Inspiration, Hope and Direction – Great cancer survival stories

Paul Kraus - Long term survival from mesothelioma

There is something incredibly powerful in the sharing of real human stories. Especially when it comes to surviving against the odds.

Sure statistics and research are useful, but stories add so much more. In the sharing of direct experience, personal stories inspire us, they offer real hope and they inform how we might respond if faced with difficulties of our own.

Ruth and I are in the fortunate situation where we meet remarkable survivors regularly. For example, just last week in Sydney during the course of presenting an evening seminar, 3 such people met up with us once more and recounted their long-term cancer survival stories following coming to one of our programs many years ago.

Last week too, I had lunch with Paul Kraus and his wife Sue; Paul probably being the longest survivor of mesothelioma in Australia and the author of Surviving Cancer. Sharing a brief account of his story on my Facebook page led to a huge, appreciative response and it is this that has inspired me to share his amazing story more fully in this post, then to regularly document and share the stories of others in future blogs. But first

              
       Thought for the day

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth,

So a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. 

To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. 

To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over

The kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.


                         Henry David Thoreau 





It seems almost impossible to me to imagine what it would be like to be born in a concentration camp. Not only was Paul Kraus actually born in one of the notorious Austrian concentration camps, but he survived the first 9 months of his life in that most inhospitable of environments.

This fact says so much about what an incredible mother Paul had, but also of his own tenacity and basic resilience. Paul’s mother managed to escape through the camp’s barbed wire before the allies arrived as she feared many incarcerated there would be killed before the liberation.

To eventually ending up in Australia must have seemed like coming to a polar opposite – literally on the opposite side of the world, and a country with such different freedoms and opportunities. Paul converted to Christianity and his spiritual life has been central to all he does. He spent much of his working life as a high school history teacher, having completed a Master of Arts and Education.

In June 1997 Paul was diagnosed with widespread abdominal mesothelioma. The prognosis was very poor – months not years. In consultation with his doctors, Paul gave long consideration to medical treatment options and due to the poor predicted outcomes, decided to decline all, including surgery.

Wife Sue had read You Can Conquer Cancer some 6 months earlier and the two of them joined a 10 day cancer program at the Gawler Foundation’s Yarra Valley Living Centre.


There, at first meeting, Paul made quite an impression on me. Paul was so keen to learn and do whatever he could to recover, but also he had an extremely high level of anxiety.


Obviously Paul consents to his personal details being shared and he has well documented his transformation in his own words, but the main point here is that during the program Paul found the hope he needed.

              Paul and myself early March 2015

Paul had arrived at the program hoping to recover, but with little idea of how that might be possible. Genuine hope is more than just wishing for a good outcome. Genuine hope is implicit upon the fact that what you wish for is possible. Paul realized healing was possible and there was a way to do it.

What Paul learnt during the program set him on a healing path based upon a radical lifestyle change. In Paul’s words

“I adopted a healthy, predominantly raw food diet, juicing, extensive times each day meditating, with special emphasis on healing imagery, as well as prayer and using healing affirmations, not to mention the taking of a number of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements, designed to boost my immune function and to give my body an optimal chance of healing.

“We were at the beginning of a long journey that was to have times of trial and testing.”

Paul’s condition deteriorated a little over the first 6 months, not an uncommon experience as the body detoxes, gathers strength and begins to heal. It takes time for a big ship moving forward with a lot of momentum to change direction. It can take time for a big illness to change direction.

Paul persevered. As he learnt more about cancer itself, the self-help options and Complementary Medicine, he steadily added more to what he was doing. Slowly he improved.

Nine months after diagnosis, Paul flirted with a return to work, but this quickly proved counter-productive. He realised getting well required his full time commitment. Over the next few years, Paul had a couple more setbacks coincident with family stresses, but each time managed to regroup and pick up.

Eventually he went back to work as an author, writing a series of inspirational and informative self help books (see below). Paul also started a local healing group and runs a regular meditation group in Newcastle. Very popular!

There have been no more mesothelioma recurrences, but incredibly, over recent years, Paul has been diagnosed and overcome the effects of a meningioma (brain cancer) and prostate cancer.

What a survivor!

