"My stomach was removed following a cancer diagnosis that turned my world on it's head in 2015"
.
.
Meet the incredible Rane Bowen @ranelovesyoga sharing his #yogasavedmylife story with us. These are his words ❤
.
.
"I was informed I had a tumor in my stomach roughly the size of my fist. I was even more disturbed to learn that my whole stomach would be removed. That whole period of my life was a rollercoaster which reached its low point when I was misdiagnosed & told the cancer had spread to my lungs and was now inoperable. The surgeon informed me I had “several months” to live
.
.
Fortunately this turned out not to be the case, but for a few weeks I struggled with my own mortality. I learned that yoga has the tools to help us deal with death through living a conscious life. I learned that when it is my time to go, I don’t want it to be a time of fear and struggle, but of calm. I also learned that I was not ready to die
.
.
I remember lying in savasana (corpse pose) on more than one occasion and imagining moving towards nothingness and finishing in tears. I haven’t mastered the klesha of Abhinivesha (clinging to life), but it’s a practice and awareness I try to cultivate regularly
.
.
After my stomach was removed, yoga gave me the tools I needed to aid in my physical and mental recovery. My meditation practice became very important to me and helped me to deal with the pain, and to develop an awareness of my body and mind. It helped me navigate my “new normal” of living without a stomach
.
.
My physical practice helped me grow stronger, and helped loosen the tightness I felt from the scar that stretches from my sternum to my belly button. I fell in love with yoga so much, I wanted to share it with the world. I completed a 350 hour yoga teacher training in July of 2017, and have just begun to teach a regular class
.
.
I feel that I am physically stronger and happier now than I was before this whole ordeal, and that is thanks to Yoga, as well as the support and love of my friends, family and amazing wife ❤🙏"