Emotions and Cancer: What is the Connection and What Can You Do About It?

Healing emotional stress and negative emotions is a major factor on the journey of cancer healing and prevention. This is something that practitioners of both Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine have known for centuries. Let’s take a look at the connection between emotions and cancer and learn about some of the remarkable modalities to help you heal both! 

The Cortisol Connection

We all have crises and emotional stresses happening in our lives at one time or another. In fact, the “fight or flight” responses of our sympathetic nervous system, led by what some call the “limbic brain,” are actually designed to handle acutely stressful situations from time to time.

A little bit of stress every once in a while is normal, and even healthy! Problems arise when stress becomes chronic and remains heightened for too long.

“Stress is the invisible killer,” says Dr. Darrell Wolfe, Ac. PhD., DNM, DH, a pioneer in natural health. 

He is so right. In today’s world, it is normal to be stressed out, on edge, and always on the run pretty much all of the time. In reality, however, long term stress, including the stress caused by negative emotions and trauma, can be devastating to your health. 

This is because chronic stress keeps cortisol pumping through your veins 24/7. Cortisol is the main hormonal substance the body puts out in response to stress. When too much cortisol occurs in the body, over time, it will naturally create more cellular receptor sites for it and other stress hormones while downplaying the production of healing hormones designed to seek out pathogens and help organs function. 

Higher levels of cortisol can deplete melatonin as well as vitamin C, niacin, and other key nutrients. High cortisol levels also lead to higher systemic inflammation in the body. And inflammation is directly connected to the development of a wide range of disease conditions, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Dr. O. Carl Simonton and Psychoneuroimmunology

One of the pioneers of modern research into emotions and cancer was Dr. O. Carl Simonton. Simonton was a radiologist, oncologist, and true pioneer in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. Simonton worked with thousands of cancer patients in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He noticed that the majority of his cancer patients had suffered some kind of significant loss sometime between six months to 18 months prior to receiving a cancer diagnosis. The death of a loved one, the loss of a job, being in a major natural disaster, and going through a divorce are some examples. He also noticed that most of his cancer patients had difficulty developing loving relationships and had a hard time letting go of events in the past. 

Simonton eventually went on to do significant research into what these negative emotional states can do in the body at the biological level. Much of his anecdotal and research findings were published in his well-known 1992 book on the subject “Getting Well Again.” 

Research since then has confirmed what Simonton discovered almost 50 years ago. A 2011 review of the literature spells out what happens to “neuroendocrine regulation” when long term psychological stress and negative emotions persist: 

“Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous systems (SNS) releases stress hormones such as glucocorticoids and catecholamines,” write the University of Wisconsin researchers. 

What this means in “layman’s terms” is that unresolved emotional states can affect hormones and can also suppress the immune system. This allows the mutation of cells to take hold. 

When a Cancer Diagnosis Causes Trauma 

On the other hand, a cancer diagnosis itself can be a cause for patient trauma. Many health experts are speaking out against the near-criminal activity of many mainstream doctors who make it a habit of putting a “death sentence” on patients with cancer.

“When the doctor says you are going to die in three months, that’s sorcery!” says Dr. Thomas Lodi. “…[W}hen he makes a prediction like that and he is wearing a white coat, he just abused his authority.” 

The fact is that there is a strong correlation between the predictions that doctors make regarding prognosis and the actual time that the patient survives. A study published just a few years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine on 500,00 Swedish citizens found that when patients were given cancer-positive results, there was a 26.9 fold increase in death from heart-related events. 

Your thoughts really do create your reality. And the imposed thoughts and beliefs of those we believe to have authority over our health can change those thoughts significantly. 

But now that you know what is really going on, you can break the spell that doctors may have had over you in the past. If you are faced with a “death sentence” prognosis, remember that that doctor does not have control over your destiny. Only you and God have this power! 

Homeopathy Highlights Stress as Key in Cancer Development 

According to the North American Society of Homeopaths (NASH), homeopathy is an “advanced, effective, and gentle system of holistic medicine that has been successfully used for over two hundred years and on every continent.” 

