FEATURE : CANCER TREATMENT : YOGA & MODERN MEDICINE
Therapy program helps train yoga therapists to work with the medical community and patients who have specific needs , including cancer . Their nonprofit “ wing ,” Pranayoga Foundation , brings yoga classes to many different yoga programs , partnering with hospitals and others , such as the Little Red Door .
Yoga instructors who specialize in yoga for cancer are trained to take into account the physical limitations of each individual patient . Some who are going through treatments can have severely limited mobility . A lot of physical therapy and time is needed before the healing process allows some cancer patients to attend anything as physical as regular yoga classes .
Bringing Yoga Into the Hospitals
Dr . Darrel Ross of Community Health Network is an oncologist who also practices yoga . He was instrumental in organizing the funding that brought “ integrative ” oncology treatments to the Indianapolis area Community Hospitals . These integrative components , established in August of 2015 , include yoga , tai chi , art therapy , counselling and much more . “ It started because of the recognition that no one ‘ piece ’ can fix or heal a total spiritual entity ,” Ross said . Yoga and other therapies are being used to complement more traditional cancer treatments and pain control efforts provided by the oncological staff .
In addition to improving quality of life , various yoga techniques also help with the physical healing and pain management after surgery , chemo or radiation therapy . “ Yoga is all about the breath . We are not so rigid in trying to get individuals to strike a pose ,” Ross said . “ It ’ s more about getting them into a calmer ,
more meditative state , allowing them to understand the flow of their physical body , in alignment with their spiritual arena .”
Yoga in medicine has had skepticism surrounding it because until recently there was little scientific research on the physical and medicinal benefits of yoga . That has begun to change over the last decade . Dr . Ross now sees a growing body of published research done on the effects of yoga while patients are going through the process of their treatment , as well as post-treatment .
“ Many cancer patients feel like their body has already betrayed them ,” Ross said . “ We want to instill in them a new sense of hope , and a sense of compassion , for where their body is today- — not where they think it should be , not where
Photo : Dr . Darrel Ross , M . D .
they want it to be , not where it was . We want them to be focused on where there body is at today .”
There is a physical component as well as a mental component regarding the integrated yoga . “ For breast cancer patients , yoga can actually help relax and release tissue ,” Ross said . After having breast work done , such as surgery or radiation treatments , “ the tissue can be firmer , more scarred and tighter . Doing yoga allows them to inhale deeper , expanding the tissue , expanding the muscles , relaxing the upper extremities if they ’ ve had a lymph node dissection .”
Head and neck cancer patients can experience similar tissue damage and scarring . Yoga is beneficial with simple movements such as moving the head
INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 47