The research is in… yoga and meditation make a difference!
Yoga was first developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE in ancient India. It is now practiced throughout the world and for good reason. Yoga and meditation are believed to be significant factors in both preventing illness and boosting the immune system to fight off or eliminate disease. In the last half century, more and more research is showing that regular practice of yoga and mediation substantially improves the outcome for women with breast cancer.
While yoga and meditation are not a cure for cancer, and they should not replace traditional treatments like radiation and chemotherapy, there is little controversy that they enhance physical and emotional wellness. Patients report that they bring the inner peace that many of them believe they had lost when they received their initial diagnosis. A solid body of research shows that stress influences the immune system, and yoga and meditation reduce stress.
The power of yoga to bring deliverance from pain and sorrow is well documented.
As a student of yoga and meditation, you will work with your senses and intellect. Before long, you will begin to feel a lifting of pain and emotional distress. The poses in yoga were conceptualized to exercise every muscle, nerve, and gland in the body. These postures help to gently and precisely gain control of the tension you hold in your body. They will also enable you to affect the blockage of energy in joints and organs that have been adversely affected. When tension is released, the flow of energy allows you to experience a sense of well being and strength. You will also achieve a critical balance of body, mind, and spirit which optimizes healing.
The core principle of yoga and meditation is pranayama. It combines “prana” or breath, with “yama” which means extension or control. In this way, breathing is no longer something you do throughout your life unnoticed. Instead, it involves attention to inhalation, exhalation, and holding. Through pranayama, you learn to breathe slowly, deeply, and rhythmically. These exercises strengthen the respiratory system and calm the nervous system. Done correctly, it enhances overall feelings of well being.
The physical benefits of yoga seem obvious for breast cancer patients. It can improve range of motion, flexibility, strength, and relaxation. It is enhanced by practicing the postures. For those with mobility issues, breath work or pranayama, can be equally beneficial in and of itself. It brings additional oxygen into the body as it increases the essential life force of love and spirituality. Even if you can’t do the postures, you can still benefit immensely from breathing practice.
Breast cancer can be a mighty foe. Dealing with issues of mortality create new anxieties that insidiously eat at the soul. When you are frightened, you instinctively hold your breath. With mindful breathing, you will fill yourself with new ways of breathing that are extremely powerful as they dissolve stress and free the mind from anxiety. As you breathe and meditate, your thoughts will become more clear and steady. It begins to grow accustomed to focusing on the affairs of only the moment. Worries and future-thinking can be lessened as your connection to the body begins to let you experience self-empowerment.
Yoga is a gift you can give yourself for a lifetime. For many, it ist the beginning of a way to create an inner environment that prepares the ground for healing. With practice, it clears away the mental debris allowing your being to breathe a sigh of relief. It creates an energy that enables you to grow and flourish. Many believe this is the earliest and purest path to spirituality. Religious beliefs not withstanding, many recognize this as a state of grace, a moment when the soul finds freedom and contentment. Yoga and meditation can help you if you let it. For thousands of years, it has cultivated a healing condition that will give you the physical and mental skills to lead you to your deepest, most sustaining energy and life force.
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