Breast Cancer Awareness

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Angad Kaur

Good morning.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The physical body is often referred to as the “centre of our experience” and there’s a proverb “experience is the greatest teacher”.

I haven’t had the personal experience of breast cancer but 28 years ago a dear friend and colleague was diagnosed, followed by a long journey of intensive treatment and life changes.

But rather than focus just on herself, this experience inspired her to train as a yoga teacher specialising in cancer, teaching classes in a local cancer support group. She also set up a project to help those affected by cancer in a small charity I’m involved with and contributed as a guest speaker on my training courses. Each time I’ve encountered her in these environments, I’ve been in awe of how she’s transformed her experience into valuable and informative lessons to share with people.

Then more recently, my friend stepped into a new stage in her life story that now includes metastatic cancer which isn’t curable.

Her response to this diagnosis? Being open, honest and accepting death as an integral part of life, she is offering help to people facing the process of dying, elevated by her understanding that we are a spirit each graced with having a human experience that is temporary.

Dear God, thank you for all the people you bring into my life and especially my friend who continually reminds me about the eternal nature and lightness of the spirit, so we don’t live in the darkness of the mind’s fears. And for her example, that even through such a life-limiting diagnosis, there are still opportunities to contribute to the world if we have the attitude of service to others.

Sat Naam