Again she asked,
“Do you really believe that?” And I said, “Y es, I do.”
“Well,” she said, “I was sitting in the living room. He was late for
dinner , and the town fire alarm went of f. I knew it was about him. I jumped
up, and his voice came to me and said, ‘Do not leave the room for one
hour.’ So I sat down and waited. When I got to the scene of the accident,
they were just lifting his body out of the car . I thought to myself, ‘If I had
been out here for an hour , I would never have survived.’”
I worried about her but several months later I mentioned her story in a
conference on drawings, and a physician who was there told me he’d
delivered her child and she had done beautifully . Recently Janet wrote me a
letter , offering her help to anyone in a crisis similar to what she had
survived. This physician also beckoned me over to a corner and told me of a
precognitive experience. While his wife was pregnant she had said to him,
“I must study total communication for the deaf.” He said, “Honey , why do
you need to do that?” She said, “I must.” And of course their first child was
born deaf. So the physician was a believer , but he had motioned for me to
come into a corner to talk about this. I know that finger waggle from manyphysicians. It means, “I agree with you, but I’m uncomfortable revealing it
in front of others.”
Time after time in my experiences with patients I encounter
unconscious knowledge of the future. One Monday I operated on a man
named Mike, who had a massive hemorrhage from an aneurysm that had
ruptured into his esophagus. It was impossible to stop the bleeding, and he
died. When I talked to his wife, she said, “Y ou know , Sunday we spent the
whole day discussing his funeral and will, and I said, ‘Why do we have to
talk about all this morbid business?’  And now I know .”
Several times I’ve found that close relatives knew of a person’ s death
before they had received news of it. My own father , who is now almost
eighty , told me a few years ago that his mother visited him—spiritually—
one day at work when he was a young man. She said good-bye. He knew
she had died, and he grew terribly sad. His co-workers noticed, but he
couldn’ t tell them what had happened because it sounded crazy . As soon as
he got home, the phone rang, and his sister told him their mother had died. Sandy , whom I mentioned in Chapter 4, told me her experience of the
same intuitive knowledge. Her husband, Harry , always drove the kids to
school, but one day all three of them were late getting dressed. He got angry
and left without them, and a few minutes later was killed in an accident. It
seems obvious to me that there was an unconscious awareness in each of
those children that this was not the day to get dressed and go with dad. When Sandy called Harry’ s mother in Maine and started to talk, his
mother said, “Y es, I know . Harry’ s dead.” When asked how she knew , she
replied, “His father”—who’d been dead a year—“came to me last night and
said, ‘I have to take our son tomorrow .’” These are the kinds of things that
patients share with me, the privileged listener . They are experiences that can
open a whole new realm in one’ s awareness and belief system. One night, when I was giving a lecture, I had all my notes in front of
me. And yet, as I was giving the talk, I realized that, in a sense, two talks
were being given. In one, I was struggling to follow the outline, but
something else was coming out of my mouth. I realized the other talk was
much better , so I finally just gave in and let it happen. When I came of f the stage, I told Bobbie, “I don’ t know who gave that
talk. I didn’ t.” The next woman who came up to me said, “I’ve heard you
before, but that was more moving than usual.” The third person who came
up to me said, “I’m a medium, and while you were reading Lois Becker ’sletter , superimposed over you and staring at the audience was this figure. I
drew him for you.” And she showed me a picture of my guide Geor ge. The famous psychic Olga Worrell has also described Geor ge and
another of my meditative guides, even including the clothes they wear—
flowing robes and the old Jewish prayer caps. When the emotional and
spiritual mind is freed, the distinctions between the “mystical” and the
“mundane” break down. This experience taught me that the unconscious can take care of
everything, and I don’ t have to prepare for my lectures anymore. Whether
Geor ge exists as a spiritual guide or simply exists inside of me as part of my
collective unconscious or intuition, the power is there for all of us, if we
will let it come through. As Socrates replied when asked if he had prepared
his defense, “What needs to be said will be said.”
One woman who had breast cancer told me that her family thought she
was crazy . I asked why , and she told me several stories. One was a dream in
which Death came and told her that her husband was going to die
tomorrow . She ar gued with Death and said, “No. Everybody gets two
weeks’  notice.” Two weeks to the day later her husband died. I told her I loved her and all that she was sharing with me. When we
went out of the examining room, her family was expecting me to say
something negative about their crazy mother . Instead I said, “She’ s
wonderful, terrific.” That led to a new openness and awareness on the part
of the family , a new willingness to accept her and all that she had shared
with them. Death is no barrier to this intuitive, spiritual consciousness. It continues
after death, and it communicates between the dead and the living. Iris, a
blind diabetic who developed cancer , underwent a similar experience. One
day she called her two daughters into her hospital room and told them,
“Girls, I can see again. My mother and father came for me and held out an
apple. They said when I bite into it I will join them. I told them my
grandson’ s birthday was on Tuesday , and I would join them then.” She died
after the party on Tuesday . Before she passed away , one of her daughters said, “Mom, if you die I
want to die, too. I can’ t go on without you.” Two weeks later Iris appeared
to her daughter and said, “Look, I have ten minutes. This is against the
rules. I am in a beautiful place and I am loved. I can’ t be worrying about
you doing something silly .”As I have opened myself to my patients’  beliefs, I have received many
messages from those who have died. Josie was a wonderful woman who
had given everyone who knew her the gift of love and humor . While at the
hospice, for example, she thought she heard a noise and asked if someone
was at the door . The nurse said, “Oh, I just kicked your bucket.” Josie
replied, “I’m here trying  to kick the bucket, and for you it’ s easy .” She was
one of the exceptional people who lived until the moment of death. Josie had asked me to deliver the eulogy at her funeral. I said I would be
honored, but told her I couldn’ t be sure my schedule would permit it,
especially since the funeral would be held in New York. Months before, I
had arranged to be in New York on a certain Friday for a conference. The
only day in the entire year I was scheduled to be in New York. Then a radio
talk show host asked me to speak for an hour at noon on that day , since I
would already be in the city . I agreed, but on the Monday before the show
someone from the station called and said the program had been preempted. I told my wife that Josie’ s funeral would be at that time although she hadn’ t
died yet. On Tuesday evening, Josie’ s husband asked me how to help ease her
passage. She found it hard to leave amid the constant visiting and
expressions of love. I suggested he tell her he loved her , that he and the
boys would be okay , and she could go if she was ready . He shared that with
her the next morning, and then turned to get her breakfast tray . When he
turned back, she had died. Josie’ s son called me to tell me she had died, and that there had been a
debate about whether to have the funeral Friday or Sunday . I said, “Y our
mother wants it at noon on Friday .” He said, “I don’ t know how you know ,
but that’ s what we decided.”
After I’d learned of Josie’ s death, I went to meditate in the hospital
chapel, a small closet-like room with no windows. A plaque on the wall
suddenly began to shake for no discernible reason. I looked at it and read
the message: “In the midst of life I am with you.” I knew it was a message
from Josie. On Friday , as I was nearing the end of my eulogy , the
loudspeaker in the funeral home suddenly went of f. I felt that was another
message from Josie, saying, “Enough already!”
Paula, one of our ECaP  group members, told me of a similar experience
after her daughter was murdered in a brutal assault at her college. At the
murderer ’s trial, a bird appeared in the window , making an awful racket anddisturbing the proceedings. Paula said she knew it was her daughter ,
because she always demanded a lot of attention. Later at the wedding of
Paula’ s other daughter , another bird appeared, cackling raucously ,
interrupting the outdoor ceremony . Then, after Paula finished telling this
story in the group, a bird began squawking at the window , and everyone
turned to Paula and said, “I guess that’ s your daughter again.”
Recently I was out jogging on a cold, dark December morning. A bird
followed me for half an hour , chirping and sharing with me. When I came
home, I said to Bobbie, “Someone died and just said good-bye.” Wednesday
I got a phone call and learned that a patient I’d been very close to, who was
in another state, had died at that time. Perhaps my most dramatic experience of after -death communication
concerns Bill, the physician I mentioned in Chapter 2, who knew he had
cancer after one instance of dif ficulty in swallowing. He joined ECaP  but
always remained somewhat distant—quiet and observant. His wife had told
others, “He never bought the package.”
Three months after Bill had died of his cancer , a young college student
came to my of fice to interview me. She said she’d been in a healing circle
the night before, and since they knew she was going to see me the next day ,
the medium who was directing the circle had asked if there was any
message for me. She handed me a card:
To Bernie
From Bill
With love and peace
If I had known it was
this easy , I’d have bought
the package a long time ago
and wouldn’ t have
resisted so much. When I called his wife, she said, “That’ s what he always told me after
the meetings. He would attend, but he said he couldn’ t buy the package.”
When he was quite sick, I asked him if he was ready to die. He said,
“Considering the alternative, no.” The people in the healing circle knew
nothing about who Bill was, yet there was the same phrase he and his wife
used. “Love and peace” is the closing I use for all my letters. Who elsecould this note be from? How can I help but believe and share this belief
with others? As Elisabeth Kübler -Ross says, “One day all my critics will
agree with me.”
But, whatever explanation you prefer for these experiences, there’ s no
denying that learning to love conquers the fear of death, and can liberate
incredible healing ener gy. The closing lines of Emmet Foxes’  sermon are
the key . “If only you could love enough, you would be the happiest and
most powerful being in the world…” You become invulnerable. This, I feel,
is the real future of medicine. Scientists often say you must see in order to
believe, but I know you must believe in order to see. When I was in college
and took philosophy and religion, one day the teacher was discussing St.
Augustine, who said you must love in order to see. I raised my hand and
said, “I thought love was blind.” I never got a satisfactory answer from the
teacher . Now I see that you must love and believe, that is, be open, so that
true sharing can occur , and you will see what is in front of you. In medicine
and science, we are generally told, “Seeing is believing,” and then we are
told what to see, and to ignore everything else. However , the spiritual
message heeded by the true explorer or artist is to open our eyes and see
beyond what we have been told exists. It is my fervent hope that, by showing adults how the mind and spirit
can heal the body and make life worthwhile, I can help us, as parents, raise
a generation of children programmed to be loving and healthy . Too many
children get everything they want and nothing they need. The message to
whisper in your child’ s ear is simply , “I love you unconditionally (not if you
get an A, or become a doctor). Life is full of hurdles, but whatever happens,
you’ll overcome.” Then give them some discipline, not punishment. In
Soviet Geor gia, peo ple drink a toast “T o your three-hundredth birthday .”
