Holistic Healing
Empower Your Healing
Combine conventional and complimentary medicine to heal your mind, body and soul. While conventional medicine is typically physically having something done to you such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, or taking a prescription medication, holistic therapies use alternative or complimentary therapist and are performed with you as an active participant. Integrative therapies have been shown to reduce stress, reduce pain, and improve quality of life. Using complimentary therapy helps patients continue on conventional therapies while providing their own intrinsic health benefits. As with any treatment, always as your oncology provider and healthcare team before receiving any holistic therapy. Ask your healthcare team if they recommend and trust specific complimentary therapists in your area to fit your needs.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is part of the ancient practice of traditional Chinese medicine that is based on acupuncture points that connect the meridians of the body. The energy flow (Qi or "chee") through the body is responsible for ones life force energy and overall health. Tiny metallic needles are used to penetrate the skin and target these acupuncture points. Improving the flow of Qi is thought to balance and optimize health. Acupuncture is particularly helpful at managing symptoms of chemotherapy side effects, hot flashes, fatigue, nausea, joint aches, etc.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is the manipulation of muscles and fascia by kneading, rubbing, or pressing. Massage can relax the nervous system and decrease pain. An oncology massage may be more specific, slower, and targeted and the therapist likely has taken a specific oncology massage program and obtained a certification.
Meditation
Massage is the technique of a therapist using their body to rub the skin and knead the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Massage can help to mitigate side effects, improve sleep, decrease anxiety and depression, prevent neuropathy and relieve lymphedema.
Qigong and Tai Chi
Qigong and Tai Chi are traditional Chinese meditative movements that coordinate body motion, breathing, and mental focus. The exercises have been shown to improve anxiety and depression, decrease stress and regulate the body's nervous system toward a parasympathetic resting and relaxing response.
Try Qigong for Beginners (YouTube).
Yoga
Yoga, which originated in ancient India, incorporates physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayamas), meditation, chants, and relaxation (savasana) to control and still the mind and unite the mind, body and spirit. Studies have found that Yoga improves physical, emotional, social, and psychological well-being in cancer patients, reduces side effects, and improves adherence to treatment. There are many different types of yoga including but not limited to Vinyasa (flow), Kundalini (life force energy), Hatha (balancing the moon and sun or opposing forces), Yin (slow, long held positions), Nidra (yogic sleep), Restorative (relaxing into the pose using props or bolsters). Therapeutic yoga is applying the poses and practices of yoga to treat a health condition.
Reiki Therapy
Reiki is a Japanese energy healing technique in which a Reiki therapist shares energy. The word Reiki is a combination of the Japanese words "rei" which means universal and "ki" which means vital life force energy that flows through all living beings. This technique has been shown to aid in relaxation and stress relief. It can also help with symptom relief and promote well-being. Your cancer center may offer Reiki. A Reiki treatment will last about 50 minutes, you'll be clothed and the practitioner will place their hands on or just above your body in a series of a dozen or more hand positions. You may feel certain sensations like tingling or temperature changes and will likely feel very relaxed, peaceful and calm.
Breathwork
Breathwork encompasses various breathing practices and techniques in which the conscious control of breathing can change a person's mental, emotional, and physical health.
Sound Healing
Sound healing uses different vibrations to heal the body, mind and spirit. We are energetic beings and different emotions vibrate at different levels of our physical body. When these areas are blocked or have we unexpressed emotions, this can cause disease. Unblocking and helping the body resonate at certain frequencies can promote cellular healing. Tap into sound healing by listening to certain healing sound frequencies and binaural beats to increase your immune response and decrease your stress response.
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine in order to re-align your body and optimize the body's ability to heal itself. Gentle pressure or manipulation is used on joints to improve function. Some chiropractors also offer nutrition and exercise counseling.
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Action Plan
Download an App
Insight Timer, Headspace, or Calm Apps all have free access in addition to paid plans. Try healing sound therapy, affirmations, meditations, Yoga Nidra.
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Try Holistic Healing for Free
Breast and ovarian cancer survivors can utilize Unite for Her, an organization that provides a passport for 10 free complementary and alternative resources (depending on your geographic location) and other wellness resources including counseling, and nutrition.
Books on Holistic Healing and Architecting Your Life
Ignite Your Light: A Sunrise-to-Moonlight Guide to Feeling Joyful, Resilient, and Lit from Within by Jolene Hart. This book provides rituals, recipes, healing techniques and insights into how to access the powers of our bodies, nature, and holistic therapies. She structures the book around times of day to harness our own rhythms and that of the sun and moon.
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Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself by Lissa Rankin. Former Obstetrician and Gynecologist turned counselor helps you create a prescription to heal yourself. Through her own healing, she realized that her own teaching in western medicine had failed to recognize the important fact that our bodies innately can heal themselves. She provides practical instructions to architect your own life and health. Another book, The Fear Cure: Cultivating Courage as Medicine for the Body, Mind, and Soul is also an excellent read on how fear can make us ill, how to overcome fear and embrace courageous inner voice which she terms our "Inner Pilot Light".
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Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Dr. Kelly Turner. Radical Remission is the product of over 100 interviews of cancer survivors and 1000 case reports of patients who have survived cancer despite the diagnosis of terminal cancer. She discovered 9 commonalities that survivors use to survive despite the odds. She highlights the survivor's stories and provides evidence based research behind why these techniques work. I highly recommend this book for inspiration and guidance.
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Get Rooted: Reclaim Your Soul, Serenity, and Sisterhood Through the Healing Medicine of the Grandmothers by Robyn Moreno. This memoir and self-help book starts with the author's mid-life melt down or burnout. She embarks on a 260-day healing journey of reconnecting with her Mexican heritage, releasing personal and family trauma, and becoming a healer (curandera). I enjoyed her healing techniques, journal prompts, and meditations which throughout the book. She goes on a retreat and hugs and speaks to a tree. What's not to love?
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Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. This book explores the history and science behind breathing and how breathing impacts our overall health and how we can harness our innate power everyday. It offers an interesting view of the many different ways and practices of breath work throughout the world. Read it while practicing breath work in an in-person or online class, a YouTube video, or through a wellness app like Insight Timer.
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The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer by Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and Dr. Elissa Epel. Nobel Prize winner Dr. Blackburn and longevity researcher Dr. Epel share their fascinating findings on telomeres, the repeating genetic code at the ends of our chromosomes. When our cells replicate, the telomeres on the end protect the chromosomes from getting damaged, but with time and unhealthy lifestyle they can decrease which leads to illness. Telomeres are key in longevity and cellular health. It is fascinating and exciting to read how lifestyle interventions (eating a healthy diet, exercising, and managing stress) lengthen telomeres through the enzyme telomerase.
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Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown. Brown examines what happens when we fail, fall, or falter and how to process the loss and pick ourselves back up and start again with more wisdom and more wholeheartedly than before. She uses the catchy 3-phrase process of reckoning, rumbling and revolution to move beyond the fall.
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David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell. Beginning with the tale of David and Goliath, Gladwell shows how one can succeed despite all odds and indeed being the underdog can even have its advantages. He uses historical and modern day examples to uncover how we think and react to obstacles and adversity shapes our lives.
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Delve Deeper
Selvan P, Hriso C, Mitchell J, Newberg A. Systematic review of yoga for symptom management during conventional treatment of breast cancer patients. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2022 Aug;48:101581. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101581. Epub 2022 Apr 6. PMID: 35398542.