Dahn Yoga brings hope by circulating energy in your chest
In recent years, the month of October has become bright with the appearance of pink ribbons. Like flocks of migrating birds, they land on buildings, buses, packages, and most importantly, people. These pink ribbons are reminders of the prevalence of breast cancer in our society. It is the most common cancer among women in our society (other than skin cancer), according to the National Cancer Institute. Each year in the United States, more than 192,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s the population of a medium-sized city. In the face of such numbers, how can yoga help?
Research with breast cancer patients has shown that yoga may be able to help improve physical functioning, reduce fatigue and stress, improve sleep and improve overall quality of life. This can be especially true for women recovering from surgery or undergoing chemotherapy. In addition to the physical concerns, yoga can address the emotional aspects associated with breast cancer.
If we see breast cancer from the perspective of energy, we can say that congested energy from stress and negative emotions can block energy flow in the heart chakra. Eventually, this blockage affects the body physically and can create conditions more favorable for the disease of breast cancer.
The main focus of Dahn Yoga known as Energy Yoga (“Dahn” means vital life energy) is how to release stressful energy first from your chest and then from your whole body through various exercises such as chest tapping and breathing, opening chest exercise, and change emotional mode to happiness by smiling or laughing.
Dahn Yoga can help with not only preventing the disease but also mitigating symptoms of the disease and side effects of treatment by increasing your vital energy. One Dahn Yoga instructor who recovered from breast cancer and guided other survivors to “do what your body allows, feel what your your body tells you...your body will gain much good from exercising...keep working with the doctors and feel good about what you are doing.”
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is observed because the disease is so confounding. We still do not know the exactly why one woman develops breast cancer and another doesn’t. What is known is that some risk factors like family history, personal history, and physical inactivity, increase one woman’s likelihood of developing the disease. Yoga can be a holistic approach to promoting a healthier lifestyle, which can in turn reduce these risk factors.
* In order to help more women survive breast cancer and go on to lead fulfilling and healthy lives, this October Dahn Yoga will support breast cancer research, prevention, and treatment by donating $1 from every new membership to the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
-Joseph Alexander