About Lisa
I started yoga for the same reason many people do - I wanted yoga to make me better at something else! For me it was running. I had heard that yoga could help me get stronger and recover from injuries faster so I gave it a try. I noticed that I was more focused during long training runs and I felt more fluid and comfortable over longer distances.
So there I was at age 35 feeling fit, healthy, and happy - and smashing my training goals. When I was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, it turned my world upside down.
Over 10 months I had 2 major surgeries and 6 rounds of chemotherapy. My prognosis was good but that was hard to remember when I was barely able to walk. I was scared and rehab was slow. Fortunately as an athlete and a financial planner I knew how to set goals and take small steps. I focused on the finish line and did everything I could to get there. Outwardly I stayed positive but inside I was always anxious - even if I could beat cancer, what would life look like after? My body was slowly healing but my mind was constantly racing...
Searching for relief, I discovered a book that described how meditation could reduce my anxiety and help me cope with my pain. I began a regular meditation practice and felt a bit calmer. Though my future was still uncertain, I started to feel more hopeful.
A year and many treatments later, I was a cancer survivor! To celebrate, I wanted to run, to swim, to move with that old sense of ease and grace. But I knew I needed to take it slow so I started with Restorative yoga. Because I was very young to be diagnosed with Ovarian cancer doctors I recommended I test for the BRAC gene. Just as I was finding my feet, I got another shock. Tests revealed a gene mutation which meant I had a much higher risk of developing breast cancer. I had just survived one cancer and now I was faced with a choice - risk another cancer or have a double mastectomy. I felt a lot of pressure to make a quick decision. But my yoga and meditation practice helped me slow down and process the information and options. Eventually I decided on the surgery. The mastectomy and reconstruction were painful and my recovery was slow. I had always felt so at home in my body. Now I was starting to lose confidence. If I wasn’t the strong woman I had always been, who was I?
On my path to recovery from the mastectomy I discovered aerial yoga. The silks are strong but very flexible. They moved and moulded to my body, giving me support and the confidence to explore. As time passed, I began to reach, rotate, bend, and twist my way into some gravity-defying tricks. Hovering over the ground below, I felt like I was taking flight. When I needed to ground and restore, I could wrap myself in a peaceful silk cocoon for nourishing restorative postures.
Gradually, I began to trust my body again.
I remember feeling a sense of physical freedom as the muscles across my chest stretched. But I felt something more than just the spread of my muscles. As I flew in the silks, I was opening up again to the full experience of my own body and breath...
The process hasn’t been quick or easy and the journey continues.
But everything I have learned so far, I’d love to share with you.
I felt something more than just the spread of my muscles. I had a feeling of lightness and a sense that I was expanding in my heart. Until that moment, I hadn’t known just how much fear I was holding. As I flew in the silks, I was opening up again to the full experience of my own body and breath...