I just finished reading Of Monkeys and Dragons, Michele O'Donnell’s look at holistic healing. Her San Antonio, Texas clinic helps patients heal themselves by changing their thoughts and expectations about their disease.

She explained, “If we stand and stare at disease, gasping at its horror and intensity and power to utterly devastate, we have totally empowered it over our lives. The images that I embrace, for good or evil, become the words that I speak and the expectations in my heart and, therefore, the experiences in my life.”
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WITHIN OURSELVES...
"The last place we tend to look for healing is within ourselves." ~ Wayne Muller

Can we heal ourselves?

My battle with cancer came after my mother, aunt, and grandmother died from the disease. And my first oncologist gave me a terrible prognosis. His way of helping me was to tell me to put my affairs in order.

Well, heck with that, I thought. There are people who survive uterine cancer all the time. I’m going to be one of them…

I found another doctor who said I had a chance for survival. He was bright, strong, and sure. I believed him. He took my case to the tumor board and gave me my red chemotherapy “cocktail” in an infusible pump. I prayed a lot.

After six months, the cancer was gone.
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LOVE...
"The main reason for healing is love." ~ Paracelsus

As part of my healing process, I asked my friend Sue for help. A devoted lifelong American Cancer Society volunteer, Sue connected me with cancer survivors. I met with them and listened to their stories. I learned that the common thread in healing was love, faith, and an unwillingness to accept anything but survival.

I continued my Jazzercise classes during my six months of chemotherapy. I believed that my instructor was the best in the world and there was such an outpouring of love and support from the people in my class. I was bald and dancing, joyously sweating, singing at the top of my lungs.

Hubert Humphrey said, “The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.” When I needed my family and friends, they were there for me.
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HEAL WITH JOY...
"Your body cannot heal without play. Your mind cannot heal without laughter. Your soul cannot heal without joy." ~ Catherine Fenwick

My dance with Leiomyosarcoma happened several years ago. The opportunity to heal and survive fed my passion to celebrate life. And to help others do so, too. There are NO limits to your personal power. Celebrate who you are and let your healing light shine for others to share in the warmth.

Blessings of aloha to you!