The Los Angeles Chargers and Hoag Hospital partnered for a day of personal wellness Tuesday, Oct. 8, hosting a yoga session for 26 breast cancer survivors and their supporters on the practice field at Los Angeles Chargers Hoag Performance Center in Costa Mesa.

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the cancer survivors and their supporters were joined in their hour-long session by Chargers players Denzel Perryman and Travis Benjamin, and two members of the Charger Girl cheerleading squad.

The class, led by Hoag yoga instructor Milka Gronlund, kicked off the Chargers’ “Crucial Catch” campaign, the team’s effort to promote breast cancer awareness.

Susie Spanos, wife of Chargers owner Dean Spanos and a breast cancer survivor herself, opened the event.

“We’ve been doing breast cancer awareness in the NFL for over 20 years and we’ve raised millions of dollars and today is a part of that and it’s a day for women to enjoy themselves and celebrate wellness,” she said.

“For the patient, it’s an amazing opportunity,” Gronlund said. “They’ve gone through so much. Yoga is calming for the nervous system, it can help with anxiety, stress, depression. When you go through treatment for cancer you lose that connection to yourself and you don’t trust your body anymore.”

Yoga, she said, helps patients “reconnect and feel comfortable with their bodies.”

Also making an appearance was ex-Charger running back and Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson, who spoke to attendees prior to the yoga session.

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