Emily Frizzell/submitted Emily Frizzell with her dad Bill Frizzell, who died of lung cancer in July 2010.

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By the 108th time they raised their arms high in the air and then bent at the waist, Emily Frizzell and her boyfriend, Sean White, were exhausted.

They looked at the handwritten signs on the floor in front of them, which read, “In Memory of Dad” and “In Memory of Poppy,” and took a deep breath.

It was the day before the funeral for Frizzell’s father last November, and the Gaithersburg couple was participating in the Free to Breathe Yogathon in Baltimore, an annual event that brings attention to and raises money for the battle against lung cancer.

The signs were there to remind the Gaithersburg couple that no matter how hard it is doing that many sun salutations, it is nothing like what their loved ones who died of lung cancer went through, she said.

On Nov. 13, they will do it all again for the second time, in memory of their family members who have died from the disease — Frizzell’s father, Bill Frizzell, who died in July 2010; her uncle, Gary Frizzell, who died in May 2010; and White’s grandfather, Clarence Nettles, who died in April 2008.

Doing 108 sun salutations is a tradition in India, the birthplace of yoga; the number represents wholeness.

“It was hard last year, but afterward we felt really good,” Frizzell said. “We were glad we did it because it was such a challenge, but if you think about it, it is nothing compared to what people with lung cancer go through.”

With the yogathon and other Free to Breathe events, such as walks and 5K runs, the National Lung Cancer Partnership hopes to increase awareness about the causes and symptoms of the disease, said Regina Vidaver, executive director of the partnership.

Each year in the U.S., about 220,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. It takes more lives than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined — accounting for 72 percent of all cancer deaths. About 157,000 people in the U.S. will die of lung cancer this year.

There is a stigma surrounding the disease, where people have a “blame-the-victim mentality,” Vidaver said. “Ten to 15 percent of the victims never smoked at all. Most people don’t know that. They automatically go to, ‘You caused this.’”

Other causes include exposure to radon gas, secondhand smoke, asbestos and Agent Orange, she said.

Elissa Sachs-Kohen, who organizes the Baltimore yogathon, lost her mother to lung cancer about three years ago. Shortly after, she searched online for ways to get involved in awareness organizations. She thought helping put on a yogathon would help her get past her mother’s death. She held the first yogathon in Baltimore in 2009.

Yoga, which focuses on breathing, seemed like the perfect way to fight lung cancer, she said.

“Lung cancer is a disease that robs people of their breath,” she said.

Sachs-Kohen said she believes lung cancer is invisible to many, although hundreds of thousands are affected by it.

Frizzell’s father smoked nearly his entire adult life. As a young girl, Frizzell said she would tell him, “Please don’t smoke.”

He was a strong, stubborn man who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. As the disease weakened him, it set in with Frizzell just how powerful and destructive it is.

To get through the pain, Frizzell gathered her mother and brother, White’s sister, and four of their friends for the yogathon, even though she had only practiced yoga a few times.

Surrounded by nearly 100 others who had been through something similar, Frizzell said she felt better.

“It was nice to not feel alone,” Frizzell said. “It was a comfortable place to be, for something that is so hard.”

Survivors and victims’ relatives feel safe to talk about the disease among others who understand, Vidaver said.

It is emotional in the dark room during the sun salutations, which take about two hours to complete, Sachs-Kohen said.

It is also very quiet as the participants, with the names of their loved ones pinned to their back or on the floor in front of their yoga mat, repeat the synchronized moves, she said.

“That is one of the things that is good about a yogathon, is that we are all in the same room,” she said. “Unlike a race or walk, where you are sort of on your own a bit. This is very much together.”

Last year, Frizzell’s team of nine raised about $1,000 for the event. This year, Frizzell, her mother, brother and White have raised $900 so far; their goal is $1,500.

The yogathon feels like a way to counteract the disease, she said.

“It feels very rewarding,” she said. “It feels like you are doing something.”

To sign up for the Free to Breathe Yogathon, visit www.freetobreathe.com and search for Maryland events.

jbondeson@gazette.net