Wake up. Show up. Own up.
ABOUT WAYNE
Support begins
with seeing the
whole person.
I’m Wayne Mylin - a cancer health, wellness, and life navigation coach and the founder of The Second Trail.
For more than four decades, I have worked one-to-one with people facing illness, uncertainty, emotional distress, significant change, and some of life’s most difficult questions.
Again and again, I saw that treating an illness and supporting the person living through it are not the same thing.
Wayne Mylin
Cancer coach · Founder · Trail Guide
THE PATH TO THIS WORK
A life spent working alongside people
My path began in direct patient care.
Over the years, my work has included inpatient mental health care, Asian medicine and shiatsu, mindfulness, positive psychology, health and wellness coaching, and oncology supportive care.
The settings and methods changed, but the heart of the work remained remarkably consistent.
A person was trying to find a way to live
within circumstances they had not chosen.
My role was not to tell that person who to become or how to feel.
It was to meet them with presence, respect, practical support, and confidence in their ability to participate wisely in their own life.
WHAT I WITNESSED IN CANCER CARE
The gaps I could not stop seeing
Cancer care provides enormous expertise, guidance, and information.
But throughout my 20 years in oncology supportive care, I repeatedly saw four important gaps.
Implementation
Knowing what may help and being able to apply it are different things. People often need support translating guidance into something that works within their energy, responsibilities, priorities, and daily lives.
Post-treatment support
Treatment may end while uncertainty, changes in identity, diminished wellbeing, and fear of recurrence continue. The need for support does not necessarily end when treatment does.
Capacity
Support can become another burden when it assumes more capacity than someone currently has. Effective support considers what is possible and usable for this person right now.
Access when it's needed
Life with cancer happens largely outside scheduled appointments. People need trustworthy support they can access when a difficult moment, question, or decision arises.
TWO WAYS OF RESPONDING
Personal attention and accessible support
Individual Coaching
Focused attention to one person’s circumstances, priorities, and capacity.
Coaching helps people translate information, insight, and intention into decisions and actions that fit their actual lives. It also offers a steady relationship for navigating uncertainty, change, health, wellbeing, and what matters most now.
WHAT I BELIEVE ABOUT SUPPORT
You are not a problem to be fixed.
You are a person responding to a changed set of conditions.
When life becomes unfamiliar, the first task is not necessarily to push forward, think positively, or create an ambitious plan. It is to find your footing.
That begins by noticing what is happening, understanding what matters now, recognizing your present capacity, and choosing a next step that fits the life you are actually living.
The person, not the diagnosis, is the center of the journey.
Orientation often needs to come before action.
Support should reflect a person’s current capacity.
Strength can include receiving support.
Progress does not always mean doing more.
Uncertainty does not eliminate agency.
DEPTH MADE PRACTICAL
Deep enough to remain true.
Simple enough to become lived.
I am naturally drawn to the deeper questions: What makes a life meaningful? How do we live with uncertainty? What helps us remain human when life becomes difficult?
I am equally interested in whether an idea can help someone on a hard Tuesday afternoon.
My aim is to translate enduring human wisdom into guidance that remains accessible when someone is tired, overwhelmed, afraid, or unsure what to do next.
I think of myself less as an expert standing above the trail and more as an experienced guide walking alongside.
EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING
Over four decades of care and continued study
My work brings together experience across several complementary disciplines.
Oncology Supportive Care
More than 20 years supporting people affected by cancer through the physical, emotional, and whole-person dimensions of care.
Integrative Cancer Coaching
Certificate of Completion from the Cancer Wellness Institute.
Positive Psychology and Mindfulness
Longstanding study and application of mindfulness, positive psychology, behavior change, and practical life-navigation skills.
Cancer Health and Wellness Coaching
Certificate of Completion from Healthville.
Asian Bodywork Therapy
AOBTA-Certified Practitioner.
Diplomate of Asian Bodywork Therapy - Dipl. ABT (NCBAHM).
A GUIDING PRACTICE
Wake up.
Show up.
Own up.
Wake up
to what is happening.
Show up
as fully as your present capacity allows.
Own up
to how you choose to participate.
Not a demand for perfection or relentless effort... an invitation to live consciously and honestly within the life that is actually happening.