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.
Most cancer survivors in Austin have heard of Angela!
Dr. Angela Wicker-Ramos is an influential advocate for the health and healing of cancer survivors in Central Texas. She is also a highly skilled physical therapist who relieves pain and solves complex side effects.
And for information about coronavirus concerns and her commitment to patients here.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I am the founder and director of Cancer Rehab & Integrative Medicine (CRIM). I have specialized in oncology physical therapy and lymphedema treatment for over a decade and developed several successful oncology and lymphedema programs at multiple hospitals and clinics in Austin and Albuquerque. After working most of my career in the hospital settings I saw the need for more holistic multidisciplinary approaches to cancer healing and recovery. This need led to the creation of CRIM. I was born and raised in Austin, TX and returned to Austin as quickly as possible after graduate school. When not working I enjoy sewing, costuming, puppetry, dance, and any activity that helps me find my inner child and playful joy.What drew you to work with cancer survivors and/or caregivers?
As a young adult my grandmother was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and mother with breast cancer (twice.) Many more of my family and friends have dealt with the diagnosis of cancer throughout my life as well. Therefore, I have walked through the cancer journey on several occasions as caregiver, family member, and friend. It was around the time of my mother’s first diagnosis that I realized the powerful impact oncology rehabilitation and integrative medicine can have on a person’s life both during and after cancer treatment. This was what drove the passion to dedicate my career to the cancer population. This focus has evolved into creating a wellness center supporting the mind, body, and soul of those in the cancer community. Four years ago I opened Cancer Rehab and Integrative Medicine which offers mind-body-integrative practices including yoga, meditation, acupuncture, massage, physical therapy and other healing modalities.
What has your experience been with the emotional impact on a cancer survivor’s physical recovery?
Emotions such as grief, fear, anxiety, depression, and isolation are common in the cancer community with both those dealing with the cancer and their caregivers. There needs to be a multidisciplinary approach to healing and recovery. In my clinical practice as a physical therapist it is clear that the mind-body connection is powerful. In order to truly thrive both the mind and the body need to be a focus.
How do you help people with emotional recovery and what interventions do you use?
The multidisciplinary approach at CRIM has a powerful impact on healing. Along with my rehab and physical activity prescription for my clients we discuss mind-body-practices and integrative modalities. Our healing team includes yoga therapists, mind-body coaches, acupuncturists, massage therapists, Reiki masters, certified aromatherapists and dietitians. This team ensures that clients have the tools they need to not just survive but thrive.
What self care practices do you recommend for recovery and healing?
Physical Activity, Healthy Nutrition, Mind-Body Practices, Hydration and good sleep hygiene, Counseling, Journaling, Music, Dance, and Art, time time in nature, social support and community.
WILD CARD: Ocean or Mountains? Tell us more!
My mother is from Puerto Rico and I spent a large amount of my time as a child by the ocean on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. Everything about the ocean brings me a sense of peace and joy including the sounds, smells, and sensation of water. I am a mermaid at heart and often dream of the day I will grow my tail! I have the red hair so I am half way there.
If you wish to connect with Angela, you may connect with her through email at angela@cancerrehabaustin.com.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I am Shondi, 41 years old, lesbian, married with dogs and cats. I am a hairstylist by trade and I sell cleaner beauty products in my private North Austin studio. My wife and I are renovating a 60 year old house/cottage. We were inspired to downsize after a motor home trip last summer with our two dogs. We are obsessed with houses and everything about making a small space work efficiently. We have a secret dream of having our own design show. ???? I also dream of (and am somewhat working on) writing a book, running a successful Airbnb, and ultimately incorporating more healing modalities into my beauty practice. I also just started dancing again after a 20 year hiatus from studio classes.Share a little bit about your cancer experience.
