On Thursday 21st June 2018, I was given the news that none us want to here – “You have cancer”. I was reassured that it was very treatable, and I should stay positive. I didn’t feel very positive though at the prospect of 6 rounds of chemotherapy and biological drugs, surgery, and radiotherapy. I was one of those who avoided medication where possible, and did all I could to stay healthy naturally.
Whilst deep down I knew I didn’t have an option but to go through the treatment, I couldn’t get my head around all the possible side effects. I was scared, overwhelmed and felt completely disempowered.
I’d started going to yoga classes in my early 20’s to help me through a particularly stressful time in my life, and went on to train as a teacher. I’d always been drawn to the more therapeutic benefits of yoga, so in 2014 I embarked on an intensive two year training, and qualified as a yoga therapist.
With my yoga hat on, I knew that I didn’t have to feel like this. Instead, I decided that the best way forward was to use my knowledge and experience of yoga and really experiment and see what would help me. That way I felt I was taking back some control, and it would give me something else to focus on. I was about to become my very own yoga lab rat!
I figured the best way to buffer some of the side effects was to be in the best possible health to start with, and to really look after myself throughout the treatment. I had two weeks before my first treatment, and so started by making sure that my diet way as healthy as it possibly could be. I designed myself a yoga practice which included yoga postures and sequences to build strength, breathing practices to increase my energy and help reduce anxiety, and took time out to ground and rest. I read everything I could on cancer, the treatments, things to do and what to avoid. Having been told that exercise could help buffer some of the side effects and maintain my heart health, I started to walk every day.
By the time I arrived for that first appointment, I felt in the best of health. Once I was hooked up to the drip, I used breathing practices when I became overwhelmed with fear, and visualised the drugs making me better.
As my journey continued, I did ‘bed yoga’ in hospital; Yoga Nidra to give me rest; gentle movement to ease stiff and painful joints; and breathing practices and meditation to balance my emotions. Most importantly – I was kind to myself and rested when I needed to.
At the heart of yoga is a philosophical framework to help us negotiate life’s ups and downs. It provides many tools and techniques to help bring us into balance; spiritually, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and physically. It recognises that we are all individuals, with our own unique life experiences and tendencies, and that one size doesn’t fit all.
Yoga can be practiced by anyone, and can be particularly helpful when life is most challenging. Yoga really helped me in so many ways on my cancer journey, and continues to do so.