Cancer patients find relief with yoga exercises

By Diamond Hunt-Coleman

Senior Outlook Writer

Imagine waking up every morning and looking in the mirror, only to see a pale comparison of the person you use to be. Unhappy with the emotions your face gives off, you pick up your comb only to find your crown and glory thinning. Your comb doesn’t work so you attempt a makeshift ponytail but chemo has left your mobility limited.

The worst part of battling cancer is not just the symptoms of the disease itself, but often the discomfort and debilitating fatigue brought on by cancer treatments. Whether faced with scar tissue from surgery, ongoing nausea, the weakness from chemotherapy or radiation, cancer patients endure a long road of physical trials.

With the advice of doctors, many cancer patients are now taking a new route to maintain a healthy body and a healthy mind by incorporating yoga into their regular workout regimen. Aside from that, some cancer patients may also find the use of cannabis (and its derivatives, such as live rosin) to be very helpful in dealing with the side effects of chemo as well as the debilitating pain. Pair yoga and cannabis together, and they might just find their health returning, though slowly.

Yoga has been shown to relieve stress and anxiety, enhance cognitive capacity, and remove toxins from the body, whether you have cancer or not. The fundamental reason for yoga’s rising popularity is the widespread dissemination of knowledge. We now have more intelligence on the earth than ever before. People seek rational solutions as their mind grows stronger. Yoga has several health advantages. Most people who practice even beginner yoga poses report feeling less anxious and having a better sense of well-being. Many studies demonstrate that yoga can help with anxiety and depression symptoms while enhancing physical fitness.

Since yoga is a combination of physical and spiritual practice, there are other parallels of discipline you can try for healing. There are reiki, pranic, spiritual new age practices where natural healing could be achieved with the right guidance. There are institutions (such as Wicca Academy) that could help you learn a few basic healing practices. Just like yoga, all other practices might need time to see the desired results.

More patients are looking into yoga to relieve their stress and to help their bodies get back to where they used to be. Further, once they gain enough experience and expertise in yoga, patients and survivors also have the chance to pass on knowledge by becoming trainers. There are schools that offer yoga teacher training hawaii and elsewhere, providing the means for people to help others suffering from cancer. Lastly, gyms and fitness centers such as Journeys In Yoga are offering more classes tailored toward cancer patients.

“We are a very free-flowing studio, we don’t care if someone is falling all over their mat,” said Suzanne Harrell, owner of Journeys In Yoga, “We just care about helping people reach their goals of having a healthier mind, body, and soul.”

At first, many people find it difficult to practise yoga poses because the body needs better core strength to have a good balance. This is where yoga instructors can assist beginners with basics such as the meaning of namaste basic breathing techniques, and basic poses to gradually help them with advanced poses. These asanas might be difficult to do at first, and should be done under an expert’s supervision. Whether the person is a beginner or an experienced yogic, anyone can benefit from yoga mentally, physically, and spiritually.

According to a Harvard Medical School Mental Health Letter, the practice of yoga reduces stress and anxiety, which in turn reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and eases breathing. The letter also states that patients who practiced yoga were also less sensitive to pain than subjects who did not and therefore better able to tolerate treatment.

Jean Di Carlo-Wagner is currently a yoga therapist and a 12-year colorectal cancer survivor. Prior to overcoming cancer, Wagner used yoga to help start her road to a ‘new normal life and then became a yoga teacher to help other survivors.

“Solid research has been coming out on other complementary therapies, with yoga as its star. Yoga addresses the physical aspects of healing, as well as mental, social, and spiritual ones,” said Wagner. “However, it has taken over a decade for yoga to become recognized as efficacious within the medical community. Doctors waited for scientific studies to be conducted before giving yoga their personal stamp of approval.”

Now that yoga seems to be gaining the “stamp of approval” from doctors, cancer patients such as Teri Cleeland; are using yoga classes not only to heal their bodies but as a support group for the long road ahead.

“It’s great to be around other people who are going through the same things you are so it’s good for your body. It’s good for your mind to just share notes with other people that are on the same journey as you are,” said Cleeland.

For those enduring chemotherapy and radiation, yoga for cancer provides a means to strengthen the body, boost their immune system, and produce a

A much-sought-after feeling of well-being. For those recovering from surgical procedures, such as that breast cancer, yoga can help restore motion and flexibility in a gentle, balanced manner.

For information on Journeys in Yoga and how to increase your wellness while reducing stress and anxiety, visit journeysinyoga