As we are moving into the New Year, I wondered to myself what advice I might give to encourage others to have the healthiest year ever.   And it came to me in the very greeting we give to each other at the beginning of each new year – be happy.

I am going to say it – truly happy people are healthy people.  Many scientists, doctors and psychologists have concluded this for long time now.

Deepak Chopra in his book ‘Return of the Rishi’ writes – ‘Modern medical studies repeatedly show that being happy is excellent protection against disease.’

I am going to distinguish happiness as a state of ease, peace and contentment within oneself, a quiet joy inside.  It is not the ecstatic happiness that comes and goes, although that can be part of it, but rather being comfortable in one’s own skin – grounded, relaxed, at peace – accepting of what is and  being confident to make the best of what shows up.

Happiness does not depend on having or doing anything and is not conditional on ideal circumstances.  I hear people saying ‘I’ll be happy when I am healthy’.  Actually it works the other way around.   Get happy and health follows.

Happiness is not something to strive for but rather to prepare yourself to  have show up in your life -

1)  through letting go conflict and the obstacles to being happy and

2)  through practicing and nurturing attitudes that support happiness.

Among the obstacles to experiencing happiness are thoughts, judgments and beliefs that support upset, anger, fear and  non love for self and others.  I am going to address this aspect in a separate article.  In this article, I am going to encourage you with simple ways to prepare to receive more happiness in your life.

Firstly, begin with eating well.   This is a whole topic alone.  I just want to mention here that for emotional and mental health we need to give our bodies the nutrition that will support a healthy nervous system as well as an energized, well functioning body.

Secondly it is vital to maintain regular physical activity for good brain and body health.  Numerous medical studies are showing greater mental alertness, relief of anxiety and depression by keeping the body active.

Finally, a few simple strategies for inviting more happiness into your New Year -

• wake up in the morning and choose thoughts such as ‘what I am really looking forward to enjoying today?’
• go for a walk in nature and enjoy the beauty and stillness.  Let the mind be still and just observe.
• Find ways to move your body for fun and joy – some spontaneous dance in the morning, yoga, whatever exercise or sport you thoroughly enjoy.
• Take time throughout the day for a few minutes of stillness or meditation.
• Notice your self-talk.  Find ways to encourage yourself with your accomplishments, even if they may be only part of what you have set out to do.
• Notice things that you are grateful for in all your activities and encounters through my day.

I welcome hearing of your own strategies for inviting happiness into your life.

Happiness arises in a grateful and joyful heart.   Health accompanies happiness.

Wishing your happiest and healthiest year ever!

If you have a comment about this or any blog post please visit my Facebook page.  Thank you, Nelie.

The recent celebration of Thanksgiving here in Canada has given me some reflection.

I heard a discussion about gratitude. I was intrigued by the comment that gratitude is something that has to be learned. As infants we cried when we were are hungry or in pain. Later as children we are taught to ask with ‘please’ and respond with ‘thank you’. Many of us forget to show thanks. How many times do we complain to get what we want, remark about what we don’t have and see the negative in a situation?

In times of adversity finding anything to be grateful for seems impossible. Yet just at these times more than any other, we need to reach deep to find gratitude. There is power in doing so.

Take for example, getting a disease such as cancer. The first reactions are shock, fear, disbelief, anger. Many respond with intense activity to get rid of the cancer, and once the cancer has been cut out, ‘killed’ with chemotherapy and radiation, they continue to be highly vigilant and fearful of relapse. Does this story apply to you? Are you feeling fearful and stressed? This is not a state of being that is pleasant to live with.

What might you find to be grateful for with a diagnosis of cancer?
Firstly you have to deal with what is. You cannot wish it away. Yet somehow you have to find a way to respond to it beyond fear and anger.
You can be grateful for all the other aspects of your body, your mind and your life that are whole, healthy and are supporting you.
You can be grateful for those moments in your life that you may have taken for granted.
You can be grateful for the care and treatments of your medical doctors.
You can be grateful for family and friends that are there for you and loving you.
I invite you to make a list for yourself, “In this moment/for this day I am grateful for ….”

