Gawler Foundation Media

Tweed Heads Weekly – September 4

REMARKABLE RECOVERIES from diagnosed terminal illness can be courageous and inspiring, but the most admirable people are often those who maintain balanced and healthy lifestyles · without contracting major health complaints, according to lifestyle consultant Ian Gawler.

The Victorian-based cancer survivor has spent the past three decades travelling the country to teach people how good diet, natural medicine and general’ healthy living can help deal with serious illness such as cancer. They are all lifestyle choices he employed to successfully beat deadly bone cancer 30 years ago, lending extra weight to .the Inner Peace, Outer Health seminar he will present in Tweed Heads on September 8.

“However, the people I really admire are those who are fit and well but appreciate that life is precious and make good choices in dealing with modern life he said! They tend to be quite questioning, take responsibility for their decisions and are committed to their objectives of what is really important in life.”

So while this month’s seminar is linked to his Gawler Foundation’s I cancer self help program – a 12-week course starting in the Tweed on September 16 – Inner Peace, Outer Health was aimed equally at people who were generally healthy and  looking to stay that way. Ian, teacher of meditation and natural medicines, said one of the seminar’s roles was to act as a circuit breaker to get people out of poor lifestyle routines. He said serious illness proved ultimately to be a positive step in many people’s lives because it prompted them to reconsider what was really important and to adopt better lifestyle choices. It extracted them from the spiralling vicious cycle of busy lives spent pursuing the ideal of material wealth.

“It’s clear these days that a lot of people are looking for happiness outside themselves. They believe they will be happy if they have a good job and nice possessions. “They can help, but we all know people who have a lot of material wealth but aren’t happy and other who don’t have much but are very content.”

Ian was working as a vet when he developed bone’: cancer in his left leg in 1975. Conventional thinking at the time meant the leg was swiftly amputated but Ian had to look for other options when the cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, recurred.

“I was told I had a 5% chance of being alive in five years.  I refused to ‘ accept the prognosis and my inquiring vet’s mind led me to explore the therapeutic side of nutrition,” he said.

“Mind-body medicine was in its early days in Australia, so I looked further afield for alternatives. “When I · became well after a couple of years, it was clear the things that helped me were not readily available in Australia, so it became my full-time job.” His recovery led to the creation of the not-for-profit Gawler Foundation.

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My Career – The Age, Saturday 22nd September

DR IAN GAWLER
This doctor might have
battled cancer but he wasn’t
able to stomach lunchtimes at
the abattoir.

MY FIRST JOB was as a “boba-
job” cub aged about 10. I
loved knocking on people’s
doors and being surprised.
There was car washing, digging
in the garden, cleaning up
rubbish, Mostly genuine
kindness, occasional gruffness
but overall a great opportunity
to meet my local
neighbourhood, have fun and
raise some money.

MY WORST JOB was at the
end of first-year veterinary
science studies. I was very
keen on anatomy and thought
if I worked in an abattoir over
the holidays, I could learn more
about it. The fellow I signed on
with had a knife in his left sock
“for protection”. At lunchtime
there was a stampede to the
killing pens so people could eat
their lunch and grab a prime
spot from which to watch the
killing. I was assigned to the
end of a conveyor belt to pack
cans of dog food . I lasted three
days and went to work as a
brickie’s labourer.

EFFIE MANN
Ian Gawler is the founder of
The Gawler Foundation.

www.gawler.org

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Gold Coast Mail September 5th

THERE are plenty of popular myths about cancer. There are those that say you can get it from plastic water bottles or underarm deodorant. Other s say massive doses of vitamin C can drive it away. However, Ian Gawler, one of Australia’s foremost cancer counsellors, says it’s a lot more fundamental than that. “Stop smoking and get your diet sorted out,” he said. “That will reduce your risk by two-thirds.”

Dr Gawler will be at Twin Towns Services Club on Tuesday, September 8, to present a seminar called Inner Peace, Outer Health and to launch a 12week self-help program facilitated by Tweed Heads woman Cathy O’Neill. Ms O’Neill trained with the Gawler Foundation in Victoria.

Dr Gawler, a veterinarian who was 24 when he lost a leg to bone cancer, is a pioneer of the “mind body” response to cancer, involving a healthy diet, exercise and meditation. “It is what you do for yourself,” he said. “To call it alternative medicine is not helpful – it sounds like you have to do one or the other. “But it is compatible with what medicine can do for people.” Dr Gawler said hereditary factors accounted for only 10 percent of cancers, with lifestyle factors – smoking, diet and exercise- responsible for up to 80per cent. “The best way to treat cancer is not to get it in the first place,” he said.

Ms O’Neill was diagnosed with, breast and lymphatic cancer in 2005. Surgery, eight courses of chemotherapy and seven weeks of daily radiotherapy followed before she attended the Gawler Foundation’s live-in retreat. “The body has a natural inherent capacity to heal itself, given the right environment,” Ms O’Neill said. “I learnt how to reawaken my body’s full potential to heal.” The self-help course is based on Dr Gawler ’s book, You Can Conquer Cancer. Ms O’Neill said a group approach worked well for many people, as they could share their progress with other patients. “It is designed to improve quality and quantity of life by empowering people to help themselves,” she said.

The self-help group will run from September 16to December 9. Phone 5523 3206 for more information.

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