Our Story

Healing Cancer with Your Mind

Our Story

The little boy in the video is my son, Micah. Other than being father and son, we have a common experience. We both are cancer survivors – Micah for 39 years and me for almost 20 years and we both used the 7 Strategies to thrive and succeed in our healing. Micah is now 47 and never had a recurrence.

Now, you too, can learn to use the seven principles of mindfulness in the newly released book, Healing Cancer with Your Mind. If you or anyone you know has cancer the Seven Principles of Mindfulness in Healing can guide your way home through diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

We are offering this book for one major reason and your participation will go a long way to helping us meet our goal. Our primary objective is to touch the lives of the many thousands of people facing a cancer diagnosis each day as well as their families, caretakers and friends by sending them free copies of Healing Cancer with Your Mind.

For each book that you purchase, we will send a free printed copy to another person of your choice. In addition, we will use the proceeds to send free copies of Healing Cancer with Your Mind to oncology and radiology doctors, cancer research institutions, medical schools, complementary providers, hospitals and the like around the world for them to share with their patients.

Your purchase may lead you to become and advocate for healthcare and take charge of your healing experience. This is the first strategy. Dr. Kelly Turner, PhD has shown that taking control of your own healthcare is one of the nine factors for Radical Remission1.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the more than 138,000 people who will receive a cancer diagnosis during the next thirty days in the US alone.

This book is also dedicated to our wonderful teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh who is receiving rehabilitation treatment a the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. We pray for his complete response and have committed 15% of the proceeds to his medical expenses here in the US.


1See Kelly Turner, PhD, Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds, HarperCollins, 2014, discussed here.

Why I Wrote the Book

Healing Cancer with Your Mind

Why I Wrote the Book

I wrote Healing Cancer with Your Mind in order to inspire you to be the boss of your medical treatment and to share with you how and why you should do it.

The 7 Strategies to Help YOU Survive have been formulated over the past 40 years – ever since Micah had cancer. Up until now, they have been implicit in everything I did for my son and for myself. When I first was diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer in 1997 and then again at the end 2013, I immediately applied these strategies and now I am cancer free with all my body parts!

At the beginning of 2012, I began making these strategies explicit so that I could share them with you in the form of a book.

Becoming an advocate for your own healthcare is your first stop on your path to well-being. Once you adopt this strategy, a daily meditation practice provides you with the foundation to recognize and know what is going on in your body, your feelings, your thoughts and your mind. With just nine minutes a day, you can learn to calm your mind and make appropriate choices for your medical care.

The 7 Strategies to Help YOU Survive

7 principles v3BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE: Take a stand and be in control of your healing experience. Don’t just roll over and let the medical establishment run over you.

INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVES: There is a magical world of alternative therapies that will further your healing and give you a sense of well-being on your journey to wellness.

MAKE HEALTH-PROMOTING LIFESTYLE CHANGES: These will include your opting for healthy dietary choices and energizing exercises.

PRACTICE DAILY MEDITATION: Tune into yourself to discover your body sensations, thoughts, and feelings.

CREATE YOUR OWN MEDICAL TEAM: Look for experts who know both Eastern and Western methods so that you can get the widest range of medical support.

REACH OUT TO OTHERS: Ask your family and friends for support and join a support group to share your healing challenges and experiences.

GIVE BACK: When you are ready, you will find joy and meaning in helping other people and giving back to your community.

What People are Saying

Healing Cancer with Your Mind

What People are Saying

This just came in from Anna Halprin:

I am a cancer survivor, so what I have to share comes from personal experience. Cancer is like enlightenment at gunpoint. One must face it and do something. The 7 Strategies that Jerome Freedman has so clearly outlined (see page 129) provides us with realistic and practical modalities that give us strength to face the challenges of cancer and hope to survive. This is a must read book for anyone facing cancer or their caretaker.

Anna Halprin, Ph. D is a pioneer in the field of dance as a healing art and has been teaching and performing with people with cancer, AIDS, and other life threatening illnesses for the past 30 years. She is cofounder of the Tamalpa Institute in Kentfield, California and the founder of the San Francisco Dancers’ Workshop. Her numerous awards include the prestigious American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement in Modern Dance. She teaches in her Mountain Home Studio in Kentfield, California and tours the USA and abroad. She is the author of “Moving Toward Life”, “Movement Ritual”, and “Returning to Health with Dance Movement and Imagery”.

Kelly Turner“Dr. Freedman speaks from experience, both as a cancer survivor himself, and the father of a Radical Remission cancer survivor. His book, “Healing Cancer with Your Mind” gives readers a nurturing, helping hand throughout the entire cancer journey, especially with regard to developing a meditation practice.”

-Kelly Turner, PhD, Author of the NYTimes Bestseller “Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds”

“Jerome is not a medical doctor, but a doctor of computer science – he’s a very smart man. He’s also an ordained practitioner in a Buddhist tradition and a compassionate listener and observer of the human condition. He has helped many friends and acquaintances navigate their way through cancer diagnosis, treatment, and often, recovery.”

Martin Rossman, MD, from the foreword, author of The Worry Solution and Fighting Cancer from Within

“Healing Cancer with Your Mind” is a valuable guide to navigating the complex terrain of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Blending his direct experience with cancer and a deep practice in mindfulness and guided imagery, Dr. Jerome Freedman offers a unique and valuable perspective with mindful healing approaches.

