Chances are you have felt lost, uncertain, and extremely pained at some point in your life. Your feelings stemming from events that may have felt out of your control. A sense of powerlessness paired with unanswered questions creeping in as you work to cope with your life altered. The overwhelming sensation of “I don’t want this” and “why me?” consuming your mind and flowing throughout your body. Every part of you wishes for it to stop, go away, be different.

Over time that mindset and that energy morphs us into a revised version of ourselves, one focused on rejecting, retracting, restricting. We carry pain, stress, disappointment, fear, and frustration into every aspect of our life often times not even recognizing the shift in our presence. It is from this place that we feel we are fighting against the world, where we begin to lose sight of our power and let go of hope.

Perhaps this is you right now, handling feelings of frustration and pain around circumstances that feel out of your control, circumstances likely centered around fertility and health. You’ve had challenges and you know heartbreak and from that you’ve begun to reframe your visions of someday. Your mind is occupied with chatter, your soul unsettled, and your body full of stress. The cloud of darkness so thick you may have lost sight of that which remains in your control.

I write to you today serving as a gentle nudge, a wave of calm, an awakening voice that reminds you of the power you still hold. Within each of us lies the ability to transform a challenging or painful moment into something more manageable, something less intense, something you can move through with a bit more ease. Below I offer you a list of mindful practices that support a healthy state of being. When incorporated into your daily life these simple additions encourage the body and mind into a calm, open, balanced, grounded space; the ideal environment for healing, creation, and joy.

Mindful practices

1) Breathe

Bringing attention to your breath shifts the focus away from the “I don’t want this” and “why me?” thoughts and puts you back into the present moment. This practice can diminish the fight or flight response and outpouring of cortisol, the stress hormone associated with fear based thinking and common source of dysfunction and disease. Creating slow, equal inhales and exhales calms the nervous system and sends fresh oxygen throughout your body nourishing the organs.

Practice: In those moments when you feel unsettled, shift focus to your breath. Visualize the oxygen that you take in as it moves down your body stretching through every limb, nourishing your muscles, organs, nerves, and every little cell until it reaches the tips of your toes. Bring your breath back up in the same manner with your exhale until it reaches the crown of your head. Make each inhale and exhale last 6 - 8 seconds. Continue this for 3 minutes as your body calms and mind refocuses.

2) Positive affirmations

The incorporation of positive affirmations into your daily routine allows all that you desire and all that you are working toward to remain at the forefront of your mind. In times when you find yourself losing sight of your goals and visions, perhaps even losing hope, you can shift your thoughts and your energy toward your affirmation. This encourages a positive state of mind, enhances faith in your direction, offers peace and serenity, and puts the power back in your hands.

Practice: Using present tense, write down that which you desire. This may be a feeling, a state of being in the world, or a tangible goal. You choose where to put your focus. Speak about it as though it is occurring in this moment using the words “I have” and “I am” to reinforce your own beliefs, build your faith and confidence, and elevate your mood. Read your affirmation daily, and return to it in moments of doubt and fear.

3) Movement

As with breath, movement has the ability to refocus your thoughts back into the present moment and back into connection with your body increasing awareness and the ultimate desire to care for and honor yourself. From this space you become more committed to nourishing, supporting, and loving yourself as well as others. Your thoughts, mood, and behavior are a direct reflection of your inner connectedness. Movement also increases blood flow and circulation, helping to remove physical and energetic blocks as well as strengthen muscles and joints.

Practice: When you notice yourself leaning toward fear or hear the chatter growing louder in your mind, get up and move. Take a walk, stand up and stretch, head to your favorite workout class, or dance about in your living room. It’s much easier to shift your thoughts at the onset versus pulling yourself out of a downward spiral.

4) Yoga

The ancient practice of yoga has been linked to healing the body and calming the mind for centuries. A beautiful combination of all that I’ve mentioned above, yoga can serve as a powerful tool when moving through difficult times. The physical and mental benefits found inside pairing breath to movement, mind body connection, muscle strengthening, cardiovascular activity, focus, presence, balance, opening, lengthening, and grounding down have the power to create profound shifts for individuals dedicated to their practice. Many yoga poses have been found to aid the healing of health ailments and injuries as well as increase efficiency of organ function.

Practice: Try these three poses to help release negative emotion, to calm the nervous system, and to nourish your reproductive organs.

Bound Angle Pose

• Stimulates abdominal organs, pelvis, ovaries and prostate gland
• Stretches the inner thighs, groin area and knees
• Calms the body and lowers heart rate

Legs Up the Wall Pose

• Increases blood supply to reproductive organs
• Boosts circulation to head and upper body offering a refreshing feeling
• Has a relaxing effect

Bridge Pose

• Stimulates immune and endocrine system
• Increases blood supply to reproductive organs
• Helps open pelvic region

Whether it’s fertility challenges or other trying circumstances you’re experiencing it is imperative to stay present to what you can control - the things that can encourage healing, creation and joy. Find your power. You’ve got all you need inside of you to make it through.

Shortly after receiving treatment for cervical cancer in 2012, Sara Krish turned to her peers within the cancer community in search of connection and support. At 30 years old she was experiencing an overwhelming loss of identity, feeling stuck and uncertain of how to move forward, and an inability to cultivate light among the darkness. In 2015 Sara established the Cancer Warrior Foundation and set out on a mission to empower young women through their cancer journey. Today, CWF offers a variety of free services that positively impact mind, body, and soul.

Sara has also created Get Lit Coaching, a powerful goal-focused counseling technique for moving individuals through transition, heal from hardship, and create a life filled with purpose. For more info contact sara@getlitgroup.com or call 310-465-9154.