In the inaugural issue of Science of Mind magazine, Ernest Holmes included “What We Believe,” a treatise on his new philosophy that listed thirteen premises forming the foundation of Religious Science. The tenth premise reads, “We believe in the healing of the sick through the power of this Mind.” In the days before antibiotics and modern medical technology, this was an important statement that provided hope for people with medical conditions that science had not yet identified a way to cure. However, in the post–World War II period, the teaching of Science of Mind began to de-emphasize the power of the mind to heal the body, deferring to allopathic medicine. In the twenty-first century, however, with drug-resistant strains of bacteria, a growing health-care crisis, and a general backlash against the medical industry, the time has come to learn more about the power of “this Mind” to heal the sick.

My lesson in the mind-body connection started in 1998, when I was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had felt the lump in my neck for months, and after doctors eliminated every other possibility, I finally conceded to a biopsy, which came back positive. Although I did chemotherapy, I also turned to alternative forms of healing, including affirmative prayer. My initial prognosis was dim; my chances of survival were between 20 and 30 percent, and the course of treatment that the oncologist recommended was six months of chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant, and potentially another six months of chemotherapy. I was thirty-three years old, had a three-year-old daughter, and found myself having to learn a new way to think and act in order to survive.

Despite the fear, I knew at some level that I had control over the situation. I had been a student of Science of Mind prior to my diagnosis, and I was very clear that my cancer had a deeper, emotional component. I firmly believed in the mind-body connection, and so understood that the chaotic and unhappy nature of my life had con­tributed to this disease. I did a significant amount of research into mind-body healing, and used spiritual tools in addition to modern medicine.

First I had to discover a new way to think about my body. I had been raised in a traditional Catholic household, one that completely believed in materialism—the idea that every­thing “out there” was more real than thoughts or ideas. In my research, I came across the book Getting Well Again by O. Carl and Stephanie Matthews Simonton. Through their years of work with terminally ill cancer patients, the authors found that meditation and visualization impacted the course of disease, sometimes creating “miraculous” healing with nothing more than guided imagery.

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