Healing Well: Reconnect with your Life After Cancer
A Group Yoga & Talk® Program
Online Program Begins August 19, 2018
Many survivors wish they had a handbook on how to deal with the emotional fallout of having cancer. Just look at any online cancer support Facebook page. Anger, grief, fear of recurrence, self blame, stress, PTSD, anxiety and depression are all common emotional responses for humans on the difficult road of cancer and its medical treatments.
New medical developments are thankfully leading to longer survivorship. And survivors need tools to help us get our lives back.
This program will introduce you to:
- 6 Principles for Emotional Recovery
- Specially designed kundalini yoga and meditation practices.
- Group platform to safely share what’s truly in your heart and mind beneath the surface of the brave face you wear for the benefit of loved ones.
- Community of other women who also want to focus on deeper self understanding and healing.
Each week, we work with a new theme that supports your emotional recovery and increases vitality.
My 6 week online group will gather live via a safe and easy-to-use virtual meeting room. New session begins August 19, 2018!
To join my waiting list for early bird registration and pricing, please email me at kellyinselmanntherapy@gmail.com with subject: online course. Site will be up soon!
See below for more info on why you might need this program!
Why do you need this program?
The cancer experience changes us. Sometimes people suggest you can just “sail right through it,” but the reality is often much more difficult.
As they wheeled me in for the first MRI at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I remember feeling hysterical, like I might laugh or cry or scream. I wanted to shout: ” You don’t understand! I’m really healthy!” Instead, I was a good patient. Quiet, compliant and immobile.
One of the affirmations I used during treatment was “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.” Also, “Lord, Please get me through this moment!” Not the whole day or even an hour, just that one moment. It was an important re-direction of my mind so I could get through some excruciating times.
But there were other feelings underneath: anger, despair, fear, shame and self blame, a desire to give up.
What happens to feelings when they are set aside for the sake of survival?
Sometimes they fragment, landing in parts of the body or in the back of the mind, waiting to be remembered.
About 6 months after the end of active treatment, I signed up for a free pilates class. I had never done pilates, but I had done lots of dance and yoga. I figured I could handle it.
Imagine the scene: I’m lying on the pilates table being hooked up to machinery, my body still weak and my mind still too fatigued to follow directions well. If you’ve been through cancer treatment, this might sound a little familiar. And it was familiar to my body – it brought back a flood of memories from chemotherapy treatment.
Frustrated and embarrassed at feeling unable to follow instructions, I started crying and couldn’t stop.
I left that day, but returned later to take some private lessons. Eventually, I was able to tolerate the discomfort and begin to befriend my body in this new way.
Recent research in neurobiology finds that ignoring or repressing emotions or memories does not make them disappear. Instead, the limbic system, the emotional part of the brain, stays activated as though the initial experience is actually happening.
You might not be talking about it, but you are still feeling unexpressed emotions, in the mind or in the body.
Crucial to our healing from painful or traumatic experiences are safe places where we can feel and express it all. The key is inviting and integrating these feelings through activities such as yoga, meditation, therapy, creative expression, social support and connection.
I’d love to share the story of my Joy Boots journey with you. Click here for a closer look about why I decided to offer this group.
The Benefits of Healing Well: Reconnect with Your Life after Cancer
- Recognize the physical and emotional imprint the cancer experience has created.
- Begin to heal your relationship to your body by befriending it through compassionate observation of your physical sensations
- Experience deep physical and mental relaxation
- Increase vitality by discharging fear, anger, and grief
- Express yourself and be heard
- Create new positive mind/body experiences through movement, meditation and sharing.
- From a relaxed state of mind and open heart, connect with your tribe on the emotional and spiritual wounds of cancer.
- Practice guided visualizations and meditations for healing.
- Receive a recording of the meditations and visualizations for use between sessions.
- Share about the sacredness you have experienced as well as the difficulties.
- Identify what’s next in your emotional and physical recovery, even as you celebrate what you’ve been able to overcome.
- Appropriate for both total beginners and more experienced practitioners.
Joy Boots: A 6-week Group Yoga & Talk® Program for Survivors of Cancer
6 WEEK ONLINE GROUP Starts August 19, 2018
Daily Practices, sharing and recordings of meditations and visualizations from the privacy of your home and at your own schedule.
$195 for Kelly’s JoyBoots List members during Early Registration. Inquire here and Kelly will be in touch with more information-no obligation.
Questions & Answers
When is a good time in my treatment for me to do this group?
If you are participating online, you should feel open to deepening your understanding of yourself and willing to try out the simple new technology to bring the experience into your home. You do not have to feel great to show up. You can come as you are – that’s what this is about. You may choose to rest during parts of the yoga – that’s ok. Like in all my yoga classes, you will be encouraged to listen deeply to what you need.
How do I know if this is a good fit for me?
Are you ready to heal emotionally from the cancer experience? This could be a good fit for you if you are interested in learning tools from psychology, yoga and meditation to help you process (understand and integrate) your experience.
The online group is an easy and convenient way to deepen your healing, practice simple yoga and meditation in the privacy of your home, and pace yourself in discovering and sharing your real feelings about this life changing experience.
I don’t have a lot of energy and I’m not very flexible (or any other concerns about physical ability). Can I still participate?
In my weekly classes, I have experienced yogis and people who have never done yoga and are sitting in a chair. The practices are taught to include everyone with modifications and encouragement for resting and observing the breath as an important part of practice. I encourage everyone (over and over) to go at their own pace and practice listening to their bodies cues and the sound of their own breath. That being said, I’m happy to discuss any specific conditions you may have and for you to discuss with your doctor any concerns about yoga.
Can I just drop in or do I have to commit to the whole 6 sessions?
If you are participating online, you will have lots of flexibility to participate on your own timeline and speed. The more you participate and share, the more supported you will feel!
What do I need to have ready for the first session?
This online program requires an up to date computer and access to the internet.
Having an uncluttered space (free of “to-do” lists) helps you relax and be present with the group. You will benefit by giving yourself time to mentally disengage from daily life, your phone, children and pets, and regular responsibilities.
What about confidentiality?
All members are expected to maintain strict confidentiality about the identity and experiences of other members and to avoid the accidental eavesdropping by others present in the house.
No internet connected system can be completely secure.
Kelly has a legal obligation to break confidentiality and seek assistance if you state that you are actively suicidal or homicidal or if a child is being injured.
When do I pay?
For the online course, you pay through the RUZUKU platform through which you will receive your classes. Check here:
For the in person group, after your initial session, I will send you a link to pay for the group sessions.
Who should not participate in the Joy Boots Yoga and Talk group?
People who have been instructed by their physician to avoid exercise, should not participate.
If you are in a state of acute emotional distress and need more active intervention from mental health professionals, I will recommend that you seek assistance in your area.
The groups are not meant to be a substitute for ongoing in person individual psychotherapy, face to face social support, or advice from medical providers.
If you are feeling suicidal, I want you to have the attentive support you need from practitioners in your community. Please contact the National Suicide Hotline for referrals online or at 800-273-8255 or call 911.
Do you offer free services?
Yes. Subscribe to my mailing list for a free weekly video or blog especially for cancer survivors. You may also want to participate in the Webinars or in my weekly Yoga Warriors Wednesday Class in Austin, Texas.
Also, check out Re: Cancer, the American Cancer Society, Cancer Survivors’ Network, and CancerCare for other free support services.
