I am NOT a fighter.
So, how did I welcome my cancer and participate whole-heartedly and fully in my bone marrow transplant?
While visiting the Prairie Yoga Studio, I saw my friend and yoga teacher Marinda Stopforth, who is also a program trainer at The Monroe Institute. She asked me how I was doing. A simple question, but I decided to bare my soul about how things really were. Expressing my concern and relief that I may not need a bone marrow transplant opened doors of trust, healing, and friendship with her. That was in 2009.
However, my disease progressed, and my spleen increased to the size of a football! I named my spleen Sophia, the wise one. My cancer, myelofibrosis, created an environment in my marrow that made it impossible for me to produce blood. My spleen was trying to make blood for my body, but obviously was not successful, and it was determined in 2014 that I needed a transplant.
I wouldn’t say I loved my cancer, but I loved my body and recognized how hard she was working to keep me alive.
During the previous 5 years, I had prepared for this potential outcome. Marinda helped me to cautiously move into a new level of healing. She introduced me to Hemi-Sync in 2013, and I found it so beneficial that I used it every morning as I meditated for 30 minutes. I also used it in my high school special education classroom as a background sound to calm the students so that they could learn.
In 2014, I began chemotherapy. Marinda introduced me to the CDs Into the Deep, Abundance Waterfall, Liquid Luck, and Cancer Support Series. I listened to the Chemotherapy Companion CD two times a day as I prepared, received, and waited. The verbal guidance on the CD used words like “love potion,” rather than “poison.” I imaged the love potion, my chemotherapy, entering my body and energizing dolphins to push out my cancer with their strong noses.
I wouldn’t say I loved my cancer, but I loved my body and recognized how hard she was working to keep me alive.
When very relaxed and open to suggestion, the body believes the visualized imagery and responds accordingly. Healing imagery promotes actual healing.
On June 12, 2014, I finally received my stem cells from a man living in Germany.
Using the CDs assisted me to create an environment that encouraged love and full consent and participation in my healing process. Deep relaxation before visualizing the love potion working is a necessary part of visual imagery healing.
I have learned that the human body-mind-spirit responds to images and thoughts that you present to it when it is in a completely relaxed state. I imagine, when I am in a relaxed state, that my brain waves become longer and slower so that I have access to both sides of my brain in a way that allows me to tap into the power of my imagination. When very relaxed and open to suggestion, the body believes the visualized imagery and responds accordingly. Healing imagery promotes actual healing.
With the use of Hemi-Sync and other binaural beat audio signals, music, and verbal guidance on the CDs I was able to relax my body at any given moment and introduce an image for healing. It was important for me to consent, to trust my Spirit, and to participate fully in my treatment and healing process.
I am now living a healthy, joyous life, practicing yoga with Marinda, and delighted to share my story. Am I a fighter? Well, no—I prefer to call myself a Peaceful Warrior.
Through it all, Love, A stem cell transplant journey, is a collection of Dan Hartman’s daily posts to a Caring Bridge website during his wife’s bone marrow transplant. The writings began as a way to update their friends and family on his wife’s progress but grew to be much more. The posts are very personal, sharing every detail of their lives throughout this journey. The author has captured what he and his wife went through, and also how they managed to find the love that was always around them.