Category Archives: trenches

Digital Warriorship

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The full ebook is available exclusively on Ebookling. Read the Introduction to Digital Warriorship by Gwen Bell.

February 5, 2011

A slushy snow is falling in Boulder.

I write to you from the kitchen sink at The Urban Retreat.

That’s literal. I put a towel down to cover the drain and stacked a pile of index cards, five notebooks and two pens into the sink, atop the towel. I’m listening to Sigur Ros’s Ara Batur.

I have to tell you that after catapulting myself into this year it’s a joy to sit at the sink and write.

The pile of notecards in the sink gives you an idea of how this book reads. Top card, Acknowledging asymmetry leads to alignment. Next card, Discernment is the filter. Next, How much more vulnerable would we be with anonymity or opacity?

I answered that card with a second question: Would I tell you I sat in the tub, long after turning off the shower – until I shivered and remembered – suffering is not optional, but sadness is.

There are probably thirty index cards in the pile. We we’ll explore some of them here, and all the questions point to a larger theme: how do we skillfully examine – and share – ourselves?

This book is dedicated to any person who wants to be ready at any moment for anything. To the person who has dedicated themselves to a life of examination, of practice. This is a dedication to warriorship, in its many forms, but particularly as it applies to the digital realm.

Digital Warriorship shows a way to cultivate presence so that we may be aligned within ourselves and discerning in our interactions in the world.  It’s call to align, cultivate discernment and tell the experience as only you can.

May you take this work with you and live it – using what you need, discarding the rest.

May you, as the snow that’s fallen since writing this introduction, engage with this as you free fall, light and effortlessly.

Gwen Bell

Boulder, Colorado

Stop by Ebookling now to catch the release of Gwen Bell‘s Digital Warriorship, along with a bunch of other great works produced by independent authors.

How to Be in the Contemporary Family?

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By Sheldon Kardener

What constitutes the contemporary family? How does the stability of the contemporary family bear upon the health of its members? What is the familys present condition? How did it get that way? What should it be? What can we do to make it what we would like it to be?

A family exists wherever there are people. Nowadays, with earlier marriage, culturally easier separation and divorce, and greater mobility demanded by a technological society, there is a loss of the glue of meaningful familial interactions. Deep, lasting roots do not develop; and there is a disruption of continuity from one generation to another. One begins to feel the loss of closeness and the sense of past traditions. Intimacy and mutuality of relationships grow thin. Roles and functions overlap and blur definition. Expectations are confused; allegiances, distorted.

This can readily lead from frustration to mistrust, doubt, and fear. Parents become stilted, unsure, and unspontaneous and rely more and more on the printed work of the lay journals, becoming not necessarily better parents, but rather, professional parents. Discipline becomes feeble and performed in an atmosphere of parents doubt about their own wisdom. What a pathetic picture it is, then, when external cultural pressures are compounded by an internal lack of understanding of ones own, as well as ones marital partners, needs and role identification and definition. The result is a failure to understand the family problems correctly; and meaningful, healthy solutions become difficult, if not impossible. The tendency, then, is to try dangerous shortcuts to re-establish family unity, and the consequences are often sad.

To understand, alter, and, hopefully, prevent family breakdowns, it is important to look more closely at the kinds of relationships that perpetuate problems, impede solutions, and rob the collective family unit of what it really wants most. There is, after all, a basic desire on the part of every human being to share in and enjoy the blessings of family unity. It is only an individual and/or collective mishigas that permits an unrewarding and unwanted situation to persist.

Because the family starts as a marital unit, it would be helpful to characterize functionally some types of problem marital constellations. Obviously, all these relationships contain elements that may be present in a normal relationship but that are problems because of their intensity and magnitude.

1. Immature or protective ‘

Here, one partner seeks out and finds another partner in whom an early, deeply buried, unresolved need to be cared for, or to care for someone, results not in a husband-wife relationship, but in that of a child to a parent, or vice versa.

2. Competitive ‘

In this relationship the unresolved conflict deals with deep-rooted envy and jealousy of the mates gender role and function, and there ensues a never-ending competition or one-upmanship.

