Breast Health Challenge Tip #21 - MammAlive Foundation

Devote 10 minutes today to doing something you love.

What does it for you? Quilting, knitting, singing, painting, dancing, holding your kids hands, running, yoga, gardening … the possibilities are endless. The thing is, we thrive when we are happy. And doing what we love keeps us happy. Even if we only have 10 minutes a day.

Cancer as a Turning Point

One influential person who has shed light on how to prevent and heal cancer is the psychologist Lawrence Leshan PhD. His book, Cancer as a Turning Point, first written in 1989, is a classic prescription for how to live life to the fullest, with or without a cancer diagnosis.

Unlike traditional medical and psychotherapeutic approaches based on the question “What is wrong with you?” Leshan asks, “What is right with you?”

He suggests that we find and commit to our own best and natural ways of being, relating and creating that bring zest, meaning and enthusiasm to our lives. When we make positive and creative psychological and life-style changes that bring happiness, we invigorate the immune system and catalyze our healing potential to maximize well-being.

Leshan discovered through research that working towards creating a richer, more fulfilling life resulted in a longer survival time in cancer patients than using traditional psychotherapies focusing on psychological problems and their past causative factors. Although the approach was originally developed for people with cancer, it is beneficial for anyone.

Feelings and thoughts neither cause nor cure cancer, but do affect the health of your immune system, and inform the well-being of the whole person. As you reshape your inner landscape with meaningful psychological and lifestyle changes, you can mobilize your own life force – whether dealing with a life-threatening illness, generally improving your health, or working toward a life of greater enthusiasm and zest. You are in charge of your thoughts and feelings, and can exercise choice in what you do and how you do it.

What will you do today? Choose joy!

References:

Leshan, Lawrence. Cancer as a Turning Point. Penguin Group, New York. 1994

Take the Breast Health Challenge!

Do what you love and love what you do and take a photo or make a video of you doing it, and post on your Facebook page, Youtube or Instagram with the hashtag #breasthealthchallenge between Oct 1-31. Challenge your friends to do the same. Also enter your email to receive daily tips from the Breast Health Challenge and we’ll enter you into our contest to win prizes. Contest ends Oct 31.

Let’s share what works!