Tag: AYA Cancer

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. If you missed the first session, please email carla@smithcenter.org to register.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are:

  • strengthening of observational and relational skills,
  • greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and
  • the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life.

 

We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions to get the most out of the group, dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 1:00 – 3:00pm ET, beginning on January 14th, 2022.

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Fridays, January 14th, 21st & 28th, 1:00 – 3:00pm
  • Friday, February 4th, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons.

Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are:

  • strengthening of observational and relational skills,
  • greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and
  • the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life.

 

We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions to get the most out of the group, dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 1:00 – 3:00pm ET, beginning on January 14th, 2022.

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Fridays, January 14th, 21st & 28th, 1:00 – 3:00pm
  • Friday, February 4th, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons.

Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

Vegan Meal Planning

Start out the new year on a healthy note! Join Chef Kara to learn tips that will make your weekly meal planning easier to incorporate delicious vegan dishes.

 

We will discuss how to ensure you are getting enough protein from plant-based meals. Furthermore, we will learn how to reduce our time in the kitchen with simple make-ahead and easy-to-reheat meals.

 

Chef Kara will provide tools to assist with the following:

  • planning your weekly meals,
  • writing your grocery lists,
  • and prepping your meals in advance.

In addition, you will leave the class with new recipes and a grocery list for four meals that are customizable for diet restrictions, portion sizes, and flavor preferences.

 

Menu: 

  • Vegetable Pot Pie
  • Tuscan Kale Stew
  • Mexi-Cali Quinoa Bowl
  • Smoky Sweet Potato Cakes with Corn Salad
Shopping List: 
  • Sweet Potatoes (4 large)
  • Corn (3 ears fresh or 1 10-oz bag frozen)
  • Carrots (3 large)
  • Kale (2 bunches or 1 bag pre-chopped)
  • Avocado (2)
  • Yellow onion (1 large)
  • Grape or cherry tomatoes (1 pint)
  • Scallions (2 bunches)
  • Red Bell Pepper (2 medium)
  • Garlic (6 cloves)
  • Parsley (1 bunch)
  • Cilantro (1 bunch)
  • Limes (2)
  • Diced tomatoes (1 28-oz can, fire-roasted preferred)
  • White Beans (1 cup dry, or 2 15-oz cans)
  • Quinoa (white or red, 2 cups dry)
  • Raw cashews (1/2 cup, can use pumpkin seeds if nut-free)
  • Vegetable stock (4 cups)
  • Frozen Puff Pastry (or 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 cup coconut oil for homemade pie crust)
Pantry Items: 
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Italian Seasoning (or any combination of dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil)
  • Smoked Paprika
Materials Needed: 
  • Large baking sheet
  • Parchment paper 
  • Large rimmed sauté pan with lid
  • Small saucepan
  • Dutch oven or large soup pot 
  • Baking dish or 4 ramekins for pot pie
  • Blender or Vitamix
  • Small skillet 
  • Cutting board & knife
  • Mixing bowls
  • Measuring cups & spoons

Suggested Donation: $15

About Kara Garrett

Kara Garrett

Kara is a health-supportive chef based in Washington, DC. Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, she embraced the challenge of finding a balance between her foodie lifestyle and eating well with cancer. She has adopted a flexible diet plan that focuses on plant-based, sustainable whole foods, but does not restrict indulgences of things she loves. She is passionate about working with others to encourage healthier food choices that energize the body and the soul.

Kara graduated in August 2017 from the Chef Training Program at Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC and spent one month as the sous chef at The Ananda Ashram Yoga Society of New York in Monroe, NY. She is currently enrolled in the Developing Healthy Communities: Nutrition, Behavior, and Physical Activity graduate program at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Kathleen O’Toole

Writing Through the Seasons

Spirit and Shadow in Autumn

Between the fall equinox and Samhain (Halloween), we’ll tune into the changing colors and light of autumn, the migratory birds and shifts in our imagination and dreams that this season brings. Autumn can be a time of melancholy and letting go, or whimsy and ghost stories.

Bring a notebook, sketchbook and any autumn memories that are special to you.

Kathleen O’Toole is a poet whose work with haiku and other short poetic forms is deeply rooted in attention to the natural world. These three workshops will guide participants through poetry forms and writing practices that invite us to explore the ways season changes bring special opportunities for healing and creativity. The ancient Celts celebrated cross-quarter days as moments of magic and openings to spirit and ritual; we’ll mark our own seasonal awareness.

Writing Through the Seasons will be offered as a program series, spread over the seasons, beginning in Fall 2021.

Program Dates: 

  • Saturday, October 9th, 10:00-11:30am ET
  • Saturday, February 5th, 10:00-11:30am ET
  • Saturday, May 14th, 10:00-11:30am ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Kathleen O’Toole

Kathleen O'Toole

Takoma Park Poet Laureate Kathleen O’Toole is the author of 4 books of poetry (find her at https://kathleenotoolepoetry.com). She has taught writing at Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. As evident in her longer work, she often seeks inspiration and consolation in nature. For more than thirty years she has been writing haiku as a spiritual practice of attention, and to deepen her experience of the natural world.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

Featuring Cara Scharf, Charity Sade, Erin Price, LICSW, OSW-C, Kimberly Parekh, and Tyler Jachetta. Hosted by Lisa Simms Booth.

