How Purpose, Mind, And Lifestyle Helped Me Navigate Breast Cancer with Veronika Bubenickova

When fear knocks, what do you do with it? We sit down with Veronika, a holistic transformational coach for women navigating breast cancer, to trace the moment a terrifying diagnosis turned into a clear vow: “I’ve got this.” From that pivot, she built a whole-person approach that pairs conventional oncology with nutrition, supplements, energy work, and daily mindset practices designed to steady the nervous system and support healing.

We explore how language in the clinic can amplify anxiety and why learning to filter information, ask better questions, and prioritise calm becomes essential. Veronika shares the practical habits that helped her see faster-than-expected progress during chemotherapy: fresh juices, research-backed supplements, stress reduction, and visualisation focused on a healthy outcome. She opens up about the emotional “knots” formed by unprocessed experiences, and how Reiki and spiritual healing surfaced themes like unworthiness and old resentments—correlating with meaningful physical shifts. We also touch on lifestyle oncology’s view that significant stress and trauma can act as initiators, making emotional processing and resilience part of risk reduction.

Beyond remission, we tackle the most common thought: “What if it comes back?” Veronika offers tools to meet that fear without letting it run the day—reviewing home products to support hormones and lymphatics, reframing nutrition as loving choice rather than restriction, and mentally “programming” chemo for effectiveness while imagining protection from side effects. We highlight her Lotus Journey platform with guided meditations, practical guides, a free webinar on seven healing principles, and her book, Diary of a Soul Reborn. Together, we turn the focus to identity and self-love after treatment, honouring body changes while rebuilding a life aligned to values and purpose.

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Veronika Bubenickova

Website: www.lotus-journey.com

Linktree with resources http://www.veronika-bubenickova.com/links

Book: https://lotus-journey.com/book-diary-of-a-soul-reborn

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License code: ZTXJPK8BA5WMLKSF

My new novel The Red Magus has recently been published in conjunction with the Unbound Press.  An entralling mystical adventure set across time and space, where past and current lives converge.  Find it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Chapters

• 4:58 Meet Veronica And Her Mission
• 7:58 Diagnosis Shock And Survival Mindset
• 13:28 Rethinking Medical Messages And Fear
• 17:18 Integrating Diet, Mindset, And Energy
• 20:28 Emotional Roots And Spiritual Healing
• 25:33 Stress, Trauma, And Cancer Triggers
• 29:33 Living Beyond Remission And Recurrence
• 31:33 Lotus Journey Resources And Book
• 33:33 Transformational Programs And Self-Love
• 37:33 Purpose, Beliefs, And Life Redefined
• 40:23 Closing Thanks And Listener Actions

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 2:30

So welcome everybody to another episode of Barn to the Soul Podcast. I'm your host, Natasha George Christ, and I'm a lawyer, I'm an energy therapist, I'm a writer, and I'm a podcaster. And today we've got a lovely new guest whose name I'm going to try to pronounce correctly. And her name is Veronica Ubernikova. I probably didn't pronounce it right, so I apologize, Veronica, but thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. It's a real pleasure to talk to you.

SPEAKER_00: 3:03

Hello everyone, and thank you, Natasha, for inviting me to share the story with your audience.

SPEAKER_01: 3:11

Yes, no, this is going to be really interesting. So Veronica is a holistic transformational coach for women navigating breast cancer and beyond. So just tell me how you how this came about because there's always a personal story behind, and I know you started off in the corporate world. So how have you found yourself where you are today, basically?

