Beyond Pain Yoga Weeks Two to Six and a Feasibility Study

Week two covers nervous system sensitization, stress and sleep basics, with a repeated core practice and homework to monitor pain, stress and sleep. Week three covers body perception and interoception, adds alternate nostril breathing and ends with a body scan where sore areas are simply allowed to be. Week four covers how thoughts and beliefs affect the brain's own pain relief, adds square breathing, and asks participants to notice the thoughts that come up in challenging poses and to filter catastrophic messages from others. Week five covers stress, mood and automatic emotional responses, noting that suicidal ideation affects about 20 percent of people with persistent pain, and ends with a loving-kindness meditation. Week six brings it together with the idea of how full your pain glass is, a bubble diagram of contributors, and confidence ratings for a chosen change. A feasibility study with six women after breast cancer found improvements in pain intensity and role function, greater pain self-efficacy, and more confidence to stay on hormonal therapy, which pain often disrupts.