8.29.2013

6 TREATMENTS THAT FOSTER SELF HEALING


I’m a hardcore believer in self-healing. I’m not saying we don’t need doctors and practitioners by any means - that would be ridiculous. What I AM saying is that I believe we all have the power to heal ourselves and prevent illness to a very large degree.

My role as a holistic health coach is to be a partner to and guide for my clients - not to dictate how and when they heal. This is why I was stoked to read about Dr. Kelly Turner’s work on cases of spontaneous remission of cancer - or as she calls it “unexpected remission” of cancer.

I first stumbled across Dr. Kelly Turner’s work in the book Mind Over Medicine, then again in readings from the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Dr. Turner is a researcher, lecturer, and consultant in the field of Integrative Oncology. Her specialized research focus is the “unexpected remission” of cancer—a remission that occurs either in the absence of Western medicine or after Western medicine has failed to achieve remission. Turner spent ten months traveling the world in search of fifty nonallopathic cancer healers. She found twenty unpublished cases of unexpected remission and conducted phone interviews with the survivors.

How frickin cool is that?

The American Cancer Society provided partial funding for her study.
Side note: American Cancer Society also paid for my mom’s flight and hotel stay in Arizona when she was seeking alternative treatment. Nice work ACS. But I digress...

In her research, Dr. Turner found 6 top treatments used by her interviewees to heal themselves of cancer. Perhaps you’re asking why I’m focusing on cancer remissions... I want to make clear that the techniques listed below may be used just as effectively for the PREVENTION of cancer, or any disease for that matter. And I’m allll about prevention.

Now this is not a prescription as to what YOU should do, this is simply a compilation of treatments that Dr. Turner identified as the top ones her interviewees followed and that worked for them. So here we go...

6 TREATMENTS THAT FOSTER
SELF HEALING

1. DIET CHANGE

Radical diet change was a top factor in fostering self healing among those who had experienced “spontaneous remission” of their cancers. So what did that look like? Elimination of meat, dairy, sugar, and refined grains. The majority of interviewees ate a diet consisting of whole vegetables, fruits, grains and beans.

In my recent visit to Costa Rica, I took a guided hike through the rainforest and had some great conversations with my guide Felipe, a native of the area (and whose family still lived in the rainforest).

We talked a lot about the environment, toxicity from pesticides, cancer and diabetes - which many of his friends and family are now dealing with - and diet. Felipe has considerable knowledge about medicinal herbs and is a “go-to” person for helping people in his community overcome certain illnesses. When asked about diet and disease, Felipe told me that the very first thing he tells someone with such diseases who come to see him is stop eating meat, dairy and sugar. Non-negotiable.

Now I’m not an advocate that one diet fits all - by any means! And I am not against consumption of meat and dairy, or the occasional chocolate cupcake ;). I do however believe that when your body is severely compromised, elimination of inflammatory or acidic foods such as the ones indicated above will help your body to heal more rapidly. Not to mention give your body a well deserved break for those who are sensitive to these foods! This is why I base my detoxes and programs on the elimination diet to start - giving your body a break from these foods can be profoundly healing and eye-opening.

Shameless plug: For anyone who’s interested, I’m working on my fall detox program coming up soon, so be on the lookout! :)


2. TAKING HERBS & VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS

The majority of her interviewees took various herbs and supplements that they believed would help boost their immune system, detoxify and help facilitate healing in their bodies. You might be wondering which supplements worked best... and the truth is they were all over the map. There was no single “super” supplement in common with any of the interviewees - which brings up 2 very important points:

First, everyone is biochemically different - because of this bioindividuality, one person’s healing herb may not be so good for another. Pathologically, each person’s disease or ailment was also unique. So making the claim that any one specific supplement would work for everyone would be irresponsible and misinformed.

The second point is that the interviewees believed their herbal and supplement regimen was healing them. Don’t get me started on the power of belief and the placebo/"nocebo" effect (I’ll get into that in later articles) but the importance that your belief carries is substantial.

Check in with your beliefs about your body and ailments... what is the story you are living by? If it’s not serving you, then maybe it’s time to rewrite that story.


3. SURRENDER - RELEASE SUPPRESSED EMOTIONS

Turner remarks that most of her interviewees discussed the importance of being at peace with both dying and living - to truly surrender and release repressed negative emotions such as anger, fear and grief. It does not serve us to hold onto any emotion, even happiness as happiness can easily turn into nostalgia, then longing, etc if not released.

LET THE SHIT GO. Let go of fear. Let go of resentment. Let go of any emotion that you’re harboring so you can focus on healing!


4. FEELING LOVE, JOY, HAPPINESS

This is different than positive thinking... Turner found that her interviewees all believed in the importance of joy & love in your life for facilitating healing.

Laugh every day. Do something you love each and every day. Show gratitude and be of service. Find unconditional love in your life.


5. EXPERIENCING A DEEPENING OF SPIRITUALITY

Most of the people Turner interviewed talked about having an internal sensation of spiritual energy - they felt the experience of divine, loving energy in their body, which they achieved through various ways such as meditation, prayer, gardening, energy healing, etc.

We’re not talking about the feeling you get when you see Brad Pitt take off his shirt in Fight Club (altho it seems pretty damn close to a transcendental experience for me). It’s also not about deepening one’s beliefs about spirituality. But rather, it was having an actual internal feeling/sensation/transcendent experience of loving, divine energy in their body.


And finally, #6. This last one is probably my favorite of them all (...and you thought it was diet change, didn’t you?)

6. USING INTUITION TO HELP INFORM TREATMENT DECISIONS

I’ll tell you why this one is so great to me. It puts the the patient, the person, back into the driver’s seat of our health. It shows that we know our bodies better than anyone else. It empowers us to trust our intuition and listen to our bodies. Any healthcare provider you have - whether they’re a doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist, health coach, etc - is your partner in your health journey, not the boss of it. Remember that.

Here’s a story from one of Turner’s interviewees, “Unexpected Survivor #7”, who overcame recurrent metastatic breast cancer after conventional medicine had failed to work:
[The Tibetan healer] took his finger and with a pinpoint accuracy touched every spot on my body where I had had cancer, or where I had cancer presently. It was amazing! He could see what scans couldn’t see. I had predicted my cancer four times. I had led [my doctors] to it with a pinpoint of accuracy before the scans could even pick up the collection of cells. [The Tibetan healer] could do what I could do with my own body.

HOPE FOR SELF HEALING
I love Dr. Turner’s work because it not only demonstrates that we absolutely have the ability to heal ourselves, but the stories she collects provide HOPE to those who are going thru life altering diseases.

Having had a front-line experience with my mom’s cancer journey, I can undoubtedly say that the above treatments and stories from Turner’s research are invaluable. If you’re interested in checking out more stories or work from Dr. Kelly Turner, be sure to visit her website at
www.radicalremission.com.


If you dig this post, share your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. I'd love to hear from you! 



And if you're ready to make some real changes in your health, email me to sign up for a strategy session and uncover your unique roadmap to wellness town!


 

0 comments:

Search

Archive