Answering the Question – Now What? Where To Go From Here?
You or a loved one is just finishing or has completed cancer treatment. You want to get back to activity, but are not sure where to start.
You want to feel strong again, but need support.
You know your body is different post treatment and you don’t want to push too hard.
You may not even be sure what pushing too hard actually means any more.
You may be asking “what is enough?” “Is enough enough?” or “Is enough too much?”
WELCOME TO CALM.STEADY.STRONG
The Calm.Steady.Strong program is a simple and effective approach that is safe, supported and based on science.
The University of Calgary studied the initial 7 week program from 2002 until 2008. Benefits include physical (reduced fatigue), fitness (enhanced flexibility), and psychosocial (mental well-being) for improving mood and reducing fatigue.
I have since added to the program to support you in getting back to the active life you want to have. An active life with less pain, and greater connection.
The Calm.Steady.Strong Cancer Recovery Program begins slowly and mindfully. Based on gentle therapeutic yoga, it focuses on easy movement, breathing, and relaxation.
It helps you relieve stiffness. It supports tissue affected by treatment. It helps mobilize and realign scar tissue. It improves your mobility and stability.
It gently reconnects you to your body and to your breath, growing trust and resiliency.
At the end of the program you will feel more confident and more at ease. You will feel more mobile, stable and strong.
I am Susi Hately, your Instructor
I have a BSC. Kinesiology and have been helping people reduce and eradicate pain for 25 years. I have also been a bridge between the medical world and yoga. Two of my programs have been studied at the University of Calgary and both showed benefit for supporting people and their wellbeing.
I have been training teachers and health professionals in yoga therapy since 2001 and am the lead teacher in the highly successful C-IAYT Accredited Functional Synergy Yoga Therapy Program.
As a young student of yoga, I began to combine the ancient practices of yoga with my BSc. Kinesiology at a Vancouver pain clinic. Soon after I was asked by Olympic sports teams to help their athletes optimize their function for better performance. By designing therapy programs that utilize sound anatomical principles of kinesiology with the time-honoured practices of gentle yoga, I have enabled people to find pain relief, feel good, and rediscover vitality in their lives.
While each person experiences treatment differently, there is one common theme.
Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and the treatment process as a whole, can hammer away one’s inner sense of self.
It is that innate part of us that is our inner barometer. That part of us that says when to push. When to go slow. When to stop. When to rest.
It is really common for this inner sense to go totally screwy with treatment.
When this part of us is “not working” it is difficult to determine what actually does works. Is this fatigue telling me to sleep, or is it because I just need to get moving? Is this tug just a tugging of my tissue or is it a possible recurrence?
As a result, there can be a lack of clarity about how much exercise is enough or too much. I often get questions like – How do I know if I am doing enough? Is this too much strength work? Too much mobility work? What is too much?
This can lead people to overdo and push too hard.
This can lead to increased fatigued and injury.
Resting and relaxing becomes more difficult.
Restorative sleep becomes more fleeting.
Getting out of bed becomes harder.
Life feels more constrained and constricted.
I’ve made it my focus to help people regain this inner sense of knowing. To grow their awareness so that they reconnect to their body. To listen and let the nuances, the subtleties, the whispers guide them.
When you can listen to your body when it whispers, you don't have to hear it scream.
The Calm.Steady.Strong: Cancer Recovery program reconnects you to your body in way that is safe.
It is a gentle process that helps tap into and act on your inner whispers. It is a rehabilitative process that facilitates recovery and healing.
I’ll be with you the entire way. I am not in the same room as you, but you will be able to connect with me. You will be able to send video of yourself. You’ll be able to get on a a call. We’ll ensure you are working in a way that works for your body.
It meets you where you are at.
If you are feeling good, there are practices for good days.
If you are feeling crappy, there is a practice for crappy days.
If you are feeling blahzee, there is a practice for blahzee days.
CALM.STEADY.STRONG.
$159 + applicable tax
How do you know if this program is right for you?
Participants in our programs typically share common characteristics.
Based on this, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your pain, injury or illness is getting in the way of doing the things you love?
- You want to enjoy hobbies and activities with newfound strength, ease and relaxation.
- Do you crave balance?
- Are you naturally driven to succeed?
- You want to develop a better sense of what it takes to maintain balance.
You want to recognize when you get side tracked how to you help yourself back on track.
When I taught group classes as part of program that I developed for the University of Calgary, I’d share this.
I would tell all the participants that this program isn’t about cancer.
It is about getting back to life.
Yes, there may be limitations due to surgery and treatment. You may have issues related to surgery. There may be effects from irradiated tissue. You may be managing or wanting to avoid lymphodema. You may be handling chemo brain fog, leakage and any other number of other effects.
You may have trouble with small movements which may feel so challenging like being able to turn your head in bed. You may have trouble rolling out of bed,walking to the bathroom or sitting on a toilet. You may find that it is the more complex day-to-day errands which can feel exhausting. Tasks like grocery shopping. Making meals, taking care of kids, and other day-to-day errands.
Awareness and movement are necessary components for each one. The better you can move, the easier it will be.
This program is about taking into mind all these limitations.
It is about learning to work with your body, your mind and stepping into Life and into Living.
I hope you will join me.
"I've been practicing all the principles + after doing a 60-90 minute practices all week + moving w/ease + breath, I feel like I’ve just been moving + breathing, I don’t feel like I’ve “practiced.” Prior to this course usually something is hurting, strained, overused, but I’ve interpreted it as “I’ve worked out.” It’s just so strange to go thru my day + night “pain free” …..that I feel like I haven’t “done” anything, so my brain is catching up with the novelty that I can do a strong practice + not feel pain. AND I am making progress in areas where I was weak /tight/both or lacked mobility. Hope you understand what I’m saying, it’s just plain weird to not have twinges, tension during or after “practice”. This is how it’s suppose to be... that "functional synergy" kind of thing."
"I was one of those teachers who thought pain was normal. After learning from Susi, I felt different - almost weird - because I had no pain".
– ON DEMAND ONLINE PROGRAM –
Enjoy at your own pace
Calm.Steady.Strong includes:
- Online lessons where I will guide you in improving your mobility, flexibility, stability, strength and stamina.
- You will learn concepts for reducing pain. You will learn how to improve your range of motion. How to improve breathing and how the body and mind interact.
- You will learn to recognize the whispers. This will help you avoid exercising too hard. It will reduce the risk of developing or worsening lymphedema.
- You will also get practices to improve relaxation, meditation and breathing.
- In total there is over 15 hours of yoga sequence and material for you to explore.
CALM.STEADY.STRONG.
$159 + applicable tax
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the entire program accessible online?
Yes! You can sign in and access Solving the Pain Puzzle training resources anytime. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.
I don’t live in north america. Will this work?
Yes. People from all over the world have participated in previous sessions of this program – across Canada, US, Australia, Africa, Europe, UK, Mexico, Guatemala, and more.
Can I share my program with a friend?
If you have a friend or peer who wants to join, they are most welcome to register on their own, so you can have fun comparing notes as you complete the program together! But your registration is for your use only.
My question isn’t listed here. How can I get it answered?
You can email us here.
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