SPEAKER_00: 3:35

That's a very good question because it seems like so far away from my original background. So I happen to um end up in corporate world and in business world um managing products uh in software. So very different to what I'm doing now. And um I used to enjoy my job, and the one thing I was missing on that was the sense of purpose and um the sense of meaning. Maybe if I was developing environmentally friendly uh product, it would be different than software. And of course, uh it was about providing uh software and good customer service to our users, but still I felt there is more uh to my purpose than uh than the work I was doing. I just didn't know what that could be basically. But um, since I was around 18, I was also interested in spiritual uh development, personal growth. And uh although uh for some time I put it on big burner because uh life got busy, yeah, um, it was always part of me. And it was um interestingly a part that I was hiding from other people because I uh felt at that time that maybe I would be judged for it because it was the environment I grew up with in. And uh so it was like my little secret second part, second Veronica. So I was always drawn to it, uh, but didn't think I could transition into into that role and into that space. So um when I was on a really steep career path and uh had everything lined up in terms of the career progression, and I have to say it was like a kind of peak moment when I felt really healthy. I um felt like I was doing really well career-wise, and um I thought I would be able to, or the career will allow me to somehow maybe invest in in some other activities. And then I found a lump, and uh in two weeks' time I was diagnosed with uh invasive uh doctor carosinoma, very aggressive type of cancer. And um at that moment the the life fell apart. I remember sitting in the hospital hearing the diagnosis, and literally I felt like I left my body. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought surely I must wake up from this horrible dream. Because um until then, uh the only person I knew um with breast cancer was Kylie Minogue, and I don't know Kylie Minogue personally, so that's how distant it felt. It was just a person, famous person I know knew of um that went through the journey, but I didn't have anyone around me with uh with that story. So um that was challenge itself, but also I think hearing the word cancer is is very frightening. Yeah. So for several hours uh I wasn't really with it. I went to see a friend and uh he tried to um like talk with me and you know cheer me up, and not cheer me up because it was it, I don't think it was his intention because it was a serious situation, but you know, try to make me feel better. But I it felt like I wasn't even listening, I wasn't you know there. I was there physically but not um not mentally. But something strange happened uh when I was leaving my friend and I was going back to the car, and it was like I had like this moment of switch when all this processing uh in my head stopped for a moment, and I turned around, look at my friend, and I said, you know what? I've got this, I'm going to get through this, I don't know how, and in that moment I didn't even know whether the cancer spread further or if it was contained in the breast. But suddenly I switched into this survival mode and the mission of I've got this, I will get through this. Um, and because it was very shortly after I questioned my life purpose, it kind of naturally went into well, maybe one day I will be able to help other women who are going through the journey. And that was, I think, the most powerful thought I could uh that could pop in my uh in my mind. Um because that helped me greatly to really focus on healing and um to don't listen to, although I was doing the conventional treatment, I kind of filtered what I was told. Because, for example, I had my first uh appointment with the oncologist, and uh that was after I ran through several tests and MRI and everything, and I was told by the breast cancer um nurses and the surgeon that the cancer is contained in the breast and it didn't spread to the lymph nodes, that the lymph nodes just look um like inflamed but non-cancerous. And um, when I went to see the oncologist, she started to talk to me like the cancer was in the lymph nodes. And I'm saying, but I was told it's not there. And she looked at me and she said, Well, I don't think so. And you know, these moments of, and I don't think she she meant anything bad, I think it's just the way it's the daily bread that's her, you know, they more like sign science, uh drug focus and yeah, treatment focus. Um, and probably not always um have have they like sense of you know how this must feel. And I have to say that that was a moment when I realized if I went with what I was taught, I would go into more being frightened, into more focusing on oh my god, it's actually not contained in the breast, it's gonna spread. And it just got into the panic mode when I wouldn't be able to relax. And from the research I did um at that time um was that you know, until the body relaxes, it's not possible to start the healing process. So I think these moments are really important, and I think my message to anyone facing any kind of um life-threatening illness, if you're told that you know, I don't think so, or you you feel some the medical professional made you feel like that um you know it's more serious, don't get discouraged because you know there are so many people that beat the odds.

SPEAKER_01: 11:06

Yeah. So I think it's always hard though, isn't it? That's very hard. I think also medical profession, um, without being a disrespectful to them at all, but I think they're trained to give you the worst case scenario, aren't they? Almost it's it's it's so that you have all that information, but in a way it's a bit um yeah, uh uh it's it's a bit overwhelming, isn't it, when you're trying to just process one.

