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Learn about our Yoga for Cancer Workshop and learn to teach yoga for cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

A cancer diagnosis brings with it unique physical and emotional challenges. Yoga provides those facing cancer with proven benefits that can help people facing these challenges, including relief from treatment side effects, reduced stress, and a peace of mind that many feel they’d lost forever.

Are you interested in channeling your passion and skill into helping someone feel better during a difficult time?

Do you want to learn critical, effective, safe techniques to share the benefits of yoga with cancer patients and survivors?

This special intensive gives you a rare opportunity to learn from expert teachers in the cancer field including yoga instructors, integrative health physicians, mental health professionals, and cancer survivors.

Topics Covered

  • Benefits of yoga for cancer
  • Special considerations and modifications to yoga practice when teaching cancer patients
  • The power of appropriate emotional support and community
  • Working within various medical settings

Information about the Workshop

This training will provide tools you can use to teach yoga to cancer patients, survivors and caregivers through a series of on-line live learning modules, “hands on” practice (we will guide you through practice remotely), and pre-recorded videos. Approved for CE credits through Yoga Alliance.

Yoga During Cancer Treatment: This course is geared towards yoga teachers and therapists. The purpose is to learn how to teach yoga to people who have been affected by cancer

Date: April 28, 29, 30, 2023

Yoga for Cancer Survivors: This course is geared towards all yoga teachers.  The purpose is to learn how to teach people affected by cancer in a general group setting how to do yoga

Date:  May 5, 6, 7, 2023

To register for either or both events please visit: tinyurl.com/registerYTW

For more information, contact Carly Bailey, (919) 445-4255 or carly_bailey@med.unc.edu.

About the Instructors

Kathy Therber, E-RYT 500

Kathy is a trusted and respected professional with a robust and successful career as yoga teacher for 13 years. She has experience working with cancer survivors and caregivers, medical studies, military, wellness organizations, and fitness centers, including the UNC Get Real and Heel program. She is known for exceptional approachability and an understanding of adapting classes to meet the abilities of participants. Kathy will embrace you where you are at and has years of experience, including working with cancer survivors.

Kathy brings with her 20 years of a personal practice, 10 years of yoga teaching, a cancer diagnosis with subsequent treatment and recovery, and recovery from chronic low back pain. Kathy Therber, an E-RYT 500, Registered Yoga Therapist, started practicing yoga in 1992 in San Francisco, California. After a car accident left her with continued back pain, yoga provided relief. To this day yoga remains an essential part of her life for staying active, healthy, and pain-free. The stress relief and restorative nature of yoga continues to help Kathy every day since her diagnosis. Her inspiration to grow in the practice of yoga comes from students. Kathy is committed to passing on the teachings of yoga and helping students acquire a well-rounded understanding and practice.


Denise Spector, PhD, MPH, ANP, E-RYT

Denise Spector is an oncology nurse practitioner and is also clinically trained as an integrative health and medicine practitioner through the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine.

Denise has been an oncology nurse for over 30 years and has been involved in research focused on lifestyle behavior modification for health promotion/risk-reduction, particularly among breast cancer survivors.

Denise began practicing yoga in the mid-1990s and has experienced first-hand the many physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of a regular practice. Her passion for yoga and desire to help patients experience the gifts of yoga ultimately led her to yoga teacher training in 2018.

Beyond her foundation teacher training she has received Yoga of the Heart – Cardiac and Cancer Certification training and Yoga for Cancer Teacher Training through UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She taught yoga to both adults and adolescents on the inpatient psychiatry units at UNC for several years and also taught for the nonprofit, You Call This Yoga, Yoga for Those Touched by Cancer in 2020.


From Attendees

Thank you! So grateful for the experience.

This was a super class — I would even like it to be longer for even more information.

So much knowledge from the instructors. Great sharing from others.

It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about how to approach yoga with this population and I feel more empowered to work with oncology patients and survivors with the practice. The setting was beautiful, all the presenters were very knowledgeable and compassionate, and the group of fellow attendees was so sweet. It really was a great weekend and I hope this was the first of many workshops of its kind so we can continue to share the gifts of yoga to help our patients.

Access training course materials (password protected)