In this episode, I share my experience at a healing retreat in the Maldives—a place where the beauty of nature and the rhythm of the ocean reminded me of the profound power of slowing down.

I invite you to join me as I explore the importance of living a slow life, connecting deeply with nature, and finding a community of like-minded individuals who can support and inspire your healing journey.

For us, as breast cancer survivors, the need to listen to our bodies and honor what they truly need is more vital than ever.

At this retreat, I found a space where I could disconnect from the chaos of everyday life and reconnect with myself in a healing and empowering way. This episode delves into the lessons I learned about the value of mindfulness, the nurturing power of the natural world, and the strength that comes from being part of a community that truly understands and supports you.

Whether you're feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or simply in need of a reminder that healing is possible, this episode offers insights and inspiration.

By embracing a slower pace and reconnecting with the natural world and a supportive community, we can create a healing environment for our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Tune in to discover how these elements can enhance your recovery and help you live a life that is not just about surviving but thriving.

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Read the full transcript:

0:00
You're listening to better than before breast cancer with the breast cancer recovery coach, I'm your host, Laura lummer. I'm a certified life coach, and I'm a breast cancer thriver. In this podcast, I will give you the skills on the insides and the tools to move past the emotional and physical trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis if you're looking for a way to create a life that's even better than before breast cancer, you've come to the right place. Let's get started. Hello and welcome to episode 373 of better than before breast cancer. I'm your host. Laura lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach, I'm so happy to be here today. Today is the first time I'm recording a podcast since returning from my healing retreat to Maldives with the metabolic terrain Institute of Health, and it was an incredible experience. So I've been home for a few days now, the first three. I'm gonna give it three. The first three days, I was barely conscious. The jetlag hit me so hard, I was pretty much asleep, I think, for three days, just trying to catch up. There's a 12 hour time difference. And here I'm finally getting back on track. And so it came time for me to record the Tuesday terrain talk for this week. And honestly, some of the experience that I had at the retreat, and things that I have just learned and gotten exposed to and and I'm kind of resonating with right now, took over, and I decided not to record a Tuesday terrain talk for this week. So this is the first and only episode that's coming out for this week. And I think that that goes more to just the incredible beauty of what the island that we went to was called soniva Fushi, and the incredible impact that what they called the slow life had on me, the slow life is

