A Case for Looking: Bridging the Technical and the Spiritual by Judy Schwimmer

Working for cancer imaging scientists while separately supporting cancer patients with counseling and meditation while they underwent their treatment, the author observed the many clinical benefits of meditation for patients. Noticing that the stabilizing effect of meditation on the patient’s condition was being used for support during periods of conventional cancer treatment, but not in itself being studied scientifically, the author was prompted to write up this “case for looking”. The author takes the reader through a full discussion of observations and ideas to build the case for implementing scientific investigation of the effects of meditation on the body’s cells, as practiced by cancer patients in support of their treatments. This is a must read for anyone who has undergone, or supported someone undergoing, cancer treatment and would like to see medical science move forward in the direction of expanding our understanding of the effects of meditation on the body, to improve the experience of cancer treatment.