3. Neurotic complementary ‘

Each partner supplies for the other a scene in which not realistic roles, but highly neurotic ones can be mutually acted out and, in the Shakespearean sense, all the world can become a stage for the re-creation and re-playing of old conflicts.

4. Complementary acting-out ‘

Here, tacit agreement is reached that some form of dissocial behavior will be tolerated, indeed, expected, either in order to permit one partner a vicarious release or to create a desperate situation, thereby permitting reversion to a parent-child relationship.

5. Mutual emotional detachment ‘

A tolerable balance between two partners is struck on the basis of emotional distance and isolation.

6. Master-slave ‘

One partner seeks omnipotent control over the other and the natural goals of love-sharing are perverted to domination and degradation.

7. Regressive ‘

There is a shared fear of, and prejudice against, life. A totally negativistic attitude dominates all life relationships; most often this kind of marital relationship produces psychotic offspring.

8. Healthy ‘

There is a sharing of realistic goals and compatible values. An ability exists to co-operate in the search for solutions to problems. Temporary disturbances do not result in persistent accusations, guilt, and scapegoating. Each genuinely accepts the other as a person and tolerates differences – indeed, uses them for creative growth.

Because all humans communicate not by words alone – there are tone, inflection, gesture, posture, facial expression, and so forth – the new entrant into one of these types of marital situation soon gets the message. For example, if a mother frowns, stiffens, and draws back while saying come here, and kiss me, dear, what does she really want? What is the child to do? This situation becomes even more confusing when the father says nothing! If he says, kiss mother, it supports the positive aspect of the message; if he says, do not bother, she obviously does not really mean that, though he promotes a feeling of rejection, the child at least knows where he stands.

Since the family is a system, everyones behavior influences, and is influenced by, every one elses behavior. Much to the painful surprise of some parents, their children display what they did not know or recognize in themselves.

Children may take over from their parents what was repressed deep in the unconscious or expressed only in complex, neurotic ways. This is what is most feared – that the child will expose the parents faults, forcing them to defend themselves against what they feel to be obvious accusations. Indeed there are children who bring out the worst in their parents! The Austrian poet Wildgans, addressing his newborn son, summed it up by saying, our judge you may become – you are he already.

Sheldon H. Kardener, MD, has written, lectured and taught extensively while practicing psychodynamic psychotherapy for over 40 years. Always on the cutting-edge, he is often called father of Focused Dynamic Therapy. His book, Breaking Free: How Chains From Childhood Keep Us From What We Want, is a breakthrough book, the biggest breakthrough in psychotherapy since the 60s.

The Task Is Not to Labor for Money – It Is to Find Fulfillment

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Money is the solution to all your problems. If only you had a million dollars – life would be bearable, interesting, enjoyable, maybe exhilarating. With every waking breadth you concede money, money, money is the answer to your prayers. Well is it?

As the concept of money evolved over the millennia – substituting agreements of value for things – money became a substitute for power. The words: “money”, “power”, “property” have evolved as a series of surrogates: with power the primordial desire, and survival in a material world the paramount quest. Things, objects – property, possessions – became proxy for power. Over time money became a proxy for things. The desire for power springs from a natural instinct to stabilize an unstable existence. Money has come to represent what we covet most – power. Money is power!

After the need to survive the most pervasive force in the human psyche is the drive to gain power. We want to be in control, we want to be in charge – we want to be powerful. So by securing prosperity for yourself and your kin, you aren’t looking for money. You really aren’t looking for tangible things; you are seeking power. But to what end?

We are simple, relatively small and powerless creatures making our way in a material existence. We judge our surroundings and our success by what we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell – this is after all a physical world. And in this physical world we see limited resources, limited time, and lots of competition. We have come to believe, by lifetimes of physical evidence, that our survival and success are dependent on our ability to compete for a share of the resource pie; to accumulate what we can, and thereby achieve some level of power over our existence.