2:08
just amazing, the philosophy of this island. You know, some people, when the retreat first came out and the metabolic train Institute of Health put it out into the world, a lot of people pushed back and said that it's just too expensive. It's not reasonable for cancer, people dealing with cancer, to go to and, you know, that's one thought you could have. But obviously, you know, some people made it happen. And I have to tell you that going there helped me to understand why that was the perfect place, the only place I could have had the kind of experience that I did have, because this island is not only built by a husband and wife, a husband who is also in a cancering experience, but it's designed to just be compatible with nature. There's an incredible sustainability project that happens on that island. Is mind blowing to see the extents that they go to, to just be gentle and aligned with nature. And I think stepping into that for eight days and getting to live in that where you arrive on the island, they give you a canvas bag that you put your shoes in. You walk around barefoot for eight days. They give you a bicycle that belongs to you, and they give you this adorable plaque that's just a piece of lumber, and they've burned your name into it, and that goes on your bike, and you ride your bike everywhere. And I have to tell you, I literally felt like I was in a Mary Poppins movie, or what was the one with Julie Andrews The Sound of Music, The Sound of Music. Every morning, I'd wake up, I'd walk down to the private little strand of beach that our villa was on and watch the sunrise. It was absolutely incredible. And then I'd get on my bike and I'd ride my bike down to the main area where they serve coffee and breakfast, and I'd ride my bike down these jungle paths that smelled amazing and fresh, that had wild bunnies and wild chickens and hens running around. But the incredible thing, even more so than that, was that everyone else who was walking past me, riding their bike past me. Every single person was just so happy. Everybody was greeting, hello, hello, hi. How are you? It was so magical to be in this place where one you felt completely safe. That's not a I didn't realize how often I don't feel completely safe. I live in Southern California. There's a lot of places you go around here where you got to be cautious. And I didn't realize how much that weighed on me until I was in a place where I was completely safe, where I could walk around early in the morning, late at night. And I didn't have to worry about anything. I was completely safe, and where everybody was so friendly, so neighborly, and that includes the people that were working there and the people that were just staying there, and the people that were part of our retreat. And I even this morning as I walked out on my beach, I'm here at home, and I went for a walk on the beach, as I do almost every day. And the distinct contrast between how many people walk past you and avoid making eye contact with you, rather than intentionally looking at you and saying, Hello, I think that was like, I feel emotional talking about it was so impactful to be in that community environment on that island. And then there were the amazing people that I was at the retreat with these people who knew we all connected, that we shared a common experience of having a cancer diagnosis and all different kinds of cancer, and that we could talk openly and transparently about what we've been through and what we were feeling, and what work different people had done that had been very healing and helpful for them. And I have to tell you that it was really interesting, because even though I worked with the doctors, went through my labs, my nutrition genome, all of that stuff was taken into consideration. When I was there. I had many medical treatments, which you're going to hear about on future podcast episodes. And there was that element of the physical, tangible piece of food. We were provided with just stunning arrays of keto friendly food, fresh fish, beautiful salads. I mean, it was just incredible, but the bulk of conversation was really around emotions. It was really around connection. A lot of it was around family, family dynamics, family traumas, little traumas to big traumas. But a lot of emotional work was discussed there. And so I think that, you know, people have asked me since I've gotten back, like, what was your favorite part? And honestly, I can't, I don't think I could pick one favorite experience, because I had every day was packed full of incredible experiences. But I think the overall thing that impacted me the most was the sense of connection, the sense of connection to nature. What's been the hardest thing for me to adjust to since coming home, aside from the jet lag, is this, this just strong urge to be outside, to be in nature, everything there was this kind of indoor outdoor living, right? You had your indoor space, but you had this beautiful outdoor space. Was this outdoor bathroom with the bathtub, the showers, like a feather bed, the vanity, the toilet, everything outdoors in your backyard. It was absolutely stunning and amazing. If you want to see some of the pictures, check out my social media posts. And that was another thing I wanted to post and share the experience, but I wanted to be very present in the experience. So of course, I was taking pictures and videos throughout the day, because everything was just mind blowing and so impactful. And then I just would put together one string, string of all of those videos once a day to post, to share with my clients and the people who follow me on social media and my family, of course, but I really wanted