Finding Resilience After Breast Cancer
Research; Curriculum Planning; Filming
This is a FREE research-based curriculum designed specifically for breast cancer patients. There are 10 classes, each between 10 and 20 minutes in length. They are FREE and available for you to watch at your convenience. Please like, comment, and share away on the videos themselves.
The research shows that there are 6 key pillars for fostering resilience: (self-care & compassion; support & connection; positive affect; healthy coping; finding purpose; and mindfulness). This curriculum explains how our brains can be rewired for resilience by strengthening these 6 areas.
Each class discusses one of the key components and provides simple concrete things that you can do to strengthen it. Class #9 is an Emotional Resilience Practical with Building Blocks Family Counseling; and Class #10 is a Physical Resilience Practical with Mary at the Barre and Yoga Room.
Class #1: Our Brains and the 6 Pillars to Resilience
This is lesson 1 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class explains how our brains process trauma; how we can use our understanding of neuroplasticity to rewire our brains for resilience; what the 6 pillars to obtaining resilience are; and how we begin to reframe and shift our perspectives when our worlds just fell apart.
Class #2: Resilience Pillar 1: Self-Care & Compassion w/ Physical Resilience
This is lesson 2 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class discusses the first pillar to resilience (self-care and compassion) and how it relates to our physical resilience. We talk about what self-care actually is; how changing our expectations and shifting our perspectives can set us up for optimal success post treatment; what we can do to prepare for surgery; and how to increase our physical strength post-op.
Class #3: Resilience Pillar 1: Self-Care & Compassion w/ EMOTIONAL Resilience
This is lesson 3 of 10 in our FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class explores the first pillar to resilience (self-care and compassion) with our EMOTIONAL resilience. We talk about the best strategy to tend to emotional wounds in comparison to some highly ineffective strategies (which I most definitely tried). We discuss what the purpose of emotions are; how trauma affects the brain, what we can do about it; and HOW we actually get towards that ultimate acceptance: 1) Name it, 2) Mindful Breathing, 3) Coping Strategies. We provide tips for emotional resilience and self-care during treatments as well as a daily challenge.
Class #4: Resilience Pillar 2: Support & Connection
This is lesson 4 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class talks about the second pillar to resilience: Support & Connection. We cover how there is power in our authenticity and vulnerability; where we can find support and connection; what the different mediums for connection include; what three truths you can count on are; why we should connect outside of cancer too; and what today’s daily challenge is.
Class #5: Resilience Pillar 3: Positive Affect
This is lesson 5 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class explains the third pillar to resilience (Positive Affect). We talk about how positive affect can physically change our brains, ultimately rewiring them for resilience. We discuss what the two main elements for positive affect are (Optimism and Humor); what strategies we can actually do to improve our optimism; what simple activities we can do each day to grow our humor; and what the daily challenge is. This includes a gratefulness journal and a timeline activity.
Class #6: Resilience Pillar 4: Healthy Coping Strategies
This is lesson 6 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class further explains healthy coping strategies, which is the 4th pillar to resilience. We talk about how our imagination can assist us when facing overwhelming emotions; what the two unhealthy coping strategies to avoid are; what radical acceptance means; how distress tolerance can help us in icky-sticky moments of panic; what strategies we can actually use; and how we can regulate our emotions. We also provide another daily challenge.
Class #7: Resilience Pillar 5: Finding Purpose
This is lesson 7 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This class discusses how finding purpose (the 5th pillar to resilience) helps strengthen our overall ability to heal. We talk about what adversity can bring us; how we can shift our perspectives and use our trials as spring boards to reunite with our core values; what the importance of core values are and how to find them; and where we can find purpose (both related to our traumas and even unrelated to them). We explain the benefits of a control/no control circle; and how to use them to help re-unite us with our core values. We also provide a daily challenge.
Class #8: Resilience Pillar 6: Mindfulness
This is lesson 8 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum designed for breast cancer patients. This class explains the 6th and final pillar to resilience: Mindfulness. We talk about what mindfulness is; how mindfulness helps our brain; what four areas of mindfulness practice are; how grounding can help us stay present; what tools are available to help us practice mindfulness; how to be mindfully aware of our emotions and why that is actually helpful; and how to use our imaginations to let go of stress. There is also a daily challenge.
Class #9: Emotional Resilience Practical w/ Building Blocks Family Counseling and Making Lemonade
This is lesson 9 of 10 in a FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. These last two classes are our resilience practicals; and this lesson is our emotional resilience one. The experts from Building Blocks Family Counseling and their Making Lemonade course join us to discuss what emotional resilience is; how therapy/counseling can help you heal; and what some coping strategies are. They provide us with a sneak peek at some of the skills that they teach in their class, Making Lemonade. They explain one mindful breathing strategy, two grounding/distress tolerance strategies, and an every-day coping strategy.
Class #10: Physical Resilience Practical and Yoga with Mary at the Barre and Yoga Room
This is lesson 10 of 10 in our FREE research-based resilience curriculum for breast cancer patients. This is our physical resilience practical, where Mary (owner and yoga instructor at the Barre and Yoga Room in Rincon, GA) shares the healing power of 10 yoga poses. She explains how to properly do each of the 10 poses; why they are helpful in strengthening your overall resilience; how to sequence them; and what they can do for your body. She has also provided us with sequences and guided meditations found below.