SPEAKER_00: 11:36

Process the information itself, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 11:38

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So so and the fact that you have the sort of peace of presence of mind to think with your friend, how can I use this experience or how is this experience going to guide me for my future life purpose? It's quite amazing, really, that you that came to you.

SPEAKER_00: 12:01

It was a complete blessing, I have to say, um, because it helped me uh really dive into the research and to like studying all aspects of the healing journey, learning from other survivors. Um, so not only focusing on the treatment, but to it was a moment when I started to really look after my body well, although I was then um going through five and a half months of chemotherapy. Um I was doing so much good things for my body at the same time, and then interestingly, I even got really uh fast results, faster than the doctors expected, because I did change my diet, I did juicing, uh so fresh juices, I did supplements that um have shown in uh research to shrink breast cancer tumors, um, and then working with the mind and focusing, because it's of course it's difficult when um we go through times like that to be all positive all the time because the fear is there, but to learn to refocus several times per day on what I actually want to achieve rather than uh and the end destination rather than working out how it will happen and um if it happened or worrying about the current situation. So I was very much like I had that vision of me being healthy again, and that's what I was holding on to.

SPEAKER_01: 13:37

Yeah, and that's powerful, isn't it, to have that sort of visualization and also to be proactive alongside the traditional route. So you did what the doctors told you, but you supplemented it with all these other ideas and um and ways of of trying to combat uh the disease, really.

SPEAKER_00: 13:59

Absolutely, and I think the the one other aspect that I mentioned, and of course, no one not everyone is open to that, um, but I think it uh will resonate with uh your audience very well. Um, and we touch on uh that uh topic uh um before we start recording, and that is um that the way how I see it, everything that happened to us creates kind of like a knots in in our invisible body. That's how I picture it. And um these knots kind of build up, build up when a bad situation repeats itself, like we exposed to I don't know, whatever, aggression or suppressing feelings, whatever that might be. Um if it's unprocessed emotion, it can it stays stuck somewhere. Yeah. So as a big believer of um the connection, mind-body connection, and the emotional, spiritual um causes of an imbalance in the body. And after because even before even I was diagnosed, I um was into books like uh Heal Your Body from Louise Hay, or um there was a um book, it's in my native language, so I don't know how it's called in uh translation, but it would be something like a um illness as a journey, and that's very much describes um what each of the organs, each of uh the illnesses represent on that subconscious level. So my one of my first contacts was uh I spoke to my Reiki teacher, and um we went into like a series of uh spiritual healings, and it was it was quite um phenomenal what what what everything was brought up in terms of unworthiness, um some unresolved resentments. Um it was all mostly about uh relationship with the male side um and some old hurts. And um we had one session uh which was four days after my first chemotherapy of five days, um which I was told that I will see the first results after maybe uh two or three cycles, which was like six to nine weeks. But the day after this spiritual healing, really strong spiritual healing, I thought I was dreaming because I could no longer feel one of the tumors. So I think it's just the combination of everything, and of course, um the spiritual healing, the the diet that I changed from day two or three rather than waiting for the doctors to start the treatment and potentially the treatment itself, but um, I think it's the combination of of all um all the elements that um even make me now believe that the cancer, any cancer journey is not just about the medicine, uh but it is about healing our whole selves.

SPEAKER_01: 17:23

Yeah, it's very much um the holistic, isn't it? Is it's about the energy work as well. Do you I know you work specifically with women navigating breast cancer and beyond, but do you also believe or have you experienced other illnesses and that they also have that sort of journey that you've had, that they get the best results with the traditional medicine, but also doing that inner work, the diet, everything alongside. You know, are we talking not just cancer? Are we talking just every illness that comes up?

SPEAKER_00: 18:01

Yes, so yeah, so I yeah, I'm a big believer that that this is the case. Uh I do sometimes have these occasional um people approaching me asking me for for help or advice, uh, but I think it's just I decided to really uh focus on women or women with breast uh problems. So sometimes um I've got women coming to me with uh you know cysts and uh other breath uh breast conditions, um, and also um anything that's um connected to the wound. So I think uh the whole female element is very much connected to me. Um so yeah, although although I um my main uh main clients and um main followers are breast cancer survivors or breast cancer patients, um there are um other women coming with more the like uh ladies' problems.

