Follow Up Interview With Diane

Recently, I followed up my first interview with my friend Diane about her depression and anxiety which she had coped with for most of her life through medications and holistic healing. She managed to find ways to help keep all her emotions in check and was able to live a healthy life. At the end of that interview, I gave her advice from Puja Thomson’s book “After Shock”. She took this advice and decided to go even farther with it.

I discovered that Diane started to journal her life on a regular basis. “At first it was hard to get into the groove of it,” she explained to me. She had never really kept a journal before and the task seemed a little daunting at first. Her life can get busy with school work and maintaining a social life.  “I had to find some time in my day to just sit down and get writing…once I started it, I started to really enjoy it.” She started off with just doing it a few times a week but soon she found herself doing it almost every day. “Some days I would write pages about how my day went and other days I would just write a few sentences…but I really did start to see a difference with myself”.

“I would usually do my journaling before I went to sleep. It was just a good time to get everything I was feeling off of my chest”, she told me. She started to realize that she would be able to sleep easier when she did this. “When I had a bad day, it was good to just get it all out…by the end of journaling, I felt good enough to just to let go into sleep.” Since sleep also helps with reducing stress, Diane was feeling more refreshed as the days passed.

Life is bound to come with stress. From illnesses, to work, to fights with loved ones, stress is unavoidable. Being able to reduce this stress is something that everyone deserves. “Getting my feelings on paper was so therapeutic”, Diane said. “Some of the things I feel most people wouldn’t understand. Most people don’t get the feelings that come with anxiety and depression”. No one has to read her journal. She doesn’t have to filter what she has to say and worry about how anyone would react to it. “I’ve always been afraid about disappointing or upsetting the people I’m around…having this journal helps take that struggle off of my shoulders”.  

At the end of the interview, I lent my own copy of “After Shock” to Diane. She skimmed it and seemed interested. “I’ve never gone through cancer or any type of illness like that…but I can see how you could apply her suggestions to other things.” Not only would I recommend Puja Thomson’s books to others, so would Diane. Leading a healthy life is something we all should strive for, but sometimes it’s hard to start. Getting suggestions from this book is a good way to begin this journey. To see more of this book, you can find the revised version of “After Shock: From Cancer Diagnosis to Healing” on Amazon.   

Written by Heather Salerno, SUNY New Paltz intern for Roots & Wings

                                 How Suggestions From “After Shock” Changed my Daily Life

Recently, I’ve felt like I definitely need more organization in my life. With graduation coming up, the stress of finding jobs, moving back home, and saying goodbye to this stage of my life has left me in a state of disorganization. I used to take pride in being neat and orderly so, I want to get this back in my life. I’ve never had cancer, but Puja Thomson’s Book “After Shock” comes with plenty of tips to keep oneself organized through stressful situations. It also promotes different ways to help de-stress oneself through various activities. “Unnecessary distractions from disorganized record keeping will dissipate and drain your energy-the very energy you need for healing” I took tips from her book and did see a change by the end of the week.

Puja’s book does focus on how to keep one’s medical papers organized, but I decided that I could use her advice for my own personal needs. I started off with just getting my school work in a more organized place. I bought different binders for each class and it did keep everything in one place. I threw out all old papers that I didn’t need, which was a little hard for me since I’m a slight hoarder. However, once all the clutter was gone, I could already tell that I would be able to find all my important papers much easier.

The Yellow Page step, which suggests writing down contact information of your “most important cancer –related contacts and frequently used resources”, I just wrote down the names and numbers of all the people I am in regular contact with. I’m not good with memorizing numbers so, this should be a huge help if my phone ever breaks and I need to get in contact with someone. I would recommend that everyone should do this and keep this sheet of paper with them at all times. It’s always good to have in an emergency.

                I also decided that I should take the advice (from a different section in this book) to write down any major events that happened in my day or just write down my feelings. According to “After Shock”, “when you take time to write to yourself with honesty and innocence from your heart, you are extending a similar gesture of openness and love towards yourself”. From a person who is not good with expressing emotions, I saw a huge improvement when it came to my stress levels. Keeping everything bottled in doesn’t help anyone and being able to just write down how I was feeling that day made life easier. “After Shock” recommended to keep this journal private and that’s exactly what I did. It’s liberating to be able to express yourself without anyone else judging you.

Reading how relaxing can help the mind and body, I tried to follow everything this book suggested. I’ve always had a hard time sleeping and actually staying asleep. Before I go to sleep now, I try and do the breathing exercises. Just concentrating on that does put me more at ease and I’ve noticed that I can fall asleep a lot faster. I’ve also started to release physical tension. I’ve never realized how tense I am before. Just giving myself a quick massage makes me feel less stressed and more relaxed.

                By the end of the week, I realized how more relaxed I felt. Since I knew where all my important notes were, I was able to study more efficiently. I also was able to concentrate longer because I wasn’t so tired. Puja’s books are meant to help with the health of the reader. I would recommend that anyone that needs a way to get their life in order to read her books. 

Written by Heather Salerno, SUNY New Paltz Intern for Roots & Wings