Tari Prinster, a yoga instructor at the OM Yoga Center on Broadway, is targeting her classes to a very specific clientel: breast cancer survivors.
Seventeen years ago, Prinster, now 66, first started practicing yoga because she wanted to counteract the physical effects of the aging process. Five years later, she was diagnosed with cancer. Though Prinster already loved yoga, discovering how much it helped her cope with the ordeal served to further strengthen her belief in its techniques.
"The side effects of chemo are pretty dramatic," Prinster said. "But when I did yoga, I felt like it passed through my body more quickly, and I think that's because there is definitely a kind of detoxifying function that yoga has. I found it very powerful to use my breathing and yoga in general to relax me and calm me down when I was anxious."
In 2002, Prinster finished her yoga instructor training and began teaching classes at OM Yoga the following year, hoping to help others cope with their problems and learn about the benefits of yoga in the process.
"It's a great class," five-year yoga student Lizza Stanley, 56, said. "Tari is a great teacher. She explains things, and you just understand. I've really [gotten] to understand my own body, which I don't think I did for forever."
She added that the classes have become a significant part of her weekly routine.
"I need it once a week," she said. "I don't feel sorry for myself when I'm here, and it's good."
Over time, Prinster formed the structure of the class and her methodology not only by drawing from her own personal experiences but also by researching the science behind yoga — its relationship to physical and mental relaxation, the immune system and the prevention of bone density loss, which worsens with age and is often aggravated by the effects of chemotherapy.
"To some degree, I use my classes as a laboratory," Prinster said. "Every woman's cancer is different. Everyone has a specific new problem, and I use it as a way to get new information about how yoga will be helpful based on their particular circumstances."
Some health experts agreed that yoga was beneficial but said it may not be suitable for everyone.
"[The benefit] depends on the health status of the patient, how much the patient can do at that time," said Ooi-Thye Chong, associate director of the outpatient oncology integrative health program at the NYU Langone Cancer Institute.
Chong said there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for breast cancer.
"In general, restorative yoga is a great thing as opposed to power yoga," she said. "But if you're dealing with a health issue and the rest of the class is not, it can make you feel uncomfortable."
Yet Prinster said she aims to structure her class in a way that is accessible to students of all levels.
"I feel grounded when I leave [Prinster's class]," one-month OM Yoga student and NYU Langone cancer patient Marcy Hoenig, 55, said. "It's not a fast-paced class, so you can really relax into each of the poses, and I enjoy that."