SPEAKER_01: 19:02

Um yeah, I think I think it relates to everything. I mean, in no way is this an illness, but I've had a really bad hit and I put it down to having three children and ligaments being stretched and all the rest of it that we have to go through. Um my children have grown up now, obviously, but um I still get trouble with it and um constantly been working on it in an intuitive way because and inner work, etc., over the years, and it it comes and goes. I've literally just had an intuitive healing where she we looked at things that had happened in my childhood, being shocked, holding shock in my hip, etc. You know, lots of things we we went through, and I've had no pain since. Now, I know that's not as serious as cancer, but it does absolutely show that we hold emotions in our bodies, maybe in weakened parts of our bodies, or um but for some reason we hold them in those particular areas, and if we can figure out what they are and remove them some way, um the symptoms, the physical symptoms can be relieved.

SPEAKER_00: 20:23

I yes, uh completely resonate with your message, and you know, on on myself I've experienced um uh various connections, uh, whether that was um iron deficiency, anemia, I um suffered with like uh very frequent sinus issues, and uh then I was like sick all the time with colds and flus, and um it all like these colds and flus, even were me not allowing myself to have rest, and I was just like pacing all the time, and therefore the body asks for the rest, yeah, yeah. So it's like you you know uh you don't allow yourself to to switch off, then I made you to. Yes, it's so it's a clever, uh, clever machine.

SPEAKER_01: 21:18

Yes, absolutely. So, in a way, when you think about it, the body is having a conversation with us, isn't it? It's saying, I'm gonna stop you and make you go to bed because you're I'm exhausted. Um, so we you know, if you think about it like that, we need to start having that conversation. Why is this happening? What's this about? What do I need to do to alleviate this? And please, you know, I'm not saying don't do traditional medicine because do, but also there's lots of other ways to sort of change your perspective about you know the fact that you're not broken, it's just that um perhaps something needs to be looked at, or the body wants you to look at something that's imbalanced.

SPEAKER_00: 23:01

Absolutely, and what I found really interesting uh recently because I'm getting certification in lifestyle oncology, and um it is a very um open minded program with a lot of experts, uh scientists, oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, so really medical medical people. And it is um it was just very heartwarming to see the program filled with a lot of uh like combining with the energy work and um uh the the the importance of the mind and the emotional healing and the processing. But what also interests me and something I wasn't quite aware of before or didn't think about it much, is that um although they don't really understand exactly what triggers the cancer, they uh have an understanding of some kind of initiators that can trigger the cancer cells to start spreading. Right. And one of it is a significant stress or a shock. So when you speak to a lot of um cancer survivors in general, um they went through a significant trauma, usually uh loss of someone or loss of something in life, uh grief, uh resentment because of that loss. So it is it is interesting connection.

SPEAKER_01: 24:36

Absolutely. So really, you know, trauma and stress actually play a big part in being one of those triggers.

SPEAKER_00: 24:45

Yes, yeah, the triggers and um even um in both cases, whether that's like first diagnosis or uh the minimizing risk of recurrence. So uh all of us who've been through cancer have to be really aware of these things and to learn to tackle the stress and to not put pressure on ourselves and um really um focus on everything that can or has has shown to potentially initiate it, you know, it doesn't be all exposed to stress, and obviously we we will um lose someone and something on the way, but it's more to really allow to process the emotions in a healthy way so that they don't have to be manifested in a set in a different way.

