Category Archives: health & happiness

yoga bear

01 Monday Jun 2009

Posted by in cancer, fitness, health & happiness, yoga

≈ 4 Comments

yoga bear

Remember when I was finally able to start going back to my yoga classes in January? After three major surgeries  since last May, and two months of chemo last summer, I was so looking forward to doing something “normal” again. It was slow going at first as I was still quite stiff and sore, but just being there with all my old yoga buddies (and a few new ones) was so good for me. It’s a lovely ambiance there and my yoga instructor, Ana, is wonderful. Now that I’m back on chemo again it’s quite a struggle to get to class some mornings, and I don’t always make it, but when I do it’s always worth the effort.

Yoga Bear is a national (US) non-profit organization dedicated to providing cancer survivors with more opportunities for wellness and healing through the practice of yoga. The organization connects cancer survivors with yoga classes in their community free of charge. I think it’s a wonderful idea and wish something like this existed in Spain.

Until the end of the day on June 6, 2009, you can blog for a cause and spread the word about the benefits of yoga in improving recovery for cancer survivors. If you blog about your experience with yoga, and link back to YogaBear following these instructions, YogaBear.org could win $6K to support its efforts to provide yoga classes to cancer survivors!

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

small & perfect

31 Sunday May 2009

Posted by in food & drink, health & happiness

≈ 19 Comments

spinach rollup

I haven’t had much appetite lately. Or better to say that I do get hungry but find I can’t eat that much, so I’ve been doing more snacking than making proper meals. Yesterday I decided that if I am going to be eating less (which is a good thing – would love to lose some weight) then as much as possible I’d like my snacks to be “small & perfect”.

This is what I came up with last night. A garlicky spinach & pinenut rollup with cheese. I’m quite into flour tortillas these days because they add a bit of substance without being too heavy. Honestly, after every meal, no matter how light it is, I end up having to go lie down for awhile. As if even eating tires me out.

If you have any good ideas for smallish & light (and really delicious) snacky meals, please send them along …

day ten

24 Sunday May 2009

Posted by in cancer, chemo, fitness, food & drink, friends, health & happiness, home, hope, tapas

≈ 20 Comments

sun_clouds

It’s day ten after the last infusion and the sun is starting to shine again. Well, in terms of how I feel – it’s actually been nice and sunny here for ages. But it’s around this time of the chemo cycle that I can start drinking cool beverages again, take stuff out of the fridge without it hurting my fingers, and stop feeling so bloody weak and bleh. I could tell it was different when I woke up yesterday morning … can’t really explain it, just that things felt less “heavy and bleak” and somehow less “wrong”.  What a relief!

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mute yoga

22 Friday May 2009

Posted by in health & happiness, yoga

≈ 5 Comments

namaste

Dragged myself out of bed early this morning just for yoga and I’m really glad I did, especially as Ana the instructor dragged herself there even though she was ill … and couldn’t speak!  So we had a very unusual class today. I had suggested “yoga charades” but Ana opted for simply clapping her hands twice whenever were about to change positions so that we would know to to look up and see what she was doing next. It worked quite well but I missed her saying the little namaste thingy at the end …

Venero el lugar en ti en el cual reside el universo entero.
Venero el lugar en ti que es amor, verdad, luz y paz.
Cuando tú estás en ese lugar dentro de ti,
y yo estoy en ese lugar dentro de mí,
somos uno solo.

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells.
I honour the place in you which is of love, truth, light and peace.
When you are in that place inside you,
and I am in that place inside me,
we are one.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

time to get up already?

19 Tuesday May 2009

Posted by in cancer, chemo, health & happiness, home, naps, yoga

≈ 14 Comments

sleeping_beauty

I have basically been sleeping since last Thursday afternoon when Flor dropped me off at home after the last infusion.  I always seem to be hit hardest by the chemo during the first five days so I think it’s good thing to just give in and do what my body is demanding. Which is to rest.

When I was on chemo last summer I always had five awful days when I was laid low with nausea and could barely move from bed. After the first two infusions this time (with new anti-nausea meds) I felt a bit tired the first five days but got by with a nap in the afternoon. Little did I know this was because of the dexametasona, which gave me an energy boost but really made me pay for it when I crashed a few days later. This time with only the anti-nausea meds I don’t have nausea but I also have no energy whatsoever. I’ve managed a short walk each day – and even made it to yoga yesterday! – but the days have been punctuated by no less than three 3-hour naps. And you know what? I just give in. Like I have a choice?

But today is day six and I plan to get up and stay up. Wish me luck!