Rising Above Cancer – My Story and the Birth of the Mind Medicine Movement™
- Brainz Magazine
- Nov 26
- 6 min read
Drawing on her own healing journey through cancer, Sarah Hurst is a coach and creator of the Mind Medicine Movement™, helping people calm the nervous system, reconnect to themselves, and take back their power to heal body, mind, and soul.
There was a moment, during my third cancer diagnosis, when everything fell silent. Not the quiet you get in a waiting room, but the deep kind of silence that comes when life holds up a mirror and asks you to look. My body was exhausted, my mind was tired of being brave, and my spirit felt like it had been running on empty for far too long. I realised then that surviving wasn’t the same as healing. Something inside me was asking for more.
When the body whispers, then cries out
My journey with cancer began many years ago. The first diagnosis came as a shock, as it does for most people. I went into practical mode straight away, focusing on treatment plans, appointments, and logistics. I told myself I was fine, that once everything was “dealt with”, life would go back to normal. To a certain degree, it did, but cancer doesn’t simply pause your life, it changes the way you live inside it.
When cancer returned the second time, I felt something shift. I wasn’t just dealing with the physical impact anymore. Fear crept in. I found myself lying awake at night, my nervous system running like a motor that had no off switch. Even when my body recovered from treatment, emotionally, I didn’t feel healed at all. I carried on, though, because that’s what we’re taught to do. Be strong, stay positive, keep moving.
As a family, we faced further news. A diagnosis of the BRCA1 gene. One by one, my nieces and my daughter faced huge decisions about whether they wanted preventative surgery to limit their risks. The impact rippled through. I had already lost my sister to breast cancer when she was only 42, so these decisions carried weight and history.
By the third diagnosis, I couldn’t pretend I was coping in the same way. My body felt like it was shouting for attention, and the truth was, I hadn’t been listening. I had become so used to pushing through, keeping everything together for everyone else, that I had forgotten what it felt like to be connected to myself. I was in trauma and began experiencing panic attacks. My body was speaking louder, and finally, I had no choice but to listen.
The moment cancer changed everything
During treatment, I started noticing things I had ignored before, how my breath sat high in my chest and tended to be shallow, how my shoulders were constantly lifted. How busy my mind felt, even when I was still. I had already begun training to be a life coach, but I had intellectualised the learning rather than integrating it fully. Something in me knew this work mattered, but I wasn’t embodying it yet.
I began studying deeper into stress, the nervous system, trauma, and healing. I realised that fear doesn’t just live in your thoughts, it lives in your body. Every appointment, every scan, every moment of uncertainty had left an imprint.
I started to slow down, just a little at first. A few minutes of meditation. Gentle breathing. Letting myself cry. Letting myself stop. And slowly, I noticed something I hadn’t felt for a long time. Space. Not a lot, but enough to breathe. Enough to feel something softer than fear.
This was the beginning of an awakening. I realised that if I was going to heal, I needed to bring my mind, body, and soul into the process. It wasn’t enough to focus only on the physical. I had to understand the emotional and spiritual parts too. I had to reconnect with myself in a way I never had before.
Creating a new kind of healing
As I slowly rebuilt my life after treatment, I felt drawn back into the healing world. I’d been a massage therapist for decades, but after cancer, I knew I wanted to support people in a deeper, holistic way. I retrained in advanced cancer touch therapy, meditation, breathwork, shadow work, Reiki, sound vibro-acoustic massage, and emotional and behavioural psychology, completing my qualification in life coaching. I gathered together the tools that had supported me through my most difficult moments.
Through working with clients, I began noticing patterns. Whether someone was facing cancer, chronic illness, burnout, or simply the weight of life, the same core needs kept appearing. The need to slow down, the need to rediscover who they were now, the need for purpose and meaning, and the need for self-love. These became the pillars of everything I was teaching and practising.
From this, the Mind Medicine Movement™ was born, along with my SIPS™ framework:
Slow down
Identity
Purpose
Self-love
I realised that healing doesn’t always require big changes. It often begins with tiny shifts, gentle moments, small sips of space and compassion. We don’t have to force our healing. We don’t have to push. We don’t have to be endlessly strong. We simply have to come home to ourselves, little by little.
The phrase “healing begins with gentle sips” came to me during meditation one day, and it has become the heart of my work. It reminds people that their healing is not something to push towards. It’s something they grow into, one moment at a time.
Touching the body, calming the mind, soothing the senses
During this period of learning and rebuilding, touch therapy became a profound part of my practice. I saw how deeply the body responds to safe, nurturing touch. When someone lies on the table, and their nervous system finally gets a chance to soften, something shifts. The mind follows. The breath deepens. The body remembers safety.
Touch can create a bridge between the emotional and physical parts of healing, especially for those who feel disconnected from their bodies after illness or trauma. It was certainly true for me. Learning to trust my body again was a journey. Touch therapy helped me reconnect with myself in a way that felt grounding and peaceful.
I developed this further, weaving in my aromatherapy background, sound healing, Reiki, and breathwork, and this eventually became Mind Medicine Massage™. A signature treatment using the main senses as portals to healing. Sound, through massage sound bowls and therapeutic frequencies. Smell, through essential oils. Touch, through nurturing therapy and energy work. Taste, through my signature herbal tea at the end of the treatment. Sight, through healing visualisations. And always, the breath, guiding the body gently home.
A movement that goes beyond illness
Although my work was shaped by cancer, the Mind Medicine Movement™ and Mind Medicine Massage™ are not only for people facing a diagnosis. They are for anyone who feels overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck in a cycle of fear. For those who want to feel calm again. For those who want to rediscover who they are now. For those who want to live with more purpose and self-love.
It’s for anyone who has ever felt lost and is ready to find their way back to themselves.
An invitation
If you’re reading this and you’re in your own season of uncertainty, know this. Healing isn’t about trying to get back to who you were before. It’s about rediscovering who you are now. The strongest, most resilient version of you is already there. Sometimes you just need a moment of stillness to hear your own voice again.
My hope is that through the Mind Medicine Movement™, you find what I found. That calm is possible, even in chaos. That healing is possible, even when you feel broken. And that your body, mind, and soul are not separate parts. They work together, guiding you gently home.
Healing begins with connection. With awareness. With compassion. And always, with gentle sips.
Read more from Sarah Hurst
Sarah Hurst, Coach and Creator of the Mind Medicine Movement™
After walking her own path through cancer, Sarah Hurst discovered that true healing isn’t just physical, it’s emotional, spiritual, and deeply personal. She went on to create the Mind Medicine Movement™, helping others calm their nervous systems, rediscover purpose, and reconnect with themselves through her SIPS™ framework: Slow Down, Identity, Purpose, Self-Love. Today, Sarah supports people living with or beyond cancer and anyone seeking calm, clarity, and wellness through her coaching, meditation, and touch therapy practice in Hove, East Sussex. She also offers an online coaching service.
