#38: Surviving Brain Tumor; Iyengar Yoga; Fear vs. Surrender; From Paralysis to Purpose

In this episode of Beyond the Bubble Andras speaks with Shai Kaplan about her life-changing medical crisis she faced at 14: three brain tumors led to an emergency surgery, major vision loss, and years of pain, fear, and uncertainty. Shai reflects on what it meant to live through repeated operations, accept the possibility of dying young, and spend years moving around the world while trying to cope with physical suffering and a deep sense of isolation. She talks about how a chance encounter in India led her to Iyengar yoga at a point when she was not looking for healing, only a way to make each day a little more bearable. From there, Shai tells how she learned discipline, precision, and rehabilitation as she became an Iyengar yoga practitioner. This method uses props, sequencing, timing, and close attention to the body as a whole to improve general wellbeing and patients with various conditions. Shai explains how she got to know B.K.S. Iyengar himself, the pioneer and creator of the Iyengar yoga method and how years of daily practice with him gradually changed her condition, and restored her independence. She recounts how she eventually started an international project where she and her team cooperate using the Iyengar yoga approach with hospitals to help patients with severe injuries, neurological conditions, cancer, and other complex cases improve their quality of life alongside conventional care. The episode is an incredible story about survival, acceptance, discipline, perseverance, the intelligence of the body, and the possibility of turning extreme suffering into service for others.