Kelly Inselmann

Kelly Inselmann has worked as a Psychotherapist and Yoga Teacher integrating the practices of therapy and yoga through her clinical work for 15 years. She has extensive training in individual and group psychotherapy. Prior to beginning her private practice in 1998, she worked with trauma victims through a variety of non-profit and local government agencies. As a yoga teacher she holds both a 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Certification and an International 200 Hour Kundalini Yoga Teacher Certification, and she has been a Yoga Alliance member since 2002. In addition, she is a registered Yoga Therapist (500 level). She is the founder of the Yoga and Talk™ therapy model and has offered group programs since 2002 to a variety of demographic groups including adolescent girls, adult women, children in the schools, people in recovery, and cancer survivors. Kelly lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and daughter.

Feel Under Appreciated?

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One of the ongoing big lessons of my life is how to get out of my head and all my many worries and negative predictions, and into the present moment, where often, everything is already ok.

If you read my posts, you know I lament the fact that so much feels unknown these days. And that cancer survivors are forced to become experts at living well with huge uncertainty as they move through treatments. Trying to live well even in awareness of the fragility of life, is one of the great existential tasks in life, not to mention a privilege for those of us who get to live long enough to reckon with our own mortality.

But the feeling of instability confronts us all in today’s shifting societal values and norms. For example, will cancer research be able to continue in the face of massive funding cuts? Will medical breakthroughs, such as the Herceptin that stopped my cancer, continue to be discovered or invented so that more people can live healthy lives?

Will public schools be able to function and thrive in Texas? Will women be able to access birth control and reproductive health care?

Will my 17 year old daughter pass her lifeguard certification this weekend without listening to my suggestions?

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The Great Unknown

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Facing the great unknown is THE existential task that humanity and each unique individual has grappled with from the time of cave men and women drawing what their lives were like: their animals, favorite moments, terrible event, experience of the divine.

To find meaning in life requires first, the acknowledgment that we don’t know everything! None of us really knows what will happen tomorrow.

And it requires an acknowledgment of the limits to our individual power and agency.

All while exploring how far you can use your vitality to push your own limits and agency with your creativity and motivation, to achieve your aims in life.

Recently, Emmy, a longterm client, told me she comforts herself with a phrase I said in my Yoga and Talk therapy groups many years ago.

It’s this idea:
It’s not all up to you. You think it is, but really it’s not. There are many other people who are also responsible and can see what’s happening, and may be even closer to it.
You are not alone. And you alone cannot fix it. Don’t imagine that you can.

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Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

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The Beast of the Unknown

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There is discomfort which does not have a clear solution. Prolonged stress or pain that cannot be mastered can be traumatic.

As a cancer patient or survivor, you have likely confronted this situation. And as a person facing uncertainty in modern society, you may also feel overwhelmed by the unknown.

I know I am! As we prepare for my daughter’s senior year, there are many questions about what the future looks like. My husband continues to be a source of love and comfort and is stable within his diagnosis, but he still is scanned every 3 months. And every 3 months, we again face the unknown.

I wonder about my own role as a psychotherapist and yoga/meditation teacher. Should I continue? Are there people who will benefit or is that part of my life over? Post pandemic and in private practice, it’s been hard to know how to share what I’ve learned in my many personal experiences of cancer and from the hundreds of survivors I’ve known.

It’s uncomfortable to not know so many things! And yet, if you live long enough, it’s the existential question you get to face. How do I move forward into the unknown?

Facing the great unknown is basically THE existential task that humanity and each unique individual has grappled with from the time of cave men and women drawing what their lives were like: their animals, favorite moments, experience of the divine.

To find meaning in life requires first, the acknowledgment of the great unknown. But it can be scary. It can be uncomfortable.

But…What if there are profound psychological, physiological, and spiritual benefits to befriending your discomfort?

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Here’s to Scruffiness

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I’m sitting in the large espresso colored leather chair that I’ve had in my living room for at least 15 years.

It’s scruffy now. I love my living room. I love the colors and all the rugs and “object as art” pieces my husband, Chiddi, has in here. I feel so happy and like my life has been a beautiful success when I look around.

The clutter of course is an always issue. But I have also felt so much joy.

