Is forgiveness a powerful breast cancer preventative?

Forgiveness therapy is now being used to treat diseases such as cancer.

The breasts are in the region of the heart chakra which represents the center of love for oneself and others, compassion, empathy and forgiveness.

Breast cancer is very much a disease of unresolved hurt and unforgiveness.

We can start by asking ourselves…

What is the emotional factor that led us to developing breast cancer? Who are we angry at? 

Who do we need to forgive?

At some point in my healing journey I realized I had to take a good look at the emotional factors surrounding why I got breast cancer. What emotions was I suppressing and ignoring?

Carolyn Myss shares “The major emotion behind breast lumps and breast cancer is hurt, sorrow and unfinished emotional business generally related to nurturance.”

Some of these emotional feelings may include:

• Hurt
• Sorrow
• Broken heart
• Guilt
• Lonliness
• Shame
• Anger

When we suppress our deep hurt, grief and sadness it results in blocked energy. This blocked energy needs to be dealt with and expressed or the negative emotions, traumatic imprint and their repression may result in disease. 

But, it is hard to forgive if we are not even aware of our suppressed hurt and sorrow. Many of these emotions are so deeply buried that our conscious mind isn’t even aware of them. 

Even if we are aware of our deep rooted pain, often we aren’t ready to deal with it. Forgiveness takes a certain amount of courage. Sometimes we feel guilt over not being able to forgive others or oneself and we block the energy of the breast.

Ultimately, breast issues represent the refusal to nourish and love ourselves, which can also mean not admitting that we are hurt. 

Certain traumatic events can be the catalyst to disease, such as:

• divorce
• death of a loved one
• loss of a job
• unresolved childhood issues; absent parent, abuse, etc.

Women’s health expert, Dr. Christiane Northrup states, “…It is not the loss that causes the problem it’s the inability to express one’s grief fully, release it, and respond to the situation in a healthy adaptive manner.”

Ask yourself—

• What negative memories do you still need to address?
• Do you ever feel as though your feelings don’t really matter?
• What relationships have you had in your life that require healing?
• Have you given your power away to another person?
• Is your self esteem suffering because you don’t know how to nurture yourself?
• Do you feel anger over being betrayed or abandoned by someone? Have you worked through it yet?

How do we forgive others when we are still angry at them?

First, we need to understand that forgiveness is a choice. It is up to us! There is no judge or jury involved here telling us what to do or how to do it. 

It is just us, alone, making the choice. We choose to forgive perhaps because we know it is the right thing to do, but mostly because it dramatically affects our health and happiness. 

Forgiveness shifts an energetic field in us that has been immobilized by hurt, anger and despair. 

Forgiveness does not mean you have to go and visit the person who’s wronged you and have a conversation, although this is an option if you decide to do it. However, it is not about rehashing the past. Forgiveness isn’t about putting ourselves back into hurtful situations that could make our pain worse. 

In the area of health and wellness, forgiveness is about healing ourselves. 

By forgiving, you are consciously deciding to offer compassion and empathy to the person that hurt you. Even if it just by thought alone.

Who do you need to forgive and what is stopping you?

In my healing journey, I realized I had not fully forgiven my father for abandoning my family. I did go to therapy, but I didn’t really sink my teeth into the area of forgiveness as much as I needed to.

There were still feelings of hurt, sadness, abandonment and anger deep inside me that had not been dealt with. Even though I wasn’t consciously thinking about it, if I really drilled down into my feelings, the wound would surface enough for me to feel the pain, and the tears would come. 

Eckhart Tolle calls the accumulation of the difficult emotions that are buried deep within us, the pain body. According to Tolle, the pain body is an invisible entity that lives inside us as a frequency that surfaces when negative emotions trigger it. 

I was carrying around a pain body in my heart chakra that I needed to address before I knew I could truly heal myself. I needed to let it go.

Below are some simple steps that you can do to help release old pain and hurt. 

Let the feelings flow

Write a letter to the person who hurt you. And I mean really get into it! Tell the person what you felt like at the time and how it has affected your life. List all the emotions you feel. Use exclamation points. Swear if you want. You can even yell or cry while you write it. Any and all emotions are welcome. Get it out!

It took me a couple of pages of writing until I finally got to the heart of the pain. But, once I got there—wow! I was tearing at the pages and crying my eyes out! It was cathartic.

This is the pain body surfacing. 

Don’t judge yourself. Humans are sensitive beings. It is natural to feel what you are feeling. Don’t hold it in any longer. 

The letter you write is not meant to be sent, so you can feel free to express yourself in any way you want. Write down what you went through, how you felt and tell that person how it has affected your life. Get it all out and then afterwards put the letter aside. You can tear it up or burn it—but don’t send it. 

Afterwards, allow your feelings to surface and feel them fully. “Witness” your feelings without judgement or self-condemnation. Take a good look and see them for what they are. 

As you experience these emotions, pay attention to your body. 

• What are you feeling in your body? 
• Where do you feel the feelings? 

We have to truly feel the feelings in order to process them and transmute them.

