Healthy Living Magazine

Everyone is aware that before they attempt to do any form of workout, they are required to do warm ups. These warms up usually involved basic stretching exercises. This is because stretching helps to loosen your muscles, fills them with oxygen and also prevent injuries from occurring. Let’s not forget that stretching enables us to be more flexible even as we age. So apart from just the normal warm ups, what other exercise incorporates stretching routines? The answer is none other than yoga. Yoga is a combination of deep breathing and various stretching techniques. It requires one to perform poses that can help to increase flexibility as well.

Through deep breathing and stretching, one will be able to experience a feeling of happiness and a more positive mood. The reason is because oxygen and blood flows throughout your entire body with every deep breath and stretch. When one feels good, they will tend to have a glow in them, making them look just as good. While performing the poses, you not only ensure that you remain flexible. You are also moving the synovial fluid around to prevent osteoarthritis. This is the fluid that protects our joint and provides them with their range of movements. Yoga aids in keeping this fluid in tip top condition to prevent the bones from rubbing together and wearing out.

Yoga also assists in making sure that our body’s lymphatic system is performing up to standard. It is the fluid in our lymphatic system that get rids of harmful toxins such as bacteria and dead cells from our body. Without a good functional lymphatic system, health problems such as weight gain and cancer can arise. This lymphatic system depends solely on movement to assist in reaching the entire body. Hence, the best solution to perform stretching and deep breathing. In other words, yoga would be a wise choice.

In order to reap the benefits of yoga, you do not need to be a professional or master in it. In fact, you won’t even need to perform the more strenuous poses if you are unable to. Yoga benefits everyone, even the pure beginners. Regular practices are more than enough to ensure that your body continues to run smoothly and healthily. Let’s not forget that through yoga, one would also be able to relax the body and mind. This enables us to relieve stress that we experience from our daily lives.

A medical procedure, as traumatic as chemotherapy, requires patience, strength, and a fierce desire to get well. Chemotherapy affects the entire body and mind, causing patients to feel weak, tired, and sometimes, hopeless. The process of healing must involve the mind as well as the body.

A positive attitude can go a long way toward healing. Laughter Yoga, Yogic relaxation techniques and meditation are powerful methods for keeping one’s mind in a positive mode. A positive mindset is just as important as physical recovery, and Yoga ultimately helps one experience the best physical, mental, and emotional health.

On the physical level, patients must gradually build back strength and stamina by eating healthy and beginning to be more active. If given the chance, the body can be a powerful instrument for self-healing. Restorative Yoga poses and breathing can be an extremely therapeutic way to navigate back to a healthy mind and body.

Yogic Breathing

Stress is a large factor when dealing with any serious illness. Breathing and meditation are healthy ways to release the stress and negative thoughts and energy from the body. Breathing deeply, and fully, is a simple form of meditation that helps chemotherapy patients focus on filling the abdomen and lungs with clean air – then, pushing it out. Belly breathing can be accompanied by positive visualizations to increase healing within the body.

Patients should find a quiet, comfortable spot to sit or lie. Breathe in through the nose, filling up first the belly, then the chest until full. Then, slowly let the breath out through the mouth. Patients may also choose a mudra to channel healing to specific parts of the body. Meditations can also be accompanied with positive mantras, or affirmations, such as – “I am strong and healthy.,” or “My body will heal itself with time and effort.” Belly breathing can be done anytime, anywhere, to release anxiety and encourage healing within the body.

Yoga Postures

Any of the many Yoga poses can benefit recovering chemotherapy patients. Depending on one’s energy level, ground-based (seated, supine. or prone) Yoga postures may be better for days when energy is taxed. Additionally, Yoga poses can easily be modified with blankets, bolsters, chairs, blocks, straps, or other devices. Patients should do only what feels right for their body. Sometimes, it is nice to focus on something besides the pain for a while, concentrating instead on relaxing, breathing, and stretching. Patients can focus on a specific area of the body that feels tight, to release any joint or muscles tightness, or they can opt for an overall body stretch. Patients should start out slow – doing only what they can. They will soon realize their body is strong and capable. This will encourage them to continue practicing Yoga throughout the healing process and beyond.

Yoga for Healing

Healing, Restorative, or Therapeutic Yoga does not have to be complex, physically taxing, or vigorous. Patients, who are new to Yoga, can begin by learning one or two poses to practice on a regular basis. Repeating a sequence each morning, or evening, can be a powerful routine to help the healing process, by building strength and agility.