We should adopt the same custom. The whole world must confront the same issues, for nuclear weapons
threaten the world as cancer threatens the individual. If we decide to love,
we have a much greater chance of surviving. If we love, we will control the
few who are comfortable being killers. As Gandhi said, “W e must not kill
our enemies, but kill their desire to kill.”
In India the story is told of a holy man who stayed in his monastery
when an army was advancing through the area and killing all the holy men. When a general said, “Don’ t you know I can thrust my sword into your
stomach?” he replied, “Don’ t you know I can place my stomach aroundyour sword?” If we love enough, we become invulnerable, and we can
place our stomachs around the sword and save the world. In India there is
also this traditional saying: “When you were born, you cried and the world
rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries
and you rejoice.” If we can live in accordance with that simple teaching, we
will survive as individuals, and the world will survive as well. As Geor ge
Ritchie wrote at the conclusion of his book Return fr om T omorr ow, “God is
busy building a race of men who know how to love. I believe that the fate
of the earth itself depends on the progress we make—and that the time now
is very short.”
Gandhi’ s teacher Muktananda remarked that Sanskrit has no word for
exclusion . When we can kill our own desire to kill, and learn to exclude no
one, the world will change, and we will return from whence we came—
from the ener gy that chose to love out of its own intelligence. I often tell my patients there are two ways to be immortal. One is to go
to medical school (Doctors don’ t get sick and don’ t die). And the other is to
love someone. As Thornton Wilder expressed it at the end of The Bridge of San Luis
Rey:
 
And we ourselves shall be loved for a while and for gotten. But the love
will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that
made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the
living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the
only meaning. God has given us free will to make love and life meaningful. This
creates a critical risk because we now have the ability to destroy our
universe if we choose not to love. However , it is only in this critical time that the archetype of the miracle
can appear . When one believes in love and miracles divine intervention can
occur . We have an infinite number of choices ahead, but a finite number of
endings. They are destruction and death or love and healing. If we choose
the path of love we save ourselves and our universe. Let us choose love and life.OceanofPDF .comAppendix
RELAXA TION
The following method, given in the Simontons’  book Getting W ell
Again , was adapted by Dr . Edmond Jacobson from a yoga technique. Instructions can also be found in Larry LeShan’ s How to Meditate  and
Herbert Benson’ s The Relaxation Response . As with the examples of
imaging later on, you are encouraged to have a friend speak these
instructions to you, or record them yourself on tape. A tape is always
available to you in times of stress. The tape is also useful if you fall asleep,
because you are still hearing the message. I don’ t recommend that you use it
to fall asleep, however , unless you need help to relax at night. During the
day, just take any comfortable position and try to listen to it in its entirety . With practice, you may often be able to enter the alpha state by yourself
without the tape. Adjust the lighting so it is soft and restful. If possible, at least in the
beginning, use a quiet room and close the door so you will not be
interrupted. This alone says you are important, that you are willing to take
the time for healing. However , a quiet room is not always essential. Familiar noises may actually be restful, indicating you are in a safe
environment. Using the same place each time is helpful. Just getting into a
favorite chair can immediately set the mood and lead to rapid relaxation. You may find it helpful to play some gentle, soothing music—at low
volume. There are also many prerecorded meditation tapes and records
available that can help you. I especially recommend Pachelbel’ s Canon  in
the recording by Daniel Kobialka. Be sure these instructions from the
Simonton book are spoken quietly and slowly , with pauses where
appropriate. Take a comfortable position in a chair , with your feet flat on the floor , or
lying down on a couch or mat. Feel the pleasant pressure of the chair or
other surface on your buttocks and back. Gently pay attention to your breathing as you let your breaths come in a
natural rhythm, without hurrying them or trying to slow them.Now take a few calm, deep breaths, and as you exhale, think the words
“relax, let go.”
Direct your attention to your face, eyes, and jaw . Feel whatever tension
is concentrated there. Now make a mental image of that tension, such as a
coiled spring, a stretched rubber band, a block of ice melting, or a rope tied
in a knot. Then picture that tense object relaxing, uncoiling, loosening. Feel
that relaxation in every part of your face. Momentarily contract every
muscle in your face, squeeze your eyes and mouth tightly shut, then let
them relax as you continue to see your spring, rubber band, or rope
becoming limp. Experience the relaxation in your face as the beginning of a wave that is
spreading throughout your body . You may experience this wave as a
sensation of heaviness, lightness, or tingling, of pleasant warmth or (in the
summer) delicious coolness. Move your mind now to each area of your
body—your neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers, chest, back,
abdomen, hips and genitals, thighs, lower legs, all the way down to your
feet and toes. Momentarily tense each part, then let go as you concentrate
on your mental image of relaxation. Experience the wave of relaxation
spreading throughout your body as you do this. Then remain in this
peaceful state for five minutes or so. When you are ready to arise, simply let your mind focus on the sounds
in the room, gradually let your eyelids become lighter , then open your eyes. Slowly get up and notice how you can combine the feeling of relaxation
with the alertness needed for your everyday activities. If your mind wanders or you feel tense, you have two choices. You can
respond to the thoughts that are leading your mind astray , such as “Did I
leave the dishwasher on?” You can go look, then come back and finish your
meditation. Or you can decide not to answer those thoughts, and let go of
them. Just remember that relaxation will quickly become easier with
practice, then guide your mind gently back to the spoken directions. GUIDED VISUALIZA TIONS
You yourself, a friend, a family member , or a therapist can lead you in
visualization. Here are some sample visualizations that can easily be
adapted to your particular needs. Simply have someone you love and trustspeak the words in a calm, gentle voice, or speak them yourself into a tape
recorder , then play the tape as you meditate. Speak slowly and carefully ,
and be sure to make the pauses long enough to fully experience the images
visualized. The pauses I’ve marked should be at least 15 to 20 seconds. Where I suggest a long pause, allow at least 30 to 60 seconds. The pauses
can be longer , and you need not follow the voice continuously . You may
need to follow other imagery that appears in your consciousness. You may
include:
1. going to a masquerade. 2. participating in a circus. 3. moving through a dark tunnel and emer ging into the light to be greeted
by family and significant others. 4. experiencing holding on and letting go physically and emotionally . 5. seeing yourself as a child when sad and happy , and how you as an
adult respond to that child. 6. achieving your chosen career , and what it means to you. 7. confronting fears or choices present in your life and seeing a
successful outcome. 8. performing for others on stage and seeing their reaction. 9. floating in healing water . 10. rowing with others helping you and building your support system. 11. finding a message or gift in the depths of a pond. 12. being reborn. 13. weaving the fabric of your life. The choices are limitless and your own unconscious is your best therapist. I refer those who are interested in pursuing hypnotic techniques further
to the work of Dr . Milton Erickson. Each session can be introduced and/or accompanied by music or sounds
of nature, such as a recording of the ocean, that you find especially
relaxing. Just be sure to keep the volume low enough during the meditation
itself so as not to distract you from the spoken words or the images in your
mind. You may want to use one of our ECaP  tapes, recorded with
background music. If you or a friend plan to record your own tape, I
suggest you use two tape recorders. Play some soft, soothing music, such asPachelbel’ s Canon , on one machine, while recording both the music and the
voice on the other . The visualization sessions do take time, but this is a “live” mes sage. You are worth the time. Thus I recommend that most of my patients do
them three or more times a day and take fifteen minutes at three or more
other times throughout the day for quieting relaxation. The benefits spill
over into the hours afterward, and you maintain a reserve of calm while
facing the stress of other activities. The ideal is going through the whole
day in a sort of guided trance, so that serenity remains at all times. We
should try to be like Danielle, a patient who told me, “I meditate all day . If I
wash the dishes, I think of my cancer being washed out of my body . If I
take a walk and a breeze blows, I see it blown away .” She connects
everything she does back to healing. A hypnotherapist can be valuable in the beginning, especially if the
patient has trouble entering the state of deep relaxation. No matter who sets
the course for the first meditative sessions—doctor , counselor ,
hypnotherapist, or the patient—care should be taken to appeal to the
person’ s dominant sense. In other words, for someone who responds to the
world primarily through the eyes, the guided imagery should consist mainly
of visual images—seeing a rose in all its color and beauty . If the person is
auditory-dominant, as most musicians are, the directions should appeal to
the ear—hearing a bee buzzing in the center of the rose. Those who place
great emphasis on the olfactory sense should concentrate on smelling the
rose. For those with a tactile, “hands-on” approach to the world, touch and
feeling need to be emphasized—the rose’ s silken petals. Remember that you do not have to follow the voice. If you are
experiencing some significant imagery of your own, stay with it while the
voice goes on. You’ll be able to catch up with the voice later . A problem often arises when patients try to visualize their disease as
receding when laboratory tests tell them it’ s spreading. They may be unable
to keep the image clear , or they may feel as though they’re lying to
themselves. It’ s crucial to remember the dif ference between an objective
picture and the desired outcome, between the present and the future. The
images represent what you want to happen , and there is no contradiction
between seeing your hopes clearly and facing the facts of the present. The
more clearly you can see the future you desire, the more likely it is to come
true.Visualization 1
Take a comfortable position. It’ s generally better to uncross hands and
feet, so there’ s no pressure. Begin to become aware of your breathing, and
the motion of your chest and abdomen as you breathe deeply in and out. Sometimes repeating a word like “peace” or “relax” to yourself with each
breath will help. Just deep breaths, letting the peace in and the tension out. And the music, and my voice, and the sounds in the room will all help relax
you. When you’re ready , you may look upward and let your eyes close
gently , although you may do this meditation with your eyes open, if you
