Letting the brain help with healing: The power of visualization during cancer treatment
Let your Soul stand cool and clear before a million universes.
Walt Whitman
When I had breast cancer, my treatment included 30 days of radiation. Each morning I settled into the mold created for my upper body, fitting my left arm into its over-the-head position and nestling my head into its right-facing cradle. The proton beam equipment whooshed and whirred overhead, culminating in a flat screen about the size of a computer monitor hovering over my left chest. The caring technicians jockeyed me into the precise position necessary for the beams to hit their target, based on four little tattooed marks on my chest.
by Julie Shaw, MEd, C-IAYT
By that time, I would have already closed my eyes. I was settling into my “Cool, Cool, Cool Practice.” That’s what I called the visualization I used during this part of my cancer treatment. Visualization uses the imagination to build a mental picture for a specific purpose, complete with as many sense-related details as possible, including sights, sounds, smells, textures, tastes, colors, temperature, etc.
Science has confirmed what the Pancamaya model describes: “where the mind goes, the body follows,” in other words, state of mind plays a role in physiology.[i][ii][iii][iv][v] When we think positive thoughts, our blood pressure, heart rate, and other indicators of homeostasis shift into a positive range. And yet, it can be a tough sell for some to believe that if they just think good thoughts, good things will happen. There may be resistance to what is assumed to be “toxic positivity,” a pressure to remain positive no matter what, which can prevent people from fully experiencing and processing their feelings, ultimately making them feel worse.
This is where we, as yoga therapists, can help. We can educate our clients about the clinical value of visualization, while reassuring them that it does not deny anything they are experiencing. Rather, visualization is a conscious choice, undertaken in a specific circumstance, to engage in specific imagery as a self-help tool. In the case of serious illness, when a person may feel like they have little control, putting their own brain to use may be empowering, thereby boosting the efficacy of the imagery even more.
In my case, I created a visualization that conjured the physical sensation of coolness to counter the idea of radiation and heat. Of course, I didn’t actually think I was going to affect the proton beam with my mind! But, I didn’t want to lay there and focus directly on the radiation. If I started to think about that intense beam penetrating my body, I might become anxious and go into a fight-or flight state. Then my body would be compromised at the very moment it needed to be strong. Instead, I wanted to flood my mind with good thoughts, to keep myself in the rest-and-digest state. I wanted to let the radiation do its job, and I would do mine, which I saw as keeping things cool.
My visualization included dolphins swimming in cool, clear water. I smelled the salt water and saw the blue sky. I felt myself bobbing in the water, submerged up to my chin, keeping my body cool. I built in lots of details, like a short story I told myself. There was no rational reason for why I picked dolphins for my visualization; they just have a special way about them that speaks to my heart. When I see them, I feel joy.
No matter what was going on outside my closed eyelids, I tried to stay in my visualization. Some days I would hear loud noises above me or the technicians’ voices from the monitor room. Some days the music in the treatment room might be distracting. Or my own thoughts might tug at my attention. If I felt myself being pulled outward, I’d breathe consciously and refocus on the details of my imagery. Eventually, I would hear the proton screen retracting. The treatment was over. No more than five minutes had passed, and only ninety seconds of that was the actual radiation.
Not everyone can conjure their own detailed visualization. I certainly learned to do this as a result of my yoga therapy training. We can help our clients create a personalized visualization to be used at a time that best serves them, with specific details that are relevant to their interests, needs, and comfort level. Maybe they need this tool during a treatment, as I did. Or maybe they want to use it at home to “make a deposit” in their resiliency bank. As we establish a relationship together, we can discern how to ask what the client needs.
I offer the “script” of my visualization below. Feel free to use it as a template to help your clients elicit their unique visualization. You can record yourself instructing it, or have them record their own voice reading it. Most importantly, ensure them that this is one way we can use the brain’s natural abilities to aid our healing and well-being.
Visualization during Radiation Treatment
Take your time with each step to slowly and carefully build your inner scene.
- I consciously take three slow breaths.
- I see myself on a beach. I hear a few birds calling. I smell the salt water. I see the blue sky with puffy white clouds. Wading into the clear, blue water, it feels cool, first on my feet, then my legs, my hips, my trunk, my arms, and neck. I conjure the feeling of being submerged in water right up to my chin.
- Mentally I repeat, cool, cool, cool.
- I imagine several dolphins approaching, gently circling around me. I feel a connection to them as I look into their dark eyes. I hear them speaking their dolphin language. I understand they are saying everything is fine and they’ll take care of me in the water.
- One dolphin swims up next to me so I can take hold of her fin. It feels smooth to the touch. I sense her powerful strength.
- Mentally I repeat, cool, cool, cool.
- We began to accelerate through the water. I trust the dolphins and have no fear. I conjure the feeling of bobbing up and down as we speed through the cool, splashing water.
- Mentally I repeat, cool, cool, cool.
- When I hear the proton screen retracting, I swim with the dolphins back near the beach. I stay submerged in the water for another moment, letting it cool and heal my skin and all the tissues beneath the skin. I thank the dolphins for our journey before opening my eyes.
- I am clear about where I am, what is happening, and how I’ve used my visualization with intention to keep my mind calm and relaxed, and my heart feeling joy during treatment.
Did you enjoy reading Julie’s posts? Do you have questions for her?
Join host Olga Kabel, C-IAYT, on Friday, April 3rd at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT for an honest, practical conversation with Julie Shaw, C-IAYT — yoga therapist and author of Hello, Nausea. How Are You Today? How Yoga Helped Me Through Cancer. Julie will share what she learned from navigating cancer treatment firsthand, and how yoga can meet you exactly where you are.
This event is free and open to all Sequence Wiz blog readers.
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When certified yoga therapist Julie Shaw was diagnosed with breast cancer, she leaned into what she had relied on for more than three decades: her yoga practice. In her new book, Hello, Nausea. How Are You Today? How Yoga Helped Me Through Cancer, Julie shares a candid, compassionate, and often humorous account of her cancer journey, offering accessible yoga-based practices designed to support readers through treatment and recovery.
With over 35 years of yoga experience and certification as a Viniyoga Therapist, Julie brings both credibility and relatability to the page. She is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and a lead faculty of the American Viniyoga Institute’s® accredited yoga therapy training program.
Sequence Wiz readers gets a special $10 off discount on Julie’s book! (regularly $35, with discount $25)
[i] Diane Serra, et al., “Outcomes of guided imagery in patients receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer,” Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2012 Dec; 16(6):617-23. doi: 10.1188/12.CJON.617-623.
[ii] Cortland J. Dahl et al., “The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2020, 117 (51) 32197-32206, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014859117.
[iii] Loren Toussaint et al., “Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Deep Breathing, and Guided Imagery in Promoting Psychological and Physiological States of Relaxation,” Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jul 2;2021:5924040. doi: 10.1155/2021/5924040.
[iv] Richard Davison et al., “Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation,” Psychosomatic Medicine 65(4):p 564-70, July 2003, DOI: 10.1097/01.PSY.0000077505.67574.E3.
[v] Doidge, Norman, MD. 2016, The Brain’s Way of Healing, Penguin Life, New York.
