I’ve heard people say “I got cancer” as if cancer is something from outside of them that entered their bodies. Like a virus or a bacteria. But cancer cells are our own cells gone awry. Nothing foreign has entered our bodies. Our bodies have reacted to some form of stress in our lives by forming cancer cells.

I’ve recently heard several people talk about their bodies “cancering.” It is a process our bodies do when they are developing cancer. These people say our bodies are always either cancering or healing. When we treat cancer with chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation, we are dealing with the effect of the cancering, but we aren’t stopping the process.

The American Cancer Society says that 70% of people diagnosed with (and treated for) cancer will have a recurrence. Could that be because they didn’t do anything to change the process that created cancer in the first place?

There are so many sources of stress in our lives that we react to. In The Metabolic Approach to Cancer, Nasha Winters, ND, says “Viewed in a positive light, cancer . . . can act as a messenger bringing a strongly worded invitation to explore how your life may be out of balance. Then it is up to you to decide if you want to change it.”

Dr. Winters talks about the “Ten Terrains,” or ten different areas of our lives where imbalance or stress to the whole person (mind, body, emotions, spirit) can come from. Identifying and becoming aware of which ones are happening in our lives can be a good start in stopping the cancering process. The mechanisms governing cancer development are multifaceted and interconnected, and may be different for each person.

When I took the Ten Terrains questionnaire in Dr. Winters’ book, I discovered that the area where I got the highest score, and thus where I needed to start, was “Stress and Biorhythms.” Who knew that being a night owl and going to bed after 11 could be a factor in disrupting my biorhythms and contributing to my body cancering?

Dr. Winters will be one of the presenters at our final Cancer as a Turning Point conference, in Sacramento on September 8th. She will tell her story of how she implemented what she learned about the Ten Terrains to heal her own stage 4 ovarian cancer. She is one of 6 story tellers who will talk about their personal healing stories in this one-day free conference.

Even though this event is free, we recommend that you pre-register. And please help us spread the word. Here is a flyer that you can send to others via email, or print and post or distribute. Thank you!

The movie, HEAL, is another good resource to learn about whole-person healing. And now Hay House is offering a free summit, airing some of the full interviews done for the movie. You can sign up to watch it here.

As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.

In the Spirit of Healing,

Jan Adrian, MSW
Founder and Executive Director