I was diagnosed with triple positive IDC at age 33 in 2012. I went through a bilateral mastectomy with implants, six rounds of HCT and one year of herceptin infusions. I am on the 10 year tamoxifen plan. I lost my hair permanently as a result of the drug taxotere. I have lost one ovary as a result of polyps and have a cyst on my ovary as a result of tamoxifen. I went into menopause permanently after my first chemo treatment. I had a scary experience when my implants became infected. My implant recon ended up being a nightmare and I lived with uncomfortable large implants for six years before explanting and going flat. I have a new found vigor to force flat visibility now.How has it benefited you to be part of the Joyboots community?
I enjoy reading the emails from Kelly. I don’t always have time to go to South Austin for a yoga class now that I’ve moved north, but I enjoy being able to pop in and listen to a guided meditation or read some inspirational content.What is your meditation practice like?
I do a quick chakra meditation in the morning usually. I follow that by pulling a tarot card and journaling on what comes up. I do these things in different order sometimes. If I have time I follow it up with some time moving on the mat.
How has yoga and meditation benefited you?
Yoga served as a portal for me to find a spiritual understanding and practice that works for me. I also enjoy playing in the body and working with breath and energy. Yoga serves as a language or a tool for me to communicate with my body.
What practices have benefited you the most?
Yin yoga, breathing techniques and yoga flow.
What are you still struggling to cope with?
I am not struggling too much at this time. I recently “explanted” after having implant reconstruction. I am learning to use muscles that had been dormant or stuck for years and am regaining my sense of balance.
What brings you moments of joy?
Watching my pups play in the yard, kitty purrs, hot coffee first thing in the morning, seeing my artistic vision come to life no matter the medium, and dancing.
What is something you’d like to share with the community to help them along their healing journey?
Show up for yourself. Have intentions to thrive. Time after time I have learned that when I truly show up for myself, get honest about what I need, and intend to thrive within the parameters that I live in, I can facilitate huge shifts in my perception of how good or bad things are. I find meaning in my life through self reflection and showing up for myself. I have seen proof that shifting my attention in this way benefits those around me as well as myself.
WILD CARD: What is your favorite saying, quote or personal motto?
My personal motto is that if you feel a momentum, trust it. It doesn’t have to happen all at once.
If you wish to connect with Shondi, you may connect with her through email at hairbyshondi@me.com or on Instagram at sitting_with_shondi, @hair_by_shondi and @the_pugh_house.
“Everyone experiences fragmentation. But not everyone knows how to re-integrate and heal.”
Dr. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa
In the midst of treatment for cancer, I looked in the mirror and felt shocked at how changed I was on the outside. “This is me?” I had no hair, no eyebrows, pain and fatigue. Deep lines had appeared out of nowhere and there were dark circles under my eyes. I hadn’t spent much time in front of the mirror before, barely wearing makeup and not interested in the latest fashions. But now I did and I could see my soul.
When trauma occurs, you feel fragmented. Feelings get pushed aside in favor of survival. Parts of your experience are forgotten, the changes in your body create unfamiliar and unwelcome sensations. Your identity shifts as well as your sense of who you are.
As uncomfortable as it is, this fragmentation is a normal response to a traumatic, life threatening experience. The problem is that you don’t always get to re-integrate and integration is vital to healing.
In order to integrate, you have to acknowledge all aspects of your experience – changes in your body, relationships, undesirable memories, big feelings, and find ways to integrate them. When you’re integrated, you no longer feel numb, and have access to your emotions. You are more in charge of how you act and react and you can talk about your experience in a coherent way. What creates a feeling of integration when you’re fragmented?
Feeling truly seen, heard and witnessed by another person is one way. And personal reflection through meditation invites your inner witness. When you include others, they are your witness. When you are meditating and/or being the observer of your own experience, you are your own witness.
Movement that gets your circulation moving, balances your energy and the hemispheres of the brain is another way. Yoga practice can also balance and integrate the functions of the brain stem (which controls survival) and the frontal lobe (which manages emotions and executive functioning).
