How a subtle shift in your mindset can help you manage mental overwhelm.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend – Melody Beattie

I start chemo and immunotherapy this week and I have been prepping for my first treatment session. My regimen is called TCHP and I have been told it is not “the worst” chemo regimen, so I am grateful for that! The amount of prep work is impressive. I had an echocardiogram to make sure my heart is healthy enough. A port inserted into my chest for easy access to my veins. I attended a chemo class to learn all about what to expect. I got my blood drawn and picked up all of my supportive medications. I also had to make a decision about cold capping to attempt to save some of my hair, and if I want to wear ice booties and gloves to attempt to prevent neuropathy of my hands and feet. And since I am also working with a ND oncologist, I met with her, received a list of supplements that had to be vetted with Kaiser and then ordered . . .

When you have a list that is a mile long and never seems to get any shorter, how can you manage the mental overwhelm that usually comes along with it? First of all, I find it helpful to write it down and get it out of my brain. I also like to focus on what I have in my life to be grateful for, as a gratitude practice can be a powerful way to move from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance. This can be very challenging to do in our daily lives as our minds are actually evolutionary hardwired for a scarcity mindset, which is a natural instinct that evolved to help us survive. But this mindset can lead to chronic worry and fear of not having enough, not accomplishing enough, and not being enough. Our brains have limited bandwidth so when we are focused on what we are lacking, we do not have enough space in our brain to focus on all we have. And this can harm your mental state, increase stress, and lead to poor decision making.

During my breast cancer journey, when I start to feel overwhelmed and stuck in the scarcity mental loop, I take a moment for my gratitude practice. This can be as simple as closing your eyes, taking a couple grounding breaths and listing what you are grateful for in your life. Or you can start a gratitude journal and create a daily ritual of writing 5 things you are grateful for. Benefits of a consistent gratitude practice can increase resilience, enhance empathy, boost your self-esteem, increase productivity, and make you a happier person. And a repetitive gratitude practice can strengthen the positive neural pathways, making them more accessible.

I am blessed with so many things in my life. When I step into a more abundant mindset, I am also able to find gratitude in this cancer journey and recognize all the silver linings that are present. And that helps me see the glass as half full.

I do want to acknowledge that this is not an easy practice. Especially when you are feeling low energy, or life throws something your way that feels insurmountable and really unfair. The reason that it is called a gratitude practice is because it takes repetition, and the more that we practice it when we are happy and satisfied, the easier it is to flex that muscle when we are feeling really down and in a negative head space.

This last weekend, I got a chance to put this practice to the test. I was in a lot of physical discomfort from my port placement procedure and really just wanted to lay in bed and not move. I did honor that a bit, as I believe in resting when your body needs it. But my mindset was extremely negative and it was affecting everyone around me. I knew that I needed to shift my perspective as I had a lot that needed to get done in order to be ready for the week ahead and I needed to be mentally strong and resilient to kick ass. I took a couple deep breaths to ground myself, and then reframed my thoughts. Instead of focusing on how the port was painful and limiting my ability to move, I thought about how having some physical discomfort could enhance my awareness as a yoga instructor. A lot of students come to my class with discomfort in their body after birth – tightness, lack of mobility, and sometimes post surgery. I will now have more body awareness, more empathy for my students, and this experience will make me a better teacher. And as soon as I invited in a more positive way of looking at my current situation, I felt my mindset subtly start to shift, allowing my overwhelm to begin to feel manageable.

Looking for silver linings and finding gratitude in my life has helped me get through some really challenging times. The fact that I have it in my toolkit feels like a real blessing as I navigate this very up and down journey of breast cancer. It allows me to feel just a little more spacious and accepting of where I am in my life right now.