Day 7 of the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Yoga Challenge (09-18-2016)

#OvarianCancerAwarenessYogaChallenge

Day 7 – Presented by Farrah @farrahbrown - #Savasana or #CorpsePose

Our last and final day of the challenge! I want to thank you all so much for participating, this has exceeded everything that I thought!

For a traditional savasana, lay flat on your back with arms and legs comfortably apart, with palms up and eyes closed. If you have back problems, you may want a blanket under your knees. Allow your body to melt into the mat. I, personally, like an eye pillow over my eyes and myself wrapped in a sweater or light blanket over me. Take some nice, deep cleansing belly breaths. Imagine every part of your body relaxed, listening to instrumental music may help or just the sound of your own breathing. Stay in this position for a few minutes or longer…just try not to fall asleep! When coming out of the pose, slowly roll over to your right side and then prop yourself up into a sitting position. Allow your body to fully adjust before standing completely up.

Please make sure to honor your body and only do what you are comfortable with. If you are under a doctor’s care, please check with them first before attempting any of the poses.

This pose helps to calm the mind and relieves stress; relaxes the body; reduces headaches, fatigue, and insomnia; and can also help lower blood pressure.

#AWARENESS - The National Cancer Research Foundation (NCRF) has great information about the research they are doing, not only for ovarian cancer, but other types of cancers as well, the link can be seen here (you will have to scroll down to ovarian cancer):

Cancer Types

Some thoughts I would like to leave you with, as in yoga, honor your body and trust your instinct. If something feels off or not right about your body or symptoms you are experiencing: write everything down and call your doctor. I have said it before and it is something I feel very strongly about: we need to be our own best patient advocates. Advocate for your health, treatment, and care…whether it be something benign or serious, like ovarian cancer. Under the same umbrella as being your own advocate, find out what the laws are in your state or country concerning advance directives. 

Do NOT wait until a crisis happens to figure out what you want or don’t want for your care OR worse yet, be unable to state what your wishes are and have someone else make them for you. Cancer and other life threatening illnesses will certainly make you think about these things, but sadly in a second any of our lives could change for a multitude of reasons. My wish for all of you is a long, happy, and healthy life…should life throw a curve ball, I would like it if you were prepared. It is a conversation that no one ever really wants to have, although it is a very important one. 

Thank you for being part of this awareness journey, I have heard from women that never knew the symptoms, so YES, WE made a difference! A HUGE thank you to all of my co-hosts and the generous sponsors who helped to make this dream of mine a reality.

With a humbled, full heart and lots of love,

LindaLee

The hosts and sponsors can be found on Instagram and their corresponding websites, if they have them. Here are the IG names along with the websites for the sponsors:

Hosts:

@lljerseygirl

@yogasloth

@mmaneevese

@teri_yaki

@nicole_rn

@crizia_rn_yoga

@farrahbrown

Sponsors:

@lljerseygirl (Just a yogi trying to make a difference.)

@yogasloth (Home of the Duddhara Strap -- it is a yoga prop that allows you do to so much more in your practice! This wonderful prop was the genius creation of the company owner, Anna, who lives in Canada.)

Yoga Sloth 

@pawpawyogawear (Amazingly soft and comfortable organic cotton yoga wear company based in Sweden. "Swedish design sewn in India by people who receive fair wages for their work.")

PawPaw Yoga Wear

@fourseeapparel (A fun and great yoga, athletic, and casual wear company for both men and women, created by a family based in Colorado.)

Foursee Apparel 

@beadsbymelissa (Beautiful handcrafted mala necklaces, bracelets, and accessories based in Canada)

Beads By Melissa

@liforme (Wonderful eco-friendly yoga mat company with the AlignForMe system and special gripping that took 5 years of research & development to come up with the perfect yoga mat!)

Liforme Yoga Mats

@kulaforkarma (A non-profit that provides training for “yoga, meditation and stress reduction…at no cost to communities in need”; based in the New Jeresy, New York, and Connecticut tri-state area.)

Kula for Karma 

@youromlife (A yoga teacher for classes and retreats with an OM gear line of yoga tanks, based in Massachusetts.)

Your Om Life