I asked Paul recently what he thought had helped him most. He replied “What I did was very important, but really you know, it is the mind that has been of most importance. Training my mind, using my mind, transforming my mind; that has been the most important thing.”

I have to observe that Paul’s presenting anxiety is completely gone now, but that really it has only fully left these past few years. Now even the most casual observer will notice the air of peace and calm that Paul exudes.

My sense is that Paul will enjoy his old age with quite a different view of life than the one he began with.

And also just to mention that I have been also able to witness how much support, strength and guidance Sue has given to her husband. They are quite a team. Many thanks to both of you for sharing something of what continues to be a remarkable life.

Paul’s final offering?

“I remain well and love life. Every day is a gift and I thank God for everything. The world has been kind and I am always grateful that I was given the challenge of cancer back in 1997. It was the means of straightening my life, of taking away the stresses of my 'old' self and it taught me more than any number of doctorates.”

CANCER PROGRAMS IN 2015
Ruth and I really enjoy the opportunity to lead full cancer residential programs together.

We will be presenting the follow-up 5 day residential cancer programs for the Gawler Foundation this year, and we will also present one full 8 day program in New Zealand that will be well suited to anyone who has not done a program with us before, as well as another follow-up program in New Zealand.

The follow-ups always include the key elements of providing a refresher, a deepening of what you have already been doing and the opportunity to meet and learn directly from like-minded people, but then each program focuses on a particular theme - like accelerated healing, sustaining good intentions and so on.

NEXT SPECIFIC CANCER PROGRAMS
All programs for 2015  CLICK HERE

CANCER and BEYOND  May 2015   Monday 4th at 11am to Friday 8th at 2pm

Five Day Residential Follow-up Program at the Gawler Foundation in the Yarra Valley

This program is specifically designed for those with cancer along with their support people who have attended a previous Gawler Foundation program or equivalent such as with Sabina Rabold, CSWA, Cancer Care SA, CanLive NZ, or with the Gawlers

A unique opportunity to meet with like-minded people once again, to consolidate what you already know, to learn more from the combined knowledge, experience and wisdom of Ian and Ruth, to reaffirm your good intentions, and to go home refreshed and revitalised.

FULL DETAILS Click here 

CANCER, HEALING and WELLBEING
Eight day residential program in New Zealand   May 15th  –  22nd , 2015

All welcome; attendance with a partner/ support person is ideal but not essential.
Many join us from Australia for this program and if you have not been there before, Wanaka is one of the most scenically beautiful places there is - very conducive for the program.

This program will lead you through all the self-healing options:
. Therapeutic nutrition
. Practical positive thinking
. Therapeutic meditation, plus the healing power of imagery and contemplation
. Accelerated healing
. Healthy, healing emotions
. How to get the most out of mainstream treatments and minimize side-effects
. How to be most effective as a support person/carer, and to look after yourself in the process.

I actually lead most of the main sessions, with support from Ruth and 2 exceptional New Zealanders. We live in for the full program so there is plenty of time for questions and personal interaction.

This program is organized and supported by Canlive New Zealand.

FULL DETAILS Click here

RESOURCES
PAUL KRAUS' WEBSITE   Click here

BOOKS
You Can Conquer Cancer  :  Ian Gawler – the reference text

Surviving Cancer :  Paul Kraus – 28 remarkable cancer recovery stories of long term survivors from the Gawler Foundation, collated and edited by Paul

Radical Remission :  Kelly Turner - Great new book - lessons learnt from around 1,000 long term survivors!
Surviving Mesothelioma and other Cancers :  Paul Kraus

Faith, Hope, Love and Laughter – Republished as In Good Spirits  :  Paul Kraus – a collection of writings on healing. Michelle Anderson Publishing 2014

Prayers, Promises & Prescriptions for Healing  :  Paul Kraus Ark House Press, Sydney, 2012. More of Paul’s wisdom in relation to healing.

Mother Courage: From the Holocaust to Australia (Yet to be published.) : Paul Kraus recounting his mother’s story.

RELATED BLOGS
Accelerated Healing 101

Your food as medicine

Radical Remission – The 9 key factors that long-term cancer survivors have in common

Obviously, no one wants cancer. But if you, or someone you love did happen to get it, how important would it be to know what is most likely to help you to beat the odds?

