Imagine you’re in the Canadian Rockies skiing down a steep, beautiful mountain slope. The air is crisp and cold, the snow swooshes under your skis. You delight in the magnificence of the winter day, feeling alive and strong. Now imagine a mere week later you are back home in D.C. sitting across from your physician being told that you have colon cancer. And not just cancer, but a Stage IV meaning that your cancer has already metastasized to distant sites. How can this be? What’s going to happen next? Can I survive this?… Your world is now a series of scans and blood work, second opinions, surgical procedures, and chemotherapy. All the medical aspects are well covered, and you have a supportive family, but you need more, so much more…
I tentatively attended my first yoga class (at Hope Connections) dreading that I might not make it through as chemo was zapping my energy. But make it through I did. And I felt empowered. Inner Peace & Healing and Mindful Meditation classes were next on my list to try. There I learned the art of meditation, and tools that helped me through surgeries and chemo sessions. I learned to quiet my mind in the middle of a sleepless night and applied those techniques to calm myself during the many scans and procedures I’ve had. I was surrounded with compassionate people who knew what I was going through without me having to explain. There were survivors who gave me hope and courage. People in all stages of their own journeys who reached out to me. They gave me hope. They gave me connections. There truly is something beneficial available for everyone. Hope. Noun. The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. Connections. Noun. A circle of friends or associates or a member of such a circle. Never was a center more aptly named.