A new study from researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine shows that yoga can benefit ethnic minority breast cancer survivors, particularly African-Americans and Hispanics, as well as those from under-served communities.

During the 12 week study, researchers compared quality of life measures between two groups of women with early stage breast cancer; one group took a weekly yoga class and the other group didn't. More women in the non-yoga group experienced a worsening of social well-being compared to the yoga group. The yoga classes seemed to offer social support, which may have helped counteract loneliness and isolation, which is common after a cancer diagnosis.

The women in the yoga group participated in a gentle, seated form of yoga based on Integral Hatha Yoga, and classes were provided in both English and Spanish.

I promised two weeks ago when I wrote Sunday Seven: Seven ways to fine-tune your health that I'd be back to offer seven more grand ideas for optimizing your physical and emotional well-being. Here I am, with a mini-list of suggestions I gathered a while back from a newspaper article. If you don't already practice these strategies, then why not give them a try.

Eat breakfast

It's the most important meal of the day -- really. A breakfast high in complex carbohydrates and protein creates energy. Energy kick-starts metabolism and helps our bodies burn fat. We all know what fat does. It weighs us down and contributes to all kinds of health problems.

Get your sleep

Sleep restores our bodies. Sleep-deprived folks secrete more leptin, a protein hormone that increases appetite. Larger appetites increase food consumption. Increased food consumption spikes the risk of obesity. And so on. You know the drill.

I've been doing yoga for a few years now, and even though holding downward dog can sometimes be a bit torturous, I do it anyway because it helps me calm my mind and put things in perspective, if for no other reason than I'm can't think of any but how much I want to collapse into a resting posture. I truly believe the world would be a better place if we all did yoga and took time out to calm our minds and let go, even for an hour a week.

So I think yogaHOPE is a great idea -- it's a non-profit outreach program offering yoga classes to women in recovery. The HOPE in the name stands for Healing Ourselves through Personal Empowerment. Yoga not only has benefits for the body -- it helps restore self esteem and body image, and helps improve energy and strength dramatically. Yoga can empower -- I've never felt more invigorated and confident then when I walk out of a class. Do you agree?

I was going to write a blog later in my series of blogs on toxins and stress and disease from the studies that I have been reading for the last month. But since a comment was made about stress and whether it has a correlation to disease to the previous blog I wrote on toxins and stress creating disease in our bodies, I will jump ahead and share some research I found on the relation of stress and disease. A relation to stress and disease has been researched by many doctors, psychologists, and medical research facilities and conclusions are that stress does several things to the body causing it to shut down in areas that can effect the body with disease and illness.

Do the common phrases, Tension Headache, Upset Stomach, Shaky Nerves, Tight Chest, ring a bell? Studies showed that work place stress has created an increase in heart disease and high blood pressure as well as making the body more susceptible to flu and viruses. It also has shown that stress can be related to Type 2 Diabetes as well as obesity. "Stress in general can disrupt the body's ability to process glucose, especially in people whose genetics make them vulnerable", said Richard Surwit of the Duke University Medical Center in a research article in the November/December issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

You can receive many benefits when you practice relaxation techniques. Some of these include lowering your blood pressure, reducing muscle tension, enhancing the immune system, better balance, improved memory and increased energy. It can also potentially improve concentration and cause you to be more efficient in daily activities.

