By M. English
21st Century Media News Service
“However people are most comfortable,” explains River of Life spokesman Meg Gruwell. “Rick [River of Life co-owner and longtime Whitemarsh resident Rick Robinson] lost his first wife to cancer in 2010 and is offering this class to the community … at no charge … in her honor.
“Dorothea’s yoga therapist training has given her the tools to work with clients who have been diagnosed with medical challenges such as cancer, fibromyalgia, asthma, heart disease, back pain, MS [and] high blood pressure,” Gruwell adds. “Dorothea is a cancer survivor and is well aware of the trials and challenges that occur from date of diagnosis through treatment and beyond.”
According to Gruwell, “Typical yoga poses are not the basis or goal of this class.”
Hatt, who considers herself “a facilitator, not a teacher,” concurs.
“Breath work is essential during cancer treatments as it is the breath that will help you through the stress, anxiety, discomfort and daily living,” she continues. “The focus and discipline of yoga will help to take the mind away from living with cancer and the medical treatments being administered.”
The Erdenheim-based yoga pro brings a lot more than training to her classes. In 1988 — in her mid-30s and training for the demanding Alaskan Iditarod — Hatt had an accident playing recreational racquetball and partially severed her spine. Her already dire medical condition was complicated by a subsequent stroke, which left her unable to speak “except with my eyes.”
Against all odds “and thanks in large part to the top physical shape I was in before the accident,” she emerged from major surgery with an excellent prognosis and returned to work less than three months later.
Then, nearly two years ago, cancer posed a second medical challenge.
“I was diagnosed in December 2011,” Hatt recalls. “The cancer was gone by April 2012, and I’ve been in recovery ever since.” Continued...[1]
“There are so many formats … but I practice the Eastern Kripalu method, and, probably, at least 80 percent of the yoga I do with people is therapeutic,” she says. “Yoga encourages you to listen to messages from your body — physical, emotional, etcetera. Yogic tools include relaxation, meditation, breathing practices and gentle poses that can help with pain, a frequent cancer symptom. As a cancer survivor and former quadriplegic, I can personally identify and attest to this statement.”
River of Life’s upcoming series for cancer patients requires “no former yoga experience or knowledge of yoga.”
Just “comfortable clothing and an open mind,” Hatt says.
Attendees are also invited to relax in the Marcia H. Robinson Cancer Survivors and Meditation Garden, a shady retreat that overlooks the Wissahickon Creek adjacent to the River of Life complex. ROL is located at 321 Morris Road in Whitemarsh’s Fort Washington section.
Additional information is available by calling 215-542-0102, by emailingriveroflifedojo@gmail.com[2] and by visiting www.riveroflifecenter.com[3] .
“However people are most comfortable,” explains River of Life spokesman Meg Gruwell. “Rick [River of Life co-owner and longtime Whitemarsh resident Rick Robinson] lost his first wife to cancer in 2010 and is offering this class to the community … at no charge … in her honor.
“Dorothea’s yoga therapist training has given her the tools to work with clients who have been diagnosed with medical challenges such as cancer, fibromyalgia, asthma, heart disease, back pain, MS [and] high blood pressure,” Gruwell adds. “Dorothea is a cancer survivor and is well aware of the trials and challenges that occur from date of diagnosis through treatment and beyond.”
According to Gruwell, “Typical yoga poses are not the basis or goal of this class.”
Hatt, who considers herself “a facilitator, not a teacher,” concurs.
“Breath work is essential during cancer treatments as it is the breath that will help you through the stress, anxiety, discomfort and daily living,” she continues. “The focus and discipline of yoga will help to take the mind away from living with cancer and the medical treatments being administered.”
The Erdenheim-based yoga pro brings a lot more than training to her classes. In 1988 — in her mid-30s and training for the demanding Alaskan Iditarod — Hatt had an accident playing recreational racquetball and partially severed her spine. Her already dire medical condition was complicated by a subsequent stroke, which left her unable to speak “except with my eyes.”
Against all odds “and thanks in large part to the top physical shape I was in before the accident,” she emerged from major surgery with an excellent prognosis and returned to work less than three months later.
Then, nearly two years ago, cancer posed a second medical challenge.
“I was diagnosed in December 2011,” Hatt recalls. “The cancer was gone by April 2012, and I’ve been in recovery ever since.”
A paralegal who “also worked in the telecommunications field in Russia during the late 1980s, early 1990s,” Hatt has been teaching yoga since 2007 and is convinced of its therapeutic benefits for any number of physical and mental challenges.
“There are so many formats … but I practice the Eastern Kripalu method, and, probably, at least 80 percent of the yoga I do with people is therapeutic,” she says. “Yoga encourages you to listen to messages from your body — physical, emotional, etcetera. Yogic tools include relaxation, meditation, breathing practices and gentle poses that can help with pain, a frequent cancer symptom. As a cancer survivor and former quadriplegic, I can personally identify and attest to this statement.”
River of Life’s upcoming series for cancer patients requires “no former yoga experience or knowledge of yoga.”
Just “comfortable clothing and an open mind,” Hatt says.
Attendees are also invited to relax in the Marcia H. Robinson Cancer Survivors and Meditation Garden, a shady retreat that overlooks the Wissahickon Creek adjacent to the River of Life complex. ROL is located at 321 Morris Road in Whitemarsh’s Fort Washington section.
Additional information is available by calling 215-542-0102, by emailingriveroflifedojo@gmail.com[4] and by visiting www.riveroflifecenter.com[5] .
References
- ^ Continued... (www.montgomerynews.com)
- ^ emailingriveroflifedojo@gmail.com (www.montgomerynews.com)
- ^ www.riveroflifecenter.com (www.riveroflifecenter.com)
- ^ emailingriveroflifedojo@gmail.com (www.montgomerynews.com)
- ^ www.riveroflifecenter.com (www.riveroflifecenter.com)
No comments :
Post a Comment