CRI听力:Meditation Helps Cancer Patients Appreciate Life

More than 100,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australia every year.

At a meditation group in Brisbane, people affected by the disease are learning meditation techniques to help deal with it.

The WHO's figures in 2008 estimate that cancer accounts for 7.6 million deaths worldwide each year.

When faced with a diagnosis, the future for many patients and their families can be unclear.

This group of cancer sufferers and survivors in Brisbane are learning to manage their anxiety and live in the moment.

A new programme run by the Australian advisory body, The Cancer Council, is teaching the power of meditation.

Participants are encouraged to put the distress of cancer aside, and awaken a new outlook on life.

One cancer sufferer says that through regular practice he's come to enjoy meditation. Another regular participant in the group is Jasmine Cannon. She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2005.

Now in remission, she has learned to stop striving to keep up with contemporary life. Jasmine says the sessions encourage her to value the small things.

"In a way it's an urban dweller's way of smelling the roses because it teaches you to simply be. It simply makes you aware of your environment in a way that stops you worrying about the future, stops you dwelling on the past. Allows you to just make the most of what's right in front of you now."

A recent Australian trial of men with advanced prostate cancer found those who took part in meditation were less depressed, less worried about the cancer recurring, and enjoyed a better quality of life.

Samantha Clutton is a spokesperson for Cancer Council. She says the program is open to both cancer patients and their loved ones.

"It's designed for anyone with any type of cancer at any stage after their diagnosis, including partners of people who've had cancer."

Nobody claims that meditation is a cure for the disease, but it does give those affected by cancer another way of dealing with it, and helps improve their quality of life.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.