21/11/2025
Dear beautiful yoga friends,
I write to share some personal news.
About a month ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It was a shock of course, although I had noticed a large lump appear seemingly out of nowhere, which was the impetus to get checked (if only I hadn’t been so stubborn and refused mammograms in the past!).
Now that I’m over the shock, I’m generally travelling very well. I am mostly calm and centred, and I have accepted with ease the position I’ve found myself in (I mean, I’d prefer it wasn’t happening, but it is, so acceptance at this point seems sensible).
There’s been a few sad and melancholic days… and the days where one ponders if you’re going to live… or how much time you might have left, on this planet, in this embodiment.
But mostly there’s a resolve to live well – knowing that I don’t really know what’s around the next corner.
I laugh at the fact that I’ve been trying to break my sugar addiction for about 30 years… and here I am now… it’s broken in an instant! I eat 100% organics, have adopted a strict anti-inflammatory diet (thank goodness I’ve had so many false starts over the years… I know what to do…. I’ve just never been able to stick to it)… and I practice yoga, meditation and breathwork every single day like my life depends up on it… because it feels like it does.
Without sounding trite, yoga & meditation is truly offering me the peace of mind and steadiness of the internal realm, that I am benefiting so abundantly from now.
People keep saying to me… “you look like you’re handling this very well”… and in truth I am.
Spiritual philosophy has now become something more than the intellectual interest it used to hold for me, and is now something to ‘test’ and live by.
For me, understanding and accepting the concepts of life, karma, death and rebirth have been useful to give me meaning and context for life in general. Now however, it’s something more. I get to test how much this knowledge can help me, knowing that I may face death (I mean, we all face death, it’s just that sometimes if we think death might come sooner, it poses its own issues to come to terms with).
So, it’s my intention to write about some of my journey… to share how I use yogic tools to help me through this likely challenging journey ahead.
I do strongly believe that life’s challenges are provided so we can learn and grown. So I’m trying to focus on the growth and transformation that is possible through a learning journey like this.
Wishing you deep heartfelt love,
Jacqui xx
