My ten year anniversary of being cancer free is coming up this June and although I’m excited to celebrate this milestone, I never lose sight of the fact that my journey of “healing from cancer” is ongoing. I have learned so much in the past ten years about nutrition, eating behaviour & healthy living, teaching & helping others about how to live longer, happier, disease-free lives, but some of my most valuable lessons about living cancer-free, have involved more than nutritional guidance, they involve true healing – on a much deeper level.
I am asked often about how to beat cancer. Time and time again, people are searching for that one answer: Ketogenics, high-dose supplementation, alkaline, macrobiotic, intravenous Vitamin C, Herbal concoctions, Chinese Medicine, Colonics, Homeopathics, Celery juice, MCT oils, etc, the list goes on.
My answer is always the same:
There isn’t one answer.
There isn’t one cure.
There isn’t one course of action that will protect you from or heal you from cancer.
Like healing from anything:
You must come at it from all sides.
That is what Holistic Healing looks like.
It takes dedication. And patience.
Knowledge, support, and courage.
How I’ve Healed & Continue to Heal From Cancer
– And How You Can Too
The body wants to heal; it is designed to heal. Your job is to allow that healing, to support it, welcome it, and give it space to do its work.
Nutrition: My first line of defense is definitely high-quality, plant-powered nutrient density, as well as the permanent exclusion of health-depleting refined foods, rancid oils, and chemical additives. During my years in the Nutrition program, I spent a good deal of time healing and repairing my gut, supplementing with intense antioxidants and green superfoods, detoxifying the liver, addressing Candida, and fine tuning a “kicking Cancer’s butt” approach to my long-term dietary philosophy. These days, I am in more of a maintenance phase, but am very intuitive with my body’s needs – I recognize when it’s time for a cleanse or take a digestive break, and I give my body the space and support it needs. It’s about long-term sustainability at this point, so I stick to a Cancer fighting regime quite diligently – if it promotes Cancer, I steer clear; if it fights Cancer, bring it on!
NOTE: More Cancer recovery offerings coming next year – if this is of interest to you, make sure you sign up to the email list so that you don’t miss out!Household & Beauty Care Detox: Post Cancer diagnosis, my husband and I both went on a researching rampage. We began to dig in to the world of Cancer research, of Holistic progression and approaches, of causes, studies, from successful programs and specific cases to pharmaceutical fallacies. Behind much of the information out there are concerns with high levels of toxicity: inhaled, ingested, and absorbed. Not unlike so many in our position, we realized how poisonous our home was: cleaning products, air fresheners, makeup, beauty-care, soaps, shampoos, etc. and we swapped it all out for natural or home made products. We have never looked back. Once you learn and understand what to look for on labels and in the unwritten words of target marketing, you see things differently. Permanently.
Interested in making your own beauty care products? Here are some fun recipes.Exercise: Getting back into a physical exercise regime with goals and challenges was such an empowering piece to my Cancer recovery. I was an athlete for most of my younger years and knew intuitively that tapping into that part of myself was a critical piece of feeling whole again. Aside from the cancer fighting affects of exercise, I believe that my physical body needs to be strong in order for my psychological, emotional, & spiritual body to also feel its strength. I began cross-country running & racing, hitting the gym regularly, strength training, dancing, skiing, hiking, and developing my own physical health regime that felt good, kicked cancer’s butt, and was infinitely healing.
Emotional Healing: After a very heart wrenching and traumatic surgery on my digestive system, I began to tap into some deeply rooted grief associated with the Cancer diagnosis. I went to see a local Chinese Medicine practitioner who worked with me for about 8 months. Through acupuncture and energy work, we released energetic blockages and tapped into my parasympathetic nervous system where much of the healing needed to take place. It was a transformational journey and I now understand the necessity and usefulness of energy healing and often suggest alternative energy/cranial/acupuncture healing as complementary work for my clients.
If you haven’t watched the Documentary HEAL, I highly recommended that you do - it may help expand on this idea of healing on a deeper level.Passion: Oftentimes when there exists dis-ease in the body, there are associated feelings of loss of purpose. Holistic Healing involves supporting the individual on all levels, which will often involve igniting old, unfulfilled, or new passion. Along the healing journey, once I opened the gates of passion, there was an unstoppable flood. I went back to school for Nutrition, then Eating Psychology, Culinary Nutrition, and Eating Disorder Recovery. I began running and cross training. I took up dance. I learned how to play the guitar so that I could sing again and began writing my own music. I created a business where I could use all that I had learned to inspire and help others. And it continues. Passion is a critical part of healing: this is how we feel inspired, motivated, where we find joy and cultivate a positive outlook on life. Without it, we struggle for purpose.
Connectedness: As humans, we share the innate need to belong. When we disconnect from one another, we lose hope, we sink with loneliness, we find depression, we lose the drive to look after ourselves, our bodies, our minds. Connecting with one another is integral to life; we all have the longing to belong – even though we may all experience this in different ways. For me, connecting means to be present as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, a friend, a leader, a teacher. It means listening when I am needed, sharing when asked, and teaching when I am called. It means learning how to communicate well and grow from mistakes and struggles, and to own my part on this earth.
Forgiveness: Part of my journey with healing Cancer involved healing from my past with an eating disorder. It took me awhile to realize that that healing also needed to take place, but once that light went on, I knew it with such intensity that I think I may have cried for a month solid. In conjunction with the energy work that I was doing, I also started therapy and through that process created space for forgiveness: of my self, of what happened, of others that I held blame towards. This forgiveness enabled me to let go of emotional baggage, guilt, shame, and negative self-tormenting habits that I had been stuck in for years. It is still my work, but it helps me in everything else that I do. Don’t skip this part!
Love & Gratitude: Ahhhhh! Ok, yes, a bit hippie, I know, but let me ask you this: if we do not step forth with love and gratitude, then what do we have to offer this world? How can we create togetherness, connectedness, healing, recovery, growth, without love & gratitude? We can’t. In this past decade of my life, I can’t tell you how many times I have felt so much joy in my heart that I thought I might burst. So very many. This is because of all of the above: the healing journey has allowed my heart to stretch wide, to create space for passion & growth that I never would have had without Cancer and without the journey of healing from Cancer. I didn’t need to work hard for this one, it came all on it’s own.
Healing from Cancer becomes your every thing.
It’s in all that you do,
all that you are;
every decision you make,
every goal you achieve, every word,
every tear,
every time you open your heart:
You are healing from Cancer and also living an awesome life ☺️
That right there, that is my secret.
Looking for one-on-one help with your Cancer Recovery?
Reach out! Let’s work together!