-Leslie Davenport, Author of Healing and Transformation Through Self Guided Imagery

I am a 19 year parotid gland cancer survivor, a type of cancer that can return at any time. In addition to traditional western medicine protocol, as part of my healing process, I have used many different alternative healing modalities. The approach that Jerome has documented in his book coincide with my experience of surviving cancer. His book is a great resource for anyone facing the trauma and challenges of a serious health crisis.

–Julie Bernard, Homeopath

“Jerome Freedman’s Healing Cancer with Your Mind is a user-friendly approach to make practical (very practical!) specific things that can empower each person to achieve higher levels of health.  These principles are not just logical and rational, they “work” and they just feel “right.”  These principles will not only improve your health, they will improve your life!”

–Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH Author of 10 books, including two that contain a Foreword by the Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, The Homeopathic Revolution, Discovering Homeopathy, and Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (co-authored with Stephen Cummings, MD)

This book is great! Dr.Freedman allows the reader to journey with him as he harnesses the power of mindfulness
to heal himself from Cancer. He also brings the reader along with him as he carefully and  meticulously considers the many options of both alternative and traditional healing approaches. The 7 Strategies  are both “practical” and “spiritual”. Especially the part of having your friends and loved ones being an essential part of your healing journey. Would recommend this book to people going through health challenges, as well as r those who want to obtain a greater insight into the power of mindfulness.

–Henry Dahut, J.D. Author of Henry’s Puzzle – Awakening To Infinity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Healing Cancer with Your Mind

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of cancer did Micah have?

Micah, Age 7

Micah had metastatic Wilm’s tumor – a cancer of the kidney. By the time it was diagnosed, his cancer had metastasized to his lungs. Micah has been cancer free since 1977.

When I took him to see his surgeon at age eleven years, the doctor said, “You are Micah Freedman’s parents? How wonderful! He made medical history. We did not think he would survive.”

What kind of cancer did Jerome have?

Jerome had muscle invasive bladder cancer in 1997 and again at the end of 2013. This type of cancer is usually treated with a radical cystectomy, a procedure that replaces the urinary bladder with a false one as well as removes the prostate and selected lymph nodes.

What is mindfulness?

According to Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the University of Massachusetts,

Mindfulness means
paying attention in a particular way;
on purpose,
in the present moment, and
nonjudgmentally
as if your life depended on it.

You can learn much more about mindfulness on Meditation Practices and / or join our Mindfulness in Healing meditation group at the Pine Street Clinic in San Anselmo, California on Wednesday nights from 7:00-8:30 PM.

What is meditation?

Meditation is the practice of sitting or lying down quietly and watching how your body and mind go through various changes. In Healing Cancer with Your Mind, you will learn many forms meditation such as mindfulness meditation, sound meditation, mantra meditation and many others. The chapter on meditation is the longest one in the book.

What is 9 Minute Meditation?

Researchers have found that nine minutes of meditation a day may be adequate for you to receive the wonderful benefits of meditation without going to the mountains. 9 Minute Meditation is an online course that consists of more than twelve different meditation practices for you to discover the best one that works for you.

What is a guided meditation?

A guided meditation is a process to bring you into a calm and relaxed state by listening to a mentor or recording designed to bring about the relaxation response in you. Click here for a list of guided meditation that you can purchase and enjoy.

How Can I Help?

Your help is needed in many ways. Which ones of these most appeal to you?

  1. Order the book.
  2. Share this link with friends, family, business associates, and your social media contacts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn and anywhere else you can think of.
  3. Send us the names and contact information for patients and caretakers who would benefit from receiving a free copy of Healing Cancer with Your Mind.
  4. Send us the names and contact information of organizations that would be interested in distributing copies, whether free or for purchase.
  5. Write a review, recommendation or comment that may be included on this page.
  6. Anything else that you can think of to help make this campaign go viral.

Thanks for your help!

Do you have more questions?

You are invited to send in any questions you have about anything in this campaign, mindfulness, or healing. Please use the contact link at the top of this page under the video.

Recent Accomplishments

Healing Cancer with Your Mind

Recent Accomplishments

Many good things have happened since our efforts to give away free printed copies of Healing Cancer with Your Mind began. In addition to the wonderful endorsements we have received, three events are worth noting.

Evening of Mindfulness in Santa Monica – September 24, 2015

The evening of mindfulness took place in the oldest building in Santa Monica – The Rapp Saloon on Second Street. The heterogeneous group of people ranging in age from 22 to 74 included three African Americans, a former Playboy Playmate, a kick boxer, a model, an attorney and a naturopath.

After the invocation and a brief introduction, we did the first guided meditation practice. This was followed by a lengthy sharing of feelings, thoughts and ideas. Then it was time for the second guided meditation practice, which was also followed by an even more lively discussion and sharing.

It seemed like the whole group gelled and we moved into the zone together. Before we knew, the evening was over and we had to vacate the premises, but the discussion continued outside.

We were all very nourished by the evening of mindfulness and we are looking forward to the next one.

I Am With YouTalk at Book Passage – August 22, 2015

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen was invited to speak at Book Passage on I Am With You: Love Letters to Cancer Patients. Dr. Remen is one of the 46 authors of I Am With You. I am one of the authors of the book and had a chance to speak about my cancer story. After Rachel completed her remarks, there was a question and answer period in which I spoke about gratitude as a practice.

Talk at Harbor Point – August 20, 2015

The talk at the Club at Harbor Point was a magnificent success. More than 50 people showed up and all were engaged not only in the talk but in the question and answer session at the end. I was delighted to show the video of Micah when he had cancer and then introduce him to those present. This received a warm applause and set the stage for a wonderful gathering. Read more about this event