like. Unwind, erase the blackboard of your mind, and just feel yourself
settling down. Perhaps let a wave of peace move down through your body ,
relaxing the tense muscles, particularly the neck and shoulder muscles, and
the jaw muscles, then moving down your body , through your chest and
abdomen, and gradually into your lower extremities. Your body may feel
heavy or warm, or it may tingle. It may help to give the wave a color , and
let it move down. [Pause]
And then into your mind’ s eye allow a pleasant scene to appear . This is
going to be your special little corner of the universe of f in the middle of
nowhere. I’d like you to create all the vivid colors that you know are there,
as well as the textures, the aromas, and the sounds that you will associate
with it. And how you feel here is perfectly all right, for it’ s a safe place for
you. It’ s yours. Take a moment to find a spot where you can sit or lie down. And if there is any illness within your body , see your treatment and your
immune system eliminating that illness from your body . If there is no illness
present, just see your body rejecting illness. See yourself becoming well
and becoming the person you’d like to be. Take a moment to help make
yourself well. [Long pause]
When you have completed the healing process, I want you to follow my
voice again, and build a bridge from your corner of the universe to mine. It’ll connect with a path. Look at that bridge you’ve built, and see what it’ s
like. And then come across to the path. It’ s covered with smooth gravel, and
you’ll feel that under your feet. There’ s warm sunlight, broken up by the
shade of trees. And just come down the path with me. If the path divides,
just take the right turn. Continue to take the right turn whenever the path
divides. Ahead of you, you will see five steps. With each step down you’ll feel
more relaxed and more at peace. Then ahead of you on the right will be alovely garden. Enter the garden. Enjoy the aromas, and perhaps touch a
petal. See the beauty that exists. Perhaps even hear the birds or other
animals that may be living there. I’d like you to pick out one flower and
observe its individuality and beauty , and see how much it resembles you in
your individuality and beauty . [Pause]
Then I’d like you to picture yourself as a seed. And I’m going to plant
you in nice warm earth about an inch below the surface. You’ll feel the
moisture and the sun warming you. I want you to grow and bloom. Break
out of that seed and observe yourself breaking forth, and growing, and
blooming. Watch the process happen. [Long pause]
When you have bloomed and become that beautiful flower , find a place
inside you to store it. Make it a part of you. Then I’d like you to follow me along the path again. Ahead of you,
you’ll see an enormous rainbow-colored balloon, with a gondola or basket
hanging from it. I want you to climb into the basket and release the balloon. There’ s nothing to fear , it’s very safe. It’ll float upwards through the clouds,
past the birds, all sounds relaxing you, all sounds bringing peace. [Pause]
And as you move higher , you will eventually achieve an astronaut’ s
view of the earth. What a feeling of peace that brings! What can make it
even more peaceful is to find the pad and pencil that are in the basket, and
write down on the pad those conflicts or problems that exist in your life. [Pause]
Then take that paper , crumple it, and leave it in orbit. Cast it behind
you. Feel the dif ference in how light you feel and how easily you float on
with those problems left behind. Take a moment now to just float onward,
totally at peace, totally free of concerns, weightless. [Long pause]
Then, when you’ve completed that, you may follow my voice again,
and come back down, further down, descending, slowly , back to the place
we started. Be careful climbing out, because you’re very relaxed. I’d like
you to lie there now , in a meadow next to the path. And just take a moment
to fill your body with love. Open every cell and fill it with love. [Pause]
Now step out of yourself for a minute, and look back at yourself. Give
yourself the love and af fection you deserve. And then step back into your
body . And listen to it. Go through your body and listen. Listen to each
organ. What is it telling you? What music does it make? Are you in
harmony? For those parts that aren’ t, give them a little extra love. Open
every cell to love. See if you can create a healing harmony within yourself.If there are any areas of pain, any areas you usually don’ t pay attention to, I
would give them an extra measure of love. [Long pause]
Now just let your awareness of your body begin to increase, perhaps
noting the position you’re in, the pressure the chair or floor makes against
your body , the motion of your chest and abdomen as you breathe deeply in
and out. And let this awareness begin to increase as you get closer to
coming back to the room. Perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes will help. [Pause]
Then, count seven to ten breaths after my voice stops, each breath
making you feel lighter , more awake, more alert, yet still at peace, until
after the last breath you open your eyes and return to the room when you’re
ready , beginning now . Visualization 2
Take a comfortable position. And let the conflict flow out, and just
unwind, relax, and think peace. As you breathe deeply , let peace come in. Perhaps visualize a beautiful rainbow , and relax with each breath. Once
again settle down, and let that wave of color move down through your body ,
bringing peace. Let your eyes close if you want to. Take a moment to just
fill your body with love and peace. Don’ t overlook any places, particularly
those parts and or gans that may be involved with disease. [Long pause]
When you’re done, take yourself to your corner of the universe, that
lovely , vivid place with its aromas and textures, familiar sounds and colors. And just be there, taking a moment to allow the warmth of the sun and the
energy of the earth to heal you, to be safe and at peace here. Just settle
down, down. You might picture yourself being on an elevator , descending
floor by floor , feeling more relaxed with each floor . [Long pause]
Then I’d like you to build that bridge again, to my part of the universe,
where all the people you know and deal with live. And I’d like you to invite
them across that bridge, those you love and those you have conflict with,
those you don’ t like. Bring them all together in your little corner of the
universe. And bring them together , to touch, to hug, to share, and say , “I
love you.” And watch the transformation. [Long pause]
Then you may leave them, and follow my voice. I’m going to bring you
across the bridge again, along the path. Once again you may experience the
familiar crunch of the gravel, the path, the sunlight, the meadows. [Pause]Once again you come to the steps down, feeling more relaxed with each
step. [Pause]
You’ll notice in front of you a great big sign, with paint cans and
brushes around. The sign is empty . On the other side of the path is a big
stone with a chisel and hammer . And I’d like you to leave a message for
those who come after you, either by painting or by carving. Take a moment
now to leave a message. [Long pause]
Then, when you’re done, come down the path again. Ahead of you,
you’ll see an enormous old house, which I’d like you to enter . There’ll be a
lovely recliner sitting in the living room, and I’d like you to lie down on it. See yourself resting there and relaxing. You’re becoming deeply relaxed
and very much at peace. [Pause]
In that relaxed state I’d like you to walk through the house, because in
one of the rooms there will be a chest, and within it is a meaningful
message or gift for you. So explore the house, and find that message or gift. Find the message that lies within your chest. [Long pause]
When you’re done, I’d like you to go back to the living room and lie
down on that recliner again. I’d like you to take a moment to explore all the
rooms and hallways of your mind and brain. You’ll find one room that has
to do with the immune system, another having to do with circulation,
another with emotion, and so on. [Pause]
If you’re dealing with disease, I’d like you to go into the rooms having
to do with the immune system and circulation, and turn the right valves, and
push the right switches, so that any disease in your body is healed, and the
nourishment for that disease is turned of f. Take a moment now to utilize
those controls and help your body get well. [Long pause]
Once that’ s completed—you may stay if you’re still working on it—
come back out on the path again. As you walk out along the path, I’d like
you to see, way of f in the distance, a very bright white-yellow light. Coming out of that light, you’ll see someone. As this person gets closer ,
you’ll begin to see his or her appearance. Finally , this person will be close
enough for you to ask his or her name, and know that this person is a guide
for you, someone you can always call on to help you. [Pause]
Sit down for a moment with your guide along the path, and question
your guide about some conflict or problem, and see what advice you get. [Long pause]When you have completed that conference, I’d like you to follow me
again—but if you haven’ t completed it, stay and talk. Know that you can
always call upon your guide at any time. If you are done, you may follow
me over a hill. On the other side you will see a beach. There are several
gulls floating by , beautiful ocean waves, the warm sand. I want to teach you
how to fly , just as the gulls do. But first I want you to think of your
problems and give them a weight, and put them on your back. And then
take three steps forward, and with the third step rise up and fly . One…
two…three and up. Feel what it’ s like to fly with that weight. Then turn and
let the weight fall of f. And feel the dif ference when you let go of your
problems. And just enjoy flying now . Let the sun warm you, and let the
breeze hold you up and heal you. There’ s no ef fort. From now on, at any
time of stress you can recall flying and feeling free, casting your problems
away , dropping them of f your shoulders. Just round of f your shoulders and
let them slide. [Long pause]
And then allow yourself to come down on the sand again. Stretch out,
and allow the ener gy of the earth and the warmth of the sunlight to heal
you. Once again take a moment to open your body to love. Open each cell,
each or gan. Create your own music, your own harmony , your own beauty . Give all parts of yourself the love and af fection they deserve. [Long pause]
When you have completed that, just let your body awareness begin to
return—the chair , your position, your feet on the floor , all of these feelings. Gradually move parts of your body to awaken them, coming back feeling
awake and alert and comfortable. Again use your breathing to bring you
back up, counting seven breaths, feeling one seventh more awake and more
alert with each breath, until you open your eyes and return to the room,
starting now . To order audio tapes of lectures by Dr . Siegel and meditation tapes, see
“Exceptional Cancer Patients”. READING LIST
Achterber g, Jeanne, and G. Frank Lawlis. Imagery of Disease . Institute for
Personality and Ability Testing, Champaign, Ill 61820, 1978. Ader , Robert, ed. Psychoneur oimmunology . Academic Press, New York,
1981.Alexander , Franz. Psychosomatic Medicine . Norton, New York, 1965. Bennett, Hal, and Mike Samuels. The W ell Body Book . Random House,
New York, 1973. Benson, Herbert. The Mind-Body Effect . Simon & Schuster , New York,
1979; Berkley , New York, 1980. Bresler , David E. and Richard Trubo. Free Yourself fr om Pain . Simon &
Schuster , New York, 1979. Breznitz, Shlomo, ed. The Denial of Str ess. International Universities Press,
New York, 1984. Bry, Adelaide and Marjorie Blair . Directing the Movies of Y our Mind . Harper & Row , New York, 1978. Buscaglia, Leo. Love . Charles B. Slack, 6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, N.J.
08086, 1972; Fawcett Crest/Ballantine, New York, 1982. ——-. Living, Loving & Learning . Charles B. Slack, 1982. Capra, Fritjof. The T ao of Physics . Shambhala, Boulder , 1975; Bantam,
New York, 1977. Cousins, Norman. Anatomy of an Illness as Per ceived by the Patient . Norton, New York, 1979; Bantam, New York, 1981. Dowling, Colette. The Cinder ella Complex: W omen’ s Hidden Fear of
Independence . Summit Books, New York, 1981; Pocket Books, New
York, 1981. Evans, Elida. A Psychological Study of Cancer . Dodd, Mead, New York,
1926. Faraday , Ann. Dream Power . Berkley , New York, 1973. Fosshage, James L., and Paul Olsen. Healing: Implications for
Psychotherapy . Human Sciences Press, New York, 1978. Fox, Emmet. The Sermon on the Mount . Harper & Row , New York, 1938. Frankl, Viktor. Man’ s Sear ch for Meaning . Pocket Books, New York, 1959,
1980. Garfield, Charles, ed. Psychosocial Car e of the Dying Patient . McGraw-
Hill, New York, 1978. Garfield, Patricia. Creative Dr eaming . Simon & Schuster , New York, 1974;
Ballantine, New York, 1976. Glassman, Judith. The Cancer Survivors: And How They Did It . Doubleday ,
New York, 1983. Green, Elmer , and Alyce Green. Beyond Biofeedback . Delacorte Press, New
York, 1977.Harris, Thomas A. I’m OK—Y ou’re OK: A Practical Guide to T ransactional
Analysis . Harper & Row , New York, 1969; Avon Books, New York,
1982. Hutschnecker , Arnold. The W ill to Live . Cornerstone Library , New York,
1951. James, Muriel, and Dorothy Jongeward. Born to W in. Addison-W esley ,
1971; New American Library , New York, 1978. Jampolsky , Gerald. Love Is Letting Go of Fear . Celestial Arts, 231 Adrian
Road, Millbrae, Ca. 94030, 1979. ——-, Teach Only Love: The Seven Principles of Attitudinal Healing . Bantam, New York, 1983. ——-. There Is a Rainbow Behind Every Dark Cloud . Celestial Arts,
Berkeley , CA, 1978. Johnson, Robert A. He: Understanding Masculine Psychology . Harper &
Row, New York, 1977. ——-. She: Understanding Feminine Psychology . Harper & Row , New
York, 1977. Jung, Carl G. Man and His Symbols . Dell, New York, 1968. ——-. Memories, Dr eams, Reflections . Pantheon, New York, 1963;
Vintage, New York, 1965. ——-. Modern Man in Sear ch of a Soul . Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New
York, 1955. Kaufman, Barry N. To Love Is to Be Happy W ith. Fawcett, Greenwich,
Conn., 1978. Keleman, Stanley . Living Y our Dying . Random House, New York, 1976. Koller , Alice. An Unknown W oman: A Journey to Self-Discovery . Holt,
Rinehart & Winston, New York, 1982. Kruger , Helen. Other Healers, Other Cur es. Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis,
1974. Kübler -Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying . Macmillan, New York, 1969. ——-. Death: The Final Stage of Gr owth . Prentice-Hall, Englewood Clif fs,
N.J., 1975. ——-. To Live Until W e Say Goodbye . Prentice-Hall, Englewood Clif fs,
N.J., 1978. Kushner , Harold S. When Bad Things Happen to Good People . Schocken,
New York, 1981; Avon, New York, 1983.Lair, Jess. I Ain’t Much, Baby , But I’m All I’ve Got . Fawcett, Greenwich,
Conn., 1978. Landorf, Joyce. Irregular People . Word Books, Waco, TX, 1982. Lappé, Frances Moore. Diet for a Small Planet . Random House, New York,
1971; Ballantine, New York, 1975. Leonard, Jonathan N., J. L. Hofer , and Nathan Pritikin. Live Longer Now:
The First One Hundr ed Years of Y our Life . Grosset & Dunlap, New
York, 1974. LeShan, Lawrence L. You Can Fight for Y our Life: Emotional Factors in
the Causation of Cancer . Evans, New York, 1977. ——-. How to Meditate . Little, Brown, Boston, 1974; Bantam, New York,
1975. Lewis, Howard, and Martha E. Lewis. Psychosomatics: How Y our
Emotions Can Damage Y our Health . Viking, New York, 1972. Lingerman, Hal. The Healing Ener gies of Music . Theosophical Publishing
House, Wheaton, Ill., 1983. Locke, Steven, and Mady Hornig-Rohan. Mind and Immunity . Institute for
the Advancement of Health, New York, 1983. Matarazzo, J. D., et al. (eds.). Behavioral Health . John Wiley, New York,
1984. Monroe, Robert. Journeys Out of the Body . Anchor/Doubleday , Garden
City, N.Y ., 1971. Moody , Raymond A., Jr . Life After Life . Mockingbird Books, Box 1 10,
Covington, Ga. 30209, 1975; Bantam, New York, 1976. Müller , Robert. Most of All, They T aught Me Happiness . Doubleday , New
York, 1978. Nouwen, Henri. Out of Solitude . Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Ind., 1974. ——-. The W ounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society . Doubleday , New York, 1979. ——-. Genesee Diary: Report fr om a T rappist Monastery . Doubleday , New
York, 1981. Ornstein, Robert E. The Psychology of Consciousness . First edition, W. H.
Freeman, San Francisco, 1972; second edition, Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, New York, 1977. Oyle, Irving. The Healing Mind . Pocket Books, New York, 1975. ——-. Time, Space & the Mind . Celestial Arts, Berkeley , 1976.Pelletier , Kenneth R. Mind as Healer , Mind as Slayer . Delacorte, New York,
1977; Delta, 1978. ——-. Towar d a Science of Consciousness . Delacorte Press, New York,
1978. Progof f, Ira. The W ell and the Cathedral , 2nd ed. Dialogue House Library ,
80 E. 1 1th St., New York, N.Y . 10003, 1981. ——-. At a Journal W orkshop: The Basic T ext and Guide for Using the
Intensive Journal . Dialogue House Library , 80 E. 1 1th St., New York,
N.Y. 10003, 1981. Ritchie, Geor ge G., and Elizabeth Sherrill. Return fr om T omorr ow. Fleming
H. Revell, 184 Central Ave., Old Tappan, N.J. 07675, 1981. Rush, Anne K. Getting Clear . Random House, New York, 1973. Samuels, Mike, and Nancy Samuels. Seeing with the Mind’ s Eye . Random
House, New York, 1975. Satir, Virginia M. Peoplemaking . Science & Behavior Books, P .O. Box
60519, Palo Alto, Ca. 94306, 1972. Schucman, Helen. A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace,
Tiburon, Ca., 1976. Selye, Hans. The Str ess of Life , 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978. Shealy , C. Norman. The Pain Game . Celestial Arts, Berkeley , 1976. Simonton, O. Carl, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, and James Creighton. Getting W ell Again . J. P. Tarcher , Los Angeles, 1978; Bantam, New
York, 1980. Schutz, Will. Profound Simplicity . Bantam, New York, 1979. Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr . Cancer W ard, tr. Nicholas Bethell and David
Burg. Farrar , Straus & Giroux, New York, 1969; Bantam, New York,
1969. Sveinson, Kelly . Learning to Live with Cancer . St. Martin’ s Press, New
York, 1977. Tache, J., et al. (eds.). Cancer , Stress and Death . Plenum Press, New York,
1979. Totman, Richard. Social Causes of Illness . Pantheon, New York, 1979. Ward, Milton. The Brilliant Function of Pain . Optimus Books, Plaza Hotel,
New York, and CSA  Press, Lakemont, Ga. 30552. Note: Pathology numbers and reports of cases discussed are available
for verification on request.OceanofPDF .com 
ECaP  (Exceptional Cancer Patients) is a nonprofit charitable 501(c)(3)
organization founded by Dr . Siegel in 1978 to help individuals learn how to
cope with the challenges of chronic illnesses. In September 1999, the Mind-Body Wellness Center (www .mind-
body .org) acquired this or ganization and is continuing to work with Dr . Siegel. Dedicated to providing tools, information, and resources for meeting
the challenges of all chronic illnesses, ECaP  is expanding its role to help
people throughout the world. The ECaP  staff focuses on guiding and
empowering people to reach their maximum potential by taking an active
and meaningful role in their health care. ECaP  is committed to developing educational and supportive retreats
and programs for people facing cancer and other chronic illnesses. Rather
than promoting an alternative approach, its goal is to encourage the
integration of comprehensive therapeutic strategies within the realm of
traditional medicine. With this goal in mind, Insights for Living Beyond
Cancer , a new interactive program developed by Dr . Siegel and Barry
Bittman, M.D., director of the Mind-Body Wellness Center , is now of fered
on a regular basis for individuals with cancer . The latest information on the
next event is available on the ECaP  website www .ecap-online.or g. The
Insights program is also available for licensing by medical institutions who
wish to of fer whole person care in their communities. In addition, one of ECaP’ s principal endeavors is to of fer educational
programs and workshops for health professionals seeking the latest insights
in the field of psychoneuroimmunology as it relates to optimal patient care. Psychoneuroimmunology is a rapidly expanding medical discipline that
studies the relationships between our emotions and beliefs as they relate to
nervous, endocrine, and immune system function. Health professionals who participate in the 3-level Professional Training
Program and fulfill all the requirements will be listed on the ECaP  website
as resources for their communities. Level I is now available twice a year at
various locations. Level II will be of fered beginning in the spring of 2002. ECaP  provides an expansive list of exceptional resources—an
extraordinary collection of books, audiotapes, and videotapes featuring Dr . Siegel and leading visionaries who promote healing and personal growth.To order products that will help maintain the gift of a healthy life or
overcome the challenges of a serious illness, call, write, or email:
Exceptional Cancer Patients
522 Jackson Park Drive
Meadville, P A 16335
(814) 337-8192
fax (814) 337-0699
www .ecap-online.or g
email: info@ecap-online.or g
Products currently available featuring Dr . Siegel:
Books
Love, Medicine & Miracles (1986)
Peace, Love & Healing (1989)
How to Live Between Of fice Visits (1993)
Prescriptions for Living (1998)
Books on T ape
Love, Medicine & Miracles (two-tape set)
Peace, Love & Healing (two-tape set)
How to Live Between Of fice Visits (two-tape set)
Prescriptions for Living (two-tape set)
Lecture Audiotapes
How to Never Grow Old and Die Young at Heart
Humor & Healing: Insights on the Positive Affects of Humor for Healing
Insights for Living Well (recorded June 2000)
Meditation Audiotapes
Getting Ready: Meditations for Sur gery, Chemotherapy , and Other
Treatments
Guided Imagery & Meditation
Healing MeditationsHealing Relationships: Your Relationship to Life & Creation
Meditations for Dif ficult Times: How to Survive & Thrive
Meditations for Enhancing Your Immune System
Meditations for Everyday Living
Meditations for Finding the Key to Good Health
Meditations for Healing Your Inner Child
Meditations for Morning & Evening
Meditations for Overcoming Life’ s Stresses & Strains
Meditations for Peace of Mind
Affirmation Audiotapes
A Positive New You: Empowering Affirmations to Take Control of Your
Life
Finding Your True Self: Affirmations to Develop Inner Peace and Wisdom
Healing Images: Affirmations for Envisioning Yourself as a Unique
Individual
Healing Partnerships: Create Mutual Respect and Trust with Your Doctor
Videotapes
Affirmations for Living Beyond Cancer
Fight for Your Life
Healing Spirit
How to Be Exceptional
How to Live Between Of fice Visits
Inner Vision: Visualizing Super Health
Love, Medicine & Miracles
CD-ROM
Love, Medicine & Miracles. An interactive experience filled with lectures,
information, and resources. OceanofPDF .comAbout the Author
BERNIE  S. S IEGEL , M.D.,  who prefers to be called Bernie, practiced general
and pediatric sur gery in New Haven, Connecticut, until he retired in 1989. In 1978, he began talking about patient empowerment and the choice to live
fully and die in peace. He founded ECaP  (Exceptional Cancer Patients)
based on “carefrontation,” a loving, safe, therapeutic confrontation that
facilitates personal change, empowerment and healing. The resulting
physical, spiritual and psychological benefits led to Bernie’ s desire to make
everyone aware of his or her healing potential. As a physician who has cared for and counseled innumerable patients,
Bernie embraces a philosophy that is at the forefront of a society grappling
with medical ethics and spiritual issues. His books, Love, Medicine and
Miracles  published in 1986, Peace, Love and Healing  in 1989, How to Live
Between Office V isits in 1993, and Prescriptions for Living  in 1998, have
broken new ground in the field of healing. Bernie’ s efforts have now turned
toward humanizing medical care and medical education, and he continues
to travel extensively with is wife, Bobbie, to speak and run workshops,
sharing his techniques and experiences. Bernie and Bobbie have five
children and five grandchildren (so far). Visit www .AuthorT racker .com  for exclusive information on your favorite
HarperCollins authors. OceanofPDF .comCopyright
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint:
Excerpt from The Art of Spirit  by Robert Henri (J. B. Lippincott), copyright
1923 by Harper & Row , Publishers, Inc., renewed 1951 by Violet Or gan. Excerpt from The Sermen on the Mount: A General Intr oduction to
Scientific Christianity  by Emmet Fox, copyright 1934, 1935, 1938 by
Emmet Fox, copyright renewed 1966 by Kathleen Whelan. Both reprinted
by permission of Harper & Row , Publishers, Inc.
