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An Invitation to Slow Down: Yoga Nidra 2026

Rest is not always easy, especially when your body and mind have been shaped by cancer, treatment, or the long tail of everything that comes after. In 2026, Cactus Cancer Society continues our Yoga Nidra program, in partnership with our friends at Elephants and Tea.

Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation practice designed to support deep rest while maintaining a sense of awareness. Often called “yogic sleep,” it offers a way to settle the nervous system without effort, movement, or prior meditation experience. You do not need to know how to meditate. You do not need to arrive calm. You do not need to clear your mind, sit still, or do anything “right.” You simply need a place to rest and listen!

Guided Yoga Nidra Meditation with Mamma G

Join Angie Giallourakis (aka Mamma G), Cactus Cancer Society, and Elephants and Tea for a seasonal series of guided Yoga Nidra meditations. Each session is centered around a different theme and is an hour-long meditation that you can participate in the comfort of your own home (wear your PJs, turn off your camera, and get comfy, we won’t judge!) You are welcome to attend a single session or join us for the full series. Come in pajamas. Come from the couch. Come exactly as you are.

Whether you are navigating treatment, survivorship, caregiving, or the in-between spaces that rarely get named, Yoga Nidra offers time to pause, listen inward, and reconnect with yourself in a supported way.

2026 Session Themes and Dates

All sessions begin at 8:00 pm ET.

February 9, 2026
Connecting to the Energy Within

March 2, 2026
Coming to Awareness

April 6, 2026
The Objective Observer

May 4, 2026
Tapping into Your Joy

These Yoga Nidra sessions are not about fixing or achieving anything. They are about creating space to rest, reflect, and be held in community. Hopefully, you will leave refreshed and with a new tool in your “coping toolbox”! We look forward to practicing alongside you in 2026, blankets and all.

Desert Dispatch: A Sustainability Pop-Up

I love projects that feel intentional and a little rebellious in the best way. The kind that invites you to slow down, touch real paper, and make something without pressure or performance. That’s Desert Dispatch.

For a limited time, Cactus Cancer Society is releasing a Desert Dispatch Sustainability Pop-Up, a limited-edition art experience with just 50 dispatches available. Created by young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers, each dispatch delivers creativity, connection, and a moment worth savoring straight to your mailbox. Paper still hits different.

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Cody’s Corner: YA Cancer Groundhog Day

Hey everyone, I hope that your February is starting off well! As we enter February, that absolutely chilling month (at least here in New Jersey), thoughts dance through the mind: The Valentine’s season (who doesn’t like some sweets now and then?), Groundhog Day (both the movie and the event where the woodchuck weatherman makes his predictions), and of course, “Why is February so short?”

With that last one, I am not a calendar master or holiday guru, but I would like to point out an important day that comes every February (…no, not Groundhog Day): Rare Disease Day, which takes place on the last day of February (so, in leap years it’s on February 29th!) – it is a day dedicated to raising awareness for rare diseases like LGL Leukemia. If you want to find out more, go to either RareDiseaseDay.org or the National Organization for Rare Disorders page on it.

Now I’d like to talk about the other important holiday that comes every February 2nd… Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day, if you don’t know about it, is a day where people flock to the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to hear from Phil, its resident groundhog meteorologist, as to whether or not there will be six more weeks of winter. I’m hoping that this year, Phil doesn’t see his shadow (meaning winter will end when it should) because we need to have the frost leave the land sooner rather than later – we need the warmth of spring to arrive to wake up the grass and trees.

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? If you haven’t, it’s a great philosophical comedy from 1993 (yeah, I know, those words sound a bit odd together – but it works!) starring Bill Murray where he plays a cynical weatherman named Phil who is sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the Groundhog Day festivities – he is not a fan of the groundhog who shares his name. However, for reasons unknown, he gets stuck in a time loop – he must repeat the same day over and over and over again. The movie has everything from drama to comedy to romance – I cannot more strongly recommend it as something for you to watch every February 2nd (or whenever the mood strikes!).

