Prevention: Tell us about your business, Breast Cancer Yoga.Ross: I used to have a large yoga studio and it was fulfilling for a long time, but somehow something always tugged at me to do more. So I decided to sell it and focus on breast cancer survivors. Looking around I saw that the occasional breast cancer class, but these teachers weren’t trained in the knowledge of surgery, lymphedema, and fatigue. Every month I take a 2-day anatomy class, so I’m always up to date. I decided someone needed to cater to survivors, so Breast Cancer Yoga was born. It’s a restorative yoga flow practice that focuses entirely on using the breath in sync with the movement. Is your experience with breast cancer what inspired you to do this?Well, sort of. My two sisters-in-law, my first cousin, and my sister were all struggling with breast cancer. It’s all around. Teaching just wasn’t doing it for me anymore; going to India wasn’t doing it anymore. I needed to make a difference in someone’s life in a bigger way. When you get to be my age, you just want to do something that matters. And with one in eight women being diagnosed with breast cancer, this work matters. How does yoga benefit breast cancer survivors? With yoga, women regain range of motion post-surgery, reduce anxiety, and keep their delicate lymph systems healthy. For me, the biggest benefit of yoga was the emotional support. Learning how to love and to develop self-love. So the poses that I offer allow women to rest and be held safely so they can start feeling that love. Are there any specific poses that are particularly beneficial?There’s the fish pose, which is a gentle supportive back bend that opens the heart. It’s great for the spine and opens up the lungs for a fuller breath. Breathing is also key to wellness. It opens up the airways to increase oxygen intake and it also works directly with the autonomic nervous to keep anxiety and stress to a minimum. This is so important because we already know stress plays such a large part in disease. There are other specific poses that work with frozen shoulder and scar adhesions that slowly allow things to open up. What happens after surgery and treatments is that everybody tends to fold inward because they want to protect themselves. So this allows everyone to kind of unfold. How do women feel after your class?Well, if I cancel my class I get a lot of upset students! Because they trust me. I love my students. Again, it’s why I’m doing this: Because they’re nervous. I’m here to guide them to the right path. There’s a lot of sharing that goes on here, too. This is a community. It’s like they’ve found their tribe. Any big plans for the future?Absolutely. Starting this month, I’ll be offering teacher training certification courses at A Jewel in the Lotus yoga center in Islip, NY, to teach yoga instructors and health care providers how yoga can benefit and heal cancer patients. Learn more about Ross and her yoga classes at breastcanceryoga.com. MORE: 9 Things That Impact Your Breast Cancer Risk