1. Yoga -- is defined by Wikpedia -- its ultimate goal is the attainment of an eternal state of perfect consciousness. I find it to be a great relaxation technique to try. It really seemed to clear my mind by the breathing and concentrated movements. It brings yourself into a state of relaxation by blocking everything out and concentrating on what your body is doing.
2. Tai-Chi -- This type of relaxation technique is something that I have never tried. MayoClinc.com describes --Tai chi as a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise. To do tai chi, you perform a defined series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner. Each movement or posture flows into the next without pausing.
3. Music -- We know how music can induce many emotions to surface. Emotions from the past for instance, can't some songs just bring you back to how you felt in that past moment? It makes sense to me that forms of music can calm and relax.
4. Exercise -- This relaxation technique can mean anything from cardio, weight training and low impact exercises. It really depends on the individual, some will get lots of stress relief when a training consists of higher impact workouts. Don't forget walking -- its one thing we can all try to do more of.
5. Meditation -- I'm no expert on meditation but I have listened to a few relaxation technique tapes after my breast cancer diagnoses. It seemed to help me relax. I never stuck with it though for some reason. I look at meditation as something that can be found in your own special way. I thought you had to just sit still and listen to music and try not to think -- not a very simple task as I'm sure we all know. I find a nice bath with a book and glass of wine as my form of mediation. You can find yours too.
6. Hypnosis --Again this type of relax technique is one that I have never experienced. It is said to be able to put a person into a deep relaxation stage very quickly and can relieve stress.
7. Massage -- This technique I'm happy to say that I indulge. Especially foot massages, it relaxes my whole body. Its a way to give yourself a much needed gift.

Remember before doing any exercises or relaxation techniques please talk to your doctor to make sure its safe -- especially if you have any medical conditions.

Surely, everyone can benefit in some way from yoga. Women with breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast, however, may benefit greatly from a tailored program featuring gentle yoga postures, breathing exercises, and meditation.

The great benefits: less pain and fatigue and more vigor, relaxation, and acceptance," says Dr. James W. Carson from Duke University Medical Center and lead of a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Carson says women with advanced breast cancer need effective methods for curbing cancer-related symptoms.

The pilot study included 13 women who attended yoga classes once per week for eight weeks. The women, with an average age of 59 and with diagnoses occurring an average of seven years earlier, were helped significantly. They felt more invigorated and gained a greater sense of acceptance. They also found they felt better not only on the day they practiced yoga but the next day too.

This study offers the first, small-scale evidence for yoga's potential benefits for women with limited life expectancy.

When she asked her teenage daughters whether or not she should accept the American Cancer Society's Mother of the Year award, the response was a resounding, "Mom, of course." So Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, accepted the anti-cancer honor this week and told ABC's George Stephanopolous on Sunday why she is a good mom and a healthy role model.

"They see that I go running, I get on my bicycle, I do yoga, pilates, whatever else I do," Ferguson said. "Do you know what they do? Get up off the sofa, turn the television off, walk to work, walk around the block, more vegetables, more fruits at school, less soda pops, less fast food."

Ferguson, 47, says cancer prevention starts with good role modeling -- which is exactly what she has done as mom to princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

"I can safely say one of the best things I've done is be a good mother," Ferguson said.

Ferguson, author of memoir My Story and spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, first became known as the wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The pair divorced in 1996, but Ferguson's positive public persona has remained untarnished.

Calorie counting may be a bit tedious for some -- like me -- but for others, it may be just the ticket for the management of weight and overall health.

Charles Stuart Platkin, author of the new book The Diet Detective's Count Down, takes calorie counting one step further and offers the exercise equivalent of a nutritional label.

His 341-page book offers charts that detail the number of calories, fats, and carbohydrates in more than 7,500 foods and drinks and then translates these details into what it takes, in terms of minutes, to burn the calories with walking, running, biking, swimming, yoga, or dance.

Platkin, a syndicated nutrition and fitness columnist, says he is not trying to encourage people to count every calorie consumed in a day and to exercise until each calorie melts away. His goal is to help those who exceed their daily calorie budget -- the number of calories they can eat each day without gaining weight.

The Count Down goes like this -- you consume one martini at your New Year's celebration, pushing you beyond your allotted calories for the day. All you have to do is walk it off the next day in a mere 71 minutes. Or you can run it off in just 39 minutes. If a single cracker with one slice of Genoa salami and cheese tempts your palate, go for it -- then plunge into a 55-minute yoga class.

Before taking a stab at the diet detective's approach, there are several considerations to take into account. First, the book is based on a 155-pound person. A person carrying more weight would burn more calories per minute, and a person carrying less weight would burn less. Second, a person's basal metabolic rate (BMR) must be calculated -- Platkin offers formulas for this task -- so it's clear how much activity output is required by each person. And third, the exercise equivalents are based on scientifically researched metabolic equivalent tables that try to measure what is being burned versus a person's resting metabolic rate. So this is not just a crazy gimmick. It's science -- with a touch of personal perspective too.

Platkin, clinically obese for most of his life, lost 50 pounds a few years ago and came to realize that people just don't know what a calorie is. He wishes the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) would include exercise recommendations on food labels and says, "I think that we are so confused in general as a population as to what's healthy and what's not, we confuse the term healthy with low-calorie. Sometimes they don't mesh. There's so much confusion out there that I think that it needs to be more defined. We need to have some sort of reference points so that people can make decisions before they consume."

Until the FDA delivers on Platkin's wish, he is taking matters into his own hands for those who choose to borrow from his wisdom.

Some of his wisdom includes eating calorie bargains (air-popped popcorn) instead of calorie rip-offs (potato chips) and substituting mustard for mayonnaise on a burger -- it will save 2,000 calories per month for someone who eats fast food three times per week.

Platkin's hope is simple -- he wants people to ask themselves whether certain foods are worth the cost. Is it worth a 54-minute run to burn the 510 calories in a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese? How about a 144-minute walk to rid yourself of a Subway six-inch Meatball Marinara sandwich?

It's a worthy hope, I think -- although this method is still a bit tedious for me. I think I will stick with my own formula -- eating moderate portions of what I enjoy and intensely exercising several times per week. I don't need to know how many calories I am consuming. I don't even need to know how much I weigh. As long as my clothes fit and my fitness routine keeps me sweating, I'll be a happy girl.

A plant-based diet plentiful in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, combined with stress management techniques, slowed or stopped the spread of prostate cancer, according to a pilot study conducted by University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center researchers. A diet with less meat, dairy products and refined carbohydrates was encouraged.

During the six-month study, results found nine out of 10 men had a reduction in their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) rates.

To reduce stress, the study participants were taught meditation, yoga and tai chi exercises. When the six-month study was completed, four out of 10 men experienced an absolute reduction in their PSA levels. You can read the abstract concerning this study, Potential Attenuation of Disease Progression in Recurrent Prostate Cancer Progression With Plant-based Diet and Stress Reduction here. You can access the entire study for a fee.

For cancer survivor and Tai Chi, Yoga and Lebed Method teacher Dawn Stasko, her classes lead to more than a physical improvement in balance, a relaxing means of reducing stress, a boost to the immune system and increased energy for participants. It is a place for newly-diagnosed cancer patients, cancer patients undergoing treatments and cancer survivors to bond and find group support. Stasko accepts the initial non-belief of newcomers that Tai Chi and Yoga could possibly make a difference in the quality of their life, and is touched when they discover the classes do help.

"For me it is pure joy to have someone come into my class and say how can this help," she said with tears in her eyes and in a broken voice. "They listen to me and they are kind of hesitant and skeptical, and at the end of the class I get a 'thank you' and that makes the biggest difference in the world."

Valerie Cutshall features the benefits cancer survivors feel they have received by participating in Stasko's classes in Yoga, tai chi classes help cancer patients survive.

Tai Chi is referred to as a graceful form of exercise and described as meditation in motion. Yoga, when used as a form of alternative therapy to enhance flexibility, relaxation or stress relief, is a combination of breathing exercises, physical postures, and meditation. The Lebed Method focuses on healing through a therapeutic exercise and dance movement program designed for women who have had breast cancer, for all cancer patients who have undergone cancer treatments and for lymphedema. For more information, visit the Lebed Method.

The Mayo Clinic has created the Complementary & Alternative Medicine Center that publishes articles about Yoga, Tai Chi and other alternative therapies that can be incorporated to complement conventional cancer treatments.

You can find Tai Chi and Yoga classes in cities throughout the United States. To locate a class in your community, contact the local hospital, community center, community college, the YMCA or YWCA, health club or wellness center.

