What paragliding, yoga, and nipple-less breasts have in common.
From the Sunday Self-Care Chronicles | 8/10/25
This week’s Sunday Self-Care Chronicles is a deeply personal look at the five values that keep me grounded—in survivorship, in life, and in my work with other survivors. Each value has a story, from smiling at my nipple-less breasts in the mirror with more love than I ever had for my natural ones… to paragliding in Switzerland as an act of freedom.
This week’s issue touches on:
✨ The 5 core values that shape my healing and my work: Love, Freedom, Curiosity, Joy, and Sustainability
✨ Personal stories that bring each value to life (including a graham-cracker-and-apple-juice kind of day)
✨ How these values connect to practical tools you can use in your own survivorship journey
Read the full email below - and if something speaks to you please feel free to comment, share, or reach out!
Hi love,
I talk a lot about self-care after breast cancer—what it looks like, why it matters, how to make it part of your life instead of something that sits on a “should-do” list.
But underneath all the tools, resources, and techniques I share… there’s something deeper.
It’s the thing that anchors me in my survivorship, and it’s what shapes the work I do with clients every single day: my values.
These aren’t abstract words I wrote down once and forgot about.
They’re lived. Felt. Tested.
They’ve gotten me through the hardest chapters of my life and guided me into the work I do now.
And today, I want to share them with you, along with some of the real-life moments that taught me what they actually mean.
Here are the five that guide me most and how they’ve shown up in my real, messy, beautiful life:
💗 Love — Love is more than a feeling. It’s compassion in action. It’s telling the truth gently. It’s choosing to show up even when it’s hard. Love is what keeps me in relationship with my body—not just the “before” version, but the scarred, changed, still-healing one I live in now. It’s the value that lets me hold my clients’ stories without rushing them toward “better,” but instead walking with them toward whole.
Like the mornings I catch my own reflection and smile at my nipple-less breasts with more acceptance than I ever gave my original ones. I used to judge those natural breasts for not being “good enough,” but these? These are as good as I need them to be.
🕊 Freedom — Freedom isn’t just about travel or flexibility (though I love both). It’s also the quiet, grounded sense of being safe in my own skin. It’s having the trust to move without fear, to try new things, to take up space again. It’s helping survivors find that same autonomy—whether that’s knowing how to care for their lymphatic health at home, or feeling confident saying “no” to advice that doesn’t serve them.
Like two years ago, standing on a cliff in Switzerland, clipped into a paraglider. Trusting my body to run toward the edge, catch the wind, and lift into the sky—something I’d never have dared before cancer. And in two weeks, I’ll do it again in Italy!
🔍 Curiosity – Curiosity is what opens the door to deeper healing. It’s how we learn about the changes in our bodies without judgment, and how we keep asking “what if?” in ways that bring growth. It’s also how my clients often surprise themselves.
Like the women who come in wanting to learn about their scars—how to care for them, what is safe, what is possible—and end up softening toward those scars as the scars soften under their own touch.
That same curiosity is why I created my Self-Care E-Book—to answer the questions no one else seems to answer about lymphedema risk, and to give you the confidence to explore your body’s needs without fear.
😊 Joy — Joy isn’t the same as happiness, and it’s not about ignoring hard things. Joy is the light that makes the dark more bearable. It’s found in moments big and small—if we’re willing to notice.
Like during my surgical consult marathon—three surgeons in six hours, fueled only by apple juice and graham crackers—when my husband cracked a ridiculous joke. We were delirious, but the laughter was warm and deep. It reminded me that even at the start of a long, hard road, we were a team.
🌱 Sustainability — Sustainability is what makes self-care possible for the long haul. It’s about finding what works for your real life, not an idealized version of it.
Like returning to yoga and giving myself permission to commit to one great class a week instead of cramming in two or three. One is realistic. One is maintainable. And one is enough.
That’s the same philosophy behind my Dry Brushing Workshop—a simple, sustainable self-care practice you can keep for life.
💭 Something to consider:
What are your values right now—and how do they show up in your healing? (They can change over time!)
☕️ I’d love to hear from you:
Hit reply and share one value that’s carrying you through this season. I read and respond to every note.
Always in this with you…
ps. If one of your values is learning to care for your body in a way that feels safe, confident, and sustainable, I’ve got two resources that might feel like a match:
💗 My Self-Care E-Book — Your complete guide to understanding and managing lymphedema risk, so you can make informed choices without living in fear.
🌱 My Dry Brushing Workshop — A gentle, practical ritual for supporting your lymphatic health, reconnecting with your body, and adding a little joy to your self-care.
Both are rooted in the same values I shared today—and designed to help you weave them into your own survivorship story.
pps. If you like what you read here please consider sharing forwarding this email to a friend or sharing it on your socials.