Quality Care

 

"The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well."

Hippocrates

Emotional Healing

En Español | All illnesses can be healed, although the only way for healing to occur is if we also address the emotions tied to it, instead of just treating the biological or physical body.

To heal is to acknowledge the emotions that are associated to the illness, every material manifestation is first create in the emotional body. By asking ourselves where does this emotion comes from, since when, why, etc. and working the emotions of rage, anger, and intolerance we can understand the reasons of why we have become what we are today and why this manifestation has happened.

The first step to promote healing to ocurre, is to address the emotions we have in us.

Release Suppressed Emotions

In order to get better, and strengthen our inmune system, we must be in a state of true relaxation and acceptance. To achieve this state of relaxation the release of negative thoughts and emotions such as fear must be addressed, after all fear many times can present itself as the feeling of helplessness provoked by an illness that seems out of our control.

When our helplessness is addressed, our fears disappear. This process of healing comes from within, and through different techniques of relaxation, and with or without the guidance of a therapists, we can stimulate our subconscious, or the body-mind, to relax and achieve acceptance.

 

The first step is to surrender. There are many activities we can undertake in order to release everything we are suppressing. It is important to relax while taking part in this activity, taking deep breaths in order to oxygenate our cells, helping our body heal. 

 

The following are some of the activities that can help you let go of your fear:

  • Keep a journal.

  •  Make a list of what is bothering you during emotional moments.

  • Practice Daily forgiveness.

  • Provoque laughter.

  • Take a stress management course.

  • See a healer or therapist (Body Talk, Bio-decoding.)

  • Hypnosis.

Increase Positive Emotions 

Maintaining a positive attitude has many benefits, all of which will help your body heal. 

 

Positive emotions can achieve the following:

  • Lower blood pressure.

  • Improve blood circulation.

  • Promote deeper breathing, which brings more oxygen to our cells.

  • Better digestion, which means better nutrition absorption.

  • Increased white and red blood cell activity, which helps the immune system.

  • Increased natural killer cell activity, which helps the immune system fight cancer.

  • Clearing out infections.

  • Reduction of cancer cells.

 Promote Laughter

The mind is one of our three main aspects that form our beings, and thus essential for our wellbeing. If we are filled with thoughts of fear, our vibrations will be low, and eventually the balance of our bodies will be affected.

We can restore thinking and beliefs by realizing that they are just a proyection of our vibrations, and one way to change our vibrations is through laughter.

It might be difficult to engage in laughter when we are going through stressful moments, but if we try to engage in it either through laughing therapies, funny videos, or any other way that can provoque even a small smile, eventually we will change our view of our problems and they will stop being problems to start becoming challenges, you will then realize that nothing was that important.

Mind-Body Connection

The most essential aspect in determining our mindset is the quality of the care provided for us. It is vital to feel nurtured by our care providers, as knowing that they have hope in our recovery can keep us going in moments of doubt. With the support of those around us, we need to be forces of healing, believing that our body is capable of getting better. 

Our brain communicates with our cells through hormones and neurotransmitters. If a patient has a pessimistic outlook, our bodies will release stress hormones that will negatively affect it. If a patient is relaxed, however, the body can instead release healing hormones to repair its cells.  

The Placebo effect

The Placebo Effect acts as confirmation that the body can heal itself depending on what it thinks. Many studies have shown that people with incurable diseases can heal through placebos. Likewise, thinking that you won’t be able to heal can have the opposite effect and negatively affect your recovery – this is called the Nocebo Effect. 

 

A placebo drug can help us achieve this state of relaxation, but we can imitate this response with other techniques, like meditation, art, massage, laughter, being with friends, animals, etc.

Physiological Techniques to improve our emotional wellbeing 

Following are simple practices that we can do in our daily living and that will help us improve our emotional state.

  • Breathing: exercise a deep and slow abdominal breathing.

  • Posture: stand tall and with the shoulders slightly tilted backwards.

  • Facial Expression: even if it contradicts your real emotional state, the brain will try to adapt and be coherent with the facial expression.

  • Language: use the least negative terms to express yourself, as the brain will correlate any used term with past experiences. It is not the same to say “I am angry” or “I am annoyed”, they both generate different chemical responses in our brain which will influence our emotional state.

Take Control

The mind leads the body, not the other way around. In order to get better, we must believe that we will get better – it is the strength of this belief that will help us get better. It is also important to have a sense of purpose. Ask yourself WHY do you want to stay alive.

Focus on things that bring you joy, meaning, and happiness. If we focus on our illness, we may deplete the energy that would help us get better and lose out in the long run. We must therefore abandon the fight-or-flight response that seems natural to us, opting for rest and repair instead. 

 

Bring more creativity and vitality to your life. Try to find your purpose in life by imagining that if you would have enough money what would you be doing and by imagining you have one year to live what would you be doing.

Resources

CD

The Ultimate Anti-cancer Guide: The Inner Path to Finding your Work in the World. By Rick Jarow.

 

Therapies for Stress

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective strategies to decrease stress, whether the source this stress is chronic pain or a chronic disease. CBT aims to alter behavior, and change thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. In some cases, a patient may find it more helpful than support groups for improving well-being and quality-of-life. 

A typical CBT approach includes identifying the sources of our stress, restructuring our priorities, and eventually changing the way we respond to emotional distress, all while learning methods to manage and reduce our day to day stress. 

Identifying Sources of Stress

One key component in most CBT approaches is keeping a diary to record daily events and activities. The first step is to note activities that trigger our anger or anxiety, put a strain on our energy and time, or precipitate a negative physical response (such as a heartburn or headaches). You should also note positive experience that are mentally or physically refreshing and that produce a sense of accomplishment in order to emulate these in the future. 

After a week or two, try to identify the 2 or 3 activities that have upset or overwhelmed you the most. 

Questioning the Sources of Stress

Individuals should then ask themselves the following questions:

  • Do these stressful activities meet my goals or someone else's?

  • Have I taken on tasks that are too difficult to accomplish?

  • Which tasks are under my control and which ones aren't?

 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is another type of behavioral therapy that may be beneficial in reducing stress. It uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies to help individuals cope with stress. Rather than trying to change difficult thoughts and feelings to eliminate stress, as CBT does, ACT aims to help people adopt acceptance, mindfulness, and committed action. The practice may help to alter emotional distress.

ACT is based on six core practices:

  • Accepting strange or uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

  • Observing one's own uncomfortable thoughts without taking them literally or attaching too much significance to them.

  • Deciding to give our attention to the present events rather than focusing on the past or future.

  • A sense of self and ongoing awareness.

  • Identifying values that are personally important.

  • Committing to actions that correspond with these personal values.

RESOURCES

Books

Mind over matter scientific proof you can heal yourself. By Lissa Rankin, MD

Healing Song Avalokitesvara

To understand the suffering in each.

Thich Nahn Han