Healing HCC Liver Cancer Retreat

Healing HCC Liver Cancer Retreat  – After I was diagnosed and was in the Oh My Gosh I Can’t Believe It’s Cancer stage, my first google searches were about what to do when you find out you have cancer. I wanted a Healing HCC Liver Cancer Retreat. Honestly? I was looking for was a place to run and hide. You know, kind of hunker down and prepare for what’s next. I found cancer retreats all over the country. The pictures and descriptions sounded so healing…. But they cost bunches of bucks that I didn’t have.

I looked around at my little farm house and began to think of it as a retreat center. I’ve been on lots of spiritual and educational retreats. I have also had the opportunity to lead workshops in many retreats over the years. 

Retreats are always a chance to hit the reset button, take a breather from routine, be pampered, listen to yourself. 

Say NO to something. Say YES to something.

 Here is what I look for in a good retreat:

Education – Tell me something new or show me how to apply what I already know!

Time for reflection and writing – Give me some time to just think and be.

Interaction with smart and caring people – Teach me what have you learned in life that I need to know.

Healthy delicious meals – Good food to help me feel better.

Clean and quiet surroundings – Nothing screaming to be done. 

If you have watched my youtubes, you have seen my farmhouse living room. My country kitchen is in the healtination.com videos. So your Best Friend’s Farm is NOT quite the stuff of a fancy resort or a mountain top lodge, but it has everything that is listed above.

I’ll bet YOUR house has all the elements of a retreat center too. Let’s take a look at how we can convert our homes into a retreat center with a little time and not a lot of money.

Workshops – Going on a retreat usually means you will have workshops to attend. They are typically spaced a few hours apart. One in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The cool thing about planning your own retreat is that you can choose whatever topic you like! If you want to learn about cooking for liver disease, then you can come to the Best Friends Guide and look up recipes. Other possible seminars are:

Yoga – Look up a video and try a new one in your living room floor.  You may purchase a set of DVDs to get your own special yoga coach!

Gardening or sprouting indoors – Research and watch videos that will help you plan your garden. Then you can have organic and delicious veggies whenever you want!

Spirituality – Pulling a book from the shelf can take me into another world for hours. I take lots of notes. You may want to listen to an audio or video of your favorite author. Spend time in prayer and meditation. Listen to spiritual music while reading. This could be a good time to sing along in worship.

Collections – I collect things like feathers, rocks, and books. So I have many books on birds and nature that I can study at any time.

Music – Study the life and music of someone you have always been curious about. I got into Hungarian composers and did a mini retreat complete with a Goulash recipe! Franz Liszt is hot!

Psychology – Some of my self help and motivational books have been with me for years. Others are new and are audio books on my phone. I have a book or two near every chair in every room of my house. I constantly feed my brain new stuff relating to how human beans think!

Family and Personal Growth or Finances – The list of things to learn is endless. As you listen to or read positive words you can set goals, find financial resources, and make a budget! This is really important for Baby Boomers and even more so if you have health care costs. A book or youtube on parenting, marriage, or dating can be fun and imformative too!

Journal and Reflection – After you finish reading or listening to a book or video, it is a good idea to sit down and reflect on what you learned. If you have worked out, gone for a walk, or done some yoga, write down how you feel. Do a little body inventory before and after. That way you can mark progress and you can share it with your friends, family, and even your doctor!

Interaction with knowledgeable people is easily done if you are reading, watching videos, or listening to seminars. It’s like having an expert in your home! Stay in touch with smart people through the internet also. Some of the most intelligent and good hearted people are within reach. They have a lot to share and would also love to hear what you are learning.

Healthy Delicious Food is always my favorite parts of a workshop or retreat. Mostly because someone else is cooking it! These days, I have to eat so careful that it is rare for me to enjoy someone else’s cooking. Part of your retreat could actually be about cooking. Finding and trying new recipes can be an adventure in learning. Watch for some news about nutrition and liver disease on the blog. I’m taking it to a whole new level of scrumptious goodness!

Clean and Quiet Surroundings may not be easy to find. Right now my bed is not made because I have wallered in it off and on all day. One thing I do is hire the grandkids to come over on weekends and pay them $5.00 each to change the bed. If you don’t have grandkids, hire one of the neighborhood kids to sweep or do the dishes occasionally. Another thing you can do is just tune out the mess and chillax in the middle of it!

Do you see how easy it is to have your own personal growth seminar or retreat? You can plan when to take a few days (or hours) and announce it to your family. Get the house spruced up. Get some good groceries put away just for the occasion.

Name your retreat. I make up jazzy names like “Getting a Check Up from the Neck Up” or “Stop! Yoga Time”. Sometimes I name it “Leave me the Heck alone”. I refer to the whole process as Life University. If the hours that were spent on personal growth could be added up, I would be a doctor by now! Dr. Karen Hoyt specializes in taking care of herself. Yeah!

I went on a 2 day retreat last week! The morning’s session lasted 3 hours and was called “The Secret of Life” and it started with a James Taylor Youtube video of that song. Then I wrote in my gratitude journal about all the things I love having and am thankful for. Next I looked at internet articles on how I could get by with less stuff. I watched a TED Talk called “Life is Easy” and then listened to a chapter of my Dave Ramsey Audible book on Money Makeover while I drove to the grocery store and also while I cooked. Day 2 was more of the Money book and I cleaned a closet and filled a box with items to sell or give away. The extra cash will help with medical costs! A Healing HCC Liver Cancer Retreat is just what I needed to stop fretting and do something! 

You don’t have to have cancer to have a retreat or motivate change. I’ve always enjoyed little retreats to help me grow mentally and spiritually. The important thing is to set a time for YOU and show up ready to learn something new or practice what you already know! Look at it as a gift that you give to yourself.

Honestly, a retreat time like I had last week would have cost about $150.00 a day with room and meals. I got it all for the price of the audio book! It was about 5 hours total. The beauty of a self guided retreat is that you can start and stop when you need to. I’m thinking you will enjoy it so much that you will be as greedy as I am for that Self Love Retreat time.

I want YOU to have a wonderful retreat. Even if you’re working full time, you can have a couple of hours to take care of yourself and enjoy learning something new. I love my Besties with all my heart. I’m working hard to beat Heptacellular Cancer and keep my Cirrhosis from getting any worse. Thank you So So much for all of the warm love via email and messages.

I love YOU, xoxoxo Karen:)

P.S. If you were here we could do a retreat together. We would stay up late talking and eating in bed. Then we would have to drag ourselves out for tomorrow’s session! Now I’m wondering what YOUR retreat will be about?

What would be a retreat or seminar that you would love to attend? What is stopping you from having your own internet retreat?

Pics via saltandchocolate.com, myjonosgrandkayman, Karen’s Farm and Healing HCC Liver Cancer Retreat Center