Excerpts from The W ay of Response  by Martin Buber , edited by Nahum
Glatzer , copyright © 1966 by Schocken Books Inc. Reprinted by
permission of Schocken Books Inc.
Excerpt from I and Thou  by Martin Buber , translation copyright © 1970 by
Charles Scribner ’s Sons. Reprinted with the permission of Charles
Scribner ’s Sons and T & T Clark Ltd. The poem “Grandmother , When Your Child Died” by Joan Neet Geor ge
from The Last Dance  by L ynne A. DeSpelder and Albert L. Strickland,
1983. Reprinted by permission of the Joan Neet Geor ge. Excerpt from “Why We Do This Work” by Susan Bach from
Psychosomatische Medizin . Heft ½, Band 9, 1980. Reprinted by permission
of Psychosomatische Medizin. Excerpt from The Collected W orks of C. G. Jung , translated by R. F . C.
Hull, Bollingen Series XX, Vol. 11: Psychology and Religion: W est and
East. Copyright © 1958, 1969 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by
permission of Princeton University Press. Excerpts from Anatomy of an Illness  by Norman Cousins, copyright © 1979
by W. W. Norton & Company , Inc. Reprinted by permission of W. W.
Norton & Company , Inc.Excerpt from The Dialogues of Plato , translated by Benjamin Jowett
(Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1937). Reprinted by permission
of Oxford University Press. Excerpt from Cancer W ard by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, translated by
Nicholas Bethell and David Bur g, copyright © 1969 by Farrar , Straus &
Giroux, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Farrar , Straus & Giroux, Inc.
Excerpt concerning Mr . Wright and Krebiozen, from article by Dr . Bruno
Klofer in Journal of Pr ojective T echniques , Volume 21, pages 331–340,
1957. Reprinted by permission of Journal of Personality Assessment . Excerpt from Hans Selye’ s description of his battle with cancer from
“Lessons in Living” by Joan Saunders Wixen, published in the October–
November 1978 issue of Modern Maturity . Copyright © 1978 by the
American Association of Retired Persons. Reprinted by permission of
Modern Maturity
The List of Survival Characteristics by Dr . Lawrence A. Siebert is taken
from “The Survivor Personality” presented at the Western Psychology
Association convention, April 1983. Reprinted by permission of the author . Excerpt from Return fr om T omorr ow by Geor ge G. Ritchie, M.D., with
Elizabeth Sherrill. Copyright © 1978 by Geor ge G. Ritchie, M.D. Reprinted
by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Description of a patient by Dr . W. C. Ellerbroek in “Medicine and the
Mind” by David Black from the April 1980 issue of Playboy Magazine ,
copyright © 1980 by Playboy . Reprinted by permission of Playboy
Magazine . Excerpt from The Bridge of San Luis Rey  by Thornton Wilder, copyright
1927 by Albert and Charles Boni, copyright renewed 1955 by Thornton
Wilder. Reprinted by special permission of the Estate of Thornton Wilder
and Harper & Row , Publishers, Inc.
Excerpt from Mortal Lessons  by Richard Selzer , copyright © 1974, 1975,
1976 by Richard Selzer . Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster , Inc.Excerpt from Getting W ell Again: A Step-by-Step, Self-Help Guide to
Over coming Cancer for Patients and Their Families  by O. Carl Simonton,
M.D., Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and James Creighton, copyright ©
1978 by O. Carl Simonton, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and James
Creighton. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin’ s Press, Inc. and Jeremy
P. Tarcher , Inc.
Excerpt from Modern Man in Sear ch of a Soul  by C. G. Jung, translated by
W. S. Dell and Cary F . Baynes. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc.
Excerpts from “Cancer in Myth and Dream” by Russell A. Lockhart from
Spring 1977  and republished in Words as Eggs, Psyche in Language and
Clinic  by Russell Lockhart (Dallas: Spring Publications, Inc., 1983). Reprinted by permission of Spring Publications, Inc.
Excerpt from Activation of Ener gy by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, translated
by René Hague. Reprinted by permission of Collins Publishers Ltd.,
London. Excerpt from “Spontaneous Paintings of Severely Ill Patients” by Susan
Bach, Documenta Geigy , Acta Psychosomatica , 1969, English version of
Acta Psychosomatica , No. 8, 1966. Reprinted by permission of CIBA-
GEIGY  Basle, Limited. Excerpt from The Medusa and the Snail  by Lewis Thomas, copyright ©
1979 by Lewis Thomas. Reprinted by permission of Viking Penguin Inc.
Excerpt from Grow or Die: The Unifying Principle of T ransformation  by
Geor ge T. Lock Land, copyright © 1973 by Geor ge T. Lock Land. Excerpts
from W. H. Auden: Collected Poems , edited by Edward Mendelson,
copyright © 1976 by Edward Mendelson, William Meredith, and Monroe
K. Spears, Executors of the Estate of W. H. Auden. Excerpt from Doctor
Zhivago  by Boris Pasternak, translated by Max Hayward and Manya Harari,
revised by Bernard Guilbert Guerney , copyright © 1958 by Pantheon
Books, Inc. Excerpt from Letters to a Y oung Poet  by Rainer Maria Rilke,
translated by Stephen Mitchell, copyright © 1984 by Stephen Mitchell. Excerpts from Memories, Dr eams, Reflections  by C. G. Jung, edited byAniela Jaf fe and translated by Richard and Clara Winston, copyright ©
1963 by Pantheon Books, Inc. All reprinted by permission of Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc. The poem “Sitting with Pa” by Juliet Burch is reprinted by permission of
the author . Copyright © 1984 by Juliet Burch. Excerpt from There Is a Rainbow Behind Every Dark Cloud  by Jerry
Jampolsky , 1978. Reprinted by permission of Celestial Arts, Berkeley , CA. Excerpt from My Book for Kids with Cansur  by Jason Gaes, copyright ©
1987. Reprinted by permission of Melius Publishing, Aberdeen, SD. LOVE, MEDICINE AND MIRACLES . Copyright © 1986 by B.H. Siegel, S.
Korman, and A. Schif f, Trustees of the Bernard S. Siegel, M.D., Children’ s
Trust. “Reflections and Thoughts on Love, Medicine and Miracles ”
copyright © 1998 by Bernard S. Siegel. All rights reserved under
International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the
required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable
right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this
text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-
engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and
retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written
permission of HarperCollins e-books. First HarperPerennial edition published 1990. Reissued 1998. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Siegel, Bernie S.
Love, medicine & miracles: lessons learned about self-healing from a
surgeon’ s experience with exceptional patients / Bernie S. Siegel. p. cm. ill.
Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-06-091983-31. Medicine and psychology . 2. Love. 3. Mind and body . 4. Attitude to
Health-popular works. 5. Neoplasms—psychology—popular works. 6. Psychophysiology—popular works. 7. Self Care—psychology—popular
works. I. Title. R726.5.S54     1990
615.5—dc20
89-46437
EPub Edition © JUL Y 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-21 1673-4
05 06 07 08 RRD 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58
OceanofPDF .comAbout the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty . Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney , NSW  2000, Australia
http://www .harpercollins.com.au/ebooks
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W , 1A8, Canada
http://www .harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www .harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www .harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY  10022
http://www .harpercollins.com
OceanofPDF .com*Calderon’s case is discussed at length by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., in the March/April 1985 issue
of New Realities, pp. 9–15. OceanofPDF .com* For a servant to clear the table. OceanofPDF .com* For more information about the survivor personality and the synergy need, write to Al Siebert, P.O. Box 535, Portland, Oregon 97207. OceanofPDF .com
_OceanofPDF.com_Love_Medicine_n_Miracles_-_Bernie_Siegel.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Again she asked,
“Do you really believe that. ” And I said, “Y es, I do. ”
“Well,” she said, “I was sitting in the living room. He was late for
dinner, and the town fire alarm went of f. I knew it was about him. I jumped
up, and his voice came to me and said, ‘Do not leave the room for one
hour. ’ So I sat down and waited. When I got to the scene of the accident,
they were just lifting his body out of the car. I thought to myself, ‘If I had
been out here for an hour, I would never have survived. ’”
I worried about her but several months later I mentioned her story in a
conference on drawings, and a physician who was there told me he’d
delivered her child and she had done beautifully. Recently Janet wrote me a
letter, offering her help to anyone in a crisis similar to what she had
survived. This physician also beckoned me over to a corner and told me of a
precognitive experience. While his wife was pregnant she had said to him,
“I must study total communication for the deaf. ” He said, “Honey, why do
you need to do that. ” She said, “I must. ” And of course their first child was
born deaf. So the physician was a believer, but he had motioned for me to
come into a corner to talk about this. I know that finger waggle from manyphysicians. It means, “I agree with you, but I’m uncomfortable revealing it
in front of others. ”
Time after time in my experiences with patients I encounter
unconscious knowledge of the future. One Monday I operated on a man
named Mike, who had a massive hemorrhage from an aneurysm that had
ruptured into his esophagus. It was impossible to stop the bleeding, and he
died. When I talked to his wife, she said, “Y ou know, Sunday we spent the
whole day discussing his funeral and will, and I said, ‘Why do we have to
talk about all this morbid business. ’  And now I know. ”
Several times I’ve found that close relatives knew of a person’ s death
before they had received news of it. My own father, who is now almost
eighty, told me a few years ago that his mother visited him—spiritually—
one day at work when he was a young man. She said good-bye. He knew
she had died, and he grew terribly sad. His co-workers noticed, but he
couldn’ t tell them what had happened because it sounded crazy. As soon as
he got home, the phone rang, and his sister told him their mother had died. Sandy, whom I mentioned in Chapter 4, told me her experience of the
same intuitive knowledge. Her husband, Harry, always drove the kids to
school, but one day all three of them were late getting dressed. He got angry
and left without them, and a few minutes later was killed in an accident. It
seems obvious to me that there was an unconscious awareness in each of
those children that this was not the day to get dressed and go with dad. When Sandy called Harry’ s mother in Maine and started to talk, his
mother said, “Y es, I know. Harry’ s dead. ” When asked how she knew, she
replied, “His father”—who’d been dead a year—“came to me last night and
said, ‘I have to take our son tomorrow. ’” These are the kinds of things that
patients share with me, the privileged listener. They are experiences that can
open a whole new realm in one’ s awareness and belief system. One night, when I was giving a lecture, I had all my notes in front of
me. And yet, as I was giving the talk, I realized that, in a sense, two talks
were being given. In one, I was struggling to follow the outline, but
something else was coming out of my mouth. I realized the other talk was
much better, so I finally just gave in and let it happen. When I came of f the stage, I told Bobbie, “I don’ t know who gave that
talk. I didn’ t. ” The next woman who came up to me said, “I’ve heard you
before, but that was more moving than usual. ” The third person who came
up to me said, “I’m a medium, and while you were reading Lois Becker ’sletter, superimposed over you and staring at the audience was this figure. I
drew him for you. ” And she showed me a picture of my guide Geor ge. The famous psychic Olga Worrell has also described Geor ge and
another of my meditative guides, even including the clothes they wear—
flowing robes and the old Jewish prayer caps. When the emotional and
spiritual mind is freed, the distinctions between the “mystical” and the
“mundane” break down. This experience taught me that the unconscious can take care of
everything, and I don’ t have to prepare for my lectures anymore. Whether
Geor ge exists as a spiritual guide or simply exists inside of me as part of my
collective unconscious or intuition, the power is there for all of us, if we
will let it come through. As Socrates replied when asked if he had prepared
his defense, “What needs to be said will be said. ”
One woman who had breast cancer told me that her family thought she
was crazy. I asked why, and she told me several stories. One was a dream in
which Death came and told her that her husband was going to die
tomorrow. She ar gued with Death and said, “No. Everybody gets two
weeks’  notice. ” Two weeks to the day later her husband died. I told her I loved her and all that she was sharing with me. When we
went out of the examining room, her family was expecting me to say
something negative about their crazy mother. Instead I said, “She’ s
wonderful, terrific. ” That led to a new openness and awareness on the part
of the family, a new willingness to accept her and all that she had shared
with them. Death is no barrier to this intuitive, spiritual consciousness. It continues
after death, and it communicates between the dead and the living. Iris, a
blind diabetic who developed cancer, underwent a similar experience. One
day she called her two daughters into her hospital room and told them,
“Girls, I can see again. My mother and father came for me and held out an
apple. They said when I bite into it I will join them. I told them my
grandson’ s birthday was on Tuesday, and I would join them then. ” She died
after the party on Tuesday. Before she passed away, one of her daughters said, “Mom, if you die I
want to die, too. I can’ t go on without you. ” Two weeks later Iris appeared
to her daughter and said, “Look, I have ten minutes. This is against the
rules. I am in a beautiful place and I am loved. I can’ t be worrying about
you doing something silly. ”As I have opened myself to my patients’  beliefs, I have received many
messages from those who have died. Josie was a wonderful woman who
had given everyone who knew her the gift of love and humor. While at the
hospice, for example, she thought she heard a noise and asked if someone
was at the door. The nurse said, “Oh, I just kicked your bucket. ” Josie
replied, “I’m here trying  to kick the bucket, and for you it’ s easy. ” She was
one of the exceptional people who lived until the moment of death. Josie had asked me to deliver the eulogy at her funeral. I said I would be
honored, but told her I couldn’ t be sure my schedule would permit it,
especially since the funeral would be held in New York. Months before, I
had arranged to be in New York on a certain Friday for a conference. The
only day in the entire year I was scheduled to be in New York. Then a radio
talk show host asked me to speak for an hour at noon on that day, since I
would already be in the city. I agreed, but on the Monday before the show
someone from the station called and said the program had been preempted. I told my wife that Josie’ s funeral would be at that time although she hadn’ t
died yet. On Tuesday evening, Josie’ s husband asked me how to help ease her
passage. She found it hard to leave amid the constant visiting and
expressions of love. I suggested he tell her he loved her, that he and the
boys would be okay, and she could go if she was ready. He shared that with
her the next morning, and then turned to get her breakfast tray. When he
turned back, she had died. Josie’ s son called me to tell me she had died, and that there had been a
debate about whether to have the funeral Friday or Sunday. I said, “Y our
mother wants it at noon on Friday. ” He said, “I don’ t know how you know,
but that’ s what we decided. ”
After I’d learned of Josie’ s death, I went to meditate in the hospital
chapel, a small closet-like room with no windows. A plaque on the wall
suddenly began to shake for no discernible reason. I looked at it and read
the message: “In the midst of life I am with you. ” I knew it was a message
from Josie. On Friday, as I was nearing the end of my eulogy, the
loudspeaker in the funeral home suddenly went of f. I felt that was another
message from Josie, saying, “Enough already. ”
Paula, one of our ECaP  group members, told me of a similar experience
after her daughter was murdered in a brutal assault at her college. At the
murderer ’s trial, a bird appeared in the window, making an awful racket anddisturbing the proceedings. Paula said she knew it was her daughter,
because she always demanded a lot of attention. Later at the wedding of
Paula’ s other daughter, another bird appeared, cackling raucously,
interrupting the outdoor ceremony. Then, after Paula finished telling this
story in the group, a bird began squawking at the window, and everyone
turned to Paula and said, “I guess that’ s your daughter again. ”
Recently I was out jogging on a cold, dark December morning. A bird
followed me for half an hour, chirping and sharing with me. When I came
home, I said to Bobbie, “Someone died and just said good-bye. ” Wednesday
I got a phone call and learned that a patient I’d been very close to, who was
in another state, had died at that time. Perhaps my most dramatic experience of after -death communication
concerns Bill, the physician I mentioned in Chapter 2, who knew he had
cancer after one instance of dif ficulty in swallowing. He joined ECaP  but
always remained somewhat distant—quiet and observant. His wife had told
others, “He never bought the package. ”
Three months after Bill had died of his cancer, a young college student
came to my of fice to interview me. She said she’d been in a healing circle
the night before, and since they knew she was going to see me the next day,
the medium who was directing the circle had asked if there was any
message for me. She handed me a card:
To Bernie
From Bill
With love and peace
If I had known it was
this easy, I’d have bought
the package a long time ago
and wouldn’ t have
resisted so much. When I called his wife, she said, “That’ s what he always told me after
the meetings. He would attend, but he said he couldn’ t buy the package. ”
When he was quite sick, I asked him if he was ready to die. He said,
“Considering the alternative, no. ” The people in the healing circle knew
nothing about who Bill was, yet there was the same phrase he and his wife
used. “Love and peace” is the closing I use for all my letters. Who elsecould this note be from. How can I help but believe and share this belief
with others. As Elisabeth Kübler -Ross says, “One day all my critics will
agree with me. ”
But, whatever explanation you prefer for these experiences, there’ s no
denying that learning to love conquers the fear of death, and can liberate
incredible healing ener gy. The closing lines of Emmet Foxes’  sermon are
the key. “If only you could love enough, you would be the happiest and
most powerful being in the world…” You become invulnerable. This, I feel,
is the real future of medicine. Scientists often say you must see in order to
believe, but I know you must believe in order to see. When I was in college
and took philosophy and religion, one day the teacher was discussing St. Augustine, who said you must love in order to see. I raised my hand and
