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YOUNG AT HEART | HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Oahu woman credits yoga for strong mind and body

By Leanne Trapedo Sims / Special to the Star-Bulletin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 26, 2009

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Meet Helen Nakano. Her small earrings glint against a luminescent complexion, square jaw and strong, compact body. You would never guess that she is a breast cancer survivor, nor that she is 71 years old.

A firecracker with energy threefold that of many 20-year-olds, Nakano laughs broadly. "When I was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer at age 65, I thought that yoga and alternative approaches would cure me. I resisted surgery. What they used to do to women -- those gaping radical mastectomies -- so inhumane. I tried everything -- daily yoga, the laying on of hands, coffee enemas, acupuncture -- you name it. I really believed I could heal myself."

Helen finally resorted to a lumpectomy: "I knew it was the right thing to do because the surgeon's name was Dr. Nakashizuka, which means 'inner peace.' If that was not a sign, what would be?"

A bookworm in school, a quintessential athlete now, Nakano's muscle tone is enviable. At 68 she trained for nine weeks to become a certified Bikram yoga teacher, and she still practices daily at a studio in Kaimuki.

"Chemotherapy gave me 'brain fog.' I desperately needed a way to keep my brain and mouth working together."

Today, Nakano teaches yoga classes for seniors at Pohai Nani Retirement Community, Kapiolani Women's Health Center and Pali Momi Hospital. "One of my best students, Ruby, is limber and strong at 89. She made me a new believer that even people of an advanced age can continue to improve their strength and flexibility through yoga."

On Saturdays, Helen attends meditation practice at the Broken Ridge Korean Buddhist Temple, deep in Palolo Valley. "When I received my cancer diagnosis, I read everything I could about death. If I was going to die, I wanted to die without fear. My meditation teacher, Dr. Gregory Pai, teaches about nonattachment and letting go of expectations. I have a long way to go, but I'm working on it," she said.

"Yoga gives me the energy to work on grand projects about which I am passionate. I am starting a Hanafuda Renaissance in 2009. The Hanafuda cards were played throughout the plantation camps by the Japanese immigrants, but that generation has died off. My goal is to teach 1,000 children the game by the end of 2009. The children will then teach their elders. The hope of Hanafuda is to bring the generations a little closer through play."

Nakano checks the pedometer that is her constant companion. "Well, I have to go. I have to get my 10,000 steps in for the day."

 

Diet plays big role in high energy level

Helen Nakano has much to say about the perils of white rice. "Most of my students are Asian, so of course they love white rice. I tell them to give it up for brown rice. But still they try -- well, what about half and half?

"The hardest thing is change. For eight years I cooked brown rice for me and white rice for my husband." Now she has him totally converted.

"I always try to keep things healthy," she says. "I drink a hot ginger-and-honey drink that I mix in my blender during yoga instead of cold water. I just completed a detoxification for two weeks in winter and plan to do another in spring. Oh, and I weigh myself daily and eat at least six servings of fresh fruits and vegetables and brown rice as part of my daily regimen.

"Here's a healthy tip: Buy your wild salmon at the Manoa Farmers Market. It's my Sunday ritual."

 

Meet Helen Nakano. Her small earrings glint against a luminescent complexion, square jaw and strong, compact body. You would never guess that she is a breast cancer survivor, nor that she is 71 years old.

COURTESY PHOTO
Helen Nakano, 71, teaches yoga classes for seniors at Pohai Nani Retirement Community, Kapiolani Women's Health Center and Pali Momi Hospital.

A firecracker with energy threefold that of many 20-year-olds, Nakano laughs broadly. "When I was diagnosed with stage-3 breast cancer at age 65, I thought that yoga and alternative approaches would cure me. I resisted surgery. What they used to do to women -- those gaping radical mastectomies -- so inhumane. I tried everything -- daily yoga, the laying on of hands, coffee enemas, acupuncture -- you name it. I really believed I could heal myself."

Helen finally resorted to a lumpectomy: "I knew it was the right thing to do because the surgeon's name was Dr. Nakashizuka, which means 'inner peace.' If that was not a sign, what would be?"

A bookworm in school, a quintessential athlete now, Nakano's muscle tone is enviable. At 68 she trained for nine weeks to become a certified Bikram yoga teacher, and she still practices daily at a studio in Kaimuki.

"Chemotherapy gave me 'brain fog.' I desperately needed a way to keep my brain and mouth working together."

Today, Nakano teaches yoga classes for seniors at Pohai Nani Retirement Community, Kapiolani Women's Health Center and Pali Momi Hospital. "One of my best students, Ruby, is limber and strong at 89. She made me a new believer that even people of an advanced age can continue to improve their strength and flexibility through yoga."

On Saturdays, Helen attends meditation practice at the Broken Ridge Korean Buddhist Temple, deep in Palolo Valley. "When I received my cancer diagnosis, I read everything I could about death. If I was going to die, I wanted to die without fear. My meditation teacher, Dr. Gregory Pai, teaches about nonattachment and letting go of expectations. I have a long way to go, but I'm working on it," she said.

"Yoga gives me the energy to work on grand projects about which I am passionate. I am starting a Hanafuda Renaissance in 2009. The Hanafuda cards were played throughout the plantation camps by the Japanese immigrants, but that generation has died off. My goal is to teach 1,000 children the game by the end of 2009. The children will then teach their elders. The hope of Hanafuda is to bring the generations a little closer through play."

Nakano checks the pedometer that is her constant companion. "Well, I have to go. I have to get my 10,000 steps in for the day."

 

Diet plays big role in high energy level

Helen Nakano has much to say about the perils of white rice. "Most of my students are Asian, so of course they love white rice. I tell them to give it up for brown rice. But still they try -- well, what about half and half?

"The hardest thing is change. For eight years I cooked brown rice for me and white rice for my husband." Now she has him totally converted.

"I always try to keep things healthy," she says. "I drink a hot ginger-and-honey drink that I mix in my blender during yoga instead of cold water. I just completed a detoxification for two weeks in winter and plan to do another in spring. Oh, and I weigh myself daily and eat at least six servings of fresh fruits and vegetables and brown rice as part of my daily regimen.

"Here's a healthy tip: Buy your wild salmon at the Manoa Farmers Market. It's my Sunday ritual."

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