Wayne Dyer's Leukemia Healing Journey

“The Leukemia is the body’s way of healing. I think we have to live in harmony with it (cancer) and not be so terrified of it and not be trying to kill it.” Wayne Dyer’s cancer journey has taken him from initial disbelief to a place of acceptance and love and, more importantly, at 71 he is living with cancer and feeling better than ever. Over two years ago Wayne Dyer, author, speaker and spiritual guru was told he had cancer. He told me in a phone interview about his initial disbelief. “My first reaction was, you better check again because I don’t do Leukemia.” He has CLL - Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. This type of cancer is not life threatening in the early stages; however, there is no cure. The standard care is a ‘watch and wait’ approach. Dr. Dyer’s initial reaction is quite understandable, as he is not a likely candidate for cancer. He exercises for at least two hours a day (including yoga, hiking, swimming in the ocean and walking), meditates every day, watches what he eats and over the years has been reaching ever-higher levels of consciousness. So how is it that he developed cancer? My own feeling is that at least part of the reason he got cancer is to help the world establish new ways of viewing and healing from cancer. After the initial surprise, Dr. Dyer said that within a day he was treating it like every other setback in his life. He believes that every big spiritual advance in life is preceded by some kind of fall or struggle. The low moments provide us with the energy and perspective to propel us to a higher place. It is this fundamental belief that helped him move quickly to a state of acceptance, free from any anger, or questioning - ‘why is this happening to me?’. Dr. Dyer says that he never uses words like fight or attack or win when it comes to cancer because he believes that everything we fight weakens us and everything we support empowers us. Dr. Dyer has faith that, on some level, cancer is the healing response of the body. In his case, he was told that the healing is related to deep psychological trauma experienced as a result of feeling like he failed in important relationships in his life. He freely admits to experiencing difficult relationships with his mother and father and with his ex-wives. He avoids saying that he attracted his cancer. He instead claims that he was on the same vibrational frequency as his cancer and that these difficult experiences may have influenced that. Fortunately, our energy frequency is constantly changing based on how we think, feel and act. “I am well. I am perfect health.” Having taught the art of manifesting for years he believes that the same principles can be used to help people heal. The underlying premise is to put your attention on what you intend to create and live from there, not at an intellectual level but at the level of feeling. “I am well. I am perfect health” are Dr. Dyer’s two mantras. For him, these are not just words, they are based on a deep-seated belief that the body has perfect wisdom. His advice is to trust and believe in the invisible, infinite healing power of the body. In order to do this, he suggests that we need to change our concept of our self. This means letting go of any inner dialogue like I am depressed, I am weak, I am sick and replacing it with a statement of your desired future state. This statement becomes your personal mantra. However, in order to manifest, you have to bring the feelings of your wishes come true (joy, relief, excitement) into your body and your energy field, regardless of what the numbers or scans say. These feelings help to change your energy or vibrational frequency and subsequently facilitate healing of the physical body. The good news is you don’t have to understand how it works for it to work! After his diagnosis, he said, he slowed down for a while and felt tired. Now he is back on his daily routine of exercise and meditation, except that he has added a new dimension. He claims his cancer journey has awakened his desire to serve, to be more loving and generous. By being of service to others (neighbors, strangers or friends), Dr. Dyer has discovered new-found joy and feelings of abundant energy in his life. Living with cancer for him means living from a place of pure, unconditional love, service and gratitude. This new focus is a big part of what Dr. Dyer feels his cancer has brought him and what he can now share with the world. Pure love is likely his most powerful healing tool and he claims he looks and, more importantly, feels better than he ever has. “We have infinite possibilities and all we have to do is remember that.”