Cancer is a stressor. Hearing a cancer diagnosis, yours or someone else’s, may be one of the most stressful events of a person’s life. Learning how to manage that stress and anxiety, though, can affect the spread of cancer while also increasing life satisfaction.
That is the reason behind the first-ever Mind/Body Fest for People Affected by Cancer, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Wellness House, 131 N. County Line Rd. in Hinsdale.
This past spring, Wellness House hosted Dr. Steven Cole, a UCLA School of Medicine professor and researcher who discussed his findings that stress can create an environment in which cancer cells can thrive, so he emphasized ways of addressing stress. Wellness House staff, inspired by the talk and findings, started to conceive of the Mind/Body Fest, according to Tracy Lester, Wellness House’s director of programming.