While many healthcare interventions follow standardized protocols, Oncology Yoga is fundamentally unsuited to rigid codification. This is not a limitation—it is a reflection of the practice’s strength: its ability to adapt to the complex, evolving, and deeply personal nature of cancer and survivorship.
1. Cancer Is Not a Single Disease
Cancer encompasses over 100 distinct diseases, each with its own pathology, treatment plan, and recovery trajectory. A person diagnosed with breast cancer undergoing radiation will have entirely different needs than someone recovering from colon cancer surgery or managing metastatic disease. A single, codified yoga sequence cannot safely or effectively serve this range of needs.
2. Treatment Stages Require Different Approaches
The physical and emotional experience of someone actively undergoing chemotherapy is vastly different from that of a long-term survivor or an individual receiving palliative care. Oncology Yoga must respond to these distinct stages with appropriate levels of intensity, support, and goals—flexibility that codified models cannot provide.
3. Side Effects Are Variable and Unpredictable
Cancer treatments often result in diverse and sometimes unpredictable side effects, including fatigue, neuropathy, lymphedema, bone loss, joint pain, limited mobility, anxiety, depression, and more. These effects differ not only from person to person but even from day to day. Teachers must assess and adapt in the moment to ensure safety and efficacy—something a fixed sequence or script cannot accommodate.
4. Yoga Is a Responsive, Observational Practice
Unlike pharmaceutical interventions or standardized rehabilitation protocols, yoga is not prescriptive. It relies on observation, intuition, and real-time adaptation. Effective Oncology Yoga teaching requires an ability to assess students’ condition, energy levels, and emotional states—and to modify practices accordingly.
5. Trauma-Informed Care Is Not Scripted
Many cancer patients carry physical and emotional trauma. Oncology Yoga teachers must apply trauma-informed principles with sensitivity and responsiveness. Building trust, offering choice, and fostering empowerment cannot be dictated by a protocol—they require a human connection that is fluid and deeply personal.
Conclusion
Oncology Yoga is evidence-informed, not protocol-driven. It draws from the latest research in exercise oncology, cancer care, and trauma-informed practice, but it is applied through professional discernment, adaptability, and compassionate presence. Codifying Oncology Yoga would limit its effectiveness, reduce safety, and diminish the quality of care.
Instead of fixed list of poses, Oncology Yoga empowers trained professionals to use sound judgment, clinical awareness, and yogic principles to meet each individual exactly where they are—on any given day, in any phase of their journey.