What is yoga?

Yoga, which means "union," is a 5,000-year-old system of principles and practices originating in India. Yoga incorporates nutrition guidelines, ethics, exercise, and meditation with the intention of bringing together the mind, body, and spirit.

Most types of yoga practiced in the United States focus on movement and breathing, and do not require a total lifestyle change. More thana hundredvariations of yoga are practiced in the United States some slow and gentle and others active and fast-moving.

One of the most frequently practiced types of yoga is called hatha yoga, which uses physical poses and breathing techniques to increase strength, flexibility, and well-being.

Research in breast cancer patients has shown that yoga may be able to help:

A yoga session can last from 20 minutes to an hour and can bedone alone at home or in a class setting with an instructor. During your yoga session you will:

In the United States, a yoga instructor has the option to train for 2 or more years or to be certified after only taking a weekend-long course. As a result, there is a wide gap in experience from teacher to teacher. Inexperienced teachers can increase the risk for student injuries, so it's important to find a seasoned instructor. Ask your doctor for recommendations on yoga instructors who have worked with breast cancer patients. Another way to find an experienced instructor is to check with an organization requiring at least 200 hours of training to gain certification as a yoga instructor.

The Yoga Alliance sets guidelines for teacher training and registers yoga schools according to these standards. The Yoga Alliance website offers a searchable U.S. database of qualified teachers and schools.

For more information about finding a qualified complementary medicine practitioner, see our Finding a Complementary Medicine Practitioner section.

Here are questions to ask a potential yoga instructor:

In studies ofwomen with breast cancer, yoga has been shown toreduce fatigue and improvequality of sleep, physical vitality, and overall quality of life.

At the 2003 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), results were reported from a yoga study involving 126 women recently diagnosed with Stage I or II breast cancer. The women were about to receive chemotherapy or hormonal therapy.Some of the women were assigned to yoga classes over a 3-month period. The women taking yoga had a 12% improvement in fatigue, physical functioning, and quality of life compared with those in the program who did not take the yoga classes.

In 2006, results of a yoga study were reported from an M.D. Anderson Cancer Center study. The study followed 61 women receiving 6 weeks of radiation treatment for breast cancer. Half the women took a yoga class twice a week; the other half did not. Compared with the women who did not take yoga, the women in the yoga group reported having more energy and less daytime sleepiness, better physical functioning, and better overall quality of life.

Likeall practices, yoga comes with some risks:

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