Q. You are the author of some well known books in Scandinavia and worldwide, especially the book ‘The Self-Healing Human’.
What inspired you to write this book?
A. I wanted to shift the focus from disease and to our natural self-healing capacity. No one but Dr Andrew Weil spoke of self-healing back then (1997-98) and it was time to get that into peoples consciousness. With the first book I wanted to summarize what I had learnt from 12 years of advanced biomedical research and 6 years of studying the field of self-healing and psychoneuroimmunology (holistic health).
My goal was and is to take healing to a whole new level. We have just started to enter this emerging field – about our self-healing powers and all that we can do to strengthen them.
We seem to have forgotten our true nature and need to remember this in order for healing to take place.
At the same time, science is gathering a body of knowledge that supports this thinking. It is very exciting to be able to share this with lots of people (as “The Self-healing Human” has sold a quarter of a million copies).
Q. At what point in your life did wellbeing and the concept of The Self- Healing Human become part of your life?
A. I always had an interest for health, wellbeing and psychology, and was cautious about diet, exercise and feeling well since my late teens. But my interest started to flourish when I went to California in 1989 to do postdoctoral research. I went to the library and could spend hours reading about the new and emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology. It was so exciting! I wanted to know what makes some people survive and heal from difficult life challenges or diseases. I got tired of the disease-oriented research I had been doing, and wanted to switch to something more fulfilling and positive.
After I hit “the wall” in 1993 I committed myself to healing and learning as much as I possibly could about self-healing. I want to really understand the concept of it. The truth is that I have always been a self-healing person myself, who never took pills but rather choose to face difficulties and solve whatever problem came along. I always believed in the positive powers of humans! We can do so much more than we think.
Q. The title the ‘The Self-Healing Human’? How can we go about healing ourselves?
A. The most important issues for healing and creating a great and strong health is strengthening your self-healing capacity, change your lifestyle and create bio-balance in your life.
Lifestyle is crucial. Depending on which doctor or scientist you talk to, 70 to 98 percent of degenerative diseases can be healed and prevented by lifestyle changes. Harvard School of Public Health estimates that 65 percent of deaths caused by cancer could have been prevented by a change in lifestyle. Examples of substances that burden the body and cause it to break down in the long run are sugar, caffeine, cigarettes, and too much chemically processed fat. But it is not only what you eat but also what you inhale and absorb through your skin that affects your body's processes. Thoughts and emotions are also different forms of energy influencing the body's metabolism. Heavy negative thoughts will make everything move slowly, while happy, optimistic thoughts will make you feel so cheerful that everything seems quicker and easier to do.

Q. How does a Self-Healing methodology fit in with conventional medicine?
A. It is supported by the latest research findings and medical studies. The medical community are starting to recognize that we each have a great impact on our health. Our lifestyle – diet, supplements, stress, light, exercise, relations, and emotions – influences our genes and thus which genes are expressed. For example it has been shown repeatedly that healthy whole foods supports the self-healing, which enhances cleansing and reparation of the body. Junk food, on the other hand, activates junk genes leading to inflammation, degeneration and premature aging. These are radical new scientific findings that open for a new view on our healing capacity. This is well understood in integrative medicine, which is the new emerging and rapidly growing field that integrates conventional school medicine with complementary medicine. This is the future.
Q.How do you classify your books? For example are they self help guides, or philosophy manuals?
A. They introduce a new health philosophy that gives people the tools necessary to shift their lives into healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. So in a sense they are both of the above.
We have been trained to focus on the negative – or the disease and the pathogen – instead of on our remarkable, inherent healing powers. My books bring about a mind shift as people realize they have enormous untapped potential for self-healing. The “Self-Healing Human”-philosophy gives us the tools to harness and strengthen this power. It provides a new awareness of health with a unique comprehensive view that deals with subjects ranging from the energy level through micro-nutrients, and discussing food, the mind, exercise, emotions, spirituality, and detoxification.