Now, why did I bring up that movie, aside from it being one of my favorites? It’s because the cancer experience can feel like we are trapped in a loop – especially those of us who will never be rid of our unwanted intruders. I live my life through routines – every 28 days I get blood drawn at a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center location, with every third time taking place with my managing oncologist/the clinical trial team in New York City, and every eight weeks I go to an oncologist here in New Jersey who monitors my counts. I live my life blood draw by blood draw – that is life with chronic cancer; my life was like that before the trial (especially during my “medication vacations”) and even more so now that I am in a clinical trial where every little thing has to be reported to the trial team (understandably so!). I get asked that classic question: “Are you having fevers, chills, night sweats, diarrhea, or constipation?” to the point where I rattle off the question to them (alongside my answers), which they always find funny (or surprises the new people!).

Soon, Cactus Cancer Society’s Second Annual Young Adult Cancer Advocate of the Year fundraising competition will begin. As you know, I was one of the winners of the inaugural award. The second YAAY will start in February and will run for eight weeks through Cactus Cancer Society’s 11th Birthday Bash on April 11th! The person who raises the most money will receive a trophy, along with the title of Young Adult Cancer Advocate of the Year. If you can, try to support those that you feel are deserving of the title in any way you can – donate money, share posts on social media, print out flyers, help the nominees raise money for this organization that connects us all.

In the realm of chronic cancer, it can take a bit of time, but eventually the truth settles in; the truth that we will have this thing accompanying us for the rest of our days. Thoughts can swirl through the mind – “What will my life be now?” “Will cancer dominate my days?” “Are my best days behind me? I’m too young for that!” “What do people expect out of me now?” and so many other things. Our lives are what we make of them – how we steer our boat through the rough waters of cancer (it doesn’t matter if you have an “easy” cancer or one that requires every treatment around and then some – cancer is cancer is cancer). If we want, we can hunker down and push on through treatment without talking to another YA and then leave cancer in the dust as best we can. You could also dive headfirst into the YA community and immerse yourself in all there is. You can do anything in between – you are you, and you know yourself best and find what works for you, but try a group once or twice before deciding what you are going to end up doing. Personally, I am a fan of “the more, the merrier” and after I built up the courage to do so (…it only took seven years into cancer, but only close to three years into Zoom groups being prevalent), I…thrived in groups. I blossomed, I flourished – one thing I never expected to get out of cancer was friends, but that’s one thing that just happened. I get to have these people who understand what cancer is like – none of us can walk in each other’s shoes (even if we have the same cancer), but we know what these times feel like. We bond over our horrible commonality because we are all in the same club for years to come – it doesn’t matter what type of cancer you have or had because you are a member of the young adult cancer community for life. Even when you age out, you become a YA alum – it doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 80, you will always remember that feeling of “Oh crap, I am only starting my life/career/family, and I have CANCER?!”

We got cancer because it was luck of the draw – none of us went, “Oh boy! I have cancer! Hell yeah! Go me!” We went, “Crap. I have cancer? That explains my symptoms/scan results/blood tests/insert whatever is applicable for you here.” We didn’t eat one donut too many or not drink enough green drinks, the factory workers in our body just didn’t notice some bad cells going out, and those cells decided to go on a rampage.

So as you enter February, take a moment to pause and relax – keep yourself warm on the inside, because it isn’t on the outside (…at least here). Contemplate how the start of the year has gone – if it has been going well, let the rest of it be great! If it’s off to a bad start, well, I hope it gets better soon – especially if it is due to events or circumstances outside of your control.

Links, Links, Links!

In terms of resources, the Cancer Support Community of Los Angeles has their bi-monthly Young Adult Game Night coming up on February 24th, it will be from 8:00-9:30 PM Eastern/5:00-6:30 PM Pacific. It’s always fun – and sometimes there are prizes! So come and sit on Zoom, play some games, and meet new friends!

The Expect Miracles Foundation has also opened applications for their Financial Assistance Grants, which provides up to $1,750 for essential living expenses. The application closes on February 19th.

As always, if you ever want to reach out to me, I am on Instagram: @codyhatescancer.

Got a question for Cody or want him to write on a specific topic? Reach out to us! programs@cactuscancer.org

Cody’s Corner: New Year, Same Me, & a Slightly Bigger Bubble

Welcome to 2026! Yes, it’s already 2026…somehow. No idea how we’re over halfway through
the decade, but that’s what my calendar says!

2025 is over with – let the last of that year fade away like the vestiges of warmth after leaving the
cocoon of blankets on your bed in the morning.

