Montreal cancer patients rally to save yoga class

A group of cancer patients in Montreal ishoping to raise money to keep free classes atHappy Tree Yoga centre in Westmount going.

The centre has beenoffering gentle classes to cancer patients for free with the support of CedarsCanSupport Foundation for several years.

But thefundinghas been cut now that classes will be offered instead atthe McGill University Health Centre's Glen site.

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Helen Rossiter,interim director at Cedars, says the funding was diverted in an effort to centralize all the organization's services and make classes available to hospitalized patients.

Gentle yoga helps to reduce stress, stiffness

Not all the patients who take advantage of the yoga classes are happy with that plan.

"We sort of associate the hospital with a lot of thestressors," says cancer patient Nancy Woo.

"So unfortunately, it's a place thatactuallycauses stress."

She says the hospital classes lack the personal touch she gets at Happy Tree.

"In one of the other classes at the Glen, it was always a different teacher. And so they never really got to know us," she said."I really think that this yoga class is actually part of my treatment."

I really think that this yoga class is actually part of my treatment.- Nancy Woo, cancer patient

Anne Gal, another patient who participates in the yoga classes, says she finds they help to alleviate some symptoms.

"It helps with all the joint stiffness and pains because of the medication we have to take. And it just calms you and relaxes you so much," she told CBC.

Happy Tree launches crowdfunding campaign

Happy Tree's director, Melanie Richards,is still offering classes for freeas a volunteer, but says she can't do much morewithout money to pay teachers.

"They're people who are doing this out of the bottom of their heart but that also need to pay their rent,and feed themselves and their families."

Richards says many of her students can't afford to pay, so she's launched a GoFundMepage to raise money for them.