HC
She is a female in her 70s. She had Breast Cancer in 2020, and is currently in remission. Her medication causes anxiety. She has medication induced osteoporosis.

TT
She is a female in her 70s. She had breast cancer in 2001 and currently suffers from auto-immune complications of the breast implant. She suffers from fatigue and anxiety. She recently had surgery to remove the implants.

KM
She is a female in her mid 40s. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1/2023. She is currently going through chemotherapy treatment and recently had surgery. She has been experiencing nausea, brain fog and fatigue due to the chemo.

AK
She is a female in her late 50s. She was diagnosed with aggressive and non-aggressive (incurable) lymphoma in 2015. She has trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. She also has Osteoporosis.

Client goals:
For the most part, the students wanted to increase flexibility and strength. Some of them asked for help with anxiety and/or sleep issues as well.

Yoga therapist goals:
Koshas: _x_Annamaya _x_Pranamaya _x_Manomaya __Vijñanamaya __Anandamaya

Integral Yoga: _x__Hatha __x_Raja ___Bhakti ___Karma ___Jnana ___Japa

Short term
I plan to work with the physical body to help reduce pain.

Long term
I would like to work with the mind to help reduce anxiety and sleep issues.

YCat Manual

Stress Management Manual

Adaptive Yoga Manual

Healing Relationships Manual

Lundt A, Jentschke E. Long-Term Changes of Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Fatigue in Cancer Patients 6 Months After the End of Yoga Therapy. Integr Cancer Ther. 2019;18:1534735418822096. doi:10.1177/1534735418822096
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30791735/

• Yes

Awareness practice
Neck warmups: right/left, chin glide, head tilt
Isolated pelvic tilt to feel neutral spine, gentle flexion/extension with cactus arms
Lateral tilt with hands on hips
Seated – lift knees on exhale
Internal/external rotation of hip – drag the foot
Matwork:
Bridge with neutral spine
Option to have one foot on block to work one side at a time
Knees to chest and rock
Yoga nidra

The students should practice “awareness” throughout the day… --of body position, breath, sensation of pain or holding.

Since this was the first meeting for the group and no one really knew each other, the check-ins were a little bit generic. People tended to say they were fine. Although one person did share that she was recently given an official osteoarthritis diagnosis. This was a bit frustrating for her, as it was caused not by her actions, but due to all the medication she had to take for her cancer.

The theme for this session was on “Awareness.” Since this was the first time I was teaching this series and this group, I was still trying to determine how best to incorporate the theme—whether I should give a brief educational talk at the beginning or continue to mention it throughout the session. I tried to talk about the relevance of awareness as we went through the class.

This was also the first time I could watch everyone’s movements, I attempted to get a sense of where the students were at physically. They were all pretty strong and had expectations of doing a typical mat practice, though I had to be cognizant of those who had osteoporosis. One person was younger than the rest, but in active treatment, so it was a bit of a balance to keep everyone engaged. We kept it in the chair for warmups at the beginning, but moved to the mat later for some strengthening work.

I plan to review the concept of awareness and introduce information on breathing and the breath.

• Yes

Awareness practice
Brief talk about the breath and how it affects the mind/body.
Neck warmups
Explore scapular position in shoulder rolls and as it relates to hand position for table top
Hands on hips – lateral bends with neutral spine
Tabletop – pelvic tilts/explore gentle cat cow
Lateral stretch with neutral spine – explore the breath/ribcage movement
Chair pose with neutral spine
Supine book on belly to understand deep breathing; even breath, extended exhales – everyone did great!
Yoga nidra
Explore breath movement against the floor – in the back/sides
Meditation – follow the path of the breath

I asked the students to notice how they were breathing (or not) throughout the day. Do 3 cycles of diaphragmatic breath.
Notice the posture when they sit; can they adjust the pelvis and gently roll back the shoulders?

The students took turns sharing their experiences. One student noticed that the movements we did last week helped with her pain. Another student felt the movements helped her as well, but also shared she had anxiety about an upcoming surgery. A third student mentioned she enjoyed the movements and the postures. The fourth student mentioned she had been experiencing feelings of anxiety. They all appreciated being able to share in a small group so that they could support each other.

The topic for today was about the breath. I was able to discuss not only how the breath affects the physical body, but also how we can use it to regulate our stress response and help calm the mind. This was a good tie in to the previous class on awareness, as the students were asked to become aware of how they were breathing throughout our practice today. This was a fun class for me, as we were able to incorporate some aspect of the breath or breathing in every practice that we did. I felt that the students appreciated how something seemingly so simple that we may not pay attention to can be so powerful.

The next week’s topic is on movement. The plan is to tie together the first 3 topics as a powerful way of supporting the students’ health.

• Yes

Awareness practice
Neck warmups: right/left, chin glide, waterfall, head tilt
Shoulder tap to elbow circles, alternating
Hands on hips lateral stretch with hold
Isolated pelvic tilt to wave cat/cow with cactus arms
Hip tilt to figure 8 hips
Heel raises to ankle circles
Hip glide
Dynamic calf/hamstring stretch
Pyramid holding forearms
Supine windshield wiper
Yoga nidra followed by a few deep diaphragmatic breaths

This was the last session of the 8 class series. The homework was to incorporate what they learned from the series throughout the day and make it part of their routine. Consistency was the key--every little bit would help.

Only two students were able to attend class today. One had to leave the series to take care of her mother who had broken her hip. Another student was traveling today. One student had just had surgery a few weeks before, but felt her body was healing well. The fourth student also had had surgery and was in active treatment. (She had to leave early to take her treatment.) The students who were present appreciated the class. Both had benefitted from practicing yoga nidra as a calming and healing practice outside of class.

There were quite a few emotions for me as I finished this last session. There was relief that I had successfully finished the series, as well as some sadness at its ending. I was grateful that I was able to work with such open and dedicated students. Although only two students were able to attend the last class in person, I was able to get closure with the other two through email exchanges they initiated. Everyone was so appreciative of what they learned; it was quite humbling. All the students mentioned that these offerings were unlike any other classes they had taken before. They found what they learned so helpful.

There were 8 sessions in this series.

This was an interesting and very different process for me. Because I was working with a predetermined method and script for how to present the teachings, I struggled a bit with making it my own. This resulted in sometimes spending too much time on the topic to make sure I covered what was in the manual, or perhaps not feeling uncomfortable with the language used to describe the practices. By the time I got to the end, though, I felt more comfortable personalizing what I was teaching.

I suspect the students were used to a typical studio yoga class, as their goals tended more to the physical, though a few mentioned having problems with sleep and/or anxiety. Unprompted, some students let me know that the movements in class did help alleviate their physical pain. We concentrated on gentle warmups, but did do some strengthening poses on the mat, as this group was physically capable. (Annamaya, Hatha, Manomaya) Some of the later practices like diaphragmatic breathing, yoga nidra and imagery helped calm their minds, manage their anxiety and improve their sleep. (Pranamaya, Manomaya) Introducing the simple concept of practice (Sutra 1.14) allowed me to illustrate how something as simple as consistency can have such a profound effect over time. (Raja) Overall, the series accomplished its goals, as the students left with tools that allowed them to face the trials of life with peace and adaptability in addition to the goal of physical ease they had initially set for themselves.

All the students knew that there would be another series in the Fall and were welcome to take part in it.