When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, the diagnosis can impact all areas of their life. Patients can feel anxious, fearful, stressed and worried which becomes harmful to both mental and physical wellbeing.
At all stages of the process, from initial diagnosis, to treatment and then survivorship, patients are encouraged to implement self-care routines and relaxation into their daily lives.
One such recommended practice is yoga due to its natural wellbeing benefits. Whilst the benefits of yoga for cancer patients is an ongoing study, initial research has found the mind body connection of yoga to be powerful in assisting with cancer patients emotional, physical and mental states.
Patients living with cancer, or who have survived cancer, often report feeling that their quality of life has improved, alongside their physical health and mental wellbeing.
This is because the holistic nature of yoga is able to reduce psychological stress caused by a diagnosis as well as improve strength, balance and flexibility and reduce pain. All of which are vital components in the treatment and recovery stages.
Let’s take a look at the main areas where cancer patients feel yoga has benefited them.
The main benefits of yoga for cancer patients include:
Lowered fatigue
Cancer-related fatigue is classified as either a physical, emotional, or mental tiredness that interferes with a patients everyday life. Cancer patients can suffer it before, during, and after cancer treatment and may even still suffer from it as a cancer survivor.
Thankfully, a number of studies have found a correlation between reduced fatigue and cancer patients regularly engaging in yoga sessions. Select studies even showed that the more patients practiced yoga sessions, the more their fatigue decreased.
The most notable benefits of yoga for cancer fatigue were recorded as:
After treatment, yoga resulted in major improvement in fatigue levels
During treatment, yoga resulted in small improvements in fatigue levels
Yoga helped most with physical fatigue, and eased mental fatigue somewhat.
One study in particular discovered that women with breast cancer who did a twice weekly yoga session across 8 weeks reported feeling major improvements with their fatigue.
Even yoga breathing exercises were found to be beneficial in aiding the fatigue levels of cancer patients receiving radiation for cancer. The most helpful of these was identified as Bhramari Pranayama, where long exhalations are accompanied by humming sounds.
2. Reduced stress
One of yoga’s most well known benefits is its ability to help with stress. For cancer patients, this can be a lifeline as the battle with cancer is physically, emotionally and mentally stressful.
A study that evaluated the impact of yoga against stress levels in cancer patients discovered that practicing yoga across seven weeks was likely to reduce “mood disturbance” by 65%.
Further research found that such a reduction in stress then had a series of knock on benefits for cancer patients in other side effects encountered in the process, like appetite, and reductions in pain.
Find out what yoga is best for cancer patients, as well as some recommended poses, in my blog, here.
3. Improved physical functioning after and during Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a fantastic aid in the fight against cancer because it kills cancerous cells. Unfortunately due to the nature of the treatment it is not without side effects.
Chemotherapy-induced-peripheral neuropathy, known as CIPN, is one such type of nerve damage that can occur as a side effect of chemotherapy treatment. It occurs mostly in the hands and feet, and symptoms include:
A tingling, or "pins and needles" sensation
Muscle pain or burning sensations
Muscle weaknesses
On top of experiencing conditions like CIPN, cancer also affects the body’s ability to remain flexible and mobile. Patients receiving chemotherapy will often be sat for hours at a time, whilst patients in hospital or resting at home often report feelings of weakness, hindering their ability to undertake exercise.
Yoga provides a gentle way to stay limber, keep active, loosen the joints and strengthen the muscles - all without stress or strain. Some yoga moves can even be performed sitting in a chair or laying on the floor.
To support this hypothesis, sixteen different trials all discovered that regular yoga practice improved the functional well-being of both cancer patients and survivors.
After 8 weeks, benefits recorded included:
Improved flexibility
Better balance
Improved stability with less risk of falling
Reduction in pain
Improved physical and mental function
Help with relaxation.
4. Better sleep
Rest and recovery is one of the natural treatments recommended by doctors to cancer patients and survivors. However, as we’ve previously mentioned, cancer brings with it mental and physical stress. These two factors make falling asleep, or even having a peaceful night's sleep, exceedingly difficult.
Amazingly yoga has been proven to help with insomnia and help cancer patients and survivors relax, leading to a better night’s sleep. Some initial research even discovered that yoga could improve the quality, efficiency and duration of sleep.
The types of yoga identified as being able to aid sleep and reduce insomnia consisted of gentle poses, breathing exercises, and meditation.
Meanwhile another study assessed how Tibetan yoga positively impacted patients with lymphoma. Tibetan yoga primarily includes breathing and mindfulness exercises alongside low-impact poses. The benefits reported by those suffering with lymphoma were:
Ability to fall asleep faster
Experiencing more sleep
Decreased use of sleep medication
5. Quicker recoveries from cancer surgeries
Nobody likes the thought of surgeries, and so the distress that many cancer patients can feel before surgery can have detrimental impacts on their recovery.
Stress has long been linked to longer hospital stays because it can psychologically cause more pain, sometimes leading to the risk of developing complications.
This is especially prevalent in the case of women who may be facing a lumpectomy, mastectomy or hysterectomy.
A study compared the influence of yoga on women about to have either a lumpectomy or mastectomy against women also about to have either a lumpectomy or mastectomy but who chose not to undertake yoga.
Remarkably, the women who performed a series of yoga sessions before their surgery recorded better results, including:
Shorter hospital stays
Fewer days with surgical drains
Fewer days before their stitches were removed
Yoga’s benefits have long been promoted by practicing yogi’s and yoga teachers everywhere, but the results of these studies are particularly groundbreaking. It’s great to think that cancer patients could see a better quality of life, as well as reduced symptoms caused by both chemotherapy and the cancer process, all through the natural healing qualities of yoga.
WellbyElle’s founder Eliana is a Yoga for Cancer-certified instructor who specializes in helping people with cancer at all stages of the process, from initial diagnosis, through the treatment phase, and on to survivorship. Many of Eliana’s clients find yoga to be extremely effective at reducing anxiety related to ongoing procedures and fear of cancer recurrence.
If you live in Florida, or you’re near to the Hollywood, Florida area, and you’re looking for an experienced, qualified Cancer-certified instructor, why not book a session with Eliana and see what benefits you could experience?