How many of you do yoga?

I was hoping to find a thread for this here! I tried hot yoga before and didn't like it. I mostly didn't like it because the teacher was an ass and didn't really help the students. I was in good shape when I did it although not a size zero the teacher made a comment to me that i was probably having problems because of my size. I was a fit size ten at the time! I stopped going. Well then cancer comes along, see my sig line for all my surgeries. I've gained so much weight during this time. Before my last surgery I had a few months to get back with my trainer. I'm not going to be able to get back with him for awhile. I had to have complete revision in July. It was like having a BMX all over again. I was done with fills 3 weeks ago and ready to get back to some exercise. Well my TE ruptured a few days ago. MY PS is going to keep filling up my TE until my surgery (Oct 16th - hoping to get an earlier date). I forgot to ask her when I saw her a couple days ago if hot yoga would be a good idea. My girlfriend has been going to a class for the past month and just raves about it. The teachers really sound like they are very helpful and not elitist like my last experience. I'm flexible and my trainer incorporated lots of yoga moves in my workout. I have had LE back in the beginning of the year. It was mild.

Does it sound like a good idea to get back into this? I will call my doctor office later. Just wondering if anyone here had similar issues as me and went through with it.

Michelle

Love, love, love yoga, it has brought such a calm and serenity to my life.I'm pretty athletic and started yoga about 4 months before my bc treatment .( free tram flap) I now do it up to 4 to 5 times a week.

I even set up a small studio area in my master bedroom, when I can't get to the gym.

OMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I still want to run away from home and emerged myself in a  yoga retreat, maybe in a faraway land to become certified

Just breathe! Cobra flow downward dog! 

Is here anybody on here who has done yoga with a TE, and then had a DIEP flap done? Did it make a difference as far as flexibility in the axilla and shoulder after TE was gone? I have good range of motion, but have difficulty to fully extend the arm on the TE side over my head because of tightness in the axilla/TE area, and I can feel the TE pulling and moving a little when I stretch the arm. I also had rads earlier this year, and had been doing exercises to stretch and loosen up the area. Will it get better after the TE is gone?

Joanna, 

Be very careful with the yoga. Lymphedema is always a risk, for life. I can do downward dog, but I have to get out of it quickly, I can't hang out in it. If I do too much weigh bearhing arm poses, my LE arm starts swelling.

I have been easing back into the hot yoga again. I had te's put in in October. I waited about 3 weeks to go back, then stayed out of cobra, etc. I had to come down to the mat once from being a little woozy. I got another fill on Friday. I got the giggles going into flying lotus. I was wondering if I could rest my whole body on the te's and not use any strength. Kinda like my own little supports : D

I just got scheduled for exchange in the middle of December, so I guess the holidays will need to be yoga free. I am looking forward to starting the new year being able to get back to my practice.

In last night's class there was a young guy who came in limping on a cane. He was unable to do quite a few of the poses, but sat meditating with such grace and peace. It was quite inspiring.

Joanna, I see that you did ashtanga! I just did my first class yesterday. OUCH!! The instructor is very hands on, which is great. Its nice to set up a solid base so I am not learning bad habits. But eeessshhh! Lots of things sore today! I consider myself to be fairly fit and my legs were shaking like jello. He even made a comment to the class after walking by me, "And if your muscles start shaking know you are exploring your edge".

Well, call me Christoper Columbus. Today, I can barely walk! I really enjoyed it though. It is so different than the fast rigorous pace of hot yoga. I loved the chanting, although I have clue what they were saying.

Joanna, I am thinking we are the same age ...1966? I didnt realize you JUST had your mx. Wow girl. You are doing great to be back at it so soon.



I had mine 3 years ago and have been battling reconstructions. I still cannot chaturanga. Not sure if its lack of strength or skill. I guess it just takes practice. I found a bunch of ashtanga on youtube. You can even find whole classes to flow along with! I went to another ashtanga tonight. I need a stickier mat. I am tall, and I need a really wide stance for many of the poses but my feet were sliding a bit tonight. Scary when you are new.



I was thinking of making up a series of asanas friendly for post surgery. Nothing to strain arms, chest, shoulders. I have implants put in Dec 13. hopefully, that is my final surgery EVER!! But, I was miserable not doing anything last time. I need to stay out of the hot room several weeks, but perhaps I can do some select and modified poses.



My husband is trying to get me to calendar a marathon next November. The Rock and Roll Marathon in Savannah. I am not a distance runner at all. But perhaps it might be a goal to shoot for. I bought a book that talks about the run- walk method, and I did build miles with that previously, thought nothing remotely close ro a marathon!

Hi Geewhiz,

We are the same age. Thanks for replying. I had sentinel nodes removed on both sides since my cancer was bilateral, and i did have drains in for a week. They were the worst part of the whole experience. The pulling i read is also from the node removal. I still have swelling around my ribs. I wasn't able to do the full primary. I petered out after the bhujapidasana and called it a day. Chaturangas are hard and took me at least a hundred sessions to do comfortably. But i can do them now and they helped relieve the pulling. I only do 3 of each sun salutations instead of 5, but after the last one the pulling was gone. The vinyasas between the poses in the seated sequence are killing me. But i thing they also helped with the pulling because it is almost gone.

Namaste ladies!  This topic fell off my favorites.  Good to be back.

