Yoga for People Living with Cancer
This is a gentle yoga class with postures specifically designed for people suffering with cancer. Whether you are newly diagnosed, midway through your treatment, or you have come out the other side of treatment, this class is suitable for you.
The 1 hour session provides you with some useful tools to help you manage anxiety, increase your range of motion, gain strength and create feelings of well-being. So important no matter where you’re at in your cancer journey.
The class will finish with lovely relaxation/meditation which helps to clear the clutter from our mind and discover a place of stillness and inner strength to help us face challenges more effectively.
Where, when & how much
- Mondays 11:15am
- Blooming Bamboo Seaham
- FREE / or you’re welcome to bring a cash donation on the day which goes to St Benedict’s Hospice
As with all our classes, you need to register online and book your place in advance.
Eileen Flatz – your yoga teacher
Eileen is one of Blooming Bamboo’s resident teachers and she has spent years in Australia teaching yoga to people suffering with cancer. She offers a calm & supportive environment where you can come exactly as you are. The yoga moves are gentle, slow and nourishing. The meditation will help to calm and relax both body & mind. Eileen has recently completed an intensive training with Y4C as extra study to increase her knowledge in Yoga for Cancer. We are honoured she’s chosen Blooming Bamboo to run this class.
Benefits of practicing yoga with cancer
There are loads of benefits to a regular yoga practice. You only need a quick Google and you’ll find them. But it’s also been researched and findings that yoga has benefits specifically for people living with cancer. Many people living with cancer experience fatigue, insomnia, and pain which are all likely to have an impact on your quality of life. Here are some of the benefits that have been supported by studies include:
Sleep, Insomnia & Fatigue
It’s long been known that yoga improves quality of sleep. Falling asleep and staying asleep. It can also be of great benefit when going through cancer as it’s also understood insomnia in cancer patients can be dangerous. Yoga is associated with a significant decrease in the fatigue related to cancer and cancer treatments.
Anxiety
Yoga centres and grounds you, and alongside breathing practices, yoga may reduce the anxiety associated with cancer.
Loss of Appetite
In some cases, yoga may result in an improvement when loss of appetite accompanies a cancer diagnosis.
Pain
Yoga may decrease pain associated with cancer. This is what Kelly McGonigal says in her book Yoga for Pain Relief…
“Yoga can teach you how to focus your mind to change your experience of physical pain. It can teach you how to transform feelings of sadness, frustration, fear and anger. It can teach you how to listen to your body and take care of your needs so that you can participate in the activities that matter to you. It can give you back the sense of safety, control, and courage that you need to move past your experience of pain.”
Stress
Yoga appears to have a role in stress reduction for people living with cancer. Yoga is known to reduce stress levels by reducing the production of Cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is secreted during stress and is thought to play a role in the progression of cancer.
Emotional Distress
Incorporating a weekly yoga class into your routine is thought to significantly reduce emotional distress related to the disease.
