"People ask me about Jean,” says Sheri Keller, a marriage and family therapist, of her friend, Jean Trebek, "and I say 'well, let's see, she's an angel on earth.'”
Her husband, Alex Trebek, clearly feels that way, too. Jean, he believes, is one reason he's beaten the odds with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, making it to the one-year mark, a milestone only 17% of patients with his disease celebrate.
Read MoreKeller tells Trebek that she decided to go back to school to receive her Masters Degree right before she turned 50, but admits it was a difficult process.
“It's about a five year commitment to get the Masters and then get your 3,000 hours,” Keller explains. “I did go to school with a lot of 20-year olds and 30-year olds, and they all called me mom. I had somebody who gave me the best advice – a friend said to me 'well you're either going to be 55 and be a therapist or you'll be 55 and you won't be a therapist, what's the difference?' and I was like 'I don't know why that makes so much sense' but it did. Here I am.”
Despite Keller’s initial slight apprehension about her decision, she realized that her age could be an asset in her career.
“The beauty of being a therapist, the beauty of the job, is it's a career you grow into not out of because the more years you have, and more experience you have, the more helpful you can be to somebody else.”
Jean Trebek on Sound Healing
Jean Currivan Trebek, 54, has been practicing sound healing for 10 years. The practice, along with an ancient healing technique called Reiki, is part of Trebek's spiritual faith, called Religious Science, which helps her stay grounded and positive during difficult times. Trebek leads others through these practices, too. She's a "healer" of many kinds, and when asked what she would say to someone who's going through a tough time be it with their own health, the health of a family member, or something else entirely and who would like to welcome spirituality and meditation into their lives but doesn't know where to begin, Trebek's advice is simply to ask.
"Just ask the universe, 'What's the next step for me?'" she said. "The universe will always respond. I am absolutely sure that we live in a benevolent universe that is always conspiring for our highest and greatest good."
Colon cancer and Lynch syndrome survivor Shannon Masur on the importance of meditation during cancer
Mindfulness and Cancer
Mindfulness is often suggested for cancer patients to reduce high levels of anxiety and distress associated with diagnosis, treatment and anticipation of possible disease recurrence. Both the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Society of Integrative Oncology (SIO) recommend meditation as part of a multidisciplinary approach to reduce stress, depression, and mood disturbance, and to improve the quality of life in cancer patients.
But the question remains: does it really work? We think it does.
5 tips for practicing mindfulness during cancer treatment:
- Choose one daily activity to practice mindfully (e.g. eating your lunch, brushing your teeth or taking a shower). During this activity notice your breath and activity of your mind for a few moments.
- Take a pause throughout your day. During your day, find a moment to stop and take 5 deep breaths with your eyes closed.
Kindly acknowledge a moment you're experiencing a difficulty by putting your hand on your heart and saying, "I feel my pain. How can I be kind to myself in this moment?" - Get curious about your emotions. Experiment with welcoming your emotions as they come, instead of pushing them away.
Become aware when you're in a rush. Ask yourself, "Do I really need to hurry?" - Jon Kabat Zinn, founder of the eight-week stress-reduction program, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a course that has entered the mainstream of health care, scientific study, and public policy, describes mindfulness as "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally." The first step to being able to pay attention in the present moment is slowing down the mind often referred to as the "monkey mind." This is done through a regular meditation practice.
Regularly meditating allows people to start to become more aware of the emotions in the psychical body and the thoughts running through the mind, to feel into their emotions and acknowledge their thoughts as they arise, and then gently let them go. Shannon Masur, a colon cancer and Lynch Syndrome survivor, describes this as "… when a thought comes in, to feel it, feel the fear, but let it go after a few seconds."
Not only can this reduce stress and anxiety in the body, including during cancer treatment, it may also help cancer patients to control problems such as pain, difficulty sleeping, tiredness, feeling sick and high blood pressure. These benefits included increased calm, enhanced sleep quality, more energy, less physical pain, and increased well-being.
Caution … it can take time to feel the benefits of meditation. So be patient! When you first start to meditate you might feel more stressed as you see how busy your mind is. But if you keep trying to meditate (even a short time each day) you will notice it gets easier. Gradually you'll feel calmer and less stressed. Regular practice is key.
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