When I finished cancer treatment and was driving home from my final appointment, I said to my husband: “What happens now?”. I felt lost and vulnerable.
For months, life had been centred around appointments, scans and treatment. My focus had simply been on getting through it. When that structure came to an end, I found myself facing a new chapter without really knowing how to navigate it.
As I began talking to other people affected by cancer, I realised my experience wasn’t unique. Again and again, I heard the same questions about how to rebuild confidence, adjust to a different body, return to work, navigate relationships and make sense of life after treatment. While treatment had ended, many people were left needing support, connection and a way to move forward.
I realised recovery wasn’t just about physical healing; it was about rebuilding confidence, identity and trust – in both life and my body.
That inspired me to train as a coach so I could offer the kind of support I had been looking for myself. I hold an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching and am an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation. Alongside my coaching practice, I have volunteered with Macmillan, The Fountain Centre (Royal Surrey Hospital) and other cancer charities, supporting people as they navigate life beyond diagnosis
As my own recovery continued, I wanted to start moving again. Before cancer, yoga had been an important part of my life and I knew it could be a gentle way to reconnect with my body. But I had lost trust in it. I was living with fatigue, stiffness and movement no longer felt as comfortable as it once had. I worried about being the only person in the class who needed to spend half the session resting on my mat, or the only one without any hair.
Once again, I realised there was a gap.
People affected by cancer needed somewhere they could move without judgement, where their experiences were understood and every practice could be adapted to meet them where they were on any given day. That led me to complete my yoga teacher training, followed by specialist qualifications in Yoga for Cancer, Yoga for Breast Cancer and Yoga for Cancer-Induced Menopause.
Beyond Here grew from these experiences.
It exists to provide the support I wish had been available when I finished treatment – a place where people can access coaching, movement, education and community, and discover they don’t have to navigate life after cancer alone.
Because life after cancer is about more than surviving. It’s about rebuilding, rediscovering yourself and living well beyond diagnosis.
Charmian
