IDEAS FOR LIVING A HAPPIER, LOVE FILLED LIFE
Women Empowering Women with Cancer
What do breast cancer survivors need in their post-op journey? You might be surprised
I want to thank you for allowing me to be your partner in your personal development. You inspire me each and every day, and I'm so grateful to be able to do what I love helping you reach your goals.
I am also so grateful to be coming from Mexico last week where I held another one of my emotional healing workshops that I created called, "The Mermaid's Journey. " This particular one was created specifically for breast cancer survivors!
I call this work of getting healthy with emotions for all women, a "Mermaid's Journey." The ocean is a universal symbol of emotions, the sea of emotions. When you become a mermaid, you become stronger through embracing your emotions and learning to dive through them fearlessly, the good and the stormy ones!
The entire event is funded by the non-profit, SendMeonVacation.org. Their mission is to send breast cancer survivors who have been financially devastated by the cost of treatment on an emotional healing and empowerment vacation. Each survivor receives a photo makeover as a mermaid and an emotional healing workshop experience with me.
Tammy, a survivor from Boston got her Mermaid Makeover and she looks so happy!
All totaled this past year, I've donated four weeks of my time, traveling around the globe for my favorite cause. I've been to Bermuda, Boston, Texas, and several areas of Mexico this year all in the name of women's healing and empowerment!
It is very interesting to see how women from different cultures and different parts of the United States move through the diagnosis, treatment, and emotional aftermath of cancer.
Bostonian women are strong with a no non-nonsense survivor attitude that says, "Cancer won't defeat me. I will get through this!"
Bermudian women are also very strong but attribute their Christian beliefs with their strength, with a survivor attitude that says, "God has a reason and I have faith in God to help me through this."
West coast women from California seem to be more metaphysical believing there is a soul lesson in their journey with cancer.
I read years ago that a man recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer sought insight into the "secrets" of cancer survivors. Were they all doing a certain diet or treatment? No. They had done different diets, regimens, and treatments. However, he discovered one common thread: their mental attitude about cancer was the same. Each had a belief that cancer was to be perceived on the same level as the flu, something to suffer through and get past with a finite end to it.
Below is a photo from the Bermuda survivor cruise where I also performed two half day emotional healing workshops for Bermudian survivors. This is Zazi. Isn't she beautiful and so happy to have her transformation!
Bermuda cancer survivor and fellow mermaid Zazi.
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Emotional Healing for Breast Cancer Survivors
An amazing story about what happens when two like minded women happen to come together in a very unlikely way.
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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Gratitude: The Subtle Power Within.
Learn the secret behind daily gratitude.
This year, I bought something called “Pak-Its” that go inside the lunch sacks for my two children. Each “Pak-It” contains four compartments; one for a sandwich, and three others for snacks, fruit, chips, etc. Each day, I try to surprise my kids with a variety of fruit and snacks. I love to see their smiling faces and hear them express so much gratitude from something as mundane and simple as what’s in a lunchbox!
Why is it as we get older, many of us have a hard time appreciating the simple things in life? Perhaps, it’s because life becomes more complicated. Or is it something else?
Years ago, I remember I was really struggling with appreciating my life. At the time, I was living in a constant state of fear and anxiety around money. My husband had been out of work for almost a year. If he didn’t find a job soon, we were going to lose our home. Typical to someone who is in financial straits, I found myself ruminating constantly on thoughts like…”Where will we move if we lose the house? Could we bring our dog to an apartment? Could we find an apartment in the same school district? What furniture would we keep?”
The subconscious mind will obsess on unwanted outcomes. The perception is that if we worry, we can somehow avoid the negative consequences we fear. Or in the very least be prepared for the worst.
Seeking a positive focus, I joined a women’s empowerment group that met weekly. I will never forget the first meeting with these funny, spiritual women. Starved for inspiration and light, their energy instantly uplifted me. The hostess introduced me and then led the group in a standard opening activity which was called, “Gratitudes.” This meant that each woman in the group was asked to share at least one thing for which she was grateful that took place in the previous week. In this way, each woman got to share a piece of her life as we simultaneously engaged in co-creating positive energy.
If you’ve ever been through a time in your life when you feel like you are in survival mode and everything is a struggle, you might relate when I say, that for the longest time, I had a hard time thinking of a “gratitude.” My mind was locked into a non-stop chatter of anxious driven dialogue like, “My husband is out work. We are struggling financially. We may lose our home. The kids are arguing. I’m exhausted. What will we do?” And on and on….
Over the course of several weeks, something inside must have shifted though. A new habit of looking for the good must have been fostering a new perspective because something out of the ordinary happened the night before Thanksgiving. I indulged a few dollars and went out with friends to a local restaurant to hear live music. The band was energetic and fun! The loud music was a welcome infusion of positive energy!
Later on that evening, I walked down the hall to the back of the building towards the restrooms. Out of the abrupt silence. I heard a single sentence inside my head, “What you fear most will set you free.” I stopped in my tracks. What did that mean? It was my voice….but the way that the sentence was phrased was not how I would normally speak. It reminded me of something Obi-wan Kenobe would say to a student to whom he teaches the ways of the Jedi.
I laughed and asked myself, “What was my worst fear at that moment?” Losing our home? Yes. Well, what if we lost our home? What’s the worst that would happen? So, we move into an apartment. So what! A rush of energy and relief flowed through me. Me, my husband, my children… we are all healthy! Suddenly, I felt light and a feeling of immense gratitude for our safety and health flowed through me. I felt a deep inner calm that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
That was a turning point in my soul. The point when I was able to see the glass half full in life despite life’s struggles.
I continued to participate in the women’s group weekly for many years. Over time, my “gratitudes” became more plentiful. The simple things in life like a comfortable bed and bird singing outside my window bring me joy. This continues to occur despite times when life has been extremely stressful for me. Like when a huge family inheritance was lost. And especially, when my best friend and godmother to my two children died of brain cancer.
Gratitude is a lifeboat that keeps your spirit afloat even in difficult times.
You can’t inflate your “lifeboat” all at once though. You must breathe life into it daily to keep it inflated and uplifting you. It’s okay to start small. Maybe it’s just gratitude for a soft pillow and indoor plumbing.
A friend of mine named Ben is a retired CFO of a major corporation. In his retirement, he has turned to studying Peruvian shamanism and now practices as a healer. Spending time with him is such a delight. He constantly whispers phrases of gratitude under his breath. I hear him say, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” when he begins a healing. I hear him say it when things go well and when things don’t. He is one of the happiest people I know.
From my own life and those I’ve watched, I believe that what you focus on is what you attract. And if you concentrate on looking for experiences and people to appreciate, the more you will live in a state of appreciation and bliss. And when life challenges you, look for the little things to appreciate like lunchboxes to inflate your lifeboat.
May your blessings be plentiful this holiday season!
Namaste.
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Overcoming a Phobia: The Story of Radio Personality Brooke Ryan & Her Fear of Fish
A podcast series where radio show host Brooke Ryan shares her session by session experience of working with Rebecca to overcome her lifetime phobia of fish.
Summary: Brooke Ryan is a local radio show host of Charleston's Mix96 Radio show in the morning called "Two Girls and a Guy." This podcast series shares Brooke’s week by week experience over the radio working with Rebecca to overcome her lifetime phobia of fish.