In my upcoming workshop, we’ll explore the concept of fragmentation vs. integration and how integration helps you center and heal.
Registration now open for the workshop on February 27 and I hope you’ll join me.
Open to all! Cancer survivors, oncology professionals, mental health professionals, yoga teachers-anyone who is interested in experiencing the Kundalini Yoga approach to integration and healing.
The Yoga & Talk series features Joybooter stories and words of encouragement to nurture, heal and inspire— and in doing so, helps us to get to know one another, stay connected and to remind us that we are never alone in our healing journeys.
Rakefet Laviolette brings a zest for living, open curiosity and deep empathy into our community. Her willingness to take risks and embrace new adventures inspires others, as does her honesty and generosity.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I am a 42 year old woman, yogini, breast cancer thriver, meditator, mother of two amazing bonus daughters, mamma to two sweet chihuahua-mix rescue puppies and a grey tabby kitty, wife, world traveler, mental health therapist in training, vegetarian home chef, and lover of deep connection. I've lived many different lives.
I was born in Israel hence the name Rakefet which means cyclamen (a three petaled flower that looks like it is falling up that grows on the mountainsides in Jerusalem).
I grew up in rural Pennsylvania next to a cow pasture.
We were the only Jewish family in the school district. I am the eldest of three daughters + many foster teens my family took in when I was 11-18 years old.
I served 8 years in the US Army Reserves as a forklift operator and truck driver. I was deployed to Hungary and Bosnia during my first year of college. I am now a disabled veteran due to hearing loss and tinnitus.
I spent 20 years working in non-profits who worked with issues ranging from domestic violence to child care advocacy and Judaism. I've lived as an adult in NYC, San Francisco and now Austin for the last 10 years.
In 2007 I walked for 30 days from the base of the Pyrenees in Spain to Santiago de Compostela on El Camino de Santiago. I went on to travel for 6 more months over land and sea through western and eastern Europe, the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and Israel.
For the last 6 years my husband and I ran the Rattletree School of Marimba, a community music school teaching Zimbabwean marimba and mbira music.
Share a little bit about your cancer experience.
I have been getting mammograms since I was 35 since my mother had breast cancer when she was in her early 40's and my maternal grandmother had it in her later years. I do not have the BRCA gene. In May 2018, they found a lump in my left breast which turned out to be invasive ductal carcinoma, ER/PR positive. My health care is through the VA system and the part-time male breast surgeon in Temple told me that I was too skinny for DIEP and that the most important thing was to get the cancer out quickly. I chose a bilateral mastectomy. He said that he would leave me with flaps of skin that could later be filled. My husband and I were both in shock and didn't know any better.
I process things through sharing with community and fortunately, I shared a FB live video talking about the surgeon's recommendation a week or so before the scheduled surgery.
A fan of our marimba band reached out privately and he said that he and his wife, who happened to be one of Austin's best breast reconstruction plastic surgeons, would like to invite us over for dinner to share information about other options for care.
It turned out to be Dr. Christine Fisher. She and her husband graciously spent 2-3 hours with us in their home over dinner talking in clear accessible language with us as human beings about the possibilities. She truly saw me as a human being and helped to pair me with the right breast surgeon and guided my care once I asked her to be my plastic surgeon. Her staff worked tirelessly with me to climb the chain of command at the VA to approve outside treatment in Austin.
I am blessed beyond measure. I had a bilateral mastectomy with delayed DIEP flap reconstruction, 3 revisions including the addition of small gummy bear implants to fill in the hollows that fat grafting couldn't without several more surgeries. All together I had 5 surgeries, one infection, and lots of humbling poking and prodding. I'm now on tamoxifen for 5 - 10 years.
The brain fog, night sweats and fear of cardio toxicity from tamoxifen are what I work with every day.
How has it benefitted you to be part of the Joyboots community?
