Connecting With Nature After Colon Cancer: My Self-Care Practices

Have you ever wondered how connecting with nature helps improve your mind, body and soul? After my diagnosis with colon cancer, one of my biggest remedies during that time was connecting with Mother Nature. In this blog, I am going to share with you self-care activities that boosted my energy and how the season of spring lifted up my spirits while going through challenges in my recovery with colon cancer.

First of all, my perspective of spring consists of a season where everything around me begins to blossom. It is the time of year where I see flowers blooming, animals awakening from hibernation, along with birds migrating due to warm weather. Spring has symbolic themes that include new beginnings. From my point of view, it represents rebirth, renewal, love, youth and spiritual rejuvenation.

One of my self-care activities that I still practice today is journaling. In April 2020, I started to journal as a way to express everything that I was going through. It helped me understand my journey in my recuperation with colon cancer, especially during chemotherapy. For this reason, I began to write down my feelings and thoughts in a notebook as a way to empower my mind by focusing on sustaining a positive mindset. I recalled going to the park near my house, sitting on a huge rock, smelling the flowers while I was writing my emotions in my journal. On that day, I made a promise to myself that I would take time every spring to journal outside because it made me feel amazing connecting with nature.

In addition, another self-care activity that I still do is exercising outside. Ever since I was diagnosed with colon cancer, I intentionally started going for walks, especially in the mornings. Walking, without a doubt, was one of the exercises that I enjoyed the most due to the warm climate of spring. It helped me reduce stress as well as anxiety due to my treatment. I remembered moments where I felt so overwhelmed due to the pressure of making sure I was taking my medications on time, going to doctor visits every two weeks, and working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By walking and connecting with nature, it lifted my spirit and kept my mental health state strong.

Another self-care activity that I enjoy is meditation. This allows my mind to stay serene and helps reduce my apprehensiveness when I have too much on my plate. In February 2020, when I was diagnosed with colon cancer, I felt extremely worried because I did not know what to expect in regards to my health. However, by practicing meditation during that time, it assisted me in decluttering my mind about what I was thinking along with focusing on what I truly desired, which was staying cancer-free. By meditating on a consistent basis, I was able to train my mind and be optimistic throughout this journey. My focal point is and will always be my health.

In conclusion, being diagnosed with colon cancer was not easy news to grasp, yet my recovery during that time was blissful and full of love and light. Looking back five years later, I can see now how the symbolism of spring helped me with my recuperation and treatment. It represented new beginnings which helped me become a better version of myself. Indeed, the season of spring is a time of year where it allows me to start fresh along with blossoming as a person. I am forever blessed!

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