SPEAKER_01: 25:36

Yeah. So that and that's something that you help um women with, isn't it? It's beyond you know getting that, going into emission, and and so but it's beyond how you how you move forward from that. Yes, it's basically having to change your way of life, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00: 25:54

Because when I was diagnosed, and many women I speak to when they diagnose, it the focus is on getting all clear and have no cancer present in the body, but that moment of celebration of yes, I'm cancer free, it is a very emotional moment, and uh I think it's the happiest moment in life. However, it turns very quickly into what if it comes back? Sure. So that's uh that's a big part of my work, not only with my clients, but also with myself. Um, because it doesn't mean that because I'm helping other women that I've got it all sorted, absolutely not, and you know, are very open about it. I do get that thought of what it if it comes back, maybe several times per week. Yeah, sure. But it's more of what I do with the thought and um what I do in terms of the things that are in my control and in my power, what I do in terms of um the diet, and it doesn't mean like I can't I can never have anything um I don't know, processed, for example. Um, but interestingly, when I do have something processed, I actually feel physically sick after that because my body already adjusted to really healthy lifestyle, but it doesn't mean that I will not have a cake because there's a refined sugar, no, I will, um, but it is about what's the 80-90 percent of the diet, it's the managing of the stress, so minimizing the risk of the recurrence, um, because that's you know, that's what all we can do.

SPEAKER_01: 27:40

Yeah, absolutely. And you have a platform, don't you, called Lotus Journey, where you have lots of resources and because the only people can go and have a look and read and um just help them in moments of anxiety, yes, that is.

SPEAKER_00: 27:57

Yes, so yeah, so the uh the website's lotus journey, lotus-journey.com. Um, the the reason why it's Lotus Journey is because Lotus in uh the eastern um uh eastern world is um relate relates to transformation, and journey is is um the breast cancer journey that we are on uh when we healing, but also beyond when when it turns from that yes, I'm cancer free to oh, what if it comes back? Um so uh yeah, a variety of resources that um are free to download and uh also have some guided meditation, some guides, questions to ask uh the medical professionals. Um I've got a free webinar that I where I highlight the seven principles that um that I followed and uh my client now uh following. Um and there's also a link to to my book uh where I described uh my my whole life basically and the story of uh how how I was diagnosed, what I was uh experiencing, how I was coping big things. Um so there are all the lows and highs of the journey. Yes, and what's your book called? The book is called Diary of a Soul Reborn.

SPEAKER_01: 29:23

Lovely, and that's um available. Is that available to buy on your website as well?

SPEAKER_00: 29:29

On website, on Amazon, and uh yeah, other websites. So if you go to the uh to my website, lotus dash journey.com, um, then there is a page with the book and there are all the links um where to buy.

SPEAKER_01: 29:42

Excellent. And you you also have a couple of transformational programs, don't you, for women? Just tell us about those.

SPEAKER_00: 29:50

Yes, uh, so these are a six or twelve months transformational program, like most mostly it's a six months uh program for um women that are going through um through breast cancer, and uh it's open to anyone. Uh so if they decide to do the conventional treatments or not, that's that's uh everyone's paths different. Yeah, so I work alongside of whatever treatments they decide to do. And um what uh we look at all these elements the physical, the mental, the emotional, and the spiritual. And spiritual, I always say it is tailored to uh so work with women from different backgrounds, religions, or not uh religious at all. So it's more in the terms of connecting with our soul and with uh who we truly are, and to discover uh what actually um makes us thick and happy in life. Because that's mostly uh blocked. So in those six months, um uh the women have also access to my online course um which uh explains the basic principles, it has a lot of uh nice meditations, it has a workbook, so it's not just uh absorbing information, but it's about them doing the inner work and to find the uh limiting beliefs, for example, that can block the healing.