The Joyboots community has been there for me throughout my cancer journey. I love coming into the yoga space and being able to be 100% myself. I don't have to explain anything. I feel held and seen. The movements and breath work feel nourishing to my body and soul.
Kelly is an inspiration to me personally and is one of the reasons I am pursuing a career in mental health counseling. I love the way she weaves together movement, breath, chanting, and community into promoting wellbeing for the Joyboots community.
What is your meditation practice like?
I have an on again, off again meditation practice. My life was changed dramatically when I attended my first 10 day silent Vipassana retreat in Kaufman. I meditated for 10+ hours a day and for the first time in my life I was able to truly drop in.
Being in silence and not having any responsibilities or roles to fill was transformational. It was the first time I remember being truly alone with myself. I have since attended one more 10 day Vipassana retreat which brought up a lot of fear. I haven't been back to Kaufman since the cancer diagnosis, but I plan to go when my schedule allows.
For now, I am taking part in a 50 day introduction to meditation course through the Waking Up app by Sam Harris. He approaches it through his background as a neuroscientist and avid meditator. I find the 10 minute meditations simple to stick to and profoundly interesting in exploring the landscape of my inner world. Here is a link to a free month of the app for anyone who is interested in trying it:
Waking Up
How has yoga and meditation benefitted you?
Yoga has brought me community first and foremost. Yoga and meditation have allowed me to get to know myself more and more each day. My practices change as I grow. They give me space to pause and drop into my body, soul and mind spaces. I feel more now and have more tools to be in the world in an authentic way. I have more opportunities to consciously act instead of react to stimuli.
What practices have benefited you the most?
Yoga, breath-work, and meditation.
What are you still struggling to cope with?
The fear of recurrence. How to tell my story of who I am becoming each day and who I was. The night sweats and brain fog from tamoxifen. Figuring out how to take care of myself while being there in a healthy way for friends who are with me on the cancer journey. I am particularly having trouble with fear and deep empathy when I connect with friends who have metastatic cancer.
What brings you moments of joy?
Being greeted by my Penny (6 month old chihuahua mix rescue). Time with my bonus daughter Siena. Cooking in my instant pot.
Sunshine! A good yoga twist. A workout that takes everything I have and leaves me spent in a great way at the East Austin Athletic Club through Team Survivor.
What is something you'd like to share with the community to help them along their healing journey?
I'm really enjoying this book Walking Wonder by John O'Donohue, Walking in Wonder. It is available as an audio book for free from the ATX public library through their Hoopla app.
WILD CARD: Ocean or Mountains?
I grew up on the east coast and had the narrative in my head that cold and winter are the devil. They meant cold, damp, hard, icy, and grey. I had such negativity around even the mention of cold.
Last weekend I was gifted the opportunity through B4BC Boarding for Breast Cancer to go to a retreat in the mountains of Wyoming near the Grand Tetons. The weather was in the negatives and teens the whole time. I wasn't sure about going but something told me to try it. The tamoxifen hot flashes were a blessing :-) Also, the dry cold with the powdery snow that felt like clouds hugging me was transformational.
I learned to ski and had no fear of falling on icy patches of snow. Instead, falling was a delight into the powder. I was surrounded by women on their own cancer journeys. I was gifted the right warm clothing and was nourished with home cooked healthy food. We did yoga every day, received acupuncture treatments and were supported as we explored something new.
So as much as I love the ocean, I'm choosing mountains for now.
If you wish to connect with Rakefet, you may connect with her through email at rakefet@rattletree.com.
In almost every healing tradition, the first step is always the same: Getting honest with yourself and others about what is really happening.
This is what we’ve been exploring in week one of my Healing Well: Reconnect to your LIFE course that began last Sunday. I’m so impressed with the depth of the sharing and the synchronicities, similarities, and differences being discovered in the group. Working together moves us all forward!
In the case of people going through a cancer experience, there can be a lot of support for being in denial and pressure to put on a happy face, even when the inner experience is far different. The pressure can come from family and friends who feel uncomfortable or awkward in the presence of strong feelings.
