All Is Well: Heal Your Body With Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition (29 page)

suming she needed glasses, she made an appointment with an eye

doctor, who quickly diagnosed her with a cataract.

Our first step to healthier vision for Wanda was to help her

visualize (pun intended) what a healthy eye looked like. The eye-

ball is a globe with light-sensitive nerves in the back, called the

retina, and a lens in the front. Lining the front of the lens is a very

sensitive, fine layer called the cornea.

In a normal eye, the lens is nice and clear. When someone

develops cataracts, the lens of the eye becomes cloudy, sometimes

to the point of blocking vision. This is what happened to Wanda.

The risk of getting cataracts can be increased by a number of

causes, including eye trauma, an autoimmune disease of the eye

(uveitis), diabetes, radiation, and steroid use. To reduce her current

problem, not to mention preventing a cataract in her other eye, we

needed to figure out if Wanda had any of these possible contrib-

uting factors. We noted that she was 50 pounds overweight, but

because she had been avoiding doctors for years, she was unsure

whether or not she had diabetes. At our urging she went to her

internist, had her blood sugar checked, and was diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes. To help with this part of the problem, Wanda’s

doctor put her on an aggressive carbohydrate-restricted diet to lose

weight. And we helped her find a form of aerobic exercise that she

could do for 30 minutes each day. Wanda embraced the exercise

plan, inspired by the fact that she was improving her blood sugar,

her heart health, and ultimately her vision.

Wanda saw that the surgery might not help her visual prob-

lem, but the eye surgeon assured her that 95 percent of patients

do see clearly after the procedure. With this bit of information,

Wanda elected to have surgery on her cataract.

But she didn’t stop there. She wanted to know how to prevent

a cataract from forming in her other eye. We recommended that

she continue to work on dropping weight, but we also sent her to

an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist and a nutritionist who

would try to extinguish the inflammation in her body that was

increasing her chances of creating cataracts. The acupuncturist

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and Chinese herbalist suggested Huang Lian, which contained

coptidis, Bupleurean, and scutellariae.

The nutritionist gave Wanda a nutritional supplement specifi-

cally aimed at creating eye health. It contained vitamin E, vitamin

A, DHA, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, selenium, copper, turmeric,

grape seed extract, lutein, and glutathione. Wanda also took an-

tioxidants, including alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, acetyl-

L-carnitine, and quercetin. In addition to the supplements, the

nutritionist told her that cow’s milk may make her cataracts worse,

so Wanda began to avoid dairy products.

She also began to change the behaviors and thoughts that

could be contributing to her ailment. To become less reclusive, she

decided to go to two movies each month to get a taste of pop cul-

ture. This was something she could do on her own that would give

her something to talk about with other people. She also began

making small talk anywhere she could. To help her change the un-

derlying thoughts that were likely affecting her eyesight, Wanda

worked with affirmations for general eye health (I see with love

and joy); eye problems (I now create a life I love to look at); cata-

racts (Life is eternal and filled with joy. I look forward to every

moment. I am safe. Life loves me); and anxiety (I love and approve

of myself and I trust the process of life. I am safe).

These changes helped her gain a greater connection to the

world around her, rather than the world above her. Wanda’s vi-

sion improved. She lost 25 pounds, her blood sugar normalized,

and her other eye remained cataract free.

All Is Well in the Sixth Emotional Center

When people develop brain, sight, or hearing problems, they

must look, once again, toward balance. Health in the sixth emo-

tional center is all about being able to take in information from

both the world around you and the Divine realm. These different

perspectives will help you move through life smoothly—giving

you a well-rounded base of knowledge from which to approach

every situation.

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Suddenly I See

Your brain and your abilities to see and solve problems are

unique to you. Don’t deny your special talents, but try to create a

vast, multifaceted approach to gaining knowledge. Learn to trust

and have faith, embrace meditation, prayer, or quiet times but also

hold on to the logic, structure, and creativity of the earthly world.

To facilitate a more mindful approach to your life, try Louise’s

sixth emotional center affirmation “When I balance my creativity,

intellect, and spirituality with discipline and flexibility, I always

succeed.”

Your heart and mind are open. All is well.

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The Seventh Emotional Center:

Chronic and Degenerative Disorders

and Life-Threatening Illnesses

The seventh emotional center differs slightly from the others

because this center is about problems that often begin in other

emotional centers but progress to their extremes. For example,

breast health is a matter of the fourth emotional center but life-

threatening breast cancer falls both into the fourth and the sev-

enth emotional centers. This same pattern can be held for any

ailment that becomes chronic or life threatening—everything

from weight problems to immune system health.

