Most people can’t believe that Anita Moorjani survived stage-4 cancer by changing only her perception about life, but stories like hers are at the heart of the documentary HEAL, by director/writer/producer Kelly Noonan Gores and producer Adam Schomer.

The film—which has received early acclaim at the Illuminate Film Festival in Sedona and won the Soul in Cinema Award at the Maui Film Festival—explores how our thoughts, beliefs and emotions strongly affect our ability to heal. Viewers follow two high-stakes journeys of healing to witness what works, what doesn’t and why, from stage-4 cancer to chronic and mystery illness.

Throughout the film, experts like Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson and Bruce Lipton lend their perspectives on how our beliefs and emotions have a direct and profound effect on our biochemistry. If we change our perceptions about life, we can change the signals that turn on and off genes, they say.

“In a way, we have more faith in the power of cancer to kill us than we have faith in the power of God, the power of miracles, the power of infinite possibility, the power of any force other than what the eyes can see and the hands can touch to interrupt the power and trajectory of disease,” says Williamson, spiritual teacher and author.

We are all inherently powerful healers

“We are not victims of our genes, we are masters of our genetic activity,” claims stem-cell biologist Lipton. Much of what modern Western medicine does is treat the symptoms without getting to the root cause of the dis-ease, a term that describes the state of stress that exacerbates a physical illness.

“Western medicine definitely has its time and place; for example, Western medicine is great for trauma,” Dr. Joe Dispenza, a chiropractor with extensive knowledge in brain chemistry and biology, states. “But when it comes to disease, most diseases are caused by stress-related conditions, and as we know, when our body experiences stress for extended periods of time, it moves out of homeostasis— the ideal state of internal balance and equilibrium. As the body moves out of equilibrium for long enough, it creates a cascade of negative effects.”

HEAL tells the story of how we can collectively shift that paradigm, and individually take control of our own health. The film teaches us how to also use natural and alternative methods to activate the innate and powerful healer within.

It’s not just positive thinking

“Well everyone seems to be aware of the placebo effect, the results of positive thinking. The important question is this: What is the consequence of negative thinking? While a placebo—positive thinking—can cure you of anything, A nocebo, negative belief, can actually cause any illness and can cause death,” says Lipton. This is why the experts of the film encourage the audience to seek medical advice for an accurate diagnosis, but to not believe the prognosis.

“Statistics are impersonal, and you are a person, and no one can tell you what you are capable of. Someone’s got to be that one percent and why couldn’t it be you?” says Kelly Turner, Ph.D.

Director Noonan Gores’ intention for creating HEAL was to empower people by showing the science behind the body’s incredible intelligence and capacity for healing, and inspire them with powerful stories of healing from supposedly incurable conditions.

“With so many people suffering from chronic illness and being told by medical professionals that there is no conventional cure for their condition, it’s no wonder that there is an epidemic of fear,” says Noonan Gores. “I believe the people in this film reveal that once we shift our perception from fear to hope, and detox our outer and our inner environments, we can heal no matter how late the stage or impossible we are told our condition is. And there is plenty of scientific evidence that supports this.”

HEAL will be shown at the The Revolution of Consciousness event on September 24. Following the film, attendees may participate in a panel discussion with Adam Schomer and Rob Wergin. For more information on the event and the film, visit TheRevolutionOfConsciousness.com.

Kelly Noonan Gores is the director of the documentary film, HEAL.