 In the midst of cancer, the primary focus is often treatments for the physical disease. Attention must expand beyond the diagnosis to include the whole person. Caring for your body, mind, and spirit, including social and environmental health, is essential for your health and healing through cancer. All of these parts create the whole of who you are. Attention to the mind by caring for your mental and emotional inner life is an essential part of an integrative cancer care plan.
The state of your mind and emotions impacts your health due to the mind-body connection. "Mind does not dominate body, it becomes body—body and mind are one," according to research by scientist Candace Pert, PhD. No separation exists between the mind and body. The body feeds the mind; the mind feeds the body. Thoughts and feelings, as well as beliefs and attitudes, impact and literally shape aspects of biological functioning. As a result, mind-body approaches strengthen the mental and emotional inner life supporting health and healing.
Reflect on your lifestyle and self-care routines related to your mind-body. What are your daily practices to support your mental and emotional health through cancer? How do you create calm, including when you feel stress related to cancer and other aspects of life? How do you empower yourself? What actions are you taking to move more fully into your personal power?
We invite you to investigate with curiosity these important questions along with many others as you learn more about your mental and emotional terrain, mind-body connection, and whole person body, mind, and spirit through cancer. Improved mind-body health can be incorporated through a number of strategies. Explore resources to assess what supports and moves you through cancer. Empower yourself with information about mind-body practices for your health and healing.
Calming All of You
There is calm in chaos. Learn about supportive perspectives and strategies to help you reduce stress, relax, and create a healing environment inside of yourself.
Breathing Techniques
Breath helps you find your center while supporting your physical body's functions. Learn more about how to use breathing as a calming, healing tool.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation creates inner balance and helps people find their center. How do you relax? Read more and give yourself this gift.
Rest and Relaxation
Generate true rest and relaxation through 3 key strategies. Learn these tools to recover, rebuild, and replenish yourself from Matthew J. Taylor, PT, PhD.
Meditation Techniques
The practice of meditation enriches the present moment. People become more relaxed and self-aware. Read about how meditation reduces stress and some forms of the practice.
Feelings, Thoughts and Beliefs
The stuff of what you feel, think, and believe impacts your health. Our empowering information helps create better emotional and mental vitality. Explore core strategies to mind-body healing.
Imagery and Cancer
Imagery is one of the most powerful ways the mind communicates with the body. Mental images are associated with our core identity. Explore our imagery and cancer resources.
Joy and the Emotional Spectrum
Our emotions reflect our beliefs and strongly influence who we are. Learn about the power of emotions.
Creating Healthier Beliefs
Habits of mind are powerful constructs. Our beliefs are the blueprint of who we are. Read about what beliefs are, the role they play in our lives, and how to cultivate healthier ones to impact the mind-body connection.
Stress and Cancer
Do you feel stress? Learn about the relationship between stress and cancer. Explore our cancer resources with empowering information about how to reduce and regulate stress.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Growth
The highs and lows of cancer are intense. Patterns of stress can be really debilitating and the challenge also holds the opportunity.
Stages of the Cancer Journey
The ways in which people move through each distinct stage of cancer supports their journey and empowers them with resources. Learn more about body, mind, and spirit through the stages of cancer.
Healing Environment
What qualities create an ideal environment for healing internally and externally to support your optimal health and healing? Explore how to create a vital healing environment.
Kindness
Presence
Touch
Smells
Sounds
Sights
Movement
Movement helps create physical health in the body and whole person transformation. Learn about movement practices that support body, mind, and spirit integration.
5Rhythms
Awaken vitality and find your true self. Turn yourself inside out. Move in the energy of your rhythms to express your organic, authentic movement.
Yoga and Cancer
Leave the mind and enter the body in yoga. Find your ground and balance your body, mind, and spirit. Learn more from Stephanie Jean Sohl, PhD, RYT.
Chi Gong, Tai Chi and Cancer
Integrate physical postures, breathing techniques, and mental focus. Flow from one form to another.
Dancing and Shaking
Dance, shake, and move your body.
Creative Expression
What do you want to express and create? Read about dynamic forms of creative expression.
Storytelling and Cancer
Stories have meaning, power, and transformative potential. What is your story? Explore the power of story and ways to express yours.
Art Therapy and Cancer
Artistic expression in its many forms can be a vital tool in the midst of cancer and life in general. Make art for fun. Make art for discovery. Make art to heal.
Play, Laughter and Cancer
How do you play? What makes you laugh? Express your full self. Learn the health benefits of play and laughter.
Intuition and Instinct
Are you seeking guidance and support through your intuition and instinct? Explore ways to find your center and direction inside of yourself. Our information about inner knowing will support your process to find clarity and develop more confidence in your decision-making and journey.
Meaning and Purpose
What is your meaning of love, life, and suffering? Explore your precious life to further discover and express your reasons to live.
Healing and Curing
What is healing? How does it relate to curing? Explore these important concepts.
Healing and Curing Perspectives
What is healing? How does it compare to curing? Read more.
Mind-Body Basics
Learn how the science of the mind-body connection where mental and emotional states are shaped by biological functioning.
Other Mind-Body Support
Explore other mind-body strategies and resources to support your mental and emotional health and healing.
Stages of the Cancer Journey
The ways in which people move through each distinct stage of cancer supports their journey and empowers them with resources. Learn more about body, mind, and spirit through the stages of cancer.
You will learn through our Mind section how the mind-body connection is deeply impacted and even defined by and through the physical body. Read our entire Body section too and especially the following topics.
Our most popular resources for mind and cancer
 Calming All of You
There is calm in chaos. Learn about supportive perspectives and strategies to help you reduce stress, relax, and create a healing environment inside of yourself.
 Feelings, Thoughts, and Beliefs
The stuff of what you feel, think, and believe impacts your health. Our empowering information helps create better emotional and mental vitality. Explore core strategies to mind-body healing.
 Healing Environment
What qualities create an ideal environment for healing internally and externally to support your optimal health and healing? Explore how to create a vital healing environment.
 Movement
Movement helps create physical health in the body and whole person transformation. Learn about movement practices that support body, mind, and spirit integration.
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