This week, 2 crucial books that tell you how – one new, Radical Remission - and we hear directly from its US author, Dr Kelly Turner in a guest blog; the other older, Surviving Cancer, but now easily available again. Both must read books for anyone affected by cancer.

Also, news of the new edition of You Can Conquer Cancer going to all the super powers, but first, the longest ever, but very worthwhile

Thought for the day

How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. 
An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step-by-step, and needs no imagination. 
That is all wrong. 
The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers. 
                               Isaac Asimov

Long term survivors everywhere!
Travelling the country as Ruth and I have been doing these last few weeks, it is both heartening and inspiring to meet so many long-term cancer survivors.

Some recognise us on the street and stop us to say hello and share their stories. Many have come to the various talks we have given.

So many of them. Each one with a story that warrants a book in its own right. Hardly any that have been recorded in medical journals. None that I know of that have been studied for what their story may reveal that could save the lives of others.

All praise then to Dr Kelly Turner from the USA who has researched these stories in depth and written what I consider to be the most important new book in the cancer arena for some time.

Then there is Paul Kraus – one of Australia’s longest known survivors of mesothelioma and another author. Paul interviewed 28 long-term cancer survivors from the Gawler Foundation and tells their stories in the exceptional Surviving Cancer. This book has been hard to get for some time, so it has been added to my webstore, along with Radical Remission.

I have had the good fortune to correspond with Kelly Turner now for some time, and she kindly agreed to write about Radical Remission. Here is Kelly:

Whether you are dealing with cancer directly or have lost loved ones, cancer is a disease that touches everyone – which is why I was shocked ten years ago when I discovered that no one was really studying people who healed themselves from cancer.



Radical Remission – also called ‘spontaneous remission’ by doctors – is any cancer remission that is statistically unexpected.

This includes:

1)    People who heal from cancer without using any Western medicine at all.

2)    People with cancer who first try Western medicine, but it does not work, so they are forced to switch to other methods, which do work.

3)    People who use Western along with complementary and/or alternative medicine at the same time in order to overcome a very serious prognosis.



After researching more than 1,000 cases of these cases over the past decade, I have learned that radical remission survivors such as Ian have 9 key healing factors in common.

These 9 healing factors, which include physical, emotional, and spiritual elements, are described in my book, 'Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds.'

Seven of the nine most common healing factors that emerged from my research were mental/emotional in nature -- which tells me that the mind is so much more powerful than we think.  The radical remission survivors I study very much paid attention to the state of their mind and believed in the power of their mind to heal the body.

This is why they spent so much energy working on releasing suppressed emotions, increasing positive emotions as much as possible, tuning into and listening to their intuition regarding health choices, deepening their spiritual connection to divine energy, focusing on why they wanted to keep living, allowing themselves to ask for and receive love from others, and finally taking an active (as opposed to passive) role in their healing process.

The techniques that they used to achieve these mental/emotional goals differed from person to person -- some people used meditation, others guided imagery, psychotherapy, energy healing, acupuncture, prayer, etc.  However, those were simply techniques used to achieve the mental/emotional goals listed above.

While we may not yet understand all of the mechanisms behind Radical Remissions, the sheer fact that they happen at all tells us that it is possible to turn around even the most advanced cancers - and that it is a fact worth celebrating.

HAVE A STORY TO SHARE?      WANT TO INSPIRE OTHERS?
Kelly Turner has set up a research database where new stories are most welcome: www.RadicalRemission.com.

TO ORDER THE BOOK , CLICK HERE

SURVIVING CANCER – Paul Kraus
Need more inspiration? Want direction from those who have done it? Want to know what is possible?


For many years, while working at the Gawler Foundation, I gathered stories of remarkable recoveries. Paul Kraus, himself Australia's longest mesothelioma survivor, then interviewed 28 of these people and in Surviving Cancer, warm-heartedly recounts their stories.


These stories are unique in the way they relate healing journeys from first diagnosis to ultimate recovery. Yet behind each person's story there are certain common threads. Chief among these is that above and beyond medical treatment each individual received the benefits of self-empowerment by adopting strategies learnt from the wonderful therapeutic team at The Gawler Foundation.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is full of inspiration, hope and direction. In my opinion Surviving Cancer is a must have book for people affected by cancer. Great to read, then keep on hand and dip into whenever the need for a lift is there.

Reading the accounts of recovery in Surviving Cancer provides a recipe for hope and healing.

NEWS
You Can Conquer Cancer goes global – again
What do the super powers have in common? Not so much it seems some days, but at least they are all soon to publish the new edition of You Can Conquer Cancer! 

The old edition went into over a dozen translations, and as the new edition is such a big step forward (it is virtually a new book the re-write was so thorough), I must admit to being very pleased that it has been taken up by China, Russia, the USA and the UK. So far, translations/new editions are also set for Taiwan, Hungary, and Malaysia. Fascinating!

NOTICEBOARD
The road trip/ speaking tour continues to be a delightful mix of meeting wonderful people, travelling this extraordinary land (this week we are in Cooktown - how cool is that!) while speaking in capital cities and some parts we would never normally be able to get to.

Next public event is a day workshop in Cairns, Saturday 16th August

Followed by an evening public lecture in Mt Isa, Tuesday 19th August

Then Meditation in the Desert at the end of the month

With the last events of Le Tour being in Adelaide: evening public lecture Tuesday16th September and day workshop Wednesday 17th September.

Truly remarkable healing – Sabina’s story including 12 key points for overcoming cancer

One of the things Ruth and I look forward to during the speaking tour up the East Coast that starts in Sydney on Thursday 3^rd July in Sth Sydney, then Katoomba Saturday 5^th,  Sydney again Sunday 6^th, is catching up with family, friends and some remarkable colleagues.

Sabina Rabold trained with me and has led meditation and cancer groups in Sydney for many years. Recently her loved one was diagnosed with bowel cancer spread to the liver, thoroughly testing all the principles.

So this week Sabina provides a fascinating report on what they did and how things have turned out – an inspiring and informative read that includes her 12 key points for overcoming cancer – now honed by personal experience! Plus details of the tour (you can link here, or see the details below), but first

Thought for the Day

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift 

And the rational mind is a faithful servant. 

We have created a society that honors the servant 

And has forgotten the gift. 

We will not solve the problems of the world 

From the same level of thinking we were at 

When we created them. 

More than anything else, 

This new century demands new thinking.

We must change our materially based analyses of the world around us 

To include broader, more multidimensional perspectives. 
 

                                Albert Einstein 

I have a great deal of respect for Sabina Rabold. Sabina is a counselor and psychotherapist in private practice in Crows Nest, Sydney.  Sabina is authentic, deeply committed, and embodies what she teaches - mindfulness and meditation, as well as a 3 Day Living and Thriving Program for people with cancer and their support people.

So for her loved one to be diagnosed with a difficult cancer challenged all she does and all she believes in. How would all this stuff work when it involved the person she is closest to?

Sabina takes up the story as a guest blog:

Last August my loved one, aged 47, was diagnosed with Stage IV Colorectal Cancer with secondaries in the liver. For some years I had been running The Gawler Foundation’s 12 Week Cancer, Healing and Wellbeing Programs and other related programs and workshops in Sydney. I have worked with hundreds of people diagnosed with cancer and their support people.

I have learnt much from Ian and Ruth Gawler, the people at the Gawler Foundation, learned people in the field of cancer care and also from the many courageous people that I have come to know over the years. Those people who have faced up to cancer in an empowered way, working hard to become well and stay well. Now I needed this knowledge to support my loved one, helping him weather the storms of treatment, heal and stay well myself along the way.

With so much good information on board we were able to step straight into action. The full Gawler program started the very next day after the diagnosis - juicing, diet, extra meditation and more. We found an excellent holistic GP who did a number of tests to help us determine the regime of supplements needed. We bought a better juicer. We bought a sauna. My loved one started on IV Vitamin C. We bought mountains of organic veggies and other supernutritious food. I became the kitchen Goddess, spending hours juicing, sprouting, cooking every day.

The relief that came from knowing what to do was immense.

While I started to research this illness, its treatment and cure intensely, we also stepped on the medical merry-go-round: doctors, oncologist, radio-oncologist and surgeon. Each new meeting saw me give a little speech: ‘Dear Doctor, please assume that my loved one will be a survivor of cancer. While we realize that this is a life-threatening illness, we are doing everything we can to heal and recover. We are going all out for cure. Please support us in this’.

The response of each of the physicians was interesting: from doubtful, to silence, to enthusiastic encouragement (from the oncologist - we will always love him for this). 

Then came chemotherapy: six months of intense chemotherapy, IV for two days, every two weeks. Throughout this time we continued all out with the Gawler Healing Diet, six juices per day, as well as meditation, about 35 supplement tablets, IV Vitamin C, saunas, exercise and so on.

While my loved one lost a bit of hair, he gained a bit of weight. He worked part-time throughout the treatment, never threw up, never spent a full day in bed and continued to feel reasonable most of the time. Some unpleasant side-effects from the medical treatment came and mostly went again soon.

The first glimmer of hope came in October: the CT showed indication that the tumours were shrinking. This was confirmed by a PET scan in November that showed that the primary tumour as well as all five liver metastases had shrunk significantly. Hearing this was wind beneath our wings.

Despite the significant shrinkage of the tumours we agreed for my loved one to undergo five weeks of daily radiotherapy parallel to the chemo in January 2014. Despite being advised to cease holistic treatment during radiotherapy by the radiotherapy doctor we continued, after having done much research and in-depth discussions with our holistic GP.

Again, my loved one came through this ordeal with flying colours, worse for wear of course but nothing like what had been predicted. Then a Godsend break from treatment and a further PET scan that confirmed that there was no observable tumour activity in the colon or liver. This was confirmed by the biopsy done on the remaining tumour tissue that was removed in an operation some weeks later - no live cancer cells detectable. Phew.

Now we are under no illusion; cancer is an unpredictable illness and these are early days. But we are trying to stay a step ahead. We are continuing indefinitely with all the things that we have found to be helpful; the holistic treatments, the check-ups, the diet and juicing. If need be we will draw in any medical treatment that seems helpful.   I am also researching preventative treatments that will see the cancer ‘nipped in the bud’ should it decide to come back. So the effort continues.

Twelve things that I have been confirmed in through my experience so far:

    After a cancer diagnosis how we respond matters a great deal. The sooner we respond the better.

    In order to heal from cancer, we need to consider all options that are available.

    Knowledge is power, the better informed we are the more confident we are in making good choices.

    A holistic path is essential, for healing and for wellbeing and conventional medicine is a powerful ally.

    Listening to the needs of the body, the mind and the heart is confirming of self and healing.

    The Gawler Program offers a solid foundation for this holistic path, other aspects can be added from other sources. A good holistic GP is important.

    It takes an empowered and courageous person with cancer to participate fully in the healing journey and go all out for cure.

    A good support team is worth their weight in gold. It takes a dedicated, knowledgeable, determined and resilient support person or team to last the distance.

    The task of the support person is different but also enormously challenging and we often do not get the care and attention that the person with cancer gets.

    It is important to ask for help and support and let people know what help is best at what time

    It helps to hold 2 realities lightly: the reality that the future is uncertain and life is finite; and the reality that there is much that can be done to be well and healed each day.

    To accept that this is a difficult journey and to be ok with ‘whatever gets you through the night’

There is of course so much more knowledge, experience, insight and understanding that this last year has added to my understanding of the Cancer Healing Journey. 

I have re-commenced offering my 3 Day Living and Thriving Programs for people with cancer and their support people in Sydney, and I will teach this program with renewed energy, increased depth of faith in the possibility of healing and greater knowledge in how to approach the healing journey.

Right after the journey with cancer started, Ian and Ruth advised me to prepare for a marathon, that this is the long haul….. and they are right. I am happy to say that so far, I have lasted the distance. And in this moment my loved one is cancer free.

If you know someone who needs some inspiration, some hope, some direction; perhaps this is a blog to share.

Next Living and Thriving Program starting in July 2014

The 3 Day 'Living & Thriving" Program is a unique educational program specifically designed for people with cancer (whether newly diagnosed or long-term survivor) and their support people. The program brings together the best of the various holistic methods and approaches available and introduces participants to various lifestyle medicine options that help to live well with and overcome the challenges of cancer. There are no prerequisites for this program and everyone is welcome. The approaches taught are additional and complementary to any other treatment choices.