Sometimes, the pressure comes from within. You may believe that allowing yourself to acknowledge your fear or anger or grief will make you feel worse or somehow make the cancer grow.
I don’t subscribe to this. In my experience, it’s far more damaging the suppress your real feelings, for your body, your relationships, and your emotional healing.
You can take this very moment to check in with yourself about what you are feeling today. Look at the list on this post’s graphic. Do any of these resonated with you today? If not, what word better describes your experience of this moment?
Lois brings such light to a room and to her fellow survivors. Maybe because she’s been brave enough to really peer into the darkness she’s had to face. Her ability to use all the tools from yoga, meditation, music and drumming help her work in both subtle and joyful ways with her own energy. I always enjoy and trust the kindness and encouragement that Lois offers the JoyBoots community.
In her interview, Lois mentions how much she benefitted from the 6 week Healing Well: Reconnect with Your Life After Cancer course. The next one starts January 12 and I’d love you to join us.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I am a drummer, a singer, and an application developer with 3 fur kids. I am a world traveler.Share a little bit about your cancer experience.
I went into the doctor for what I thought was a kidney stone on Wednesday and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer by Friday. Nothing in the world prepares you for that news. I am luckier than many with ovarian cancer. I had lots of side effects from treatment like cancer rash and nephropathy, but it was caught early and as of this past week I am 2 years NED.How has it benefited you to be part of the Joyboots community?
Going through cancer alone is tough. Even for those with family to help them, there is no one who understands just what you are going through like another survivor – especially emotionally. Finding the people out there who get it and who let you be where you are each day without expectation of anything has felt like a miracle. It’s a sisterhood no one wants to be a part of but this group has helped me heal in so many ways.What is your meditation practice like?
Right now I am participating in the 40 day healing meditation practice. We are using a healing mantra that I used quite a bit in the 6 week Healing Course and it is my “go to” for balance and breathing space most days. I am now expanding to other mantras to meditate on as well.
How has yoga and meditation benefited you?
When I found Kelly’s class, I was barely walking, living in a constant state of fear and anxiety and on the edge of giving up. Yoga and meditation has helped me heal all of that and helped me find balance emotionally and physically as I try to return to the “real world” after cancer.
What practices have benefited you the most?
Kelly’s 6 week online course helped me really look at the emotions I had burning during and after treatment. Weekly class is my safe space. I always know if I can get that far in the week, I will be ok. Moving, breathing deeply, and sharing energy with this group of survivors is what helps me deal with whatever else is going on in the world around me.
What are you still struggling to cope with?
My body is still stiff and my mind easily rattled when faced with the pace and cruelty I see in the world. My weekly yoga break allows me to re-enter and be okay with where I am in all aspects of my life.
What brings you moments of joy?
The joy and laughter we share as a group. We have all been through some really tough times but when the group comes together to rally around and uplift each other, my heart soars. It is one of the few places where, when someone asks “how are you?” you know they actually want to know and will listen. And then there is Kelly. She brings such joy, compassion and heart to the classes. She makes it so easy to share our own joy and bright light.
What is something you’d like to share with the community to help them along their healing journey?
Find people who lift you up. Go where you are appreciated just as you are. Accept nothing less. Kelly and this group has taught me so much about loving myself, finding my strength in vulnerability, and opened my heart to healing not just myself but those around us. Just by being who we are.
If you wish to connect with Lois, you may connect with her on Facebook as Elle Brown or Instagram as DolphinLBL.
The Yoga & Talk series features Joybooter stories and words of encouragement to nurture, heal and inspire— and in doing so, helps us to get to know one another, stay connected and to remind us that we are never alone in our healing journeys.
