Using yoga to manage the challenges of cancer and its treatment
• Explains how to create a safe home yoga practice that addresses the specific physical needs, risks, and emotions of cancer patients and survivors
• Includes 53 yoga poses and 9 practice sequences that use movement and breathing to reduce and manage treatment side effects
• Reveals how current research supports the physical and psychological benefits of yoga to aid recovery and reduce risk of recurrence
• Written by a cancer survivor and certified yoga teacher
For those faced with a cancer diagnosis and the journey of doctor-led surgery and treatments, yoga offers a way to regain control of your body and take an active part in your recovery and long-term health. In this easy-to-follow illustrated guide, yoga teacher and cancer survivor Tari Prinster presents 53 traditional yoga poses that are adapted for all levels of ability and cancer challenges. She then applies the movements and breathwork of these poses to address 10 common side effects and offers 9 practice sequences for varying stages of treatment and recovery.
Sharing her own story as well as those of cancer survivors and yoga teachers with whom she has worked, Prinster explores how yoga can be used to strengthen the immune system, rebuild bone density, avoid and manage lymphedema, decrease anxiety, detoxify the body, reduce pain, and help the body repair damage caused by the cancer and conventional treatments. She reveals the research that supports the physical and psychological benefits of yoga as an aid to recovery and in reducing the risk of recurrence. Explaining how yoga must be tailored to each survivor, Prinster gives you the tools to create a safe home yoga practice, one that addresses your abilities, energy level, and overall health goals.
Through personal stories, well-illustrated poses, and sample practices for beginners as well as experienced yoga practitioners, Prinster empowers survivors to create their own wellness plan in order to regain their independence and their physical and emotional well-being. Tari Prinster is a certified yoga teacher, founder of yoga4cancer, former director of Women's Cancer Survivor Program at Om Yoga, New York City, yoga ambassador for the Living Beauty Foundation, and a breast cancer survivor. Her work has been featured in the documentary YogaWoman and in Yoga Journal. She has presented at conferences held by Yoga Journal, Yoga Service Council, and International Alliance of Yoga Therapists and has published articles in many yoga publications. She lives in New York City and Vermont. Chapter 6
Creating Your Yoga Practice and Learning the Poses
Yoga poses for cancer patients and survivors are not much different from those for everyone else: we all need to strengthen our immune systems and get our muscles moving and fluids flowing! Yoga for Cancer poses, however, are selected for their specific benefits to target survivors' needs. Survivors can use many, but not all, yoga poses. Some popular poses should be avoided, or used only with great caution.
In this chapter fifty-three unique poses are provided that are tailored to the specific needs of cancer patients and survivors. Each pose is detailed with an illustration and description along with any benefits and modifications. My recommendation is that you fully review all these poses to better understand what options you have. In chapters 7 and 8 I have sequenced these poses to provide sample practices of thirty, sixty, and ninety minutes based on where you are in your treatment or recovery and the side effects you are hoping to address (such as lymphedema, bone loss, weight gain, anxiety, etc.).
Getting Warmed Up
- Starting to Move with Your Breath
- Arm Vinyasas
- Seated Hip and Spine Warm-Ups
Starting to Move with Your Breath
Pelvic Tilt
Sit upright with hands on your hips. Use your hands to bring awareness to the movement of the
