How do you heal a discouraged mind, smoldering inner emotions, tumultuous subconscious stress, a dejected inner Spirit, & a significantly ill body with a poorly functioning immune system? Confronting cancer and transforming Mind, Body, Feelings, and Spirit seems like a herculean task. But there is a part of you that is indeed all powerful, almost superhuman, and that is the subconscious mind. To help yourself heal requires tapping into the many deep resources & abilities of that subconscious mind to , readily achievable goal.

As already mentioned, based on her years of cancer research, Lydia Temoshok, Ph.D., & other researchers, strongly believe that emotions, personality traits, coping strategies, behavior patterns, and the perceptions of the mind may influence cancer development and subsequent healing. Mind therapy procedures reveal even more startling information that seems to fully substantiate that research data. In the initial stages of therapy, while doing self-healing in inner awareness, the subconscious mind is used to discover anything within the personality and its experiences that are related to hidden stress, inner physical damage, & the development of the illness.

Every single time a person uses their mind in this way, they are able to discover feelings, thoughts, memories & beliefs that relate to the development of their dis-ease. Frequently the individual was experiencing such subconscious feelings as rejection, despair, hopelessness, frustration, intense sorrow, anger, helplessness, & sorrow both before & during the development of their cancer. Along with such feelings are corresponding thoughts & beliefs that reveal a deep anguish caused by life experiences that are perceived as overwhelming. Frequently there are thoughts or beliefs such as, "life now being too difficult, unable to achieve life goals, no longer able to cope, circumstances of life are too overwhelming, life has become meaningless, no purpose to my life, can't continue to go on, all real opportunity has passed by, never have time for self-nourishment, and life is painfully unfair".

Once uncovered, these very deep, subconscious emotions, thoughts, & beliefs, will guide the mind to those crucial areas of Mind, Body, Feeling, & Spirit that require therapeutic intervention and self-healing.

If you have carefully read the preceding paragraphs, you realize that a major component of the pre-cancerous body is monumental internal stress that can damage the immune system. So the first step in complete self-healing is to alleviate all of that long-standing inner tension. The healing therapist often tells his patients that removing internal stress is like cleaning out a barn. And this is certainly true. The patient's subconscious mind goes through the barn of their emotional experiences. Inside, the individual stops at each separate stall and remove all the "stuff"- the troubling, repressed emotion and its accompanying tension. And that is the essence of self-healing in inner awareness.

The inner mind incites our emotions. When our emotions are not fully expressed, the subconscious stores the emotions deeply inside the body. The unexpressed feelings remain there, unresolved, until they are somehow catharted or dissolved away. While doing self-healing in inner awareness, the cancer patient goes through a therapeutic process of detecting, acknowledging, expressing, and then dissolving away all of the significant emotions that are stored within. This process can be one of the most profound & beneficial experiences of the person's lifetime. The hidden emotions are encountered, one by one, by the inner mind. Over & over again, each stall in the barn is cleansed. Emotions are confronted, fully expressed, and then completely dissolved away. Once the feelings are dissolved away, their energy is released and their accompanying internal stress is totally relieved, and gone forever. After these healing sessions, people notice a definite sense of physical relief, and an emotional lightness. As this self-healing process continues over time, more & more tension is released until all of the inner stress is completely removed. This is a major step and true healing is occurring!

Years ago, I knew a gentleman who was a very unenthusiastic handyman who truly disliked home repair. When work had to be done around his house, he would get out a hammer, a screwdriver, an adjustable wrench, a hand saw, and a pair of pliers. With these five tools, he attempted to do any and all repairs around his home. With these limited resources, and a definite lack of enthusiasm, however, he was never able to do an outstanding job. Compare this man to the home hobbyist who has a basement full of hand tools and power tools. With almost unlimited resources, the hobbyist has the capacity to perform just about any home repair or improvement. So it is with illness. To fully overcome all elements of illness, to prevent its recurrence, and insure permanently good health, a person must have a wide range of mental, physical & psychological resources. All the tools must be there; let's discuss them.

