By Shivi Verma July 2014 Cancer can be cured if you are willing to try a combination of therapies, work on your mind, adopt an optimisticattitude, and have faith in the Divine, says Shivi Verma A graphic representation of how the cancer cell forms and mutates I used to admire a tall and dusky woman who I met every day on my suburban train commute. Many times we exchanged smiles and pleasantries. Suddenly, she stopped coming. On enquiring I discovered that she was in hospital and was being treated for cancer. She succumbed to the disease a few months later. I still miss her prominent presence at the station, and find it unbelievable that someone so young, attractive and healthy looking could pass away so abruptly. This seems to be a reality that more and more are confronting. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the dreaded disease swoops down and bears away a friend here, a relation there, and often enough, one’s own self, but not before it torments and tortures its prey. If the diagnosis of cancer strikes terror in people’s hearts, no less traumatizing is the mainstream line of treatment: surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Add to it the high cost of the treatment, and horrifying side-effects, and patients begin to feel that dying from cancer is a better option than treating it. Fortunately, there are many alternative techniques and therapies that adopt a strikingly different methodology in treating cancer. Instead of killing the cancer cells (in the process destroying the healthy ones too), these techniques work on detoxifying the body, nourishing it with the right diet, healing the emotions and mind, and finally raising the immunity of the body, thereby empowering it to fight and defeat the cancer cells on its own. Instead of fighting with darkness, these techniques focus on turning on the light. Perhaps one of the many reasons cancer has come into the world is to show us the limitations of mainstream medicine, and to fastforward the movement of an alternative approach. But the basics first. What is cancer? According to the definition provided by the National Cancer Institute, cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control, and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancer is not just one disease, but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start – for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in the melanocytes of the skin is called melanoma. All cancers begin in cells, the body’s basic unit of life. The body is made up of many types of cells. These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy. When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells. However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division. When this happens, cells do not die when they should, and new cells form when the body does not need them. The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor. Why do people get cancer? Conventional medical science has emerged with several likely causes for cancer: Genetics: Some types of cancer run in certain families, hence you may inherit it from your ancestors. But most cancers are not clearly linked to the genes. Tobacco: Smoking may increase your chances of getting cancer. Diet and physical activity: Unhealthy diet, eating pesticide- and insecticide-laden food, and lack of physical activity contribute to the risk of contracting cancer. Sun and UV Exposure: The hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere has exposed us to the harmful rays of the sun. Rise in skin cancer is attributed to this. Radiation exposure: Radiation from mobile towers, microwave ovens, mobile handsets, X-rays, gamma rays, Ultra-violet rays, proximity to nuclear sites, and the radiation from cancer treatment too, enhance the risk of cancer and second cancer. Environmental hazards: High levels of pollution in air, water and soil also increase the risk of cancer. Cancer cells thrive in an environment of low oxygen. And as we inhale less oxygen we create a conducive place for cancer cells to generate and thrive. Mystifyingly, all these are only probable causes of cancer. Scientists and doctors are still to emerge with a direct and indisputable cause of cancer. Says Dr Manu Kothari, surgeon and professor of anatomy at KEM hospital, “A cancer cell measures no larger than a normal cell, one hundredth of a millimetre across. This sheer micro-size of a cancer cell accounts for the fact that following the inception of cancer, it will take several years before the cancer bothers its victim, or comes to the attention of the doctors. It can take two to 17 years to cause symptoms, and during this interval there is no instrumental, immunological or biological method to detect it.” In his book, The Other Face of Cancer, he says, “Your cancer is a cosmic event, fashioned by forces beyond the constraints of space-time, and has an antecedence over all your normal cells. As a cosmic event it is beyond any cause. If it is to occur, it will. If not, nothing can cause it.” Could Dr Kothari be hinting at causes beyond the material, perhaps lying in the realms of the mind or karma? Dr Kothari adds, “This is not to say that a cancer patient should not opt for the conventional mode of treatment. Surgery and radiation are capable of eliminating the cancerous cells from the body. But the fear of recurrence is always there since the remaining healthy cells can become cancerous out of their own volition.” Fortunately, a legion of alternative practitioners actively assert that cancer is curable and one can indeed triumph over it, either with or without the mainstream treatments. They maintain that cancer arises for a reason, and once that reason is addressed, it goes away. Cancer is curable Says Mumbai-based Dr Ashish Narayankar, a trained allopath who practises various forms of alternative therapies such as Access Consciousness and tarot, “Cancer is curable. When a doctor tells a patient that he has only a few months to live and that chemo, radiation and surgery cannot help him, it does not mean that the patient cannot be healed. It simply means that this disease has to be addressed through alternative means.” He adds, “Every disease begins at the cellular level. In medical science we are taught how a virus or bacteria affects the cells. How there are pathological, chemical, and biological changes in a cell, and how finally a disease gets formed. But I view this differently. A stagnant pool of water breeds insects, fungi and viruses but flowing water is free. Similarly, if the body is full of emotional or nutritional toxins, it creates a fertile ground for cancer and similar diseases. Therefore, if a person is willing to address issues lying beyond his apparent physical problem, he can heal from the most difficult cancers.” Although Dr Narayankar’s explanation does not dispute that unlike most diseases the cause of cancer is still unknown…he does admit that having the will to survive is more powerful than any life-threatening disease. I recently attended a channelling session centred on cancer that said the same thing. Said the channel, “Any disease reaching a critical mass, be it cancer, diabetes or even the common cold, creates for itself a master energy. This master energy functions like a stern teacher. Sometimes in life you desire a stern teacher. This teacher is balanced, not vicious. It is activated by a call put out by you. When you invite master energy, you activate dormant energy. Simultaneously, you activate higher learning. Many people run away from their power. They don’t want to acknowledge it or use it for their good. Cancer helps them touch their power. When you run away from issues that you need to resolve in your life, you are given the power to analyse the reason and the power to eliminate it through the self. In general, those who are having cancer in 2014 do not value life. They feel useless and feel they have been shoved into this world. Cancer happens to them so that they can appreciate the small things in life.” Of all diseases, cancer is considered one of the most difficult to heal and its apparent purpose seems to be, to bring a dimensional shift in human consciousness. In the absence of a physical cause, perhaps we can settle for this metaphysical one. How then are we to make this shift in consciousness? Conversations with healers whose clients have successfully healed from cancer indicate many ways to prevent cancer, stall its recurrence, and even ways to heal from it. Cancer is essentially a disease of the mind hinging on its ability to create; therefore the stronger and more stable our minds, the lesser our chances to get cancer. Secondly, it is wise to combine many healing modalities like yoga, EFT, ACE (Advanced Clearing Energetics), inner child work, meditations, reiki, pranic healing, ayurveda, naturopathy, and homeopathy to clear up physical and emotional toxins and increase the flow of prana in the body. Cancer is directly related with our overall happiness which affects our immunity. Even Dr Kothari testifies, “When cancer specialists themselves contract this disease, they rarely go for the conventional mode of treatment. They prefer to go for treatments that are not invasive, and to doctors who delay surgery.” Free yourself of fear The high prevalence of cancer intensifies the fear of contracting it. Unfortunately, this fear converts into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anita Moorjani, author of Dying to Me
