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Self Care

At your first appointment with us, we will review your health history, talk a bit about your current lifestyle, and share health tips that other women have incorporated into their routines that have resulted in better breast health.

The most important of these health tips comes from Dr. Bernardo Maljaca, a Naturopath who practiced in Mexico and the later in San Diego until his death at age 82. In his 56-year career, he treated thousands of women who had breast cancer, many of whom found him only after exhausting all other treatment options. He helped many of them heal themselves.

Dr. Bernardo wrote that breast cancer was, in part, an emotional illness brought on by a combination of lack of self care and the habit of stuffing negative emotions in the body, namely anger, resentment and grief.

Relax, Release, Restore, Renew

We encourage women to make sure they put themselves first on their list when it comes to nurturing and self-care. Like putting your own oxygen mask on when flying, we cannot help others if we cannot breathe ourselves. It’s a little like filling our own reserve tanks every day with activities that make us feel bliss, joy, gratitude, humor, purpose, connection, creativity, spirituality and love. We can carve out 10 minutes here, and 20 minutes there; it doesn’t have to be hours at one time. And it doesn’t have to cost a cent!

It could be as simple as sitting in your garden, petting your dog or cat, taking a hot bath, taking a nap, spending time in nature, enjoying a hobby or artistic project, singing, dancing or laughing. Women who purposely and regularly fill their tanks are happier women, and they make better mothers, grandmothers, sisters, wives, neighbors and employees! We all know women who are always giving… and giving… and GIVING… and never have their own reserves. Those women are usually strident, unhappy and resentful, although they try hard to hide those feelings from others.

Women who give themselves permission to enjoy self-nurturing activities have a serenity and graciousness about them, because they are giving from a full tank!

Encourage Solitude

We also encourage women to give themselves the solitude needed on a regular basis, to check in with themselves to see if they are holding anger, resentment and grief inside their bodies. According to Dr. Bernado, most women are angry at some man in their lives, either past or present. And with anger, comes resentment and grief about how things didn’t turn out like we wanted them to. He explained to us that when women stuff these emotions, they are stored in our liver and kidneys, and this compromises the immune system, which, in turn, affects the rest of the body.

There are many ways to process emotions, including psychotherapy, a spiritual practice or religion, journaling, somatic therapies, ti chi, 12 step work, and others. If we can find a few that work for us, and utilize them on a regular basis, we will be allowing our immune system (liver, kidneys and GI tract) to function as they were meant to, as detoxing units, instead of storage devices.

In addition to these two profound tips from Dr. Bernardo, we share more breast health tips at each initial appointment, and will provide you with a printout of the most successful ones utilized by our clients!