Year to year it is always interesting to observe the changes in my life since the diagnosis I had of breast cancer in 2008. In the years leading up to the breast cancer, I was convinced that I was self-nurturing by practicing yoga, meditation, having a good diet and exercising regularly. However, although I thought I was doing all of the right things to be healthy, what I hadn’t considered or was aware of is the push, the drive and protection that I had been living in and therefore the fact that how I was approaching everything in my life came laced with a hardness and lack of trust. Therefore there was no true self-nurturing in my life and there wasn’t a quality of connection and gentleness in how I was with myself.

As women there has been and is a tendency, a drive to have it all – the career and family, being everything to everyone. Our focus has been on ‘doing’ and ‘achieving’, putting everyone else’s needs before our own, thinking that this is self-less, but it has led me to ponder at what expense has this come? In all of “the doing”, have we not lost our connection to the innate qualities that we all hold within as women – those qualities of gentleness and stillness?

Since breast cancer and through the Esoteric Healing Modalities I have come to understand that the most important thing in life is not what we do or what we achieve but the “HOW” we go about it all. The “HOW” being the quality of being in which we choose to approach or attend to everything in life. The other realisation I’ve come to is that unless we learn to self-nurture we cannot truly support another. The foundation of love for ourselves must be there first of all. As an example, if we are feeling tired or exhausted it is easy to snap at our partner, friends, work colleagues or the kids compared to if we have honoured our needs and supported ourselves we are then less likely to react.

By changing how we treat our body in a truly caring way, we develop a self-loving relationship that becomes a foundation of love from which we live. Life then feels very different, there is a stillness and a connection that comes from deep within that we are able to feel as we go about our daily deeds.

A woman’s breasts on an energetic level are her self-nurturing centres. What I have come to understand is that the cause of my breast cancer was a lack of self-nurturing.

Before breast cancer I was not truly honouring the precious woman that I am which is the same preciousness that is found in every woman equally.

With breast cancer (and other cancers) on the rise is it not time we question why illness and disease have and are exponentially increasing despite the amazing advances in medicine and technology? Could it be that we have lost the connection to the innate qualities of the woman, we have forgotten the preciousness of who we are. In all of the ‘doing’ we have left behind our connection to our essence which can only be felt through a deep honouring of ourselves.

Disease stems from a dis-connection from our body. When we as women learn to truly self-nurture I feel that the current trend in breast cancer may change.

So this month, as you see pink all around you, don’t just think pink, feel your own connection, your own quality of connection in all that you presently are doing.

Donna Nolan offers Cancer Support Sessions which are complementary to medicine. For further reading My Reflections – 5 years on from Breast Cancer,  My Unfolding Path to Understanding the Root Cause of Breast Cancer,  5 Tips for supporting you through chemotherapy and Yoga for Breast Cancer.

The post Breast Cancer – Feeling beyond Pink appeared first on Yoga & Healing | Therapies Massage Exercise Corporate Wellbeing | Sydney, Balmain & Northern Rivers.

1) Rest and relax

Your body needs to recover. There is a lot going on in the body with all of the various drugs doing their thing. The part you play in the treatment is just as important, so rest as much as you can. Don’t push yourself to do all of the things that you normally do.

If you have never nurtured yourself before, now is the time to start

You will experience fatigue from the treatment and therefore stopping and taking a break to recover is super important. Ask family and friends for support during this time to assist you in what needs to be done day-to-day (refer to point 5).

2) Listen to what you body needs at any given time, moment to moment

This point follows on from the above one. Listen to what your body is telling you. Listen to it intently and honour your body in this delicate process. If it is telling you that you are tired then rest. Listen to what it wants to eat, what it doesn’t want to eat. Notice what zaps your energy and do less of this.

As your energy levels drop due to chemotherapy, learning how to conserve the energy that you have is paramount in your healing process. This can be developed by being aware of how you are with your body and being super gentle and tender with yourself.  For example, when walking, feel your legs and your hips, as you pick up a glass, feel your hands on the glass. By choosing to be with your body in a gentle way you can begin to develop a loving relationship with your body.

3) Introduce gentle exercise into your day  

If you have followed the above two points, you may end up spending quite a bit of time in bed or on the couch. It is also important that when you do feel well enough to, to bring some gentle exercise into your day. Some days it may be plenty to get up and walk from room to room, other days you may make it to the mail box, other days it may be several kilometres. Listen to your body and what you are capable of on any given day.

Gentle stretching and strengthening exercises are important to support you and your body through the treatment. Seek out a qualified practitioner to help develop a program specifically for you.

4) Look after your organs

Chemotherapy not only affects the cancer cells but it also affects the good cells – which is why you can feel unwell through the treatment. Your kidneys and liver are two vital organs that have a lot of work to do whilst you are going through treatment. The kidneys are like your battery pack and your liver is what helps you to detox the chemicals.

You can assist your organs during chemotherapy by; not drinking alcohol as any drop of alcohol will give the liver even more work to do, eating nourishing food, not drinking caffeine and limiting your sugar intake.

5) Allow people to support you. You deserve it

Chemotherapy is a tough time – you don’t have to do it alone. If you have always gotten on and done things by yourself, now is the time to change this pattern.  Ask family and friends for help, they will want to know how to assist you. Get in touch with what you are feeling and learn to express without holding back how they could be of useful.

If at times you don’t feel up for visitors, that’s OK too. Tell them that you prefer to have some time alone to rest but you would appreciate them dropping off a meal (which they could leave at the front door). Accept that others are there to help you if you let them – it is a win win situation. Learn to receive back from others.

Donna Nolan was diagnosed at the age of 33 with breast cancer in 2008 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

At Yoga & Healing we offer Cancer Support sessions, Yoga, Meditation, Esoteric Healing, Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy, Yoga retreats and Counselling.  Sessions available at the Yoga & Healing Cammeray, Balgowlah and Balmain clinics. Contact Us to book a session or for more information.

The post Top 5 Tips for supporting you through chemotherapy appeared first on Yoga & Healing | Therapies Massage Exercise Corporate Wellbeing | Sydney, Balmain & Northern Rivers.