By Christine Saari, MA, C-IAYT
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my life shifted in ways I could never have anticipated. The whirlwind of appointments, tests, and decisions was overwhelming. The physical toll of treatment was daunting, but the mental and emotional weight often felt even heavier.
As a yoga therapist, I’d spent years supporting others through challenging times. Suddenly, I found myself on the receiving end of my own advice. Yoga therapy for breast cancer became a lifeline, a constant thread of support that carried me through the ups and downs of this journey.
In sharing my story, my hope is twofold: that clinicians may recognize yoga therapy as a powerful tool for their patients navigating cancer treatment, and that individuals facing breast cancer, or those supporting someone who is, might see yoga therapy as a gentle yet transformative avenue of care.
The Surgery: Partnering with My Body After Mastectomy and DIEP Flap Reconstruction
The first major step in my journey was a single mastectomy followed by immediate DIEP flap reconstruction surgery. This procedure involves using tissue from the lower abdomen, including skin and fat, to rebuild the breast. While it avoids the use of implants, it requires significant recovery due to the dual surgical sites—the chest and the abdomen.
I couldn’t stand upright initially, and my abdomen underwent permanent changes due to the reconstruction process. Yet, what could have been a deeply disheartening experience became an incredibly satisfying process of working in partnership with my body.
Gentle yoga practices became essential during recovery. I focused on mindful movement in a small range of motion. I relied on breath awareness techniques instead of deep breathing, which was contraindicated. These practices anchored me, helping me manage pain and connect with my body in a nurturing way. Meditation was also vital, allowing me to manage pain and taper off medications more quickly than expected.

Healing with Patience, Gratitude, and Yoga Therapy
By a month after surgery, I could function almost normally while respecting movement restrictions like avoiding abdominal engagement and heavy lifting. This process taught me patience and gratitude while reinforcing the importance of listening to my body.
Yoga therapy for breast cancer also shifted my perspective. Rather than dwelling on the changes to my body’s appearance or function, I learned to appreciate all it had endured and its capacity to heal. My doctors even remarked on my unusually swift healing and positive outlook, which I credit to these practices.
The Role of Yoga Therapy in Post-Surgery Recovery
For clinicians, it’s important to understand that recovery from major surgery can be deeply empowering when patients are equipped with tools to support their healing. Gentle yoga practices encourage mobility, may reduce reliance on medications, and help foster a positive relationship with a changing body.
Chemotherapy: Choosing My Path and Enduring Its Challenges
Chemotherapy was, without a doubt, one of the most challenging parts of my cancer journey. It wasn’t just the treatments themselves but the approach I chose to take that made this phase especially grueling: fasting before chemotherapy and cryotherapy during the treatment.
I chose to adopt a fasting protocol—48 hours of water and electrolytes prior to infusion and 24 hours post-infusion—to hopefully protect non-cancerous cells and reduce nausea symptoms. I also decided to use cryotherapy during each infusion, which involved wearing a cooling cap to minimize hair loss and placing frozen ice mitts and socks on my hands and feet to prevent neuropathy.
Cryotherapy was incredibly painful—more so than unmedicated childbirth, in my experience. The cold felt like enduring frostbite for hours, while the weakness and dizziness from fasting left me feeling vulnerable. Infusion days were traumatic, requiring immense physical and emotional endurance.
Balancing Sacrifice with the Benefits of Yoga Therapy
However, I believe these sacrifices came with significant benefits. Although I lost most of my hair despite the cooling cap, I experienced no neuropathy, which I credit to the ice mitts and socks. I often experienced no nausea, which I attribute to the grueling, yet rewarding, fasting protocol.
Feeling well after fasting allowed me to maintain my work schedule—often without missing a day—and fully engage in my personal life. This approach worked for me and aligned with my choices for treatment. It was possible for me to lean on the support of my family and friends instead of isolating myself. In fact, I even had the energy to host a couple of parties during this phase!
Yoga Therapy for Body Image and Emotional Resilience
Another deeply emotional challenge was the loss of my hair. Looking in the mirror and seeing my reflection change so drastically was a painful experience. I found comfort and strength in gentle yoga practices to regulate my nervous system, particularly moving and breathing between Table Pose and Child’s Pose. These simple, nurturing poses helped me feel grounded and connected to my body, even as it transformed in ways I couldn’t control.
Beyond movement, yoga therapy for breast cancer fostered a sense of self-love and acceptance. By connecting to a holistic understanding of myself—not just as a physical being, but as part of something larger—I learned to surrender to the experience. This mindset opened me up to the love and support of others, allowing me to accept their care and kindness even when I felt vulnerable.
Meditation as a Companion to Chemotherapy
Meditation was my primary tool for managing the physical and emotional intensity of chemotherapy. During infusions, I relied on breath-based meditation, mantra meditation, and music meditation to stay present. The rhythmic repetition of my breath and mantras helped me endure the cold and the fatigue, while the sounds of music provided meditative awareness that gave me a focus point beyond the pain.
Yoga Philosophy: Sitting with Discomfort and Finding Purpose During Cancer Treatment
Yoga philosophy, especially the concept of sitting with discomfort, was invaluable. It encouraged me to approach the suffering of fasting and cryotherapy with detachment and curiosity, rather than resistance. I reminded myself of the higher purpose behind these choices: protecting my body and maintaining my connection to the life I cherished.
Leaning on Internal Resources as Chemotherapy Progressed
As the rounds of chemotherapy progressed, the journey became even more challenging. The newness had worn off, and the support I initially received from others naturally tapered. By the later treatments, I was relying heavily on my own internal resources—my meditation practice, yoga philosophy, and my resolve—to endure. Yoga therapy helped me embrace a mindset that, while not erasing the suffering, allowed me to find meaning in it. The ability to sit with pain and remain connected to a greater purpose made all the difference.
Yoga Therapy for Breast Cancer: Healing Beyond the Physical
One of the most powerful aspects of yoga therapy for breast cancer is its ability to address the whole person—not just the physical symptoms, but the emotional, mental, and even spiritual challenges of illness. For me, yoga therapy deepened my connection to my body, helping me see it not as broken, but as resilient and worthy of care.
Breathwork became a bridge between my body and mind, calming my nervous system and helping me find balance on even the hardest days. Gentle poses reminded me of my strength, even when I felt weak. And surrender practices helped me cultivate gratitude—not just for the good days, but for the lessons in the hard ones, too. Emotional pain can be a powerful teacher.
For clinicians, this holistic approach can be life-changing for patients. It’s a way of treating not just the disease, but the person living with it.
A Message to Those Facing Breast Cancer
If you’re reading this and navigating your own cancer journey, or supporting someone who is, I want you to know this: you are not alone. Yoga therapy isn’t a cure, but it is a powerful tool to support you through the many challenges of treatment. It can help you find calm in the storm, strength in the struggle, and moments of peace even in the hardest times.
Start small. Begin with a breath. Seek out a yoga therapist who can guide you through practices tailored to your needs. Know that you don’t have to do this alone.
Yoga Therapy for Breast Cancer: A Call to Providers
As clinicians, you have the unique opportunity to introduce your patients to yoga therapy as a complementary resource. Whether they’re newly diagnosed or years into survivorship, yoga therapy can provide tools for managing physical symptoms, processing emotions, and finding resilience.
Consider partnering with yoga therapists or incorporating basic breathwork and mindfulness techniques into your care plans. Your patients will thank you for it.
Medical providers can explore yoga therapy options from Yoga Therapy Associates for their patients here, while therapists can find resources tailored to their clients here.
Cancer is a Journey
I share this story knowing my journey is far from over. With more surgeries and years of hormone therapy ahead, and the ongoing challenges of early menopause, I continue to lean on yoga therapy as a steady companion through the unknown.
Healing is a process, not a finish line, and I hope my experience reminds others that even in the face of the unknown, there is a path forward—one step, one breath at a time.
Cancer is a journey no one wants to take, but it’s one that can teach lessons about strength, vulnerability, and the human spirit. For me, yoga therapy has been a compassionate companion through every step of the way—a reminder that even in the hardest moments, there is always a way forward.
If this resonates with you, or if you’d like to learn more about how yoga therapy can support you or your patients, let’s start the conversation. Healing happens in connection. Let’s connect.
An Invitation to Healing: Yoga Therapy for Breast Cancer
If you’re navigating the challenges of cancer treatment, trauma, anxiety, or the emotional weight of a medical journey, Christine would be honored to support you. Her private yoga therapy sessions provide a gentle, compassionate space to engage with your healing process through movement, breathwork, or meditation practices tailored to your needs.
You’re warmly invited to book a virtual session with Christine for yourself or a loved one here.
Learn More About Oncology Yoga Therapy
Discover how yoga therapy can support patients with cancer, including a case study on “How Yoga Therapy Helped a Woman Suffering From Metastatic Breast Cancer.”