I hope all of you ended 2025 (or welcomed 2026!) in your ideal way, be it a party with friends or a relaxing night at home. For me, I usually spend it at home with my parents and sister watching movies and eating hors d’oeuvres that my mom made. We’ll turn on the Times Square ball drop around 11:30 or thereabouts and count down when the clock runs towards the final seconds of the year: ten, nine, eight, seven, six… and when it hits midnight, we’re in 2026!

Every single thing we do after that is the first time that we have done that since 2025. Take a breath one second into the new year? That’s your first breath of the year! Take a sip of a drink? Wow! You haven’t drunk anything in a year! What are you doing next in 2026?

At the start of the year, many people make New Year’s resolutions – I remember reading a study once that said only around 10% of resolutions are kept. Personally, I’m not a resolution kind of guy – but the stereotypical resolution involves dieting, exercise, or some other kind of societal pressure. I have never been a resolution setter, but I will sometimes do a personal inventory -nothing formal, just a quick look inside and see what Inside Cody is saying. Then I’ll see if I can categorize these wants and needs and figure out the difficulty level of it. I’ll have short term (1-2 month), medium term (3-6 month), and long term (6-12+ month) goals – most of mine are in the short and medium term, since with a chronic cancer I can’t really go “five years from now…” (who knows where I will be in terms of treatment? Right now I am doing well on my trial, but who knows how long I will be doing this well?). I need to focus on the here and now, while having a bit of an eye looking towards the future.

Now you might be wondering, “What things might you want to do in 2026, Cody?” Honestly, I
don’t know. I have a rough sketch of my year – I will probably try to write a few articles for
Elephants & Tea I’ve been thinking about applying for a scholarship to Stupid Cancer’s Cancer Con in Seattle from April 30th to May 3rd. Scholarship applications open January 5th and close January 19th, and I am going to try my darndest to attend Young Adult Cancer Camp, which is put on by Elephants and Tea and Young Adult Survivors United. If you haven’t been to that camp, I highly recommend it.

This year I will continue to attend some of my favorite Cactus Cancer Society programs: Coffee & Oodles, 30 Minute Tune Up, and the Guy’s Discussion Group. I don’t know what else I will do
this year, but I will definitely keep you guys up to date – maybe there will be something that you
will also be interested in trying out!

As I write this article, snow blanketed my yard overnight. Birds keep flocking to the window
feeder that we have (and most of them are fleeing before I can get a picture!). The snow is nice
and fresh – untouched by animal paw prints and people (…for now). Here’s a photo of my yard
that I took while taking a break from writing this.

2026 is a new year – we don’t know what awaits us, no matter how hard we glare at the snow in
the field that is the next 365 days. We might find some great things, we might encounter some
horrible things, and we’ll hopefully have a lot of bland, boring days in the year ahead. Now that
my chronic cancer is stable I adore the bland, boring days. I have my days where I am
interesting – I will always have those days by virtue of having a rare cancer, my body will
inevitably do something to interest someone (even if it is just a one-time abnormal result on a
blood test), but I hope to avoid those days as much as I can.

While I relish the bland and boring, every day being the same is nice…to a point – it’s a warm
comfy blanket of sameness, it’s the place you feel the safest, the comfort zone. Leaving the
comfort zone is hard, why would I ever want to do that? It becomes boring doing the same thing
day after day, so occasional steps outside of the comfort zone are necessary.

Leaving the comfort zone is especially difficult for me – I’ve mentioned in the past that I am
autistic, and one of those stereotypical autism traits is that we don’t like change. That rings true
with me! I dislike change, I don’t like spontaneity, I don’t like things being shaken up. When I go
on a trip, I make an excel spreadsheet beforehand with restaurants and activities saying what
day we should go to what restaurant for what meal, what activities should happen that day, and
I all but schedule our free time! I take comfort in the schedule, comfort in the routine, I know
what is coming up; sure, a wrench might be thrown in the works every once in a while, but those
are ideally few and far between.

