Defeat Stress- Our Most Treatable Health Hazard

 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

20 Pearls of Wisdom for a Stress Free Life: Wear Your Pearls with Pride.

As I was reading my e-mails I came across one sent to me by my sister-in law concerning stress. It caught my eye, touched my heart and then made me laugh- a rarity when dealing with STRESS. But the pearls of wisdom contained in this amusing little story were too important to delete. Have you had your giggle today? Read on ….   

 

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'... She fooled them all .... "How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.

 

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.

 

She replied , "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it.

 

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

 

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

 

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

 

So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night... Pick them up tomorrow.

 

1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

 

2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

 

3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

 

4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.

 

5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

 

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

 

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

 

8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

 

9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

 

10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

 

11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

 

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

 

13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

 

14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

 

16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

 

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

 

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

 

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

 

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

 

20 *Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate!*

 

When I finished reading this email and laughing from it, I realized how profound  those pearls of wisdom contained within it were to successfully living  a stress reduced life. If carying around a small, half full glass of water over an extended period of time can have the physical ramifictions described above, just imagine what carring the weight of the world on your shoulders for your lifetime will do to you. Put it down and drink the water. You’ll be happier and so will the world. The choice is always ours.

 

 

About the author- Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is a three- time breast cancer survivor who penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND. www.survivingcancerland.com , BTRadio Host of Living Well Talk Radio’s Your Life Revealed, Doctor’s Inn: TLC Wellness; Patheos & Om Times Blogger, CapeWomenOnlineMagazine Cancer Columnist, Contributing author to WakeUpWomen.com and Kelly Sullivan Walden’s book It’s All in Your Dreams. She is represented by & Steve Allen PR Media. Download her free workbook- 7 Steps to Access Awaken and Activate Your Inner Guide @ AccessYourInnerGuide.com

New Danish Research: The Graveyard Shift & Cancer

Although humans living in dark harmony with vampires is a popular entertainment theme, it is far from reality. New scientific evidence proves that working the “graveyard shift” may put women in an early grave.

We are wired to rise with the sun and sleep beneath the moon. Following natural sleep patterns help us stay healthy. The invention of electricity gave us artificial day at night. We extended our work hours. Has progress negatively impacted our health by turning our internal clock upside down? Questions surrounding the consequences of disrupted sleep patterns may have finally been answered.

A newly published Danish study set up a case-control group from more than 15,500 women who had been in the Danish military. Of those, 141 with breast cancer and 551 without filled in a 28-page questionnaire on work and lifestyle. But the analysis was only based on 132 cases and 505 controls.

The study also stated that women working three nights a week were at a 40% higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who did not. That number doubled to 80% if they worked 6 nights a week.

Rachel Crowson of American Radio News Network called me at home to comment on air about this breaking news.

RC: “Kathleen, you are a two-time breast cancer survivor who wrote the book, Surviving Cancerland: The Intuitive Aspects of Healing. Would you please comment on this new finding?”

 K: “It brings to light the health challenges of daytime vs nighttime workers when the obvious difference is natural light. Sunlight and darkness at the appropriate time is important to humans. The hormone melatonin is produced in the body during sleep cycles and regulates wake cycles. It is also a calming agent. Night shift workers may lack adequate amounts of it because the synthesis and release of melatonin are stimulated by darkness. Night workers are exposed to long hours of florescent light which inhibits melatonin production, and the room they sleep in during the day may not be dark enough to stimulate it either. Another consideration is the lack of cancer fighting vitamin D due to daytime sleep patterns. Scientific study has linked vitamin D deficiency to cancer.”

RC: “Kathleen, your story is pretty profound. Would you please share it with us?”

K: “I’m a two-time stage-four breast cancer survivor. What makes my story unique is that I used my female intuitive abilities through dreams to diagnose myself after doctors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute told me I was healthy. I actually forced them into two operations they originally refused to perform where my true condition was revealed.”

RC: “How did you get doctors to listen to your dreams?”

K:  "I didn’t. My healing journey was a double blind study between conventional medical tests and Intuitive dreams. It is a story of faith, intuitive ability, and contact with a Higher Order that gave me the strength to ignore the weight of incorrect medical opinion and the statistical survival chances to survive. I always worked with my conventional doctors, but never forgot to make the final decisions. I think it is important to point out that my dreams told me to go back to my doctors rather than looking for Swami-wami Ramalama-ding-dong. My dreams had faith in my doctors.

RC: How does your story fit into this new study?”

K: “Listen to your body. Deficiencies that lead to illness will make themselves known with signs, signals and symptoms. Our bodies have been speaking to us since the beginning of time. Believe in your inner guidance.”

RC: “What do you see as a solution to this study? Is there an answer?”

K: “As long as two paychecks are required in homes to make ends meet, and there is a need for round-the-clock health care, there will be night shift workers and increased stress levels. Until more research is done on this information, I suggest taking vitamin D and melatonin supplements before bed.”

According to WebMD and the Mayo Clinic, the hormone melatonin is produced in the brain by the pineal gland.

Lisa Wilde, director of research at Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "Night shift working and breast cancer risk is a hugely complex area and two of the biggest risk factors – diet and physical activity outside of working hours – weren't considered in this study.”

It would be paradise to work substantial week-day nine-to-five jobs. The reality is our economic challenges have put many families in financial crisis. Unable to afford child care, one parent works day shifts while the other stays home with the children. At night those roles are reversed. Many mothers work the graveyard-shifts in caregiver facilities like hospitals. It pays time and a half. Coupled with financial problems, this can cause profound stress. Stress is a proven killer and is cited as one of the reasons for an increase in cancer.

Until we can all have the ideal life, job opportunities and work environment, do your body a favor; don’t put it in an early grave. Fortify it with supplements and exercise, empower it with love, and listen to it. You chose it for this lifetime. Don’t wear it out before its time. Meditate, count your blessings, and thank your Higher Power for guidance.

About the author: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is an author, Radio co-host Beyond the 5 Senses, Q&A cancer columnist for Cape Women Online Magazine, & RA BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Her website @ www.survivingcancerland.com Follow her @ FBhttp://t.co/aD3Zo3q;Thttps://twitter.com/#!/PsychicHealing;LIhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Resources: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay665152_20120529_Night_Shift_Might_Boost_Women_s_Breast_Cancer_Risk__Study.html?cmpid=138896554


http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/28/night-shift-raises-cancer-risk-study http://www.americasradionewsnetwork.com/


http://www.americasradionewsnetwork.com/rachel-crowson-joins-americas-radio-news-network http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin/NS_patient-melatonin