They asked me what self-care actually means after breast cancer. Here's what I said.
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 6/28/26
Hello Lovely,
Right before I left for Italy, in the middle of packing my bags and trying not to let anything important slip through the cracks on my way out the door, I got an email from Mary, an editor at my professional association, Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP).
Last year I was one of 10 winners among a national recognition campaign called Massage is For EveryBody for the work I do with the breast cancer community, and after congratulating me again on that achievement, she asked to write a new feature article about me for the ABMP blog.
>>> Read my original winning submission here.
Obviously I said yes before I even finished reading the email! I typed back something that was basically: I'm so honored, please send me your questions, things are a little chaotic right now but I will make this work.
Thanks to the convenience of email and the gift of patience, we managed to do a detailed Q&A from two different continents that she ultimately turned into an article about my work and why it matters.
The article went live last week and I'm so excited to share it with you:
Read it here: From Massage to Education, Cancer Survivor Care Is Multidimensional
There is something genuinely strange and good about seeing your work described by someone who has no personal stake in it. Mary wrote about my Pay It Forward fund, my free self-care starter kit The Survivorship Starting Point, and the other massage therapists in Buffalo that I've encouraged and mentored in support of oncology massage.
She asked me to explain what self-care actually means in the context of breast cancer, and I told her the same thing I tell you: it is not bubble baths and face masks.
It is the work of coming back into a body that has been cut, radiated, and medicated. It is learning you can put your own hands on your chest and feel something other than fear. It is learning to be touched without bracing for what comes next, and learning to touch yourself without looking away.
What Mary didn't know when she asked me those questions is that everything I described was already so close to becoming something tangible. I wasn't ready to name it then — the program wasn't finished, and I didn't want to make a promise I couldn't keep — but it's ready now; a self-care program built specifically for breast cancer survivorship.
This is the type of survivorship care you deserve:
Safe – you won't have to guess what's appropriate for your post-treatment body.
Effective – techniques that work and are adaptable for your needs based on your surgery and treatment outcomes.
Practical – skills and language you can use every day, whether you're caring for your own body at home or talking to your medical team about what you're experiencing.
Relevant – every single thing in this program was built specifically for breast cancer survivorship, not repurposed from generic wellness trends.
As You Are Now: A Breast Cancer Self-Care Program for Real Life is almost ready: something you can do at home, at your own pace, whether or not there is a specialist anywhere near you. It's built around three common challenges most of us face in survivorship: mind-body disconnect, scar and scar tissue care, and lymphatic health.
Most survivors leave treatment without anyone teaching them how to understand, care for, or feel safe in their changed body — not the mechanics of it, not the emotional weight of it, and not what to actually do at home. This program addresses all three, together, because that's how healing actually works.
Through a combination of videos, guided self-care practices, and education and context about your body that you were never given, I'm taking what I do every day in my office and teaching you how to do it for yourself, so you can stop waiting for answers that feel out of reach and start actually understanding the body you're living in now.
Starting in July I'm enrolling 10 founding members exclusively from my email subscribers (that's you!). If you want to know what it would be like to be one of them, join my email list here. There's no commitment, just first access to the details to see if it's a fit.
And if I may, one more ask before I go: if someone in your life is navigating breast cancer right now, or if you know a massage therapist trying to learn how to do this work better, please send them that article. It's a good entry point to my work. It explains the why behind everything I do in a way that might land for someone who doesn't know me yet.
As always, I'm in this with you.
P.S. When you sign up as a founding member of As You Are Now, you'll receive special pricing and an exclusive bonus, and your experience will directly shape the program for every survivor who comes after you.