Ask Erik is a spiritual advice column from the eternally twenty-year-old spirit guide Erik Medhus. Through gifted medium/spirit translator Kim Babcock, he directly answers readers’ questions on death, the afterlife, spirituality, the human experience, and more with the insight and wisdom he’s gained since his passing.

Dear Elisa,

I have stage IV glioblastoma multiforme cancer in the left frontal lobe of my brain, the area that controls speech and memory. What is the physical and spiritual significance of this? What can I do to cure it or at least keep it under control to prevent further damage to my brain cells?

— Vinder

Dear Vinder: This form of cancer is aggressive, but I can give you some tips to help you better approach what you are going through and also tell you the spiritual basis of it. As a human, being able to express yourself is important to your identity, so when that’s compromised in any way, you are forced to get creative with self-expression.

You often shift back and forth between dimensions, meaning you spend just as much time in the astral plane as you do consciously on Earth. Focus on grounding yourself through personal expression. Whatever makes you feel identified as you, dwell there for a while.