The term “homeopathy” actually means “like cures like” and is a concept that was talked about by Greek Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, in the 4th and 5th century B.C.

“Homeopathic medicines, called remedies, may be safely and effectively applied in chronic (long-term) conditions, as well as acute (short-term and self-limiting) illnesses and injuries of adults, children, and animals. In treatment, it is the individual as a whole system that is considered as opposed to treating the named disease. The goal is to relieve symptoms permanently,” says a report put out by NASH. 

“[Homeopathy] is absolutely evidence-based,” says homeopath and visionary researcher Dr. E.S. Rajedran of India. Dr. Rajendran was one of the first in the world to hold a Ph.D. in homeopathy. He specializes in nanotechnology in homeopathy and was also one of the first scientists to discover the presence of nanoparticles in homeopathic remedies that were created using ultra-high dilutions (above 200C). “There is no point in doubting that, because these particles which you find in metals and minerals are one to ten nanometer scale size. And these small particles have an ability to penetrate into your cytoplasm, cell wall, and the nuclear wall and [they] can produce a variety of epigenetic changes.” 

These changes affect the genes, says Dr. Rajedran, and that is where healing cancer really needs to begin. 

Homeopathy has its roots in Europe but has flourished in India for many decades. The principles of homeopathy take into consideration stress levels as a major indication of success in healing. In that country, there are thousands of clinics and hospitals that are homeopathy-based or offer it as part of their service. 

“If you go for homeopathy, the patient will have a better quality of life and [also] prolonged life, without pain, suffering, and [financial] loss,” says Dr. Rajedran. He suggests that the financial burden of going the conventional route for cancer is often a major source of stress. This, coupled with the toxic chemicals of the treatment themselves, puts a severe strain on the immune system. He states that, as a physician, his job is to keep people at home, and to treat them with homeopathic methods whenever possible. 

Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer and “German New Medicine” 

Dr. Farooq Motiwala, dean of Motiwala Homoeopathic Medical College & Hospital in Nashik, India, is a strong supporter of what is called ‘German New Medicine,” which is the visionary creation of Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer. Dr. Hamer earned degrees in theology, physics, and medicine at the University of Tuebingen and by the early 1970s was a talented and respected internist working with cancer patients. He was also a successful inventor of medical devices. His inventions provided him and his family with enough money to be able to move to Italy in the 1970s. Dr. Hamer worked in the Roman slums helping sick people free of charge. 

A few years after the move, Hamer learned that his son had been shot and killed. Shortly after the tragic incident, Dr. Hamer himself was diagnosed with testicular cancer. At the time of his diagnosis, Hamer was in good health and had never been seriously ill, and was head internist at a cancer clinic at the University of Munich. Putting two and two together, similar to what Dr. Simonton had done with his own patients, Dr. Hamer began to discover that, like himself, many of his cancer patients had experienced “unexpected shock” in some form prior to their diagnosis. 

His research took him into an in-depth investigation into the biochemistry of the brain. He analyzed brain scans of his patients as well as their medical records and histories. In a first of its kind study, he found a “clear correlation” between specific kinds of experiences, what he called “conflict shocks,” and specific symptoms. Dr. Hamer surmised that it is the “unexpected, surprise element” of the event that is the catalyst for the development of specific kinds of cancer, depending on what area of the brain gets “triggered.”

According to the German New Medicine (GNM) website, “The moment the unexpected conflict occurs, the shock strikes a specific, predetermined area in the brain causing a lesion (later called Hamer Focus or “Hamerscher Herd (HH)”), visible on a brain scan as a set of sharp concentric rings.”

Dr. Hamer worked with thousands of patients using methods based on his discoveries and many of them went on to recover. He died in 2017 after a lifetime of persecution by authorities bent on suppressing his work. 

German New Medicine is the method of healing based on Dr. Hamer’s work. At its foundation is the awareness that “our organism possesses an inexhaustible creativity and remarkable self-healing capabilities“ and that “each cell of our body is endowed with a biological wisdom we share with all living beings.”

“[German New Medicine] completes homeopathy,” states Dr. Motiwala. “[I]t explains that a conflict in your life at some stage in your life has given rise to the cancer.”

“Dr. Hamer did not believe that [cancer] is genetic [and] does not blame [cancer] on the different carcinogenesis. He blames it on the conflict that occurs in your life…” says Dr. Motiwala.

“Cancer is suppressed emotions,” states Dr. Sanjeep Roy. “When your emotions are suppressed, then your cells start expressing.”

Chinese Medicine Looks at Energy Blocks, Emotions, and Cancer 

The body operates on the flow of energy. Our nervous system functions, our heartbeat, and the hundreds of chemical firings that occur in our brains every minute are just some examples of this fact. In Chinese medicine, practitioners have known about these flows for centuries. In that tradition, the energy that moves through the body is called “chi” and the pathways where the energy flows are called “meridians.” The flows of energy throughout the body must be unblocked and allowed to move continuously in order for health to occur. 

In the language of western medicine, emotions, which start in the brain, are connected to the muscle system through the nervous system and nerves that go along the spine. Every muscle in the body is also connected to a blood vessel, a lymph node, and an acupuncture meridian system. Negative emotions, trauma, and chronic stress affect the nervous system. When this system becomes fatigued, electrical signals (i.e. meridian currents or “information”) cannot move through the nerves. This can affect organ function, weaken muscles, tear down tissue, affect detoxification and change the blood. 

“Is there an emotional or spiritual component that can affect the growth of cancer cells? In my opinion yes,” states Dr. Chris Motley, a Chinese medicine practitioner, chiropractor, and kinesiologist (as well as my family’s personal kinesiologist.). “If there is ever a break in the electrical flow, then cells can’t communicate. And what does communication mean? It is when one cell tells another cell, ‘This is when you need to detoxify,’ ‘This is when you need to metabolize,’ and ‘This is when you need to grow.’ Cancer cells disrupt that communication.”

In Chinese medicine, certain organs correspond with certain emotions. Issues in the gallbladder often have to do with anger. Colon imbalance is mostly concerned with sadness and grief. The lungs also correspond with grief as well as fears around mortality. 

One of the main corridors of energy in the body, according to Chinese medicine, is the kidney meridian. 

“Fear, in Chinese medicine, has much to do with the kidneys,” explains Dr. Motley. “The kidneys are what you call the battery pack of the body. [They] are responsible for taking energy, like a good battery on your iPhone, and storing it and conserving it.”

“You have all these applications running in the background, and if those applications are running without you consciously knowing, then your battery is sitting there feeding those applications,” says Dr. Motley, continuing the iPhone analogy. “…At some point somebody tells you that you have terminal cancer. Then your body has to go, ‘I have to fight this thing and I also have to support all the other apps that are running.’ So…the body is making a choice.”

“When fear gets involved, it starts to grow that fear neurologically. And so the body is starting to give energy, momentum, and power to that [fearful] belief because it is such a big trauma. All the other apps can’t be supported, the apps being your metabolism, your immune system, and things that would help you fight that fear. The fear can overtake, which allows the cancer cells to grow.”

What You Can Do About the Cancer-Emotions Connection

There are many things that you can do to clear trauma and lower stress responses so that your immune system can function at its best. Here are just a few: 

1 | Deep Breathing 

“Breath and mind are intimately connected,” says Dr. Thomas Lodi, who is both a clinical psychologist and internal medicine doctor as well as the founder of TheLifeCo Alternative Cancer Clinic in Phuket, Thailand.

Slow, deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system. It provides the blood with oxygen and also activates the healing part of your nervous system. Studies conducted at Harvard University almost fifty years ago by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson found that deep breathing is the catalyst for the relaxation response. Whereas the stress response causes energy to divert from healing, the relaxation response is intricately tied to rejuvenation on all levels.

