Yoga against cancer: How young adults find strength through virtual courses

Yoga against cancer: How young adults find strength through virtual courses

cancer is a disease that not only brings physical, but also psychological and emotional challenges. Treatments often concentrate on the medical side, but the importance of intellectual and physical well -being must not be underestimated. A recently carried out study examined the effects of yoga on young adults (18-39 years old) affected by cancer. The participants took part in an 8-week yoga program, which was held by video conference.

The results of this study suggest that yoga brought certain advantages for the participants. These advantages included improvements in terms of mental and physical health, increased awareness of self -care and self -help, increased mindfulness, a feeling for physical skills, the establishment of a routine and the possibility to exchange ideas with a safe (virtual) space with like -minded people. These aspects could have contributed to reducing the negative effects associated with cancer and their treatment and improving the quality of life of those affected.

If these results are confirmed in further studies, this could lead to a change in the recommended supportive treatments for young adults affected by cancer. Yoga could be offered as a form of help that offers both physical and psychological advantages and helps to better manage the challenges of cancer.

Basic terms and concepts

• yoga: an old Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice, the exercises (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation to promote health and relaxation.
• mindfulness (mindfulness): a mindset that is characterized by conscious perception of the current moments.
• video conference: an online technology that enables people to meet and communicate visually and auditively over the Internet, also over large distances.
• Reflexive thematic analysis: A method for analyzing qualitative data in which patterns (topics) identify, analyze and report.
• self -care: activities and practices that are undertaken individually to improve your own health, well -being, quality of life and effectiveness.
• Self -compassion: The ability to be friendly and understanding towards yourself, especially in times of failure or if you make mistakes.

to the extent that research further shows the positive aspects of supportive therapies such as yoga, it is conceivable that these practices will play a more central role in the treatment and support of cancer patients, especially among young adults. Such approaches could complement traditional cancer therapy and offer a more holistic approach for the well -being of those affected.

yoga as supportive intervention for young adults with cancer

Introduction: yoga is often regarded as a method to improve the quality of life and to reduce negative effects caused by cancer and their treatments. Despite the known advantages of yoga for people with cancer, there is a lack of evidence especially for young adults aged 18 to 39.

goal of the study: The present research focused on the examination of the experiences of young adults with cancer who took part in an 8-week yoga program that was offered by video conference.

methodology: The participants of this study were young adults who lived in Canada, between 18 and 39 years old and where a cancer diagnosis was made at some point. They all completed an 8-week yoga intervention program. Semi-structured interviews were led to the data collection, which were transcribed by Verbatim and evaluated by means of reflexive thematic analysis.

results:

• 28 young adults (average age = 34.67 ± 5.11 years; 25 female) with various cancer diagnoses.
• The analysis of the interviews resulted in six main topics: (1) challenges and changes during yoga intervention; (2) improvements in mental and physical health; (3) Development of new self -strategies; (4) Findings about physical skills; (5) the benefits of a felt binding through the program; (6) The opportunity to meet like -minded people in a safe (virtual) space.

conclusion: The results of the study suggest that yoga-based interventions can offer specific advantages for young adults with cancer. Aspects such as self -care, self -compassion, mindfulness, the experience of physical competence, the establishment of a routine and being together with like -minded people in a safe virtual space were emphasized as important components of the program. These components could have contributed significantly to the experienced advantages. The findings underline the potential benefit of yoga as supportive care intervention for young adults affected by cancer

For a detailed analysis and further information, please visit the original research: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3828977 .