What comes to mind when you think about your immune system?  Do you think about an army of special cells, proteins, tissues, and organs ready to go to battle to defend you from organisms and substances that invade your system and cause disease?  Do you visualize little Pac-Men like creatures gobbling up all the little buggies?

How about cancer?  Did just reading the word flame the fire of fear?  Say these words out loud right now: "I have cancer."

How did your body react?  Did your heart race?  Face flush? Shoulders tense? Stomach tighten?

Though medical science has made some breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, many of us still think "DEATH" when the word is mentioned.  An unfortunate fact that supports this thought is that many of us have had someone we love die of cancer.  My nephew died of cancer just one month shy of his 14th birthday.  It was indeed a tragic and traumatic loss for my family.

Sadly, one thing our health care system does not address adequately is the emotional factors of cancer and other dis-eases.  I had one client who was in the doctors examining room, wearing nothing but a paper sheet, when she was given the diagnosis.  No family in the room, feeling vulnerable and alone, with no one to physically, emotionally or spiritually support her.  While driving home, reeling with thoughts of how she was going to tell her three children, she rear-ended a car at a stop light and severely injured her neck.

It just makes intuitive sense that a body experiencing fear, trauma, stress, and guilt is not in the best shape to heal anything.  And though the medical community is well aware that emotional dis-ease set us up for physical dis-ease, traditional medicine does not address the emotional house as a part of the treatment plan. 

Mother Teresa once said she wouldn't march on a war against anything.  Nothing is cured by war.  But we often speak of "fighting cancer".  I truly believe a body that is at peace with itself and infuses all its cells with love has a better chance of freeing itself of any dis-ease than a body at war with itself.

Though I am not a doctor, I consider myself a healer.  In my experience, it matters not what symptoms or disease the body is presenting.  Be it back pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, low energy, chronic sinus infections, Parkinson’s Disease, depression, and even cancer,  the body cannot effectively heal itself until the underlying toxic emotions that are trapped in the body’s subtle energy system is released.  It’s also important to know that these low frequency emotions are mostly driven by limiting beliefs and fears of the subconscious mind.

The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is the most effective and efficient way I have found to free these toxic emotions and reprogram the subconscious.

EFT is a universal healing modality that is easy enough for almost anybody to learn but is powerful enough to assist people with everything from debilitating phobias to serious health conditions.  By using a gentle tapping procedure that engages the same energy system as acupuncture, EFT rapidly balances the body and eases the emotions.

Gary Craig, founder of EFT, feels that this indispensable method of dispelling negative emotions should be available to all and has made the method easily available on line at www.emofree.com.

 Scientific studies are now emerging that supports what literally millions of people around the world have experienced: EFT, as well as other energy medicine modalities, moves the mind-body to a deeper level of peace, creating a more optimal climate for the functioning of the immune system. 

Dawson Church, Ph.D., illuminates this research in his empowering book, The Genie in Your Genes.  This book reports the findings of over 300 scientific studies that reveal why energy- and consciousness-based medicine will transform healthcare.  Dr. Church deftly explains how genes are being turned on and off by beliefs, emotions and attitudes.  I found this study particularly revealing:

            “…researchers looked at people who were lonely and depressed, and compared the expression of their entire genome with a happier group.  They found 209 genes that were differently expressed in the unhappy people.  The nature of the affected genes is particularly interesting.  They code for, amongst other things, markers of our levels of immunity from disease.  So unhappy people had weakened immune systems and were more susceptible to illness.”

The book also chronicles how a patient altered the degree of clumping of her red blood cells (RBC) by using EFT.  The patient’s doctor examined the live red blood cells using darkfield microscopy before and after the patient used EFT.  Here’s what Dr. Church writes:

“Our dominant medical model does not believe that physiological processes such as red blood cell clumping are under the control of a patient’s conscious mind.  [This] usually takes months of treatment, if it can be accomplished at all.  Yet in just two rounds of EFT, lasting just a few minutes, were enough to produce an immediate and visible change in the degree of cell clumping.”  (The pictures showing the change in the RBC was nothing short of miraculous!)

I am not suggesting that EFT should replace medical care.  However, the research is illuminating that our psychology plays a definitive role in our physiology, and supports the theory that bodies free of toxic emotions and energy disruptions have enhanced immune function. 

In February, 2010, an EFT group is forming expressly for those who have, or have had, a cancer diagnosis.  During each meeting a specific aspect of living with cancer will be addressed, including:

·          Releasing the trauma of the diagnosis
·          I feel guilty that I might have caused this cancer
·          Who am I now that I have cancer?
·          I hate chemotherapy!
·          I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!
·          I'm ready to release the old toxic emotional junk

Coupled with individual EFT sessions, fears can subside, limiting beliefs and attitudes can change, emotional wounds and traumas can be repaired, so the body has a strong immune system and peaceful environment in which to heal.  For more information, log onto www.LifeWorksWithEFT.com.

Forrest Samnik, LCSW, EFT Cert-I, CCH is a psychotherapist and certified EFT practitioner with a private practice in Palm Harbor, Florida. For questions or comments call LifeWorks Counseling & Coaching at (727) 781-6567 or send email to Forrest@LifeWorksWithEFT.com.