Holistic Healing, May 06

Breath of Life
Yoga helps cancer survivors focus on finding inner peace.

By Claire Sykes

    Before Janet Pliske of Seattle, Washington got cancer, she tried to find time to practice yoga regularly but life got in the way. When illness struck, though, she realized she couldn’t afford to waste any time: “My priorities changed.” So for the past eight years Pliske has been doing yoga—the ancient Eastern practice of intentionally integrating body, breath, mind and spirit with movements that relax, stretch and strengthen. “It’s all about connecting with that peaceful, healing space inside myself,” she says.
    Thanks to improved cancer screening and treatment, more people are surviving the disease. To complement their medical care, these folks are turning to yoga. It won’t cure cancer, but it can induce calm and improve sleep, increase mobility and even out your energy. “Yoga also stimulates the body’s innate healing abilities, since it increases oxygen, blood flow and circulation, and aids the immune system,” says Shanti North, executive director at Smith Farm Center for the Healing Arts in Washington, DC (www.smithfarm.com).
    Especially for those living with cancer, yoga “can help soothe our soul and remind us of our humanity during impossibly stressful times. It can offer a place of comfort and equanimity when the circumstances may feel terrifying and overwhelming,” says Lilijoy Rothstein, Portland yoga instructor and founder of Living Yoga Wisdom Foundation (www.livingyogawisdom.org).

Stretching Past Despair
    Whether in treatment or remission, people at all stages of cancer bring to their yoga practice any number of emotional and physical issues. “People sometimes arrive to class with IV poles while receiving infusions, and with all kinds of limitations and special requirements,” Pliske says. Stiff joints, chronic pain, fatigue, cardiac concerns and neurological disorders join stress, fear, anger, confusion and sadness to create an often-heavy burden.
    “Feelings of despair and hopelessness are common for those who are in touch with the possibility of life being taken from them by cancer,” says Marianne Schloss, RN, yoga instructor with Sunstone Cancer Support Foundation in Tucson, Arizona (www.sunstonehealing.net). One of her students—a woman in her 50s with a double mastectomy—“wore a mask of someone who had suffered terrible pain and loss, the light in her eyes barely present,” says Schloss. “Since she’s been coming to class, she’s coming back to life. It’s beautiful to see.”
    Do yoga and that chatter the mind is so good at, especially if you’re sick and undergoing treatment, begins to quiet down for once. Is there anything more stressful than having
cancer? Laura Yon-Brooks, Pliske’s yoga instructor at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (www.seattlecca.org), teaches people “to find that place within themselves that’s relaxing and calm. When your mind is focused on the breath and movement, you’re fully present in this moment and can’t worry about things.”
    Slow, deep, regulated breathing forms the foundation for yoga’s forward, backward and side bends, spinal twists and balancing postures, whether you’re lying down, sitting or standing. A typical session often begins with just deep breathing. This is followed by relaxing poses (also called asanas) that gradually move into more demanding ones before returning to less vigorous movement. Then there’s meditation or some other form of relaxation—either guided visualization or attention to the breath or an object—while you embrace the present moment.
    “It’s not so much about how far you extend in a pose,” says Yon-Brooks, “but the integration of body movement and breath.” Adds Pliske: “Laura reminds me to do whatever feels gentle and supportive for me as my body is changed by my cancer and the many treatments and procedures I’ve been through.” Even just going to class can be healing. “It’s a place of support and validation, where people can share their everyday lives with one another and celebrate their small triumphs,” says Schloss.
    “Doing yoga allows you to actively participate in your own healing process,” says Lisa Holtby, affiliated Anusara Yoga® teacher in Seattle. Her book, Healing Yoga for People Living with Cancer (Taylor Trade Publishing), offers benefits and safety guidelines for practicing yoga during treatment for cancer.
    To find an instructor who specializes in working with people who have cancer, ask around at hospitals, cancer organizations and yoga studios. Make sure the instructor has at least 200 hours of teacher training and is registered or certified, experience in teaching people with cancer and other disabilities, and a style that allows you to feel safe, warm and inspired.
    All this is great while you’re actually on the mat, but what about when you return to daily life? For starters, there’s always your deep, steady breathing, ready to help you allay your anxiety over that traffic jam or upcoming chemotherapy appointment. The focus and centering that yoga asks of you will be there whether you need to concentrate on your job or make that difficult medical decision.
    “As long as I can breathe, I can practice yoga—wherever I am. It has been very empowering for me to know that I can always adapt to any situation and challenge, simply by accepting myself as I am in the moment,” says Pliske. “I’m very grateful for the many healing gifts of yoga. It has become a way to love the life I am living.”

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