To have compassion for oneself and of all mankind is instrumental- not only to recovery, but for any major advancement of consciousness. Only then do we become healers as well as healed.Love and laughter heals. This arises though viewing a smaller context from a larger mutually inclusive one, which removes the observer from the victim mode.
What is your most natural way of being, relating, creating?
What kind of life and lifestyle would make you glad to get up in the morning and glad to go to bed at night, would give you the maximum zest and enthusiasm in life?
- What is your most natural way of being, relating and creating?
- What would give you the maximum zest and enthusiasm for life?
- What are the best moments of your life?
- What are the ways you authentically express yourself that are meaningful?
- What work would you enjoy?
What kind of life would you be living if you adjusted the world to yourself, rather than adjusting yourself to the world?Just engaging in these questions is a good beginning, the start of an inner journey of exploration.
Putting yourself first
You may have deep anxieties about the present and the future.
- How to decide between the different treatments offered?
- What would happen to your loved ones if you died?
You have to put yourself first when your immune system is not responding. You have to grow and change, rather than the tumour growing. Cancer increases the cellular vibration and provides you the impetus for your growth if you are aware of this. You need to see this as the time for new adventure in your life.You have to take care of yourself, to fully express yourself for yourself and not sacrifice yourself for others or in the way that society says you should live your life. This is a wake up call to fully express what you love and be who you really are.
What is required to heal?
- Focus on the will to live, not the fear of dying
- Focus on your true self as a spiritual being
- Express what you love rather than suppress what you fear
- Use mediation to evolve and grow
- Express higher emotions -- compassion, love, forgiveness, trust you self
- Fully participate in the healing process
- Find a working partner that can unconditionally support you on your journey of discovery
This takes openness and willingness to evolve consciousness; few people will be able to muster the high level of dedication needed to heal on their own.The Matara Centre is an expression of the principles outlined in this paper, a place of healing and spirit, where people can reconnect with their mind, body and spirit. There is no real healing without spiritual healing. This paper was inspired and taken from the book, Cancer a Turning Point, by Lawrence Le Shan. We work with the wisdom of this book in our cancer support programme at Matara and recommend it to you.
The Meaning Of Illness
In the late 60s or early 70s a film was made called Cosmic Zoom. In this film there is a little boy in a boat with a dog. The camera backs off and you see the lake, then the city, then the countryside, then the planet and finally the other planets in the solar system and all the stars. Then the camera zooms back very quickly, goes inside the skin of the little boy into the molecules and atoms and it looks just like the Universe. This suggested that the inward physical universe is every bit as vast and as real as the outward one. This concept further suggests that the pattern is repeated at all levels of the physical; molecule, atom, individual, boat, lake, city and at all levels of the non physical.
What we see, as Einstein was fond of saying, depends on where we are standing. Take any situation and appraise it from a physical platform, then an emotional platform, then a mental platform and then a spiritual platform. What you gain from these different points of observation will be markedly different but they are part of the whole and are all interconnected – in a way similar to the Mobius, named after the German mathematician. A mobius strip is formed by taking a long thin rectangular piece of paper twisting it once and connecting the ends. As such it provides a connected and continuous point of observation. As the number of viewpoints increases so may the degree of understanding improves.
Two thousand years ago the concept of a spiritual view of the evolving universe, and the evolving mankind within it, led to the acceptance of a spiritual essence which pervades all aspects of creation. In the human this essence enlivens the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. From this it may be deduced that the physical structure of the human body was designed to create a setting for the experience of the emotional, mental and spiritual requirements of the evolving soul and that the lessons learnt on these three levels create the evolutionary force for the spiritual essence which, in turn, provides sustenance for the evolution of the Universe.
The holistic viewpoint has been largely negated in recent years by our propensity to accept reductionist view without the holistic connecting overview.Creation appears to be a continuous evolving process. If this is so, then all individual aspects forming part of the Creation from grass to human beings must each evolve in their own realm. Assuming that humanity is evolving, what part does illness play in this process?
We need to seek to understand illness as part of the continuously evolving pattern of the creative purpose.Attempting to look more closely at the holistic viewpoint of man it helps to consider the interaction and control systems which exist. If in the middle of a cocktail party one is prodded in the back, an instinctive protective reaction is triggered and an emotional response, say of anger, arises. If on turning to the instigator of this affront one sees a long lost friend, the mind takes control of the situation and assures the body that there is no threat to its wellbeing.If, of course, the subject of the affront is in general harmony with the world and is therefore spiritually strong, the initial disturbance at the physical level will be much less pronounced.