I heard about Sarah before I ever met her when a friend told me she was an economist who used to work for Governor Ann Richards. Her powerful intellect, compassion, and depth leave an impression. When she was in yoga teacher training, I remember an intensive weekend with a visiting teacher where I saw Sarah sit up in the very front day after day doing every exercise and mediation full out. And I knew that she was still in treatment. Her commitment and desire for knowledge and experience are inspiring!
If you’d like to join in the 40 day meditation she references, click here.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I still want to change the world. I worked as an economist and then got (even more) interested in politics as a way to make things better. Political activism can be very stressful and abstract so currently I volunteer with my therapy dog Sammy, serve on our neighborhood association board and look for other service opportunities to “make it real.” Current hobbies are hiking and reading and when I’m in the mood, cooking. My wife Suzanne and I have been together 34 years (we were the first LGBTQ couple to be married in Texas). We have two lovely adopted daughters, Dawn who is 22 and Ting who is 18. These 3 women have brought bucketfuls of joy into my life.Share a little bit about your cancer experience.
I had emergency surgery for a rare ovarian cancer five years ago. Chemo and multiple surgeries followed. I joined a Stage 1 Clinical Trial in January of 2017. It is a miracle that I am still here. My trial, so far, holds my cancer in check. Cancer has taught me to be grateful for opening my eyes each morning to a new day: I’m here! Cancer has also taught me how valuable and deeply nourishing relationships with family, friends, and sometimes, even strangers, can be and that we should tend to, and strive to enrich these relationships. I strive to support others with love and compassion, this has become the central life-affirming action I can try to take each day.How has it benefited you to be part of the Joyboots community?
I love Kelly’s quiet leadership and the environment she creates. Her leadership echoes throughout the Community so we can follow her lead and affirm to each other, “It really is okay to be exactly how you are in this moment — to feel and acknowledge the joy, the fear, the hope, the sorrow…. just be with and honor your experience in the moment.” I look so forward to participating in the Weekly Yoga and Online Sanctuary Communities and getting Kelly’s emails.What is your meditation practice like?
One day I will have a daily at-home practice (again). The week Kelly’s class started the 40-day RA MA DA SA “challenge,” it re-started my daily at home practice (keep your fingers crossed). In addition to doing Kundalini Yoga (sometimes at home and more often at Flow Yoga) I attend a meditation group at Seton Cove on Wednesday mornings. On Monday nights, I participate in a Power of 8/Healing Circle with friends, a form of group meditation for me. I need structures like these to maintain a consistent meditation (and yoga) practice.
How has yoga and meditation benefited you?
I feel like these practices have made me a different person. I also fee like yoga and meditation have deeply benefited my health and my ability to experience joy and to try and “not sweat the small stuff.” I particularly enjoy singing along to Kundalini mantras in my car — its the best part of driving around Austin these days and makes me a more patient, friendly driver. The first time I heard Mul Mantra, I knew KY was really something special!
What practices have benefited you the most?
I participated in the Level 1 Kundalini Teacher Training program last year. It was an opportunity to take my practice deeper. Thanks to Spotify, I have a pretty good library of mantras, which I enjoy playing around the house or in the car.
What are you still struggling to cope with?
I have scans every two months. Its pretty anxiety producing sometimes. I live closer to acknowledging death as an unavoidable part of life than I ever have before. For the most part I have been fairly symptom and pain-free since my diagnosis. I wonder how I will handle my decline and if I will find the same unexpected inner and outer resources that have blessed my journey so far.
What brings you moments of joy?
I love the outdoors, just being outside in Nature on a beautiful day makes my soul sing. I love hearing my daughters and their friends laugh together when they are home. Or just being with our pets and with family, hearing about Suzanne or Dawn or Ting’s daily exploits. I enjoy reading something new and learning something valuable from what I read.
What is something you’d like to share with the community to help them along their healing journey?
It’s really the little things that matter. Each day, try and make it a priority to surround yourself with people and experiences that bring you joy and make you happy.
