October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
 
It’s also the month that I have my 6-month check-up with my oncologist.  I saw her regularly for many years after my first diagnosis and treatment in 2000.  I was well beyond the end of my 10 years of hormonal  treatments (first Tamoxifen and then Femara) when she finally said, “You don’t need to see me anymore.”   
 
In 2022,  I was back in her exam room with a new breast cancer diagnosis.  I do like her a lot, and one might suspect that I just wanted to be back under her care.  Of course, one never wishes to be under the care of an oncologist.  But I was glad she was still seeing patients. We have a long history together!
 
So….in a few weeks, I’ll be back for an office visit.  She’ll ask how I’m doing, and if I’m feeling any side effects of the letrozole, which I’m back on for another 5 years.  (The answer is fine, great, or maybe my joint pain is from the letrozole…or is it something else?…..we’ll explore….).  And we’ll schedule my mammogram for December. 
 
…..Which leads me to the notion of “scanxiety.”  Most people who have experienced cancer are familiar with this feeling.  You’ve gotten through some, or all, of your treatment, and you’re going in for a new scan – to check on whether the treatment has been effective, or (in my case) to make sure there is still “no evidence of disease.”  It can be a time of high anxiety.  It brings you back to the first time, when the scan led to further scans, tests, biopsies, …and ultimately a diagnosis. 
 
Perhaps you no longer think, “Why me?” and now you think, “Why not me?”
 
I’ll go in for the mammogram, and I’ll wait for the results.  And deal with whatever scanxiety comes up.
 
And while I wait, I’ll breathe…..
 
The breath is the gateway into the nervous system.  By breathing, we can calm our anxiety, moving out of “fight or flight,” toward “rest and digest,”  and ultimately toward balance.  It is very powerful, and available to each of us.
 
Here’s a simple breathing technique that can shift your nervous system toward calm. It’s called Humming Breath or Bee Breath.
 
Sit comfortably with your spine long.
Now gently close your lips so that, if possible, you can both inhale and exhale through your nose. 
Take a slow breath in.  As you exhale, hummmm…….
Do this several times. Make it a nice, long hum on the exhale. Feel the vibration in your throat and beyond. 
 
After a few breaths, let go of the humming and just breathe normally.  Notice the sensations you feel.
 
You can do this any time – well, you might want to check on your surroundings and note whether you’ll be disturbing folks around you if you hum out loud!  If so, just imagine the humming, and keep your exhale long.
 
This is a simple but powerful way to shift your nervous system away from anxiety and toward calm.
 
I’m going to use Humming Breath for my scanxiety before and after my next mammogram.  In fact, I’ll do it any time I need greater calm.
 
Give it a try!
 
And if you are due for a mammogram, make sure to get it scheduled.  And consider humming while you wait.
 
 
 
 

Yesterday, October 1, was the International Day of Older Persons.  This was a surprise to me, and perhaps it is a surprise to you as well.  This designation was given to October 1 by the United Nations in December of 1990 and first celebrated in 1991.  That year, the UN General Assembly also adopted the United Nations Principles for Older Persons.  (“Older person” is defined here as 65 and above….please read on even if you are not yet 65!)
 
The International Day of Older Persons certainly wasn’t on my radar, nor would it have caught my attention, in October of 1991.  My second daughter had been born two months before, and as a 37-year-old with two young daughters, I certainly didn’t look ahead to when I would be 65 and designated as an “older person.”
 
But here I am, now 68, and grateful to be here. And the truth is that we are all aging. Maybe you haven’t yet reached that golden age of 65, but you have been aging since the moment of birth. 
 
The UN website notes:  “Rapid growth in the number of people reaching older ages underscores the significance of promoting health, preventing, and treating illnesses throughout the entire course of life.”
 
Maybe you’re interested in national and international policy around supporting people as they age. Or perhaps you’re trying to figure out how best to support yourself as you age.
 
In my opinion, it is in our best interests, individually and collectively, to develop actions and attitudes that foster the healthiest versions of ourselves.  There are so many reasons to do this, including:  reducing our own health care costs, relying less on the over-stressed medical professionals in our communities (whenever we can), maintaining our independence,  finding our purpose and passions, and increasing our health span – the amount of time in our lives that we spend good health.
 
I’ll be writing more on these issues soon, but for now let me just say …..yoga…..slow, mindful yoga…..is one way.

My jeans just don’t fit like they used to.  They’re tight around the waist, and that’s not good for comfort or digestion.  And it’s not a good look to walk around with them unbuttoned (though I’ve done that….a lot lately).  What is responsible for this? There’s the “Covid 19” (though I haven’t actually gained 19 pounds during the pandemic), some predicted weight gain from the hormonal breast cancer drug I’m on, and a surprise – possible abdominal swelling due to lymphedema after radiation treatments to my breast.  And of course, perhaps simply aging.
 
Sigh.  So I made a decision – a wise one, in my humble opinion. I could deny all of those things and keep on buttoning up my tight jeans and then unbuttoning them.  And feeling discomfort and a little shame in not (ever) being able to keep my belly in shape (whatever that means).  OR I could accept those new realities, adopt a “no shame, no shame” attitude, and buy a pair of better-fitting jeans.
 
That’s what I did.  I’ll turn 68 this month, and the wise woman in me said, “accept this reality, stop beating yourself up, be comfortable – and make sure the jeans are stretchy, too.”  That’s self-compassion.
 
It turns out that yoga can be approached in the same way.  I’ve heard plenty of people say, “I can’t do yoga because I’m not flexible enough” or “I don’t have a yoga body” or  “I’m too old to start yoga” or some version of self-shaming that suggests that it’s about fitting our body to the poses. 
 
