Male-only yoga classes and other alternative therapies help men fight cancer
- Relaxation can help reduce side effects from chemotherapy and cut down the stress that comes with fighting cancer
- Male-only yoga classes allow men to destress without feeling self-conscious
At cancer support centres across Hong Kong, patients are increasingly seeking alternative therapies to ease stress. They are also turning to dedicated studios that offer yoga, meditation, gong baths, qi gong and other practices.
On a recent afternoon, Collin Ng Kwok-lam led a men-only yoga class at CancerLink in North Point, a support centre under the Hong Kong Cancer Fund umbrella. Ng is a survivor who beat stage 3 colon cancer nine years ago.
The style of yoga for this small group differs from that on offer at most centres. Instead of physically demanding yoga poses such as the side crow, or doing one-minute planks, this group engaged in deep breathing techniques and gentle stretching to help them relax, raise their body awareness, and boost their balancing skills and pliability.
Ng had attended Cancer Link wellness programmes during his own battle with cancer, and said those sessions instilled a feeling of calm that helped him cope with eight months of chemotherapy.
At the time, the yoga class on offer was dominated by women, with about 50 women and three men. “I kept to a corner,” he says, recalling how he felt self-conscious. “All the male patients had this feeling, and we each found a corner.”
One of them was C.Y. Chiu, who used to hide at the back of the mixed class. Diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2016, the 66-year-old says exercises learned in Ng’s class in the past six months have benefited him. “I feel more calm, and more flexible,” he says.