to be very present. And I think again that most impactful thing was this deep connection to nature, the incredible feeling of just being in this simple environment, right? Simple, beautiful, natural, all the natural building materials, so much of the food grown on the island, just this deep feeling of being very connected to nature. I can't I think it's something you have to experience, right? But it was so powerful, and I talk a lot about that anyway, being in nature, being grounded, having your feet on the ground, in the grass, in the water, on the sand, wherever it is that you live, but outside in nature, is such a powerful experience. But to live that way for eight days, to just be constantly connected to nature, I gotta tell you, was in I feel incredibly healing, and I miss it. I miss it a lot. I think one of the most difficult adjustments, as I was saying, is to come back and be on electronics, you know, catching up on emails and just catching up on all of the things that are required, you know, when you have your own business and when you've been gone for two weeks. So it's really challenging, because everything in my heart is like go outside, plus the weather's been gorgeous since I got home. So I want to go outside. I want to be at the pool, I want to be at the beach, I want to be walking around outside. And I think that it's really impacted me and impressed upon me, how much I need to make sure that that remains a priority in my life. Lifetime outside on a daily basis, in the sunshine, feet on the ground. It's just an incredibly valuable part of healing. Then there's the connection to so the people there, the nature there, just the connection. And on the last day. I think it was the last the morning of the last day, we had a cacao ceremony for the people on at the retreat, and the naturopath, one of the resident naturopath doctors there, she led the cacao ceremony. And as we all sat there after spending so much time together and really getting to know and love each other. And we have a thread, you know, on WhatsApp so we can all keep in contact with each other, and being in that room all together, after spending that much time together and just being very connected in this ceremony, where we're expressing gratitude, it was so powerful. And as she, as this doctor, opened the ceremony, she spoke to connection and how important it was, and she spoke to the fact that loneliness, and you hear this about sitting right, sitting is the new smoking. And she talked about and she said, you know, loneliness is the new smoking. And what that means is that there are studies, now, so many studies, confirming the impact of loneliness on our health. And in fact, I was so fascinated by the fact that she meant that statement, of course, my brain that went right to research. And there's another story I'll share with you. So sideline that for a second I had on the last day of this retreat, an experience with a gentleman named Roger Moore. He's a visiting practitioner on the island, and he does a session called intuitive therapy, where he combines his own gift of just intuitive, connecting to people and kind of picking up signals of what they need in their life, and he combines that with massage, Reiki type of body work. And it was incredible. It's really designed about around emotional release and really getting in touch with how to heal your body. And one of the things that he said to me, as he kind of connects to you, and he draws a picture of what comes to him. And one of the things he said to me is there's a lot of energy in your head. You like research, you like reading, you like understanding, you like learning, and you need to learn how to balance and transfer some of that energy in your mind, more of it into your body, and balance out the amount of energy that's in your head so that it's equally distributed throughout the body. And so he said to me, an exercise that I wanted, that he wanted me to do, is hula hooping. And he says, just have fun. Do some exercise and have fun with it, and transfer the energy of your mind down into your body, really become more connected. And so I ordered, when I got home, I didn't order the big, giant hula hoop, because that's too hard to store. And I found this really cool semi, I don't know, faux hula hoop, or it kind of is a belt that connects around your waist, and then it's got this weighted thing that you swing around you. I'll post a video of it soon. I've been doing it, and I really think it's fun. I really enjoy it. So coming back to the idea of loneliness being the new smoking, and my compulsion to research and understand everything I did do some research on that I did look up, is loneliness really the new smoking? And I want to share some things that I found with you. My glasses on so I can read my notes. So this phrase that loneliness is this new smoking, it comes from what studies have been finding and how loneliness is associated with health risks that are very similar to smoking and smoking something that's been long known as a very preventable leading cause of death, right? We can choose not to smoke, but some of the health effects of loneliness have been shown to increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and early death, and they're comparable to those same risks that are posed by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. So when I read that, I was like, Wait, that's like smoking almost an entire pack of cigarettes a day. Where's this information coming from? And it's actually coming from a study that was conducted by Julianne Holt Lums. She's a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, and she did a meta analysis in 2010

