Cecil Park, Founder, WineFornia; and Winemaker, INNOVATUS, Napa Valley (USA)

Years in the Industry:

Twelve. I work as a winemaker and winery designer in Napa. With my academic background (biotech engineering), I was able to start as an intern for the harvest in Napa in 2007. The same year, I started my own wine consulting company, Winefornia, and launched a wine brand, INNOVATUS, in 2014. I now focus on the winery design and vineyard development for small- to medium- sized estate properties. 

My Biggest Challenge to Wellness:

Not dying... was the answer when I asked my 8 year-old son what he would think was my biggest challenge last year.  Actually, I had many challenges last year after I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, exactly a year ago in January 2019. They were frustrations rather than challenges, because everything was uncertain with a potentially fatal diagnosis. I was frustrated by my busy mind throughout too many hospital visits, three rounds of surgeries, treatments, and thought after thought. 

I realized that I was extremely tired and mentally exhausted after the hospital visits because the hospital seemed to focus only on symptoms, not on causes. So I started watching lots of documentaries and YouTube videos, and learning from teachers who talk about wholeness of mind, body and spirit.  

I learned that cancer is a condition, not a disease. I needed to re-condition myself physically and mentally. In order to do that, you have to eat well, sleep well, play well, pray well and be well. I tried, almost like fighting, to do well on all of these. However, wellness comes only when you relax.

Relaxing was a challenge during a fight with cancer. In order to eat well, I cut off processed food, dairy and refined carbohydrates. At the same time I was taking various pills and supplements, which were strange and often overwhelmed me. In order to sleep well, I tried to keep a regular sleeping schedule and used a meditation app to help out. This, ironically, made me more anxious, feeling like a failure, not being able to fall asleep, and not being able to stay asleep. I woke up in every hour or two with aches and a busy mind. In order to play well, pray well and be well, I realized that I was forcing myself to stay positive, ignoring all the negatives. Even when I was sad and worried, I thought I had to focus only on the positive sides.

No doubt that all of my changes and efforts were truly beneficial to re-condition myself. However, I was too goal-oriented and focused on my thoughts, rather than observe my feelings. I needed to stop fighting; instead I needed to accept cancer as a transitional condition, possibly to melt it away and welcome the wellness.

I am still learning, and happy to recognize and accept my inner self and my surroundings. Thanks to this awakening and all the precious support from family and friends, I am doing well now.

How I Keep It Together To Stay Well:

I drastically changed my diet, work hours, and reading subjects. I also developed some rituals for physical and mental health, by listening carefully to what my body tells me and how my mind flows. 

For meditation, I use a YouTube channel called "Meditative Mind” and meditate for 30 to 60 minutes before sleep. During the meditation, I focus on the Seven Chakra Chant. I drink freshly squeezed lemon tea (with cannabis stock that I grew and dried) in the morning and turmeric tea with honey at night, and try to take a short nap whenever I feel tired. If a nap is not possible, then I just work on breathing with my eyes closed. 

I am very grateful and happy with what I do. I’m looking forward to having many more opportunities to share with others what the wine community has shown me, and what we could create for the community in 2020. 

You can connect with Cecil on LinkedIn , Instagram @winefornia, Facebook and online at https://www.winefornia.com