At Live By Living, we understand that a cancer diagnosis creates a range of challenges — physical, emotional, and spiritual, to name just a few. Regaining your strength after treatment is difficult. Regaining your bearings can be even harder.
Live By Living connects cancer survivors and caregivers with nature and one another. Our walks, hikes, snowshoe outings, and retreats are structured to help you build up your strength and stamina at your own pace, find solace in the beauty of nature, and make new friends with people who understand what you’ve been through. We’re cancer-based, not cancer-focused.
Above all,
do not lose your desire to walk.
Every day I walk myself into a state of well being,
and walk away from every illness.
I have walked myself into my best thoughts,
and I know of no thought so burdensome
that one cannot walk away from it.
— Soren Kierkegaard
Live By Living is inspired by, and dedicated to the memory of, Julie Wrend, who passed away in November 2007 at 53 after a nineteen-year battle with breast cancer. Julie never let her cancer define her. Rather, she used it as inspiration for spiritual and emotional growth.
Julie loved the outdoors. It was her church. Four months after being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she backpacked from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River and back. (That’s, like, crazy hard!) Whenever she suffered a setback, she found solace and healing by hiking, skiing and going on hut trips to the Tenth Mountain Division cabins deep in Colorado’s mountains. One month before her death, she still found joy and peace hiking in the beauty of nature.
The spiritual, emotional and physical benefits that Julie drew from her wilderness adventures were her constant allies as she dealt with her cancer. Live By Living provides these same benefits through its transformative outdoor experiences for cancer survivors and caregivers.
We combine a physical challenge, the healing power of nature, and the camaraderie born of shared experience to help you regain your bearings, restore your vitality, and refresh your spirit.
Walk Into Wellness. If you’re just finishing treatment, or haven’t exercised in a while, try Walk Into Wellness. Walk into wellness is a walking-based fitness and social program. It combines the camaraderie of being with other people who understand what you have been through, the beauty of nature, and the benefits of exercise to help you feel better emotionally and physically. Walks are held in parks and other open spaces. They are generally flat, 1 to 3 miles long, and are on paved or gravel surfaces.
To see our current calendar with upcoming walks, click here.
Cancer to 14K is Back
Cancer to 14K is a 10-week conditioning program for cancer survivors and their caregivers who want to jump back into life, get stronger and feel better. It includes weekly group hikes, and recommendations and encouragement for exercising on your own during the week. The hikes get harder each week. Not so long ago, oncologists were advising their patients to rest and take it easy during and after their treatment. No more! The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends that survivors get at least 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate exercise (a level of exertion where you can talk, but not sing). Cancer to 14K, plus regular exercise on your own in-between sessions, will get you there and more!
For 2023, we are offering both in-person and virtual tracks for Cancer to 14K. There are 3 virtual tracks of different levels of difficulty. The virtual tracks are curated lists of walks and hikes. ALL HIKES AND WALKS IN THE VIRTUAL TRACKS ARE IN COLORADO. Most are in the foothills and mountains west of Denver and Boulder. The lists allow you to go out when it’s convenient for you. By following the hikes on the list (and walking regularly between the suggested hikes/walks), you’ll be able to improve your fitness AND enjoy some of the beauty of natural areas around Denver and Boulder.
About Live By Living Retreats
Cancer treatment can leave you feeling pretty crummy. You want to feel better — physically, emotionally, spiritually. Recovering from cancer is hard work, and sometimes it helps if you can set a goal for yourself. One of our cancer survivor-caregiver retreats could be just the thing. Maybe you want something that’s not too strenuous. Or maybe you want a challenge, but you want to be sure it’s something that is still realistic. Perhaps you’re recovered physically but are still looking to find that “new normal.” Whatever the case, we have a retreat that’s right for you.
All of our retreats combine the camaraderie of the shared cancer experience, exercise (in the form of walking or hiking), and the solace of nature to help you heal in mind, body and spirit.
If you were diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago, your oncologist probably told you to rest, and not overdo it. Not anymore. Now, we know that exercise is an important part of recovery for survivors. It fights depression, anxiety, and cancer-related fatigue; makes doing everyday tasks easier; and it’s even been shown to reduce the risk of recurrence for some cancers. It’s even better when you do it in nature.
Being in nature does something to your brain that recalibrates your internal compass. It gives you clarity and assurance. And being in nature with people who understand what you’ve been through means you’ll be in a supportive, caring social environment while you’re exploring the natural environment.
People on a Live By Living retreat all share a common experience with cancer, but the retreats aren’t “about” cancer. Instead, they are about learning to live by living. Sure, people share experiences with side effects and the like, but they are just as likely to talk about the most recent book they read, or how annoying their teenagers can be. What you won’t find is a 45-minute scheduled discussion about “Fear of Recurrence,” or “Dealing with Difficult Emotions.” We leave that important work to your oncology social worker or therapist, or traditional support groups.
Our on-line events include group mindfulness sessions, stretching and flexibility, music healing, yoga and art therapy. Get calm, get loose, and get down with Live By Living! The calendar below is where you can find more information and register for each event.
Live By Living provides these activities free of charge. We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Your donations support our work.
ACCEPTS VIRTUAL CLIENTS
Dan Miller, Executive Director
2381 S. Lupine St.
Lakewood, CO 80228
[email protected]
303-808-2339
www.livebyliving.org
Leave a Reply