Ian Gawler - You Can Conquer Cancer - The ground-breaking self-help manual including nutrition, meditation and lifestyle management techniques

Copyright

The advice in this book is designed to complement medical advice. Always consult your doctor. The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any techniques as a form of treatment for physical or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your action.

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First edition published in Australia 1984

Revised edition published 2001

Second revised edition published 2004

Third revised edition published 2013

First published in the United States by Tarcher/Penguin 2015

This UK edition published by Thorsons 2015

FIRST EDITION

© Ian Gawler 1984, 2001, 2004, 2013

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2015 Book design by Tanya Maiboroda

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Ian Gawler asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008117603

Ebook Edition © JANUARY 2015 ISBN: 9780008117634

Version: 2015-01-05

This edition is dedicated to the health, healing and well-being of all who read it. May you all live long and happy lives!

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction | The Big Picture—What Is Possible and How

1 The First Step| How to Begin

2 Keeping Hope Alive| Prognosis and Looking into the Crystal Ball

3 What Treatments Will I Use?| Attending to Individual Needs

4 Meditation| The Principles Behind the Silent Healer

5 Meditation| The Practice

6 Meditation in Daily Life| Calm, Clear and Relaxed

7 Mind Training 1| Positive Thinking: The Conscious Mind at Work

8 Mind Training 2| Habits and Beliefs, Affirmations and Imagery: The Unconscious Mind at Work

9 Mind Training 3| The Mind-Body Connection: Using the Power of the Mind for Healing

10 Pain Control| It Is Only Pain!

11 Nutrition 1| The Principles: A Logical Approach

12 Nutrition 2| Foods That Heal: Clarifying Your Choices

13 Nutrition 3| Healthy Boundaries: The Wellness Diet

14 Nutrition 4| Eating for Recovery: The Healing Diet

15 The Causes of Cancer| It Is All in the Mind—Or Is It?

16 Healthy Emotions 1| Feeling Well, Being Well

17 Healthy Emotions 2| Transforming the Negative, Accentuating the Positive

18 Death and Dying| How to Live Well, and Die Well

19 Your Healing Choices| Principles, Practicalities and Spirituality

20 The Sealed Section| The Special Case of Subtle-Energy Medicine

21 Recommendations| An Action Plan

Appendices

References

More Information on Ian Gawler

List of Searchable Terms

About the Publisher

Introduction

The Big Picture

What Is Possible and How

It is a great feeling to have recovered from cancer—to have been through it all and to be living a full, happy life again. I have done it. I have seen others do it and know many more will repeat the process in the future. This book, then, is offered with a sense of excitement and joy—the joy in having done it and the excitement of being able to help others to do it.

We all share a common goal. We all want to enjoy good health along with long, happy and meaningful lives. And we can. However, when a diagnosis of cancer comes into a family, all this is severely threatened. There is the real threat of life cut short, along with fear, distress and potential suffering.

Good news. We can turn all of this around. I have done it myself and I have seen many, many others do it as well. You can conquer cancer. That is a fact. It is possible. There is a process by which you can combine your own resources with those of the medical and allied health professions so that you can transform the experience of cancer and recover. This book examines the patient’s role in disease and healing. It is intended as a self-help manual that provides the signposts along the path to well-being and long-term health.

Currently, of all the people diagnosed with cancer, Western medicine helps around 65 percent to be alive five years later. For someone whose prognosis predicts they are likely to be in that 65 percent, this approach will mobilize your own inner resources, along with those who support you, and give you every chance of becoming a long-term survivor.

For those with a poor prognosis from the medical point of view, take heart. You too can do it. I did. At my lowest point in 1976 my surgeon thought I would only live for a few weeks. So it is wonderful not only to still be alive, but to have raised a family, had the good fortune to be able to help many thousands of others and, importantly, to have seen many, many others recover using these methods.

For more than thirty years now, people have continued to ask me the same question. It is a good question and it is as relevant to the start of this book as it is to every person who asks it.

“When it comes to cancer, what is the most important thing that will help me, or the person I love, to recover?”

I never tire of this question. Is it the food? Is it all in the mind? Is it some new medical breakthrough or some ancient herb? Is it the meditation? What is it? What is the thing that helps the most?

Well, in my experience it is a combination of things. You need the best of all that is available.

You can conquer cancer. But you do need to work at it. This is not a casual business. You need to learn what to do and you need to do it. And when you do, you are bound to feel better in ways that right now you may not even imagine. There is the real prospect of becoming cancer free and enjoying a whole new phase of your life.

Where There Is a Rhyme, There Is a Reason

My right leg was amputated with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) in January 1975. While there were no signs of the cancer anywhere else in my body at that time, I was told that only 5 percent of patients could expect to be alive five years after such surgery. If my cancer reappeared, it would be expected to be rapidly fatal. In those days, most people died within three to six months of developing secondary growths of this form of bone cancer.