Q. What lifestyle content do you cover in your lectures?
A. By choosing our lifestyle we can choose good health. This means we have enormous control over our own health. Self-healing is a basic phenomenon accessible to everyone, but we need the knowledge that will give us power over our bodies and health. Only we can heal ourselves.
In my lectures I teach about the food, exercise, relationships and emotional intelligence, meditation and spiritual practice. Our lifestyle is defined by factors such as what we eat; how we live, exercise, and manage stress; and our close relationships with other people. These are all factors that reinforce health and that we can influence.
Q. In what way does your own daily life consist of a healthy living?
A. I just live and breath a healthy lifestyle that works well for me. I enjoy my life very much and have great relationships with wonderful people. Sometimes life gets difficult and challenging, and I try to be conscious and meet each challenge so that I can use it to grow. There is so much to learn in life.
Living well is a daily practice and for me it starts with a short work out and qi gong each morning and a half-hour meditation in the afternoon. I care a lot about what I eat and it is mostly organic and freshly prepared or cooked. I exercise several times a week and make sure that I laugh and have fun every day!
Q. How important are your surroundings to your health?
Living in the countryside would seem healthier than living in a city but does that mean city dwellers can’t maintain a healthy lifestyle?
A. Numerous research studies have shown the importance of nature on health and healing. Some people need it more than others and I love nature. Being outdoors is also great for exercising. I have chosen to live by the sea half an hour from the centre of Stockholm, Sweden, and look out on the water and sailboats as I write. In the winter time I go to a public green house with a wonderful botanical garden so I can get the energizing experience of live green plants. Or I travel to warm countries to get the sun and fresh vegetables.
Spending time in nature is very important for maintaining a good health so I encourage people to do that no matter where they live. If you are stuck in the city for a while buy some green plants and beautiful flowers for your home or office to pamper your senses and spirit!
Q. This website is dedicated to complementary therapies. What complementary therapies make up part of your daily life?
A. Besides taking supplements of herbs and nutrients, I take massage treatments regularly and go to excellent energy medicine therapists. They help me stay balanced in my life. Usually I stay very well and happy from just my healthy life style. But I took a lot of treatments to heal myself from the “hit the wall” experience 13 years ago. I have tried everything I write about in my books, and it was both interesting and fun to do that kind of research!
Q. Do you believe in intuition?
A. Yes, and I use it on a daily basis. It is one of the top things I tell people at lectures or in interviews: to listen to your inner voice and respect yourself. If you are true to yourself you get stronger, happier and more at peace!