Thank goodness I’ve also been able to tolerate wading around in the muck of things. Because to have a big, full life, you have to be willing to go through a few things.

That’s where the idea of JoyBoots comes from. Get it? In life, there is ”Joy” but you also have to willing to put your boots on and get them boots on the ground.

It felt so nice to be share uninhibitedly last week and to hear how not alone I am.

It helps to remember that “not being ok” is not a moral failing. In fact, our very discomfort with how things are is an important signal.

Like it or not, we are in it together.

We are hard wired to care about what happens to others. We are supposed to object to unjust firings, roundups of other humans, deliberate sabotage of the economy, and government refusal to abide by the law.

There are all kinds of antidotes to help you get grounded and soothe your nervous system so that from a calmer place you can decide what action, if any, is yours to take. I teach about some of these in my individual and group sessions.

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Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

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Oh Merciful Modern Medicine! Are you on the Chopping Block?

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Prior to being diagnosed with cancer in 2007, I was one of those people who said I’d NEVER do chemo. To voluntarily put these dangerous chemicals in your body? Well, first of all, I’d never need such a thing. I had been practicing yoga and healthy eating for 15 years. I meditated for at least an hour everyday and swore by it. I had begun integrating yoga and meditation into my work as a psychotherapist in the form of retreats, workshops, groups, and classes.

In fact, I remember being pregnant and teaching a class about “breast health” and the importance of self massage using sesame or coconut oil to keep the lymphatic system strong.

In October of 2007, I had a beautiful home birth. There was a birthing pool in my dining room, relaxing mantra music playing, and an experienced midwife who had helped birth hundreds of healthy babies. It wasn’t pain free, but it was magical. My husband was there every moment of the day, not leaving even when he was getting on my nerves. Our long relationship and recent experiences with partner meditations helped us be relaxed and in sync. We could laugh and yell and also trust. Each other and the process. It was one of the peak moments of my life.

Then, two months later, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer.

I sought treatment at MD Anderson in Houston. Not just because it’s considered the best cancer hospital in the country. It is also a 5 minute drive from my parent’s house to the front door of the hospital entrance and they offered to help care for my daughter while I received treatment.

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The Dream and the Dollar

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In 2023 I attended a fundraiser for the Central Texas Food bank and in a moment of dissociation from my bank account, I bid on a week at a resort in Mexico. I won, along with a whole bunch of other people, because it turned out that they were that they had a lot of vouchers to promote the place.

Finally, last week, I went to the resort near Cancun. Taking my 17-year-old daughter and her friend who were very excited to be able to take lots of photos on Spring Break and share them on social media like their friends were doing.

Last Monday, we picked up my daughter‘s friend and drove 2 1/2 hours to Houston, where my sister kindly gave us a ride to the airport. Airline ticket prices have gone up so high that it was hundreds of dollars less expensive to fly out of Houston than to try to make awkward flight connections starting in Austin where we live.

We arrived and checked in to a beautiful spot. It had been 25 years since I had last been to Mexico. As a child, my parents loved Mexico and we went with church groups to Cozumel several times, and my family would also stay in old colonial hotels in the interior. Hotels in Mexico taught me that true luxury is staying in a historic and beautifully crafted building where you can walk straight down the stairs and right down a path onto a beautiful beach. It was old school luxury. Nothing technological, but beautifully maintained rustic spaces and great service and lots of beauty. And the sea and the pool, which for me as a lover of all things water (being a true Pisces), is my absolute favorite.

To keep reading, consider being a JoyBoots subscriber.

Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

Encouragement, companionship, community and support for cancer survivors.

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In and Out of Joy

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I’m sitting in the large espresso colored leather chair that I’ve had in my living room for at least 15 years.

It’s scruffy now. I love my living room. I love the colors and all the rugs and “object as art” pieces my husband, Chiddi, has in here. I feel so happy and like my life has been a beautiful success when I look around.

The clutter of course is an always issue. But I have also felt so much joy.

Thank goodness I’ve also been able to tolerate wading around in the muck of things. Because to have a big, full life, you have to be willing to go through a few things.

That’s where the idea of JoyBoots comes from. Get it? In life, there is ”Joy” but you also have to willing to put your boots on and get them boots on the ground.