I am missing yoga due to exercise restriction from ooph a week ago.  Will be released just in time for Christmas vacation in Florida, visiting my mom.  Thinking of teaching her chair yoga.  Anyone have a recommendation for a good DVD?

geewhiz, good luck next week!  There are several people on the "Let's Post our Daily Exercise" who are doing the C25K program, which stands for couch to 5K.  I'm not a runner but thought I'd pass it along as a good way to work up to running.

p.s. re: drains, make sure they open the bulb cap to release the suction before they pull it out.  Soooo much easier and way less painful!

After I finished all treatment I started back with private yoga classes once a week, doing very gentle, restorative yoga.  I have the weekly class and do an hour at home most days.  It really helps me with my anxiety, it calms me and makes me feel restored and positive.

I've also just started swimming again and can only manage 300m so far, but it feels good.  I find it is like a moving meditation, just focusing on the breath, lovely!

FLWarrior, I started doing yoga after a "yoga for BC survivors" session put on by Breast Cancer Recovery in Madison.  They were very respectful of people's physical limitations.  It got me hooked on yoga.  Do you have a resource like that near you?  Restorative yoga is another good place to start.  It's been two years now and I'm strong enough to do down dogs and plank poses but I started very slowly and built up.  Good luck and Namaste! 

hi FLWarrior, yes Breast Cancer Recovery is an organization.  http://www.bcrecovery.org/

They mostly run retreats for women with metastatic BC but offer other activities from time to time.  With a grant from Komen of South Central WI, they brought in a yoga teacher from NYC - Tari Prinster.  Here's her website (yoga for cancer).  http://y4c.com/  It was on a Saturday so I could attend, it was an hour's drive from my home here in Podunk.  It was GREAT.  Changed my life.  We ended with Warrior III in a big circle, supporting one another as we tipped forward into the pose.  I will never ever forget that moment.

At that time, there were no yoga classes in the area so I bought a DVD called "Yoga for Breast Cancer: From Surviving to Thriving" and learned my way around in the privacy of my own home.  Here's their website.  http://www.yogaforcancer.com/

That fall, the wellness program at work offered an 8-week lunchtime yoga series for $25 so I signed up.  The instructor came to us, and we had class in an empty conference room.  They offered it twice more then had to stop because they needed the space.  There was a different teacher each session and I learned a lot from those three yogis.  Sunflowers & Moonflowers!

Near work is a gorgeous fitness club with a brand-new yoga studio but couldn't afford the $500 a year membership.  So I bought a couple of Rodney Yee DVD's and practiced at home but that next spring, two new opportunities arose.  One was a 6-week evening class at a local church that was only $30 for the series.  The other was an 8-week evening class at the local senior center.  Since I'm over 50, I got a discount to $60 for the series woo hoo!  Both classes were taught by certified yoga teachers and they were both great.  They offer these classes a few times a year and I sign up for them. 

I do a home practice and have a basic routine and add things as I feel in the moment.  But I still sign up for class whenever I can because I love the feeling of the group movement & meditation.  And I can always learn something new! 

Namaste!

I am signed up for my first try at yoga.  It's a community class in restorative yoga.  It starts in January.  I'm hoping this will lead to more.  There are a few yoga studios in my town but I have no idea what is the best fit for me. 

I am hoping that yoga, along with mindfull meditation, will help me move forward after BC and not to keep dwelling on the what ifs in life.

FLWarrior, congrats on starting a new job and having a free week to yourself, enjoy class!

jwilco, for me a bonus of yoga & meditation is mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).  It's an actual science and you can learn more by googling the term.  In my hippie days we called it "Be Here Now" but these days it's MBSR.  At the risk of sounding flip, I will share a quote from a BCO sister: "Treat every stressful situation like a dog.  If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away."  LOL!

nibbana, I love the slow start (wake up the chakras) and end (shavasana) to my routine. 

Shavasana is the "pay off" when you lay there and feel energy coursing through your body.

If you have 20 minutes, I recommend the AM portion of Rodney Yee's AM/PM yoga.

You can find it other places but here's a link from Amazon so you can see it.

http://www.amazon.com/A-M-P-M-Yoga-Rodney-Yee/dp/B00007JME6

I've done the PM portion with Patricia Walden and that's good too.

Namaste!

Missswim, I have heard awesome things about yogaglo. I logged on awhile ago. They have lots of variety! Thanks for mentioning it, I will look again.

Hot yoga is one of those things that just gets into your blood I think. It either becomes part of you, or it doesnt.

With the lymphedema risk question, well...I had major cording too. After an annoying surgerry where I was cut in the axillary region, I got diagnosed with mild LE. I personally, have found that my body has responded quite favorably to the yoga. My range of motion is better, no swelling etc. I am thin, so there is not major strain on my joints etc. i listen to my body though...if your arms, trunk, shoulders...or anything feel stressed- well, listen to the wisdom of your body.

JoAnn, thanks for the jumpthrough advice. i cant wait to log off here and hit youtube. one of my instructors is a big ashtanga fan. He places lots of emphasis on the strength in control. Slow movements to find that point of balance you mention. It is frustrating to me sometimes. I want to be able to jump through NOW. I mean, it looks easy enough. *cough* Right now I am convinced either my arms are too short or my butt is too saggy, lol. My crossed ankles seem to hit a major roadblock.

I cant scroll back for some reason to see who wrote about swimming as meditation, but that is SO beautiful to me. I take a kickbox class, and there is a girl in there who makes it gorgeous. So unbelieveably fluid. She is in her own little world and is so much fun to watch. I asked her one day if she was a dancer. She laughed and said no but she believed that all of our bodies had a natural rhythm, and she had finally learned to tap into hers. Loved that! I think perhaps you found your rhythm in that pool!