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Retreat, relax, recover
Oasis events offered by the Joy Lane Healing Center in Hollywood are designed to give a break and offer holistic health techniques to those dealing with cancer
Friday, July 3, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos
by SUSAN CRATON
Linda Sapienza draws in a
mandala, a spiritual circle,
during one of the segments of the Oasis Retreat last month at Mary's Hope in St. Inigoes.
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It was a difficult start of the year for Linda Sapienza of Mechanicsville.
In January, she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. She was already a long-term survivor of cervical cancer.
"You think, ‘Oh, Lord. Here we go again,'" she said.
Also in January, Sapienza was in a car accident. Problems just seemed to be piling up for the widowed, unemployed woman. "It was a tough month," Sapienza said. In February, she underwent surgery to remove the cancer. But the doctors could not get it all. "They removed my right breast and realized there was still some cancer behind the right breastbone," she said. She began a series of chemo treatments. She lost her hair. She had an unusual reaction that resembled shingles. She dealt with nausea, fatigue and with a loss of focus that is called "chemo brain" by some. However, being a gregarious woman, Sapienza is not the kind to let circumstances get her down, at least not for long.
"I could be boo-hooey and down in the dumps. But why wallow in it? It's something we can do something about," she said.
But even Sapienza felt like a respite from all these troubles was in order. And she looked at some of her friends — a couple were dealing with cancer themselves, another was widowed after her husband died from cancer. Sapienza wasn't the only one who needed a break, she figured.
She signed up to attend an Oasis Retreat, which was held June 10 at Mary's Hope in St. Inigoes, and she encouraged her friends to also attend. The one-day retreats organized by the nonprofit Joy Lane Healing Center in Hollywood are designed for people living with cancer or dealing with it in some way, perhaps as a caregiver.
"Being challenged by cancer … is just such a difficult and frightening time. It can be isolating," said Mary Ellen Steveling, cofounder of the Oasis Retreats and a board member of Joy Lane Healing Center. The retreats are designed to do a variety of things — give the participants a day away and a day to step back from their troubles and a chance to learn about some complimentary treatment resources in the community like yoga, reflexology, laughing meditation and discussions on holistic nutrition and, maybe, adjust their thinking in a more positive direction, Steveling said. It is a chance for participants to step away from their physical ailment and deal with other aspects of themselves, like spirit and emotions, that may have been sidelined as the physical problem is being dealt with through conventional medicine.
"We teach to be in the present moment," Steveling said. "It releases so much stress."
Participants at the June 10 retreat gathered in an airy front room in the historic home where introductions were made. Michele Quesenberry, an inner life coach, discussed the day's itinerary, but invited participants to disregard any part of the schedule if they'd prefer to walk the grounds or sit by the water of Church Cove, which Mary's Hope overlooks. Steveling led participants in an introduction to yoga, largely an exercise in relaxing. She taught the group about creating their own mandala, a spiritual circle. Tamara Shahan, a holistic nutritional consultant, gave a talk on sound nutrition choices as the retreat participants sat at long tables and dined on Hawaiian salad and Hawaiian yogurt parfait. "Everything is organic and Oasis prefers that I do everything vegetarian," Shahan said, before the lunch. Nutrition is a key topic for those undergoing cancer treatment, she noted, because "the immune system is so suppressed during this time. "Good foods can give them more strength … It affects their mood."
In the afternoon session, Quesenberry led a talk "How to Love Yourself." It is a talk designed "to improve self image," she said. "To give them a better outlook on life and themselves … a gentle outlook." She noted that when people are ill, "their inner critic gets a little active." "I try to get their inner critic to step back," she said.
Laughing meditation was one of the last parts of the retreat. Steveling had the retreat participants lie on mattresses on the floor and laugh for seven minutes straight. "Physicians actually prescribe laughing to patients in India," Steveling said. "It releases chemicals that make you feel good, and it boosts the immune system … It's fun. But it's hard though."
The retreat also offered reflexology sessions. "It's a foot massage," Sapienza said. "It was lovely."
The retreat was good for Sapienza, she said a couple of days after attending. "Well, we had a good time. We really had a good time," she said. A friend who accompanied Sapienza to the retreat, Carolyn Magill of Hughesville, agreed. "I enjoyed it … and just being there with her" Magill said. She noted that the setting was beautiful and peaceful. "Just being there," she said is what she enjoyed the most. "You felt so comfortable." And while Sapienza called the reflexology session "lovely," she said the introduction to yoga was a little tiring for her.
Her favorite part of the retreat, however, was just a chance to be with a group of people all day, a group that understood her fatigue and chemo brain problems, she said.
"You know, what I think I enjoyed the most was sitting around and talking … the camaraderie," she said. "I like to encourage other people, and I like to hear what other folks are going through … I miss being out among other people."
Quesenberry said she thinks this is the aspect that is perhaps the most helpful in the retreat. "They make new friends … and find a gentleness with themselves," she said. "Just sharing what's going on is really healing."
June's retreat was the one-year anniversary of the Oasis Retreat program. The next retreat will be held Aug. 19.
To learn more
The next Oasis Retreat will be offered Aug. 19 at Mary's Hope in St. Inigoes. For information and registration, contact Joy Lane Healing Center at 301-373-2522. Cost of the retreat is determined on a sliding-scale basis. Donations to the center to offer scholarships to retreat participants are welcome. Visit www.oasisretreats.org.
