How I Used Meditation to Help With Cancer-Related Stress

I would have never imagined meditation would be part of my recovery after my diagnosis with colon cancer. I must admit, I never practiced this skill until my sister encouraged me to do so.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, meditation is “to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.” From my perspective, it is when you quiet the mind and are fully present with your thoughts. It is about being more aware, as well as getting a better perspective of the things around you.

At the beginning, meditation was difficult for me because it was hard to control my thoughts, especially when I was constantly thinking and getting distracted. Nevertheless, with time, I learned to master meditation, and it has helped me tremendously. It has given me a sense of inner peace by providing a state of relaxation and tranquility of the mind.

Furthermore, one of the lessons I learned in practicing this technique was that meditation takes practice and patience. I never got discouraged if I felt that while meditating, my thoughts tended to wander. On the contrary, I learned to concentrate on my breath with the sole purpose of quieting down the mind.

There were different ways I conducted meditation. In the beginning of my cancer recovery, I listened to guided meditations to keep me focused. A YouTube channel I utilized on a consistent basis was “Great Meditation.” I also used an app called Headspace. By meditating, not only did I decrease my stress level, but I also gained a new perspective about the areas in my life I wanted to change.

Some examples of what I used to focus on while conducting my meditation included waking up 30 minutes earlier every morning and dividing my time. The first 15 minutes I would concentrate on my deep breathing exercises along with repeating my mantras, which all focused on my health and staying cancer free. For instance, one of my favorite mantras was as follows: “I am healthy, whole and full of light.” I would repeat this mantra over and over again as a way to retrain my thinking process and have a more optimistic outlook during my recovery. The last 15 minutes, however, I would listen to guided meditations on Youtube, which helped me stay serene to tackle my daily tasks.

Meditation was one of my techniques that I utilized to enhance a positive mindset. By practicing this skill in my daily morning routines, I learned to quiet down the mind as well as center my attention on what is still my priority today, being cancer free. Meditation, without a doubt, assisted me to have a vigorous, strong frame of mind that helped me significantly after my diagnosis with colon cancer. It is an approach that I highly recommend to anyone.

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