Tag Archives: mindfulness

Celeste Young: A New Relationship to Experience



Mindfulness meditation practitioner and Dharma teacher, Celeste Young, talks about her search to lessen her suffering and develop a new relationship to experience, as well as the joy she now feels in sharing what she loves with students who are dealing with anxiety and stress. Celeste also talks about developing a balanced relationship with the technologies that both claim our attention and connect us to community and how being silent and practicing mindfulness can be a doorway into compassion for oneself.

Find information on Celeste’s events, corporate wellness, and individual sessions at celesteyoung.com.


Shannon Murphy: The Emotional Aspects of Cancer



Shannon Murphy, psychotherapist and mindfulness practitioner, was diagnosed in 2007 with breast cancer. She has been cancer free for ten years. Shannon talks about her decision to attend to the emotional aspects of cancer throughout her journey. She recounts speaking with cancer survivors to understand how they coped with the trauma of a cancer diagnosis and its treatment, and to understand how this experience could lead to profound personal change. She also talks about the transformative aspects of this traumatic experience and how facing a mortal danger led to healing of a damaged relationship. She also talks about how the experience strengthened her practice of mindfulness and meditation, leading to transformative personal growth.


Catherine McDonough: Cancer is My Biggest Yoga Pose



Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is a shock, even to medical professionals who are well aware that cancer can happen to anyone. How does one cope with and respond to the changes in self-perception that occur when cancer intervenes?

Today, I speak with Catherine McDonough, yoga teacher and nurse practitioner, who in 2017 was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. We explore Catherine’s use of yoga and meditation as complementary practices to traditional oncology protocols. Catherine talks about her coping strategy of simplifying and becoming more mindful, less external. She also explores how this dreaded diagnosis has given her a measure of psychological freedom that has promoted her to lighten her attachment to things and leave a smaller footprint in her wake.


Rory Green: Developing an Ongoing Gratitude Practice



Receiving a cancer diagnosis can make you feel like you’ve been plucked out of your familiar existence and dropped onto an unfamiliar planet. How does one cope with this altered life circumstance when faced with a terrain that is not only unfamiliar but also deeply frightening and threatening to one’s very existence?

In today’s episode of Real Cancer, I talk with Rory Green, psychotherapist and writing coach, who in 2015 was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. We explore Rory’s strategies for navigating feelings of fear and anxiety, her newfound appreciation for the mundane details of everyday life, and the gratitude practice she has maintained as a result of her diagnosis and treatment. We conclude with a discussion of the counsel that Rory has shared with others who are newly diagnosed with cancer or other life altering situations.