Yoga To Help You Recover From Breast Cancer

I first remember doing yoga when I was really young my mum would take me and my brothers and sister with her.  I remember that we thought everyone was really old and we used to giggle a lot.  I am sure that the other ladies weren’t as amused as we were.  I took a break for a long time and found yoga again after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

After I was diagnosed a girlfriend had given me a yoga book.  As I read it I found a deeper connection with yoga,  the connection to yoga and meditation sustained me through my treatment.  My meditation practice would be the guiding light that I needed through the long hours of regular chemotherapy.

As I read the yoga book I could see not only how yoga could be of great benefit to me during my treatment but how it could be a great help to improving my life beyond treatment.  This was a valuable gift.

Why does yoga help when you have cancer?

Yoga is essentially breath and movement.  Yoga helps you become very grounded in your body and takes the focus to your body and out of your head.  Living in your head in where so much damage can be caused especially when things aren’t going so well in your life.   Yoga gives you something positive to focus on and tools to take with you.  It helps you slow and steady your breathing, can calm your mind and your body.  This is a great skill to use when you don’t get the news you were hoping for.

How can benefit from yoga when you have cancer?

In reality everyone of any age, shape, size, fitness or health status can find benefits in a regular yoga practice.  Yoga can be as gentle or as vigorous as you like and your body can handle.  Yoga can be as gentle as just practicing breathing exercises even when joining a power yoga class.

How do I start a yoga practice?

There are a number of ways to start to develop a yoga practice.  You can start at home with a book as I did or perhaps a yoga beginners DVD if you prefer to start your practice at home.  if you are ready to participate in regular yoga classes at a studio, all studios cater for beginners and offer yoga classes suitable for beginners.

At the end of the day the important thing to do is start your practice.  Not matter how you find your way to yoga, it will bring a sense of peace into your life.  It will also offer you tools to take with you which can help you through the tougher times that you may experience in your life.

Love

Gai

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