Embracing the Journey: Trust, Transformation, and Community in the Cancer Experience with Amy Robinson

Hello and welcome to In The Rising a health and wellness podcast for those going through and those supporting those going through cancer. My name is Bettina Brown and I'm board certified in physical therapy, wound care and lymphedema And you know, for me cancer is very personal. It's affected my friends, my immediate and my not so immediate family And therefore I created this podcast and fit after breast cancercom to address the multiple dimensions of our lives during and after recovery. So this is going to be part two of my conversation with Amy Robinson. She has such a really wonderful and gentle way about her in describing her own feelings and her situation, her own vulnerabilities, and uses that to really empower others and help them in their own transformation journey. I'm really excited for you to hear the second part of our conversation today and listen in for today's power quote at the end of our conversation. It comes to mind for me is shock, fear, trepidation, worry, community reevaluation of life, which can be beneficial, being still, which sounds beautiful, but when you're still you might think. Thinking is like did I do? what kind of choices did I make, what was I doing? And going through physically exhaustion, and when I'm thinking of that initial moment, there's not a lot of positivity that comes to mind initially. What do you feel would be something in hindsight, that if someone could have said this or given you this pamphlet, or one sentence or phrase to provide that positivity?

or hope.

What do you think that would look like?

Gosh, there's so much to say there, but I think one of the most valuable first things is to find your way to acceptance. Whatever that looks like In the beginning, it's kind of like the stages of grief, right, you have a diagnosis and you're trying to think your way out of it and think, can I avoid this, or maybe it won't be like this for me, or all of these different things. And once you chart your path then to find your way to acceptance of that, and then the next stage from the acceptance, i feel like, is kind of blessing your path. If it's okay to say that One of the things that some of the people that I talked to recommended was like praying over your chemo bag or just sending it good energy, so that you were hoping that, even though these were very strong chemicals that for me may be very ill that I was wanting to just bless it so that as it came through it was going to do its job to the best of its ability. And I think finding our way from that resistance to what is to acceptance of what is and then moving from that to a place of trusting what is is so powerful. It's like not just faith in the process or a greater power or the universe or whatever that might be, but trusting that things are going to unfold in the way that is best for us, even if we don't understand it, and then just moving forward on that path. And in my meditation process and practice that's something that I work with as well. Like I walk us through a guided meditation where we acknowledge that there is a path before us and sometimes we can only see the next step. We can't see the whole path, but we trust that every step will be illuminated as we need it And so we just keep stepping forward on that path. And for me, that sense of trust even though I didn't have it all figured out, but just trusting the process, trusting my life, trusting the universe, trusting it transformed the process for me And it did make me feel like, even though I didn't have the answers that you know, my path was blessed And so it has been.

And I think that's so powerful because listening to that I'm like that sounds really nice. It sounds like a really nice thing, a guided meditation. But how is that in practice? And I heard this the other day, this analogy, and it made my jaw drop, because I was like that makes sense. And it's like when we are driving at night right, you have your headlights on, you're going 60, 70, 80 miles an hour on the interstate with your headlights showing 100 feet in front of you. You do not have the entire path lit, from A to B. You are literally in the dark, with only a little bit of light And you are zooming towards it because you have faith and you have trust in this entire process And in the analogy. It really brought that back to day to day life. We think we can see the whole pathway, but we really can't. Whether it's the daylight or not, right From New Mexico to California there's a lot of nothing you see, because it's a very long road. It's a very long stretch of road So I can't see it in the daytime either, but I feel like I can't, but I really can't, and I think it's having that awareness that that is really how it always is, always has been, and let's just accept that and trust that in the same way.

Yes, this is the transformational power of the experience of cancer, And I think big challenges that we might face in our path is that it forces us to get out of our limited human thinking and stretch beyond to the place of trust, because these experiences demonstrate for us that we cannot have all the answers at that point. It's just too big for us. And so then we move from that place of you know the challenge in the moment of what we have to handle into a place of okay, this burden is too large for me. So I'm going to just kind of ease the burden and move into trust and just keep taking the best step forward that I can in trust, knowing that things will unfold as they should. It's a big leap forward. It's kind of like leaping off a cliff and knowing that your wings will form on the way down. You know, And yet isn't that too bright, Right? but it's kind of like what this experience of being human is anyway. You know, we never know what's coming around the corner, And yet we step out and trust every morning, don't we?