I deeply appreciate those who paid it forward by helping me and I love sharing whatever information I can that might be helpful to caregivers and survivors. It has been particularly gratifying to me to help women and caregivers who are newly diagnosed and want to learn from my experience.
If you wish to connect with Sarah, you may send her an email at sgoodfriend@gmail.com.
Do you get frustrated with physical changes or limitations after treatment for cancer?
Do “limitations” leave you feeling diminished?
As humans, we all face physical limitations related to being mortal and facing our own mortality is a realization that brings all kinds of feelings – fear, grief, anger, denial, acceptance. But just as we must face certain limitations related to our human existence, there is also the potential for limitless possibility.
How do we move through the world and keep taking action once we are so aware of our limitations, vulnerabilities and imperfections?
“The first way that I think about it is through my public health work. It’s about the idea that we’re all so incredibly limited and yet there are ways that we string together and are almost unlimited as groups of people. It’s magic when that happens- when you all start pulling together and then you eradicate polio from the world, which we’re almost on the verge of doing.”
I love this wisdom from Dr. Atul Gawande where he describes how connection and community create a synergistic effect that give us the feeling of growth and possibility, where creativity and new ideas emerge, and where we keep each other motivated and accountable to our missions in life. This is when the seemingly impossible can happen. The point here is that as humans we are are all indeed imperfect, limited and uncertain of the future. When we lack connection we feel alone and more limited, but among a healthy community, we can help each other grow, expand, and heal.
In my Healing Well Course, we explore Principle #4: Finding the Gifts in Limitations. For some people, the cancer experience is the first time you find you can’t push past your limitations caused by illness or treatments. You are given an unavoidable opportunity to discover the potential gifts of limitations. How can you work with your limitations to benefit and even enhance your life? Are there family or friends with whom you need to practice setting healthy limits to prioritize your own healing?
For deeper healing to happen, to push beyond our limitations, I believe community is essential! I’m leading a free 40 day meditation challenge, a challenge by CHOICE and INSPIRATION, NOT obligation. You can participate as much or as little as you like and start anytime. Doing meditation in a supportive community and also taking the Healing Well Course are great ways to move beyond real and perceive limitations created by the “new normal.” I hope you’ll join us in the free 40 day meditation challenge here.
Elizabeth draws me in with her depth of understanding about human nature and her deep concern about the state of society, Originally from Ingleside, Texas, she is unmistakable with her silver hair, strong opinions, and irreverent wit. She offers support and deep empathy to many friends and loved ones and she is not afraid to speak up and help others do the same. Her tender heart and ability to access the meditative space are some of her hidden superpowers. Check out the blog post I wrote featuring my favorite quote from her: http://www.kellyinselmann.com/monday-morning-videos/prioritize-self-care/on-falling-apart/. She references it at the end of her interview below.
Share a little bit about yourself.
I am a seeker, a partner in love, a mom to three wonderful daughters, a grandmother to adventuresome grandchildren and a great grandmother of super young souls. And a retiree from a heavy participation in the human rat race.How has it benefited you to be part of the Joyboots community?
Connectivity and mindfulness. I have truly learned to calm my mind and the value of movement, meditation, and the search for authentic self.What is your meditation practice like?
My goal is daily but the reality is four to five times a week, unless I count breath of fire at the traffic lights or the “sat nams” in line at the grocery store.
How has yoga and meditation benefited you?
There are numerous benefits. My anxiety is certainly brought down with mindfulness and my lymphedema symptoms are diminished by the movement.
What practices have benefited you the most?
Meditation in combination with yoga.
What are you still struggling to cope with?
Anxiety. No way to determine the ratio related to PTSD and the wonderful little pill to block the estrogen, but the struggle is real.
What brings you moments of joy?
The energy that comes from the power of group practice and the sharing of time and space and experiences. Noticing the intricate beauty of people and nature, rather like the space between words or musical notes or my steps – those things I once did not know were there. And, of course, the great healing sound of laughter. And not forgetting the healing of tears and their ability to cleanse the soul. And good people, good food, and music.
