THURSDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) — Yoga can improve the emotional health of breast cancer patients, contends a new U.S. study.

“Given the high levels of stress and distress that many women with breast cancer experience, the opportunity to experience feeling more peaceful and calm in the midst of breast cancer is a significant benefit,” lead researcher Suzanne Danhauer, of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.

The study involved 44 women with breast cancer. About a third of them were undergoing cancer treatment during the study, and the others had completed their treatment. Half were enrolled in a yoga program, and half were put on a waiting list for the program.

Women in the yoga group participated in 75-minute classes in restorative yoga — a more passive and gentle form of yoga that uses props such as cushions and blankets for support. At the beginning and end of the study, both groups of women completed questionnaires evaluating their quality of life.

After 10 weeks of classes, the yoga participants showed greater improvements in areas of mental health such as depression, positive emotions and spirituality — feeling calm and peaceful — than did the women still waiting to begin the yoga program. The yoga group reported, on average, a 50 percent reduction in feelings of depression and a 12 percent increase in feelings of peace and meaning. Yoga participants also reported less fatigue than the others, the study found.

The results, which Danhauer said “are very promising and will allow us to embark on a much larger scale study,” were published Feb. 24 in a special physical activity issue of the journal Psycho-Oncology.

“Evidence from systematic reviews of randomized trials is quite strong that mind-body therapies improve mood, quality of life and treatment-related symptoms in people with cancer,” Danhauer said. “Yoga is one mind-body therapy that is widely available and involves relatively reasonable costs.”

More information

The American Cancer Society offers tips on coping with breast cancer.

from:http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=9911662

       

The night that we helped the baby turtles make their mad dash into the sea, it all came together: It was turtle birthing season along the Pacific Coast where The Tides Zihuatanejo spreads its cabanas along the shoreline. We had just spent five days practicing yoga twice daily in a shady pavilion on the same beach where these tiny babies hatched. Each evening at sunset, as we were facing the sea in Warrior One pose, female turtles dug their nests in the sand, just as we burrow down to our daily routines. 

Most people who do yoga agree that it is a long process of slowly getting stronger, steadier and lengthier. Every class is a new chance to perfect a pose or go deeper, but it can take an intense focus on your practice to open new doors of awareness, and opting for a yoga retreat is the best way to do that. When you combine all of this with luxuriant spa treatments and gourmet meals in a beautiful destination, the holiday not only relaxes but might give birth to a new you.

There are plenty of new yoga retreats every season, but planning a yoga vacation requires discernment. Many luxury resorts, like The Tides, are now hosting various retreats, and the huge differences are the quality of spa services and the level of accommodations. After an intense day of yoga, the last thing you want to do is share a bunk bed with a snoring fellow participant. Rather, at The Tides, I awoke each morning to hot coffee and freshly baked chocolate croissants before the morning session and then returned to my palapa-covered villa to take a dip in the private plunge pool. 

Shannon McClatchey, a marketing manager and long-time yoga enthusiast, initially chose MayaTulum because of a specific instructor, but valued the level of comfort at the resort, including the spa treatments. She says, “Don’t even think of coming here without booking something… the Mayan Clay massage is not to be missed.” But it’s not just the big differences that sort the good yoga vacations from the mind-blowing ones–the details count a lot too. McClatchey says, “The grounds are meticulously maintained–I walked barefoot everywhere including the dining room. The food is fantastic. You can order off the menu if you want, but otherwise I have nothing but praise for the healthy, mostly vegetarian (except for fish) cuisine.” 

From the yoga bar breakfast spread of fresh tropical fruit and juices, homemade granola, yogurt and other goodies to the verbena-scented cool towels handed to you after class, The Tides ensured a seamless retreat. Not to mention the in-room massages–the airy cabanas are so peaceful that when the massage therapist came to my room, he set up the table and aromatherapy candles, immediately transforming it into a treatment room.  

For many, a retreat is also a communal experience. Each night, the 20 or so participants dine together and on the final night there’s a beach bonfire party with special cocktails and live music. Many in The Tides retreat group were regular students of Tom Morley, an L.A.-based instructor with a Brentwood studio and various private celebrity clients. Individual yoga teachers affect the dynamic of the class, and Morley’s style mixes a sense of childlike freedom with the discovery of a deep spiritual connection to yourself. It was easy to feel relaxed in the non-competitive environment he created, which can be summed up by a Ramana Maharishi quote he asked us to think about: “It is your duty to Be, not be this or that.” 

It’s pretty common for students to follow a particular instructor on a retreat, but it’s not neccessary at yoga resorts that have ongoing yoga instruction, like Haramara in Sayulita, Mexico, or SwaSwara in India. As noted, a yoga vacation doesn’t have to be austere, and in fact, indulging all the senses may be the surest path to nirvana. So if you have the chance, say yes to the multi-course gourmet meals at a Big Sky Yoga Retreat or the tequila tasting at The Tides Zihuatanejo. Add a day of windsurfing along Mexico’s Pacific Coast or hiking in the Montana mountains, and the immersion in your surroundings may help you achieve that tricky combination of awareness and relaxation.

Every yoga vacation is going to be life-changing, whether it’s volunteering with the Shreyas Retreat’s community outreach or focusing for a week on the yogic breathing of pranayama on the Caribbean’s most blissful island. Of course, at times the retreat will be physically and mentally challenging, but right when your muscles begin shaking with every pose and you have broken through emotional boundaries, you can surrender to a lava rock massage and a cooling kelp body masque.

FROM:http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14871748