Deerfield woman teaches healing power of breathing
By Laura Bollin Contributor January 19, 2012 5:02PM
Susan Ginsberg of Deerfield leads a "Stop and Breathe" session for employees at Robbins Headache Clinic in Northbrook. | Ruthie Hauge ~ Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:15AM
Yoga and meditation instructor Susan Ginsberg said she found a higher calling when she started a special business in 2007, helping cancer patients and those with illnesses cure their anxiety through the power of breathing.
Ginsberg’s program, Stop and Breathe, teaches people the proper way to breathe deeply as a tool for relaxation.
“I was a yoga teacher previously, and I started working with a woman that was going through cancer treatments,” Ginsberg said.
“She wanted me to teach yoga, meditation, relaxation to her and to her close friends and family so they could support her. She had said something to me, that I was the angel on her shoulder during all of our treatments, helping her stop and breathe, and it stuck with me.”
Most people who are nervous or anxious will breathe in short, rapid bursts, which can increase anxiety, Ginsberg said. Instead, Ginsberg tells her patients to imagine there is a balloon inside their stomachs, which they blow up when they inhale, and deflate when they exhale slowly. She calls it “deep belly breathing.”
Ginsberg said she realized the power of yoga and breathing in 2001, when she went to yoga classes to get relief from a back injury.
She now teaches breathing programs at Highland Park Hospital and the Kellogg Cancer Center, and helps local organizations and corporations learn deep breathing techniques to deal with stress, whether it is before a big surgery, a chemotherapy treatment or a presentation in front of clients.
“When I go into a hospital room, and help someone through anxiety, whether a nurse can’t find a vein to start an IV or they are about to undergo surgery, and I leave the room and they are totally relaxed, that is tremendously gratifying,” Ginsberg said. “This is definitely my calling.”
Ginsberg said being in a patient’s room can be valuable in and of itself, because it offers comfort.
“I want to give them a sense of peace during a difficult time,” Ginsberg said.
“Stress is such a big part of our lives. Almost 75 percent of the general population experiences stress at least once every two weeks. It affects our immune system, and I want to work with people before it gets to that point.”
Mimi Horowitz, a cancer survivor who worked with Ginsberg, said she really helped her through a difficult time.
“As I began my chemotherapy, Susan, my sister and two close friends began our Monday evening classes,” Horowitz said.
“Nothing made me want to miss my Mondays with Susan. They were so enriching and such an integral part of my treatment. Susan taught me yoga breathing. That was most helpful each chemo treatment. I could breathe through having the needle inserted; visualize a good place during my chemo.”
Ginsberg said she cannot imagine doing anything else as a career.
“It is a big passion in my life,” Ginsberg said.
“I love doing what I do, because seeing someone going through a difficult time and being able to see that they are being helped is wonderful. It is a gift for me to work with these people and see the impact. They tell me that the day of the week they do Stop and Breathe is the day they look most forward to out of the entire week.”
Ginsberg offers classes in her Deerfield studio for $80 and up, as well as outside in the community. For more information, call (847) 444-9642; www.stopandbreathe.org.
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