I was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of 2022. In August of 2022 I had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction. 

 

At the time of my diagnosis I knew a few things. I knew I wanted:

 

  1. To be healthy, both physically and emotionally.

  2. To nurture and cultivate my relationship with my husband.

  3. To enjoying my children as they moved from their teen years into adulthood.

  4. To live long enough to meet my grandchildren was my ultimate dream. 

 

What I didn't know was if that was the plan for me. 

 

I was scared, tired and overwhelmed. My therapist reminded me that while I had no control of the situation I could control my reaction to the situation. So I started working on my reaction and it helped me get through some really hard times. The pages below are my story.

 

I hope my journey can help you on your journey.

 

Start HERE.

As I quickly approach the 1 year anniversary of my mastectomy I can't stop thinking about purpose. What is my purpose? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do with the extra time I have been gifted?

 

The other night I had a dream about a fish. I looked down into my purse and there was this beautiful orange clown fish gasping for breath. I clearly had a relationship with this fish, I screamed its name and started running towards water. As I approached the aquarium he gasped his last breath and I ran faster. I grabbed him with my hands and plunged him into the water while giving him little fish CPR compressions. He coughed and gagged and sputtered back to life while I collapsed on the floor with my heart beating in my ears. That physical response was actually happening in real life and woke me up. It was so intense that my waking self flew out of bed heart racing and gasping for breath.

 

What was that dream about? Who am I trying to save?

 

Myself? My family? 100% yes. All of the clean eating and strength training and yoga that we have infused into our daily life is absolutely designed to give us a fighting chance at the next thing life throws at us. I know that eating good nutrient rich food and moving my body in the weeks leading up to surgery helped my get through those hard early recovery days. And I know all the slow gentle yoga I did during recovery helped me rebuild strength, cordination and mobility after surgery. My goal is to continue giving my body the gift of healthy food, consistent sleep and movement and to set the example for my kids so that we can all stay as healthy and mobile as possible for as long as possible.

 

But theres more. I'm sharing my story and my love of yoga because I know that it can help so many other people. People living with and recovering from cancer and people simply living a human life with all of the things that human life brings. Happiness, sadness, joy, stress, overwhelm, anxiety, disappointment. A daily yoga practice can help you be present with the entire spectrum of human emotions and its a gateway drug into mindfulness, meditation and breathwork which each bring their own exponential benefits as tools for coping with life.  There are simple yoga stretches on my Instagram page @elizabethsyogalab. I hope you will do some yoga with me this week.

I am still actively trying to figure out what normal looks like for me.

I am: Being gentle with myself. Giving myself grace. Finding new normals.