3. Recovering Well - Getting Informed

January 19, 2023

After you have changed your focus from “getting through treatments” to one of recovering your wellness and wellbeing, it’s time to get informed. This means getting informed about where you are now, where you wish to be, and how to get there.

Where you are now

A cancer diagnosis can bring about a process of questioning everything. Everything you thought you knew. This can put everything you have done to this point to the test.

When it comes to recovering the areas I would put in the spotlight are:

1. What you eat
2. Exercise and Moving your body
3. Mindset
4. Stress, Sleep and Mood
5. Supplements and Herbal Use
6. Influences and Inspirations
7. Environment
8. Purpose
9. Contribution
10. Happiness

The truth is, it’s most likely that many things were working well for you. There is a tendency to “eliminate the past” but I find a good place to start when making changes is to consider What worked for you in the past? (This might be triggering considering you developed cancer, however some parts of what you were doing were most likely supporting your wellness and wellbeing.

Next question is Will this still work for me now?

Using the question everything approach you can also ask “What was I doing that wasn’t working for me?”

Be kind with yourself, but honest.

And “What do I need to do differently/ learn more about?”

In a notebook or journal go through each area and ask yourself the following questions

     1 .What has worked well for me in the past?

     2. Will this still work for me?

     3. What was I doing that wasn’t working for me?

     4. What do I need to do differently?

     5. What do I need to learn to do have this area work better for me?

 For example:

Exercise and Moving your body

1. What has worked well for me - I was exercising and enjoy walking especially in the mornings
2. Will this still work for me – I love walking, especially in bush walks and along the sea, this still works for me
3. What was I doing that wasn’t working for me – I wasn’t consistently exercising with enough challenge, and I wasn’t focused on being strong.
4. What do I need to do differently? – I now have self-care exercises I need to do to support myself as I have a tendency for lymphedema and I still want to walk, and increase my strength.
5. What do I need to learn – I need simple time efficient routines that complement my walking and support muscle strength. I also need a sustainable lymphatic care routine.

If doing all 10 is too much at this point, then just do one.

Whether you have done this journaling with one area or all 10, pick one to start with.

Which one?

That’s hard to say – I started with what I ate as I know this is the source of all nutrients for my body to be well (or not, depending on what I was eating).

As a side note - most of our habits, and this definitely relates to the food we eat, are either useful and helping us or something we have to overcome to succeed / be healthy. My goal in clinical practice is to support someone to have as many habits working FOR them as possible.

Now you have your starting point, it’s time to get informed 

I find reading works well for me but I also had appointments with different practitioners to get the benefit of their knowledge and support. There is an abundance of options for getting informed – podcasts. Youtube, research studies, books, blogs, online groups, appointments with health practitioners. I had many appointments with many different practitioners, but the reading I had already done meant I was more able to make sense of their advice and get the benefit of what was useful to me.

When I was diagnosed, I read and read and read - any book I could get my hands on, every study I could access. It was like a full-time job only I was also doing lots of overtime hours.

That’s me though. I don’t just read one book or viewpoint. I am a maven and collate all the data (conflicting and all) and then make the most informed decision I can.

When it came to getting informed about recovery, I took a similar approach but with slightly less vigour (I was depleted remember!). I started reading, and luckily for me I decided to start with a book that had been sitting on my bookshelf for years that my mother-in-law had given to me and my husband.

This book was called “Positivity” by Barbara L. Fredrickson

I am so grateful for this book. Barbara talked about having a 3:1 positivity ratio which seemed a lot more realistic and achievable (with practice and determination!) than being positive all the time. Barbara also talks about heartfelt positivity which range true for me rather than “fake it till you make it” or “just be positive”. Barbara’s wonderful book also introduced me to Loving Kindness Meditation. At the time this was awesome but as I reflect on my recovery, I can see what a game changer it was (more on that later).

As you explore your options, I suggest you have the filter of “is this useful to me?” whenever you are considering information. One way to see if something is useful is to trial it. Have a set time in mind and see in that time if it has worked for you and is sustainable.

Recovering Well is all about finding ways to support yourself that are sustainable.

Next Article: Challenge Yourself.

As a naturopath I called my business Anewable, because I wanted to promote the process of taking what is good and improving, keeping going and growing, and taking care of yourself. If you would like the support of individual naturopathic consultations you as you make changes towards healthier habits, you can contact me at Amanda@anewable.co.nz

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