The first Yoga for Hope event, May 19 at Santa Monica Place will raise funds to support innovative and integrative programs at The Sheri and Les Biller Patient and Family Resource Center.
By Felicia Tomasko, RN
Sometimes we think of medicine, particularly when it comes to clinical trials, as being cold and well…clinical. A person may become a diagnosis, a medical record number, or a chart.
Yet there is another option, that of addressing and treating a person, not a name or a number.
City of Hope is a leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope’s research and treatment protocols advance care throughout the nation. City of Hope is based in Duarte, Calif., just northeast of Los Angeles, with community practice sites in South Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley and Palm Springs. Its hospital is ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics. This nearly century-old nonprofit organization is committed to treating the whole person. There is an understanding among the staff that these diseases have no boundaries. Therefore, to heal a person requires serving all of their needs and helping them restore a sense of normalcy in their lives.
In order to contribute to fulfilling its leading and innovative mission to compassionate patient care, City of Hope opened The Biller Patient & Family Resource Center in 2008. The center’s leading and innovative Supportive Care Program is considered a model for Supportive Care in the United States and adds one more piece to the institution’s legacy of transforming the landscape of modern medicine. The Center offers an extensive array of resources as well as programs and classes for people with chronic or life-threatening illness along with their families and caregivers.
Linda Klein, the resource center’s manager of operations, emphasizes that part of the purpose of the Biller Resource Center within the City of Hope campus is to offer a refuge, a home away from home, a place where people can receive support that helps them maximize their quality of life. This support is not merely physical, Klein says, but also spiritual, emotional, and even practical. It’s a place that allows people to make long-distance and even international personal and business calls and finding transportation and childcare resources.
City of Hope has a growing Yoga program offered to patients, family members, and caregivers. The classes include gentle and restorative practices, a class in Spanish, and weekly breathing and meditation sessions that also feature the deeply relaxing long savasana of Yoga Nidra. Klein cites powerful examples of spouses attending class together, a fourteen-year-old and her mom who have spent time together on the mat. A diagnosis, Klein says, sometimes makes a person feel as though their body has betrayed them. “Yoga gives a person control over their body and a sense of feeling whole again.” In addition to being part of an informal support group in the class, Yoga students have reported sleeping better at night, reductions in pain, and greater feelings of peace. Klein cited a letter received from a patient, “My first Yoga session had the immediate effect of allowing me to rise virtually pain-free for the first time in months.”
Along with Yoga, The Biller Center offers a robust calendar of programs and support groups, including art and music therapy, nutrition and physical fitness specific to chronic illnesses, pain management, the healing power of poetry, peer to peer support groups and orientation programs that allow families to feel supported from when they first enter the doorway at City of Hope. The human connection is paramount here. Activities such as music have a biological impact on increasing immunity and reducing stress. KIein spoke about a moment watching three generations sitting at a piano together: the father who was a patient along with his son and his own father. They felt like a family again.
Behind the scenes, a variety of programs support this connection. Klein mentions that City of Hope is the only hospital in the country with the extent of integration of supportive care found at the Department of Supportive Care Medicine where a mix of 80 interdisciplinary professions such as spiritual care providers, psychiatrists and psychologists, Yoga, music, and art therapists, rehabilitation and nutrition experts, and more meet regularly to provide this meaningful infrastructure.
In addition to the behind the scenes support, a new technology funded by City of Hope board members and philanthropists Sheri and Les Biller is being implemented. SupportScreen is a leading-edge touch-screen computer programmed specifically for cancer patients and their families. Customized specifically for each patient, the device is designed to electronically record distress levels, through answers on touch-pads, by asking cancer patients to identify and rate their practical, social and emotional problems along with medical information. It covers a host of potential patient questions, including: Are you concerned about having children? Will you gain weight during your treatment? Are you worried about finances? Patients answer the queries in the waiting room. Their responses are sent in real time to their healthcare team, who, in turn, are able to address their specific concerns and needs while developing their integrative treatment. City of Hope is licensing SupportScreen to hospitals throughout the country. This cutting-edge technology will play a dynamic role in the nation’s healthcare system and has the potential to make healthcare more efficient.
City of Hope is hosting their first Los Angeles Yoga for Hope event in the Center Courtyard of Santa Monica Place on Saturday, May 19. Arrive at 8:00 AM for a panel discussion on the power and practice of Yoga therapy with a variety of experts including Larry Payne, Lisa Walford, and more, hosted by Lori Rischer; or set up your day with a meditation led by the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at UCLA, Diana Winston, accompanied by meditative Tibetan bowls played by Michael Perricone. Practice in a celebratory team-taught class with Annie Carpenter, Sara Ivanhoe, Shiva Rea, and Anthony Benenati with live music offered up by Steve Gold and his band showcasing the healing power of Yoga and music.
Collect a team, and bring your friends, raise some funds, and enjoy a morning seaside in Santa Monica. For registration information or to donate, visit: yoga4hope.org/la. Donations will benefit the supportive care medicine programs and expansion at The Biller Patient & Family Resource Center at City of Hope.
By Felicia Tomasko
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.