One of the great characteristics of self-healing in inner awareness is that the subconscious can take the mind into a state of expanded mental awareness, insight & learning. While in deep relaxation, the individual can release the past, broaden mental perceptions, and further develop the personality. The higher level of self-healing enhances the mind's ability to tap into your hidden inner resources, giving you all the tools you require. Your awareness & experience of feelings is heightened. You learn to acknowledge and then fully express all of your feelings, & prevent any deep inner emotional tension inside the body. You no longer ignore, judge or bury your emotions. You realize the importance of a full emotional life, and how your previous attitudes prevented you from truly "feeling". You come to realize that emotions are meant to be experienced physically, and that there are really never "bad" emotions. You start to feel all emotions even if some are uncomfortable. That's how you know you are alive. After doing the emotional work, then you will understand what it is to really love & know how to find love without resorting to misdirected behaviors. You will eventually have that moment of deep perception as you realize that there is no love and emotional reward in accumulating material things.

While in the state of heightened awareness, you have more meaningful insights into your life situation. You are able to examine the tools that you have been using to cope with life. You are better able to understand your capabilities and most importantly the limitations you have imposed on yourself. You will understand if you have handcuffed yourself by responding to life's challenges in a very narrow manner. What other choices might a person have instead of continually & obsessively pleasing others? Some will realize why they have maintained such limited perceptions of life that they were only able to be "perfect". What does it feel like when you are a bit imperfect? How is it that you have been over-focused and rigid, so that you see life as only "black or white"? With Self-healing in inner awareness all those limiting perceptions are broadly expanded so that you see things from many viewpoints & alternatives all at once. You are also able to reframe all of your ineffectual thoughts, attitudes, & perceptions. Your life begins to "go beyond the pale"; you are able to "color outside the lines". Your self-imposed limitations drop by the wayside. You accept the realities of life.

All of this perceptual reframing, which stays with you after self-healing, occurs according to the guidelines of your innermost creativity. You decide how & where you are going in your life. You now have the freedom to focus on worthwhile & realistic goals. You decide which new tools to develop and how you will use them. You can quickly remove those old fears, doubts, & inhibitions that overly limited your life. You become aware of the person you have truly wanted to be all along. You develop more positive feelings about yourself and your life. Your reexamined & expanded thoughts, perceptions and attitudes are new tools that allow you to better overcome the challenges & difficulties in your life. You learn to strongly influence events including your cancer therapy. You understand that you truly have great value as a person. You develop an awareness that you deserve to live a happier life and enjoy good health.

All of the self-healing in inner awareness brings about heightened self-esteem and a new zest for healing & wellness. You are able to develop a truly invincible Spirit, indeed a Spirit that never gives up on your ability to heal. Then there are the other deeply Spiritual aspects of your life. How will you allow the time for self-nurturing? Are you truly doing what you love to do personally & professionally? Can you see, imagine or feel the need for other choices? Are there relationship changes you must make in your life? Do the people in your life truly deserve to be there, and do you wish to be in their life as well? What have you not done that you always wanted to do? Is now the time to do them? In this time of extreme physical & emotional change, do you see yourself following a new pathway? Are there talents, skills, & new learning that you'd really like to experience? Using self-healing, you can take your subconscious mind to an elevated level of inner awareness & expanded perception. Using a special level of self-healing, you can ask significant life questions of your higher mind, gather alternatives, develop entirely new perceptions, increase your understanding, and receive meaningful answers from your higher mind.

With all of this personal work, the process of total healing is now progressing at an accelerated rate. You have made significant advances in healing Mind, Body, Feelings, and Spirit. Unquestionably you have all the inner tools you need to confront & help yourself overpower this thing called cancer.

The immune system of the body is designed to protect us from infections, and abnormal growths within the body. This is accomplished by substances contained in the blood, by all of the various types of white blood cells in the blood, and by immune substances produced by the white blood cells. When there is an infection in the body, a biochemical communication system rallies all the protective immune cells everywhere in the body. The white blood cells near the infection immediately begin to fight the infection, and then send chemical messages to all the other immune cells in the body. After receiving the message, all the immune cells spring into action, travel to the site of the infection, and begin to attack, dismantle & engulf the germs causing the infection. Once the infection is conquered, then some of the white cells develop a new memory so that any time the same infection shows up again they are ready to go into action to protect the body.

