Suffering from withdrawals from our first ServiceSpace retreat, Min and I met for food, hugs, and shared space yesterday—less than 24 hours after leaving the Bolinas retreat center. During a conversation with Min and Alem, I realized how I can serve with my recent diagnosis. Turns out that Alem works for a nonprofit foundation that guides cancer patients to individualized care and treatment while gathering information to share with other patients. I love how Alem’s foundations serves the individual while simultaneously serving the collective.

Min and I were reflecting what a shame it would be if I healed this dis-ease with non-conventional treatments and someone in a similar circumstance asked me how I did it, but I couldn’t remember or articulate what I did. So I’ve decided to start blogging about this journey.

Recently, Zilong gifted me a book by Fred Ho called Diary of a Radical Cancer Warrior. Fred Ho was diagnosed with the exact same cancer as me. Reading his daily diary of treatment, emotions, support, and growth has been a shining star in a quest to navigate the overgrown path of treatment options. I want to provide the same light for others who confront similar challenges, except coming from a less conventional, more spiritual treatment plan.

For example, at the retreat, Guri and Anne Veh formed a posse of ServiceSpace superstars who surrounded me before I left. They handed me handwritten prayers and gave me a group hug. Then everyone in the group put their hands on me and sent healing energy into my body. I had loving hands covering my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I can’t express the amount of healing that happened in that one interaction. I felt held, loved, nurtured, supported, and validated.

In addition, a number of members from the ecosystem have stepped forward and offered me deep wisdom and care. Nisha and Ragu in India, Dr. Swarma in Arizona, and Michael Lerner in Bolinas have all given me powerful assistance and support. I would like to share these gifts with anyone who needs them. Much of this guidance, like “watch the sunrise” or “only go at the pace of guidance,” doesn’t seem like medicine, but has been deeply healing.

These are the types of things that don't get put into medical reports, but definitely have a powerful effect on the body, the mind, the heart, and the spirit of a patient. Everyone who has attended an Awakin Circle can attest to the power of the circle to heal, nourish, and lighten all parts of our being. These are the types of “treatments” I want to highlight in this blog. Hopefully, these posts will serve as bread crumbs for anyone who comes after me in search of a non-violent alternative to chemo, radiation, and surgery.