Tag Archives: cancer treatment

Sacred Journeys through Cancer

Find out how to identify ineffective cancer treatment products, how to deal with emotions, which supplements to prioritize, what I put in my green smoothie every day, whether to go to nontraditional cancer centers, how to do a body-centered sitting practice, and more.

This is what Beth Ann Gilmer and I talked about during her Sacred Journeys blog talk radio show Tuesday.

Listen to the interview from the beginning to 1:01:00, and then skip to 1:22:28 to finish it out: https://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/066/show_10668921_2018_03_21_01_05_29.mp3?cId=f647eb4c-8c6d-4867-b705-9a603583e167

“’Thriver Soup’ saved my life!”

Jacqui Roell, a Registered Nurse, says, “Thriver Soup saved my life!”

Jacqui was diagnosed with Stage 2b lobular breast cancer and a friend urged her to read Thriver Soup. The first thing Jacqui read in the book was, “I thought I had been sentenced to die. Instead, I had been invited to live joyfully so my soul could prosper” (p. 19).

Jacqui was not expecting to read something like that. She set Thriver Soup aside.

She had already decided not to do chemotherapy or radiation. Eventually she wanted to see what I suggested in the way of alternative treatments.

She opened up Thriver Soup again, and read, “At the start of my cancer journey, I had a long talk with Vince and Connie Lasorso at Whatever Works Wellness Center. For decades they have offered complementary treatment methods and emotional support to cancer patients. They told me the story of a woman who worked in the local holistic community and got cancer. She rejected all conventional treatments and focused on a variety of alternative healing practices. She ended up dying of cancer, acknowledging at the end that if she had received conventional medical care in the beginning, she probably would have survived. That story struck a note with me and I decided to follow what my doctors recommended.” (p. 25)

Jacqui says, “That was huge for me. It made me take a step back and reconsider my options. It gave me permission to do what my doctor wanted me to do, while also taking care of what I needed to do spiritually and mentally.”

Using the practical tips in Thriver Soup for managing chemo and radiation, Jacqui did conventional treatment.Thriver Soup is my bible,” she said. “It is amazing and made a huge difference for me.”

Jacqui finished treatment January 12, 2018, and is free of evidence of disease. Yet she continues to read and refer to Thriver Soup, because the ideas can apply to any and every area of life.

“Everyone should read Thriver Soup, including caregivers of people diagnosed with cancer,” she says. “It can help caregivers support their loved ones by learning about complementary treatments that assist the patient. This can reduce the patients’ experience of stress.”

Jacqui spoke at the Feb. 17 HIME Wellness event at Crossroads Mason in Ohio.

I will be speaking at 10:30 am and 1 pm on Saturday at Kent Cook Institute, and at noon on Tuesday at Main Street Books, both in Davidson, NC.

On Thursday, March 1, I am the headline speaker at 2 pm at the Annie Appleseed Conference in West Palm Beach, FL.

Heidi Bright awarded Champion in Cancer Care

Amy Ostigny nominated Heidi Bright for the Champion in Cancer Care award.

Heidi Bright, MDiv, Milford, Ohio, has been named 2017 Champion in Cancer Care by Cancer Support Community in Cincinnati.

The CSC gala on Saturday, Oct. 14, honored inspirational individuals working in cancer care.

Bright, in radical remission from highly aggressive end-stage sarcoma for six years, embodies the words Champion in Cancer Care—she champions genuine hope and hundreds of healing solutions for cancer patients, according to her nominator, Amy Ostigny, Executive Managing Director of eWomenNetwork Cincinnati.

As a national speaker and traditionally published author of Thriver Soup: A Feast for Living Consciously During the Cancer Journey, Bright emphasizes healing one’s life to open space for the body’s natural healing abilities to arise, said Ostigny.

“Her compassion shines through when speaking and writing because she knows the devastation of being told there are no more medical options and to get one’s affairs in order,” said Ostigny.

All proceeds from CSC’s signature fundraising event are channeled into free programs and services for anyone impacted by cancer. http://www.cancersupportcincinnati.org/Default.aspx

How to Quiet the Peanut Gallery

Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud.

The Dhammapada, v.327

Watch your thoughts! warns the Buddha. Negative self-talk and storytelling arise from an area in the left hemisphere of our brains that takes up about as much space as a peanut. Jill Bolte Taylor, author of My Stroke of Insight, calls it the “peanut gallery.”

Do you have a peanut gallery in your mind that runs negative thinking loops over and over again, like a broken record? Do you obsess over an event in the past or an upcoming situation, like a cancer treatment you have to endure? Do you whine and complain about the same things, like cancer treatment side-effects?

Perhaps you can steer your brain cells in a more pleasant direction.

Taylor says, “I have learned that I can own my power and stop thinking about events that have occurred in the past by consciously realigning myself with the present.”

Nothing is more empowering than realizing you don’t have to think thoughts that bring pain, she adds. “It is freeing to know that I have the conscious power to stop thinking those thoughts when I am satiated.”

How do you stop the negative thinking? Use that peanut in your brain to entice the elephant of negative thinking up out of the mud so you can wash the dirt of negativity away.

First notice that it’s going on. Try to simply observe, not judge, any looping thoughts. Watch your mind as an external witness so you can notice your habitual patterns.

Next, when you notice the negativity, try switching your attention to your body. Feel the four corners of your feet. Focus on your in-and-out breathing. This will slow down the self-talk and help you reconnect your mind with your body, returning yourself to wholeness and the present moment.

Then initiate some conscious self-talk. Some of my friends encourage me to say, “Cancel, cancel, cancel” when I express negative thinking. I also find it helpful to recite a ritual prayer or affirmation. Another method is to talk directly to the negative thinker inside our brains, saying, “Stop. I don’t need that anymore.” Or maybe imagine that clean elephant wagging its trunk in front of the peanut gallery, threatening it to shut up—or else.

Thriver Soup Ingredient:

Watching your thoughts takes vigilance, because the peanut gallery is persistent. It can chatter incessantly, especially when you are tired. You have to be more persistent with redirecting your attention. Have your own plan in place to first notice, then deal with the negativity so you can return to the present moment where there is more peace.

Sources:

Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 10: The Dhammapada and Sutta Nipata, by Max Müller and Max Fausböll, [1881], at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/sbe1025.htm 10/8/2017

Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey (Viking, New York: 2008), 147, 148, 152.

Most Recent Reviews

New reviews have appeared on amazon.com, bringing the total to 26. Thank you to all who have already reviewed Thriver Soup.

I have heard from a publicity specialist that when amazon receives 100 reviews, then Thriver Soup will receive more attention.

Would you please consider writing a review? I would greatly appreciate it.

Most recent reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars | Great book for someone going through their cancer treatments journey.

By Audrey Ahlrichson August 12, 2017

Great book for someone going through their cancer treatments journey who is battling all the different “side effects.” Thriver Soup is a wonderful tool to have in the fighter’s toolbox! Grateful I found Heidi and this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars | Stimulating, Informative and potentially life changing

By Amazon Customer on August 10, 2017

I found the sections entitled: Little Sprouts (page 132), Magic of Mushrooms (page 133), and Micro-greens (page 135) to be informative and helpful in the process of detoxing my body-helping me digest food; as well as giving me energy to get things accomplished without over stimulating my brain and nervous system like sugar and caffeine have done, although the caffeine seems to help with digestion as well. The book seems to have an immense amount of information for general health and well being and it’s not just for cancer patients.

5.0 out of 5 stars | Healing the body, mind and spirit

By RBW on August 9, 2017

There are lots of books on healing, but few that address so many aspects of it in a practical and do-able way. Heidi navigated the complicated maze of conventional cancer treatments and complementary therapies, but her story is also about searching for, and finding, her authentic self. In this book, she shares the wisdom gained along the way, with a healthy dose of humor and grace.

5.0 out of 5 stars… either in our own bodies or those of our loved ones. Like many of life’s crisis

By M Lewandoski on August 15, 2017

Many of us will face the crisis of cancer – either in our own bodies or those of our loved ones. Like many of life’s crisis, you should assemble a variety of tools to deal with this crisis when it hits. Thriver Soup by Heidi Bright will be a central tool in that arsenal. It is an informative and helpful book, full of practical and spiritual advice on the multifaceted experience that is cancer and cancer survival.

 

How to Let Go of Fear, Sorrow, Powerlessness: MySevenChakras Podcast

He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

– Psalm 23, discussed on MySevenChakras Episode 198 with Aditya

Aditya asked Heidi Bright:

  • When did you first come to know that you had Cancer? 
  • What type of Cancer did you have?
  • How did your Cancer end up getting detected?
  • What was your initial reaction when you received your diagnoses?
  • How to go about reducing the impact of chemotherapy?

These were just some of the questions , so if you’re curious about how Heidi overcame cancer…. listen to the podcast till the end: 198: From an aggressive end stage Cancer to radical remission. It’s possible! with Heidi Bright

Alternative Practice – Holistic healing.

Action Step – Going out, doing everything I can to be healthy. I was not going silently into that dark night so I picked myself back up. I worked with that fear and sorrow and that absolute powerlessness. I continued all my healing processes.

Major Life Lesson – There is a genuine hope, and there are always options.

Life Purpose – To share my message about healing our attitudes, behaviors and being able to make major life choices that we need to.

Wisdom Round:

Best Advice – Get to a therapist. Manage my emotions in a healthy way.
Personal Habit – It’s the map of emotions, and that’s the practice of experiencing the sensations in my body without thinking about them until they leave.
Book Recommendation – Waking the Warrior Goddess by Dr. Christine Horner