How The Mind Helps Heal The Body

Happy to welcome Carol Cassara here today, sharing about her new venture, A Healing Spirit. I’ve been reading Carol’s blog for a long time and we chat on and off and I’m so glad that she’s followed her heart to create this. My recent loss has made me want to look for more grief resources and I’m certain there are others like me who need to find some too. Please hop over to Carol’s website to check them out after you read this post.

 

How the mind helps heal the body

By Carol A. Cassara, Founder, AHealingSpirit.org

Bloggers and writers know that writing is cathartic. But science is beginning to notice that its power to support healing. As a lifelong writer (and one who made her living that way) it was one of the things that spurred me to start A Healing Spirit, a business all about support for healing. If you are someone you love is battling a serious disease or grieving a loss, you’ll want to know about this.

Psychologists tell us that keeping our emotions in can actually hinder healing. But airing your thoughts and feelings in a safe place has been shown to be a big help in fighting any disease and symptoms.

That’s where a new concept -guided journals- come in. They’re called “guided” because they aren’t blank. Each page has a prompt that the user can respond to. They don’t have to write, either. (Not everyone likes to write.) They can draw, paint or even paste pictures and mementos in a collage that express their feelings about their disease.

We tend to tiptoe around any discussion about disease and avoid dealing with our own emotions around it– but, it turns out, that isn’t healthy. One study found that women with breast cancer who wrote about their feelings about their disease had the fewest symptoms. Physical function was improved for kidney cancer patients who did expressive writing exercises, according to another.

It’s not just cancer, either. Scientists and medical professionals are finding that the mind is a powerful healing tool in many respects—for surgical outcome, anxiety, you name it–and expressing feelings is key.

Whether a patient writes, draws, or pastes pictures that express their feelings, a guided journal can be a helpful addition to treatment for any disease. It also makes a thoughtful gift for a loved one who is dealing with a serious health challenge.

Affirmations, it turns out, serve a similar purpose, so I developed decks of them, as well. Both affirmations and guided journals help engage the connection between mind and body. And while researchers aren’t sure exactly how it works, studies show that the mind really can support healing in important ways. So why not use any tool you can?

This business is really a labor of love. It was inspired by my BFF, who had a difficult, seven year battle with two cancers. I hand made a version of these products for her while she was hospitalized and within a few days she’d told me how helpful they were and that I should officially market them. She didn’t survive to see the final versions, but her spirit is all over them.

Inspired by my friend, my mission is to support healing of all kinds and I’d like to get these products in the hands of as many people who could benefit as possible. That’s why I’ve put together four beautiful, affordable gift packages—two for healing and two for grief, and put them on sale through Dec. 1 We’ll even ship to a loved one with your message on our card. US shipping is also free and it’s discounted to many other countries.

See our gifts here.

We know that sometimes it’s impossible to get a package to some countries and so we’ve made our beautiful affirmation decks available as a 50-day online subscription, and they are also on sale.

See our affirmation options here.

When it was time to retire, I tried. I really did. But inspired by my BFF, I knew I had a new purpose to my life. And so, I find myself working harder than ever at AHealingSpirit.org So I wonder, have you ever been inspired to do something that’s out of your comfort level? I would love to know about it in the comments!