Q. Do you think that humour and wellbeing are related and, if so, in what way?
A. True joy opens us to positive energy, drives away our fears and woes, and aids healing. It is impossible to be happy and afraid at one and the same time. Joy is accompanied by positive emotions that boost energy levels and stimulate immunity. This has been shown in studies. It improves our thought processes and enhances our intuitive skills, making it easier for us to make the right decisions. Humour, which also has a protective and beneficial effect on health, works the same way. A sense of humour makes it easier to accept that you cannot control everything.
Q. How do you define the word ‘stress’ and what do you recommend to prevent stress?
A. “Stress is the body’s non-specific response to any demand placed on it,” as defined by Dr.Hans Selye, a pioneer in stress research. Stress is the body’s adaption to pressure from outside or within. The society we have created is a mirror image of our altered inner bio-balance, and internal stress causes external stress. Factors as diverse as personal conflicts, pollution, strong magnetic fields or lack of nutrients and inflammation (from over-consumption of unhealthy foods) causes stress. Severe or long-time stress blocks the nerve connections throughout the body, interrupting the flow of information. It may seem as though you are “trapped” in your emotions, or that these emotions are unhealed – fear, sorrow, anger, frustration, and bitterness. Take a deep breath, step to the side and observe what is happening within you. By paying attention to what is going on, rather than escaping or acting out, a lot of the disharmonic emotions will dissolve.
Stress is best handled by living consciously with a healthy lifestyle, simplifying your life to avoid unnecessary stress and creating bio-balance. The latter is done by eating lots of vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts, eating healthy fats such as omega 3-fish oil and olive oil, having good sleep, staying warm, taking massage and doing moderate exercise. Avoid sugar, transfatty acids, deep fried food, junk food, and cut down on all fast carbohydrates.
Also meditation and breathing exercises are excellent for preventing or curing stress.
Q. How does an individual recognise stress in themselves?
A. You notice it as your whole body starts to tense up and the breathing becomes shallow or light. As soon as you start sensing this catch yourself and make a break. Focus on your breathing and breath slowly and deep with the abdomen. Try to be totally present and tell yourself that this is Ok and that you can handle it well.
The best prevention of stress is to avoid going into the stress spiral as recovering costs a lot of energy for the body.
Q. Does light affect our mood and how important is light and the sunlight for wellbeing?
A. Light itself is nourishment. Too much artificial lighting and too little natural light affects the entire body, including our hormones and biocycles. Production of the sleep hormone melatonin in the pineal gland is controlled by light and dark. When there is too little light, as during winters in the northern regions, the pineal gland doesn't shut down production of melatonin in the morning. People become depressed more easily, and develop listlessness and either decreased appetite or weight gain as a result.
Daylight is also needed to produce vitamin D, which is necessary for normal metabolism of calcium and phosphorous in the body. Vitamin D3 is formed in the skin by the action of ultraviolet light (photolysis) and is transformed in the liver and kidneys into vitamin D. Lack of this vitamin has been shown to be a factor in sad moods or depression.
Q. Is strenuous exercise an integral part of a healthy lifestyle or is general activity and mental stimulation enough?
A. People have different needs for exercise so find out what works well for you. Indeed we need to exercise our energy to maintain it at a high level. It can be running, swimming, the gym, aerobic classes, walking, dancing or biking. Do exercise that makes you happy and gives you a mental stimulation as well! Tai chi, yoga, and qigong are examples of good ways of raising energy levels and increasing contact between body and soul.
Q. From your book “The Self Healing Human” you write about breathing practices. Is it possible that we can perform something so natural incorrectly?
A. We hold our breath from tension, or release sighs of pleasure. When frazzled or frightened, we commonly take rapid shallow breaths – or even stop breathing altogether. It is impossible to be stressed out and at the same time breathe calmly. Breathing tells the story of our true feelings, and we can also consciously control how we feel through our breathing (like I described in a previous answer).

Q. Do colours around us play part in how we feel and can it influence our decisions? Can you give examples?
A. Colours have a major effect on the mind. Cerebral cells also respond quickly to light, resulting in reprogramming of the brain, which initiates various processes in the body. Blue is calming, red is alerting, green is healing and yellow inspires creativity.
This is best demonstrated with monochromatic light (a single, pure colour from a low-intensity laser), where people can experience a broad range of healing effects after just one treatment. This form of colour therapy is effective for worry, anxiety, insomnia, as well as with more non-specific problems such as extreme fatigue and depression. It has even helped people with migraine headaches, asthma, and ulcers, and after a few sessions patients with rheumatism.
What happens is that the light's energy (photons) is absorbed by the mineral silicon in the tissues or cytochromes (a type of molecules) in the mitochondria, causing them to produce energy. This stimulates the cells to increased oxygen consumption, greater energy conversion, and higher enzyme activity. In other words, we humans can convert the energy of light into biochemical energy!
Q. Is holistic living something you can be practice alone, even when you are part of a family group, or does the family group need to adopt the principles in order to create a lifestyle change?
A. Just start practicing it and eventually people will follow, or they will walk another way (or away). It is not a good idea to tell other people what to do. If they experience that you are feeling and doing great from your new lifestyle, they might want to try it. That is always the best because any true change always comes from within.