This year, I will expand the bubble that is my comfort zone. I will try to meet up more with my
cancer friends (some of us already meet monthly for a trivia night at a local restaurant!) so
meetups with them are firmly in my comfort zone. I will push as much as I semi-comfortably can,
since you cannot leave your comfort zone without some discomfort; some unpleasantness, even
while doing fun activities, will always be present – the anxious brain loves doing that.
When I write these articles, I usually listen to some music to help my brain focus, concentrate, to
let the ideas flow from my brain to my keyboard. A song I was listening to on YouTube (I usually
listen to stuff on Spotify or YouTube) snatched my attention through the introduction of the
music video. It’s a spoken bit that goes as follows:

“I feel like stepping into a new version of yourself kind of feels like a death. We grow, make
mistakes, move on, and then one day we wake up and realize we’re nothing like the person we
once were. That person just vanished, disappeared completely and we never got to say
goodbye.” From Rest in Peace by BLÜ EYES.

This makes me think of two things at the same time: me before cancer and me after diagnosis (I
will never really have an “after cancer” in the sense of it being gone outside of the scanxiety
specter that haunts all of us). Me before cancer was shy, timid, anxious, an occasional self-
advocate, and someone who was an occasional fixture in waiting rooms. After diagnosis? I’m
shy, timid, anxious, an accidental advocate, and a fixture in waiting rooms. Sure that doesn’t
sound like much, but it is. My nervousness led me to research a lot in the initial days post
diagnosis; I found a lot of the resources that I recommend to people now in those days where I
was on the couch muttering “ow” whenever I moved because I was recovering from a bone
marrow biopsy. I didn’t wake up one day suddenly knowing how to do these things – it gradually
happened over time, like a snowball rolling down a hill until one day I was slinging resources like
it was my job or something. You don’t realize the gradual changes because they are just that –
gradual. They happen slowly over time at a pace where you don’t even realize it is happening
until suddenly we’ve changed. Ideally, the change has been for the positive and we can
embrace it – but sometimes it isn’t, but we can work on improving that, we can change.

In the spirit of Coffee & Oodles, why not take five minutes and respond to that spoken piece?
Maybe listen to the full song. What comes to mind when you think of the you who vanished?
Who do you want to grow into? The start of a new year is a great time to think about the you
that you want to put forth this year; who do you want to grow up to be this year? Who do you
want to be in 2026? What are your goals? Grab a piece of paper or open up your preferred word processor and let the words flow, you might surprise yourself.

I hope all of you have a wonderful January!

Now, it’s time for some resources!

This is the time of year where if you are thinking about going to an outdoor adventure camp, you should start checking out the different organizations and
looking at their schedules to see what fits into your calendar. As a note, I have not attended any of these – I have just heard of them.

The most popular one in the YA community is First Descents, and they have programs based around the country (they recommend you go to a program located in a place you haven’t been to in order to get the full experience) where you do rock climbing, kayaking, or surfing (different places for each activity). If you are wondering what accommodations they can make, they have an adaptability guide here.

Other ones include Camp Koru, which is a camp that does surfing.

Epic Experience is a weeklong camp in Colorado.

True North Treks is an organization that leads cancer survivors on hikes that are 4-6 nights long.

Camp Mak-a-dream is a camp based in Montana that has programs for people of all ages affected by cancer. Note: Their young adult programs are for people aged 18-35. Their Young Adult Conference is August 12th-16th and their Young Adult Brain Tumor Camp is June 17th-22nd. Applications for those open February 9th.

Have a question for Cody? Want him to write about a specific topic? Reach out! program@cactuscancer.org

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What barriers do LGBTQIA+ AYAs with cancer face?

At Cactus Cancer Society, we believe in the power of research to improve the lives of those who may face a cancer diagnosis in the future. We’re committed to elevating the voices and experiences of young adults navigating cancer and ensuring this community is truly represented in research. Explore the opportunity below to see how you can share your story and help shape a better path forward for others.

The Impact of Digital Storytelling in Young Adult LBGTQIA+ Patients with a Cancer History

The purpose of this study is to better understand the facilitators and barriers to creating digital cancer stories created by LGBTQIA+ Adolescent and Young Adults (AYA)s with cancer and its clinical utility for outcomes.

What Will I Be Asked to Do?

You’ll be asked to make a video about your experiences as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community with a cancer history, and give us feedback on the process. The study will take place online, with the potential to be anonymous, and last approximately 60 minutes.

Am I Eligible to Participate?

You are eligible to participate if you: