A young enthusiastic woman of 26, beginning her journey in the corporate world, intuitively knew something wasn’t right when the lump in the throat, diagnosed as tonsillitis, refused to go away even after multiple rounds of antibiotics. Multiple tests and scans later she was given her diagnosis – Hodgkins Lymphoma. Unable to understand the medical terminology, she resorted to internet search to find ‘Cancer of Lymphatic System’. Everything seemed to blur with only the word Cancer looking at her in the eye. From here started Niati’s transformational journey…a journey that was a roller coaster with more downs than ups.

It started with denial – more of the treatment than the disease. In Niati’s words –“ more than being scared that Cancer would harm me, I was afraid that chemotherapy would ruin me for sure”. For good 4 months she ran from pillar to post hoping to find a way to dodge chemotherapy. All this while the cancerous cells were also having a race within themselves to be the peak performer. Before she knew, the cancer had progressed to Stage 4. Her gamble had backfired and she now had to face her fear – Chemotherapy was the only available choice ahead of her.

The treatment by itself wasn’t easy, she was in pain, struggling with grief, the side effects of losing hair, missing her chance to build a career, most importantly her youth was waning in front of her eyes. It was a nightmare she had woken up to. But once you open your eyes, the nightmare has to end. Niati experienced the same. One day she got in touch with a therapist, begging her to save her from Chemotherapy at any cost and the therapist replied – “ chemotherapy is something you have to get done. If you are getting it done with so much fear and hatred, it may not even work for you. Would you want that?” This statement was her eye opener…she had never thought about this, she was so busy running away from the treatment that options at the end never crossed her mind. This shifted something within her and she told herself – ‘ if I have to go through it, let me ensure that its worth it. I am giving chemo no other option but to heal me”.

Letting go of the fear created space in her life for personal growth. While the treatment worked on her physical body, she simultaneously started working on her mental and emotional bodies – peeling off layers of self-sabotaging beliefs, stored trauma and unexpressed emotions. It was not easy, some days her body would weaken and other days the mind. Surrounded by her loved ones, she kept treading on the path of recovery – one step at a time. Once she recovered, she armed herself with comprehensive knowledge and tools of mind-body healing and embraced them as integral part of her life. Nurturing a healthy mind, body and soul became a non-negotiable part of her being and with Idhaya she presents these tools for you to embrace too – with love and gratitude!