Phase 3 · Something That Carries On

Part of the 8-Week Supportive Yoga Program After Cancer Treatment

25-Minute Yoga Sequence to Keep After Cancer Treatment

Weeks seven and eight and beyond, because in this research the benefit is tied to what continues.

The most useful thing to know about this area is that the effects fade when the practice stops. In the one trial that followed people after an eight-week programme ended, the measurements had started going the other way four weeks later. So the last two weeks aim at something you would still do in a difficult month rather than at a finish line.

25 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For weeks seven and eight, three times a week, and afterwards for as long as it is useful. Twenty-five minutes. A chair, a wall, a strap and cushions. For after your primary treatment has finished, not during chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This is supportive care alongside your follow-up, and it is not a cancer treatment: anything new or unexplained goes to your oncology team first. Never in a heated room. If you have lymphoedema or had lymph nodes removed, keep weight off the arms and hands in the poses, and raise the affected arm on cushions during the final rest. Bone metastases, active treatment, immunosuppression, recent surgery or an unclear lymphoedema all need medical clearance before you start.

Fatigue

The same components in a shorter form. Short and continuing beats long and finished.

Sleep

The ending is unchanged from week one and it is the part with the sleep evidence behind it.

Continuing

In the trial that measured it, gains had begun to reverse four weeks after the programme ended. That is the argument for this sequence existing.

A little standing

Eight minutes upright, chair in reach, room cool and never heated.

Tadasana

2 min

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, weight even, breathing out a little longer than in.

The familiar opening. Familiar is what makes a practice survive a bad fortnight.

Learn more about Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

2 min

Upward Salute

Arms overhead as far as they go, comparing the two sides.

Overhead reach, kept because it disappears quietly on the treated side if nothing asks for it.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Virabhadrasana II

1 min each side

Warrior II

Wide stance, front knee softly bent, hand on a chair if you like.

One standing pose that asks the legs to hold something.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Uttanasana

2 min

Standing Forward Bend

Knees soft, folding from the hips, coming up slowly.

The hinge, and an unhurried way back up.

Learn more about Uttanasana

Lower down

Nine minutes on the floor and on your back, ending the same way as always.

Marjaryasana

2 min

Cat Pose

Hands and knees, or forearms on a chair seat, or seated over the thighs. Rounding on the out breath.

Whichever version keeps weight off the arms today. All three count.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

2 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath.

The other direction, and the one a treated chest needs more.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Bharadvajasana 1

90 sec each side

Bharadvaja's Twist

A gentle seated turn, still small, still without force.

Rotation, unchanged in week eight from week one. That is deliberate.

Learn more about Bharadvajasana 1

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

1 min, three times

Bridge Pose

Hips lifting a little, arms resting rather than pushing. Or hips on a block, lifting nothing.

The one thing here with effort in it, and it has a version with none.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

The ending

Eight minutes, exactly as in week one.

Viparita Karani

4 min

Legs Up the Wall

Legs up the wall, or knees bent with the feet down.

Unchanged. By now it should need no instructions.

Learn more about Viparita Karani

Savasana

4 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, covered, affected arm raised on cushions if you have lymphoedema. Get up slowly.

Four minutes, and a practice you can still do next month. That is the whole point of this sequence.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 3 · Weeks 7 to 8

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Something That Carries On, the third phase of the 8-Week Supportive Yoga Program After Cancer Treatment. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week for weeks seven and eight, then keep it for as long as it fits, with the ten-minute evening version for the difficult days. Eight weeks is where this starts working rather than where it stops.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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Make it yours

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