Making Self Care a Cultural Value

Making Self Care a Cultural Value

Presenters at the Cancer Wellness Expo included doctors and advocates. After my talk, I was interviewed by Christine Coppa of Refinery29, a journalist who writes from personal experience as a cancer survivor. She wrote an upbeat article on how self care, including Reiki, is helping cancer patients in hospitals and at home.

Transforming our cultural values

It’s a medical fact that cancer survivors have more health problems and suffer premature aging. Similarly, people with PTSD are more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease, chronic pain, autoimmune disorders and type 2 diabetes.

By the time the body is so deeply overwhelmed that there is a medical diagnosis, many vital body systems are not functioning well. That makes it hard to heal, and leaves you vulnerable for other illnesses.

Self care such as meditation, yoga, qigong, daily self Reiki or receiving Reiki treatment makes a profound difference because it engages your self-healing. It’s that simple. But people don’t hear it.

Christine’s article in as popular and credible a media outlet as Refinery29 gets people’s attention — especially young people. I’m happy to help anyone, but I have a real soft spot when it comes to helping a young person appreciate self care. That piece of enlightenment can improve the trajectory of his/her life, and potentially benefit many others.

Self care is undervalued in our culture and it’s literally killing us. Let’s change that now! 

Your self care is by definition something only you can do for yourself. Help people understand how much self care matters. Please share the Refinery29 article widely.

P.S. After the expo, I wrote a resource for people addressing cancer and the Reiki practitioners who serve them. Click here.

Pamela Miles shares 50 years of experience with holistic health and spiritual practice.

One comment

  1. Ali Walters says:

    Looking for another article I stumbled on this one and can also say from personal experience how much my Reiki self practice helped me during my treatment for cancer. Having Reiki sessions with fellow practitioners during my chemo made me feel better about the situation and supported me through the difficult times and surgery too. My practice was something really positive I was able to do for myself while the medics got on with the stuff that wasn’t so great. 4.5 years in remission my Reiki self practice continues to help support my health and wellbeing and is the greatest gift I can give myself on a daily basis. Cancer was a wake up call for me to take more care of myself and if I had to chose only one self care routine it would be my Reiki self practice.

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