Holistic Approach To Cancer Care

“The moment you change your perception is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body”- Bruce H. Lipton

World Cancer Day is observed every year on the 4th of February to spread awareness and educate people about its detection, treatment, and prevention.

I would like to think of cancer as a wake-up call or a friend who has come to show us the way. If we treat an illness as a friend, we are not working against it, but rather working with it. This itself has immense power because we are truly listening to this friend, this wake-up call, this message, to understand what our body needs, and to live in alignment with what is meant for us by embarking on a journey within. Maybe cancer is here to tell you, “Slow down, take note, you need to be sleeping on time, having healthier meals and shifting your focus from the job which is draining the life out of you.”

I believe that when cancer comes, it is an opportunity to awaken to what life truly has to offer you by helping you connect to your deepest being, your authentic self. Patients facing a cancer diagnosis often feel at the mercy of an illness they don't understand and in the hands of doctors offering treatments that focus on cancer, rather than on the patient. A cancer diagnosis brings about an inevitable cocktail of emotions - fear, anxiety, grief, insecurity and sometimes shame, humiliation or embarrassment. You must have heard about surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as the conventional forms of cancer treatment. Have you ever thought about the scope of a holistic integrative approach to treating cancer?

In this article, we shall try to understand how an integrative holistic approach, largely based on homoeopathic principles, will support one better on their healing journey from cancer.

It is important to note that integrative medicine is an approach to medical care that combines conventional medicine with alternative medical practices. Alternative medicines serve as an adjuvant to modern medicine. This approach often stresses the patient's preferences and attempts to address the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of health, bringing about a balance in the mind-body-

-spirit plane. Some examples of these alternative medical practices include:

Mind-Body Therapies

These therapies combine mental focus, breathing, and body movements to help relax the body and mind. Some examples include meditation, hypnosis, yoga, imagery and creative outlets.

Biologically-Based Practices

Vitamins, dietary supplements, herbal formulations and plant-based diets come under these practices. Make note that the body ALWAYS tells us what we need to do and what we need to eat!

Body-Based Practices

Some examples of body-based practices include massage therapy and reflexology (a type of massage in which pressure is applied to specific points on the feet or hands, which are believed to match up with certain parts of the body).

Energy Healing

Human beings are made up of energy. There is a vibrational frequency inherent in all things and vital energy flows through the human body. In a diseased state, an imbalance of energy exists. Energy healers use means to help balance this altered energy, bringing a person to a state of wholeness. Now, that is the core belief of energy healing. Homoeopathy, Magnified Healing, Reiki and Acupuncture are a few examples of energy healing.

Benefits of Homoeopathic Treatment for Cancer

We know that all human beings are unique. Two persons having the same cancer diagnosis will each have a different, unique story about their lives. What led one to develop the disease might be very different from what led the other to develop it. Hence, it is so important to understand the true nature of a person and what led to the energy imbalance. A homoeopath does this by having a detailed first consultation with a patient to understand the patient’s unique nature, belief systems and thought patterns contributing to their unique emotions, behaviour and personality. A homoeopath also taps into the subconscious mind of a person by understanding the fears and dreams of the patient. All of this helps the homoeopath to prescribe a remedy so powerful, that it will bring about a balance in the deranged state of a person.

Integrative medicine today combines the best of conventional medicine with the wisdom of other modalities and with recent advances in quantum medicine and neuroscience. The word 'cancer' brings about fear, but it can also take us on a journey to integration where we become the best version of ourselves, truly aware and empowered to become our own healers.

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

About The Author:

Dr. Denise Rodrigues is a dedicated Homeopath, Pediatric Nutritionist and Guidance Counsellor. A Gold Medalist from Goa University, she currently serves as the Secretary for the Homoeopathic Medical Association of India (HMAI)- Goa Branch.

Dr. Denise practices at her own set-up: Evolve Homoeopathic Clinic at Raia, South Goa. Every Friday, she consults at Menezes Polyclinic, Altinho- Panaji.