Elephants and Tea - March 2022 - 20

Spiritual Practices FIRST DESCENTS
a set of clean scans and was told, " See you for a
check up in a few months! " . I finally reached the
finish line... but why did it feel so anticlimactic?
I had been waiting for this moment for almost a
year, and now that it was here, it felt so confusing.
I was thrilled to stop my medication, frequent
lab draws, injections, and constant cancer talk,
but now what?
As time went on, my energy level began to
return; however, something was still off. I recognized
that the pre-cancer normal I was chasing
didn't exist anymore. I had to create a new normal.
A post-cancer normal. Experiencing cancer
changed me. It changed me physically, mentally,
emotionally and spiritually.
Over the next few years, I began to see my life
as a new opportunity. I began exploring new
things, what lit me up, what made me excited, what
brought me joy. I was following what I like to call
the " breadcrumbs. " The little nudges, synchronicities
and life happenings that somehow point us
in the direction to whatever lesson we may need.
One particular breadcrumb led me straight to
sound therapy. Sound therapy or sound healing
is the meditative practice of calming the body
and mind through the immersion of sound. I had
heard of it before and thought, " Isn't that the same
as music therapy? " . It wasn't until I experienced my first gong bath
that I realized it was unlike anything I had experienced before. My
entire body vibrated as I lay on the floor of a yoga studio, snuggled
in a blanket with an eye mask. I saw colors, visions and gravity
seemed to have ceased to exist. I was in awe. As someone who has
a busy " monkey mind, " I was shocked at how much I relaxed. It
was a deep stillness I had never experienced before.
My curiosity and fascination for this new type of relaxation led me
into a nosedive of learning everything I could about sound therapy.
I read books, listened to podcasts, attended retreats, training and
began to purchase sound tools of my own. It was as if a fire was lit
inside me. I felt alive, and all the dots were connecting.
I created a business in the Fall of 2019 to begin to share the magic
that mindfulness, Reiki and sound therapy emanated. I taught Reiki
to many nurses I worked with, created sacred sound meditations
and couldn't wait for what 2020 would bring.
Sound therapy or sound healing is the meditative
practice of calming the body and mind through the
immersion of sound.
Unless you've been living under a rock the past two years, you
know what 2020 brought. It was as if all my coping mechanisms,
self care strategies and resilience I learned during my journey of
cancer was being tested.
I quickly found myself on the frontlines in the ICU (intensive care
unit), caring for some of the sickest COVID patients. The similar
feelings of fear, uncertainty, anxiety and overwhelm resurfaced.
However, this time I had reinforcements. I leaned heavily on my
mindfulness, meditation, Reiki and sound therapy practices to
calm my busy mind and body.
To this day, I couldn't be more grateful for the lessons my cancer
journey brought me. Despite the physical and mental scars, it taught
me to be grateful, find my joy and live each day fully.
Self care isn't one size fits all. It's important to follow your own
little breadcrumbs and take things one day at a time, for that's all
we truly have. l
LAUREN ALOISIO IS A YOUNG ADULT CANCER SURVIVOR WHO HAS A PASSION FOR WELLNESS
AND MAKING THE WORLD A MORE PEACEFUL PLACE. LAUREN HAS BEEN A REGISTERED
NURSE FOR OVER ELEVEN YEARS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS AND HAS PROUDLY SERVED
ON THE FRONT LINES THROUGHOUT THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC. THROUGHOUT HER OWN
EXPERIENCE WITH CANCER, LAUREN FOUND INCREDIBLE SOLACE IN MINDFULNESS,
SOUND MEDITATION AND REIKI. SHE CREATED NEW MOON WELLNESS, A BUSINESS WITH
A MISSION TO HELP ANXIOUS, STRESSED OUT PEOPLE FIND NEW AND ALTERNATIVE
WAYS OF RELAXATION. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LAUREN AND HER MISSION VISIT WWW.
NEWMOONWELLNESSLAUREN.COM
20
ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
MARCH 2022
http://www.NEWMOONWELLNESSLAUREN.COM http://www.NEWMOONWELLNESSLAUREN.COM http://www.ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
Elephants and Tea - March 2022

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