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Alternative Cancer Treatments – Yoga

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Alternative Cancer Treatments – Yoga

For a cancer patient, yoga helps in releasing stress and improving sleeping patterns. Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline. According to the definition in Wikipedia, the individual who practices yoga works to attain the state of having a perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while they’re meditating on the Supersoul.

Just how and when did Yoga started?

Nobody can tell when Yoga started, but it’s without doubt Yoga is literally written in history. People found many stone carvings in the Indus Valley that was approximately 5000 years old. The stones have the figures of Yoga positions which were drawn on the discovered stones.

The tradition of Yoga has always been passed on individually from many teachers to their students engaging in practical demonstrations. The formal techniques that are now being applied by many students are believed to be an assortment of experiences by a lot of individuals many years ago.

The eight well known steps of classical yoga are the following:

1. Yama which means restraint, to refrain from violence, lying, stealing, and the likes.
2. Niyama is observance
3. Asana is physical exercises
4. Pranayama is a breathing method
5. Pratyahara is the form of preparation for meditation and described as withdrawal of the mind from the senses
6. Dharana means concentration, the ability to hold the mind on one object for a specified time.
7. Dhyana is meditation, the ability to focus on one thing that is indefinite.
8. Samadhi which means absorption

Yoga arrived in the United States in the late 1800s but it wasn’t practiced mainstream until 1960s.

Yoga as an alternative cancer treatment

Yoga is a mixture of stretching exercises and deep breathing. In a yoga class, you’ll be placing yourself and your body in various positions which demands bending, twisting of the body and stretching. The main benefit it brings to cancer patients is it gives short term stress relief and long-term stress management benefits. An individual who has cancer is usually stressed in many ways.

a. They could be thinking too much of their disease that they can’t do the things that they would like to do. Which made them emotionally stressed.
b. They could also be physically stressed as a result of pain
c. Lastly, spiritually stress because they might be questioning why these things are happening to them. Asking why God permitted this kind of disease to enter their bodies.

Yoga quiets the mind; the practitioner or patient becomes aware of his emotions and understands to substitute negative thoughts to positive or neutral ones. However, for yoga to be effective, research indicates cancer patients must take part in yoga 2 to 7 times weekly. It’s known to help improve sleep and reduce the fatigue our body amasses everyday of our lives.

Those are just a few of the benefits of yoga for cancer patients. Even so, your doctor’s advice is also required. Yoga is a superb option for everyone not only to people who have cancer. Check out the following article included in a series of alternative cancer treatments.

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