Emotional Healing for Breast Cancer Survivors
Riviera Maya, Mexico - A Mermaid spotting...
We all experience stress. Be it emotional or physical, stress is something we all try to avoid and find unpleasant; however, it is inevitable and part of life.
Cancer is one of the most stressful events a person may ever endure. The day cancer treatment ends, a new chapter begins and with it a new set of challenges including fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, grief, and a variety of situational stresses related to job, relationships and income.
Supporting emotional health is a critical first step in the recovery from the devastating effects cancer leaves behind. This means, in simple terms, helping a cancer patient to clear the stressful emotions that occur during diagnosis, treatment and aftercare. Emotional health is now a frequent topic in any part of any program that is labeled as Integrative Healing or Integrative Oncology.
When I opened my practice in Clinical Hypnotherapy in 1995, one of the first areas of application that was especially meaningful to me was using hypnosis and imagery to help cancer patients. Since then, I've been able to take the show on the road, as they say!
In autumn of 2014... I received a call from a woman in Las Vegas who asked to speak with me about an emotional healing program I had created called "The Mermaid's Journey."
Her name was Cathy Backus. She is the founder of a non-profit called Send Me On Vacation. Cathy worked in the time-share and vacation industry and had developed the concept of using donated time-share weeks and airline travel resources to assist recent breast cancer survivors to convalesce in beautiful vacation spots while they embrace their “new” normal.
Once the non-profit was underway, Cathy wanted take these restorative vacations once step further and help survivors embrace their “after cancer” beauty in a loving and powerful environment. She incorporated beauty makeovers and mermaid photography for each recipient so they could reconnect with a sense of feeling beautiful and feminine.
It was amazing to hear the stories about how this experience helped each of them to once again embrace their beauty (inside and out) and their feminine nature!
"Now," Cathy said, "I want to take these vacations to a whole new level. I want them to feel more than rested. I want them to feel more than beautiful again. I want to help breast cancer survivors to go back to the world and feel more empowered mind, body, and spirit. "That's where your work comes in. I want you to do your emotional healing workshops for our breast cancer survivors," she said.
Within 24 hours, it was all arranged. A few months later, I flew to Mexico and we held the first Mermaid's Journey experience for cancer survivors in breathtaking Riviera Maya, Mexico! I even got my photo taken as a mermaid. That's me on the dock:)
Another really wonderful aspect of this non-profit is that all the money raised in any given town or metropolitan area goes to send women from that area on an empowerment vacation. This is truly unique. Many of the larger non-profits hold local fundraisers but that money never comes back to assist those in need in the area where the money is raised.
Check out my events calendar for the next Mermaid's Journey Empowerment Vacation for breast cancer survivors.
If you or someone you know is interested in attending, enter your information below.
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