When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I was shocked. On the surface, I lived a healthy lifestyle—healthier than most. I was vegan (not necessarily a healthy one- ate processed “vegan” food), exercised regularly, used clean beauty and household products, and avoided many known toxins. And yet, cancer found me.
At the time, I was living in Los Angeles, a city saturated with environmental stressors: air pollution, constant electromagnetic exposure, and fast-paced urban life. My cell phone stayed by my side even while I slept. I was running a business, making beauty products by hand, maintaining a home, and enduring a marriage that had become mentally and emotionally draining.
Looking back, I now believe the real root of my illness wasn’t just environmental or dietary. It was emotional. I was under chronic stress. And I was emotionally depleted.
The Science: Emotional Trauma and Cancer
Scientific research is beginning to support what many cancer thrivers and holistic healers have long suspected: chronic emotional trauma can contribute to physical disease, including cancer. While emotional trauma doesn’t cause cancer in isolation, it’s increasingly seen as a key co-factor in the complex web of disease development.
What the research shows:
- Stress and Immune Suppression: Chronic stress suppresses the immune system. A compromised immune system is less capable of detecting and eliminating abnormal cells.
- Cortisol Overload: Long-term emotional distress keeps the body in a state of fight-or-flight, leading to sustained cortisol production, inflammation, and hormone disruption—all of which can contribute to cancer development.
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Studies, such as those from the CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study, show that individuals with higher levels of early trauma are more likely to develop chronic diseases, including cancer, later in life.
- Psychoneuroimmunology: This field examines the relationship between the brain, behavior, and immune function. It supports the idea that our emotional and mental state directly impacts our biology.
The Common Thread in Cancer Stories
Through my involvement with the Annie Appleseed Project, where I connect with others walking the cancer path, I’ve noticed something profound: regardless of diet, lifestyle, or background, so many of us share a history of emotional pain.
That’s why I often ask people: “What is the trauma?” Because unless we address that root, healing remains incomplete. You can change your diet, take supplements, detox, and try every integrative treatment available—but if the emotional wound is still festering, true healing struggles to take hold.
My Breakthrough: Discovering The Emotion Code
One of the most transformational tools in my healing journey has been The Emotion Code. Unlike traditional talk therapy or even energy work like Reiki, The Emotion Code gave me a way to release trapped emotions permanently—some of which I didn’t even know I was carrying, and some I had inherited from family.
Using muscle testing to access the subconscious, this modality helped me uncover and clear layers of emotional baggage that had silently been weighing me down. It’s not woo—it’s work. Deep, intuitive, scientifically-informed work that complements physical healing with emotional liberation.
What I Want Others to Know
Healing from cancer—or any major illness—is not just about the body. It’s also about the heart, the mind, and the spirit. In our culture, we tend to separate these aspects, but our biology doesn’t.
If you’re going through a cancer diagnosis or caring for someone who is, ask this:
What unspoken pain might be living in the body?
What emotional truths have yet to be acknowledged?
What healing has been deferred?
You don’t have to carry it all. And you don’t have to do it alone.
Final Thoughts
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to healing. We each walk a unique path. But if you’ve been doing “all the right things” and still struggling, I invite you to look deeper. You might find, as I did, that the key to healing lies not in another diet or detox, but in the emotional story your body has been waiting for you to hear.