For fitness, the practice of yoga promotes balance, flexibility and strength. America loves yoga, according to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal. The top four reasons given for the interest in yoga were: flexibility, stress reduction, strength, fitness and conditioning. As yoga grows in popularity, it is also becoming Americanized, and there are a number of hybrid yoga practices springing up like: Acu-yoga, Yogilates, Disco Yoga, Hip-Hop Yoga, Punk Rock Yoga, Aqua Yoga, Doga (with your dog), Yoganetics, Soul FlowYoga, Freestyle Vinyasa Flow, Sonic Yoga, Yogic Arts (yoga combined with martial arts) and Nude Yoga -- which is a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on who you are asking.

Of the survey participants who were asked , these were the top four good/bad statements made to the increasing popularity of yoga in this country:

• "Americans need to recognize that practicing yoga doesn't conflict with mainstream religious values."
• "The commercialization of yoga is a good thing. It attracts many more people to the practice who otherwise wouldn't know about it."
• "Innovation is good for yoga. The many different styles that are evolving make the practice accessible to everyone."
• "Yoga in America is becoming too commercialized."
  

Is yoga the current fitness fad? Maybe. Will it fade in popularity? I suspect it will for those who flitter from one new trend to the next new trend. But, for example, there have been years of research into the potential benefit of yoga in improving the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors, and the National Cancer Institute has recently awarded M. D. Anderson a $2.4 million dollar grant to study the benefits of Tibetan yoga for cancer patients and survivors.

According to M. D. Anderson researchers, cancer and its treatment are associated with considerable distress, impaired quality of life, poor mental health and reduced physical function. For thousands of years, Tibetans have been practicing a form of yoga that might help reduce treatment-related side effects that accumulate over time for cancer patients. As research continues, yoga may become an accepted alternative and complementary therapy incorporated into mainstream medical practice for the treatment of disease and improving health.

Realistically, I am not certain that some of the trendy hybrid forms of yoga will endure over time, but the yoga that has been around for thousands of years is here to stay.

Caregivers are quiet heroes, helping and caring without asking for anything in return. Caregivers step in when there is a need and they bring with them a sense of hope and comfort during the challenges facing a loved one diagnosed with cancer. In the selflessness of love, they sometimes forget to take time to care for themselves. To avoid caregiver depression, frustration, resentment, illness and burnout, here are six ways a cancer caregiver can care for themselves while caring for someone else:

Take a daily walk. Exercise is a great stress reducer. Taking the time to stroll through the neighborhood or local park is like a deep calming breath for the body and emotions. If you are a jogger, go jogging. The point is to get away for a moment, get the body moving, and enjoy a change of scenery as you go.

Keep a journal. Daily journaling is a way to outwardly express your thoughts and emotions and can act as a relief value for emotions that are building up inside. It can also give you a better perspective. Sometimes we need to see what we are thinking and feeling to sort it all out.

Pursue personal interests. If you have a hobby or activity -- like writing poetry, photography, crafts, painting, knitting, reading, gardening, or listening to music, that has always been fun and brought you a sense of joy and contentment -- make time each day for your personal pleasurable pursuits.

Maintain friendships. We need our connection to others for the enjoyment of company and for comfort and support. Make regular weekly dates with friends and meet for coffee. Join a book club or start a book club. If there is a caregiver support group in your area, or a support group for families affected by cancer, consider joining.

Learn ways to relax. Try breathing exercises and muscle relaxation exercises. Schedule a massage. Take a weekly yoga or tai chi class. Cannot get away? Pop in a yoga or tai chi video and follow along.

Make your health a priority. Eat well-balanced meals, get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids. Find inspirational quotes that lift your spirits and display them where you can read them each day. Remember to laugh each day. Hug and be hugged.

To offer the very best care for your loved one, you must take care of yourself too. It's not selfish, it's wise.

If you are a caregiver that has found unique fun ways to take a moment to take care of yourself while taking care of someone you love, please share your ideas with other caregivers in the comment area following this post. If you are a reader with fun tips or ideas on ways a caregiver can take care of themselves while caring for someone else, please share in the comment area. We are all in this together, and we will get through the challenges and struggles of cancer much better with each other's support and encouragement.