14:47
and the study is called social relationships and mortality risk. Now a meta analysis is where you take multiple studies and then take the results of those studies and put them together to see like overall the studies have been done on this topic. What. Are they telling us? And so lundstedt and her colleagues reviewed 148 studies that included over 300,000 participants so that they could examine the link between social relationships and mortality, and what they found was that people with stronger social relationships had a 50% increase in likelihood of survival compared to those with weaker social connections. And lundstedt emphasized the severity of the impact of social isolation and loneliness by comparing it to these other well known health risks, like heart disease, stroke and early death. And in that comparison, they looked at the same health risks from smoking 15 cigarettes a day and said, Holy cow, these statistics are pretty similar. People who are suffering from loneliness and don't have strong connections are suffering some of the same health risks as people smoking almost a pack of cigarettes a day. That is pretty mind boggling, but I've got to tell you that being in that environment of just so much community and connection for that period of days, I'm a believer. It's got me believing because it really was that powerful and that incredible. And so when I got home and I felt myself immediately thinking, Oh, now I've got to get a podcast recorded, and I've got to get some emails written, and I've got to get the stuff out there, and I could notice sliding back into some of the routines that I have that I thought a lot about while I was at the retreat, and that I evaluated and thought, is this really serving me? Is the way that I'm conducting my life and my business? Is it serving me in a way that I'm reaching and supporting the community that I want to in the best way that I can, and also supporting my health and healing because, I mean, I've got to walk the walk, right? I've got to walk the talk. If I'm going to tell you to take care of yourself and to practice self care and to value the most precious resource that you have in your life, which is time, and to use it in such a way that it serves you and supports for help. I've got to figure out how to do that too. At least I believe that that's true. And so when it came down to getting the Tuesday terrain talk out and how tired I was and how much my mind was just really not in that groove, you know, of getting back online and getting back into technology. And so I decided, You know what, the world's not going to implode if I skip a podcast episode. And it was that important to me to really continue to hold that space and that energy of healing that I brought home for myself. And I honestly spent a lot of that time reevaluating things and and you're gonna see some changes coming up, some changes on the podcast, some changes in my membership and programs where I'm reevaluating how to deliver them in such a way where they have the most impact and the most gentleness on my life as well. And you know, it's so interesting, because I find myself resistant to my phone. Since I got home, right? I find myself going, you know what? I'm leaving it in the other room. I'm walking away. I'm deciding on certain times of the day that I'll check on it, because I don't want it around me all the time. I want I don't want it distracting me all the time. I want to be very present. There was a saying on the island. There was a place where everybody would gather, and it's kind of the main area. So when you come up onto the island, there's this lovely place where they host the buffets, and most people come for breakfast and for lunch. And there was a saying on the sign there. They called that place mehira, Mita. And what that meant in the Maldivian language was here. It just meant here. And there was another sign as you ride along the bike paths, and there are these wooden arrows, and they said Ethera, itha. And one meant there, ethere. So there, like, just keep going, because the island and the way that the paths were constructed was intentionally so that you could kind of get lost riding your bike and just find yourself exploring the island and be very present in just this surrounding of gorgeous nature, and then the the main gathering area, I just felt like that, saying here was everything, because when we were all gathered there, we were just really here, right? And I want to keep that energy coming forward in my life like. For being present and really being here in any situation that I'm doing and recognizing what's important to me when I am here and now, as I did when it came to jumping right back into everything and starting to record and edit and all of that kind of stuff right now, and it's just my body is telling me not yet. You know, rest a little more, recover a little more, and I'm determined to honor that. So this retreat absolutely amazing, and I'll be sharing so much more of it over upcoming podcast episodes, because I came home with a wonderful plan, changes and tweaks to my diet. I experienced a lot of amazing therapies there therapies that I didn't know about before or hadn't experienced before, and I'll share those with you in upcoming episodes as well. But I wanted to start off my return home with this talk about just living the slow life and really thinking about what that means to you. We tell ourselves so often we have to do so many things. You know, we have to be busy. We have to be busy. And I would say, over the course of the last what, seven years that I've been doing my business, there's been lots of evolution in this business as I dig deeper and deeper into how can I be productive in the way I want to be productive, and not be so busy that I'm missing out on the things that are important to me in life. And I think when you open yourself to the idea that that's possible, to the mindset that that's possible and that it's okay to not be doing something. 24/7, doing something, as in our idea of productive, you know, writing something, creating something, driving somewhere, picking up something, all of those things that it's okay to just sit and read. It's okay to just be in nature. It's okay to just relax. It's okay to just be in peace. And that was something else that Roger Moore in my session said to me. He says, I want you to go even deeper into silence. Just 1520, 30 minutes of meditation here and there is not going to cut it. You need to dig deeper and figure out what being in silence in the moment means to you, and that's pretty cool homework assignment to have. So I'm digging into that. I wanted to share it with you. I want to offer you that idea of if you could change something in your life and embrace the idea of living the slow life, of being in nature, more of being very present with the people you love, of being more available to be a part of your community, neighbors, friends, family, or even communities like my community and my membership community, right membership, or a community of other women who have been through What you've gone through where you can have really open, transparent conversations. I've said so many times that that is priceless, and I stick by that saying now it is incredibly healing and incredibly valuable. So maybe as you finish listening to this show, take a breath in and really ask yourself and notice where your brain throws up an argument against this. You can't do that. You have to do a different made Laura's life is different than yours. You you she can do it, and you can't do it. Maybe that's not true. Maybe there are ways that you can slow things down, be more connected, and spend more time getting to know and love and support yourself and your healing. Because I'll tell you, healing is a full time job, right? Living a healthy life, supporting a healthy lifestyle. It takes a lot of work. So in those 168 hours that we have in a week, how many of them are you spending connecting to yourself, connecting to nature and connecting to people who've lift you up, who fill your heart and make your life even more. Can you step into the slow life? I love to hear about it. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram as the breast cancer recovery coach, or you can come and work with me in both group or individual 101 sessions, and you can find all the information on that at the breast cancer recovery coach.com. All right, I'll talk to you next time. And until then, slow down and be good to yourself. Take care