Science is finally beginning to catch up to what we all know is true: the connection between emotions and cancer is real. If you are a Healing Diva or have been reading my blogs for a while, then you probably know that Essential #4 of my 7 Essentials System ® is all about how “healing your emotional wounds” is a an important aspect of healing physically. Now a groundbreaking new study has put scientific validation behind this fact through the study of emotional acceptance.
What Is Emotional Acceptance?
The groundbreaking investigation took place in 2016 by researchers from the University of Arizona and published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity [1].
The question the researchers wanted to explore was this: Can emotional acceptance cause measurable changes on the molecular level in women with breast cancer?
According to insight therapist [2] Noam Shpancer Ph.D. writing for Psychology Today [3], “Emotional acceptance refers to the willingness and ability to accept and experience the negative emotion, to acknowledge it and absorb it.”
Emotional acceptance is a skill you can learn and incorporate into your life with practice. According to Shpancer, by accepting whatever “stuff” may come up for you in any situation, you don’t
waste precious energy pushing the emotion away. Instead you can observe and learn from it.
Emotional acceptance can also turn the dimmer switch way down on any negative state, not through numbing out to it, but through acknowledging and healing it. Like a child that is acting out, most of the time an unpleasant emotion simply needs you to shine the light of your attention on it. When you do this, it naturally dissipates after a while and “doesn’t seem so bad.”
(To learn more about Essential #4 and emotional healing, watch a FREE webinar [4]called Never Fear Breast Cancer Again.)
The “Emotional Acceptance” Study
In the joint study, 136 women were surveyed over a period of 3 months. All of the women were taught emotional regulation techniques. Those with the highest levels of “emotional acceptance” had the lowest rates of inflammatory cytokines related to the cancer. What’s more, each woman was measured by comparing her own scores to each other as she progressed, not to other women. This makes for a more accurate assessment of each woman. Someone who is optimistic overall will start at a different level than someone who tends to be more pessimistic in general.
What was particularly exciting about the study was the scores for cytokine IL-8 [5]. IL-8 is produced by breast cancer cells themselves. It has the ability to instigate an “inflammatory cascade” that can lead to metastasis. The study found that IL-8 levels were much lower in those women who successfully practiced emotional acceptance.
Finally, the researchers correlated the highest emotional acceptance levels with the lowest “sickness symptoms,” regardless of cytokine levels. This correlation has been proven before in studies looking at anxiety [6]/depression as well as chronic stress. This new study is significant, however. It is the first time that the rubric of emotional health was used to create changes at the mechanical level when it comes to a major disease like breast cancer.
Emotions Affect You at the Molecular Level
“…anything that lowers pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-8 has the potential to beat cancer at its own game,” says Dr. Kelly Brogan [7] in a recent article about the study. Every thought you think creates a neuroprotein that is sent to every cell in your body. Think sick, sad thoughts and that is the message you are sending to your cells. There are so many tools at our disposal that can support you in changing your state.
One of my favorite tools is EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique [8], also known as Tapping. In one study, after just one hour of intense tapping, 72 genes having to do with immunity, inflammatory responses and brain health were positively regulated.
Studies like this prove without a shadow of a doubt that our emotions have the power to physically change our bodies. When we change our emotional state, we absolutely have the power to heal dis-ease.
Dr. Veronique Desaulniers (“Dr V”) is the founder of Breast Cancer Conqueror.com and The 7 Essentials System®. This step-by-step guide empowers you with knowledge so you Never Have to Fear Breast Cancer Again! To watch a FREE webinar about the 7 steps for beating breast cancer naturally, Click Here [4]