Yoga for Cancer
It is sometimes said that all yoga is therapeutic—and I would agree…when it is actually yoga. Which means that it must be practiced mindfully and without harming oneself. Yoga becomes unhealthy when it is no longer truly yoga—when it is forced, frustrated, distracted, competitive, or rushed. That being said, just because all yoga can be therapeutic does not mean that all yoga is yoga therapy. You can benefit from the therapeutic effects of yoga without necessarily engaging in an established therapeutic relationship with a care provider, just as someone can benefit from exercise without working with an exercise physiologist. Expert guidance, however, may help you to achieve the outcomes you seek.
Yoga therapy has been defined by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) as “the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of yoga.” I believe that the key word in this definition is “application.” Yoga therapy does not offer the teachings of yoga simply for their general benefit but specifically to help facilitate improved health and well-being. Yoga therapy sessions are often conducted one-on-one or in small groups of people with common goals and challenges (e.g., trauma survivors, or those living with cancer or recovering from surgery).
Three main features that help to distinguish yoga therapy from yoga teaching are: 1) intake, 2) plan of care, and 3) assessment.
A thorough intake ensures that the yoga therapist has a full and appropriate understanding of the client on all kosha levels (levels of being). A plan of care ensures that the client and yoga therapist have a mutual understanding of the concerns and priorities that will be the focus of care, and assessment ensures that the plan of care is appropriate and designed to facilitate progress toward the health and well-being that the client seeks.
Yoga therapy does not operate from a biomedical model or biopsychosocial framework, and is therefore distinct from modalities such as physical therapy or psychotherapy. Yoga therapy does not “treat” a condition, but works with the whole person to help restore more balance to the system wherever it is needed. In my yoga therapy work, the yoga is less about what is happening in the joints and more about my client’s whole-person relationship to whatever may be happening in the joints, which cannot be addressed so directly in a general yoga setting. Maybe the joints actually change, and maybe they don’t, but this does not determine the success of the therapy, because that was never the intention. That is better left to other healthcare providers more appropriately suited to focus on disease pathology.
One of the things I love about yoga therapy is the ability to help others with any physical or emotional ailment. Working with breast cancer and lymphedema patients as a Certified Occupational Therapist and Certified Lymphedema Therapist has helped me understand the needs of the individual from a homeopathic response. There is a huge therapeutic value and benefit for receiving yoga therapy during and after treatment.
I think it is important to talk about what cancer is even though we all know but more importantly to be able to identify common terms. Especially if you are a yoga therapist or going to school to become a yoga therapist it is important to know when working with yoga students who are being treated for cancer, What is Cancer? An abnormal growth of cells which tend to increase in an uncontrolled way and in some cases spread. Cancer is not one disease, it is a group of more than 100 different and distinctive diseases. It can start anywhere in the body and metastasize to other parts of the body. Stages- Stage 0 breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ non-invasive cancer where the abnormal cells are found in the lining and atypical cells have not spread outside into the breast tissue, Stages 1-4 process that measures how for the cancer spread and the development of the cancer cell. Metastasis is the spreading of cancer cells. Malignant is the cancer (of disease). Benign not malignant. Lymphedema is increased swelling in one or more extremities that result from impaired flow of the lymphatic system. Radiation therapy is the treatment of disease using x-rays or similar forms of radiation. Chemotherapy the treatment of cancer by cytotoxic and other drugs. Remission no traces of cancer or reduced.
Yoga practices while in treatment! Moving and breathing helpful to get the lymph fluid moving. Restorative with breathing and movement. Pranayama (avoid fast, heated or retention breath work) Meditation (mindfulness) Yoga Nidra calms the nervous system. Targeted strength for those that have bone loss. Gentle yoga depending on the individual and the stage of their diagnosis and treatment.
Why yoga for cancer patients-the science behind the practice! Randomized trials of yoga during cancer treatment have shown: better emotional, mental, social, physical and general quality of life and self reported health. Improvements in self esteem and cognitive function. Improved sleep and decreased fatigue. Decreased stress, improved appetite, decreased pain, nausea, vomiting and toxicity. Favorable post operative outcomes, immune responses and decreased DNA damage by the end of radiotherapy