The Mind and the Body



My husband and I call the nature walk surrounding our home "the Healing Trail."

 King David said, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Prov. 17:22.

Just as surely as your mind can make your body sick, it can make your body well.  The mind, the body, and the spirit are all inextricably interconnected. Worry, anger, jealousy, hate, ill will, grudges, vindictiveness, irritation, resentment, guilt, depression, anxiety, lack of joy and happiness, and all other negative emotions and thoughts have a negative effect upon the body and open the door for sickness and disease.

There are now quite a number of cases where a disease or sickness or altered health can be traced back to a mental cause. Many health problems,especially cancer, do not entirely clear up unless the mental aspect is also addressed.There are physiological reasons why the body reacts so dramatically to our thoughts and emotions. Every part of our being, including our cells, sympathize or respond to the positive and negative states of our minds. For this reason, when we are diagnosed with cancer, we must change our lifestyle to alleviate mental and emotional stressors in order to allow our mind to be free to instruct the body to heal itself. 

Some people can handle more stress than others, and some can be so emotionally fragile that just a little pressure can cause immeasurable harm. I had to realize that just because I was capable of performing well under stressful conditions, my spirit was not. Stress can shut down all the vital forces of the body and the mind. The interconnection and sympathy between mind, body, and spirit is so strong that in the treatment of cancer a wise person will pay attention to every part of their being with the understanding that this is essential for total or complete healing.  

Action items for healing cancer: 

1. If at all possible, take time off from work. Make it your full time job to minister to yourself. Your mind can aid in making your body well, but you will need to be actively involved in the process. When I was diagnosed, I stopped working and made it my full time job to be well.

2. Spend time reading books that will assist you in your healing journey. One of the best books I can recommend is The Hallelujah Diet by George Malkmus, It includes stories of survivors of life-threatening diseases that used a full, holistic program to strengthen the body's own innate power to heal. Another great book is You Can Conquer Cancer by Ian Gawler, a miraculous story of healing that was strongly tied to mind-body work and meditation.  

3. Practice Guided Imagery that is specifically designed for healing. You will be relaxing your physical body, emotions and mind, then guided through a visual sequence where your mind directs your body to utilize all aspects of the immune system to fight the cancer. In order to be effective, guided imagery must be administered after you have relaxed your entire body and cleared your mind to receive the healing directives.



When you are fighting cancer, the mind is your battlefront. It is absolutely mandatory that you focus your mind on everything that is uplifting. Realize that when you entertain negative thoughts, you are effectively using negative guided imagery on yourself. Your mind will follow whatever directive it hears from you. You can't leave it up to chance, or up to the fear that resides in your subconscious mind. What can you do to alter the directions that your mind is sending to your body? Using guided imagery frequently throughout the day will reprogram your subconscious mind and activate powerful healing capabilities.

A verse from the Bible talks about the Mind-Body connection this way:

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. NKJV

Doctors who specialize in mind-body healing believe that our bodies hold on to negative energy from past hurts and sorrows in our lives. That negative energy can interfere with your health. Many believe that if you don't clear yourself of these past negative emotions, you will not be able to fully heal. This is particularly true of resentment and anger. It is also true for emotions that you suppressed in the past, not wanting to experience them in the moment, that get stuck and can lead to disease. 

If you are ready to take the next step, work through the following Cancer Healing Guide. I chose to write out my answer to each question, one at a time, and read them aloud to a therapist. This is a great place to begin if you want to make sure that trapped negative emotions are not preventing you from healing from your disease. 
The Cancer Self-Healing Guide - Healing Emotions to Prevent Recurrence of Disease

Detoxing the Body - Key to Healing Cancer

Wheat Grass - Healing Benefits

Why Detoxing the Body is an Important Key to Healing from Cancer

We live in a toxic world - there is no doubt about that. Toxins found in our environment (air, water, food, and all of the products that touch our skin) gradually build up over the years until we reach a personal level of toxicity that the body can no longer deal with and ultimately leads to a toxic crisis. Toxins can act as carcinogens which set the stage for cancer to begin.

A chronically stressful lifestyle and/or painful emotions suffered in the past also have the ability to turn on hormones that weaken the immune system, suppressing the body's natural  ability to stop cancer cells before they get out of control.

