My review of Tari Prinster’s Yoga for Cancer is unlike any other I’ve written. I fully admit, I’ve picked it up and put it aside many times over the past few weeks. It’s come at a time when I’ve been shocked and derailed from my usual routines and outlook.
Little did I know when I picked up Yoga for Cancer, among my big stack of yoga therapy books from the library, that a cancer diagnosis was just around the corner for me. Stage 1 invasive breast cancer and widespread ductal carcinoma in situ.
There are so many things I’m grateful for: my cancer was caught early and there is a cure; I have loving friends and family by my side; I live in a city where some of the world’s best medical treatment is offered in a publicly funded system; the wait for surgery and follow up treatment has been so swift that my mind can hardly catch up.
Even so, Prinster’s work has been an education, not just in a theoretical sense, but also personally meaningful, enlightening, and comforting. She comes at it from personal experience, too. Also a breast cancer survivor, Prinster found purpose from her diagnosis, developing her yoga4cancer method to help hundreds of other survivors.
“My approach is about improving your odds, giving your body the tools to fight harder and more effectively during active treatment or in the years after… We want to use the time we have as fully as possible. Yoga continues to be my personal survival tool.” – Tari Prinster
Understanding Cancer
Prinster’s writing is so clear and relatable. Beginning with the first chapters, she explains the physiology of cancer in easy to understand language. She also stays grounded in science, without trying to make any false claims or overreach about what yoga can do for people living with cancer.
Here are the basics. While abnormal cells occur in everyone, our immune system usually flushes these out and we do not develop disease. Cancer is a build-up of atypical cells to the point that our health is compromised. So part of the cancer puzzle is finding ways to support our immune system.
Prinster gives an overview of the physiological systems that support our immunity:
- Lymphatic
- Endocrine
- Respiratory
- Digestive
- Musculoskeletal
- Nervous
- Cardiovascular
- Skin
How Yoga Helps
Yoga benefits all these systems through movement, improving the flow of blood and lymph, eliminating waste and toxins, increasing bone density, developing the relaxation response, improving psychological wellbeing, learning in groups to counter isolation, and even through the placebo effect by taking active steps to heal.
It’s well known that exercise reduces cancer risk, but so far no research has been done to prove yoga stops cancer. What we do know through clinical research is that yoga helps people cope with the fatigue, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and overall quality of life that is impacted when someone gets cancer and cancer treatment.
Prinster details the benefits in Chapter 3:
- Yoga detoxifies the body
- Yoga strengthens the body
- Yoga increases range of motion and flexibility
- Yoga keeps the spine strong
- Yoga strengthens the immune system
- Yoga helps manage weight gain
- Yoga helps manage pain
- Yoga helps manage fear and anxiety
- Yoga enhances body image
- Yoga enhances empowerment and well-being
Tari Prinster’s Yoga4Cancer Program
From chapter 4 onwards, Prinster explains her yoga4cancer (Y4C) method and practices. She offers an invaluable a guide to anyone who wants to build their own yoga practice as they manage their health condition and treatments. Y4C is built on dynamic sitting, prānāyāma, meditation, movement, balance, restorative poses, and śavāsana.
A wide variety of yoga poses and practices fill the book, with illustrations, descriptions, and modifications suitable for the symptoms that cancer survivors experience. There are also many nuggets of wisdom and personal stories shared that will help readers feel less alone with their illness.
I renewed this library book so many times, I finally had to order my own copy and return the one I borrowed. I know I will read through it many times as I find myself asking, “How will I cope? How will I support myself today?” Like Prinster, I now have more purpose to my practice as a yoga teacher, too. From lived experience, I can help others find a yoga practice that supports them as they navigate their cancer journeys.
“Live in the Now… Create space in life to take in the simple small things like sitting quietly before a window in winter, watching the gentle snow fall.” – Tari Prinster
Yoga for Cancer: A Guide to Managing Side Effects, Boosting Immunity, and Improving Recovery for Cancer Survivors by Tari Prinster (2014) Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press. Find the book here.