Most of us will have been impacted by cancer, whether it was our own cancer diagnosis, or that of a friend or family member, the turmoil it causes for everyone involved is something we shouldn’t sweep under the carpet and just try to soldier on. The emotional memories, tension and stress can get stuck in the body, and Gentle Release Therapy can help that ease. The client doesn’t even need to talk about the issues involved if they don’t want to. As tension and stress gently release physical complaints will often resolve as the energy is able to flow more freely around the body. Two of our Gentle Release Practitioners have recently had some fantastic results supporting those affected by cancer and I thought it would be useful to share their experiences.

Heather Judd is a qualified Gentle Release Therapy Practitioner, whilst she worked on her case studies Heather has been able to support people on their cancer journeys. Here is what Heather has to share.

It is well known that people diagnosed with cancer react to the diagnosis in many different ways, however I believe that even those who appear to have a positive attitude from the outset need strong support on their emotional journey.

When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2016, I felt immediately that this was something that I could handle and that everything would be ok in the end.  In truth, I wasn’t as prepared for the experience as I thought I was. There were long days and nights of sickness and pain and exhaustion that took its toll.

I was lucky enough to have received holistic therapies while undergoing treatment and mine included reflexology and hot pillow massage.  I chose not to have any counselling as I didn’t want to talk through the emotional rollercoaster I was on.  However, I can see that Gentle Release Therapy bridges the gap between a massage and counselling and offers another dimension of therapy that can support people with life threatening issues.  It is a brilliant therapy that allows the body to rebalance itself without requiring the client to explain themselves and talk about things, when they are unable to process their own thought processes.

Working with clients who have had cancer and recovered and those who have had cancer return I have witnessed that Gentle Release Therapy sessions have helped them cope with the enormous pressures that they have to deal with.

There are many stages to a cancer ‘journey, it may start with the initial discovery at home alone when a lump is found or sitting in the Dr’s surgery with a partner when told that cancer has been found.  These moments can trigger emotional imbalances/stresses and blockages within the body that will already be fighting the disease.  It is often difficult to deal with them then and we park them away to sort out later and so the energy blockages start to build up.

It’s not always possible to understand the ’journey’ the client is on even if the therapist has been on a similar journey themselves, but it is important to acknowledge and listen, even to the client’s body language and tone of speech, as the therapist will pick up information from how the client is holding themselves or from the tone of their conversation.

Brain Fog is a common symptom of cancer treatments, best described as a complete inability to cope with anything else as you can’t remember what you’re supposed to be remembering and important things have just disappeared into the ether and at the same time you are trying to process new things and it feels like a long sentence without punctuation and on top of that you are struggling with interrupted sleep, oh and what were you supposed to be picking up from the shops for dinner later? 

From my experience the clients start to develop better sleeping patterns as the blockages start to release, this in turn helps the brain fog to clear and thinking becomes less woolly.  Then as you move further into the treatments the clients cope better with things around them, a particular client was told by her mother how much she had softened since starting with Gentle Release Therapy.  She hadn’t been nasty or horrible in anyway, but she had been short and direct when speaking to people, and she couldn’t tolerate any stupidity from anyone.  Her emotions were less raw, and she was able to have conversations with people who though, might not be on her wavelength, she would no longer get stressed by the conversation.

Kathryn attended the first Virtual Gentle Release Practitioner Training Retreat in February 2021 and had this experience with one of her case studies.

Rachel was diagnosed with breast cancer on 9th September 2020.  Fortunately, she was told it was all very treatable and a lumpectomy was booked in for 20th October, followed by radiotherapy starting in December.  There was no requirement for chemotherapy, the lumpectomy all went well, and Rachel started radiotherapy mid-December. Rachel had expected to feel fine throughout the radiotherapy and was not aware that it would hit her as hard as it did.  She had 15 sessions over 3 weeks and it left her feeling exhausted and struggling to return to work as she had expected to do. When Rachel came to me for Gentle release on 26th February, (7 weeks after radiotherapy had finished), she was still suffering with headaches, a constantly dry mouth with dehydration leading to a sore throat.  She was constantly clenching her jaw and frustrated from feeling so exhausted all of the time. The session given was one hour long and done over zoom. Rachel pretty much fell asleep during the session, at the end of the session Rachel was very relaxed and felt lighter and then on the 4th March sent the message below saying how much had changed.

‘Kathyrn, I have no idea how you did it bit I’ve completely stopped clenching my jaw, my brain fog and awful taste in my mouth has gone and I have more energy. If someone told me you could do that without even speaking or being in the same room as me I wouldn’t believe them.’

You can find a Gentle Release Practitioner here or contact Heather who is based near Doncaster (UK) https://www.heatherjuddholistic.co.uk/ or contact Kathryn who is based in Bedford (UK) https://www.kathryncrooks.co.uk

 If you would like to explore Gentle Release Therapy yourself, find out more about the Online You & Your Family Course here. We also have a closed Facebook Group with some free Guided Gentle Releases which you may find helpful.