Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic or immune system, can decrease your body's ability to fight infection. While the disease was once fatal, advances in modern medicine have increased chances of survival tremendously. If you have cancer, adding a regular yoga practice into your regimen may help increase longevity and coping skills, and decrease stress and depression, according to a study published in the "Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences" in 2009. As with any alternative treatments --- and because Hodgkin's Lymphoma decreases your body's ability to fight infection --- speak with your doctor before starting a yoga practice in a group setting.
Benefits
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, you may suffer from depression and stress, especially when facing your own mortality. Connie Hawley, a non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma patient quoted in "The Yoga Journal," had to face these challenges when fighting cancer. She says her decision to incorporate breathing, meditation and yoga poses as part of her alternative treatment regimen helped her on the path to recovery.
Breathing
Jnani Chapman, who runs the clinical yoga programs at at the University of California, San Francisco, says yoga breathing strengthens the nervous system and calms anxiety, which may help cancer patients that have to endure long and sometimes painful tests and treatments. Practice yoga breathing by lying on your back, resting your hands on your abdomen. As you breathe in, feel your belly rise up, expanding into your ribs. As your breath reaches the top of your lungs, begin a slow exhale, feeling your breath move down and out until your ribs contract. Your belly button should be pulled in toward your spine. Throughout your breathing, keep your body relaxed.
Meditation
Yoga meditation, coupled with proper breathing, helps decrease anxiety and stress, according to Nichola Devi, who developed one of the first yoga programs for people with cancer. Devi says yoga meditation can give cancer patients a sense of hope and optimism, which may stimulate the immune system. She teaches the yogic philosophy that people are not just their bodies, and they are not their cancer. Meditation --- calming the mind, focusing on the present and contemplating the treasure of now --- can help you relax and calm your mind.
Asanas
Practicing asanas, a sequence of poses, may help you regain strength and flexibility lost after tests, treatments and surgery. While you may not be able to do all of the poses in a yoga class, your instructor can modify most poses to accommodate you. Because nausea is a common side-effect of cancer treatments and medications, you may not want to perform poses that require your head to be below your heart as they may cause you to feel ill.
References
- "Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences"; Yoga Breathing, Meditation, and Longevity; Brown and Gerbarg; 2009
- Yoga Journal: Yoga for Cancer: Sandy Boucher
- Yoga Journal: Facing Cancer with Courage: Carol Krucoff
- MayoClinic.com: Alternative Treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma
