The battle approach to cancer is so pervasive in our thinking that it has become our only strategy. We are constantly waging war on cancer using chemo, radiation and other highly toxic drugs as weapons. The only problem is that this approach doesn’t work any better than the wars we’ve waged throughout history. There are no winners here… cancer is on the rise. Death rates over the past fifty years have failed to decline and the side effects of the treatments are often more deadly than the disease. A large percentage of oncologists polled would not use the treatments they’re prescribing for their patients on themselves or recommend them for their loved ones. I could write an entire article about this faulty system, but that would leave you with nothing but fear without any other recourse.
So, let’s look at cancer from a different perspective. What if, instead of being the enemy, cancer was the messenger that we can’t ignore? What if cancer is present because we’ve ignored the more subtle messages we received prior to its arrival? What if cancer thinks it’s serving a purpose or helping us in some way? What if it’s a representation of significant imbalances in our thinking, our beliefs, and our lives that can be brought back into balance? What if it’s an expression of a toxic emotional load that we’ve been carrying? What if it houses crucially important information, and we’re trying to kill it versus listen to it? What if there are some totally natural and highly effective ways of treating it that don’t leave a battleground within our bodies? These questions are worth pondering right?
OK – so how can hypnosis help? Cancer is essentially a failure of the immune system, and yet we’ve traditionally used treatments that all but eradicate the immune system when it’s needed the most. Because hypnosis accesses the unconscious mind, the part of the mind that’s in charge of the strength or weakness of the immune system, it has been proven to boost the immune system. This allows it to get back on track and do what it does naturally, which is to correct imbalances within our system in a way that’s healthy for the whole.
Hypnosis also allows access to the subconscious mind, which houses our long-term history and can actually pinpoint the event that caused the shift from health to disease. In one cancer client, it was when her father told her to “go play in traffic,” and her child mind took that to mean she didn’t deserve to be alive. In another, it was watching an age-inappropriate horror movie that instilled a fear of death. For another, it helped her see that she was loved by her parents, who prior to her diagnosis, were consumed with their careers and didn’t have the bandwidth to demonstrate the love they felt for her. For another, it was the excess amount of sugar in her diet.
There is always a reason for its existence and the subconscious mind knows what that reason is. Once the reason is found, understood, and processed, the need or reason for the messenger of cancer is no longer necessary and it feels free to recede.
“My second opinion doc (Chung) called this morning and said that the biopsy showed ‘level 1 adenocarcinoma,’ which is less advanced than the grade 2 shown in a biopsy done just 2 weeks earlier by Dr. Ortel and I have total faith that it will continue in this way until it’s gone, now that I know why it was there in the first place.” Judy M., PA
On a more basic level, hypnosis can help change unhealthy aspects of lifestyle such as eradicating sugar and fast food cravings (as sugar is cancer’s preferred fuel, and processed foods have the highest amounts of chemicals and other foreign substances). It can eliminate addictions such as smoking and alcohol abuse. The desire to exercise can also increase, which helps the lymphatic system, brings in much needed O2 and strengthens the physical, mental and emotional bodies. Hypnosis can significantly reduce stress and eliminate its underlying causes, which is usually the fear, “I’m not good enough to handle life’s challenges,” or some other form of negative self-talk. It can clear fears of death, which at the subconscious level, are the number one cause of deadly disease, along with the trauma of treatment and fear that the cancer will return.
Hypnosis has been proven to help reduce many of the side effects including pain and nausea. It has also been proven to help the body heal faster and more comfortably post surgery.
Hypnosis is not only great for the cancer patient, but for their caregivers as well. It allows caregivers to receive much needed self-care to fill their giving cups, if you will, so they can continue to be of support. Hypnosis is also phenomenal for clearing the grief of losing a loved one.
The bottom line is that if you or a loved one is faced with the challenge of cancer, there are alternative modes of treatment available – ones that safely and naturally leverage the doctor that’s within us all.
Lisa Zaccheo, MA, BCH, BC is the owner, lead hypnotist and hypnosis instructor at Mind Matters Hypnosis Centers in Avon, Rocky Hill, Guilford and North Branford, CT. She is Board Certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists and has numerous additional certifications in all aspects of hypnosis and the subconscious. In addition, she’s a sought-after lecturer and high-level Executive Hypno-Coach. For more information or to schedule a lecture, workshop or appointment, call Mind Matters Hypnosis Center at (860) 693-6448 or visit MindMattersHypnosis.com