I have a student in a super-gentle group class for cancer patients, age 53, who has a long history of asthma, for which she has used a range of inhalers (Proventil, Asthmacort, others) and other oral medications. She developed bowel cancer a few years ago, and has had several surgeries and chemotherapy. Her asthma has since worsened and worries her more than the cancer.
The class is very gentle. We often do the Joint Freeing Series, with or without a few additional poses that we do in a very gentle way, with lots of resting between poses, or we’ll do just a few gentle yogasanas, restorative yoga, meditation, sometimes a bit of chanting. I always do a lengthy Savasana, sometimes using guided imagery, usually with soft music or the sound of Tibetan singing bowls, or I sing or play chants. During Savasana, this student cries quietly – but she always leaves smiling and feeling better.
She has recently begun to open to her spiritual potential, and appreciates readings along these lines; she has begun to find prayers that are meaningful to her. My concern is that she often wheezes and seems out-of-breath in class – this might even happen when she moves from lying down to sitting up, though I always ask everyone to move very slowly as they get up. When she struggles with the breath, I ask her to rest and not continue moving w. the class. She is resistant and always wants to continue moving, though this exacerbates her symptoms. I would describe her as a pitta/vata. I would appreciate any suggestions you have for this student.
Blessings
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chandra on 2002-05-20 13:22 ]</font>