There is much, much more that you can be grateful for.
You can be grateful for the disease itself. I don’t wish disease on you or anyone but it happens, and my knowledge allows me to understand why it has to happen. When a person experiences a high level of a particular stress or a prolonged severe stress, disease can show up. Disease is your brain’s best solution for managing the high level of stress energy which, if allowed to continue would threaten your survival within a few weeks of not eating, sleeping or paying attention to your surroundings.

Disease is a natural biological mechanism for managing stress, emotional and mental conflict. The stress energy is held in just one small region or tissue and the rest of the body can function normally. Thus the person is given time to find another way to deal with the stress.

Every disease, including every type of cancer, carries a message. The message directs you to the emotional conflict and provides you with opportunity to find another way to resolve the stress.

You can be grateful for the message that your disease carries, for it can bring you to what you need to give special attention to.
You can be grateful for what you know about yourself and your life, especially that which can help you clear the conflict and regain your health.

I have heard and read many accounts of experiences with cancer. A common theme in these stories is being thankful for the wakeup call which the cancer provided. The cancer became a sign that their life was heading down the wrong road — and that change was needed!

For example, a patient of mine got cancer of the tongue. Once he recovered from the initial shock of the diagnosis, he not only did medical treatment but also examined his life. ‘What kind of person am I? How have I treated others?’
He discovered that some of his actions and communications had been hurtful. He expressed regrets for what he had done and said and asked the people he contacted to forgive him which most happily did. He created healing for both parties.

Today he is not only alive and cancer free for 4 years but he also has grown into a better and happier person. He is no longer preoccupied with the question of the cancer returning, but rather is grateful for his new perspective on life and the kinder, more compassionate, and thoughtful person he has become.

There is power in gratitude. It eases fear and suffering. It opens the path to Love. Love is the most powerful energy for health and healing.

Use the power of gratitude and ask yourself ‘What am I grateful for in this moment and for this day?’ and keep on asking.

Here’s an special posting for October and Breast Health Awareness Month – an article I wrote earlier this year to support breast health and cancer prevention.

Is it possible that we can prevent the disease, or at least decrease the risk, by promoting breast health?  I believe the answer is yes.

In order to have true physical health and well-being, you have to have a good level of emotional health.  The one follows the other. When I think about breast health, I immediately think of promoting mental, emotional and psychosocial/spiritual well-being.

As a family physician, I began asking myself some 20 years ago why people get sick and how they can get well again.   There had to be more to treating disease, such as breast cancer, than treating the physical.  Just as we recognize the wholeness of who we are – mental, emotional, spiritual as well as physical -  there is a whole disease – mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.

I discovered that when we consider the whole disease, many more options open up. When we really use what we know about ourselves – events we experienced and their impact – we discover keys to healing our life.

I discovered that when I helped my patients heal their lives, they often healed physically.

In my search for answers to my questions, I discovered that there are over 25 years of experience of doctors, psychologists, and scientists revealing the most likely mental and emotional factors contributing to specific diseases, such as each specific type of cancer, MS, diabetes, heart disease, and more – from minor illness to major disease.  From this body of knowledge, I have learned the most likely types of stress that contribute to breast cancer.

The most important thing I learned is the following : to have good breast health healthy relationships, especially within the family home,  are key.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and reflect upon.

1. How well connected do you feel to members of your family? – partner, children, siblings, parents, close friend, or anyone you consider part of your home nest
2. How well do you feel you can express your love and receive love with those in your home nest?
3. Do you hold any strong concern for someone leaving you or for the integrity of relationships between family members?  for a major relationship coming apart?  For example between you and your partner, between father and son.
4.  Do you have concerns for the survival or future well-being of anyone in your family nest?  For example a serious illness for a child or your partner, a concern for your child’s future career because of failed exams or criminal record.
5. What patterns in relationships may you be carrying over from early childhood and your experience in your family of origin?   As much as we may consciously want healthy change, there are hidden unconscious stresses that stem from early emotional programming and result in unconscious coping reactions.

