Beyond Her Footsteps

This is Melissa.

She changed my life.

In my book I wrote a chapter about how she did this – how she recovered from a devastating cancer, and set about teaching some of the lifestyle changes that she believes are responsible for her continued good health. Melissa radiates health, and a wonderful, peaceful energy that envelops all of us lucky enough to know her. If you would like to read the chapter, click this link to Melissa’s website . 

Melissa is my yoga teacher. For several years I was content to follow where she led, in the hope and belief that if I did this, I too could have that glowing health and a profound sense of wellbeing.

At the beginning of this year I decided that this was going to be the year I achieved a Radical Remission. I read everything I could find on the subject. Once dismissed by the medical profession as inexplicable, these remissions are now being studied, and evidence is accumulating to support the idea that how we choose to live can not only help prevent illness, but can help us halt, or even reverse, life-threatening illness. In very extreme cases, lifestyle changes can bring a person back from the brink of death.

What became increasingly clear from my reading was that the path is different for everyone. So I no longer follow slavishly in Melissa’s footsteps hoping for a miracle to manifest. I am now carving out my own path. Her yoga classes are a part of my path, and I am working on also developing a consistent home practice. That’s a hard one, because consistency is not one of my strengths.

What Melissa did, I now realise, is find the path that was right for her. She had guidance, but her path is her own. My path is also my own. Yoga, writing, learning to deal with difficulties instead of doing my ostrich impersonation – all these things are a part of a path that will eventually be uniquely mine.

I haven’t yet achieved my Radical Remission. I absolutely believe that cancer entered my life in order to teach me a lesson. It has taught me many things, but clearly I have more to discover. My belief is that when I have learned all her lessons, cancer will leave. It won’t be dramatic. She will quietly slip out the back door, and after a while I will slowly start to notice her absence.

Following in Melissa’s footsteps began a process of conscious living, listening to my inner wisdom, and being kind to myself when I stumble. That last one is a first for me.

As I said, Melissa changed my life.