Every October, the focus is on cancer screening and the world turns pink as we honor those affected by breast cancer. This year, the focus shifted to screening and early detection for all types of cancer. Unfortunately, some people have too much anxiety to schedule a screening. Is fear getting in the way of booking a scan? These mind body tools can help you overcome your resistance to getting the screening that experts advise. While October has just ended, the need for cancer screening hasn’t.

Energy psychology practitioners in action

Amy Frost, ACEP member and 2018 Humanitarian of the Year award winner, supports adults and children with cancer and their caregivers through Angels of Las Vegas. She became a Dallas Cowboys wife by marriage, bringing the NFL Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign into sharp focus for her.

Every October, she says, the campaign prompts her to look at her own state of health and to schedule her yearly check-up. This year, the NFL updated their yearly campaign,Crucial Catch, to face not just breast cancer, but to raise awareness for all types of cancer, highlighting the importance of early detection and risk reduction.

Amy combined her interest in cancer and early detection with her enthusiasm for energy psychology to compile a set of tried-and-true energy psychology techniques that can help ease distress and resolve resistance so you can get the screening you need.

Cancer screenings dropped during covid

Initiatives like the NFL’s are more important this year than ever, since covid put a stop to a lot of screening, according to the American Cancer Society, and we are even further behind than usual. 

In the UK, the problem is similar: around 430,000 fewer people than normal were on an urgent suspected cancer referral during March 2020-February 2021, compared with the same time the previous year according to Cancer Research UK.

Following your intuition

Have YOU noticed any hints from unexpected places that things may not be quite right? Sometimes these hints may come in the form of dreams, as outlined in ACEP member Larry Burke’s book, Dreams that Can Save Your Life. Sometimes the intuition comes in more subtle ways, like it did for Jan from Hampshire, UK. Jan was on a cruise ship with her husband Dave, when she just kept hearing a woman’s voice saying, “it’s all about the PSA you know, all about the PSA”.

When Dave was due for a doctor check-up, she told him to ask for the PSA test. The doctor wasn’t at all keen to do this test, but she had primed her husband and told him to pretend he had been getting obvious symptoms, so they did the test. It was the woman’s message to her that made her get her husband to make the call… and he was very shocked to unexpectedly receive a prostate cancer diagnosis, with not a symptom in sight.

Making self-care a practice

Here are some steps that can help you to make that screening call. We also provide additional steps to take should you receive a diagnosis. We are calling this the CRUCIAL CATCH Support Process: Care, Accept, Take Charge, Help self. This process can help you turn self-care into a daily routine to help YOU.

1.    Care

We all look out for others every day – be it our kids, our other half, a friend in need, our colleagues. We like to think that we are good at offering a friendly, non-judgmental ear, a warm hug, a knowing glance, a shared understanding, a soothing look.

Here’s a question you may never ask yourself – How are you when it comes to caring for yourself? When was the last time you offered a non-judgmental ear to your irritation with self over not accomplishing your to do list yet again? When did you last smile with self-support in the mirror…without shooting yourself a barb or two? Have you ever cheered yourself with a high five, instead of giving them all away to everyone around you?

2.    Accept

Sometimes it’s good to sit down with yourself and accept that on an everyday level, you alone can’t save the world. Take five minutes, even just once a day, to reflect that some things are outside of your control. Take time to notice that thing, which is niggling you, that you are squashing to the bottom of your to do list… keeping super busy and constantly hoping that it will go away.

3.    Take Charge

But that “thing” doesn’t go away. It may poke you daily or nightly, reminding you that something isn’t right. Maybe the feeling is telling you that something is physically wrong; maybe it’s simply fear of finding out that something might be wrong, or guilt for avoiding the screening you committed to get. Whatever it is, you’ve kept yourself busy to avoid addressing it.

4.    Help Self

If you are like the average person, it’s probably been two to three times longer than usual since you saw your doctor and were able to share your worries and book a screening to put your mind at ease and take advantage of early detection. It’s more than time – it’s probably past time to make the call.

