Overview
Can “optimism” and “cancer” be uttered
in the same breath?
Can “wellness” and “cancer” be lived in the same life? Can destructive and entrenched “habits
of stress” be changed, even after decades?
Can one “get better” as a person during and after the
life-altering experience of cancer?
Can this shattering event invite me, teach me, dare me,
enable me --- to be “whole?”
If you or a loved one have been affected
by cancer and its barrage of physical, emotional, and spiritual assaults, then
Dr. Morry Edwards’ new book MindBody Cancer Wellness A Self-Help Care
Manual
could be a valuable
resource well worth tapping. You’ll want to read it, “try” it, loan it, give it
away, borrow it back, and read special pages again. And, if you sometimes feel
controlled by the stress that pushes you to uncomfortable limits, you’ll want
this author’s philosophy, if not his strategies, to seep into how you live your
daily life. Why? Because Dr.
Edwards’ answer to all of those opening questions is a resounding YES. It is not
a SIMPLISTIC YES, although he skillfully makes complex ideas quite
understandable in simple, straight-forward language. Nor is it an EASY YES,
since Morry challenges us to think a little differently, behave a little
differently, and to appreciate our own capacities to grow as we walk with the
uninvited companion of cancer. It is, however, a BELIEVABLE YES---not only
because Morry carries professional credentials on his walls and more than twenty
years of counseling under his belt, but also because Morry lost both of his
parents to cancer and now carries them AND their optimism in his
heart.
This self-care manual is intended to help readers develop
skills and effectively use strategies designed to ease the stress of cancer and
its treatment. It begins with basic information about the role stress plays in
our lives, positively and negatively. The author translates complex information
into ideas that can help anyone understand adverse stress reactions and how they
can endanger the body, mind, emotions, and behavior. From this perspective, Dr. Edwards’ book
is scholarly. It tackles important aspects of the mind-body-spirit connection.
From another view, Morry’s work is a practical nuts ‘n bolts approach to getting
control of our fear, putting a bridle around the very real stresses that can
drive us “nuts,” or worse yet, make us ill and keep us unwell.
Introducing ideas like immune system “downers” and immune
system “uppers,” Dr. Edwards provides a comprehensive smorgasbord of relaxation
strategies. In detail and with
specific examples, he describes how they work, how they can be implemented, and
how they can help us improve our own quality of life---as we collaborate with
our medical team to strengthen our bodies’ defense systems in achieving our own
“wellness.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR