Join the 2nd Annual Namas Day Yoga Festival

The Second Annual Namas Day is a Philadelphia Area Yoga Festival. Sponsored in part by the Abramson Cancer Center, this full day of workshops, master classes, and information exchange will bring together yogis from all over the Greater Philadelphia Area.

Date: Sunday, October 6th, 2013
Location: Wayne Art Center

Yoga and Cancer

Gentle movement, breathing techniques, meditation, deep relaxation and imagery work to guide patients to an energized yet calm state of peaceful awareness. As fatigue is the number one side effect of cancer treatment, patients spend approximately 60 to 75% of class time in chairs, with some choosing to remain in the chair for the entire class.

Movements can be modified to accommodate all types of limitations.

In addition to these classic elements of yoga, “Yoga Therapy for Cancer Patients” includes concise lectures on the physiology behind yoga and arms patients with information and an understanding of yoga’s workings.

For instance, meditation elicits the “relaxation response,” a term coined by researcher Herbert Benson at Harvard Medical School to describe a phenomenon in which the following physiological changes take place:

• Metabolism decreases
• Heart rate lowers
• Muscles tension is reduced
• Breath rate slows
• Blood pressure decreases
• Chemicals associated with stress, cortisol and adrenalin, are reduced

When patients know these benefits of yoga, they are inspired to practice more frequently.

About Namas Day

Namas Day is brought to you by Philly Area Yoga, a website dedicated to equally supporting yoga and wellness businesses in the Greater Philadelphia Area. We strive to bring together the community, offering an opportunity to strengthen our ties without competition. Representing the community as a whole, we are not owned or operated by any individual yoga studio or business. We strive to connect the students, teachers, studios and wellness businesses; and share these incredible local resources.

This year, Namas Day will donate a portion of proceeds to The Cancer Support Community of Philadelphia (CSCP), an organization dedicated to providing, at no cost to members, a comprehensive and professional program of emotional support and education designed to enhance the mind, body and spirit of people whose lives have been impacted by cancer. CSCP offers programs at Ridgeland in Fairmount Park and other Philadelphia-area locations. Visit their website or more information, www.cancersupport-phila.org.

Learn more about Namas Day Philadelphia, and register for Namas Day here.