But it doesn’t have to be that way.  The style of yoga that I teach (slow, mindful yoga that is rooted in the Viniyoga tradition) is not about fitting the body to the poses.  It’s the other way around.  It’s about adjusting the poses to fit the body – every time.  And focusing on the functional purpose of the poses rather than on their form – understanding how the poses support the body’s systems, rather than how close our poses come to the “perfect” version of the poses  (which isn't a helpful concept anyway).
 
Here's what Gary Kraftsow says in his book Yoga for Transformation: “From the standpoint of practice, Viniyoga—the particular lineage that serves as a basis for this book—is based on the principle that each of us is different and that practice must respect these differences… it suggests that the practices we adopt must be relevant to who we are in our current life situation.”
 
In Yoga for Wellness, Kraftsow says: “As your lifestyle evolves, your condition will change—and your key to wellness will be your continuing ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
 
 
So we can try to fit the body to the pants.  We can try to do poses and practices that aren’t right for us – maybe they never were, or maybe they just aren’t serving us well anymore.  Or we can embrace the aging process, tune into how we are changing, and stop shaming ourselves. We can check in with ourselves each time we practice and move slowly and mindfully, choosing poses and practices that feel safe and supportive. No pain, no pain.  No shame, no shame.
 
And we can fit the pants to the body.
 
 
 
 

This month in my yoga classes, I’m designing our practices through the lens of strength. Our yoga practices can strengthen our muscles, bones, breathing, spirit, and even digestion!  I’m focusing this week on how we can use our practice to strengthen our bones.
 
My own story is where I start:
 
I have osteoporosis, probably due to a combination of long-term effects of cancer treatments and genetics.  I have no interest in taking a drug to treat it, as long as I can avoid that. I was referred to an endocrinologist a few years ago. When I told him I practice yoga, he said, “You don’t look like someone who falls, and that’s the biggest risk, so I’m not going to recommend that you start taking a drug.”  (Side note: I thought he was going to say, “You don’t look like someone who does yoga.”  Those insecurities are pervasive!)
 
 I was SO encouraged! I even took an online course “Yoga for Osteoporosis” taught by an expert, Dr. Loren Fishman. It encourages me and informs a lot of my yoga practice.
 
One of my sources of information and inspiration about yoga is Dr. Timothy McCall, author of Yoga as Medicine. Here’s an excerpt from his newsletter from a couple of years ago:
 
“While doctors tend to focus on measures like drugs and dietary supplements like calcium and Vitamin D and to raise bone mineral density levels, they may not pay as much attention to what we can do that may make us less likely to fall.
 
In yoga, balancing poses like Vrksasana (Tree Pose) are often recommended, and I believe they have value. But I'm come [sic] to think that dynamic balancing, in which we move slowly in and out of poses, or from one pose to another, may be even better.
 
The way I teach dynamic balancing is to combine slow, subtle breathing with slow, smooth movements in which balance is challenged all throughout the range of motion. This I suspect is far better training for real world situations in which we might fall and break a bone. “
 
~Dr. Timothy McCall, author of Yoga as Medicine. He can be found at: http://www.drmccall.com.
 
 
So, the story is that yoga not only strengthens our bone density, but it can strengthen the muscles that we need in order to prevent ourselves from falling.
 
This is more confirmation that the slow, mindful approach has great benefits!
 
Check out my offerings here: Consider Yoga Learning Center

10/1/2022
 
For many years after my breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2000,  I felt the saturation of pink in October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  After collecting pink hats from the Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure, pink paraphernalia at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, and pink ribbons and pens at my annual mammogram, I felt the pink fatigue. 
 
I understand the need to continue to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research and treatment.  It’s the most common cancer among women in the U.S.   It’s estimated that this year, 30% of newly diagnosed cancers in women will be breast cancers, and that in the U.S., 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over her lifetime.
 
However, I also know that many other types of cancer have not gotten the attention that breast cancer has.  And I have many loved ones and friends who have experienced those cancers.  So I have at times cringed at the attention to breast cancer – and the preponderance of pink in October.
 
And then I got a new breast cancer diagnosis in February of this year (2022).    My experience was quite different from the first time, and I believe it was at least in part due to the research efforts over the years – technology for earlier detection, less invasive surgery, shorter radiation treatment protocols, and tests that indicate likelihood of recurrence and also likely benefit from chemotherapy.  All of those advances, which benefited me directly, are the result of funding and research.   I’m awed by the changes and grateful to the scientists, advocates, and donors.
 
Shortly after my diagnosis, I met with a nurse navigator who recommended three reliable websites for information about breast cancer. 
 
https://breast360.org/
 
https://www.breastcancer.org/
 
https://drsusanloveresearch.org/
 
 
If you or someone you know might need information or support, I encourage you to take a look.
 
 
Now – why am I writing this on my yoga blog? 
 
It might surprise you to learn that less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member (parent, sibling, or child) who has had it.  That is important to know!
 
There are lots of other factors that may contribute to creating the conditions for breast cancer to develop. (By the way, based on the size and growth factor of my tumor, the doctors speculated that it had been growing – albeit slowly – for about 9 years.)
 
Lifestyle factors are important, including nutrition, sleep, movement, and stress reduction.
 
Slow, mindful yoga can help with these factors – not only to reduce chances of an occurrence or recurrence, but to help manage the diagnosis, treatment, and healing. There’s a growing body of research on how yoga can support cancer patients and those in recovery and beyond. 
 
Awareness is important.  Knowledge and research are, too.
 
So while I still cringe a bit when I see the pink,  I no longer pooh-pooh it.