Every two minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer. Lucy O'Donnell was herself three years ago. 'Cancer is My Teacher' is her story, describing unflinchingly how she has turned the disease into a positive experience - and how you can do the same.
Three words Bethany never thought her 34-year-old, healthy, organic-eating, wellness-teaching yogini body would ever hear? "You have cancer." Even more shocking? She was excited. A compassionate companion for anyone facing the C word, My Guru Cancer is the inspirational story of a woman who dares to drop the fight, welcoming breast cancer into her life as a wise teacher of self-growth, love, and gratitude. In this down-to-earth, funny, and heartfelt confessional, join Bethany on her two-year journey into remission as she applies the practical tools of inquiry to meet each challenge: diagnostic testing, treatment, losing body parts, finances, relationships, emotional exorcisms, and the fear of death. Go beyond simple positive thinking and learn how to cultivate a healing mindset that transforms any nightmare into a blessing, creating a life of laughter and peace. True freedom from cancer is a state of mind. And you don't have to go to war or wait until you're pronounced "cancer-free" to find it.
Eli is a young boy who finds out that he has cancer. This creatively written book of hope follows Eli's journey through the eyes of a patient, parents, siblings, teachers, health care providers, and friends.
A Teacher's Journey...What Breast Cancer Taught Me is a heartfelt account of retired teacher Judith Fitzgerald's diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. Written in journal format, it chronicles the emotional and spiritual journey she traveled during the twelve months following her diagnosis. After undergoing a double mastectomy in January 2009, Judith gives a detailed account of her treatment and reconstruction. Woven into the story is how she relied on faith, prayer and the support from family and friends in the most difficult hours. This is not only a breast cancer story, it's a summary of what she learned from extensive research on how other survivors conquered this disease. It provides Judy's "Cliff Notes" on the diet and lifestyle changes successful survivors used to combat breast cancer.
Using yoga to manage the challenges of cancer and its treatment • Explains how to create a safe home yoga practice that addresses the specific physical needs, risks, and emotions of cancer patients and survivors • Includes 53 yoga poses and 9 practice sequences that use movement and breathing to reduce and manage treatment side effects • Reveals how current research supports the physical and psychological benefits of yoga to aid recovery and reduce risk of recurrence • Written by a cancer survivor and certified yoga teacher For those faced with a cancer diagnosis and the journey of doctor-led surgery and treatments, yoga offers a way to regain control of your body and take an active part in your recovery and long-term health. In this easy-to-follow illustrated guide, yoga teacher and cancer survivor Tari Prinster presents 53 traditional yoga poses that are adapted for all levels of ability and cancer challenges. She then applies the movements and breathwork of these poses to address 10 common side effects and offers 9 practice sequences for varying stages of treatment and recovery. Sharing her own story as well as those of cancer survivors and yoga teachers with whom she has worked, Prinster explores how yoga can be used to strengthen the immune system, rebuild bone density, avoid and manage lymphedema, decrease anxiety, detoxify the body, reduce pain, and help the body repair damage caused by the cancer and conventional treatments. She reveals the research that supports the physical and psychological benefits of yoga as an aid to recovery and in reducing the risk of recurrence. Explaining how yoga must be tailored to each survivor, Prinster gives you the tools to create a safe home yoga practice, one that addresses your abilities, energy level, and overall health goals. Through personal stories, well-illustrated poses, and sample practices for beginners as well as experienced yoga practitioners, Prinster empowers survivors to create their own wellness plan in order to regain their independence and their physical and emotional well-being.
In this “beautiful, heartfelt, and ultimately important story about love, kinship, gratitude, and miracles” (Elizabeth Gilbert, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a beloved high school English teacher with terminal brain cancer undertakes a cross-country journey to reunite with his former students in order to find out if he made a difference and discovers what is truly important in life along the way. David Menasche lived for his work as a high school English teacher. His passion inspired his students, and between lessons on Shakespeare and sentence structure, he forged a unique bond with his kids, buoying them through personal struggles while sharing valuable life lessons. When brain cancer ultimately stole David’s vision, memory, mobility, and—most tragically of all—his ability to continue teaching, he was devastated by the thought that he would no longer have the chance to impact his students’ lives each day. But teaching was something Menasche just couldn’t give up. Undaunted by the difficult road ahead of him, he decided to end his treatments and make life his classroom. He turned to Facebook with an audacious plan: a journey across America—by bus, by train, by red-tipped cane—in hopes of seeing firsthand how his kids were faring in life. Had he made a difference? Within forty-eight hours of posting, former students in more than fifty cities replied with offers of support and shelter. Traveling more than eight thousand miles from Miami to New York, and visiting hundreds of his students, David’s fearless journey explores the things we all want and need out of life—family, security, independence, love, adventure—and forces us to stop to consider what truly matters in life. Evocative, moving, and inspirational, Priority List “is a rousing testimony to the ways in which, in the face of death, living fully in the present moment becomes possible” (Publishers Weekly).
The author, a computer science professor diagnosed with terminal cancer, explores his life, the lessons that he has learned, how he has worked to achieve his childhood dreams, and the effect of his diagnosis on him and his family.
The inspiring story of one man’s relationship with his cancer and how it healed him . . . ‘You have cancer.’ These simple words come as a terrible shock. Life, as you know it, changes in an instant and nothing is the same again. Panic and fear overwhelm you as you desperately pin your hopes on doctors and on medical treatment. But this is only part of the story. While your doctors work towards healing your body, you must heal your inner self, just as Vijay Bhat did to beat his cancer. When he focused on himself, Vijay realized that his cancer originated within and only then manifested as a ‘tumour’ in his body. The authors believe that healing requires a ‘person-centric’ approach, where the focus is the whole person and all the aspects of his inner and outer life, rather than an ‘organ-centric’ one, where the focus is merely the disease or affected organ. According to them, cancer is the result of your physical lifestyle along with your mental, emotional and spiritual processes and the ‘stressors’ associated with these processes. For instance, negative thoughts and attitudes are mental stressors while negative emotions such as anger and guilt are emotional stressors. Healing these aspects of yourself is essential for physical healing. The authors guide you through your process of self-discovery, showing you how to find your stressors and teaching you how to recover from them. The book also gives useful information on the biological aspects of cancer and its causes; dietary and nutritional needs of cancer patients; how to maintain optimum immunity; how to confront loss and death; and the role of the caregiver. My Cancer Is Me is a thought-provoking and sensitive guide for anyone who has cancer or is supporting a loved one with cancer.
Parker J. Palmer--who for forty years has written and spoken about subjects ranging from contemplation to community, the inner life to public life, education to social change--is known as one of the nation’s most thoughtful voices, calling us all to ways of being in the world that honor the human heart and promote a humane society. Living the Questions, a celebration of Palmer’s long and distinguished career, explores the dynamic interplay between the inner life of spirit and the outer life of work. The equally distinguished contributors, who come from a wide range of professions--university presidents, scientists, physicians, religious leaders, business consultants, public school educators, philanthropists, and community organizers--bear witness to the depth, breadth, and reach of Palmer’s work. All of them have been personally touched by his courage and determination to live a life congruent with the ideas and principles he writes about and by his candor in acknowledging his own flaws.