Digging a little deeper leads to the question – Why do we want money? In the final analysis it is not money, nor things, nor power that really matters – these are all means to an end. Life is ultimately all about experience and the experiences we seek are about abundance, about growth, and fulfillment. We seek money for power, we seek power for happiness. Ultimately, it’s all about happiness.

Life is fleeting. We are on a temporary journey, moved by some forces to act – what we seek is happiness – what we get is experience. If experience and happiness are not one and the same, then the task is not to labor for money – it is to find fulfillment.

Money and power are really only tools. What you seek, truly, is to build an abundant, fulfilled and fulfilling life. Money, as a medium of exchange, as a unit of account, and as a store of value is one tool available to you to use in this physical existence. Don’t waste life accumulating money when what you really desire is happiness. Devote your time, energy and talents to the manufacture of joy and money won’t matter.

Copyright © 2010 Scott F Paradis

Scott F. Paradis, author of “Promise and Potential: A Life of Wisdom, Courage, Strength and Will” http://www.promiseandpotential.com publishes “Insights” and a free weekly ezine “Money, Power and the True Path to Prosperity.” Subscribe now at http://www.c-achieve.com

Concentration Exercises

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963431_water1by Michael Logan

One of the best concentration exercises I have discovered for a lecture or conversation is to simply repeat the words of the person speaking to me inside my head. That simple concentration exercise keeps me from preparing my retort, and it also teaches me to listen for the speakers gifts. Taking a moment to repeat their words to myself allows me to see their strengths, and I get lots of good ideas that way.

If I were actually in a a counseling session, I would be preparing to ask my client if I were hearing them accurately, which is a very important part of the process of building trust, and the reflective listening process. The simple act of repetition in conversation will teach me how fast my concentration wanders. If you have ever tried a meditative technique using a mantra, you will know that your concentration wanders frequently, but the sound of the mantra will bring you back to the process. EEG biofeedback or heart rate variability biofeedback are useful tools for concentration exercises because those tools feed back information about either brain wave frequency or time between heart beats, and as we learn from the biofeedback that we can impact those usually subconscious physiological processes, we become more confident in our concentration, and in our ability to impact it.

The most exciting aspect of concentration exercises is that they change the structure of the brain in a helpful way. Sharon Begley wrote in her very interesting book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain about research which shows that Buddhist meditation can change the structure of the brain.

But perhaps the most interesting concentration exercises I have come across outside of meditative or contemplative traditions is the dual n back task, which I first saw discussed in Brainfit for Life a very interesting e-book written by Simon Evans, Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt,Ph.D., who are neuroscientists at the University of Michigan. Evans and Burghardt are actually writing about increasing two recently discovered capacities of the human brain, neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, or the growth of new neurons and the incredible plasticity of neurons, which means how neurons reorganize within minutes sometimes after being presented with new information. It turns out if we take care of the pillars of brain fitness, which are physical activity/exercise, nutrition including antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acid, sleep, stress management, and novel learning experiences, we can keep our brain working at its most efficient. The discussion of the dual n back task comes under the novel learning experience pillar, and Evans and Burghardt report that the research shows that users of dual n back demonstrate an increase in fluid intelligence, as measured by IQ tests.

I was very intrigued, and bought a commercial version of the dual n back program, and tried it out. I found the task perfect for concentration and short term memory. While not an easy tool to get a quick feel for, it didn’t take too long until I was working effectively with the tool, which offers me brief sequences of auditory and visual feedback that I have to remember matches for back two, three, or more trials. Immediately, I was aware of how fast my concentration shifted, and the dual n back kept me focused for longer and longer periods of time, and I noticed an increased awareness of attention on other tasks, so that if I wandered away, I would get back to task more quickly. So it appears that research and computers are offering us wonderful tools for concentration exercises that are much more precise than the kinds that we learn using meditative or contemplative tools.

