Cancer doesn’t just impact the body, it impacts every part of one’s being. Which is the exact reason why Yoga, more than other forms of exercise, stand above the rest to help support one’s path to healing.
Many people don’t think of yoga when they are dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Their heads are swirling with medical jargon, treatment options, their minds full of questions, trying to absorb the shock of it all. Yoga helps one navigate their way through what is happening and what is to come because it has the capacity to impact an individual on all levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And it is all components of the self that should be regarded when moving forward on a route to healing.
Yoga is a means to reconnect with oneself, especially in our very busy and overextended lives. We live so deeply in our minds, tied to our devices and thus have often lost touch with the ability to feel what our body is telling us. Yoga brings us into a state of presence, rooted by the breath, connected with what is unfolding in each moment, and as such, able to truly feel what is happening within us, and how we are impacted by what is happening around us.
With a cancer diagnosis, one is dealing with many varying elements, so a well-rounded yoga practice is important. Below are just some of the many benefits studies have found.
Strengthening postures: allow one’s muscles to regain lost strength; the muscular stimulation helps lymph flow increase; stiffness is reduced as flexibility increases.
Deep stretches: increase range of motion either after surgery or prolonged periods of sitting or lying; loosen and lengthen tense muscles and connective tissue.
Restorative postures: stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system clearing out the stress hormones in the body; foster deeper states of relaxation and calm.
All of the postures allow one to reconnect with their physical body and find what is right with it, which is very important when so much focus has been on what is wrong.
Multiple postures are beneficial for someone in treatment, however, if I were to choose just one, I recommend Supine Spinal Twist. This posture is both restorative and relaxing, though can also be energizing. It can help improve breathing, massage inner organs and encourage blood flow which stimulates the body’s natural detoxification process, an extremely important process for someone undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. It also lengthens and encourages mobility in the spine, stretches the hips, chest, upper back and shoulders.
To come into the posture, lay on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor. Extend arms straight out from the shoulders, take the hips and slide them a few inches to the left, then allow the knees to fall to the right. Allow the head to turn to the left and the eyes to close. Breathe deeply into the belly and remain in the posture for a few minutes. Slowly lift knees and take the posture on the other side.
Written by Andrea Pritchard eRYT, Y4C (Yoga4Cancer)
Andrea has been teaching yoga and meditation since 2009. After losing her mother to Ovarian Cancer in 2013, she attained specialized training in the Yoga for Cancer methodology at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and started Kingston’s first Yoga For Cancer classes in late 2017. When Andrea’s not teaching, you will find her spending time with her husband, their two young
