Yoga Therapy is not about challenging stretches and postures. Yoga Therapy is about finding meaning in your life again, re-centring, re-balancing after a time of suffering through a variety of practices that include breathwork, relaxations and meditations as well as movements and postures.
Yoga therapy is a mind- body and energy system therapy that adapts the ancient and modern practices of Yoga to meet the individual needs of a person suffering with a specific or chronic health condition that is not otherwise able to be addressed in a group class.
It is person-centred, respecting that no one cure will fit all. It aims to empower you to explore your own health imbalances and gain a further understanding of the root causes of your personal ill health or disease. Holistic in approach, it avoids focusing too heavily on your diagnosis which can often become an impersonal label. Instead, your physical, biochemical, mental, emotional and spiritual components that make up ‘You’ as a whole person, are explored collaboratively with your yoga therapist.
In yoga therapy it is not about standing on your head, or overcoming challenging postures, far from it! Yoga Therapy is often gentle in approach, non-achieving and non-goal orientated. It places emphasis on establishing good breathing patterns to balance the energy system and correcting posture, to create improved alignment back into the body. Self-compassion is at the heart of yoga therapy, which is a time to turn inwards towards the Self and tend to that which is asking for your care.
Yoga Therapy rests under the broader umbrella of Yoga; it is neither separate from nor greater than Yoga” (1)
According to CancerChoices.org, yoga, as an ancient mind-body practice combining movement and stretches with meditation, can be used to manage symptoms and side effects and body terrain imbalances common in cancer.
Yoga practice is linked to lower frequency and/or severity of symptoms and side effects common among people with cancer, especially anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep disruption, stress, and distress, leading to overall better quality of life for many people.
Although all yoga is potentially therapeutic and healing, yoga therapy is the specific application of yogic tools – postures/exercises, breathwork, meditation techniques, and more, to address an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional needs.
The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), the organisation that credentials yoga therapists, defines yoga therapy as “the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and wellbeing through the application of the teachings and practice of yoga” (2).
IAYT-certified yoga therapists (C-IAYTs) have in-depth training to assess their patients/clients and develop a personalised care plan to address patient/client-specific goals, medical conditions, and physical limitations. Yoga therapists assess patients/clients through the yogic pancha kosha (Sanskrit: five sheaths) model, a lens that views the human system in five intertwined layers, physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual.
- Yoga teachers typically complete a 200 or 500-hour generalised yoga training programme offered by a yoga school registered with the Yoga Alliance (3).
- Certified yoga therapists typically graduate from IAYT-accredited yoga therapy programs that include a minimum of 800-1000 hours of didactic and clinical training (4).
The role of the Yoga Therapist is to help you manage your symptoms and side effects to help improve your quality of life. Yoga Therapy does not claim to be a standalone cure for cancer but is part of a team of therapeutic interventions to support your through your healing process and empower you to make the changes you need to make in your life to enhance your health , happiness and wellbeing.
Research shows that practicing yoga during and after treatment can improve a person’s quality of life by helping them (5):
- Get a better night’s sleep
- Reduce stress and distress
- Manage anxiety
- Relieve fatigue
- Boost energy and mood
among many other benefits such as:
- Improve pain management
- Improve balance and mobility
- Increase strength and flexibility and bone health
- Balance metabolism – improve obesity or loss of weight
- Decreases inflammation
- Boost lymph, reduce lymphoedema
- Boost immune system bringing vitality back into your cells
- Improve overall wellbeing and quality of life
- Empower you to take control of your health, your happiness and wellbeing
The Journal of Clinical Oncology found through its trials that “Yoga practice substantially reduced fatigue and inflammation during cancer treatment and post treatment increased vitality”.
What happens in yoga therapy sessions?
You don’t need to have practiced yoga before. During a 1:1 yoga therapy session, usually 60 – 75 minutes, your yoga therapist will:
- Review your health questionnaire to ascertain as much detail about your physical and mental health, your current energy levels and your current day to day lifestyle
- Provide a thorough assessment for example:
- Your posture
- Your breathing patterns
- Your internal energy flow
- Your ability to manage stress
- Your understanding of your health needs
- What brings your happiness and joy in your life currently
- Provide gentle and safe practices such as:
- Breathwork
- Somatic, mindful yoga movements
- Postures
- Meditations and deep relaxations
- Collaboratively explore the effect of chosen practices to help relieve deeply rooted tension, imbalance, chronic pain, stress and misalignment for example, through the process of Self Inquiry
- Record your practices to enable you to practice daily at home in order to make significant changes within your state of mind, body or energy systems. Remember Practice brings change.
Training and Qualifications
Yoga Therapy training is extensive. Yoga Teachers tend to be qualified to teach after 200 hours of training and require no previous experience. Yoga Therapists undergo a minimum of 750 hours. It is a postgraduate training course spread over 2 years and applicants are required to have years of experience of working as a qualified yoga teacher.
Make sure you choose a yoga therapist who is properly trained. The British Council of Yoga Therapy and The International Association of Yoga Therapy both accredit training courses.