So given my experience with the dual n back, and my experiences with heart rate variability biofeedback tools, and EEG brainwave biofeedback tools, I decided to look into a couple of other online novel learning experience tools, one designed for Senior Brains, which was demonstrated in the IMPACT study to improve memory by exercising auditory circuits, and another a tool that you can use online whenever you want, and both of them were excellent concentration exercises, which I know recommend to clients. Concentration exercises can take various forms, and one of the best and most efficient is the dual n back task you practice on your computer for about 19 days, one half hour per day. More concentration and more I.Q.

Michael S. Logan is a brain fitness expert, a counselor, a student of Chi Gong, and licensed one on one HeartMath provider. I enjoy the spiritual, the mythological, and psychological, and I am a late life father to Shane, 10, and Hannah Marie, 4, whose brains are so amazing. http://www.askmikethecounselor2.com

Legalism vs Common Sense

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665436_ring_and_heart1by Don Barton

Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
I was raised in a very strict home.

My father was the authoritarian dispenser of discipline in our family. What he decreed happened, or else!

Or, I could describe it this way-

I was raised by Godly parents. My father did his best to teach me that there were consequences to my decisions by applying loving but firm discipline.

The manner in which you describe my upbringing, depends on your perspective. In today’s politically correct world, it is likely that my father would be reported for being over-zealous, if not somewhat abusive. My backside was no stranger to his leather belt.

Let me give you two examples that even to this day stand out vividly in my memory.

The first goes under the heading of honesty.

I was with my father at a public pay phone where my he made a telephone call. At the end of the telephone conversation, he hung up the receiver and as he did we both heard the sound of change falling into the dispenser.

Yipee!

Yipee! I shouted, we can buy an ice cream cone. My dad’s response? “No, son, the money is not ours.” And he proceed to re-deposit the coins into the coin slot of the telephone.

“Dad!” I protested, the next person will get the money – not the telephone company.

Of course such logic from a child didn’t matter – there was a principal to teach and a principal to be learned.

The second example goes under the principal of obeying the law, or living by example.

One afternoon my father and I went for a walk. When we came to a pedestrian crossing, I observed that there no traffic in any direction – it was a quite Sunday afternoon. As I was about to step off the curb, I felt the strong tug of my fathers hand on the back of my jacket accompanied by a gruff scolding that I should never walk against a DON’T WALK sign. “Christians obey the law,” he pontificated!

“But, Daaaaad…”

He cut me off as I was about to explain that there were absolutely no cars coming. “Don’t argue, son, regardless – we obey the law of the land.”

He went on to explain that it didn’t matter that no cars were coming – it’s a matter of principal, he explained, and besides it was a testimony to others. I didn’t dare tell him that not only was there no traffic, there were no other pedestrians, so no one could see us. What kind of testimony was that?

Almost as if he could read my mind, he added, “Never mind, God can see you even if man can’t.”

At the time it just seemed like more rules, more strict demands on a little boy that just wanted some freedom.

Of course, what I didn’t understand at the time was that these were in fact well-intentioned lessons taught by a father that had difficulty expressing himself warmly and lovingly to his son. And who knows? Maybe this was the only way I would learn these important principals.

Over Twenty Years Later

I found myself in the same position – not sons, but daughters. I, too, took the opportunities that life presented to teach my daughters important life-principles. With God’s help, I hopefully delivered the lessons with a little more grace.

But I’m not sure I succeeded in the grace department when I listen to my daughters retell of their strict upbring.

Do you think my father taught me the best way he could?

By the way, ask my friends, even as a grandfather, I can’t bring myself to walk against a “Don’t Walk” sign without hearing his voice.

Oh yes, would you put the coins back in the slot?

This article written by Don Barton, one of the leaders at Hills Bible Church in Melbourne Australia. It was posted on their blog http://blog.hillsbiblechurch.org/ and is one of a number of inspirational posts addressing issues of importance to the Christian walk. For more about Hills Bible Church visit the website http://www.hillsbiblechurch.org/

Paradigm Shifts and Science

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By Alain Prud’homme

The word paradigm in the scientific or design professions is used to indicate a pattern, model, outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype. These paradigms are the conceptual frameworks that provide a unified perspective over a range of experiences.

