Friendships

This Friday, MaryBeth and I leave for the National Wellness Conference in Minneapolis where we both will teach and help celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the association.  For several weeks now, I’ve been thinking about this trip, conference, and the friends I’ll laugh, eat, and cry with.  These friendships have brought me great joy, and many have supported me throughout my wellness career and now in my cancer journey. 

This past week I’ve been teaching groups of cancer survivors and caregivers how to get out of their heads and into their hearts.  Friendship is a heart led thing and the touch of a friend can quiet our endless mind chatter/fears, and open up our hearts.  This next week I’ll breathe in friendships that have been my life energy and thank them for the precious gift we have shared.  Open your heart to a friend today.  

Sunrise Shouting

Christmas morning at our lake house, I watched the fog slowly burn off the lake, and thought about Nepo’s words about still moments of silence.  We were several days out on a 7-day hike, spending the night in one of the many White Mountain lean-to’s along our trail.  In the wee morning hours, a large porcupine woke us as he climbed over campers looking for food.  I had never seen a porcupine that large, and everyone was scared, so we hit the trail before sunrise, agreeing to stop and watch the sun come up at breakfast.  The majority of the kids were from the Boston ghettos, and I remember their eyes as that giant yellow ball seem to rise out of the pass far below.  One kid finally ask, “What is that”, and I replied “sunrise”.  It was in that still moment that I heard my “be” shout deep inside be a teacher.  Listen to your “be” lately? 

          

Passing Life Moments On

Bill Baun Cancer Thriver

The stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, is our life story, and helps organize our experiences giving us a sense of self.  Stories also play a role in determining our behaviors, and who we will become.  When we begin to understand our stories, we gain the wisdom of life lessons, which ultimately becomes the source of our most trusted guidance for living.  Our wisdom becomes a touchstone of inspiration, guidance, and teachable moments, as we share it with loved ones who may encounter similar experience along their life journeys.  Life stories get to the “heart” of what really matters and give us a greater sense of purpose, meaning, and direction for living.  Sharing these stories helps shape the future path for others creating generational touchstones that will last long after we are gone.  

Fear is Like Cholesterol

Fear is like cholesterol – we need some, but too much cholesterol and our hearts clog up, and our life energy suffers.  Too much fear and our mind chatter turns irrational or maybe too rational and our nervous systems freeze up.  A healthy nervous system can bounce back, but a weakened system or a dysregulated system hangs on to stress and it gets harder and harder to manage emotions.  In a dysregulated system, there is no buffer zone or window of tolerance and it is easy for fear to rise up again and again. 

                                                                                               

Through my teaching and coaching this week, I met several patients and caregivers trapped in fear cycles.  I talked to them about the self-care and well-being practices that would increase their resiliency.  Life can be hard, but a resilient / healthy nervous system discharges stress and brings us back to balance and flow.  Consider these resiliency practices: move more, eat right, pray / meditate, develop a large network of good friends, and have a purpose in life   meaningful to you. 

Air Steps: Empowering Faith

A cancer journey is filled with leaps of faith.  I call these “air steps,” after my Army days when every time I jumped out of an airplane or rappelled from a helicopter, that first step before the chute or rope took hold was taken in faith.  My cancer journey has been filled with many air steps: body scans, body probes, surgeries, radiation, and multiple drug protocols and oral chemos that have extended my life and fueled my passion to tell my story about the awesomeness of life.  Faith is more than believing in the unseen or unknown.  Faith is believing in something larger than yourself (e.g. God, love, family, and peace).  But, faith is more than just thinking about it, or having strong convictions.  Faith is about taking next steps, and moving to action.  My leaps of faith have led to hope, joy, trust, confidence, grace, and devotion to deep prayer and meditation.  Have you taken any air steps lately?   

Healing Calm

Healing calm is the practice of still moments in our lives that connect us deep within ourselves and where healing unfolds.

*Modified from Mark Nepo

Survivorship Week at MD Anderson

This is Survivorship Week at MD Anderson where we celebrate with individuals that are living with, living through, and living beyond cancer.  Cancer is a family and friend affair, so family caregivers and friends are recognized as survivors at MD Anderson and are welcome to all activities.  Down load the brochure with all the dates/times/locations of all the activities. 

This week I will teach: Living & Healing in Gratitude on Monday, Healing Calm: The Practice of Stillness on Tuesday along with a Healing Bracelet Workshop.  On Wednesday, I will teach Air Steps (steps of faith) and lead another Healing Bracelet Workshop.  Thursday, I will lead an Onco Walk called Walking: Pathways to Health, Hope and Joy, and Friday I will close the week with a class on Passing Life Moments On.  For me, Survivorship Week is a time to celebrate the awesomeness of life with old and new friends.  All week my blog will give those too far to attend the celebration, high points from my classes.  This week CELEBRATE your survivorship by thanking those that matter! 

MD Anderson Cancer Survivorship Brochure