Received this article on the benefits of yoga for breast cancer survivors as part of a package of articles and feel it could be of benefit for some of my readers.
More and more people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Fortunately i is evident that more and more women are surviving breast cancer thanks to better detection, education and treatment.
Unfortunately the after effects of cancer treatment can be difficult to get through.
Typical Conditions Post Remission
Surviving breast cancer is not like pushing a reset button. No woman survives breast cancer surgery and chemotherapy to emerge feeling healthy right away. It takes time to recover, get re-energized and feeling whole again.
Cancer survivorship has a lot of health consequences that are being discovered only now as more and more people are surviving cancer.
As any breast cancer survivor will tell you, even after the surgery and the chemotherapy and the doctor telling you that you are in remission, you will probably feel worse than when you first learned that you had cancer. Survivors can deal with:
- Pain. It is not just post-operative pain but it is often a generalized pain.
- Fatigue. They feel extremely run down and they cannot seem to find energy to do the usual things they used to do.
- Worrying. They worry that the cancer has returned. They worry that every bump they feel is cancer coming back to haunt them.
How Yoga Helps
A US study of breast cancer survivors found that yoga, particularly the deep breathing, meditation and the slow stretching movements actually help reduce inflammation and pain. 200 women participated in the study and they were randomly assigned to two groups.
Half of the women agreed to do yoga for three months.
The other half were asked not do yoga until after three months.
Conclusions Of The Study
When the study was over after three months, the group of women who took yoga classes reported that the pain they felt was reduced after doing yoga for three months.
The other group of women who did not do yoga did not report any reduction in pain. In case you were thinking that the study was just based on self-reports, the women gave blood samples at the beginning of the study, at the half point of the study at six weeks and again at the end of the study three months later. The blood samples they gave were used to measure the level of blood proteins that signal inflammation.
After the twelve weeks were concluded, the women in the study were encouraged to continue doing yoga. They were even asked to keep a journal about their experiences doing yoga, including the number of minutes they spent doing it.
On the sixth month, the researchers followed-up on the women. They gave blood samples again to confirm that the proteins in their blood were lower than the women in the study who did not do yoga. And their blood proteins were lower.
The researchers concluded that it was the deep breathing and the meditation that allowed the women to relax and calm down.
Being more relaxed, the women were able to sleep and eat better.
The increased quality of sleep gave the women an increased feeling of vitality and they feel that they are able to do more of the things they used to do and the things they used to enjoy.
Bottom Line
The study makes no claim that yoga can heal cancer. It does not claim that yoga can keep the cancer from coming back or from spreading.
It does provide one effective alternative to medication to decrease the pain, inflammation and anxiety that breast cancer survivors experience. Yoga increases a breast cancer survivor’s quality of life.
And quality of life is probably the most important aspect of living. Wouldn't you say?
I believe the benefits of yoga would also be applicable to those with arthritis, other pain management issues and so much more.
The key is to learn how to focus on correct breathing and proper yoga poses that are in line with your skills and abilities. Never overdo it by stretching (or doing) more than your body can handle.
You should notice a benefit of doing yoga in either your body or mind. Achieving inner peace are just as beneficial as the physical health benefits.
Namaste,
Renee'
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