UTAS Centre for Rural Health research graduate, Ms Annette Loudon has created a yoga DVD to complement the management of conditions such as lymphoedema from cancer treatment.
While completing her research degree with the UTAS Centre for Rural Health, Ms Loudon investigated the application of yoga used in unison with modern scientific approaches to manage Breast Cancer-Related Lymphoedema (BCRL). Ms Loudon conducted an 8-week trial involving 28 Tasmanian women suffering from BCRL. Participants in the trial attended a weekly yoga session as well as daily sessions from home with a DVD.
Participants of the study found the practice on the DVD really helpful. Anonymous participant feedback included:
“I looked forward to it…I found it very relaxing, very calming, very balancing, and it made me feel I was better prepared for the rest of the day”
“When you go through the DVD, you can just lie there at the end, there’s no heaviness (from the lymphoedema), the lightness is just absolutely wonderful, and you’d like to actually stay there”
Ms Loudon decided to produce a DVD ‘Yoga for secondary arm Lymphoedema’ so that more people could use yoga to complement their usual lymphoedema treatment. Generous donations made by Tasmanian and Mainland businesses and individuals made it possible to film the DVD in Tasmania. Ms Loudon asked four local women to demonstrate the yoga practices in the DVD.
The DVD will be released in the first week of March for Lymphoedema Awareness Week and will be available through the Australasian Lymphology Association (non-profit).
For more information contact Ms Annette Loudon by email: Annette.Loudon@utas.edu.au