Remember it is not only what happens to you but more importantly how      you respond to what happens to you that determines the impact of any stress.

The very best advice I can give any woman (or man) for good breast health is to develop good relationship health, especially with those close to you that mean the most to you – your family.   Take workshops, or get private counseling if you feel you need it, to learn about yourself and grow yourself emotionally.  Take responsibility for your own personal well-being rather than expect a relationship to improve when the other person does the work of ‘changing’.

Complaining and blaming others or circumstances will hold you back from healthy change.  You have to be the change that you want to see in your relationships and in your life.   You are the power to create your happiest and healthiest you. 

Finally, and most importantly, the key to  relationship health is developing the resilience and personal resources to survive breakups and challenges in relationships that are an inevitable part of life.  As we develop these personal skills, challenges become breakthroughs and we can grow in compassion for ourselves and others and that is the true source of our healing.

Important – Although I am a physician, the views expressed in this article are not representative of mainstream Western Medicine.   If you have diagnosis of breast disease, be sure to seek medical advice and care.  

Multiple sclerosis has been much in the news in the last 2 years, ever since an Italian, Dr. Zamboni, discovered an anomaly in the venous drainage from the brain and spinal cord in a group of 65 MS patients.  The finding has been called Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI).

Dr. Zamboni published his findings in June 2009 and proposed that CCSVI may be the cause of the nerve damage found in MS.  Other researchers have done studies on the phenomenon, and some do not support the doctor’s original study.

With all the public attention to Dr. Zamboni’s work and the uncertainty surrounding its value in treating MS, several research agencies in Italy, Canada, the US and elsewhere are funding trials to clarify the link between CCSVI and MS.  At this time, there is too little research to support the link, the effectiveness, or safety of  the vascular treatment that Dr. Zamboni has developed and used on some patients.

I believe in the need to determine as quickly as possible whether the treatment is a cure.  However, I must express my concern that we are putting all the attention on the physical disease and a physical cure.  In my opinion, we are taking a very limited view of MS and not approaching the disease in all its complexity.

As I have written on many occasions, any disease or illness is an integral part of the whole person.  Therefore, any disease or illness shares all the same aspects that make up a whole person, namely mental, emotional and ‘spiritual’, as well as physical.

Research increasingly supports the link between the complexity of our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs and physical disease.  In previous articles I have highlighted Dr. Candace Pert, a research neuropharmacologist who has provided years of data showing how emotional states change the intricate physiology and chemistry of our cells.  In addition, Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cell biologist, supports Dr. Pert’s findings, and has shown how our cells are constantly and consistently responding to their environment:  mental, emotional as well as physical factors.   Dr. Lipton emphasizes that most of our responses are subconscious.

From my perspective, the news about a possible new cure for MS is once again a reach for a physical fix and leads us away from considering the whole disease and asking the really important question – ‘why is MS showing up in this person at this time in his or her life?’

Consider that MS (and any disease or illness for that matter) happens for a reason.   Consider that the disease is a solution to manage a level of stress in the person’s life.  Once we understand why the disease is showing up, we are better able to find other solutions which can elminate the need for the disease “solution”.  This is the possible outcome of mywork, Awareness Heals.  First step – gaining self-knowledge and awareness; secondly letting go of previously held beliefs and shifting perspectives; and thereby releasing the body to heal physically.

Emotional healing leads to physical health.  The link between physical disease and emotional distress cannot be overemphasized.

