According to experts at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, even when faced with the worst possible news from your doctor, some of your recovery may actually be in your own control.
“I have advanced ovarian cancer,” said Liz Schwartz, a former participant and current peer counselor for the Mind Body Program for Cancer at the Institute. “When I was finished (with treatment), I felt very lost, and very alone and very depressed.”
But thanks to a few simple, yet powerful techniques, people like Schwartz are not only surviving, but thriving, as they battle cancer.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty in my life in terms of what will happen. But there’s something about what you learn in this group that really does make you have a gratefulness for what you have every day,” said Schwartz. “I’m able to use the skills to decrease anxiety.”
The key is tapping into the power of your mind through relaxation techniques like meditation, reciting mantras, and deep breathing.
“If you’re anxious and upset, your immune system is not as efficient,” said Ann Webster, a health psychologist at the Institute and leader of the Mind Body Program for Cancer. “You could do this during chemotherapy or you can do it during radiation.”
Webster also does imagery work for healing with her patients.
“I have people put their hand on their thymus gland. And your immune cells are made here in your sternum. They put their hand (over their sternum) and imagine their bodies are making more little immune cells and sending them out through their body to do their work. And I have great results with this,” said Webster.
“I had a fellow in my cancer group. He had biliary cancer, and his white blood cell count was low. And his doctor told him the white blood cell count is never going to go back to normal. I worked with him three times sitting and imagining his body making more white blood cells here in his sternum … and he saw them as turquoise, sparkling stars traveling through his body to do their work. After three sessions with me, he went in and had his blood work done, and the nurse comes out and says, ‘Your white blood cell count is normal. We don’t understand. I could give you dozens of stories like this.”
Webster also does a technique called “news and goods” with her patients, which is training them to do something new and good for themselves every day. She says it’s one of the best proven antidepressants she’s ever seen.
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