25/08/2025
Angelina Jolie and I share one thing. Well, besides both being glamorous, of course. 😅
We both have BRCA1 - an inherited gene mutation giving you up to 80% risk of developing breast and/or ovarian and/or pancreatic cancers. The difference being that while Angelina did her preventative surgeries before she could get cancer, I did mine after having developed an aggressive form of breast cancer (TNBC) that I found out about two weeks before my wedding.
While I don't know much about Angie’s inner journey or lifestyle, I do know what has helped me stay cancer-free after I said no to chemotherapy and radiation (my journey, I'm not against them in general), and at the same time changed my life immensely for the better:
💚Taking in 30-100 different medicinal plants daily (I make my own plant capsules and will share how).
💚A daily rest practice (EcoNIDRA, Alexander Technique).
💚Fasting (3-4 weeks on water, same thing wild animals and our ancestors would do to keep themselves healthy, plus the scientific research about this, including the Nobel Prize of the effects of autophagy).
💚Climbing trees & walking barefoot in nature every day (I'll post about the immense immune-boosting power of phytoncides, the lymphatic system benefits as well as the ancestral DNA-remembering of body awareness).
💚Living the way I wanna live (cultivating the embodied feeling of aliveness, emptying my schedule, prioritizing connections & community upon 'must-do's').
💚Learning to embrace and express all emotions, especially the difficult ones. Practicing to see beauty in ugliness, imperfection, conflict, anger, grief, restlessness & uncertainty.
I'll post more in depth about these aspects separately in the upcoming months, all marked with this same picture. Stay tuned if you're curious. Feel free to share this with anyone who might benefit from what I've learned. 🙏
PS: No AI involved in creating this picture. I took a picture of my pillow with artwork made by and put it on my own face. Can an artist paint a portret of the future you at age 88, without having ever seen you? 😅 Maartje, your art is a reminder for me to stay a BRCA1-thriver until I look like this! 😁
