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Summary
In this episode of Breast Cancer Reimagined, host Shannon D. Silva, a two-time breast cancer survivor, explores the transformative power of gratitude in navigating the challenges of breast cancer. She shares personal stories and practical strategies for cultivating gratitude, emphasizing its role in enhancing mental health, fostering happiness, and finding deeper meaning in life. Listeners are encouraged to discover their unique relationship with gratitude and to practice it intentionally through specific prompts.

Takeaways

• Gratitude can transform challenges into opportunities for growth.
• Experiencing gratitude can ease pain and foster self-compassion.
• Gratitude supports mental wellbeing by counteracting negative emotions.
• Practicing gratitude can boost happiness and life satisfaction.
• Gratitude connects individuals to a deeper sense of purpose.
• Understanding your character strengths can enhance your gratitude practice.
• Gratitude can be a signature strength, middle strength, or lesser strength.
• Personalizing gratitude practices makes them more impactful.
• Simple prompts can help cultivate a gratitude mindset.
• Recognizing the good in life is essential for emotional resilience.

Journaling Prompts:

#1 I’m grateful for… because…This is meaningful because…

#2: Things could be worse and I’m glad they’re not

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Understanding how stress impacts your breast cancer journey is vital for navigating challenges effectively. This episode discusses the nature of stress, shares personal insights, and provides practical tools for transforming your mindset from viewing stress as harmful to seeing it as a powerful ally.

• Exploring the definition and origins of stress
• The difference between real threats and perceived threats
• The impact of mindset on stress responses
• Research insights on perception shifts regarding stress
• Introduction to three practical tools for managing stress
• Tool One: The Stress Reset process
• Tool Two: Stress Less, Connect More and reaching out for support
• Tool Three: Highlighting strengths in stressful situations
• Emphasis on the ongoing process of shifting stress perspectives
• Encouragement to embrace and celebrate small victories

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List of 24 Character Strengths

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This episode is a mini workshop and includes a Worksheet so you can follow along.

Shannon offers a heartfelt exploration of how to navigate the breast cancer journey by cultivating a mindset of growth and resilience. Through personal insights and actionable advice, she inspires listeners to accept their current situations and find strength and meaning in them.

• Emphasis on the importance of mindset in navigating health challenges
• Five central themes of blooming where you are planted
• Misconceptions surrounding the journey of personal growth
• Journaling exercise to confront irrational beliefs
• Steps to redefine personal beliefs for empowerment
• Guided visualization to nurture inner strengths

What does it Mean to Bloom Where You Are Planted - 5 themes

1. Be Kind to Yourself Right Where You Are
2. Give Yourself Time to Grow
3. Find the Beauty in the Tough Stuff
4. Trust Your Own Journey
5. Embrace Yourself with Love

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Self-compassion becomes a vital lifeline for navigating the overwhelming challenges of a breast cancer journey. This episode introduces the concept of the Mirror Check-In, a tool for fostering self-kindness and emotional resilience during difficult moments.
• Navigating tough emotions during a breast cancer journey
• Exploring the meaning and importance of self-compassion
• Introduction of the Mirror Check-In tool for self-reflection
• Four elements of the Mirror Check-In: self-awareness, self-talk, self-soothing, and strengths
• The impact of waiting and uncertainty on emotional well-being
• The challenge of offering self-compassion and kindness
• Importance of practicing self-compassion actively during treatment
• Encouragement to integrate self-compassion into daily life

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The 4 Elements of the Mirror Check-In

1. Self-awareness - acknowledge your emotions and respond with kindness instead of self-criticism
2. Self-talk—speak kindly to yourself
3. Self-soothing - comfort yourself with small physical gestures of kindness
4. Character Strengths - tap into your inner reservoir of resilience and courage

List of 24 Character Strengths

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This episode explores how personal narratives shape the experiences of those navigating breast cancer, emphasizing the power of choosing joy and finding meaning through struggle. Shannon discusses practical methods for uncovering deeper meaning, including leveraging personal meaning strengths and recognizing defining moments within one's journey.

• Choosing joy despite challenges
• Importance of narratives in shaping experiences
• Two practices to find deeper meaning
• Exploring six meaning strengths
• Importance of community and shared experiences
• Steps to reflect on personal defining moments
• Encouragement to engage with personal journeys

The 6 Meaning Strengths:

1. Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence
2. Curiosity
3. Gratitude
4. Perspective
5. Social Intelligence
6. Spirituality

List of 24 Character Strengths

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The episode explores how activating personal strengths during a breast cancer journey can transform the experience from one of endurance to one of growth and empowerment. Shannon discusses practical methods for identifying, exploring, and applying these strengths to navigate challenges effectively.

• Understanding the importance of activating personal strengths
• First steps: building awareness and reflecting on past experiences
• Practical application: using strengths creatively in daily life
• Explore two key practices: signature strengths and resource priming
• Harnessing strengths to cultivate resilience and a positive mindset

Using a Signature Strengths in New Ways

1. Select a signature strengths to focus on this week
   • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
   • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural
2. Brainstorm ways you can apply this strength in different daily situations
3. Each day, intentionally use the strength in a new way.
4. Reflect on the impact of using your strength
5. Follow this process for 7 days

Resource Priming

1. Identify the situation or challenge you want to prepare for. Clearly identify what you’re facing and what you hope to achieve
2. Decide how you want to handle the situation (e.g., with patience, creativity, or focus)
3. Select a signature strength that fits the situation
   • Refer to your Character Strengths Profile OR
   • If you don’t have your profile, refer to the list of 24 character and choose a strength that feels most natural
4. Determine how you will use your signature strength to prepare for the situation
5. Reflect on how your strength helped you.

List of 24 Character Strengths

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Handout - Ways to Use Your Character Strengths in New Ways

Viana, Your AI Strengths Coach

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This episode is a mini workshop and includes a Worksheet so you can follow along.

Discover how your character strengths shape your breast cancer journey and enhance your resilience. Through self-reflection and practical activities, we explore tools that can transform challenges into opportunities for growth and joy.
• Discusses the importance of character strengths in personal growth
• Introduces the VIA strengths survey for personalized insights
• Explores “strength spotting” as a self-reflective exercise
• Highlights the four subsets of character strengths
• Emphasizes the role of virtues in supporting one’s cancer journey
• Encourages exploring strengths to foster resilience and joy
• Provides actionable steps to utilize strengths daily

List of 24 Character Strengths:

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Shannon, a two-time breast cancer survivor, shares insights on how the narratives we create around our health journeys can significantly impact our experiences. She emphasizes the power of shifting focus from negative thoughts to activating personal strengths for resilience and empowerment.
• The importance of narrative in shaping cancer experiences
• Explanation of negativity bias and its impact
• Overview of character strengths and their relevance
• Categorization of strengths: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence
• Personal anecdotes illustrating the use of strengths during adversity
• Introduction to the VIA Survey for identifying unique strengths
• Encouragement to engage with one's journey and apply learnings

List of 24 Character Strengths

VIA Survey

Please let us know how we can support you by completing the Breast Cancer Reimagined - Listener Survey