Melanin & Pink Ribbons

The professional sharing her knowledge with us for this topic is none other than Yolanda Miller, LCSWA, LMSW. As a licensed social worker with more than 20 years of experience, Mrs. Miller received her Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from St Augustine’s College and her Master’s degree from Adelphi University. In addition to many years of front-line social work in the community she is certified in conflict resolution and has more than 8 years of clinical experience. She is well respected and certified therapist who engages and challenges her clientele to a healthy place. Therapist Miller is a daughter, mother, wife, and sister whose family is one of the sources of her strength.  In her free time, she is an active financial member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc and has sat on the board of the Long Island Men’s Coalition.  Now let’s delve into the topic of mindfulness.

Mrs. Miller explained mindfulness is “Acceptance in the moment of your physical, emotional, and spiritual condition. It’s taking ownership of your present.” With this as a base, active breast cancer fighters can use mindfulness to improve their sleep, focus, reduce stress, and increase emotional control to bring about “calmness with self-preservation as the goal” for an immediate change to their mood and state of mind.

The question becomes what how do you become mindful? What exactly do you need to do to reap the harvest mindfulness brings? According to Therapist Miller “, you must change your physical environment to change your mood. For example, this can be accomplished using scented candles, a relaxing shower with a bath bomb, a shower using a steamer, deep breathing, or having quiet time.”  A common denominator in mindfulness tools is the use of fragrance and although whatever scent relaxes is appropriate, lavender and ginger are known to have restful properties and are useful to induce calm. She notes you can be mindful anywhere you need to and the more you practice it the stronger your skillset will become to improve your emotional well-being and aid in your healing on the breast cancer journey.

In summary, mindfulness can aid any breast cancer fighter or survivor to improve your mood. It’s something you can control in a situation that often leaves one feeling that they have little to no power. Anything that can improve your mood or aid in achieving a state of restfulness is positive and necessary on the journey. Whether you be a fighter or survivor who can’t use more calm?

Note of full disclosure and transparency, Mrs. Miller and I share membership in the same community service organization, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.