You can find certified yoga therapists through the International Association of Yoga Therapists database and registered yoga teachers through the Yoga Alliance website. Yoga4Cancer also provides yoga for cancer training and you can find a listing of their practitioners on their website. When searching for a yoga professional, read their bios and summaries to see if they have training and experience with yoga and cancer. The Yes to Life directory includes yoga therapists with a certified training and/or experience in cancer patients.
Useful Reading:
- What is yoga and yoga therapy?, Oncio.org
- Adapting Yoga for People Living with Cancer, Paperback – 21 April 2021, by Jude Mills (Author)
- Yoga Therapy across the Cancer Care Continuum, Paperback – 12 Dec. 2022, by Leigh Leibel (Author), Anne Pitman (Author)
- Excerpt can be found here: Yoga Therapy Across the Cancer Care Continuum: Evidence-Informed Practice, by Leigh Leibel, MSc, C-IAYT, ACSM-CET, British Society for Integrative Oncology (BSIO)
Research in Yoga Therapy
Research is ongoing. Whilst generally it has been proven that yoga therapy calms the nervous system enabling other systems of the body to relax and function more effectively and naturally, specific research papers on the value of yoga therapy for Cancer include:
- Danhauer, Addington, Cohen, Sohl, Van Puymbroeck, Albinati, Culos-Reed,. 2019. Yoga for symptom management in oncology: A review of the evidence base and future directions for research. Cancer journal
- Dong, Xie, Jing, Lin, Tian,. 2019. Yoga has a solid effect on cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment
- Agarwal, Maroko-Afek,. 2018. Yoga into Cancer care: A Review of the Evidence-based research. International journal of yoga
- Beri,. 2017. The impact of the ‘Yogic Lifestyle’ on cancer prognosis and survival: Can we target cancer stem cells with Yoga? International journal of yoga
- Galliford, Robinson, Bridge, Carmichael,. 2017. Salute to the sun: a new dawn in yoga therapy for breast cancer. Journal Medical Radiation Science
- Carson and Carson,. 2015. Yoga as a supportive care for healing from cancer. Yoga Therapy Today
- Zhi WI, Baser RE, Zhi LM, et al. Yoga for cancer survivors with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: Health-related quality of life outcomes. Cancer medicine. 20218;10(16):5456-5465. doi:10.1002/cam4.4098
- Agarwal RP, Maroko-Afek A. Yoga into Cancer Care: A Review of the Evidence-based Research. Int J Yoga. 2018 Jan-Apr;11(1):3-29. doi: 10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_42_17. PMID: 29343927; PMCID: PMC5769195
- Greaney SK, Amin N, Prudner BC, Compernolle M, Sandell LJ, Tebb SC, Weilbaecher KN, Abeln P, Luo J, Tao Y, Hirbe AC, Peterson LL. Yoga Therapy During Chemotherapy for Early-Stage and Locally Advanced Breast Cancer. Integr Cancer Ther. 2022 Jan-Dec;21:15347354221137285. doi: 10.1177/15347354221137285. PMID: 36412916; PMCID: PMC9706042.
- Saraswathi V, Latha S, Niraimathi K, Vidhubala E. Managing Lymphedema, Increasing Range of Motion, and Quality of Life through Yoga Therapy among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review. Int J Yoga. 2021 Jan-Apr;14(1):3-17. doi: 10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_73_19. Epub 2021 Feb 5. PMID: 33840972; PMCID: PMC8023442.
- Mallaiah S, Narayanan S, Wagner R, Cohen C, Christie AJ, Bruera E, Lopez G, Cohen L. Yoga Therapy in Cancer Care via Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Integr Cancer Ther. 2022 Jan-Dec;21:15347354221141094. doi: 10.1177/15347354221141094. PMID: 36510480; PMCID: PMC9749058.
Sources
- (1) Yoga Therapy Today, 2019, p. 44
- (2) International Association of Yoga Therapists, 2023
- (3) Yoga Alliance, 2023
- (4) International Association of Yoga Therapists, 2023
- (5) Yoga for Supportive Cancer Care © 2023 by Leigh Leibel, (Lin et al., 2019; Mustian et al., 2013; Cohen et al., 2004), (Banerjee et al., 2007; Pruthi et al., 2012; Carlson et al., 2014), (Rao et al., 2009; Raghavendra et al., 2007; Dhruva et al., 2012; Taso et al., 2014), (Bower et al., 2011; Chandwani et al., 2010; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2014; Armer & Lutgendorf, 2019; Raghavendra et al., 2009), (Armer & Lutgendorf, 2019; Cramer et al., 2013)
- (6) With thanks to Nikki Jackson at Yoga Focus for her kind contribution in preparing this article
Yoga therapy for cancer patients are typically done in one-to-one private sessions and can therefore be slightly more costly than group yoga classes. The sessions can be held face to face or online via Zoom. Some cancer support charities offer group yoga sessions for cancer patients which can be found in our directory.