Use your body to release the pain

What do you and your body want to do in response to your newly released feelings? Do you want to cry, scream into a pillow, walk, run, do yoga, write in your journal? Maybe it’s just stomping around the house or jumping up and down. Maybe it’s shaking your hands out. Or maybe it’s just breathing deeply?

Do any and all of these things. There is no wrong choice.

Transmute your emotional pain by releasing it physically. 

Nurture yourself

Once you have expressed in some physical way, it’s time to reset and nurture yourself. This means taking care of yourself—being kind to yourself in whatever way feels good.

It may be taking a nap, going for a long walk, meditating, listening to your favourite music while making yourself something nutritious to eat. It may mean taking the afternoon off and turning off your phone, or writing in your journal. 

Writing is a great way to process feelings. Do whatever feels good to you. 

What if it isn’t a person who hurt you, but the trials of life itself?

Sometimes we are angry because life has let us down or hurt us. We don’t understand why our loved one had to pass away and we are struggling with the grief. We can blame God or ourselves for situations. The effect is the same. We need to make peace with life; with ourselves. We need to raise the white flag and surrender to ‘what is’ and accept our lives as they are and move on. 

We can’t always control what life brings us but we can control our response. If you’ve been hanging on to pain and anger over the cards that life has dealt you, then you are unknowingly being self-destructive. 

Why is it okay to hurt ourselves even further by not allowing self forgiveness? 

How much time are you willing to spend in this space before you move on with your life?  

Life is short. Don’t you want to feel better? You can change things now—if you want to!

Dr. Steven Standiford, chief of staff at the Cancer Treatment Centres of America says that refusing to forgive people makes them sick and creates diseases such as cancer. 

“Harboring these negative emotions, this anger and hatred, creates a state of chronic anxiety,” Standiford said. “Chronic anxiety very predictably produces excess adrenaline and cortisol, which deplete the production of natural killer cells, which is your body’s foot soldier in the fight against cancer.” Most people don’t realize the burdens they are carrying until they release them. 

Harboring these negative emotions, this anger and hatred, creates a state of chronic anxiety

Dr. Steven Standiford

The hurt and pain I had inside me because my father wasn’t present in my life couldn’t always be felt on a conscious level. I walked through my life without thinking about it much. It wasn’t until I wrote the letter to him (and didn’t send it) that I realized how much pain and anger that I had. Once I let it go, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders! I felt lighter, happier and more able to express myself. My relationships improved but most importantly, my health improved. 

What are the benefits of forgiving someone?

Releasing grudges and thoughts of revenge can change your health and your life. Forgiveness can lead to:

• Healthier relationships with others
• better mental health
• Less anxiety, stress and anger
• Lower blood pressure
• Fewer symptoms of depression
• A stronger immune system and health
• higher self-esteem

How do we even start to forgive?

The thought of forgiving someone who has hurt you profoundly can feel overwhelming. But, forgiving is essentially a commitment to beginning the process of improved health in your life. 

If you feel like the process is too much for you, you can consider seeing a counsellor or join a support group. But, first you need to identify what emotional baggage you are carrying that is affecting your health. 

Sometimes just admitting that yes, harm was done to us — can be very empowering. Once we see it for what it is, we can understand that we were the victims — either we were helpless children, or the recipient of something painful or destructive in our lives. 

We can decide to step out of the victim space and move into letting go of the control and power the offending person and situation had in our lives. 

What if you try, but just can’t seem to forgive someone?

Forgiveness can be tricky. But, if we keep our eye on the prize of releasing our stuck energy and healing our bodies, we can do it! It’s hard especially if the person who hurt you doesn’t feel as though they’ve done anything wrong. That can add to the trauma you already feel. If this is the case for you— 

• Try writing your feelings out in a journal
• Pray and use guided meditation
• Talk to someone who you trust and look up to.
• Understand that forgiveness is a process. 

You don’t need to feel love towards a person in order to forgive them.

It took me many prayers and long walks in the park to forgive the people who hurt me in my life. I would say the persons name out loud and tell them I forgave them. I repeated this over and over until one day, the image of the person appeared to me with the feeling of love. I was amazed by the experience and after that moment, I felt free. So I KNOW this process works, because I did it for myself. 

A faster way is to write the letter. It brings up the hurt but it transforms and transmutes it. There is something about writing the letter to the person or situation that hurt you that is extremely cathartic. 

Letter writing, prayer, meditation and counselling are all positive ways to release and forgive. 

Conclusion:

Forgiveness requires self love, a little effort and the desire to move past old wounds for the sake of our happiness and health. Once we go through the steps of forgiving others or situations that have happened to us we start to feel lighter and more at peace. 

Forgiveness seems like such a simple thing to do—but it can be challenging. Be patient with yourself and know that it may take a few long hikes on your favourite trail to release the burdens placed on you by others. But, once you commit to forgiveness, there is no turning back. It just feels so good! Afterwards, watch your health and your life change for the better! 

It is truly worth the effort. 

Check out Heidi’s website for more inspired content at www.holisticbreastexpert.com