Q. Is food an important ingredient in happiness?
A. Yes, very much so as you can boost your mind and happiness by eating nutritious, well-tasting food. The chemistry of the brain is affected after each meal. Food works as a drug, influencing both our mood and our physiology. It is directly connected to hormonal production. For example, researchers at MIT have shown that the slow carbohydrates in whole-grain products stimulate production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that creates a sense of well-being and inner peace, and improves concentration and sleep. A deficiency of essential omega 3-fatty acids or B-vitamins can cause depression. Magnesium deficiency lowers the irritation threshold and people tend to worry about things more easily.
Q. What foods are particularly beneficial for wellbeing?
A. Whole foods, slow carbohydrates, nutrient dense foods, and the good fats found in nuts, grains and grass-feed, free-ranging animal or wild game (omega 3-fatty acids, virgin olive oil, butter and cold pressed coconut oil).
Q. You have written a book with recipes and food advice. Do you have a favourite recipe that you use?
A. I like fresh, tasty foods such as stir-fried vegetables, salads and fresh wild salmon or turkey. Usually I cook with spices and herbs. Another favourite is to slowly fry bananas with chopped almonds and cardamom, and serve them with roasted whole oats and some whipping cream!

Q. For many people life revolves around their work and as more of us work longer hours and are becoming more stressed. What initial advice would you give to someone that wants to break this focus?
A. Start by looking at where and by what you fill up your energy. If most of your time is spent giving out your energy and little time spent on filling up or boosting your energy, that calculation is only going one way - disease, depression and/or burnout.
Check out the possibilities you have to have more fun in what you do, take breaks and have space for filling up your energy in meaningful ways.
Q. Headaches and Migraines. Is there a holistic view on combating re-occurring headaches and migraines that actually works?
A. Headaches tell you that something in your lifestyle is not working well for you. Pay attention to it so that it can be resolved. Don’t take pills because that leads nowhere. Ignoring these signals or suppressing them with drugs is the same as ignoring a red warning light on the instrument panel of a car. The cause could be lack of sleep, to much pressure, feeling unhappy about yourself or your life, or what you eat.
Most migraines and headaches are really food intolerances. I used to have headaches and migraines quite often but as I changed my diet that disappeared. Pay attention to what you eat and how that affects you. For example, oaked wine gives me headache but wine stored in steelbarrels is absolutely no problem. Bread and cheese makes me swollen in my face and around my eyes, as well as it irritates my intestines. So I avoid what is not good for my body and eat all the other good foods.
Q. Obesity is a becoming a major medical problem. Is overeating and eating the wrong foods the real reason obesity is becoming so prevalent now?
A. Obesity is just a sign of the bio-imbalance today. It is caused by the governmental recommendations for a high carbohydrate-low fat diet. This has really cheated people as it caused the opposite: an epidemic outbreak of obesity and diabetes. This diet sets the insulin-regulatory mechanism out of order, and obesity is really a low-grade inflammation. Eating junk food and drinking sodas, as well as a diet high in sugar, wheat and trans fatty acids have caused this. Today even six year olds have metabolic syndrome in Sweden.
When you give the body the completely wrong kind of information it forgets what “healthy” is, but you can awaken that inner healing knowing by starting to eat healthy again.
Also, many people today are sugar-addicts. Sweets bring temporary emotional satisfaction, but they really only lead to renewed craving for more. Blood sugar levels rise faster but they also drop faster, and the end result is sensitivity to low blood sugar – hypoglycemia. Since sugar is such a strong and common drug in our society, we are constantly satisfying the craving created by the addictive brain. Increased awareness about this and healthy eating is the only cure for this. People who are sugar-sensitive do really well on a high-fat diet, and they actually lose a lot of weight while eating a high-fat diet and avoiding the carbs.

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Many Thanks Sanna for taking part in this interview. You are a great inspiration!

Web Interview May 2006