Take a moment.
Take a moment to settle in,
Breathe in holding your breath for a heartbeat and exhale out through your mouth.
Repeat that holding your breath a little longer.
And again.
Good.
Take some time to rearrange your surroundings and yourself to get comfy and make sure you're warm and won't be disturbed.
I'm assuming you're here because you're having treatment for cancer or another illness and you're planning to work through this time.
Some of us choose to do this,
Some of us don't have a choice in the matter.
Whichever situation you find yourself in there are a few things that will make life easier for you.
Some people find working during treatment is easy,
Which is awesome,
But a lot of us find that fatigue,
Pain or brain fog can make things tricky.
It can also be weird being in the real world when you've been existing in cancer land for a while.
People who haven't been through similar things may not be understanding or they may say unhelpful things.
But let's start with the commute.
If you're able to work from home and you enjoy it,
Then that's brilliant,
It will reduce your exposure to colds and flu and other bugs.
This is of particular importance if you're undergoing chemo,
As your natural defences will be reduced,
Leaving you at risk.
If you have to commute,
Private transport would be good,
But if that's not an option then wearing a mask and using hand sanitiser is a good idea to reduce your chances of catching a bug.
Once you're at work it's good to let people know that it's important they don't bring bugs into the workplace.
Ideally,
Anyone who is sick or whose kids are sick should be staying home.
If you're not confident in your workplace then you may need to keep up the mask wearing and hand sanitising while you're there.
Communicating with your workmates is important,
But also very much up to you how much you disclose or discuss.
Assuming you have told your boss,
You don't necessarily need to tell your workmates that you are having treatment,
It's up to you to decide what you're comfortable with.
In a perfect world you'll inform them of your situation and everyone will respond in a compassionate and sensible way,
But that's probably not how it's going to roll.
If you are comfortable you can inform people about your situation and let them know how they can support you.
People will probably say things along the lines of,
Let me know how I can help,
So if you have a think about any regular or taxing tasks that they can do for you then it's up to them if they want to be of actual help or not.
If there are any duties you can pass on temporarily,
If you're able to job share,
If you can reduce your hours,
All of these things will help.
There are some brilliant benefits to working during treatment,
It's lovely to be in the real world and not in a hospital,
And hopefully work helps you feel connected and part of something.
I'm aware that in the States healthcare is often tied to employment,
So the idea of having a choice to work or not might seem unrealistic,
But if you are in a position to take extended leave or resign then it can be a good option to allow yourself to recover from treatment relatively rapidly.
But whatever your situation don't push yourself,
Take good care of yourself and rest as much as you can.
Don't overestimate what you might be capable of,
Don't overestimate.
You can always do more than you have promised,
But it is a little awkward to do less.
If you are working and you're in a situation where colleagues need to be informed but you don't feel okay doing it yourself,
You can ask a trusted workmate to put the word out for you.
Perhaps you need to communicate your reduced working hours,
Your increased fatigue,
And whether or not you actually want to discuss your situation.
It can be really helpful to have someone else getting this intel out without you having to deal with it.
If you are comfortable hearing people's cancer stories and probably fairly misguided opinions and advice then that's great.
If you're happy to joke about your situation that's also fab.
But if the thought of these sorts of conversations fills you with dread,
It's probably best to front foot it and make it known that your health situation is not a topic for general discussion.
Resting is very important.
Some workplaces have a sick room where you can nap,
So take advantage of that if you can.
Similarly,
If you're able to take a slightly longer lunch and head home for a rest that would be really good.
Your treatment,
Whether it's chemo or radio or something else,
Will probably have ebbs and flows,
So if you're able to work around those that's best.
For example,
If you're having 3 weekly chemo,
You might find that the first 3 days after your infusion are too hard to work in,
But you can make up a bit of time in the 2 and a half weeks leading up to your next dose.
Hopefully you have an understanding boss and a supportive HR department,
If not then I hope you have a good team around you and some solid friends at work to help get you through.
Working through treatment isn't always easy but it's good to be in the flow of life and you'll hopefully be able to get the benefits of working with a few tweaks to adjust for your treatment situation.
Okay,
That's enough talking from me.
Let's take some more deep breaths together.
Breathing in the deepest breath you've taken today,
Slowly letting it out,
Pushing out all of the air in your belly.
Breathing in again,
And out,
Slowly and fully.
Now with each out breath feel your body get heavy,
Feel your inhale expand your body,
Feel your exhale sink your body into your seat or bed.
Rub your fingertips together,
Feel your fingers.
Rub your hands together,
Rub your hands faster and feel the heat that you're generating.
Place them over your eyes.
Now you can take your hands away from your eyes,
Gently roll your head from side to side,
Give yourself a little massage of your neck with your warm hands.
And now your jaw,
Your shoulders.
Roll your shoulders forward,
Up and back,
Forward,
Up and back,
Forward,
Up,
Hold it and release.
Take a couple more deep breaths and now we'll just relax and listen to the music for a while.
Regulatory,
You We are coming to the end of our time together.
As you're bringing some movement back into your body,
Have a think about a way you can bring some more relaxation into your day today.
Take some deep breaths,
Open your eyes and look around.
You are welcome back to this meditation or any of my others anytime you like.
I hope you have a good day and thank you for sharing this meditation with me.