The same sort of system is activated when cells in the body become abnormal and begin to form new growths or tumors. The white blood cells become activated, and special white cells called "NK" or natural killer cells attack the new growths & tumors, demolish & dismantle the cells of the growth or tumor, & then remove the abnormal cells & structures from the body. So the immune system has a built in mechanism that is designed to remove any type of new growths from the body, and this process is going on all the time. When the immune system is working properly, the body does not develop growths or tumors. These abnormalities occur only when the immune system is weakened or damaged. When the immune system is damaged, then the body cannot remove new growths & tumors, and over time this thing called cancer can develop.

There is lots of evidence to prove that certain chemical substances that get into our body, as well as certain viruses, can damage the immune system. Research in psychoneuroimmunology over the last 50 years indicates that severe or prolonged stress will damage many organs and biochemical systems of the body including the the immune system. Stress causes a decrease in important immune blood cells, especially lymphocytes and the natural killer cells. At the same time, it has been established that our thoughts, attitudes & beliefs generate our emotions. Our feelings or emotions are converted into chemical messages, called molecules of emotion, which are transmitted throughout the entire body. All of our emotions, whether joyful or sorrowful, are received & incorporated by the white blood cells of our immune system. The way that our immune system works is clearly influenced by the emotions. Immune system studies have repeatedly indicated that intense anxiety, feelings of depression, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and despair decrease the numbers of lymphocytes and natural killer cells in our immune system. Thus unpleasant feelings actually damage our immune system & reduce our ability to fight off infection, as well as new growths & tumors. Investigators have also determined that any severe emotional loss such as the death of a loved one, or a divorce, damages the immune system too by lowering the number of lymphocytes in the circulation.

At the same time, research indicates that therapeutic interventions that encourage emotional expression & disclosure, in healthy people & cancer patients, improve the immune system and create positive health outcomes. It is also well known that the elimination of stress increases the numbers of important white cells and helps restore the immune system to proper functioning. Recent studies using emotional expression and active life coping therapies caused increased numbers of natural killer cells which produced a definite improvement and higher survival in cancer including breast cancer & melanoma.

Self-healing in inner awareness does all of the healing work that the research in psychoneuroimmunology indicates is necessary for cancer patients, and more. Self-healing can help improve one's healing ability, perhaps more comprehensively than any other forms of healing therapy. Self-healing is first accomplished by eliminating all forms of stress from the body. Some cancer therapies only emphasize conscious mind relaxation procedures. Self-healing in inner awareness goes far beyond that- it prevents daily or situational stress from occurring in the first place. It reprograms the powerful subconscious mind so that the individual remains calm in challenging situations. Self-healing also removes the most damaging form of stress, the repressed stress generated by the self-healing in inner awareness is used to restore the emotional harmony of the patient. Because self-healing uses the inner parts of the mind, it is far more effective than psychological or psychosocial interventions that are used at some cancer centers. That's because it allows the individual to discover, express, and most importantly dissolve away all of the repressed emotion that has been unresolved in the body for years. Best of all, patients learn to reframe, improve, or modify any subconscious thoughts, beliefs, fears, attitudes, or life coping strategies that have caused them severe emotional discomfort in the past. Self-healing in inner awareness can also instill the fighting, optimistic & zealous Spirit which has been shown to improve recovery from illness, prevent metastasis & recurrences, and significantly increase survival rates.

Unquestionably our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, & feelings influence our levels of deep inner stress, our emotional harmony, and ultimately our immune system. Self-healing in inner awareness, using the strength & resources of the subconscious mind, is able to effect the mental & emotional elements that can influence the immune system & our ability to confront & overpower cancer. Self-healing in inner awareness is indeed a very powerful tool for every cancer patient.

(Recommended reading: "Answer Cancer", Stephen C. Parkhill, Health Communications, Inc.)