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Look Good Feel Better - Index

Look Good Feel Better - magazine - Index

really painful moments,” she says. Studies have also found that
visualization can help reduce the nausea that patients often feel
in anticipation of cancer treatments.
See yourself as well
Each day during her treatment, Sonia, who lives in Longueuil,
near Montreal, and works with a health-promotion foundation
for children in need, imagined Pac-Men swimming through her
system and eating up her cancer cells, especially the ones in her
liver. Then she would exhale deeply and think of all the bad cells
leaving her body.
Mary Jane Esplen, associate professor in the department of
psychiatry at the University of Toronto, says the jury is still
out on whether using visual images to attack cancer cells has
helped people live longer. “However, there have been many
studies showing changes in blood pressure or enhancement of
the immune response,” she says. Whether or not these physical
changes are targeting the cancer still needs to be determined,
but Esplen says that for many people these anti-cancer images
are still worthwhile because they help them get in touch with
their bodies and enhance their physiological responses.
More than a decade after her initial diagnosis, Sonia still
turns to visualization when she isn’t feeling up to par. “I just
do two or three minutes,” Sonia explains. “For me, it makes a
real difference.”
VISUALIZATION TIPS
For those who haven’t tried visualization, Claire Edmonds,
a consultant in patient education and psychosocial support
services with Wellspring and a research associate at Princess
Margaret Hospital in Toronto, suggests a simple approach to fi ll
the time spent waiting for therapy.
Imagine a safe place such
as a cottage, a beach or a
favourite vacation spot.
Listen to sounds that remind
you of this place: bring a
headset and recorder with
nature sounds, the lap of
waves or Caribbean music.
BODY & SOUL
Look through a small book
of personal photographs or
images.
Focus on your breath as it
moves in and out of your body,
perhaps counting each breath
from one to 10 and then
starting over.
For additional support, Edmonds recommends reading Staying
Well With Guided Imagery by Belleruth Naparstek (Grand Central
Publishing, 1995) or listening to an audio CD called Anxiety Relief:
Guided Imagery Exercises to Soothe, Relax & Restore Balance by
Martin L. Rossman (Sounds True, 2004).
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