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Mary Kahn turned 50 this year, but 2017 didn’t quite go
to plan after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Here,
she explains how yoga helped her through her greatest
challenge...and continues to support her
My Story...
J
anuary...always a good time to plan...
and I had a truly exciting year planned!
Iyengar Yoga, as always, played a key
part in my plans: I had my weekly yoga
classes, days and weekends booked
in with Hannah Lovegrove, a workshop
on women’s health with Bobby Clennell (at
Hannah’s studio), a week in July in Portugal
with Rachel Lovegrove (yes, Hannah’s sister!)
along with my husband (Bruce) plus a week
in Italy (with Rachel) in September.
It was to be a busy year and not just on
the yoga mat: both Bruce and I were turning
50 and our eldest daughter was getting
married in April.
My birthday at the end of January was
celebrated with a challenging but totally
absorbing weekend taught by Rachel
Lovegrove (at Orange Tree Yoga). This was
followed by an indulgent afternoon tea with
my closest friends. I felt totally blessed
being able to practice yoga and share these
friendships -- I didn’t know then how much
both of these were going to be key in the
months ahead.Unexpected twist
After dancing the night away at a ceilidh
to celebrate my daughter’s wedding, I had
thought a little normality may now appear in
my life. I was, instead, referred to the breast
clinic. I have had cysts and the no nonsense
description of ‘lumpy breasts’ before...but
this time it was different. “There are changes
since your last mammogram,” I was told by
doctors. A few appointments, scans, biopsies
later, I was informed: “You have Grade 2
breast cancer”.
During the to-ing and fro-ing of
appointments and waiting I experienced
every emotion in the book. My promise to
myself was that food would be my medicine
and I would get on my yoga mat every day.
Looking back, it was a time when controlwas taken away in many aspects of my life.
However, what I ate and my yoga practice
were two things clearly within my control. I
was now a statistic, and like one out of every
eight women was facing some life changing
times ahead.Yoga therapy
Not being known for my patience, I needed
to dig deep and take many moments to
just breathe. I went back to the teaching
from Bobby Clennell and found the ‘Yoga
for Breast Care’ book useful and inspiring.
This, coupled with one-to-one lessons
with Hannah Lovegrove, gave me the
confidence to know where to be with my
practice. The preoperative sequences were
all about opening the chest, the armpits and
shoulders and I look back now with fondness
to times I could practice with such freedom.
I also look back with tremendous thanks
for this advice as it paved the way for a
smoother, less traumatic recovery.
Following a consultation with kinesiologist
Rose-Marie Finley I received advice as to what“Support physically
translated to support
mentally, which left me
emotionally stronger.”