I have found that Connection with others on a similar path can make a huge difference in my healing journey. I feel accompanied on my path, supported, less fearful, less alone, and more confident in my choices. I have also learned some new strategies for thriving.
In this spirit of connecting with others, Healing Journeys has several exciting events happening in the next few months that I hope you will take advantage of.
Since all the events I will be introducing are on the West Coast, I want to first tell you about something of great value that is easily accessible for everyone. Jeremy Geffen, MD, was one of the favorite speakers at our Cancer as a Turning Point™ conferences for the past 10 years. Since Dr. Geffen died last year, you won’t be able to hear him in person; yet his message is as relevant and poignant as it was 10 years ago. We have just posted online a talk he gave at our Seattle conference in 2006. You can find the link in News, below.
For those of you on the West Coast (or if you have friends on the West Coast, please share this information) the free Cancer as a Turning Point™ mini-conference will be in Seattle July 29th, and in Northern California September 23rd. Pre-registration for both of these is open (links below in News). Both will feature a presentation by Michael Finkelstein, MD, and Jonna Tamases performing Jonna’s Body, Please Hold. Both of these presenters received the highest ratings at our Denver conference last year.
The Loving Your Body Workshop with Michael Finkelstein, MD, is offered the day following the free evening program. It is a great opportunity to both connect with others, and to learn additional strategies for healing. This workshop is offered in Seattle on July 30th and in Northern California on September 24th, and registration is open for both.
In the article Dr. Finkelstein wrote in our recent postal newsletter, called “Loving Your Body,” he says that our resentment and anger toward our cancer can trigger an inflammatory response which, “science shows, supports its existence.” So if I am fighting my cancer and trying to kill it, I may also be supporting its existence with my negative emotions.
He goes on to say, “Paradoxically, by bathing our tumor with love, we activate an innate healing response which has more power to usher it away.” He talks about “loving your body, including your tumor, in such a way that you pull yourself out of fight or flight, fear, anxiety, and angry states, into harmony, health, and healing.”
These workshops and mini-conferences provide a rare opportunity for us on the West Coast to spend time with the “Slow Medicine Doctor.” On his website he says, “In our fast-paced world, we often look for quick-fix solutions to our health challenges, not realizing that these “solutions” in fact may contribute to our problems. Most health challenges are the result of an imbalance in our bodies and lives, and most quick-fix solutions actually exacerbate these imbalances. If, instead, we take a Slow Medicine approach – identifying the root cause of our health challenges, then creating a thoughtful, step-by-step, and long-term response to it – we effectively bring ourselves back into balance.
As usual, I have planned these events because of my personal need to support my path to healing. I hope you will join me. We will learn from the “experts” and from each other, and our connections will “support healing, activate hope, and promote thriving” (the Healing Journeys mission).
In August we have planned a very special, nurturing retreat for oncology nurses at Westerbeke Ranch Retreat Center. The program is designed and facilitated by experienced oncology nurses who have learned the value of, and some strategies for, taking good care of themselves. Please pass this information along to any nurses you know. Registration is open here.
As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.
In the Spirit of Healing,
Jan Adrian, MSW
Founder and Executive Director