Since students mainly learn from and are mentored by others who learned the foundation in their respetive fields from identical models there is seldom any disagreement over the fundamentals. Men whose research is based on shared paradigms are faithful to the same principles, rules and standards in their scientific practice.

Openness to the diversity of thought is generally not welcomed and considered a threat in the majority of professional fields most of which are still dominated by models rooted in old paradigmatic thought.

In the majority of, if not all, scientific fields it is unfortunate that the political and financial institutions that control licensure, standards of ethics, and third-party payments, are rooted in the old paradigms and continue to hold the exclusive rights to define and regulate professional practice.

Most scientists participate in what can be considered as ‘normal science’. ‘Normal Science’ in this context is any activity consistent with the existing paradigm and provides relatively small gains in the field as a rule.

When the existing paradigm fails to explain a number of new phenomena or concepts, the science goes into a time of crisis during which a paradigm shift can occur. These paradigm shifts allows for new growth, new creativity, new ideas, new models—and ultimately a new age.

Throughout the history of the science, paradigm shifts have allowed us to explain previously unexplainable phenomena. Science introduced and continues to introduce a number of paradigm shifts that change our perception of the universe and of who we are. These paradigm shifts opened up new avenues and new fields to explore.

“It’s not easy being seen if you find information that does not support the accepted views because the supporters of the accepted views have publicity, money and power to grant degrees. Going along is how proponents of the accepted view obtained their degrees, how they obtained funding and how they obtained their publicity. So how could so many smart people have got it so wrong? A few got it wrong; the rest went along. Self interest, not science, ensured the status quo.” – C. J. Ransom.

Here is an example of a paradigm shift in physics. In physics the string theory (now M-theory) proponents originally worked in 10-dimensions. There was a minority group of physicists who believed that there should be 11-dimensions. Those who believed that there should be 11-dimensions were practically excommunicated from the ranks of physicists. However the 10-dimensional model of string theory had a problem with the maths something the 11-dimensional model did not have. It took a long time, with considerable infighting, but now the 11-dimensional model is now the accepted model. Even then, like all theoretic models, some scientists have questioned the tangible successes of M-theory given its current incompleteness, and its limited predictive power, after so many years of intense research.

Cosmology is now in the midst of its own paradigm shift. Many scientists (away from universities) have ditched the big bang theory in favor of an electric universe. The electric universe grew out of a broad interdisciplinary approach to science, based more on observations and experiments than abstract theory and recognized the connections between diverse disciplines.

This is a fascinating journey in the world of scientific ideas that are likely to shape the intellectual scenario of the third millennium.

Most revolutions in science have come from people who taught themselves outside the academic system and were not constrained by the fallacies and fashions of the day. It has been well documented that modern institutions of science operate in such a way as to enforce conformity by preventing the research and publication of revolutionary ideas. Enlightenment has to come from outside academia.

Unfortunately science is vulnerable to the vested interests and biases of its practitioners as the ‘Global Warming’ (renamed ‘Climate Change’) scam has show only too clearly.

Regrettably we are in need of a major paradigm shift when it comes to the micro-generation of free energy. The paradigm shift is not only needed in the scientific community but in the political arena as well.

It is unfortunate that our species has a strong tendency towards herding, a dislike to contrariasm and a strong desire for acceptance and popularity. People fear change, our so-called “leaders” even more, and are willing to hang anyone who dares think outside their limited imagination.

Most of what you get taught is lies. It has to be. Sometimes if you get the truth all at once, you can’t understand it. – Terry Pratchett.

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Alain Prudhomme write about the issues surrounding the micro-generation of renewable energy for homes as well as on the contentious and controversial issues surrounding global warming and climate change. You can find more resources at http://www.renewablehomeenergysolutions.com

Running Scared or Running Free

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Christine Kloser, author of The Freedom Formula, helps small businesses put soul in their business and money in the bank.

In each and every moment of your life (including this moment right now) you have an important choice to make. Will you choose to be scared, or choose to be free? In the events of the past few weeks, and the passing of my mother-in-law, I was acutely aware of the choices I had in each moment.

