Breast Cancer Exercise Experiences

When I first got diagnosed with breast cancer, I was working as a personal trainer. 

I walked or rode my bike to work. If I wasn’t working on the weekend (or sleeping!! Or eating 😘) … Well let’s just say I was  walking or taking the bus for awhile. Needed that quiet time. 

I released a lot of anxiety walking. It’s meditative but the ground under my feet keeps me … grounded. 

I walked and walked in a developing area to check into whether I would do chemo. 

A lymph node under my right arm was swelling – felt like a small apricot under my arm. It was dull pain. 

I usually walked with my laptop on my back in my trusty incase backpack. And all kinds of other things, including emotional baggage. People asked if I carried gold in it. Figuratively. – That and emotional baggage of the intense and dense variety. 😘 

(I read a book at the library about walking for healing. I’ll look that up later when I go in depth on how to make walking work towards your fitness and sleekness goals.) 

I was looking for something that looked/felt like resolve, inside me. 

 Really I felt if I didn’t walk – long and strong – that I would start spazzing. Who knew. I was just hanging by a thread. 

I could tell because I kept seeing threads and guaze in my mind. 

I thought maybe I’d walk through the cancer. But I saw more restful positions in my mind. 

I realized putting a brave face on plus walking to work during chemo may not be wise. 

I accepted invitations and recommendations to rest. (More on my medical choices and reasoning later.) 

I still fought it – biking on 108 degree days to acupuncture till I felt really present – until my body was like, you have got to be kidding us. 

Other patients were interested in learning how to move and exercise during those long resting times where reclining is the best you can do. 

So I started experimenting. 

First of all, in spite of being a personal trainer, I am not crazy about free weights. 😄 Maybe as a replacement for kettlebells. 

In my experience and research (including timely serendipitous meetings with survivors before I was even diagnosed… 

We are supposed to be selfish. I heard it like it was a radical idea. Do what I really wanted. Not what I *should* want. 

I decided to let my body tell me how to move. 

There was a lot of music and dancing involved! 

I’ll share my music picks soon plus video and photo, but for now… cancer or not, sway to some of your favorite tunes this week! 

Please share … If you think this might help someone. 💞 

Love, 

Miko xo 

(FYI: I’m not a therapist but I explore all kinds of therapeutic activities and healing arts. Alternative and conventional – integrated approach because I like to use all the resources that feel right to me.)