Yoga for Cancer Support

I want to challenge your ability to be flexible about this topic of yoga and invite you to explore how it can truly be part of changing your life when you have cancer. Looking at yoga in relation to cancer, I want to offer that it is so much more than the poses and the physical practice. Yoga, in my opinion, is perfectly suited to be a part of healing from cancer.

How Yoga Changed My Cancer Story

In 2018 I was home recovering from my third cancer related surgery feeling like my soul was empty. I shared this with my niece who recommended that I take yoga teacher training because that was where she felt I would find peace and healing. I signed up and decided to give it a try. It was the best decision I have ever made. Over 8 months of training I learned that yoga was so much more than a physical practice. In fact, when I was in my training I was told I had a metastasis in my right lung and would have to have my 4^th surgery. I was devastated but this time I was able to face a diagnosis differently. This time I had tools and strategies that came from what I was learning about yoga as a lifestyle not yoga as exercise. Bringing yoga into my daily life has made all the difference.

What is Yoga?

Yoga is a holistic practice that originated in ancient India thousands of years ago. It includes physical postures, breathing techniques, meditation, and ethical principles meant to promote overall health and well-being. The word "yoga" itself means union or connection, reflecting its goal of bringing together and harmonizing the body, mind, and spirit. Yoga is considered by some to be an opportunity to learn more about yourself and to be curious about being in and with yourself. What this means is it is an opportunity to explore who you are and what you are capable of as a person. 

How Yoga Can Support You When You Have Cancer

Moving your body is an important part of healing. Often cancer patients are told to rest and to sit and to not exert themselves too much. While rest is important, studies have shown that after a diagnosis, treatment is better managed when physical activity and exercise are part of the medical management plan. Having a yoga practice is also linked to lower frequency and/or severity of symptoms and side effects that are common among people with cancer, especially anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep disruption, stress, and distress. Practicing yoga can lead to overall better quality of life for many people. I do need to say that if you have concerns or questions about what you can be doing you should of course consult your care team.

Yoga Connects You To Yourself

Your spirit is who you are. Yoga can help you to connect to yourself through movement and breath. Having a deeper self-connection can help you to be more in tune to your needs, to be more self-aware. Through the practice of yoga, you explore your inner landscape—the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that arise during the practice. This self-inquiry fosters self-awareness and can lead to insights into your true nature beyond the physical body. You may find pieces of yourself that you had tucked away or as you are reclaiming your life, you may find a new purpose or connection to yourself that can take you in a completely different direction.

Yoga Changed My Life

I never thought I would take yoga teacher training. Yoga has changed me and the direction of my life. What I learned in my training allowed me to learn more about myself, to see that there is another way to live, a calmer way, when you have cancer, and it has brought me to today where I am a cancer coach. Yoga has gone from being a physical practise for me to being a lifestyle and way of managing my own life with cancer. A cancer diagnosis changes you whether you want it to or not. For me, I have become a more gentle version of myself. More compassionate and empathetic. More aware of what I put in my body and why because of 6 surgeries and chemotherapy, I need to move my body. I breath deeper and slower, I can navigate tests and news better, and I love myself and give myself so much more grace than I used to.

To learn more go to Episode 3.14 of the Living to Thrive with Cancer Podcast or watch the episode on YouTube