Dang Thi Quynh Nhu (centre) adjusts body position for a cancer patient in her free yoga therapy class at the Da Nang City General Hospital. (Photo thanhnien.vn) Da Nang (VNS/VNA) - The 5.30am yogaclass was over. Hurriedly wrapping up her mat, sweaty DangThi Quynh Nhu could not spare time for a refreshing shower. After teaching thefirst class of the morning, she headed straight to the hospital.
As she walked towards the oncologydepartment of the Da Nang City General Hospital, her steps hastened at thesight of a crowd gathered along a hallway in front of the hospital auditorium.
At their feet were dozens of worn outsponge yoga mats that most people would have discarded by now, just by theirlooks. There were peelings all over the old, faded mats, and they’d becomeunusually thin.
The second yoga class of the morning wasspecial. It was free, and the students were patients battling the last stagesof cancer.
The class would generally last for an hour,ending at around 7.30am three days every week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays– before the 25-year-old instructor rushed to her office at 8am.
“The reason I choose that class time isthat it is no longer too cold in early morning, and not too hot either. It iscool, which is perfect for the patients,” Nhu told Viet Nam News.
A 70-year-old patient is one of two dozenregular students of this special yoga class. Suffering from breast cancer forthe last ten years, the disease had metastasised all over her body. She’d hadto undergo prolonged radiotherapy and her health had deteriorated day by day.Her arms stiffened, her body ached, and there were times she could not move herbody an inch.
Now, she’s able to raise her arms higherthan she could ever imagine. “It is so simple for anyone else. But it isn’t forsomeone one like me,” she said.
Nhu, a professional yoga trainer, knowsvery well that yoga exercises for ordinary people are simply impossible forcancer patients.
“They are in pain and their bodies are veryweak. That’s why I teach them yoga therapy, with basic exercises of breathingand light moves which help to strengthen their muscles and organs,” Nhu said.
The first class opened on a November morninglast year. Nhu is an office worker during the day and a yoga instructor atdifferent gym centres in the evening. She had wanted to do something meaningfulin the city, so she jumped at a friend’s suggestion that she teaches yoga tocancer patients.
Doctors and nurses at the hospital, to herpleasant surprise, were more than supportive of her idea. They told her thatthe cancer patients, who were very sick and in horrible pain all the time,spent most of their time in bed and hardly got any physical exercise.
“The hospital staff helped me a lot. Theycleared out the chairs in the hallway and laid out the mats for the class as Idid not have enough time to do it, running from my early morning class to thehospital,” Nhu said.
Some patients quit in the middle of theclass as it hurt so bad when they tried to do the moves for the first time, theyoung trainer said.
“But time by time they got accustomed tothe exercises, they felt their health getting better and their body movementsgot easier when practicing yoga. They started calling on others and encouragingothers to join,” Nhu smiled.
The number of the class members varied eachday, between 15 to 30, as not all patients could make it to the class on aregular basis.
“But if there are ones who want topractice, I will teach them,” Nhu said.
“I don’t know about the future, but yes, I willtry to keep the class running as long as I can.”-VNA
As she walked towards the oncologydepartment of the Da Nang City General Hospital, her steps hastened at thesight of a crowd gathered along a hallway in front of the hospital auditorium.
At their feet were dozens of worn outsponge yoga mats that most people would have discarded by now, just by theirlooks. There were peelings all over the old, faded mats, and they’d becomeunusually thin.
The second yoga class of the morning wasspecial. It was free, and the students were patients battling the last stagesof cancer.
The class would generally last for an hour,ending at around 7.30am three days every week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays– before the 25-year-old instructor rushed to her office at 8am.
“The reason I choose that class time isthat it is no longer too cold in early morning, and not too hot either. It iscool, which is perfect for the patients,” Nhu told Viet Nam News.
A 70-year-old patient is one of two dozenregular students of this special yoga class. Suffering from breast cancer forthe last ten years, the disease had metastasised all over her body. She’d hadto undergo prolonged radiotherapy and her health had deteriorated day by day.Her arms stiffened, her body ached, and there were times she could not move herbody an inch.
Now, she’s able to raise her arms higherthan she could ever imagine. “It is so simple for anyone else. But it isn’t forsomeone one like me,” she said.
Nhu, a professional yoga trainer, knowsvery well that yoga exercises for ordinary people are simply impossible forcancer patients.
“They are in pain and their bodies are veryweak. That’s why I teach them yoga therapy, with basic exercises of breathingand light moves which help to strengthen their muscles and organs,” Nhu said.
The first class opened on a November morninglast year. Nhu is an office worker during the day and a yoga instructor atdifferent gym centres in the evening. She had wanted to do something meaningfulin the city, so she jumped at a friend’s suggestion that she teaches yoga tocancer patients.
Doctors and nurses at the hospital, to herpleasant surprise, were more than supportive of her idea. They told her thatthe cancer patients, who were very sick and in horrible pain all the time,spent most of their time in bed and hardly got any physical exercise.
“The hospital staff helped me a lot. Theycleared out the chairs in the hallway and laid out the mats for the class as Idid not have enough time to do it, running from my early morning class to thehospital,” Nhu said.
Some patients quit in the middle of theclass as it hurt so bad when they tried to do the moves for the first time, theyoung trainer said.
“But time by time they got accustomed tothe exercises, they felt their health getting better and their body movementsgot easier when practicing yoga. They started calling on others and encouragingothers to join,” Nhu smiled.
The number of the class members varied eachday, between 15 to 30, as not all patients could make it to the class on aregular basis.
“But if there are ones who want topractice, I will teach them,” Nhu said.
“I don’t know about the future, but yes, I willtry to keep the class running as long as I can.”-VNA
VNA
