Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published in The Floyd Press newspaper on July 9, 2009.

Any “loss” contains the potential of renewal.” Kanta Bosniak

When Kanta Bosniak left Floyd in 2007 to make a new life in her home state of Pennsylvania, she didn’t know it would include a personal battle with cancer. Today, as a cancer survivor, the holistic health practitioner is sharing her story of healing in a book titled Surviving Cancer and Other Tough Stuff: An Illustrated Journal and Workbook for Healthy and Abundant Life and Becoming Who You Really Are.

The 382 page book, part memoir and part resource guide, begins with Bosniak’s story of caregiver burnout, a divorce, and closing down her Locust Street Alpha Learning Institute where she hosted human potential workshops and conducted her hypnosis and life coaching practice. Dramatic life changes that followed her move from Floyd included working as a nanny in Pennsylvania and an online romance that developed into a serious relationship just before the discovery that she had uterine and ovarian cancer and would require radical treatment.

The treatments Bosniak sought and received combined allopathic care (surgery and chemotherapy), the direction of positive intention, nutritional improvements, reiki (a channeling of energy with the laying on of hands), prayer, and other healing arts. Braced by the wisdom gained from years as a practitioner, a Quaker, an artist, and an interfaith minister, the one time Floyd Press weight-loss columnist faced the challenge of cancer with the same determination she had previously faced losing 100 pounds, recovering from childhood traumas, and dissolving a fibroid tumor through holistic methods.

Told in a natural voice that makes for an easy paced read, Bosniak’s story is permeated with her sense of love and gratitude. It is illustrated with journal entries, the author’s whimsical drawings, photographs (before, during, and after chemo-therapy), and even original cartoons. Bosniak’s step by step account of her journey takes the reader through pre-op, operating room, and post-op procedures and provides an intimate look at how she physically and emotionally navigated through such a life threatening challenge. The book is dedicated to readers and to Bosniak’s father, who passed away this year. Familiar names of people and regional places are generously woven in.

About her surrender and pro-active approach to healing, she writes: I had an empty, scooped-out feeling. I felt simultaneous opposite emotions: Emptiness and desire for life, uncertainty and confidence. Detachment and intention. I might have to go and based on the aggressiveness of the tumor, it might be sooner rather than later. These were practical and useful feelings. I felt I couldn’t afford to overly attach myself to the idea of staying in my body if I was going to have to leave. On the other hand, I understood the power of intention. And I wanted it to make sure it was working for me.

Directing her intention, Bosniak began making a wedding guest list and imagining the life she would build with her partner. She focused on the love she had for her son Joshua, a musician, and listened to his music everyday. She visualized the cells in her body filling with positive healing love. When a colleague invited her to prepare a presentation on her creative healing process for an Association to Advance Ethical Hypnosis conference, the invitation galvanized her into action. Realizing that her experience could be an opportunity to help others, her daily journal practice changed. She began chronicling her journey more consciously and the results became the bulk of the book.

“I blogged about it and the responses I got were amazing. Much of it was from people who didn’t have cancer. I began to think maybe this book isn’t just for cancer patients,” Bosniak remembers.

In the same way her past columns in the Floyd Press were read and appreciated not only by people with weight issues, Bosniak’s book about healing from cancer hit a far-reaching chord. She realized that “motivation is motivation. Making change is making change.”

“Facing life’s challenges requires a certain set of tools. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are. Whether it’s cancer, divorce or losing a loved one, the process is the same,” she says. She began to ask herself ‘what is that process?’ Her question spurred the book and the some of the answers she came to provided material for the last two sections of the book, which features an outline of practical nutritional and lifestyle information and related resources.

Although Bosniak grew up in Philadelphia, her connection with Floyd came early in her life. When she was very young her father worked at Roanoke College and the family lived in Salem. She remembers traveling with her father through Floyd by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway and being touched by its beauty. “I was about 4 years old. It struck me hard,” she says. Drawn by the peaceful beauty of the south and the courteous kindness and of its people, she relocated here as a young mother. “Floyd will always be my home. It’s my heart connection. I’ll be going back and forth the rest of my life,” she says.

Bosniak will soon return to the home of her heart to share her uplifting story with others. A book signing and reading is scheduled at noteBooks on Locust Street on July 17 from 7 – 9 p.m. She will also be reading excerpts from Surviving Cancer and Other Tough Stuff at the next Spoken Word at the Café del Sol on July, 18th at 7:00 p.m. ~ Colleen Redman

Post Note: Bosniak’s book is available at Amazon.com. She can be reached via her website KantaBosniak.com.