Better Than Before Breast Cancer with The Breast Cancer Recovery Coach

Here's an interesting thing to consider:   We plan for birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, camping trips, and what we're going to wear to work or have for dinner, but when was the last time you planned for life?   Way too often we allow ourselves to be in the random acts and unprocessed emotions of life.   This can lead to feeling, hopeless, powerless, and having no future vision for your l...

You know the old saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."?   Well, that's not always true. Sometimes when things get hard we just get through rather than get going.   Maybe it's the way we think about hard.   Have you ever considered what hard means to you?   Does it mean different things in different situations?   What if being hard was an invitation to be curious?   What if you...

When I first began to realize the power of storytelling, I was reading the book, "Talk like TED".   The book focused on some of the most powerful TED talks ever given and what made them so moving for so many people.   Over and over, the author found that the story the speaker shared was the secret sauce.   Now I hear people's stories on a daily basis.   I hear them tell stories of suffering and sa...

When it comes to getting healthy the idea of intense workouts, hours of food prep, and giving up some of your favorite "treats" can be off-putting. Adopting a mindset of what you can't do and shouldn't have, cheating with food, and being "bad" can make anyone want to run in the other direction. But, what if none of that had to be a part of getting physically healthy? In fact, what if that mindset...

After breast cancer, there's a long list of things that contribute to fatigue,   -Chemically induced menopause   -Aromatase inhibitors   -Radiation treatments   -etc…   But how often have you considered that your emotions may be contributing to your fatigue?   Intense emotions including fear and anger create a physical response in the body that uses a lot of energy.   So, why is it so hard to let...

Finding yourself on this side of a breast cancer diagnosis is not easy. It's not something you expect to happen in your life and it's not something you expect to have long-lasting repercussions. Yet, it does. The trauma of treatment and survival and the unsettling space of adjusting to life after treatment can have a powerful emotional toll. So why is it so hard for women to reach out for help? Wh...

When life throws something at you out of left field your brain goes straight to fear.   We are conditioned to think in scarcity.   The more unexpected things that happen, the more fear you can fall into until it feels crushing.   So, how do you get out of feeling crushed?   You create space.   You explore options.   You notice that it's your thoughts about life that are creating the heaviness.   I...

What would happen if we took "normal" off the table and looked at life with fresh eyes to decide what we want it to look like going forward?   It's so interesting how easy it is to get caught up in doing life the same way we always have for no other reason than, that's what we know.   We do what we're comfortable with, over and over.   But, what are we missing out on because of that?   What if you...

When you get diagnosed with or find yourself managing a serious illness, integrating the medical system into your life can be a challenge.   You may have never considered what you expect from a doctor, a hospital, an imaging center, or your insurance company until you find yourself feeling unnoticed, unworthy, or confused by the administrative and personal treatment you receive.   Do you expect to...

Life after breast cancer often starts off with one big question, "Who am I now?"   If you're not     - the healthy one   - the one who never takes medicine   - the one who has boundless energy   - the one who _______ (fill in the blank)   Then who are you?   How do you show up like you "used to" when you don't feel normal now?   In this episode I'll give you the good news…you get to decide how you...

Chemotherapy and other breast cancer treatments can induce or intensify menopause. Breast cancer surgeries and radiation can change the way your body looks, feels, and reacts to touch. All of these things can change your sex drive and the way you choose to engage in physical intimacy. But there's another thing that has a powerful impact on this area of your life and it's happening in your brain. T...

Not so long ago, there was a time when food was a focus of daily life solely for survival.   People farmed, hunted, gardened, canned, and put a lot of effort into ensuring there would be enough food to keep them alive.   Now there are so many food options that the choices are overwhelming; it's easy to overconsume and become overwhelmed.   Add in the fear factor after breast cancer, and there's a...

So many of us go through life tearing ourselves apart.   We judge our looks, our decisions, our accomplishments, our strengths, and our weaknesses.   We blame ourselves for just about everything we can think of including how other people think and feel.   Then a diagnosis of a life-threatening disease happens and there are so many more things we can beat ourselves up for, not the least of which is...

When we make the choice to wait and see what an external circumstance might create, we're making the choice not to engage in our life. In this scenario, we are the ones who step out of life, even if we fool ourselves into thinking the circumstance (i.e. cancer) is the cause. In this episode, you'll hear more about subtle ways in which we give up power over our lives. How our brains offer us though...

A blessing and curse in life is that we never really arrive.    We're always in the process of life, but we often miss what's happening in the process because we think we should be somewhere else.   We think we should have more time, more money, different circumstances.   We think we should be doing more, especially compared to the next person.   But the truth is, you're exactly where you should b...

How many times in life have you felt unworthy, worthless, unloved, or broken because of another person's words or actions?   Wouldn't it be nice not to feel that ever again?   It is possible.   Not because you can control what other people think or do.   It's possible because you can learn that your worth is inherent and has nothing to do with anyone else's thoughts or actions.   Listen to this we...

Have you ever wondered if you have a fear of being happy?   Do you feel guilty when taking care of yourself, but you see someone else struggling?   If so, you're not alone.   Fear of happiness, or cherophobia, is identified by specific thoughts and behaviors that might be more common than you think.   In this episode, hear about those symptoms along with:   -Real-life examples of the fear of happi...

What would you think if I asked you to tell me something every day for a month that you loved about yourself?     Well, I asked my members to do just that. In this week's podcast, I want to share some of the things they had to say about learning to love themselves unconditionally.     I have to say that people were a little nervous at first, and some had to process blocks even to say loving things...

When I look back over the past 10 years I'm amazed at how much my perspective of cancer has changed.   I thought I had it beat because I was always down for the fight.   But the most important thing I've learned is that the best way to get back to life is to let shit go.   It took many years for me to figure out that grieving was a necessary part of healing.   Even when I did figure out it took wo...

If you lost your hair during chemo and had to endure the weird regrowth stages, watched it grow back looking like someone else's hair, or watched it thin due to menopause and hormone treatments then you know…it's not just hair.   But you may have heard that comment from others along the way.   Hair and our identity are closely entwined.   We change our hair to fit our stage of life, reflect our pe...

When your closet is full, it's a challenge to find anything and overwhelming to think about clearing it out.   When your mind is full with an idea or belief it's hard to see any other way to be or any other path that can be taken.   That's a painful place to be and a place we often put ourselves in when we believe there's only one way for an experience to go.   It's where we get stuck when we beli...

When you think about the relationships in your life, what are the conditions you put on them?   Do people have to earn your love or do specific things to deserve your love?   For most of us, the answer is yes.   But have you thought about how that applies to yourself and your body?   What are the conditions your body has to meet to deserve your love?   If it doesn't meet those conditions, what do...

This week I had an eye-opening experience when I came across a journaling exercise that I did in 2013, the year after I finished treatment for my first breast cancer diagnosis.   It was eye-opening to see the destructive and abusive way I thought of and spoke about myself at that time.   I had a mindset then that was so full of pain and judgment that it's hard to believe I ever found my way here....

Sometimes our biggest barrier to change is the belief that we shouldn't have negative thoughts. After working so hard to stay positive, think healthier thoughts, and adopt a good mindset, negative thoughts should go away, right? Not so fast… Your brain is wired to avoid pain and keep you safe. So, it is always going to offer thoughts to steer you away from expending too much energy, creating chang...

What is a balanced life? Recently, I've been exploring this idea a lot. I started off thinking a balanced life meant finding just the right formula for work, health, family, and social. But that led to more stress and I could never find the right amount of time to fit it all in. Plan B...only say yes to what you love and what feels good. Well, there are a lot of things that I love and that feels g...