Healing from cancer is a two part approach: 1. Reduce the toxic burden in the body; 2. Flood the body with healing nutrients from living foods. If you don't discover what led to the toxic crisis in the first place, you will always find yourself back in the same place - in  a toxic crisis that leads to organic disease.

If you want to heal cancer, begin by detoxing the body and the emotions:

1. Stop physically stressing your body with toxins: Eat organic foods, free of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, artificial ingredients, chemicals, preservatives, etc.. Use non-toxic cleaning and skin care products. Purify your drinking and shower water. Reduce contact with pollutants that you breathe.

2. Stop mental and emotional stress, both past and present: Work with a therapist to process and dissolve the negative energy caused by past hurts that becomes stored or trapped in the body. Forgiveness is essential to healing - forgiving yourself as well as those who hurt you. Examine your present lifestyle and change the things that cause you stress. You may need to temporarily stop working so you can devote all of your energy to healing.

Past and present negative energy must be dissolved so that your body can use all of its vital energy on healing rather than on managing the effects of stress.

As soon as I was diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma, I went to see a reputable naturopath who ordered various tests to check the source(s) of my toxicity. You can't guess at this; you need to go to a professional who can use laboratory tests to discover what is going on in your own body. For me, I had off-the-chart levels of parabens and pthalates, as well as some metals. The way my body dissolved estrogen (estrogen methylation) was producing more toxic chemicals, so I also needed to do something to alter that pathway.

My naturopath prescribed various supplements to help with my specific detoxification needs, and made it clear that if I didn't stop ingesting more toxins, the detox program would be useless. I was retested along the way to make sure the detoxification program was working, and indeed, it was!

Soon after, I attended the Optimum Health Institute where detoxification was a big part of the healing program. According to both OHI and the Hippocrates Health Institute, drinking wheat grass is an integral part of detoxification. It cleanses the body as well as flooding it with nutrients. Wheat grass nourishes the blood, lowers blood pressure, and removes toxins from the body. Used for decades by healthcare professionals,wheat grass can be consumed as part of a detox program to reduce illness and restore health. A wheat grass juice detox can improve the digestive system, remove heavy metals from the bloodstream, detox the liver, remove poisons and toxins from the body, increase energy and functionality, and nourish the blood.

Wheatgrass provides vitamins, minerals and living enzymes to the body. The nutrients within this beneficial plant remove toxins from the body and improve the health and functionality of the body without side effects.  When you have cancer, it should be consumed round the clock daily for optimum results.

Wheatgrass benefits the body by providing every amino acid, vitamin and mineral (some in only trace amounts) necessary for human nutrition. The nutritional value of wheatgrass is substantially higher than other vegetable and fruit options of equal weight. For example, it would take 2.5 lbs. of vegetables to match the nutritional value of 1 oz. of wheatgrass. Because wheatgrass packs such a strong nutritional punch, it can deliver antibacterial properties that cleanse the liver, antioxidants that strengthen the immune system and antiaging properties with just one shot of the juice (1 oz.). 

When I attended the Optimum Health Institute, we harvested our own wheatgrass and juiced it daily, drinking it throughout the day. We also used it for wheatgrass implants. This is where you give yourself an enema with purified water followed by an enema of wheatgrass which you try to retain for 10 minutes to "implant" the wheatgrass in the bowel. If you have cancer, this is a great aid in the detoxification of the liver. 

Optimum Health Institute

Once I returned home from the Institute, I continued to consume wheat grass. After careful research, I highly recommend BarleyMax wheatgrass from Hallelujah Acres. I think it is the best wheatgrass powder available, and believe it to be better than fresh wheatgrass that is quickly grown for commercial use at many 'juice bars'. BarleyMax is a certified organic whole-food concentrate made from the juice of young barley grass and alfalfa. It is kept enzymatically alive with low-temperature processing that does not damage heat sensitive nutrients. It contains no additives or fillers. It is a 100% pure juice powder that promotes detoxification and is a rich source of anti-oxidants. Because of its richness in nutrients, drinking BarleyMax and freshly extracted vegetable juices will aid the body in detoxification and in the activation of its self-healing.