Energy psychology tools can ease the stress that leads to resistance

Now is the time to make the most critical catch and call your healthcare provider for an appointment. Here are some mind-body tools that can help you to overcome fear, guilt, and resistance that might be stopping you from scheduling your appointment.

Butterfly Hug

When it’s time to act but you feel paralyzed, sit down, catch your breath, and receive a hug from the butterfly using the Soothing Butterfly Hug. This popular tool was originated and developed by Lucina Artigas. To do it, follow these simple steps. You can also download an instructional pdf or watch a video here.

1. Cross your hands over your heart with your fingers touching the “sore spot” or neurolymphatic point at the upper chest toward the shoulders.
2. Flap your hands like the wings of a butterfly
3. Breathe slowly and notice the change

Breathe…

If you can’t do anything else, because even thinking about this ‘niggle’ sends you spiraling down with anxiety and panic, learn to consciously BREATHE. You can use the technique of Connected Heart Breathing by following the steps below, and linked here:

1. Place both hands over the centre of your chest.
2. Breathe gently and deeply – imagine breathing through your heart
3. Recall a positive feeling of love, appreciation, or gratitude
4. Continue heart focus/heart breathing for several minutes

If you don’t remember to do anything else to help yourself in the moment, then just think that you take in life force energy and take action every couple of seconds just by breathing!

Share

Take time to share your worry with someone close to you. As the old saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved, and after all you are always there for others, see if you can accept some help for yourself. Accept a hug from them. When you are by yourself, try Simplified Self Havening, outlined below:

1. Cross arms, each hand on opposite shoulder
2. Pull hands from both shoulders down to the elbows, with firm but gentle pressure
3. At the same time, hum a tune

Engage

Make the telephone call. Decide what time of day you are going to do this. If you need support, ask the person who you shared with to be there with you.

Try the Thymus Thump (sometimes called Four Thumps) just before you pick up the phone, to help wake up your senses, get your blood pumping, and help get you ready to make the call. This is also a useful exercise after lunch to wake yourself up for the afternoon’s challenges, or before important exams or an interview.

To do the Thymus Thump, simply pound the center of your chest vigorously with a closed fist. 

Calm your anxiety

Now you are in the waiting phase, having booked your appointment. Each time you notice a panic or anxiety, try to calm yourself with the Healing Head Hold, outlined below:

1. Focus on the fear, distress, or discomfort
2. Place one hand across forehead
3. Lightly hold the back of head with other hand
4. Breathe
5. Hold position until calm & can feel pulse in fingers 3- 5 minutes

Take courage

Keep communicating with your accountability partner or friend, with whom you can feel you are not alone and praise yourself for loving yourself enough to share your worries. Mark the calendar with the scan appointment and make sure everyone knows that you will be busy that day. Ask someone to attend with you, so you don’t chicken out of going, and if possible, get them to drive you there and back.

Once in the waiting room you can do the stealth Calming Hug to keep you calm:

1. ​Cross your arms
2. Hold for a minute
3. Switch & Repeat using opposite arm

Give yourself a High Five!

Having got through this part of loving yourself – notice how you feel now – having taken action.

Realize you may have just taken the most critical steps in your life… Congratulate yourself and celebrate your courage. Your team all around you will be very thankful that you have got to the appointment and that you have all learned several new techniques for daily self-help in the process.

Amy Frost MBA, MA spiritual psychology, is a trainer, community collaborator and facilitator. She has used tapping and energy psychology techniques in all her training, coaching and presenting for over twenty years. Amy is a long term ACEP Humanitarian and 2018 Humanitarian of the year. You can learn more at www.amyfrost.com.

Sara Whittall (Author) is a Body Code Practitioner and member of ACEP Humanitarian Committee.

For more information on mind body tools visit Resources for Resilience, a project from ACEP’s Humanitarian Committee.To join ACEP’s Humanitarian Committee contact acephum@gmail.com.