When my husband and I found out how suddenly the end was approaching, it was quite shocking (and untimely). There was a tiny voice in side of me that started going through all of the “what if’s.” What if she passed before David got there? What if I needed to close my business for the week… or cancel my retreat? What if I never got to say goodbye? What if…

As soon as I noticed the contractions around all of the “what if’s,” I realized they were all coming from a place of fear. They were making me feel like I was running scared. I’ve never gone through this before; I didn’t know how to BE or what to do. So, I asked myself, “is this how I want to be feeling right now?” Did I want to be feeling the fear, the frantic energy and the worry about “what if?” Well, the only answer to that question was no.

So, instead I chose to feel free within myself and make decisions from that space. Not surprisingly, grace joined me in that place and we easily got my husband on the next plane out of Baltimore with no problem. (While he didn’t make it to his mom before she passed, he made peace within himself around her passing.) I changed the date of my retreat to start one day later and the attendees adjusted to the change with such grace, as did the bed and breakfast I was holding it at… they had the exact number of rooms I needed for the new dates. My parents quickly adjusted their schedule to watch Janet while I was at the retreat so David could stay with his father in Sacramento for an extra week. And, on and on…

I stopped running scared that I wouldn’t have the time I had planned to prepare for the retreat, and chose to release my attachment to what I “thought” I “needed” to do… and the freedom within me allowed for more grace to unfold in a magical retreat. Instead of running scared about some commitment I had to break, I chose to be free within myself and not beat myself up about having to let some things go so I could be present with my husband and family.

There was so much happening in such a short period of time, each moment was a choice I had to make. Will I run “scared” or will I run “free?”

I invite you to ask yourself this same question right now with whatever is happening in your life. What are you choosing to be your experience? Are you running scared or running free?

Some of you may immediately go to a place in your mind that will quickly begin listing all of the “reasons” why you ought to be scared. Remember that this voice that causes you to feel contracted, fearful, scared, paralyzed, etc… is the voice of your ego. Simply allow yourself to acknowledge the voice. Let it feel heard.

But, as my spiritual teacher says… then turn UP the volume on the voice of your Higher Self. Listen to this voice more closely. Listen for the truth that resides deep within your soul. Your soul sings the song of freedom… no matter what circumstances may be occurring around you. It is YOU that can choose in any moment to allow fear or freedom to determine how you feel.

If you want to enjoy a purpose-driven business and a soulful life, send for Christine Kloser’s free Conscious Business Success Kit, which includes her report, How to Avoid the 3 Massive Mistakes Made by Conscious Entrepreneurs and audio, 7 Strategies Entrepreneurial Authors Need to Know Before Writing a Word, at LoveYourLife.com.

Three Powerful Steps to Heal and Transform Anything in Your Life

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By Marilyn Gordon

Here’s a roadmap for transforming anything in your life. Would you like to do better in your business or create a happier relationship or family life? Would you like to turn anxiety into peace or anger into forgiveness? You have the power to do this, and as you read on you’ll find a special way to transform something in your life that is challenging you.

Follow the Stages in a Flow

You can take three main steps when you want to create transformation in any area of your life. They are: Experience, Release, and Transform. In Step One, you experience and pay attention to whatever is concerning you. In Step Two, you release your concern. In Step Three, you transform it into a higher state of mind.

Step One: Experience

Experiencing what’s going on within you is about paying attention, paying attention to places in which you’re hiding your power under old limitations. You look at how it feels inside your emotions and your body, and you become more familiar with how your concerns are presenting themselves within you. By first paying attention to the details of whatever is bothering you, you begin the process of transforming those limitations into freedom and joy.

Step Two: Release

Release is a natural process. Clouds release raindrops when it’s time to let the rain come. Boils on the skin release foreign matter when it’s time to heal. Mothers (hopefully) release their children when it’s time for them to grow up. And so do we release old issues when it’s time for us to let go. Sometimes we do it vocally; sometimes we do it energetically. Sometimes the release is visual. Breathing is a powerful way to release.

Step Three: Transform

The third step, transformation, comes when you’re ready to shift your consciousness to a new level, when you are ready to see with different eyes. The enlightened ones remind us that we’re asleep and dreaming this reality. It seems so real, yet your higher wisdom can lead you to great expanded realities and new areas of understanding. Sometimes the transformation will take you to places filled with light. Or you may experience a profound wisdom coming forth that is way beyond your usual ability to be wise. You may find that deep understanding is flowing from your soul. Always, you will be uplifted into the experience of love.

The Transformational Process

This transformational process is a natural one. We may have the perception that everything is constantly transforming in the universe. After the rain, the dust of the city is cleaned away. The air is fresh, and you may perceive a kind of purity in the atmosphere. You create this transformation in a microcosmic personal way. You go through the steps of Experience – Release – Transform, and you bring yourself back to your natural state of healing, wisdom, and love.

Want to learn more about life transformation, spiritual growth, and healing? Get our 100 page free ebook, Extraordinary Healing, at http://www.thewisemind.com . You can also subscribe to our wonderful free monthly newsletter, “The Transformation News.” Marilyn Gordon is a board certified hypnotherapist, teacher, healer, and author.

Natural Cancer Treatment: Meditation

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By Harriet Denz Penhey

Major religious traditions have known for millennia that meditation can improve health. While some medical practitioners are still skeptical about its usefulness this is largely because they are not aware of the amount of evidence there is in the medical literature. Meditation not only changes the electrical activity of the brain but impacts on both the hormonal cascades and the immune system.

When I first started as a researcher I was told in no uncertain terms that there was no evidence that stress contributed to ill health. Now it is known that stress suppresses the immune system through multiple processes including encouraging the white blood cells to die off. They call this stress induced “apoptosis of lymphocytes and development of immune supression by means of glucocorticoid pathways”. Please bear with me and put up with some big words. I have found that most doctors and many ordinary people won’t believe it is effective without these convoluted expressions.

Researchers have also been able to show how meditation can increase the relaxation response and undo many negative effects of stress. It always makes me smile when a statement such as this is blithely disregarded by my medical colleagues. However, if I quote from a paper and say how stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or that “cortisol is also a powerful immunosuppressant and this may undermine the capacity of NK (natural killer) and cytotoxic T-cells to eradicate tumor cells” then I can have a more productive conversation with them.

In addition to these biological effects meditation has been shown in research to reduce negative moods of depression, anxiety, anger, irritability and confusion in patients with cancer.

Most people feel much better after becoming regular meditators. They come to a greater sense of peace about their situation and their lives, have a greater sense of trust in the world, and improved coping capabilities. And each of these emotions not only make you feel better, but they have a positive flow on effect to your hormones and immune system.

One of the issues surrounding self care in cancer is the hope and expectation that some special pill, potion or magic herb, or in this case, meditation might be the cancer equivalent of antibiotic use in tonsillitis. Unfortunately there are no promises for recovery from cancer – not even from medicine and chemotherapy. Chemotherapy contributes an average to only just over 2% to the 5-year survival rate. This means that many survivors are recovering as a result of their own innate immunity.

Therefore anything that might increase one’s innate immunity and anything that can upregulate the cancer fighting cells should be considered. The wonderful aspect of natural cancer treatment is that there are no bad negative side effects.

Meditation is just one of these upregulators of the immune system. Meditation need not cost any money. It can be undertaken in a great many environments without additional resources and in my opinion it should be in the front line of any self care. Look out for other upregulators of the immune system, such as good social support, enough Vitamin D3, bright colored fruits and vegetables and exercise. With cancer, and indeed with any chronic or terminal illness you need every possible assistance to improve your chances of improved short and long term outcomes.

Dr Harriet Denz-Penhey is an internationally recognized health researcher who has done groundbreaking research into patient self care in serious illness. The web site http://www.cancerremedies.org discusses aspects of natural cancer treatment and remedies for good general health.