Cancer Teaches One Woman to Love Herself

An intensely private person, Laurie learned that she didn’t have to go it alone, unless she chose to do so. Instead, she chose community, staying open and honest with students, co-workers and friends about her experience. She discovered it was okay for her to depend upon those who, for so many years, had come to depend on her for the serenity and strength that yoga offers. Laurie chose to love her cancer—or what it represented: the ugly parts of oneself that no one is exempt from having and that we all, too often, refuse to look at. Laurie learned to love herself unconditionally and, to see, perhaps for the first time, she is a truly beautiful soul.

 “The marketing propaganda tells people to fight cancer. I didn’t fight my cancer; I loved my body. I loved myself. Before I lost my breast, I would lie down at night with my hand over my breast and say, to my whole self, really: ‘Thank you for being part of me. I’m sorry that I didn’t always care of you. I forgive you for having cancer.’