Somewhere between the diagnosis and the last appointment, most of us stopped breathing all the way down. Not on purpose. The body braces, the jaw clenches, the shoulders come up — and then treatment ends, everyone tells you congratulations, and nobody mentions that your nervous system never got the memo that the emergency is over.

In this episode, host Laura Carfang sits down with Brett Aldrich — Ayurvedic health counselor, breathwork facilitator, and former social services practitioner specializing in trauma awareness and domestic violence — for a conversation about what it takes to feel safe in your body again after cancer treatment.

Brett talks about the five elements of Ayurveda not as a rulebook but as a way of reading yourself: what you need today may not be what you needed yesterday, and women in particular are changing constantly. She's candid that she doesn't practice it perfectly, that she still drinks coffee, and that "one thing can change everything" — because the alternative, a total lifestyle overhaul on top of everything else you're carrying, is a plan nobody can keep.

Laura brings the questions our community actually asks: what do you do when your digestion has been wrecked by treatment? When your estrogen has been deliberately taken to zero and you're grieving what that costs your bones and your brain? When you're the busy mom with pickup and drop-off and aging parents and a job, and a seven-day retreat is a fantasy? And what about all the supplements on social media promising to cleanse and fix you?

Then the conversation turns to breath — and this is the part worth staying for. Brett explains the mechanics plainly: how a full diaphragmatic breath moves the diaphragm against the organs, how the vagus nerve connects the throat to the heart, lungs, and gut, and why the felt sense of safety is the precondition for everything else. When the body feels safe, there's space to heal.

About the guest:

Brett Aldrich is an Ayurvedic health counselor and breathwork practitioner and facilitator based in Maine. Her background is in yoga and in social services, where she worked in trauma awareness and domestic violence support before moving into holistic and Ayurvedic care. She works with clients in person and virtually through her practice, Seed the Spirit (seedthespirit.com).

Disclosure: Brett offers consultations through her private practice, including a free 20-minute introductory call. SurvivingBreastCancer.org received no payment for this episode.

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