by Dr. Bernie
Siegel
(I give Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos permission to use
and post my blog on her sites. Dr. Bernie Siegel.)
My
guest blogger today, as part of October's Breast Cancer Awareness
Month, is Dr. Bernie Siegel. Stress during treatment is a constant
challenge that, if left unaddressed, can become overwhelming.
Overcoming that stress is a goal many patients and their families hope
to obtain. Bernie, as he affectionately prefers to be called, has some
wonderful advice and tips on how to defeat stress.
“If
you face the sunshine, you do not see the shadows.”
-Helen
Keller
I know from experience how easy it is to focus on
what is troubling you versus what heals and sustains you. To change that focus,
we must be willing to make the effort to see through the darkness and find the
light. When people ask me “How do you deal with stress?” I answer, “Drugs and
alcohol.” Most people do know I am kidding. The truth is that one way I learned
to handle stress is by not leaving anything unfinished. There are all kinds of
healthy ways to lower or eliminate stress in your life. It is one of our
potentially very dangerous health risks, but it is also our most curable when
recognized and treated.
The workplace generates significant stress for many
people. Since statistics tell us that on Monday mornings adults have more heart
attacks, suicides, strokes and illnesses because of their work, it may be time
to look for choices to help change how work is affecting your stress level.
Maybe you can’t quit your job or leave a career you have built, but you can
change how your mind controls your body’s reaction to what you experience as
unrelenting stress on a daily basis. One powerful way to make this
transformation is to find a CD to listen to regularly that will help you
develop a deep sense of inner peace and wisdom. A calm mind has a much better
chance of seeing an issue clearly and coming up with a remedy. I recommend a CD
I created just for this purpose. The title is Finding Your True Self: Audible
and Subliminal Affirmations to Develop Your Personal Sense of Inner Peace and
Wisdom. Scientific studies show that
these subliminal affirmations are an easy and effective way to overcome mental
hurdles and give yourself more health and happiness throughout your life.
Choose a specific time and quiet, undisturbed place for your “therapy.” When
you encounter stressful situations, you can call upon this inner peace immediately,
stopping stress in its tracks.
Home life can be very stressful, too. When my wife
and I were young parents of five children born within seven years, including
twins, our children’s care and comfort were, of course, our top priorities. We
just didn’t realize that as we acted out of love, caring for all aspects of our
children’s needs, the resulting exhaustion had its effect on our immune systems
and stress hormone levels. I ended up in the hospital with a severe
staphylococcal infection and Bobbie developed multiple sclerosis. I was
awakened to the fact that one cannot separate one’s health from one’s life.
Elisabeth-Kubler-RossAs my close friend, Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross, said quietly to me during one of her workshops after I expressed
my anger over family problems I couldn’t fix and all the diseases I couldn’t
cure, “You have needs too.” Those words have stayed with me and I share them
with you now as an important truth to remember. So find what inspires you and
fills not only your lungs with life but your every activity with the excitement
that comes from having creative choices. By doing so you become a co-creator of
your life and begin to realize that a perfect world would be meaningless,
giving you no choices or possibilities.
We are so quick to resist any changes in our work,
home, and other routines of life, perceiving them to be the cause of more
stress to endure. We have the power to change our life and attitude, but if our
mind tells us that change is the enemy and we are its helpless victims, our
stress hormones rise to dangerous levels affecting all body systems. Change is
not the enemy unless we see it as something we have no choice about except to
react with increased stress. Our sense of powerlessness and even fear about
change triggers a primitive chemical reaction in our bodies that raises stress
hormones so that we can face the perceived threat. Constant assaults like these
on the immune system leave us much less protected against real threats to
overall health and well-being.
Yet far from being our enemy, change is really just
a universal truth—everything in the universe is subject to change, and when we
get on the universe’s schedule, many things begin to happen that are to our
benefit. Resolve to eliminate stress! It is very harmful to our health, but it
is one health hazard we all have the ability to cure. Start by finding your
True Self and fill your mind with loving, supportive affirmations that you can
call upon any time stress threatens your health and well-being. Whether through
your work life, home life, or any other aspect of your life, do what you love
and you are burning up, not out.
by Dr. Bernie Siegel
Bernie's words concerning
stress ring so true. The first step is to recognize, rather than ignore
stress Stress is a sign to stressed that it is time for a much needed
change. The next step is to move in the direction of that change. Let
Honesty with Self be your guide.
Guest Bio: About Bernie: http://berniesiegelmd.com/For
many, Dr. Bernard Siegel—or Bernie, as he prefers to be called—needs no
introduction. He has touched many lives all over the Planet. In 1978, he
reached a national and then international audience when he began talking about
patient empowerment and the choice to live fully and die in peace. As a
physician who has cared for and counseled innumerable people whose mortality
has been threatened by illness, Bernie embraces a philosophy of living and
dying that stands at the forefront of the medical ethics and spiritual issues
our Society grapples with today. In May 2011, Bernie was honored by the Watkins
Review of London, England, as one of the Top 20 Spiritually Influential Living
People on the Planet. He continues to break new ground in the field of healing,
supporting changes in medical education to “humanize” medical practice.
Bio: Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, Intuitive Life
Coach, survived three breast cancers missed by the medical community, wrote
SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014)
websites: Surviving Cancerland & Access Your Inner Guide, Hosts Living Well
Talk Radio , Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen
columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, Your Dream Interpretation
http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/ ,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH
Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Represented by Steve Allen Media
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