Yeah, every morning, yeah, every morning. You have a phrase that is super powerful that you just said the transformational process of the experience of cancer. That is I think I never summed it up before, but that was the entire reason why I created this podcast Because of so many women, particularly men also, men had breast cancer, men had prostate cancer, everything, thank you. What I saw was how people really transformed after being still and doing some meditation of various sorts guided or not, but really I felt there was a lot of transformational power in expressing that out to me And I felt very privileged and honored to listen to some of the things that they were saying. And people also wanted to build a different life. I would say most people, as in, let's be honest, 100%, but I'll give it 99% because I didn't calculate There was some area of their life they really wanted to transform, even if they felt super blessed and loved. Did you feel there was something about your course or your legacy here on this planet that you wanted to transform?

After the breast cancer experience. Oh yeah, 100%. I mean, i gosh, there's so much to say there. I also. I'd love to also just putting the cap on what you were just saying as well about the concept of post-traumatic growth, which was something that was born out of the positive psychology movement, where they found that people who had been through trauma often turned it into a greater purpose and a greater meaning in their lives, and that also is a product of finding that acceptance. So we need to find that acceptance with the trauma and challenges that we face, and from that place of acceptance we can find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose, which is exactly what you're talking about. But yes, absolutely. I have known many women on this path now And you know, one of the places where I found community when I was going through my own experience was joining Facebook groups and connecting with women there, and I felt like I got so much information from them And I felt like it was a sacred duty for me to pay that forward and share as much useful information with other women as I could, and I had an experience that was so beautiful. I highly recommend this group, but it's The Little Pink Houses of Hope is a breast cancer charity And it sends families affected by breast cancer on vacation, and it's this beautiful free vacation that they send you on to different places. And so my daughter and I went to Sedona, arizona, with Little Pink Houses of Hope And we were with all these other women affected by breast cancer, some of whom had partners, some didn't, and then their children. And when you look at all of these beautiful women who have been through these processes and you, you know great challenges, shared challenges, and you look at their children and they've been through these challenges too. Or you know, going to the Climb Program, children's Lives Include Moments at Bravery, which was another program I had with my daughter and I did. These women are going through so much, but their families are going through so much too. Their children are going through so much, and not everybody makes it out of this. You know there are women who die of breast cancer all the time And here in New Mexico it's estimated like 300 this year, you know, according to the CDC. So I feel like every single thing that any of us can do to help affect that experience of well-being for other women, impacting quality of life for them and their children, if they have them. That is so important and so meaningful for me. I want to do everything that I possibly can.

So my power quote today is by Mandy Hale What we are waiting for is not as important as what happens to us while we are waiting. Trust the process. I like to expand that and say sometimes what we are creating to make happen for us and for others is so much more important than just waiting. So I hope you enjoyed our conversation today. It was really an awesome experience and there's a lot more to our conversation. It was just a great time to talk to one of your friends about things that were light and things that were fairly heavy And, like Amy said, not everyone makes it through this particular experience with the kind of ending that Amy has experienced at this time And she shared climb. Children's lives include moments of bravery, which I think is so important to emphasize And I have information in the show notes because it's not just the person, it's everyone around them And a lot of times the children are the ones that can do nothing except witness and observe. But let's not forget that this is their experience as well. I hope you also check out Little Pink Houses of Hope. I have heard Amy talk about this group so many times And if there's something that can change your life, it may have the real ability to change so many others. So, having information, if you choose to donate that information below. And lastly, i would really enjoy if you check out Radiant Healing for your health. This is the entire membership group that Amy sponsors, and I would. That would actually not be the right word. Amy is not a sponsor. Amy is completely involved with this. She is completely part of the circle, giving meditation, asking wonderful questions, and I really encourage you to just learn and grow and find what you feel is beneficial to you And to go ahead and spread the word about it. One of the things I ask you to spread the word about is in the Rising Podcast, which is all about health and wellness and really putting this podcast into the hands and ears of those that need it the most. You never know. You can share it on all of your favorite platforms And if you leave it as five star review, it helps so much. This podcast land in the laps, ears, hands of those that need it and may not even be aware of it. Until next time, let's keep building one another up.