NEXT PROGRAM   •Day 1: 26.7.2014   •Day 2: 3.8.2014   •Day 3: 17.8.2014

More information about the program can be found on www.WellforLife.net.au

or contact Sabina on 0419 980 923, or email: Sabina@WellforLife.net.au.

RELATED BLOG

Ilana’s story

RESOURCES

BOOK You Can Conquer Cancer

CD and Download : The Gawler Cancer Program

What to do when someone you love has cancer

NOTICEBOARD

1. IAN’S EAST COAST TOUR – 

HEALTH, HEALING and the MIND 

– from JULY onwards

Only a few days now and Ruth and I will in Sydney for the first of our series of speaking engagements up the East Coast.

Thursday July 3^rd we are in Sth Sydneyfor an evening public talk.

Saturday July 5^th it is Katoomba for a day workshop.

Sunday July 4^th Sydney again – this time centrally at Camperdown for another day open to all.

Then we head for Pt Stephens on Saturday 12^th, before continuing right on up to Cairns with a few talks along the way, across to Mt Isa and Alice Springs for Meditation in the Desert, then down to Adelaide. A road trip with a difference.

Know someone who might benefit from attending? 

Hope to see many of you along the way. There will be the chance for a refresher, to help get back on track if needed; but also exciting new information and the opportunity to meditate together and to deepen the experience of what meditation really is.

A good opportunity to share what we do with family, friends and colleagues.

FULL DETAILS – CLICK HERE  and please do share the link.

2. Meditation in the Desert : August 29 – September 7

Still a few spaces available, so come, join Ruth and myself along with like-minded people for 7 days of meditation in the extraordinary atmosphere of the Central Australian desert, followed by several days of close contact with senior local indigenous leaders.

Secure your place with a deposit. For details CLICK HERE

 

Ian Gawler Blog: Health, Healing and Wellbeing – The 2014 Tour!

This week, an amazing cancer survival story, news of one of the best new books I have read in a long time, and details of the speaking tour up the East Coast Ruth and I head off for in July.

Hope to see many of you along the way – a good opportunity to share what we do with family, friends and colleagues. There will be the chance for a refresher, to help get back on track if needed; but also exciting new information and the opportunity to meditate together and to deepen the experience of what meditation really is.

But there is nothing like running a cancer residential program (as we have just done in Auckland – see the News section below) to be reminded of why Ruth and I are so committed to the work we do. Sure it is wonderful to be able to help people recover from cancer, but it would be even better if people do not even get cancer! Clearly cancer is mainly a highly preventable illness, and the best prevention is living well!

So this week an inspiring story from someone who turned his life around and is alive many years later - way longer than his doctors imagined, and a reminder that most of us need a reminder to keep on track and to resist the pressures from society that would have us eating badly, getting stressed, living mindlessly and so on. I hope this is a blog you will share, but first




Thought for the Day

This is the kind of friend you are -
Without making me realize
My soul’s anguished history,
You slip into my house at night,
And while I am sleeping,
You silently carry off
All my suffering and sordid past
In your beautiful hands
                        Hafiz




Ross Latham is convinced he manufactured his own cancer.

“Its not that I did it consciously, but the way I was eating, the stress of my job, my whole lifestyle brought my body to a state of collapse, and cancer was the result.”

In despair, with a diagnosis of Stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and having been told rather emphatically by his doctors that his particular condition was incurable, Ross was given You Can Conquer Cancer.

While visiting with Ross in Auckland (he and his wife Jen are incredibly helpful to us – even lent us a car to get around in!), Ross told me

“Knowing what had caused my cancer gave me real hope. I thought that if I could just turn my life around, maybe I could turn the cancer around. What the book made clear was that if I did take the best of what the doctors had to offer, I could add to that with all the therapeutic benefits of a good diet, exercise, using the power of the mind and meditation.”


Ross’ doctors had only expected him to survive for around 2 years. But that was 18 years ago.

Happily, as we know, Ross is not alone in his good outcome. Dr Kelly Turner has just published Radical Remission – Surviving Cancer Against All Odds. In this fabulous groundbreaking book, Dr Turner reports on her investigation, through her PhD, of over 1,000 people with extraordinary and well documented cases of unexpected cancer recovery – the so-called “spontaneous remissions”.

