CANCER: Holding Each Other in the Highest

When I was picking up my little guy from kindergarten the other day, I got out of my car as usual to have a chat with another mom and a good friend I have known for many, many years. She recently moved back to this area after years out West and it had been sweet catching up on life. Anyway, she approached me and told me straight up that she had just been diagnosed with cancer. "FUCK" was the first thing that came out of my mouth followed by hugs and tears between us both.

She is now the 4th dear one in the last year and 1/2 that has had this diagnosis. I started to ask myself. What can I do to support her and others dealing with this right now? Of course the healing work I do comes to mind but how can it be improved? Then I had an insight after watching a conversation about a non-duality approach to PsycoTherapy.

This is what hit me; as soon as someone is diagnosed with cancer, the cancer is a THING you have that you have to FIGHT and get rid of. It is the enemy and ALL YOUR FOCUS goes to it. You basically BECOME CANCER itself. There is no YOU anymore, all thoughts are about cancer and it's treatment, all emotions are about cancer and it's treatment. Even how we approach someone who had been diagnosed is often.. . 'my friend so and so ..who is fighting cancer. '

But in my yoga practice I know that who we really are is the Supreme Being. The authentic Self is not sick, is not flawed, is not "fighting anything." The authentic Self is perfect, RIGHT NOW.

What would happen if we could approach everyone from this highest perspective? What if I approach my friends with this always FIRST? That there is nothing intrinsically "wrong" ?

We know and have heard time after time that "what you think is what you get" Then isn't thinking about cancer all day long and "fighting cancer" and talking about cancer, placing creative POWER into the very thing we don't want?

What would happen if the focus went to LIVING. To dropping the "I have cancer" or I have a friend who has cancer" story all together and we just went through life enjoying the heck out of it. If sensations came up, or fear came up we could be supported in drawing our awareness back into your authentic SELF....BEING ALIVE! Ride the waves as they hit without creating a sharp focus on it.?

I am not saying don't get treatment. I am simply asking about how to hold others in the perfection of who they REALLY ARE instead of in a label. Could treatment happen but not be the main focus?

The body will some day die...YES, this is a given. In the meantime, can we shift the way we hold ourselves, and each other? Can we choose to see each other as PERFECT forms of the Divine Spirit? What if we didn't waiver from that? What if all the sub stories that come and go did just that..come and go, but we stood firm in the conviction of looking at the flawless SELF peering out through all eyes?

Posted by Michelle Synnestvedt at 12:35 PM 4 comments: