Can Meditation Help the Fight Against Cancer?

There may be no word that carries more fear these days than “Cancer.” Most of us don’t even want to think about it, though many of us are forced to think about it when we or one of our loved ones receives the news. When that happens, life narrows to one priority—how do we fight this? What can we do? With so many treatment options, offering such a wide range of success and side-effects, the treatment information can be overwhelming and confusing—to say the least. There is one simple practice that can help you no matter what other treatment protocols you follow. Meditation can offer pain relief, and even enhance healing, while helping you cope with the mental-emotional challenges that this disease brings up.

If you are unfamiliar with meditation or think it is some exotic practice reserved for spiritual adepts living in the Himalayas, let me assure you that meditation is a natural human ability that can be used in a very down to earth, practical way. In essence, it is about guiding your attention in a healthy way.

Meditation can be as simple as closing your eyes, relaxing your muscles, and paying attention to your breathing.

How could such a simple process be all that helpful?

First of all, meditation redirects your mind from imagining all sorts of terrible things that might happen to paying attention to what is happening right now and what can be done. You may think that directing your mind away from cancer would be the best thing, but actually accepting it, relaxing as best as you can in the face of it, and calming observing what is happening can support healing and help in good decision-making. Rather than reacting from fear and being consumed by it, you can direct your mind to positive options that can make things better.

In meditation you will commonly guide your attention toward one focal object. Paying attention to one thing, such as your breathing, has a focusing effect that calms your body. Paying attention to slow deep breathing initiates a relaxation response in your body that eases muscular tension, quiets your mind, and releases positive neurochemicals such as dopamine and serotonin that have pain-reducing and relaxation-increasing effects. When you relax down out of a stress-fear response, you put your body in a state that is conducive to healing and regeneration. You initiate a cascade of positive bio-chemistry that can help your body regain health and feel better in the moment.

All of us have cancerous cells that our body normally handles quite well. Our body knows how to deal with them. It’s when our natural healing and regeneration processes are overwhelmed that the disease begins to get the better of our immune resources. Anything we can do to relax and stimulate our natural immune response will help us regain the upper hand.

Another meditative technique that holds promise is to visualize healthy cells. Research shows that holding images of what healthy cells look and function like can facilitate positive immune response. Could it be that through visualization we connect to a healthy blueprint that informs cellular function and promotes a return to health? Many people have experienced this result.

Meditation can also help you to connect to positive feelings of well-being. You can practice generating positive feelings of acceptance, appreciation, love, and gratitude inside your body. One of the most interesting anecdotal discoveries in cases of cancer remission is that those who recover fully often say that they regained their ability to give and receive love and that this made all the difference. Meditation can grow your ability to move into acceptance, which may lead you to appreciation of unforeseen opportunities available within the cancer experience. This could lead you to being grateful for moments of love in even the most desperate feeling situations. Consciously cultivating the love in your heart may take you to a whole new place mentally, emotionally, and physically.

In summary, meditation can be used in conjunction with any treatment modality to make the whole process more manageable and less painful on all levels. In some cases, this makes the difference in experiencing a real turnaround. If you’d like to learn more about how meditation can raise your vibration to a healthier state, check out the link in the Resource Box below.