2 | Forgiveness

Both Dr. Simonton and Dr. Hamer discovered that unresolved anger, often caused by a lack of forgiveness (either of oneself or others), is one of the primary characteristics of cancer patients. This means that, likewise, learning to forgive can be a powerful healer.

One easy and cheap (i.e., free!) way of practicing forgiveness is called Ho’oponopono. It is a Hawaiian meditation and prayer that is easy to remember but can also have some profound effects.

In fact, you may have heard of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. Dr. Len was a therapist for the criminally insane at Hawaii State Hospital over forty years ago. He decided to create his version of Ho’oponopono, which he called Self I-Dentity Through Ho’oponopono (SITH), as he reviewed each file of the patients that were in his care. 

Dr. Len began his position in the criminally insane ward amidst an atmosphere that was thick with aggression and violence. Every day there was some type of outburst or attack. But every day, Dr. Len did Ho’oponopono over the medical records of the patients. Over time, the patients began to improve. After four years, only a few inmates remained. The rest had been released, and eventually, that ward had to close for lack of patients.

Be sure to check out Part 4 of the Quest for the Cures to learn more about this incredible technique! 

3 | EVOX 

EVOX is a relatively new technology that takes biofeedback to a whole new level. EVOX works by changing perceptions, and it does so by first evaluating and then helping to heal on the level of frequency. 

When a person repeats a thought over and over, it creates a particular energy pattern. Using a sampling of your own voice, EVOX records these patterns as brainwaves. Then the technology uses a process of “perceptual reframing” to determine which frequencies are healthy for you and which ones may not be. EVOX then creates healing tones designed to release the unhealthy emotional frequencies. The end result is a person who is freed of many damaging beliefs. This person can begin to see their situation in a more positive way. 

Biofeedback techniques in general have proven to be effective at helping with both physical and emotional healing. The downside of biofeedback has always been that it takes a long time to see results. However, with EVOX, the normal course of treatment is usually about 5 sessions! 

4 | Music Therapy

“Stress is a killer and music is a healer,” stated Dr. Hans Selye, a pioneering researcher in the field of stress and disease, in the early 1950s. 

Ancient scholars like Pythagoras knew about the power of music to heal. In modern times, music therapy has been used for everyone from Vietnam vets to children with autism. What visionary researchers and music therapists are discovering these days, however, is that music may even be able to help with major diseases like cancer. 

Musician and music therapist Michael Tyrrell, founder of WholeTones, conducted a study with canines riddled with various kinds of cancer. Blackfield microscopy was able to show the dogs’ live blood before being exposed to healing WholeTones music and then after. 

The findings were remarkable. The ‘before’ tests showed mutated cells and pathogenic activity in the blood. After just 10 minutes of listening, however, the dogs’ blood looked perfectly healthy, and that was the case for every single dog in the experiment! 

“The studies are beyond argument now that the music you are listening to, singing, or playing actually changes the way the brain works,” says alternative cancer expert Dr. Patrick Quillin. It is clear to see that healing music can change your brain towards more positivity and more healing. 

The Emotional Component to Cancer is Real (and There is A LOT You Can Do About It)! 

The bottom line is that negative emotions lower your overall immune functionality. The end result is that you run out of energetic juice to fight cancer cell proliferation. 

“Stress does not cause cancer,” states Dr. Wolfe. “Unmanaged stress causes cancer.” 

The good news is that there are tons of things that you can do to not only manage stress, but to turn it around into positivity and hope. The modalities in this article just scratched the surface of all that awaits you when you choose to detach from the “death sentence” mentality and choose life instead!

If you have been subjected to hopeless predictions about the outcome of your cancer diagnosis, or any diagnosis for that matter, know that you have a choice to believe and accept it or not. Be sure to watch Part 4 of the Quest for the Cures (Final Quest) series to learn more about what laughter, light, relaxation, and connection can do to help you not only heal from cancer, but live the absolute fullest life possible every single day!