To move toward health in the seventh emotional center in-

volves overcoming a lifelong emotional pattern of hopelessness

and despair. It’s about finding life’s purpose and a spiritual con-

nection at the same time. If you believe that you are powerless or

if you have lost your connection to something bigger than your-

self—whether it’s God or some other greater force—you may find

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yourself experiencing the problems of the seventh emotional cen-

ter. An immediately life-threatening or slowly degenerative disease

could be your body letting you know that you need to reevaluate

your life purpose, free yourself from the grudges and resentments

you carry, and access a higher power. To live healthfully, you must

realize that your life is guided by both Divine grace and personal

choice.

The negative thoughts and behaviors that are associated with

chronic or degenerative diseases as well as cancer involve fear,

worry, hopelessness, and feeling that you’re not good enough.

The process of identifying the thoughts and behaviors that may

be making you ill or making your symptoms worse is not about

blaming yourself. You did not cause your illness. Every illness is

in part due to factors such as diet, the environment, and genetics.

But every illness also can be made worse or better by your emo-

tions. So the goal is to transform your thoughts and behaviors into

healing ones by incorporating Louise’s affirmations and behav-

ioral changes into your daily life. These can help you align your

earthbound mind with your higher power so you can be well.

Seventh Emotional Center

Affirmation Theory and Science

When it comes to the seventh emotional center, Louise’s af-

firmation theory explores the emotions behind chronic, life-

threatening diseases such as cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), or other degen-

erative disorders. For Louise, these diseases are a sign of stagna-

tion—whether it’s in a job, marriage, or life in general. Seventh

emotional center thought patterns associated with cancer and

chronic or degenerative disorders often have to do with a denial

of success and, ultimately, unwillingness to believe you are good

enough or worthy.

What does medical science have to say about the mind-body

connection of seventh emotional center life-threatening health

problems?

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Changes

There is a clear historic pattern of emotion that has been estab-

lished for people with chronic health problems or life-threatening

illnesses.1 For example, studies show that people with degenerative

illnesses are often dealing with the depression, hopelessness, and

anxiety associated with losing someone or something central to

their life, something that gave their life purpose and meaning.

While these emotions can increase the risk of chronic illness in

general, one study showed that these feelings are directly associ-

ated with multiple sclerosis. Losing a relationship because of death

or infidelity, experiencing the death of a child, or even learning

that you can’t have children—all of these situations have been

shown to precipitate the onset of multiple sclerosis.2

The death of a loved one or other significant loss often leads

people to evaluate their purpose in life. However, another study

showed that people who were unable to reconstitute their life with

a purpose and meaning—to find loving support through creating

new relationships, or find an avocation or calling—had a worse

prognosis after the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.3

Studies have also shown that the degree of disease progres-

sion, or even remission of neurodegenerative illnesses like ALS,

can be influenced by how we handle stress and find meaning and

purpose in life’s adversities.4 A landmark study on ALS by Evelyn

McDonald showed that people who had a strong life purpose, a

belief that they could change their lives, and a high level of psy-

chological health lived on the average four years after the diag-

nosis compared to only one year for those who did not have this

positive frame of mind.5 This study, published in the
Archives of

Neurology,
had such an impact on the medical community that

it influenced how ALS is diagnosed and categorized. Before the

study, a diagnosis of ALS was uniformly considered a grim prog-

nosis. Apparently, it is possible to heal your body and change your

life in the face of a fatal, degenerative illness.

People who “come down” with chronic or life-threatening ill-

nesses such as MS, ALS, and cancer often have major depression or

are chronically anxious and angry about some past unhealed, un-

resolved traumatic experience, whether it’s a contentious drawn-

out divorce, the death of a child, or some other catastrophe.6 And

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we see that effectively dealing with these emotions, whether they

take the form of anxiety, sadness, or frustration, even in the midst

of cancer treatment, can make a great difference in the ability to

have an optimal result in the end. In one study of men before

and after prostate cancer surgery, there was a marked difference

between the control group that used only supportive therapy and

the group that used guided imagery and other stress-reduction

techniques. The latter group had better immune system param-

eters and recovered from the surgery more quickly.7 This shows

that if we are able to identify and process the stress; change the

negative thought patterns through affirmations, imagery, or other

means; and use all the available medical options, it is possible to

heal our bodies and live with purpose and passion.

Chronic and Degenerative Disorders

People who are prone to chronic or degenerative diseases such

as fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, or ALS try to control their destiny.

They often have lists of life goals—a successful career, having a

lot of money, being thin, or having the perfect family life—that

guide all of their actions. However, it’s likely that they haven’t

accounted for the possibility of some sort of Divine intervention.

Unfortunately, if you have been going through life considering

only your own plans—with no room for deviation—the universe is

apt to throw you a curveball. To overcome the forced sense of sim-

mering helplessness that often accompanies unexpected events, it

is important to cultivate a healthy balance between earthbound

purpose and heavenly intervention.

If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from a

serious progressive illness that has been labeled incurable, you’ve

probably tried everything—from conventional medical treat-

ments to alternative therapies. But does your illness seem to get