MY STORY

Twenty years ago, when I was 30, doctors told me that I had an 87% chance of getting breast cancer in my lifetime. I was told this as my sister, Debbie, made her way through chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, surgery, and radiation. At age 32, Debbie had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. These events changed my life.

Prior to this time, I was climbing the corporate ladder at a brisk and promising pace. I had earned a master’s degree in business administration and I was working as a marketing manager at Hewlett Packard. Life was good. I had no real knowledge or concern about healthy living. My relationship with my own health changed the day I received the phone call from Debbie.

As I watched my sister go through the debilitating treatment, I was overcome by fear that my sister would die and that cancer would be my fate as well. Because my sister was so young and her cancer was so aggressive, doctors wondered if the disease ran in our family. It turns out, it did. We discovered that nine relatives on my mom's side of the family within the last three generations had breast cancer at some point in their lives.

When I learned that I am high risk for cancer, I worried about every morsel of food that went into my body and every product that touched my skin. Although I began eating healthy foods and using healthy products, I was not healthy because I was operating out of fear. I was developing an unhealthy obsession with healthy living. My fear of disease and dying were overpowering my joy in living.

With time, the intensity of the fear I had been feeling began to subside. Still, the statistics quoted to me about my possible fate floated in and out of my consciousness as the years passed. Was cancer my destiny, or did I have a say in the matter? This nagging question eventually changed the direction of my life. A decade after finding out about my genetically based high risk, I left the corporate world and went back to school to find the answer.

Earning my master’s in holistic health education taught me that the way we live our lives does impact our health. Our genes are influenced by signals outside of our cells by such factors as nutrition, stress, lifestyle, and emotions. Our health is determined not by our genetic makeup alone, but by the combination of our genetics and our environment (our environment being how we live our lives)

Inspired by my new knowledge, I founded my company, Four Quadrant Living, to help others live healthier and happier lives. For true health and wellness, we need to nourish all four quadrants, not just one. Calming our minds, nourishing our bodies, engaging in healthy relationships, and detoxifying our environments are all health-supporting actions that counterbalance the negative aspects of our genetics.

I hope you find the content on this website and in my book helpful and informative for helping you live your best life. I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments.

BIO

Dina Colman Mitchell, MA, MBA, a widely published health coach, founded Four Quadrant Living to inspire others to live happier and healthier lives by nourishing their Mind, Body, Relationships, and Environment. She emphasizes a balanced approach that can be used by anyone, regardless of age, previous health, or family history.

Dina graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Cum Laude from Pomona College with a BA in Economics. Following graduation, she worked at Price Waterhouse before obtaining her Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. She then spent over a decade in the high-tech corporate world in a variety of marketing and business strategy positions.

After her sister was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, Dina was told that she had an 87% chance of getting the disease herself. This motivated Dina to earn a Master of Arts in Holistic Health Education from JFK University, learning how to counterbalance her genetics with healthy living.

Dina first published her book, Four Quadrant Living, in 2013. Six years later, she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. She credits living a four quadrant life with helping her go through treatment with grace, strength, and health. In her revised 2020 edition, she shares new insights and provides updated statistics and information. She illustrates that even with disease, we can still be healthy. Now cancer-free, Dina continues to devote her time to helping others around the world live healthier, happier lives.

Dina inspires and informs others through her writing and one-on-one client sessions. She is author of Four Quadrant Living: A Guide to Nourishing Your Mind, Body, Relationships, and Environment (Sep 2020).