I use all of the modalities on this website as well as functional medicine, acupuncture, herbs and dietary therapy to support my clients when they are faced with the additional challenge of cancer. Cancer support-specific resources are:
Cancer as a Turning Point, the book by Lawrence LeShan. –– His work and research with cancer patients for over forty years has “led people with cancer to find new, effective ways to fight for their lives. In this book he shows how psychological and life-style changes, coupled with medical treatment, can mobilize a compromised immune system for healing. The book includes a life-transforming workbook of hands-on exercises to mobilize our self-healing abilities by leading a richer, fuller, more meaningful life.” www.cancerasaturningpoint.org/
On dealing with chemotherapy and radiation: Healing into Life and Death, Chapter 14 by Stephen Levine: “By converting mechanical unconscious pill swallowing (or resisting chemotherapy, radiation) to a momentary ritual of awareness, it becomes a sacred act . . . Then taking medication is not an act of distancing from our illness but a means of opening the channels to healing, of taking the medicine deep within, of letting the healing enter. It becomes and act of discovery instead of subtle helplessness and shadowy despair. Taking the medicine within instead of from without, we discover how deeply we wish the healing and at how many levels we may draw our sustenance. Healing into life and death – Google Books Result and http://levinetalks.com/.
At the end of this chapter is a guided meditation: Meditation on Taking Medicine Within. The text of this meditation is available at www.thebody.com/content/art32723.html . By recording it in your own peaceful voice or that of someone you love and trust and playing it as you take your medicine, you can access a powerful reminder: “. . . Take a moment to notice if the pill is regarded wholeheartedly as a medium of healing, or if there is a modicum of shame or failure that accompanies it. Focusing on the healing quality within the medication, look on the medicine as a healing potential. Let the body open to receive the healing within. . .” By Stephen Levine From AIDS Project Los Angeles Access Stephen & Ondrea’s current work at levinetalks.com/
So I send you blessings for this life-transforming journey into wei chi, hexagram 64 of the I Ching. “The Chinese characters for “crisis” mean both “danger” and “opportunity”. One character is wei – a face to face encounter with a powerful animal. The other character is chi (qi) – the blueprint of an open universe.” . . . Wei chi/qi is also found in Oriental medicine, it is the defensive chi that circulates on the surface of the body and protects it from external factors. Chi is vital energy, the life force. Wei chi is the final hexagram of the I Ching, the Book of Changes, and is titled “Before Completion.” This hexagram indicates a time when the transition from disorder to order is not yet completed. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order, but it is a task that promises success. In times ‘before completion,’ deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.”
This contemplation on crisis as danger/opportunity is from foolsonly.blogspot.com/2006/02/wei-chi.html , where the blogger was asking herself: What place does Wei Chi have in a ‘revisioning’ process of a Bible believing church? So please know that these resources can be used by any one of any faith; they are non-sectarian descriptions of how the universe works and how we can find our way to navigate creatively within it.