A Patient’s Guide to Understanding
Cutaneous Lymphoma
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For some, it’s as easy as seeing a white light or healing light enter the
body and heal cancer cells, leaving their bodies healthy and strong.
Research shows that just imagining an event can result in the brain actually
experiencing it as though the event were happening.
Medical Hypnosis
Medical hypnosis is defined as a state of focused awareness. This is
simply a relaxed state where individuals “put to sleep” thoughts from their
conscious mind and tap into a deeper level of consciousness to increase
focus. Similar to relaxation and guided imagery, in medical hypnosis a
patient hears a set of suggestions that have meaning for that individual,
transporting them into a calmer state of being.
Mindfulness
Modern Western psychology has many definitions of mindfulness including
“a psychological quality that involves bringing one’s complete attention
to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis.” In a fast-paced
world, with scary news like a cancer diagnosis, it becomes easy to be
preoccupied with what the future may hold or what the next test, scan, or
treatment will reveal. Mindfulness allows us to be present and disseminate
random, scary, unknowable thoughts coursing through the mind.
Tony Horton, a trainer and developer of the popular P90X exercise
regimen, begins his yoga workout by saying: “Forget what happened prior
to starting, let go of what you need to do after, and just allow yourself to
be in the moment and be ready for a ride you won’t forget.” A core tenet of
yoga practice is learning to be mindful and in the moment. Truly, the past
is gone, the future has yet to exist, so all we really have is this moment. If we
can embrace it, it becomes easier to set aside fears and “what ifs.”
Yoga
Yoga, an ancient tradition originating in Central Asia, is the practice of
engaging mind, body, and spirit in the present and with clear focus on the
worthiness of an endeavor.
Yoga has grown significantly in the West. Today, more than 15 million
individuals engage in a yoga practice. Yoga is ranked as the 6th most
common complementary/integrative medicine therapy in the U.S. cancer
survivor population and the 3rd most common practice overall behind deep
breathing and meditation.
