Tag Archives: yoga

Sharon Holly: Empowering Oneself In the Healing Process

June 13, 2017Podcastalternative treatments, breast cancer, cancer, chemotherapy, healing, lumpectomy, oncology, profession, radiation, support, therapy, yoga, yoga therapyDianeMcDaniel

People undergoing cancer treatments often seek healing and support beyond the confines of oncology and traditional medical practice. Many seek to participate in their own therapeutic journey via a variety of other healing modalities.

Today I’m speaking with Sharon Holly, yoga therapist, who in 2010 began a journey toward finding a new professional path as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Sharon talks about her work as a yoga therapist, working in an individualized way with people undergoing treatment for and living with cancer. Sharon explains the yoga therapy philosophy as an integrative process of looking at the person as a whole, helping clients develop agency to become part of the healing process, and discovering what will help that won’t harm.

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Jenny Pagliaro: Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer

June 6, 2017Podcastcancer, chemotherapy, diagnoses, family, friends, incurable, independence, life goals, life plans, MBC, Metastatic Breast Cancer, music, PET scan, radiation, rock and roll, Roses and Cigarettes, Santa Monica, scan, singer, songwriter, support, yogaDianeMcDaniel

How does one live with a diagnosis of incurable, metastatic cancer? How does one move forward with life goals and plans when the likelihood of a future has been deemed uncertain and tenuous.

Today I’m speaking with Jenny Pagliaro, singer and songwriter from the band Roses and Cigarettes, who—after initial treatment for Stage II Breast Cancer in 2015—was diagnosed one year later with Metastatic Breast Cancer. Our conversation takes place one week after Jenny had a PET scan that revealed her cancer to have receded by 90% compared to her previous scan. Jenny talks about living on an emotional rollercoaster during in the past two years, from initial diagnoses and completion of treatment, to a diagnoses of Metastatic Breast Cancer and receiving an estimate of six months to live, to this moment of hope for more time. She also talks about complicated interactions with family and friends who want to help her and the competing emotions behind wanting to maintain independence while knowing that she is reliant on the support of others.

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Cindy Fraser: Finding Balance in an Imbalanced Situation

May 23, 2017Podcastbalance, cancer, chemotherapy, compassion, daoism, patience, simplicity, taoism, yogaDianeMcDaniel

Receiving a cancer diagnosis and undergoing treatment can quickly put one’s life out of balance. How can one endeavor to find equilibrium while facing extreme fear and trauma, as well as undergoing harsh but potentially life-extending therapies and treatments?

Today I’m speaking with Cindy Fraser, artist, writer, and teacher, who leads a yoga class for people living with cancer and chronic illnesses. Cindy talks about yoga’s usefulness as a tool to help us navigate our lives, in particular when dealing with something as overwhelmingly frightening and traumatic as cancer and its treatment. She also discusses the grounding of her work in the Chinese philosophy of Daoism (Taoism), seeking balance within ebb and flow, and the guiding principles of simplicity, compassion, and patience.

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Catherine McDonough: Cancer is My Biggest Yoga Pose

April 25, 2017Podcastbreast cancer, breast self exam, cancer, chemotherapy, downsizing, health, lumpectomy, meditation, mindfulness, nurse practitioner, psychological freedom, radiation, UCLA Breast Center, yogaDianeMcDaniel

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is a shock, even to medical professionals who are well aware that cancer can happen to anyone. How does one cope with and respond to the changes in self-perception that occur when cancer intervenes?

Today, I speak with Catherine McDonough, yoga teacher and nurse practitioner, who in 2017 was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. We explore Catherine’s use of yoga and meditation as complementary practices to traditional oncology protocols. Catherine talks about her coping strategy of simplifying and becoming more mindful, less external. She also explores how this dreaded diagnosis has given her a measure of psychological freedom that has promoted her to lighten her attachment to things and leave a smaller footprint in her wake.

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Kris Ellenberg: Wellness is a Balancing Act

April 18, 2017Podcastacupuncture, alternative treatments, breast cancer, cancer, chemotherapy, Chinese herbs, community, Gyrotonics, hypnotherapy, Judaism, lymphatic massage, lymphedema, mastectomy, meditation, radiation, wellness, yogaDianeMcDaniel

Finding wellness during and after cancer treatment can be challenging. Given the physical and emotional rigors of treatment and its aftermath, how can one develop and nurture a state of wellness that encompasses the mind, body, and spirit?

In this episode I talk with Kris Ellenberg, who in 2011 was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer. We explore Kris’s strategies for finding wellness during and after her cancer treatment. Kris talks about developing a practice around wellness that supplemented her medical treatments for cancer with less conventional approaches such as Gyrotonics, yoga, lymphatic massage, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, meditation, and hypnotherapy. We also discuss the roles that community and social support, spiritual practice, and simply taking care of one’s self play in the active pursuit of wellness.

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