The Power of Pilates and Posture
Written by Lisa Brezel
My name is Lisa Brezel and I am writing to tell my story of breast cancer and share how my practice of yoga and pilates had healing power. I had a double mastectomy after pretty awful chemo and I chose not to do reconstruction. I found that yoga and pilates kept my shoulders open, my posture looking good, and my spirits high. Exercise saved my soul in many ways. As long as I had the strength to get out of bed, I was exercising. I took a picture of myself in my legs out pose, a sign of accomplishment throughout my journey.
I encourage anyone going through a similar struggle to find a physical outlet that allows you to connect with you pre-cancer self. Cancer takes away so much of you, and I took every chance to get on my mat to remind myself of who I was before cancer and who I will be after.
Looking left to right: The first four pictures below were taken after all 4 of my chemo sessions. The fifth picture is me three weeks after my double mastectomy when I was back at my yoga studio! And the last picture is me on the last day of radiation.
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