said, “I thought love was blind. ” I never got a satisfactory answer from the
teacher. Now I see that you must love and believe, that is, be open, so that
true sharing can occur, and you will see what is in front of you. In medicine
and science, we are generally told, “Seeing is believing,” and then we are
told what to see, and to ignore everything else. However, the spiritual
message heeded by the true explorer or artist is to open our eyes and see
beyond what we have been told exists. It is my fervent hope that, by showing adults how the mind and spirit
can heal the body and make life worthwhile, I can help us, as parents, raise
a generation of children programmed to be loving and healthy. Too many
children get everything they want and nothing they need. The message to
whisper in your child’ s ear is simply, “I love you unconditionally (not if you
get an A, or become a doctor). Life is full of hurdles, but whatever happens,
you’ll overcome. ” Then give them some discipline, not punishment. In
Soviet Geor gia, peo ple drink a toast “T o your three-hundredth birthday. ”
We should adopt the same custom. The whole world must confront the same issues, for nuclear weapons
threaten the world as cancer threatens the individual. If we decide to love,
we have a much greater chance of surviving. If we love, we will control the
few who are comfortable being killers. As Gandhi said, “W e must not kill
our enemies, but kill their desire to kill. ”
In India the story is told of a holy man who stayed in his monastery
when an army was advancing through the area and killing all the holy men. When a general said, “Don’ t you know I can thrust my sword into your
stomach. ” he replied, “Don’ t you know I can place my stomach aroundyour sword. ” If we love enough, we become invulnerable, and we can
place our stomachs around the sword and save the world. In India there is
also this traditional saying: “When you were born, you cried and the world
rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries
and you rejoice. ” If we can live in accordance with that simple teaching, we
will survive as individuals, and the world will survive as well. As Geor ge
Ritchie wrote at the conclusion of his book Return fr om T omorr ow, “God is
busy building a race of men who know how to love. I believe that the fate
of the earth itself depends on the progress we make—and that the time now
is very short. ”
Gandhi’ s teacher Muktananda remarked that Sanskrit has no word for
exclusion. When we can kill our own desire to kill, and learn to exclude no
one, the world will change, and we will return from whence we came—
from the ener gy that chose to love out of its own intelligence. I often tell my patients there are two ways to be immortal. One is to go
to medical school (Doctors don’ t get sick and don’ t die). And the other is to
love someone. As Thornton Wilder expressed it at the end of The Bridge of San Luis
Rey:
 
And we ourselves shall be loved for a while and for gotten. But the love
will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that
made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the
living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the
only meaning. God has given us free will to make love and life meaningful. This
creates a critical risk because we now have the ability to destroy our
universe if we choose not to love. However, it is only in this critical time that the archetype of the miracle
can appear. When one believes in love and miracles divine intervention can
occur. We have an infinite number of choices ahead, but a finite number of
endings. They are destruction and death or love and healing. If we choose
the path of love we save ourselves and our universe. Let us choose love and life. OceanofPDF. comAppendix
RELAXA TION
The following method, given in the Simontons’  book Getting W ell
Again, was adapted by Dr. Edmond Jacobson from a yoga technique. Instructions can also be found in Larry LeShan’ s How to Meditate  and
Herbert Benson’ s The Relaxation Response. As with the examples of
imaging later on, you are encouraged to have a friend speak these
instructions to you, or record them yourself on tape. A tape is always
available to you in times of stress. The tape is also useful if you fall asleep,
because you are still hearing the message. I don’ t recommend that you use it
to fall asleep, however, unless you need help to relax at night. During the
day, just take any comfortable position and try to listen to it in its entirety. With practice, you may often be able to enter the alpha state by yourself
without the tape. Adjust the lighting so it is soft and restful. If possible, at least in the
beginning, use a quiet room and close the door so you will not be
interrupted. This alone says you are important, that you are willing to take
the time for healing. However, a quiet room is not always essential. Familiar noises may actually be restful, indicating you are in a safe
environment. Using the same place each time is helpful. Just getting into a
favorite chair can immediately set the mood and lead to rapid relaxation. You may find it helpful to play some gentle, soothing music—at low
volume. There are also many prerecorded meditation tapes and records
available that can help you. I especially recommend Pachelbel’ s Canon  in
the recording by Daniel Kobialka. Be sure these instructions from the
Simonton book are spoken quietly and slowly, with pauses where
appropriate. Take a comfortable position in a chair, with your feet flat on the floor, or
lying down on a couch or mat. Feel the pleasant pressure of the chair or
other surface on your buttocks and back. Gently pay attention to your breathing as you let your breaths come in a
natural rhythm, without hurrying them or trying to slow them. Now take a few calm, deep breaths, and as you exhale, think the words
“relax, let go. ”
Direct your attention to your face, eyes, and jaw. Feel whatever tension
is concentrated there. Now make a mental image of that tension, such as a
coiled spring, a stretched rubber band, a block of ice melting, or a rope tied
in a knot. Then picture that tense object relaxing, uncoiling, loosening. Feel
that relaxation in every part of your face. Momentarily contract every
muscle in your face, squeeze your eyes and mouth tightly shut, then let
them relax as you continue to see your spring, rubber band, or rope
becoming limp. Experience the relaxation in your face as the beginning of a wave that is
spreading throughout your body. You may experience this wave as a
sensation of heaviness, lightness, or tingling, of pleasant warmth or (in the
summer) delicious coolness. Move your mind now to each area of your
body—your neck, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers, chest, back,
abdomen, hips and genitals, thighs, lower legs, all the way down to your
feet and toes. Momentarily tense each part, then let go as you concentrate
on your mental image of relaxation. Experience the wave of relaxation
spreading throughout your body as you do this. Then remain in this
peaceful state for five minutes or so. When you are ready to arise, simply let your mind focus on the sounds
in the room, gradually let your eyelids become lighter, then open your eyes. Slowly get up and notice how you can combine the feeling of relaxation
with the alertness needed for your everyday activities. If your mind wanders or you feel tense, you have two choices. You can
respond to the thoughts that are leading your mind astray, such as “Did I
leave the dishwasher on. ” You can go look, then come back and finish your
meditation. Or you can decide not to answer those thoughts, and let go of
them. Just remember that relaxation will quickly become easier with
practice, then guide your mind gently back to the spoken directions. GUIDED VISUALIZA TIONS
You yourself, a friend, a family member, or a therapist can lead you in
visualization. Here are some sample visualizations that can easily be
adapted to your particular needs. Simply have someone you love and trustspeak the words in a calm, gentle voice, or speak them yourself into a tape
recorder, then play the tape as you meditate. Speak slowly and carefully,
and be sure to make the pauses long enough to fully experience the images
visualized. The pauses I’ve marked should be at least 15 to 20 seconds. Where I suggest a long pause, allow at least 30 to 60 seconds. The pauses
can be longer, and you need not follow the voice continuously. You may
need to follow other imagery that appears in your consciousness. You may
include:
1. going to a masquerade. 2. participating in a circus. 3. moving through a dark tunnel and emer ging into the light to be greeted
by family and significant others. 4. experiencing holding on and letting go physically and emotionally. 5. seeing yourself as a child when sad and happy, and how you as an
adult respond to that child. 6. achieving your chosen career, and what it means to you. 7. confronting fears or choices present in your life and seeing a
successful outcome. 8. performing for others on stage and seeing their reaction. 9. floating in healing water. 10. rowing with others helping you and building your support system. 11. finding a message or gift in the depths of a pond. 12. being reborn. 13. weaving the fabric of your life. The choices are limitless and your own unconscious is your best therapist. I refer those who are interested in pursuing hypnotic techniques further
to the work of Dr. Milton Erickson. Each session can be introduced and/or accompanied by music or sounds
of nature, such as a recording of the ocean, that you find especially
relaxing. Just be sure to keep the volume low enough during the meditation
itself so as not to distract you from the spoken words or the images in your
mind. You may want to use one of our ECaP  tapes, recorded with
background music. If you or a friend plan to record your own tape, I
suggest you use two tape recorders. Play some soft, soothing music, such asPachelbel’ s Canon, on one machine, while recording both the music and the
voice on the other. The visualization sessions do take time, but this is a “live” mes sage. You are worth the time. Thus I recommend that most of my patients do
them three or more times a day and take fifteen minutes at three or more
other times throughout the day for quieting relaxation. The benefits spill
over into the hours afterward, and you maintain a reserve of calm while
facing the stress of other activities. The ideal is going through the whole
day in a sort of guided trance, so that serenity remains at all times. We
should try to be like Danielle, a patient who told me, “I meditate all day. If I
wash the dishes, I think of my cancer being washed out of my body. If I
take a walk and a breeze blows, I see it blown away. ” She connects
everything she does back to healing. A hypnotherapist can be valuable in the beginning, especially if the
patient has trouble entering the state of deep relaxation. No matter who sets
the course for the first meditative sessions—doctor, counselor,
hypnotherapist, or the patient—care should be taken to appeal to the
person’ s dominant sense. In other words, for someone who responds to the
world primarily through the eyes, the guided imagery should consist mainly
of visual images—seeing a rose in all its color and beauty. If the person is
auditory-dominant, as most musicians are, the directions should appeal to
the ear—hearing a bee buzzing in the center of the rose. Those who place
great emphasis on the olfactory sense should concentrate on smelling the
rose. For those with a tactile, “hands-on” approach to the world, touch and
feeling need to be emphasized—the rose’ s silken petals. Remember that you do not have to follow the voice. If you are
experiencing some significant imagery of your own, stay with it while the
voice goes on. You’ll be able to catch up with the voice later. A problem often arises when patients try to visualize their disease as
receding when laboratory tests tell them it’ s spreading. They may be unable
to keep the image clear, or they may feel as though they’re lying to
themselves. It’ s crucial to remember the dif ference between an objective
picture and the desired outcome, between the present and the future. The
images represent what you want to happen, and there is no contradiction
between seeing your hopes clearly and facing the facts of the present. The
more clearly you can see the future you desire, the more likely it is to come
true. Visualization 1
Take a comfortable position. It’ s generally better to uncross hands and
feet, so there’ s no pressure. Begin to become aware of your breathing, and
the motion of your chest and abdomen as you breathe deeply in and out. Sometimes repeating a word like “peace” or “relax” to yourself with each
breath will help. Just deep breaths, letting the peace in and the tension out. And the music, and my voice, and the sounds in the room will all help relax
you. When you’re ready, you may look upward and let your eyes close
