Yoga, an ancient practice that originated in India, connects the mind and the body through breathing, movement and meditation. Has conquered the united States and the rest of the world.
The National Cancer institute is defined as “a health practice that combines mental focus, controlled breathing, and body movements to help relax the body and the mind”.
In fact, it has been found that cancer patients who practice yoga regularly find that their quality of life and complications of your emotional and physical state have improved dramatically.
Benefits of yoga for cancer-fighting:
1.- Reduces stress and relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Research shows that practicing yoga can reduce levels of the stress hormone of the body, cortisol.
As you stretch the muscles, you attract more oxygen and blood flow to different areas of the body, which helps to reduce cortisol levels. Studies have shown that high levels of cortisol are associated with survival rates lower in women with breast cancer.
2.- Fights fatigue and increases energy levels.
Fatigue is a common side effect of cancer treatment and affects tremendously the mood. Practicing yoga can help cancer survivors feel more energized.
In fact, one study showed that fatigue was a 57% lower in the survivors who were doing yoga in comparison with those who did not.
3.- Improves the function of the immune system.
Practice yoga you can improve the immune system because it keeps the lymph fluid moving through the body. Lymph is a clear fluid that contains white blood cells.
If you are receiving chemotherapy and radiation, and your energy is low, for example, it is important to keep the lymph moving in order to continue to circulate the dead cancer cells in the body. This will help the body detoxify and maintain optimal function of the immune system.
For breast cancer survivors who are recovering from a surgery, yoga can help counter the problems of posture, such as slouching or tighten the upper part of the body.
4.- Relieves the pain.
The exercise, no matter how difficult or simple, releases endorphins, or chemical substances to feel good. Endorphins are linked to our pain receptors, which are, as it switches power on and off the body. That is to say, if we fill the body with endorphins, we can considerably reduce the pain.
5.- Improves flexibility and balance.
To maintain the balance can be a struggle for many cancer survivors, but practicing yoga can help.
In addition, it increases the balance, which decreases the risk of falls. Move slowly through the movements of yoga, helps to develop core strength and to increase coordination and flexibility.
6.- Improves sleep.
Various studies have shown that between 30% and 90% of cancer survivors have a poor sleep quality after treatment.
Yoga can increase the duration of sleep and give you a dream of better quality; that will improve your quality of life in general, will foster the everyday function and will increase the response of the immune system.
7.- You can slow the progression of cancer.
Cancer is a division uncontrolled abnormal cells that spread through the body. Tumorigenesis or cancer progression, is a replication constant of the abnormal genes to create a tumor.
Hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, contributes to the invasion and metastasis of the tumor. Yoga can help to keep at bay the tumors by increasing the amount of oxygen in the body. The exercise also increases blood flow to the tumors, which is important because tumors with little or no flow of blood, can become more aggressive and resistant to treatment.
If I am patient with cancer, how do I start practicing yoga?
If you're wanting to start a yoga practice or any other that involves physical activity, it is important that before you consult your doctor or specialist cancer.
The first thing you should know is that you must start slowly and take it one step at a time. Start in a basic class, and be sure to tell the instructor that you are a cancer survivor so that you can show adaptations of moves or poses, if necessary.
In addition, we recommend to practice therapeutic yoga or yin (style of yoga with a slower pace as exercise, incorporating principles of traditional chinese medicine) in addition to vinyasa (yoga style that represents the union between the movement and the breathing). Question if they have instructors with special training for patients with cancer.
There are also programmes of specialized exercises targeted to cancer survivors, including Get REAL & HEEL UNC Health and the national program for LIVESTRONG at the YMCA.
Yoga Oncology
Yoga Oncology is an adaptation of the traditional yoga, which enters in the field of yoga therapy, which combines the methodology of movements and types of breathing and relaxation, even depending on the types of cancer.
This style of yoga goes beyond the physical and is working on the patient as a whole, including the emotional and cognitive. In this way, helps to strengthen the nervous system and slowly rebuilt the immunity of the body and normalize body functions.
That is to say, the medicine helps to kill the cancer cells, the treatment Yoga works in cause the cells to be healthy, so that they can take care of the cancer before its recurrence.
This therapeutic practice helps to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, improves sleep quality and fatigue, and provides more social and emotional support. It starts today!
Nathaly Bosch
Social communicator and Collaborator for Group Morivivi.
