Studies have shown that spirituality is an important coping mechanism and if a cancer patient gets rid of negative thoughts and stays positive, it aids the fight against the disease.
Religion and spirituality are a part and parcel of India and for most people, it provides sustenance to live a composed and fulfilling life. A matter that is closely associated with religion is death and there are different viewpoints of life and death, especially in the face of a disease such as cancer.
Cancer drains the patient’s energy both mentally and physically. A large number of cancer patients rely on spiritualism in order to cope with the disease. Spirituality is being used as an alternative method to help cancer patients remain calm while undergoing chemotherapy. It allows patients to recognise the inner self and see the world with a new point of view.
CancerAwakens.com — from the website www.sampurnah.com — is one such blog where Bangalore-based cancer coaches Nilima and Vijay Bhat share lessons they learned over the past nine years when they were battling cancer. This website is loaded with articles that have information about empowering lessons, and tools and resources that helped them and which can help other families facing similar situations.
According to the WHO, cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008. While some people respond well to modern medical treatment, others require both treatment and spiritual healing.
Can faith play a role in coping with cancer? Jeroomulla, who is in her mid-50s, used the spiritual-holistic approach to fight uterus cancer. She underwent an operation in June 2006 and there on, Jeroomulla turned to spiritualism in order fight a relapse of the disease. “I clung on to positive words of hope from my family and friends, got rid of negative thoughts and read a lot of books on cancer and spiritualism,” says Jeroomulla. It also helped that her husband, Mahendra Singh and rest of the family, were a pillar of support through her ordeal. Dr Anju Venkat and Dr Vijay Venkat were her healers and nutritionists. Bharathnatyam dance sessions also kept Jeroomulla occupied. Meditation and Vipassana yoga were also included in her schedule. Even today, she follows the routine.
If a cancer patient gets rid of negative thoughts and stays positive, it aids the fight against the disease. Studies have shown that spirituality is an important coping mechanism. “If the EQ (Emotional Quotient) is strong, then the SQ (Spiritual Quotient) eventually develops,” says Dr Vishal Rao, a surgical oncologist at Chord Road Hospital.
Vijay Bhat earlier had colon cancer and recovered in 2001. He now works as a ‘cancer coach’. He encourages other patients to take up an integrated-holistic approach in which spiritualism plays a major role. The approach does not guarantee a cure, but it does guarantee a peaceful mind and adds quality to the amount of years left in a patient’s life. “It is not the quantity of life that one must focus on, it is the best quality that one must strive to achieve,” he says.
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