Michele Lawrence, left, helps a class participant get a gentle stretch in her hip with the use of a band. Props such as bands, pillows and blocks figure heavily in the class to ensure students, many of who have undergone chemo or surgery, are as comfortable as possible./Photo courtesy Divine Yoga

Yoga for Cancer

“Living Well Yoga for Cancer” offers support, relief from treatment

Saying 'boo' to breast cancer

by Jen Reeder

Marian Hamlen has always been proactive about her health, including annual mammograms. So it was a shock when she found a lump in her breast “the size of a kiwi” in February 2010.

“I felt great that morning when I stepped into the shower,” Hamlen says. “My whole life just turned on a dime in that moment … I found the lump on a Saturday, was diagnosed on a Wednesday and was in chemo within a week.”

Hamlen was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, an aggressive form that caused the rapid growth. She endured 16 weeks of chemotherapy; treatments of Neulasta (a drug to stimulate white blood cell production); a mastectomy; and “lots and lots” of radiation. Her body hurt and ached, and she fell into a self-described funk. But in the fall of 2011, she realized she needed to make some changes and adopted a dog, decided to eat healthy (“when you have cancer, you really have a tendency to eat dessert first”) and early this year, started attending weekly “Living Well Yoga for Cancer” classes.

Offered free or by donation each Wednesday from 4 – 5:15 p.m. at YogaDurango (1140-A Main Ave.), the class is open to anyone who has had or is currently in treatment for any type of cancer, and their caregivers. Michele Lawrence, the class instructor and co-owner of YogaDurango, started the class in August 2011 after undergoing specialty training in yoga therapy. One impetus for her extended study was the desire to help a “dear friend” with cancer through yoga.

“The practice of yoga therapy really looks at the individual and what imbalance or issue they may have, and applies the practice of yoga to meet that individual,” Lawrence says. “I’ve had training in the broader realm of yoga therapy, and I’ve done some additional training on how to work with people who have cancer, or who have grief or depression.” (YogaDurango also offers the class “Yoga for Grief” on Mondays.)

In “Living Well Yoga for Cancer,” Lawrence encourages students to use props like blankets, pillows, straps and blocks to ensure poses are as comfortable as possible. The gentle, “restorative” yoga works to improve range of motion after surgery, as well as improve the immune system, counter  4 depression and diminish side effects of treatment, such as insomnia, hot flashes and mood swings.

“There’s a lot of research on the benefits of yoga on cancer,” Lawrence says. “There’s a lot of different ways that you can work with the posture to calm the nervous system and to balance the nervous system, or to help address some of those things that are going on, not just from the cancer, but more specifically from the cancer treatment.”

For example, a recent literature review by researchers at the Mayo Clinic showed breast cancer survivors who practiced yoga had improvement in sleep, anxiety levels, depression, distress, quality of life, and post-chemotherapy nausea and vomiting.

Hamlen agrees that yoga has helped her on a personal level, including her range of motion.

“Most people can put their arms up over their heads without any pain, but all of us have difficulty with that because of our surgical sites,” Hamlen says. “(The yoga) is very gentle. It’s very soothing. It’s very calming. It’s not the kind of yoga where you break a sweat. It’s not the kind of yoga where it’s competitive at all.”

Instead, it’s a nurturing environment, where Lawrence encourages class members to keep eyes shut and modify any movements that are producing tension. “I can’t say enough wonderful things about her,” said Hamlen.

While the physical attributes are helpful, Hamlen said her favorite aspect of the class is the camaraderie with other students. Meeting other people who could relate to her experience was critical when she was trying to move on from her cancer treatments.

“Not only did it turn over kind of a new leaf in terms of activity, but it put me in touch with all these women who are so amazing and all of them at different stages in the journey, with all these different, wonderful attitudes, and encouragement and acceptance,” she says. “It’s more than a class: it’s our own little support group.”

The support element was particularly important recently when the “Living Well Yoga for Cancer” group lost one of its students to cancer Oct. 15. That week in class, students lit candles surrounding a photo of their friend Maria Cristina and shared memories, sometimes smiling through tears.
“It was an honor to have her in our group,” Lawrence says. “She was an inspiration and a teacher to all of us.”

Though the camaraderie in the group is strong, participant Sherry Daniels says new people should not feel discouraged from attending.
“I’d hate for someone not to come because they think, ‘Oh, the group’s already bonded.’ When a new person comes in, our hearts just go out to them because we get it,” Daniels says. “It’s hard to make a step to do something new when you’re in the throes of dealing with cancer.”

Daniels knows first-hand, as she is currently finishing her third round of chemotherapy since being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2009.

“If you’ve just had chemo, and you’re right in the midst of all your side effects, you could come to this class. And you would feel better when you were done,” she says. “It feels like a big, warm blanket that just envelops all of us together.”

She says the class complements other local resources for people with cancer, and hopes others can experience the positive effects in Lawrence’s class for themselves.

“Cancer is a big journey. The bond that our group has is wonderful, and I hope that somehow we can get more people who are touched with cancer to come,” says Daniels, “because, for me, the best part of it is you don’t have to sit around and talk about cancer.”

For more information about “Living Well Yoga for Cancer,” visit www.yogadurango.com, or email: michelelawrence@yahoo.com.
 

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