Our yoga for cancer classes are taught by Vicky Fox in Camden, Chelsea and Ealing. They are free to attend and open to anyone diagnosed with cancer at any stage of recovery. In the following blog, Vicky answers frequently asked questions about the yoga for cancer class and shares information about the mental and physical benefits of practising yoga during this life-changing journey.
What is a yoga for cancer class?
I’m often asked if the yoga for cancer class is a gentle or restorative class and what do we do that is different from other yoga classes. It’s not so much what we do in the classes that is different but rather the people who attend them that most definitely are. The students face unique challenges to their physical and mental health, some of which persist for decades after treatment. It’s a class where they can feel comfortable taking off their wig when they get too hot, where lots of variations are given to cope with their cording or peripheral neuropathy and where they probably aren’t the only one experiencing hot flushes, a foggy brain and fatigue combined with insomnia that leads to them feeling tired and wired. It just might not be an option to lie on their tummy or on their sides because of surgery or radiation.
The classes aren’t gentle or restorative, but specialist classes that help to alleviate the immediate and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment. Yoga can help to increase strength and flexibility and improve range of motion as well as improving balance and mobility. Yoga can reduce anxiety and stress, lessen fatigue and as a result improve sleep and quality of life.
Proven therapeutic benefits
There has been research into the therapeutic benefits of yoga for cancer survivors that demonstrate that yoga is a safe and effective. A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2014) looked at Yoga’s impact on inflammation, mood and fatigue in breast cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial reported less fatigue and more vitality in the participants who practised yoga twice weekly for 12 weeks. The group also showed decreased inflammation.
Radiation, chemotherapy and medication can decrease muscle and bone strength which can lead to an increased risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis. So we always include in the classes weight bearing poses that have been shown to strengthen bone and increase spinal flexion. A study in Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation (2016) titled “12 min daily yoga reverses osteoporotic bone loss” found increased bone mineral density in the spine, hips and femur of moderately and fully compliant participants. Several students who had osteoporosis improved enough to be reclassified to osteopenia.
Lots of my students come with chemo-induced peripheral neuropathy, a numbness, tingling or burning sensations in the feet and/or hands which can mean its hard to feel your feet. So we include postures and movements that bring circulation and lubrication to hands and feet, fingers and toes and gentle inversions to help balance the nervous system.
Mindfulness for mental strength
Though when asked what they want to gain from the class people tell me they want to “improve their ability to cope”, “ to feel less alienated from my body”, “ help to deal with anxiety” and “improve my quality of life”. Their goals are for their mental as well as physical well being as a cancer diagnosis can bring about feelings of helplessness and lack of control. So a huge aim of the class is empowering students with tools to help with their anxiety and fears. They might not be able to control what is happening to them but they can control their response. Through breathing and mindfulness practices, which anyone can do at any stage of recovery, students can learn to manage stress and anxiety and to take what they have learnt on their mat and out into their day.
Yoga for cancer classes are free and take place in Ealing, Camden and Chelsea. They are open to anyone diagnosed with cancer at any stage of recovery. Click here to view the yoga for cancer schedule and to book a class.
If you are a teacher reading this and you think you would like to train to teach these amasing and incredibly rewarding classes Vicky is running a 40-hour training with Yoga Alliance Professionals on teaching yoga to those diagnosed with cancer. Click here for more information about ‘yoga for teaching cancer’ happening 6 – 9th January 2020 in Camden.