Have you ever noticed that some patterns in your life keep showing up? It’s a ‘déjà vu’ – “ I’ve seen this before ” – phenomenon. No matter what resolve you may have to make changes in your life, things stay the same. Perhaps you identify with these scenarios –

• every year at tax time there is the same pressure to get your income tax papers in to your accountant on time
• same tensions whenever the family get together for Christmas
• same conflicts surface at work despite new staff or even a job change
• same irritations and arguments with the ‘significant other’ in one relationship after another
• same pattern of illnesses or persistence of a disease in your life

Even though the calendar date has moved forward and the people and circumstances of your life are different, do you have the feeling that your life really isn’t changing? Even though you have a strong desire to make positive change in your life, do you have the feeling that you are not moving forward and that you are stuck? Could it be that at some fundamental level you have not changed? Do you resonate with the saying – “ The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

At the root of these repeating and unchanging pattern are unconscious beliefs that are running the show. You might say to yourself that you want a loving, warmly intimate and understanding life partner. However, if you are unconsciously holding a belief that it is unsafe to be intimate or that you are not lovable (conclusions you unknowingly came to as a result of your own past experiences), then your conscious efforts to create the relationship you say you desire will be blocked.

These unconscious beliefs or conclusions are like filters through which you view everything in your life. They determine how you see your world and affect your thoughts about yourself and others, your perspective on events, your reactions, and your dominate feelings and attitudes. Until you wake up to your own filters, you are stuck with seeing your life through the lens of “ I’m not lovable.” or “ I’m not good enough” or “ I am not deserving of anything better. ”

The filters are not who you really are but rather they represent an interpretation of who you think you are. A thought is just a thought and can be changed. Imagine how your whole life would change if you dropped the belief “ I’m not lovable”. I am sure you would agree that it would be totally transformed.

What does all this have to do with healing from illness or disease? Illness and disease are held in place by a belief structure and hidden emotional filters also.

When you uncover and undo or release them, you create a new empowered view of yourself. You create freedom and the possibility of healing.

Learning from the Incas

I was in Peru for a little more than 2 weeks and I experienced and learned so much. It felt like I was there for 2 months!

I scrambled among Inca ruins in Cusco, Ollantaytambo, and Machu Picchu. I experienced the rich flora and fauna of the Peruvian jungle.

I spent 2 full days exploring Machu Picchu and hiked to the summit of Machu Picchu peak itself – the highest of the four sacred mountains surrounding the site.

I learned that Machu Picchu is the equivalent of a university where the elite and learned studied agriculture, architecture, astronomy, philosophy and medicine.

I learned from our guides – all students of their Inca roots – that Inca medicine rested on three main resources -

1) the knowledge and use of plants and herbs

2) the knowledge of the behaviour and characteristics of animals and birds

3) the energies of the sun, earth, water and wind.

The Inca used plants and herbs including ‘medicinal plants’ with hallucinogenic properties to expand their consciousness and vision. I am certain these experiences had a part to play in the building of their great temple complexes and cities. I got that the use of these plants was for healing and sacred purposes and they are still used with these intentions by many Peruvians today.

The Inca made a careful observation of the natural world. They observed animals, meditated on their qualities and would absorb or draw to themselves these qualities. For example, condor medicine provided perspective and clear vision for what was important. Fox medicine called in intelligence and the ability to create innovative solutions for problems.

The Inca revered the elements of nature – Father Sun, Mother Earth, Water and Wind. They observed the solstices to guide their farming calendar for planting and harvesting. They drew energy directly from these elements through meditation and specific practices and ceremonies.

I got a very strong impression that the Inca way was not to pull on others to get position and power but rather to go to the source of energy – the Sun.

Yes, there was a hierarchy in Inca society – the royals, the elite, the learned, the soldiers, the craftsmen, the farmers. However, the Inca government kept stores of food (a percentage of each harvest) to provide everyone with sufficient food during lean years. The whole community was cared for.

Indeed key qualities of Inca society were community and collaboration. I learned that these qualities live on in rural villages in Peru where one week you help your neighbour build his house with adobe bricks and another week he helps you harvesting your corn or repairing your barn.

The more I saw of these simple, hardworking, friendly and smiling villagers and farmers, the more I recognized how grateful they are for the things that really matter – the elements of sun, earth, water and wind/air; shelter and food; family and community. I came away with a greater appreciation and gratitude for all that I have.