A year ago today I went into surgery to have a cancerous tumour removed from my breast.

For me it was a lesson in letting others help me, in this instance an expert surgeon. I had already spent a few years monitoring the lump and making massive lifestyle changes and yet, even with all that I had done, surgery was still necessary. Up until this moment I had still been trying to do it all myself, to research myself, to heal myself, to go it alone and fix it all my myself…. last year was a humbling year, where I finally realised how important it is to let other people help you, to understand that we are all interconnected and interdependent and to open myself to my community for support.

It was and continues to be a lesson in trusting my own intuition and inner knowing, because every one is an expert on cancer but no one has the cure. Many have cured themselves but their cure doesn’t work for everyone, or it would be THE CURE. You have to learn to listen to what YOUR body needs because it isn’t clear what causes, or heals, this dis-ease within each of us but what is clear is that it is a personal journey, with personal lessons to gain.

“For me, it has been an opportunity to reclaim my power, my life, my choices, and to align once more, with my purpose.”

What a transformation this life threatening diagnosis has been and so this past year has been one of self-nurturing and self-care, not on a superficial level but on a very deep, cellular and life re-affirming level. I knew before but I embody even more now, the knowledge that I need to put myself first more often. I needed to stop trying to be everything and actually value downtime. I had to totally reset my belief systems about love, connection, relationships, work and family responsibilities and obligations. I had to re-learn ways of staying in balance that work for my health and well being and these are all things I probably wouldn’t have done unless it was about living or dying.

Too many women are being diagnosed with cancer, chronic fatigue, burnout, adrenal failure and other debilitating dis-eases because we are using ourselves in ways that we were never meant to. We put more and more pressure on ourselves, we become more and more busy and the slightest time of rest is seen as failure, or laziness, or something to be ashamed of. As a mother, especially as a single mother, the expectations society as a whole and some people in particular placed on me, to constantly perform to impossible standards, or be judged harshly, were huge.

Because lets face it, society encourages people to give and give and give, even when it leads them to an early grave. In the end most just pay lip service to self-love and self-care and so many still treat it like a chore on their to-do list that they will get to eventually, or maybe if it’s a special occasion.

So honouring the feminine is more than just a pleasant thing for me to do, it has become a lifestyle, it is a vital thing to BE every day, as I honour my beauty, my integrity and my alignment with self. I am living with more balance and harmony while becoming more capable of fully trusting my own intuition when it comes to what I need in my life. This is still a work in progress but I now know that when I take the time to check in with myself, I already know what I need and if I can get out of my own way, if I can connect to myself, if I can connect with the divine, if I can choose beauty, than no matter how long or short my life is, it will be meaningful and valuable, not just to me but to others as well.

So on this anniversary of life-changing events, I encourage you to start putting yourself first. Not for a day, or a week, or a month, but FOREVER! And not in a way where you don’t care about anyone else, but in a way that has you choosing alignment with your souls purpose, with your inner being, where you are tuned in and tapped in to your emotions and what your body is telling you, so that you are healthy and happy from the inside out!

Loving life and all its lessons!

Shekinah Leigh ~ Honouring the Feminine

P.S. Whether it’s through sacred and nurturing bodywork, or understanding and integrating life lessons through my online courses, Honouring the Feminine, is about honouring the Divine Alignment with Self…because that is where the Magic is!