Cancer treatment comes with a lot of waiting. Waiting rooms, infusion chairs, scan tables, phone calls with results. These are some of the most stressful moments in treatment and recovery, and they happen in places that weren’t designed for yoga.
That doesn’t mean yoga can’t come with you.
Tari Prinster, founder of yoga4cancer, created Pocket Yoga as a set of small practices you can do anytime, anywhere: in a bed, in a chair, in a parked car, in line at the store. No mat, no teacher, no special clothes. Most take a minute or two. Many can be done without anyone noticing.
Before You Start
- Move slowly and let your breath lead the movement.
- Stop anything that causes pain. Gentle is the point.
- Adapt as you need to. Every practice can be done seated, and many work lying down.
- Check the notes. If you’ve had recent surgery, or have a port, lymphedema, neuropathy, or bone concerns, look for the “Make it yours” notes under each practice.
10 Pocket Yoga Practices
1. Smiling Buddha Eyes
Relax your face. Rest your eyes on one spot. Breathe in as your gaze widens to take in the edges of the room. Breathe out as you gently focus back on your spot. Keep each breath long and smooth.
The Buddha meditates with eyes softly open, taking in all of life while staying focused.
2. Yoga Neck
Sit or stand tall, head centered over your spine. Breathe in and grow taller. Breathe out and let your left ear drift toward your left shoulder. On your next breath in, reach your right fingertips toward the floor. Breathe out and lean a little deeper. Stay for 5 breaths, then switch sides. Repeat 3 or 4 times.
Who you are is always changing. Always opening. Always breathing.
3. Shoulder Spiral
Sit tall, eyes level. Wrap your left arm behind your back, hand toward your right hip. Rest your right fingertips on your left shoulder. Breathe in and sit tall. Breathe out and turn your head and upper body gently to the right. Repeat a few times, then switch arms and sides.
Make it yours: After breast, chest, or shoulder surgery, or with lymphedema or a port, rest both hands on your thighs instead and simply turn your head and chest. Keep the twist small and easy.
Yoga teaches us to see the world from both sides.
4. Bend with the Wind
Stand with your feet rooted like a tree growing into rich soil. Let your spine reach up toward the light, arms resting by your sides. Breathe in and grow taller. Breathe out and bend to the right, keeping both feet grounded. Breathe in back to center. Breathe out to the left. If you have room, lift your arms and sway them like branches.
Make it yours: This works seated too. Keep both sitting bones grounded as you bend.
Be like a tree: always rooting down, always reaching up.
5. Breath Surfing
Each inhale is a wave rising toward its crest. Each exhale is the wave spilling softly onto the sand. Let the exhale be a little longer than the inhale.
This is the most portable practice of all. You can do it in a scanner, in the infusion chair, or lying awake at night.
Ride the waves. Let go of what you don’t need.
6. Gather and Hold
Rest your hands palms up, fingers loosely curled. Breathe in and open your fingers wide, as if receiving a gift. Pause for a count of three. Breathe out slowly as your fingers curl back into your palms. Pause for three. Repeat with easy breaths.
Make it yours: If pausing your breath feels uncomfortable, skip the pause and just breathe naturally with the movement.
Gather life’s gifts with open hands. Hold them. Savor them.
7. Walking to Nowhere
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Breathe in and slowly lift one heel. Breathe out and lower it. Switch feet. Try matching words to your breath. Breathing in: “Walking in place this way.” Breathing out: “I am grateful for today.”
Make it yours: If you have neuropathy or feel unsteady, keep a hand on a wall or chair.
Walking to nowhere is walking into now, the best place to be.
8. One Foot Balance
Stand next to a wall or sturdy chair and rest a hand on it. Fix your eyes on a spot ahead. Shift your weight onto your left foot and lift your right heel, then your right toes, if that feels steady. Count ten slow breaths, then switch sides. As your balance grows, try lightening the touch of your hand.
Make it yours: With neuropathy, dizziness, or low bone density, keep your hand on support the whole time. Balance practice is most useful when it’s safe.
Finding balance is a life’s work.
9. Arch and Bow
Sit or stand with your hands on your hips, elbows pointing back. Breathe in and gently lift your chest and chin, opening across the front of your body. Breathe out, let your elbows widen, and round your back softly as your chin moves toward your chest. Move slowly, one breath for each arch and each bow.
Make it yours: If you have bone concerns or recent abdominal or chest surgery, keep the movement small.
Strength, awareness, and hope grow one breath at a time.
10. Tap Therapy
A take-it-with-you massage. Using your fingertips, gently tap the area just below your collarbones 20 times. Make 20 slow circles at your temples. Tap lightly across your forehead 20 times. Finish by tapping the top of your head with one hand while the other rests anywhere that feels good.
Make it yours: If you have a port, a recent incision, or skin that’s tender from radiation, skip that area and tap somewhere that feels comfortable, like your upper arms or thighs.
The purest comfort is found in small gestures.
Where to Use Pocket Yoga
- Waiting rooms: Smiling Buddha Eyes, Gather and Hold, Breath Surfing
- During a scan or infusion: Breath Surfing (during scans, always follow the technologist’s breathing instructions)
- Stiff after sitting: Yoga Neck, Shoulder Spiral, Arch and Bow
- When you can stand: Bend with the Wind, Walking to Nowhere, One Foot Balance
- Before bed: Breath Surfing, Tap Therapy
Pick one. Practice it today. Tomorrow, try another. Yoga doesn’t have to be an hour on a mat. Sometimes one slow breath is the practice.
For one survivor’s story of using her breath during a CT scan, read Can You Do Yoga in a CT Scanner?.
Pocket Yoga is for general education and doesn’t replace guidance from your medical team. Check with your care team before starting new movement, especially during treatment or after surgery.
Survivors and caregivers: Ready for more? Start with our free course, Introduction to Oncology Yoga: For Every Stage of Treatment and Recovery, or find a y4c-certified teacher near you in our Teacher Directory. For more of Tari’s practices, see her book, Yoga for Cancer.
Yoga teachers: Short practices like these give students something to use between classes. Learn how to teach oncology yoga safely in our Professional Programs including a free course “Exploring Teaching Oncology Yoga“.
FAQ
What is Pocket Yoga? Pocket Yoga is a set of ten short yoga practices created by yoga4cancer founder Tari Prinster. They need no mat or special equipment and can be done seated or standing, almost anywhere.
Can cancer patients do yoga during treatment? Many people can, with the right adaptations. Gentle movement and breathing practices can be done during treatment. Move slowly, skip anything that hurts, and check with your care team before starting.
Can I do yoga in a chair? Yes. Every Pocket Yoga practice can be done seated, and several are designed for waiting rooms and appointments.
What if I have a port, lymphedema, or neuropathy? Use the “Make it yours” notes under each practice. They show how to avoid a port or incision, protect an arm with lymphedema, and stay steady with neuropathy.