The Voice of the Heart: Supporting our Emotional Well-Being in Reducing Breast Cancer

hoano • July 23, 2009

The heart of every woman is a treasured place that is the home to our dreams, our intuition, our feelings, our emotions and our instincts. It is the guiding light that gives us direction in our journey through life. This treasured place within our hearts is untouched by the outside world. It is a safe […]

The heart of every woman is a treasured place that is the home to our dreams, our intuition, our feelings, our emotions and our instincts. It is the guiding light that gives us direction in our journey through life. This treasured place within our hearts is untouched by the outside world. It is a safe place that only we know and all it asks is that we be considerate by listening and honoring the voice within.

My personal healing journey in honoring my voice has been reflected in my intimate relationships. I can remember clearly as a young woman in my first relationship, the moment in which I was presented the opportunity to use my voice. I was afraid to speak my thoughts, that this man was not the one for me for the long term, because I knew eventually it would take me away from him, who I was so comfortable with. I also made a direct correlation between the pain in my breast and the thoughts that were bottled up inside of me. So for the next two years I denied the voice of my heart and went on with the relationship. The discomfort in my breast became more noticeable and I sought out medical attention to find out the diagnosis of this breast pain. I was fortunate that my condition was benign, though I knew that I would have to be cautious of my stress level and diet. I knew for my own salvation I would have to make a change and honor this voice inside of me because I was lying to myself and my partner. The heart of the matter was speaking my truth in learning to love myself.

As I reflect on the high incidence of breast cancer amongst women in our society, I am guided by an inner voice that believes there is a strong correlation between benign and malignant breast related conditions and the inability for a woman to love and nurture herself. So many women are on the path of learning how to love themselves. We have issues with low self-respect, self-worth, self-image and self-esteem. This can result from our own karmic issues that we are here to heal, issues from childhood, perhaps the relationships with our parents or abuse.

According to John R. Lee MD, author of “How Hormonal Balance can Save your Life”, suggests that breast cancer can occur when one is not loving or nurturing themselves enough or not receiving nurturing from others. Christiane Northrup in her book our Bodies, Our Selves”,says “much of breast cancer is related to our need to be self-contained and self-nurturing.” John R. Lee M.D. quotes “a 1995 study said that breast cancer increased by almost 12 times if a woman had suffered from a major life episode including divorce, bereavement, or job loss in previous 5 years of Breast Cancer diagnosis.” He also says “that our own breasts can in turn attack oneself when we are not nurturing ourselves is a sign that we need to balance nurturing just like we would balance hormones.”

What lies behind a woman’s breast is her heart. The source of her love and strength. The breasts relates to the 4th chakra, our heart center. The metaphor of giving, receiving, and nurturing.Studies show the power the mind and emotions have in creating our physical health. Deepak Chopra quoted in 2008 at the Hawaii Convention Center that “there is a direct connection between our consciousness and biology. The molecules of our emotional brain attach themselves to the immune system. Our immune cells listen and participate in the conversation of our internal chatter. For instance, ‘I have a gut feeling or My heart is full of sadness’.”The messages that our body sends through disease may be a sign of a deeper wound that needs healing.

According to Chinese medicine philosophy, breast lumps and cancer are a symptom of a woman’s emotional stress and frustration. Honora Lee Wolfe in “Better Breast Health Naturally”, “states that emotional frustration, suppressed anger, and stress affect the free and uninhibited flow of liver and spleen qi. Because the qi move the blood and body fluids, either or both of these may become stagnant in the breasts. It is said that one can eliminate the root of the disease by keeping the heart tranquil and the spirit calm.”Christiane Northrup says “our every emotion, internal pain, thoughts, ideas, the food we put in our body and attitudes all have an effect on our health. Health is not just some external thing that happens to us, it is a manifestation of our lives, experiences, and emotions.”In her audio cassette “Creating Breast Health”, Christiane Northrup shows how unhealed issues of the heart may result in breast related conditions. Some examples are holding on to past hurts or resentments, relationship addiction (why a woman stays in a relationship that doesn’t support her), emotionally non-supportive or abusive relationships, fear of not being loved, or emotionally unavailable or not worthy or being loved.Chronic depression and the inability to release stuck patterns will inevitably create stress on the physical body.

How we cope with the stress is essential to the health of our physical body and well-being.How can we support our emotional well-being?

1. We must first recognize that there is an emotional issue that needs to be attended to.
2. The next step is to feel and acknowledge these emotions even if you do not understand them.
3. Set your intention to resolve to change the situation. This may mean forgiving oneself or another, loving oneself more, healing a relationship with a family member, loving the inner child in you that is calling for your attention or reacting to a situation or pattern in a different way.
4. Have a vision of the desired state you see yourself in and see if it matches your current situation.
5. Journey into Wholeness- open up to the resources of healing through journaling, affirmations, having a dialogue with your physical symptoms, one on one counseling, deep relaxation, regular exercise, good dietary habits, support groups, meditation, bodywork, and energy healing.

Remember to breathe.

Written by Jennifer Telford, owner of Ho’ano. Jennifer is a certified wellness counselor and life coach for women’s empowerment. She integrates mind-body healing as a holistic approach to breast wellness. Jennifer is also creator of Breast Caress Body and Massage Oil, to inspire a woman’s self-breast awareness and nurturing of her body.Visit us at www.hoano.com

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By Jennifer Telford • October 13, 2020
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By hoano • December 4, 2018
I get asked a lot by my clients about what they can do to enhance their lymphatic health in the interim of sessions. Ladies, your in luck, as there is a wonderful tool and self-care regimen called Dry Brushing. Your probably familiar with the basic bath brush that has a wooden handle that people use in the shower to exfoliate their skin. Well this is the same idea, but with the intention of stimulating the lymphatic system. Dry Brushing is becoming a popular trend, as women are now seeing the importance of rejuvenating the skin’s dermis by clearing out toxins as a way to maintain health and beauty. It is the same idea when we exfoliate the face to clean of impurities after a cleanser and toner. Dry brushing for the body is a way we can exfoliate the whole body and help reduce stagnancy and inflammation from our very delicate lymph vessel system. We have many vital organs that are responsible for detox including the liver, kidneys, skin and colon. The skin being the largest. Stimulating the lymphatic system through dry brushing helps remove dead skin cell and makes the skin smoother. It helps to improve circulation, reduce stress and provides a relaxing way to connect with a very essential process of the body in removing metabolic wastes. Whether for health maintenance, reducing water in the body, reducing the appearance of cellulite, lymphatic dry brushing feels good and makes your skin look great. Our lymph system has no pump and transports lymph via tiny vessels called a lymphangion. These tiny vessels create natural contractions or peristalsis of the smooth muscle which influences lymphangion motoricity. Exercise, rebound jumping, diaphragmatic breathing are also wonderful ways to get the lymph system to circulate.

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