‘The Art of Living and Healing’ Bernie Siegel on the immune-boosting power of the mind

Dr. Bernie Siegel, M.D., a retired surgeon and the famed author of several books on the relationship between the patient and the healing process, will speak at the Whole Health Expo in Northampton in April. Siegel, author of the bestselling “Peace, Love, and Healing” and “Love, Medicine & Miracles,” agreed to answer a few questions in advance of his appearance.

MH: What will your talk at the Whole Health Expo be about?

Bernie Siegel: It will focus on reflections on the art of living and healing and seeing the truth when we still our minds and lives. I will also talk about self-induced healing, self love, parenting, survival behavior, how to survive the medical system and more about life and living.

MH: Your books have focused on the powerful role that the mind can play in fighting illness, even in the case of life-threatening diseases, such as cancer. How can people, both well and ill, marshal the immune-boosting powers of their own minds?

Bernie Siegel: Living your authentic life and loving your life and body gives your body a “live” message. On Monday morning, we have more heart attacks, strokes, illnesses and suicides than any other day of the week. So, why don’t we cancel Monday and improve the health of our country? What we need to do is change people’s attitudes about life. We create our thoughts and thus our body chemistry and since death makes you perfect again the body uses it to solve problems.

MH: Is the mainstream medical community finally coming around to acknowledging the benefits of alternative therapies and homeopathic treatments in treating illness and promoting wellness?

Bernie Siegel: We need to open medical education to encompass alternative therapies and learn from experience and not beliefs. Medicine is still decades behind where it should be and some of this is due to the system and role of drug companies.

MH: You wrote in one of your articles that “almost every unloved child becomes self-destructive and diseased by mid-life, but not so those who felt loved by their parents.” What can such a person do in adulthood to counteract that lack of love and ensure a healthier life? Are you saying that we as individuals are responsible for the diseases we develop?

Bernie Siegel: Yes, we have a responsibility. This is not blaming but empowering us to see we can make a difference. We can all re-parent each other by loving each other, not liking but loving, and helping people to develop self-esteem and then do what is good for them. People need inspiration, not information.

MH: What in your view are the most important factors in preserving one’s health and living a happy, healthy, balanced life? in other words, what do we need to be doing and how do we do it?

Bernie Siegel: Love yourself and others and have relationships and connections that give your life meaning so you do not live a role. It is why women with the same cancers as men live longer. But if you are ‘just a momma’ what happens when the kids leave home?

MH: If you could give just one piece of advice to someone who just received a diagnosis of a terminal illness, say a stage IV cancer, what would that be?

Bernie Siegel: You are not a statistic and you can work at achieving your potential and outliving expectations.

MH: If you could give one piece of advice to someone who has not yet faced a major illness in life, what would that be?

Bernie Siegel: Accept your mortality and let your heart make up your mind when you have decisions to make so you enjoy your life’s time.

MH: You also wrote that “we all need to understand that loss is inevitable and learn to use it as a beginning . . . death is not a failure.” Why do Americans tend to view death this way and what can we do to alter that perception?

Bernie Siegel: We need to stop using words like “lost battle and failed” when someone dies. Death is inevitable and you are not a loser if you die. The key is to experience life and live. Go see the movie “Harold and Maude” and you’ll get the message.
— SANDRA DIAS