The body accepts easily an assurance that there is no danger and the balance of the individual, at all levels, is quickly re-established. This suggests that the action or experience at the spiritual level can control the mental level, the mental level in turn can control the emotional and that of the emotional can control the physical. Most practitioners would agree that this happens in practice.
Therefore, we can accept firstly: that an imbalance in one of these levels will have an effect, however slight, on the others and if not corrected will manifest at the lowest level as aberration in the physical; and secondly, such aberrations in the physical can be more speedily corrected by action at the other levels as well as, or instead of, action at the physical. Accepting this, and relating it to the necessity of the soul to experience diverse situations as part of its learning requirement, an imbalance or aberration in the physical, emotional, mental or spiritual – causing illness – can be seen as a rung on the ladder of evolution; illness then, would seem to be a necessary and valuable part of our experience.Illness is a very individual experience.
The disease or dysfunction that arises as part of illness is determined by the genetic makeup of the individual, his way of life, and many other internal and external states. Illness causes the soul to look at what the individual is experiencing and to assess the current way of life and the viewpoint held by the individual on all aspects, eg. Nutrition, exercise, posture, breathing etc. at the physical level, stability etc. at the emotional level, clarity etc. at the mental level, recognizing and understanding spiritual aspirations and many more aspects which we are given to play with and experience.The great value provided by the holistic approach to health is that it helps the practitioner to observe and attempt to understand the many aspects presented by his patients.
The holistic approach is, in my opinion, far more likely to help the patient learn how he made himself ill, how he can get better and how he can stay healthy. Without the holistic approach one is reducing the chances of helping the “personality” to see, understand and experience life fully enough to obtain sufficient soul growth.If we substitute this holistic approach for the current “fear” of disease the individual and humanity as a whole will begin to come more in line with the evolving parameters of Creation and will become more comfortable with a spiritual concept of illness as a learning experience.Illness is an imbalance in health. Illness is created by a number of aberrations/dysfunctions, which arise at the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Disease then arises to stimulate the immune repair systems and this corrects the imbalance. Just as “physical” cures should work from the inside out, so should the understanding and correction of illness work from the inner spiritual to the outer physical.
Illness erodes the balance of the individual and in overcoming the imbalance, the spirit may evolve. Therefore any form of illness, whatever form of disease is expressed as a result of the downturn in health, creates a situation out of which the individual has the ability to evolve on the return to optimum health. This is why we have all collected those particular types of physical, emotional and mental attributes and that we are using during our learning mission.
To summarize, illness therefore is a learning experience not to be fought, but to be observed and from observation, to understand how we have deviated from the evolutionary path of our spirit which, of course, uses the physical, emotional, mental as a vehicle to express and understand the evolutionary process. If we are slow in learning that we have deviated, our condition will become chronic.Treating illness as a learning experience enables us to reach a greater understanding of the part that we and other people have to play in the evolution of the creative plan. If we do not obtain understanding of an illness we probably have to relive similar situations until we do. Therefore the secret of good health is to understand our illness and adjustOur way of life physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually so that we can enjoy our life more in line with the requirements of evolution and therefore meet our spiritual aims.Good health is a joyous state but illness too can be enjoyed. The secret it to see the negative state of illness as a positive learning experience. Nothing, no thing, is ever lost, ever wasted.
What is the basic nature of the disease process?
We need to explore the relationship between belief systems and attitudes and that determines ones state of health. Thoughts are energetic patterns that have an immediate effect on the body. The nature of the thoughts will weaken or strengthen the body’s immune system, open up the persons system for new learning or close down the system to protect it. The invisible universe of thoughts and attitudes becomes visible though the bodies habitual response. The body will reflect previous through patterns as modifies by genetic, environmental and cultural conditioning. If one holds a particular negative attitude, a specific muscle will go weak. If you replace the thought with a positive one the muscle will become strong. The connection with body and mind is immediate. The body will shift moment by moment depending on the pattern of thoughts and emotions. All events are created to trigger a specific emotion. All attitudes, thoughts, beliefs are connected to various energy pathways that are connected to all of the bodies vital organs and muscles and act as energy channels to these organs and muscles and organs A miniscule variation in the pattern of inputs – positive/negative response - can result in a very significant change in the output. This is because the repetition of a slight variation over time there can produce a leap to a New Harmony/ disharmony. The effect of a minute variation becomes amplified until it eventually affects the entire system and a new energy pattern evolves. When the mind is dominated by a negative world view, the direct result is a repetition of minute changes of energy flow to the various body muscles and organs. The subtle energy field affects the electron transfer and neural, hormonal balance. The origin of stress is always related to the person’s tendency to respond to stimuli in specific and charactistic patterns. The human central nervous system clearly has an exquisitely sensitive capacity to differentiate between life supporting and life destructive patterns. High power attractor energy patterns, which make the body, go strong, release brain endorphins and have a tonic effect on all of the organs; adverse stimuli release adrenalin, which suppresses immune response and instantaneously weakness and even breakdown of specific organs.It’s the persistence and repetition of the stimulus that though the laws of sensitive dependence on internal conditions result in the observable disease process.If this scheme of disease formation is correct than all illness should be reversible by changing thought patterns and habitual response. This requires a profound transformation of the belief system leading to a sudden leap in consciousness.For example from dishonorable, unloving, negative thoughts resulting in angry, self pity, intolerance, egocentric way of being to honorable, loving positive thoughts resulting in a kind, gentle, forgiving and loving person.This is a major shift in consciousness so that the energy attractor patterns that results in the pathological process no longer dominate.This can happen in a split second and at take a person 5 years to reach the internal state to achieve the transformation. You have to be prepared to go on a journey of healing .This is first and foremost a spiritual quest not and intellectual exercise.This process can be supported and speeded up though the daily practice of meditation. If you are unable to sustain the daily practice of meditation you are unlikely to achieve a shift in your habitual response that related to the disease. Need to appreciate the need to increase the capacity to love as key to the healing process. Have the courage and support to endure the disorientation of exploring an entirely new way of perceiving the world and the minds resistance to change. This requires a willingness to explore new ways at looking at oneself and life. This includes the capacity to look and endure inner fears. When belief systems are shaken people cherish and cling to their hates, spite and revenge as well as illness, rather let go and forgive. To have compassion for oneself and of all mankind is instrumental- not only to recovery, but for any major advancement of consciousness. Only then do we become healers as well as healed. Love and laughter heals. This arises though viewing a smaller context from a larger mutually inclusive one, which removes the observer from the victim mode.
A life affirming love storyThe birth of babies, the death of loved ones, natural disasters, marriages, divorces. All of these events give us cause to stop and reflect on our lives, and the lives of those we have been in relationship with.Each time I look back on the life of my wife's grandmother, I also look back at my own life. I find such reflection to be inspirational because the atmosphere around this regal lady was always special. Hopefully the words of grandma that you receive through me will lead you to reflect on your life, and the lives of those you love.What follows are snippets of some of what she taught me over the years."World War II taught me a lot." she would say.
"It seems to me that in all wars, both sides tend to be correct in standing up for the values they believe in, and quite wrong in denying their shortcomings.""I think this is also true in personal relationships that aren't going well. People fail to realize and acknowledge their own shortcomings, and this prevents them from recognizing there are always two people responsible for a failing relationship.""The war taught me to be grateful. I was still alive and I knew that at some point good things would start to happen again. The war helped me to redirect my life, and led me to be passionate about the future.""A lot of precious lives were lost, and some people died at a very early age. The war broke my heart and caused me to reexamine everything that I thought I knew. I was quite certain that my heart would break at least several times more before I died, and I knew I needed to take some time to sit and better understand how life is full of suffering and joy, love and anger.""I found myself wondering what all the killing had accomplished. What truths had the war revealed? What lessons were to be learned by every Japanese person? Surely our culture needed to somehow redirect itself, and I wondered how this would be accomplished, and if indeed it would be accomplished. After the war no one seemed to have the time to sit and reflect. Everyone was too busy rebuilding and trying to catch up.""I realized that I was going to have to let go of great sadness in order to begin the next stage of my life. I had seen a lot of people die, and yet somehow, knowing that there would shortly be brand new babies popping up in our community that would need a lot of love, gave me great hope! Life was indeed continuing to spring forth, and I needed to find a way to continue as well.""The war led me to understand that the world really can't afford all the anger and resentment it has, because beneath the anger and resentment lies a deep fear that is big enough to destroy the quality of everyone's life. When our fear, anger, and resentment are so big, it squeezes all the love out of our hearts, and there are no winners. Only survivors.""Over the course of my life," grandma said, "I have come to realize that God is the Spirit that lives within each of us and gives us life.""Who we are, depends to a large extent on who and how we love. We need to nurture our fear and our anger with kindness, so that hope, health, and compassion will spring forth in each of us. Regardless of the country we were born in, or the values we hold to be dear."How about you?Who do you love, and how do you love?There is a great deal of fear and anger in the world today. Please consider how you can nurture with kindness all those you meet and enter into relationship with.
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