It felt so nice to be share uninhibitedly last week and to hear how not alone I am.

It helps to remember that “not being ok” is not a moral failing. In fact, our very discomfort with how things are is an important signal.

Like it or not, we are in it together.

To keep reading, consider being a JoyBoots subscriber.

Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

Encouragement, companionship, community and support for cancer survivors.

SUBSCRIBE

Turns out, a lot of you aren’t ok either

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I got a lot of response to Monday’s post It’s ok to say I’m not ok with it.

Wow, it really does help to know you are not alone! More evidence of the power of being in groups, expressing your feelings and feeling more connected. Even therapists need to be reminded that it works.

Drop in this evening for JoyBoots Yoga at 6pm CT. It’s not just for cancer survivors and loved ones. All are welcome.

Email me at kellyinselmanntherapy@gmail.com for the link if you don’t have it.

To keep reading, consider being a JoyBoots subscriber.

Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

Encouragement, companionship, community and support for cancer survivors.

SUBSCRIBE

It’s OK to say “I’m not ok with it…”

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This past week, I was NOT ok with it.

Here’s what I was not ok with:

  • The situation of the US in the world:
  • Betrayal of Ukraine and allying with Russia
  • Leaving NATO
  • Firing federal workers by the thousands with no plan for effects on people or the economy.
  • Musk, an unelected person with massive conflicts of interest, billions in government subsidies, and no government training or security clearance, being in charge of sensitive and private information to do with as he pleases without oversight
  • The firing of people of color across many industries and the threats against fairness and inclusion.
  • Tariffs and belligerence towards all our allies.
  • That my country was going to double down on the worst of our nature and history-imperialism, exploitation, and oppression and renounce all pretense of representative democracy and civil society.
  • That a lot of people don’t understand history or don’t care.

I was also inspired by this piece by Andrew Sullivan, Bully in his Pulpit, and how he says he wasn’t ok, to share my own version with you.

Personally, I’m also not ok with not knowing whether my daughter can or will go to a college that’s a good fit for her. Not knowing whether we will lose all our money from social security, investments and savings for college.

I’m not ok with not knowing if there will even BE college.

As my friend Cari said, “Well, there will probably be some sort of college. It might not be what we expected.”

I’m tired of things called unexpected and “unprecedented” when they are actually damaging people and society.

Also, it was my birthday. Which has more than once been a time of emotional regression for me. Tears at the Table

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Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

Encouragement, companionship, community and support for cancer survivors.

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I sat with my hand on my heart

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I sat with my hand on my heart. Taking a dose of my own medicine. Sitting with the feelings I have and offering myself compassion.


Compassion for the pain of sadness, loss, and anger. For the feeling of powerlessness. And for how very difficult it is to feel these things.


Mostly, I busy myself to avoid these types of feelings. And I know you try to as well. But there’s something transformative about sitting with the experience you are having and loving yourself through it.


If you are a cancer survivor or caregiver, you are invited to join the JoyBooters Yoga and Meditation class any Wednesday at 6pm CT – you are welcome no matter where you are in the world or in your experience of cancer. Meaning newly diagnosed, or years out of treatment. Free for paid subscribers.

To keep reading, consider being a JoyBoots subscriber.

Joy Boots for Cancer Survivors

Encouragement, companionship, community and support for cancer survivors.

SUBSCRIBE

DISCLAIMER
I’m a licensed clinical social worker and yoga teacher practicing in Austin, Texas. My writings and videos represent a combination of my own personal opinions and my professional training, but they do not reflect professional or medical advice. Interaction with me via the vlog or blog does not constitute a professional therapeutic relationship. For individualized professional advice, you should seek the services of a therapist who can dedicate the time necessary to get to know you and your physical and mental health needs. I do not assume liability for any portion or content of material on the vlog/blog and accept no liability for damage or injury resulting from your decision to interact with the website.

© 2024 Kelly Inselmann. All Rights Reserved.
Website Conception & Design by Tracking Wonder

When I remember my Joy Boots… I feel grounded, connected to the earth and my place in it. I accept my body with its vulnerabilities and sensations. I am aware of my breathing and able to breathe deeply. I am connected to my own life force energy.

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