What is something you’d like to share with the community to help them along their healing journey?
I say this often, mostly to myself. How can we pull ourselves together when we have not allowed ourselves to fall apart?
What if doing it together beats doing it alone? For deeper healing to happen,
I believe community is needed!
You are cordially invited to a daily meditation to take you through the Holiday season and beyond.
Yesterday, I was thinking about WHY I’m so attracted to group work even though I’m a MAJOR introvert. It’s because being part of an ongoing group means you get to cut through the small talk and get down to what you are really thinking and feeling. You can give and receive energy and support.
I was also thinking about my life and how off balance I have felt in 2019. I came to the same conclusion I always do: daily meditation practice is essential. It enhances my daily life, mental health and physical wellbeing.
With the topics of community and daily meditation on my mind, I taught my Wednesday Wellness Yoga class today where one woman shared how hard it is to do the practices on her own.
Practice IS hard to do on your own. There are SO many distractions. Creating space for yourself can be hard.
Someone else said she was setting an intention to “let the universe in” to a difficult situation that she knows she can’t control. As cancer survivors, we are all familiar with feeling like things are beyond our personal control.
And so as the class was lying in sivasana, I decided to initiate a 40 day community meditation. The class had a very positive response! And we’d love you to join in.
We are going to challenge each other to participate in a 40 day meditation. This is a challenge by CHOICE and INSPIRATION, NOT obligation. You can participate as much or as little as you like and start anytime. It’s completely free.
How will it work?
1.Each day, STARTING TODAY (or whenever you open this email), you are invited to begin and continue during the 40 day period as often as you can. Daily if possible!
If you decide to participate even for one day, reply to thisemail so I know to include you in the Facebook group (email and Facebook name) or in a group text if you don’t like Facebook (phone number and name)
2.We are going to be using the RA MA DA SA Sa Say So HUNG Meditation from the Kundalini Yoga tradition. This meditation is for healing through compassion and being open to miracles to work in your life – in other words, allowing the Universe in! The meditation is simple and melodic.
3.Suggested times for meditation: 3,7, or 11 minutes up to 31 minutes. You can set a timer.
4.You could also simply have the mantra playing as you work, drive or sleep.
Sit for a few moments/minutes afterward and practice inviting the Universe in. Be open to healing and offer yourself compassion.
Step Four
Say “Sat Nam” to honor your True Self.
Step Five
If you wish, share in the facebook group or text that you completed your practice for the day. You can write up to a sentence or more or simply say “did it!” When you share that you have done your practice, you will inspire and remind others.
Step Six
Be kind to yourself. If you forget, just start again. If it’s not right for you, that’s ok!
Step Seven
Invite your friends. Anyone can join. The more the merrier!
This mantra taps into the energies of the sun, moon, earth, and the Infinite Spirit to bring deep healing. It is important to pull the navel point powerfully on the first Sa and on Hung. Note that the word Hung is not long and drawn out. Rather, it is clipped off forcefully as you pull in the navel. Chant one complete cycle of the entire mantra with each breath. Then deeply inhale and repeat. Remember to move the mouth precisely with each sound. Try to feel the resonance in the mouth and in the sinus area.
Mental Focus: Healing for yourself or someone else. Letting go of your need to control. Allowing the Infinite in.
Time: Continue chanting for 3, 7, 11 or 31 minutes.
To End: To end the meditation, inhale deeply and hold the breath, as you offer a healing prayer. Visualize the person you wish to heal as being totally healthy, radiant, and strong. See the person completely engulfed in a healing white light and completely healed. Then exhale and inhale deeply again, hold the breath, and offer the same prayer again. Exhale.
To complete, inhale deeply, stretch your arms up high, and vigorously shake out your hands and fingers for several seconds. Keep the arms up and hands shaking as you exhale. Repeat two more times and relax.