PLEASE NOTE Dr Kelly's book has just been brought into Australia and we hope to have it available via our webstore in a couple of weeks - and will advise when it is there.

Ten years ago, Dr Turner, a psychotherapist and researcher, had been shocked to realise that no one was studying how people like Ross and myself managed to survive.

“I was fascinated by these stories” says Dr Turner. “There were so many of them. What made these people the exceptions? Were they just “lucky”, or could we learn from them?”

Dr Turner soon grasped that these people were quite deliberate; they had not recovered “spontaneously”.

“In fact, they worked very hard to heal,” says Dr Turner “and I discovered that they did indeed have nine healing factors in common. Seven of these nine were mental/emotional in nature; the other two being making major dietary change and using herbs and supplements.

“This tells me that the mind is much more powerful than we think. The radical remission survivors I studied very much believed in the power of their mind to heal the body and they took an active (as opposed to passive) role in their healing process.”

Speaking personally, we love being able to help people to recover from cancer and I have seen this happen many times. However, like Ross and so many other people I have known afflicted by this tough disease; we all say the best way to treat cancer is to prevent it. Best not to get it!

Clearly, all the authorities these days agree cancer is a highly preventable illness.

A healthy lifestyle, eating well, exercising, and using the power of the mind – all these things are well proven to prevent all the chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, as well as cancer. However, while in my experience many people know the basics of this these days, they still struggle to do the right thing by themselves and their families.

So many I meet are looking for help to eat well consistently, to exercise, to manage their stress, to relax and to meditate regularly.

Now clearly, this is where the mind comes in again, for it is the mind of course, that decides what we do - what we eat and drink and how much of it. Whether we exercise or smoke. How we manage our relationships, our stress levels and whether or not we use techniques like meditation. Manage our mind, train our mind - manage our life.




Truly it is as the title of another of my books suggests, it is The Mind that Changes Everything.

During the talks that I will present over the next few months you will get to deepen your experience of the techniques like mindfulness and meditation, learn more of exciting new research that validates and informs this approach, helps to build good health and a deep sense of inner contentment and peace, as well as assists in profound healing for those who are in need.

It is a delight to be travelling and speaking in this way with Ruth. We look forward to being able to share the experiences and the knowledge gathered over so many years working with people like Ross, to catch up with those we know from previous events, and to meet new people. So please do share the details with those you care for. The talks will also be well suited to health professionals and teachers as well.

This year we are travelling slowly, taking time between events to see some more of our great country and to spend time with family and friends. And a feature is we will be in Alice Springs end of August for Meditation in the Desert – a real highlight of the year. Then on to Adelaide and home. See you there somewhere?

RELATED BLOG
Cancer survivors? Cancer thrivers!

RESOURCES
For full details of the speaking tour or to download a flier for your local area, CLICK HERE

Maybe you can forward details or even print a few fliers, put them on noticeboards, share them around.

These days, personal contact seems to be the best way people find out about events like this. Maybe you can help someone else to prevent illness, be really well or to recover if they are in need.

NOTICEBOARD

Meditation in the Desert  : August 29 – September 7 – FILLING FAST

Come, join Ruth and myself along with like-minded people for 7 days of meditation in the extraordinary atmosphere of the Central Australian desert, followed by several days of close contact with senior local indigenous leaders.

Secure your place with a deposit. For details CLICK HERE

NEWS
The 8 day cancer residential just presented in Auckland was very well received. There was a great deal of organizing required to make it all happen and we were very ably helped by Stew Burt from the NZ cancer charity CanLive. Stew and another excellent Kiwi therapist, Liz Maluschnig combined with us to help lead and support the program.



Speaking personally again, it was the first time since retiring from the Foundation at the end of 2009 that I had led a residential cancer program specifically for “beginners” (we regularly continue to provide the follow-up programs, but this was for those who had not attended a previous, similar program), so I made time for plenty of preparation.





It was actually very satisfying to have the continuity of presenting all the material for the first 5 days – covering all the Mind-Body material, relaxation, mindfulness, meditation and positive thinking and imagery, then the therapeutic nutrition and issues around life and death.


Liz then led the sessions on healthy emotions, Ruth pain management and medical matters.

For us it seemed very worthwhile and we are considering doing it again next year.