Yoga Bear Lends Cancer Survivors a Mat

You’ve heard about lending a helping hand. What about lending a mat? A yoga mat, that is. This is exactly what the non-profit organization Yoga Bear does.

Founded by San Francisco native Halle Tecco, Yoga Bear is a grassroots organization set up to provide cancer survivors with “more opportunities for wellness and healing through the practice of yoga.”

Yoga for Cancer Survivors

Yoga Bear offers free yoga classes for cancer survivors nationwide by networking with yoga studios that are willing to donate an extra space in class for a cancer survivor. Cancer survivors interested in taking free yoga classes at one of the partner studios can go to the Yoga Bear website and fill out a form to get matched up with the nearest studio. More than 100 studios nationwide are currently participating in the program.

The Yoga Bear classes are only for cancer survivors in the post-treatment phase. Most “regular” yoga classes are not suitable for cancer patients currently undergoing cancer treatments. Cancer patients and cancer survivors still in the early recovery phase are better off working with a trained yoga therapist to get a yoga therapy program that is targeted to their condition.

Yoga Bear’s website also contains many community features, including videos, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a social networking component where users can create a profile and interact with other cancer survivors and supporters.

In some of the Yoga Bear videos, cancer survivors share how yoga has helped them reintegrate and regain their strength and balance after their cancer treatments. As one cancer survivor, Natalie, puts it, by getting cancer survivors into yoga classes, Yoga Bear helps cancer survivors stay survivors.

Here is a list of the yoga studios featured in the Yoga Bear network. If you don’t see a studio close to you, approach one of your local studios and ask them if they are interested in joining the Yoga Bear network. Many yoga teachers and studios will be happy to lend not just a helping hand, but also a mat.