Whether you want to admit it or not, breast cancer is more common and prevalent in the African American community now more than ever. Although recently breast cancer incidence rate of new cases has been reported slightly lower among black women than among white women, the breast cancer mortality rate is still higher in black women.
After detection of cancer, many women face a range of emotions that may lead to anxiety, depression, fear, and hopelessness. Finding something within you to carry on is what’s key. Something like yoga and meditation just may be that piece of hope.
Yoga can improve the emotional health of breast cancer patients, contends a new U.S. study.
“Given the high levels of stress and distress that many women with breast cancer experience, the opportunity to experience feeling more peaceful and calm in the midst of breast cancer is a significant benefit,” lead researcher Suzanne Danhauer, of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said in a university news release.
The study involved 44 women with breast cancer. About a third of them were undergoing cancer treatment during the study, and the others had completed their treatment. Half were enrolled in a yoga program, and half were put on a waiting list for the program.
Women in the yoga group participated in 75-minute classes in restorative yoga