Yoga for Cancer TT

This 40-hour training accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals will give you the tools to create a safe and healing environment to teach yoga and relaxation to anyone diagnosed with cancer or any long term health conditions. It is open to qualified or accredited teachers of yoga or therapists with a committed yoga practice.

Each day will start at 9am with a practice suitable for anyone diagnosed with cancer so that you will have the opportunity to experience 4 different classes and the adaptations that might be necessary. The day will include a mixture of physical practice, lectures & teaching practices working in smaller groups. There will be a break in the morning & the afternoon, and 1 hour for lunch. The day will end at 5pm, finishing with pranayama / meditation.

// COURSE CONTENT

Day 1
- Gentle practice with mudras - the importance of building back strength slowly
- Overview of cancer terminology & diagnosis
- How to create a safe & healing environment
- Understanding stress, fear, anxiety & the impact of living with cancer
- Treatment for cancer & how to start creating a toolbox of poses & adjustments to help with the side effects of treatment & diagnosis. Each day will build on our toolbox for side effects.

Day 2
- Stronger practice with mantras
- Breath cancer treatment, reconstruction & its implications
- Modifying the practice & the importance of building back range of motion & strength
- How to create compassionate classes that start with ourselves
- Building on our toolbox - Lymphoedema specific exercises
- Guest speaker Louise Malone, Specialist Oncology Physiotherapist will talk on how movement helps to maximise a person's function before, during or after treatment. How it can help with, and even prevent side effects of systemic treatment such as muscle weakness, peripheral neuropathy & treatment related fatigue (TRF)

Day 3
- Empathy practice
- Koshas a multidimensional approach to healing
- Hormones & menopause, building on our toolbox to support side effects
- Osteoporosis & building strength to prepare students to work toward more weight baring poses that might help to build bone strength
- The big Cs are also Community & Connection and how important this is for these classes
- Group class planning on how we can start to put what we have learnt into practice. Working in small groups to create and modify a class for specific side effects.
- Secondary Cancer & palliative care

Day 4
- Guest speaker Liliana Branco, Supportive Care/Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist will talk to us about how to support those in palliative care
- The importance of learning to relax on a deeper level including Meditation, Yoga Nidra & guided relaxation
- The business of teaching yoga for cancer

// LEARNING OUTCOMES

>> Cultivating a safe space, how to hold that space, to listen & be compassionate in a yoga studio when working with fear, anxiety & possibly pain. To reassure people who may have found themselves in a world filled with tests & procedures. How you as a teacher can make the yoga studio a welcoming place that is accessible to a very wide range of experiences, abilities & quality of health.

>> Understanding cancer terminology. Diagnosis & grading of cancer. Treatment for breast cancer & implications of reconstructive surgery. Lymphoedema & cording, and how to adapt the class to allow people to increase range of motion & build strength slowly & in a safe way. How your class can minimise muscle atrophy & keep blood & lymph circulating to help promote well-being.

>> Understanding the A-Z of side effects, building a toolbox & being able to use your skills as a yoga teacher or therapist to adapt classes so that the class is accessible & inclusive to all.

>> Exploring the concept that we are not just a physical body. How we are multidimensional beings of mind, body & spirit that are connected. Our bodies are made up of different layers or koshas that are constantly changing. We will explore how to fully let go & how we need to relax each layer from the outer to the inner layers for us to allow healing to take place.

Considering what your students may need most to feel empowered but also taking into account practices that support the changes occurring such as bone density, menopausal symptoms or secondary cancer.

The role of Yoga Nidra, guided relaxation & meditation. Use of language that is validating & supportive.

// ABOUT VICKY

Vicky Fox is a yoga teacher and trainer who has been teaching yoga for cancer classes since 2013 and teaching yoga since 2008. She is the author of "Yoga For Cancer, A-Z of C” looking at how yoga can address the side effects of treatment for cancer. She has also written “Time to repair” looking at how yoga can help the body to nourish and repair after illness.

Vicky teaches weekly yoga for cancer classes sees and hears every day how yoga benefits those impacted by cancer and can help student to feel empowered and in control at a time when they feel out of control. She also sees the huge benefits of group classes to create a community that helps people feel less isolated and alone. Vicky works with cancer charities in the UK and has contributed yoga programmes for Oncio, the only integrative app in the UK that supports people living with cancer.
Since 2020 Vicky has been running trainings to help other teachers work with anyone living with cancer.

// HOMEWORK & CERTIFICATION

To complete your certification, attendance to the whole training is required
Prior to attending the course all students need to read an account of having cancer from the provided reading list and fill out a report on the book using the given questions
Course work after the training weekend includes:
- Recording a 40min class for someone impacted by cancer
- Completing questions on the course
- Reading "Making Friends with Death – A buddhist guide to encountering mortality" by Judith L Lief and completing an assignment on this book
Upon completion, you will receive a 40h Yoga for Cancer Teacher certification accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals, allowing you to share the practice with others!

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