BarleyMax Wheat Grass

I enjoy filling a shaker with purified ice and water, then adding a heaping tablespoon of BarleyMax Mint. It's refreshing spearmint taste makes it pleasurable to drink throughout the day. Try drinking at least 8 ounces every 2 hours from sunrise to bedtime. Alternate your wheat grass with 8 ounces of  freshly pressed vegetable juice every 2 hours. For example, 7AM - 8 ounces wheat grass; 8AM - 8 ounces freshly pressed carrot/apple juice; 9AM - 8 ounces wheat grass, etc. 

The Diagnosis of Uterine Leiomyosarcoma

A diagnosis of uterine leiomyosarcoma is devastating. It's a rare and aggressive cancer that is not as well-studied as some other cancers because of the small number of cases diagnosed each year. I was surprised when I received my diagnosis. Leiomyosarcoma is a sarcoma of the smooth muscle tissue, occurring most often in the digestive tract or uterus or bladder or prostate. Leiomyosarcomas are aggressive tumors that are often difficult to treat. The prognosis is poor, with survival rates among the lowest of all soft tissue sarcomas. That's why I immediately went on a total change of lifestyle including relaxation, nutrition, exercise and supplementation. 

After suffering with vaginal bleeding for many years, I finally decided to have a hysterectomy in November 2008.  I chose to have a  laparoscopic hysterectomy because it was less invasive and the recuperation time was much faster. I was anxious to get back to my work as a classroom Special Education teacher.

Everything was cut into tiny pieces so that it could be removed through the small incision in my belly button. They call this process morcellation. It's not the best way to remove cancer! But it wasn't until a week later that the lab informed my gynecologist that they had found uterine leiomyosarcoma there. I was also told that leiomyosarcoma does not respond to chemotherapy or radiation. Removal by surgery is the best form of treatment. My doctor consulted with M.D. Anderson about my case. I had a second operation to remove my cervix and check for any signs of cancer in my abdomen. The cervix was cancer-free and there was no sign of metastasis. Now it was up to me to strengthen my immune system so that it could fight the microscopic remains of the cancer and prevent it from returning. My lab report said it was a Stage II/III with a mitotic count of 100 in 10X magnification field. The sky high mitotic count definitely downgraded my prognosis. I was told I'd have a 50% chance to live 2 years, and a 20% chance to live 5 years. My mother immediately told me that I was going to live, and I believed her.

Please join me on my journey to strengthen the immune system. Throughout this blog you'll find information about nutrition and supplements that researchers have shown to stop angiogenesis (a fundamental step in the transition of tumors from a dormant state to a  malignant one).  Discover how to use your mind to direct the healing process, which type of exercise helps stimulate the lymph system, and so much more. Come to a place where the talk is positive and uplifting, and where integrative and natural treatments can be explored.

NEW! December 2010  I have gone for over two years without any recurrence of the cancer. When you are speaking of Uterine Leiomyosarcoma, that is a milestone! Every day is precious. My number one goal each day is to stay peaceful and calm inside, like it feels when you've just had a massage. Guided Imagery and Meditation help me to do this, along with walks in nature and deep breathing. My second job is to focus on myself: my nutrition, my supplements, my juicing, my exercise... and so much more. It's my job now, and I don't feel guilty about doing it. I still have time to cook for my family, keep the house clean, shop, run errands, and teach a little bit. But all of those things have to come second to my staying well. So I pace myself. I hope you will be encouraged to stay on your path for healing. 

NEW! October 2012  It has been almost 4 years now since my diagnosis. I have remained cancer-free. My lifestyle is second-nature now, and very enjoyable to me. I hope to encourage you on your personal journey to strengthen your immune system. 

NEW! June 2014  It has been nearly 5 years and 7 months since my diagnosis and I continue to remain completely free and clear disease. I continue to follow the entire anti-cancer program, and will do so for the rest of my life because once you have had cancer it is normal to have microscopic cancer cells that remain in your body. But your immune system is designed to keep them in check and will do so if you continue to follow a lifestyle that keeps the immune system functioning properly. That includes keeping stress hormones turned off with meditation and guided imagery!

NEW! August 2017 It has been over 8 1/2 years since my diagnosis and I have remained cancer free.  I continue to follow the program I have outlined in this blog as it is essential to keeping my immune system functioning at its best. 

NEW! December 2020 It has been 12 years since my diagnosis and I continue to remain completely cancer free. In a spirit of profound gratitude I continue the practices I have outlined in these posts enhance my immune system and release negativity and fear from my mind.