gently, although you may do this meditation with your eyes open, if you
like. Unwind, erase the blackboard of your mind, and just feel yourself
settling down. Perhaps let a wave of peace move down through your body,
relaxing the tense muscles, particularly the neck and shoulder muscles, and
the jaw muscles, then moving down your body, through your chest and
abdomen, and gradually into your lower extremities. Your body may feel
heavy or warm, or it may tingle. It may help to give the wave a color, and
let it move down. [Pause]
And then into your mind’ s eye allow a pleasant scene to appear. This is
going to be your special little corner of the universe of f in the middle of
nowhere. I’d like you to create all the vivid colors that you know are there,
as well as the textures, the aromas, and the sounds that you will associate
with it. And how you feel here is perfectly all right, for it’ s a safe place for
you. It’ s yours. Take a moment to find a spot where you can sit or lie down. And if there is any illness within your body, see your treatment and your
immune system eliminating that illness from your body. If there is no illness
present, just see your body rejecting illness. See yourself becoming well
and becoming the person you’d like to be. Take a moment to help make
yourself well. [Long pause]
When you have completed the healing process, I want you to follow my
voice again, and build a bridge from your corner of the universe to mine. It’ll connect with a path. Look at that bridge you’ve built, and see what it’ s
like. And then come across to the path. It’ s covered with smooth gravel, and
you’ll feel that under your feet. There’ s warm sunlight, broken up by the
shade of trees. And just come down the path with me. If the path divides,
just take the right turn. Continue to take the right turn whenever the path
divides. Ahead of you, you will see five steps. With each step down you’ll feel
more relaxed and more at peace. Then ahead of you on the right will be alovely garden. Enter the garden. Enjoy the aromas, and perhaps touch a
petal. See the beauty that exists. Perhaps even hear the birds or other
animals that may be living there. I’d like you to pick out one flower and
observe its individuality and beauty, and see how much it resembles you in
your individuality and beauty. [Pause]
Then I’d like you to picture yourself as a seed. And I’m going to plant
you in nice warm earth about an inch below the surface. You’ll feel the
moisture and the sun warming you. I want you to grow and bloom. Break
out of that seed and observe yourself breaking forth, and growing, and
blooming. Watch the process happen. [Long pause]
When you have bloomed and become that beautiful flower, find a place
inside you to store it. Make it a part of you. Then I’d like you to follow me along the path again. Ahead of you,
you’ll see an enormous rainbow-colored balloon, with a gondola or basket
hanging from it. I want you to climb into the basket and release the balloon. There’ s nothing to fear, it’s very safe. It’ll float upwards through the clouds,
past the birds, all sounds relaxing you, all sounds bringing peace. [Pause]
And as you move higher, you will eventually achieve an astronaut’ s
view of the earth. What a feeling of peace that brings. What can make it
even more peaceful is to find the pad and pencil that are in the basket, and
write down on the pad those conflicts or problems that exist in your life. [Pause]
Then take that paper, crumple it, and leave it in orbit. Cast it behind
you. Feel the dif ference in how light you feel and how easily you float on
with those problems left behind. Take a moment now to just float onward,
totally at peace, totally free of concerns, weightless. [Long pause]
Then, when you’ve completed that, you may follow my voice again,
and come back down, further down, descending, slowly, back to the place
we started. Be careful climbing out, because you’re very relaxed. I’d like
you to lie there now, in a meadow next to the path. And just take a moment
to fill your body with love. Open every cell and fill it with love. [Pause]
Now step out of yourself for a minute, and look back at yourself. Give
yourself the love and af fection you deserve. And then step back into your
body. And listen to it. Go through your body and listen. Listen to each
organ. What is it telling you. What music does it make. Are you in
harmony. For those parts that aren’ t, give them a little extra love. Open
every cell to love. See if you can create a healing harmony within yourself. If there are any areas of pain, any areas you usually don’ t pay attention to, I
would give them an extra measure of love. [Long pause]
Now just let your awareness of your body begin to increase, perhaps
noting the position you’re in, the pressure the chair or floor makes against
your body, the motion of your chest and abdomen as you breathe deeply in
and out. And let this awareness begin to increase as you get closer to
coming back to the room. Perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes will help. [Pause]
Then, count seven to ten breaths after my voice stops, each breath
making you feel lighter, more awake, more alert, yet still at peace, until
after the last breath you open your eyes and return to the room when you’re
ready, beginning now. Visualization 2
Take a comfortable position. And let the conflict flow out, and just
unwind, relax, and think peace. As you breathe deeply, let peace come in. Perhaps visualize a beautiful rainbow, and relax with each breath. Once
again settle down, and let that wave of color move down through your body,
bringing peace. Let your eyes close if you want to. Take a moment to just
fill your body with love and peace. Don’ t overlook any places, particularly
those parts and or gans that may be involved with disease. [Long pause]
When you’re done, take yourself to your corner of the universe, that
lovely, vivid place with its aromas and textures, familiar sounds and colors. And just be there, taking a moment to allow the warmth of the sun and the
energy of the earth to heal you, to be safe and at peace here. Just settle
down, down. You might picture yourself being on an elevator, descending
floor by floor, feeling more relaxed with each floor. [Long pause]
Then I’d like you to build that bridge again, to my part of the universe,
where all the people you know and deal with live. And I’d like you to invite
them across that bridge, those you love and those you have conflict with,
those you don’ t like. Bring them all together in your little corner of the
universe. And bring them together, to touch, to hug, to share, and say, “I
love you. ” And watch the transformation. [Long pause]
Then you may leave them, and follow my voice. I’m going to bring you
across the bridge again, along the path. Once again you may experience the
familiar crunch of the gravel, the path, the sunlight, the meadows. [Pause]Once again you come to the steps down, feeling more relaxed with each
step. [Pause]
You’ll notice in front of you a great big sign, with paint cans and
brushes around. The sign is empty. On the other side of the path is a big
stone with a chisel and hammer. And I’d like you to leave a message for
those who come after you, either by painting or by carving. Take a moment
now to leave a message. [Long pause]
Then, when you’re done, come down the path again. Ahead of you,
you’ll see an enormous old house, which I’d like you to enter. There’ll be a
lovely recliner sitting in the living room, and I’d like you to lie down on it. See yourself resting there and relaxing. You’re becoming deeply relaxed
and very much at peace. [Pause]
In that relaxed state I’d like you to walk through the house, because in
one of the rooms there will be a chest, and within it is a meaningful
message or gift for you. So explore the house, and find that message or gift. Find the message that lies within your chest. [Long pause]
When you’re done, I’d like you to go back to the living room and lie
down on that recliner again. I’d like you to take a moment to explore all the
rooms and hallways of your mind and brain. You’ll find one room that has
to do with the immune system, another having to do with circulation,
another with emotion, and so on. [Pause]
If you’re dealing with disease, I’d like you to go into the rooms having
to do with the immune system and circulation, and turn the right valves, and
push the right switches, so that any disease in your body is healed, and the
nourishment for that disease is turned of f. Take a moment now to utilize
those controls and help your body get well. [Long pause]
Once that’ s completed—you may stay if you’re still working on it—
come back out on the path again. As you walk out along the path, I’d like
you to see, way of f in the distance, a very bright white-yellow light. Coming out of that light, you’ll see someone. As this person gets closer,
you’ll begin to see his or her appearance. Finally, this person will be close
enough for you to ask his or her name, and know that this person is a guide
for you, someone you can always call on to help you. [Pause]
Sit down for a moment with your guide along the path, and question
your guide about some conflict or problem, and see what advice you get. [Long pause]When you have completed that conference, I’d like you to follow me
again—but if you haven’ t completed it, stay and talk. Know that you can
always call upon your guide at any time. If you are done, you may follow
me over a hill. On the other side you will see a beach. There are several
gulls floating by, beautiful ocean waves, the warm sand. I want to teach you
how to fly, just as the gulls do. But first I want you to think of your
problems and give them a weight, and put them on your back. And then
take three steps forward, and with the third step rise up and fly. One…
two…three and up. Feel what it’ s like to fly with that weight. Then turn and
let the weight fall of f. And feel the dif ference when you let go of your
problems. And just enjoy flying now. Let the sun warm you, and let the
breeze hold you up and heal you. There’ s no ef fort. From now on, at any
time of stress you can recall flying and feeling free, casting your problems
away, dropping them of f your shoulders. Just round of f your shoulders and
let them slide. [Long pause]
And then allow yourself to come down on the sand again. Stretch out,
and allow the ener gy of the earth and the warmth of the sunlight to heal
you. Once again take a moment to open your body to love. Open each cell,
each or gan. Create your own music, your own harmony, your own beauty. Give all parts of yourself the love and af fection they deserve. [Long pause]
When you have completed that, just let your body awareness begin to
return—the chair, your position, your feet on the floor, all of these feelings. Gradually move parts of your body to awaken them, coming back feeling
awake and alert and comfortable. Again use your breathing to bring you
back up, counting seven breaths, feeling one seventh more awake and more
alert with each breath, until you open your eyes and return to the room,
starting now. To order audio tapes of lectures by Dr. Siegel and meditation tapes, see
“Exceptional Cancer Patients”. READING LIST
Achterber g, Jeanne, and G. Frank Lawlis. Imagery of Disease. Institute for
Personality and Ability Testing, Champaign, Ill 61820, 1978. Ader, Robert, ed. Psychoneur oimmunology. Academic Press, New York,
1981. Alexander, Franz. Psychosomatic Medicine. Norton, New York, 1965. Bennett, Hal, and Mike Samuels. The W ell Body Book. Random House,
New York, 1973. Benson, Herbert. The Mind-Body Effect. Simon & Schuster, New York,
1979; Berkley, New York, 1980. Bresler, David E. and Richard Trubo. Free Yourself fr om Pain. Simon &
Schuster, New York, 1979. Breznitz, Shlomo, ed. The Denial of Str ess. International Universities Press,
New York, 1984. Bry, Adelaide and Marjorie Blair. Directing the Movies of Y our Mind. Harper & Row, New York, 1978. Buscaglia, Leo. Love. Charles B. Slack, 6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, N. J. 08086, 1972; Fawcett Crest/Ballantine, New York, 1982. ——-. Living, Loving & Learning.
Harry
Who did the author's patient tell him that her husband had died?
"In the midst of life, I am with you."
What was the content of the plaque on the wall in the hospital chapel?
He motioned for the author to come into a corner, indicating he agreed with the author but was uncomfortable sharing it publicly.
What was the physician's response when the author asked him to share his experience in front of others?
The author recommends practicing relaxation and visualization three or more times a day, taking 15 minutes at three or more times a day for quieting and relaxation.
What is the recommended frequency for practicing visualization and relaxation?
Love, Medicine & Miracles
What is the name of the book written by the author?
Not mentioned in the passage (the passage does not mention Dr. Milton Erickson's book title)
What is the title of the book by Dr. Milton Erickson?