SPEAKER_01: 31:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 31:27

And um, so so that's that's part of it. But then oh, we have uh three sessions uh every every month, and two sessions are more like coaching, um, looking at changing, refurbishing the kitchen and bathroom from the inside, inside the cabinet, not from the outside. Yeah because um that's everything that can hinder the lymphatic system or anything that can mess up with the hormones um is then uh replaced with different products. So I help them to find alternatives, healthy alternatives to products and food that they like, because uh the worst uh part is if we do something that we have to sacrifice. Yeah. If we do it from the place of love or we make better choices, it is a better um and much more long-lasting um effect than if uh people get scared or I won't eat any sugar, but uh being in a tension that they can't have it. So um it's about about implementing these new habits and working with the mind. For example, when they're going through chemotherapy, how to um kind of call it program the mind on focusing on effectivity of the chemo but um shielding the body from the side effects, yeah. Um and then it's about the trauma healing and the emotional um side and processing the whole journey and then uh the spiritual connection, which I found is very important then for uh the program that's for the survivors because it's that new journey of defining how I want to I want my new life beyond the breast cancer to be and finding the self-love because obviously the body's um bodies changing the mastectomy or reconstructions or going flat. It's a big, big um, big uh deal for every woman because it's what makes us women. So if we of course we through our chemo, it's even losing hair, but then it's losing breast. Um, a lot of women gain weight, so it's about finding the love for for themselves as well.

SPEAKER_01: 33:41

I think it sounds amazing. I think the fact that you've gone through it as well is so helpful for women to see that you know, yes, you can come out of it and you can have this really positive, proactive life on the other side. I was interested um about what you were saying about chemotherapy as well, because I think just the word scares people often a lot. They don't want, you know, so to be able to have some ways of shielding the body and helping with side effects. I think that's a really um I think what you're doing is a really positive thing. Thank you. Yeah, I think it's really helpful, I'm sure, for a huge number of women. Um, because it's so prevalent now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00: 34:26

It is. And I I see like how many women actually um ask for resources and contact me and it's um it is very sad.

SPEAKER_01: 34:36

Yeah, it is. It was interesting what you said though, that you know, there's something blocked um to for us for our soul purpose, for your for your soul path. Um and that's that's an interesting. I know you're talking about knots earlier, but that there's some sort of maybe energy that's that's blocked somehow. Um so that's an interesting concept as well, because when you think about other cancers, I don't know, frightening statistics about how many people will, you know, um be diagnosed with cancer. So it's it's it's so interesting to hear you talk about it.

SPEAKER_00: 35:19

Yes, yeah, yeah. I mean, uh yeah, for for generally, like they say, one in two people statistically developed. It's it's very scary. But uh also that includes like uh because now the diagnostic is really good. So a lot of cancers are caught really early, which is um which is really good. Um, so I think that that plays a role. Uh but um I was going to say something to what we talk about, and now I lost my thought um about the purpose. Um that because like when we when we born as babies and then we children, we are we are open and we are spontaneous, and um, we kind of go with what we feel because we don't really understand it, we don't analyze it. Um and then at some point we will start to get restricted by what uh you know the environment we grew up in, or what they tell us at school, um the the rejections we get, and um then the beliefs that are implanted to us by people around us, like you need to get, I don't know, you you need to become a lawyer to be someone respected, and so so we go, we follow these paths because that's we think that's what people would be supposed to do.

SPEAKER_01: 36:48

They say, don't they?

SPEAKER_00: 36:49

Yeah, yes, yeah, and I think these moments of like these deep moments when something goes really wrong in our life and doesn't have to be cancer, can be any kind of trauma, is that moment when we actually when all these things fall apart because we realize that actually they're not as important as we thought.

SPEAKER_01: 37:09

No, no, I suppose, yeah, we put everything into perspective, don't we? Yes, it does. Fascinating. Thank you so much, Veronica. It's been such a pleasure to talk to you, and um, I do think what you're doing and the support you're giving women is amazing. So um it's it's been lovely to hear all about your work.

SPEAKER_00: 37:32

Thank you, thank you very much, and um yeah, it's been it's been a pleasure to uh spend the time with you and to to have this uh chat and to then be able to share it with your audience.

SPEAKER_01: 37:43

Yeah, thank you. Um what I'll do is put up um all your details and your website underneath the episode. So um if any of you would like to contact Veronica, you can do so. Um so thank you for listening to us having a chat. And um, if you've enjoyed it, please like and share. And you can always be a supporter or a subscriber to the podcast if you'd like to hear more episodes. So thank you again, Veronica, and um I will speak to you all soon.