Why don't more people stick with an exercise routine? Perhaps in part because it gets repetitious and boring. Exercise can be a lonely activity and it is more difficult to keep yourself motivated. Personal trainers have always been a remedy for both of the aforementioned problems, but realistically, how many of us can afford a personal trainer?

According to iTrain, with an MP3 player you can now download customized workouts with a personal trainer. The downloads are set to music and combines modern technology, entertainment, and health in a portable format. It doesn't matter what kind of workout you enjoy, iTrain seems to offer a program. There is iTread, iCycle, iClimb, iStrength, iSculpt Traditional and iSculpt Ballet, iStretch, iTeenTrain Hip Hop, iTeenTrain Kick Boxing.

Grace Lazenby, a fitness expert with 15 years in the Hollywood training industry, realized that MP3 players might be an excellent means of offering her fitness and training to the masses.

In addition to Lazenby, other fitness experts who keep you going through your workout include yoga instructor Heath House, boxing expert and member of the US Air Force boxing team Nick Narvaez, boxing expert and Group Exercise Instructor of the Year Keith Irace, and member of the Brazilian National Team of Gymnastics.

Anything that adds to the enjoyment of a workout is a bonus, and I can see the benefits of iTrain for all ages, but one of my first thoughts when I read about iTrain is that it makes an excellent gift for a teen or young adult.

via Adam at Netscape

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott announced that the government has contributed a $10 million dollar grant towards the new Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre at Melbourne's Austin Hospital. Olivia Newton-John, a breast cancer survivor, believes in the need for a wellness center where cancer patients can find support, connect with other cancer patients, practice tai chi, do yoga, or receive a massage.

"Whatever spiritual belief you have, the mind has a very important role in healing. So if it is meditation, if it is prayer, if it is chanting -- whatever you believe -- as long as it is something you feel strongly about that can keep you in a positive spirit," Newton-John said.

The estimated cost for the new center is $50 million dollars in total. Olivia Newton-John has contributed $2 million dollars to the building fund, and can now add another $10 million dollars from the government grant. Olivia states that the total funds raised to date is about $25 million dollars, and she hopes work can begin in building the new center as early as 2008.

In the meantime, another project that reflects Olivia Newton-John's mind-body perspective on healing is the Gaia Retreat & Spa, located in Byron Bay near Bangalow, with its own sustainable organic vegetable and herb garden, orchard, and rainforest regeneration program. The Gaia Retreat & Spa describes itself as a place guests can renew, refresh, and restore mind, body and soul.

AOL Diet & Fitness is featuring Prevention's 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever, and it is by far one of the most creative and common sense approaches to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight -- and in hedging your bets with good nutrition against being diagnosed with diseases like cancer. The tips are from registered dietitians in private practice and respected in their field as heads of specialty practice groups for the American Dietetic Association.

Whether you are someone who can only make a small practical change -- or -- looking for ideas on how to get more veggie-goodness into your day -- or -- easy tricks to cut calories -- or -- healthy low-cal dinner ideas if you don't feel like cooking -- there is something for everyone in the list of 100 smartest diet tips ever.

Some of the creative tips include:

• Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate.
• Keep a food journal. The experts swear this really works wonders.
• Mix three different cans of beans and some diet Italian dressing. Eat this three-bean salad all week.
• Dance to music with your family in your home.
  

Some common sense tips include:

• Fat-free isn't always your best bet. The experts explain why.
• Skipping breakfast will leave you tired and craving naughty foods by midmorning. They give you a quick nutritious breakfast recipe.
• Make vegetables more attractive by avoiding mushy limp vegetables in the refrigerator crisper drawer with ready-to-go bags of frozen vegetables.
• Exercise. It curbs your appetite.
• Drink water frequently. They say it is not how much water you drink but how often. Dehydration slows your metabolism.
  

The last 15 tips are myth busters that take you from fiction to fact and the pitfalls to avoid when it comes to getting the most in diet health benefit. To find out more, go to 100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever for the complete list.