Yoga for Cancer and Chronic Illness (YCAT) at Yogaville

Yoga for Cancer and Chronic Illness (YCAT) is a four-day residential yoga training at Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia. It is designed for yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and health care professionals who want to adapt yoga safely for people facing cancer and chronic illness. It is led by Sandra Susheela Gilbert, BA, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500.

This intensive is the in-person portion of YCat Level One. YCat is a research-informed approach to adapting movement, breath, relaxation, and meditation for people living with cancer or chronic illness.

What to Expect

Over four days at the ashram, participants study how to bring the tools of yoga to people whose bodies and energy are affected by serious illness. The training draws on four areas of practice: movement, breath, relaxation, and meditation. The emphasis throughout is on adapting each of them with care, so that what is offered is safe and fitting for the person in front of you.

Because this is the in-person part of Level One, it works as a residential immersion. You study and practice together in one place, away from the usual pace of work and home, which suits material that asks for attention and sensitivity.

About Sandra Susheela Gilbert

Sandra Susheela Gilbert holds a BA and is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and an experienced registered yoga teacher at the 500-hour level (E-RYT 500). She leads this training in the Integral Yoga setting of Yogaville, where she brings her background in yoga therapy to the adaptation of yoga for people living with cancer and chronic illness.

The Setting

Satchidananda Ashram – Yogaville is an Integral Yoga community in Buckingham, Virginia, founded in the tradition of Sri Swami Satchidananda. The program is residential, so participants stay on site for the four days of the training. The ashram is a quiet, retreat-like place well suited to focused study.

Before You Go

The training is intended for yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and health care professionals. If you work with people who are facing cancer or chronic illness, or hope to, it offers a structured way to learn how to adapt yoga for them. Because this is the in-person portion of YCat Level One, it forms one part of the larger Level One training.