2021 Marks the 25th Anniversary of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts

Smith Center 25th Anniversary Conversation Series

Signature Programs: DC Young Adult Cancer Community

The year 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Smith Center for Healing and the Arts. In celebration of this momentous achievement, we are launching a series of special conversations. Across the course of the coming year, members of our Smith Center family will join us to reflect upon Smith Center’s roots, examine its present programs and impact, and imagine what the future may hold for us at Smith Center and the larger world of integrative healing.

Our next collection of conversations, focused on Smith Center’s Signature Programs, will resume on Monday, October 25th from 6 – 7:30 pm (Eastern Time). Highlighting our DC Young Adult Cancer Community and programs, we are honored to welcome a few of our young adult cancer survivors: Cara Scharf, Charity Sade, Erin Price, Kimberly Parekh, and Tyler Jachetta. The panel will be interviewed by Smith Center’s Executive Director, Lisa Simms Booth.

We hope you will join us for the conversations in this special series. Please feel free to circulate this announcement and share with others the details of this upcoming conversation.

This program is being offered to support Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary. Participants are encouraged to donate $25 (or whatever amount you can afford) to support our work.

Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary Conversation Series will be hosted throughout 2021.

Selected Themes:

  • Visionary Leaders in Integrative Care
  • Smith Center’s Signature Programs
  • Participants’ Perspectives
  • Envisioning the Future

All donations for the 25th Anniversary Conversation Series will support Smith Center’s 25th Anniversary Fund. Suggested Donation: $25.

Cara Scharf

Cara Scharf

At age 21, right after graduating college, Cara learned that she had the BRCA 1 gene mutation, which she was tested for because of a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. At age 25, her first screening MRI picked up stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer, which she treated with a double mastectomy and chemotherapy. Ten years later, at age 36, Cara feels fortunate to remain cancer-free and to have space and time to reflect on her experience and how it changed her understanding of her life, her relationships, and the world. In the past ten years, Cara participated in and led many young adult-focused support communities through organizations such as Young Survival Coalition, as well as co-founded her own support community in her hometown of Philadelphia called Young Adult Cancer Connection. Her day job is Assistant Director for Community-Based Learning at Drexel University, where she helps college students develop identities as active and engaged citizens, but she considers her most important work to be organizing around social justice issues in her community. In her free time she enjoys exploring Philadelphia’s parks and cultural assets, listening to Broadway musicals, and playing her ukulele. 

Charity Sade

Charity Sade

Charity Sad​e​ is an up and coming comedian from Indiana, but has resided in Washington, D.C. for the last 8 years.

She has performed across the country, and won a new comic competition at Greenwich Village Comedy Club. ​Within her first year of comedy, Charity made her festival debut at the 2018 DC Comedy Festival as well as the Chicago Women’s Funny Festival.

She has always used humor to get through difficult moments in her life, including her breast cancer diagnosis at age 27. ​On stage, she takes her difficult life experiences and turns them into relatable, humorous tales. Her comedic superpower is her ability to make you simultaneously laugh and cringe.

Charity is the creator and founder of Comedic Relief: Coping Through Comedy. You can catch Charity hosting, producing, and performing on shows across the DMV.

Erin Price

Erin Price

Erin serves as Smith Center’s Director of Young Adult and Psychosocial Support Programs. She is trained in Integrative Patient Navigation, a Project LEAD graduate, and holds a Masters in Social Work. A ten-year+ breast cancer survivor, Erin is passionate about providing support and community to other cancer survivors, especially young adults. She works with Smith Center’s DC Young Adult Cancer Community and is also actively involved in the cancer community through the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the Young Survival Coalition, the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates, and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

Kimberly Parekh

Tyler Jachetta

Tyler was diagnosed with grade III brain cancer in 2018, and has been supported by the Smith Center’s Young Adult program in a variety of ways since.

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. If you missed the first session, please email carla@smithcenter.org

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are the strengthening of observational and relational skills, greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life. We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the group and dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 10:30am-12:00pm ET, beginning on September 17th (no session on October 8th).

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Friday, September 17th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, September 24th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 1st, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 15th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. If you missed the first session, please email carla@smithcenter.org

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are the strengthening of observational and relational skills, greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life. We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the group and dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 10:30am-12:00pm ET, beginning on September 17th (no session on October 8th).

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Friday, September 17th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, September 24th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 1st, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 15th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. If you missed the first session, please email carla@smithcenter.org

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are the strengthening of observational and relational skills, greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life. We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the group and dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 10:30am-12:00pm ET, beginning on September 17th (no session on October 8th).

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Friday, September 17th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, September 24th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 1st, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 15th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program series is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, you must register here or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org

with Jodi Kanter

“[D]rama as therapy sets a stage in which truths are revealed, deeper levels of communication and understanding are attained, and the personal reverberates toward the universal.”

– Renée Emunah, Drama Therapist

 

Psychiatrists and social workers have been using drama for therapeutic purposes for at least the last 100 years. Today, the principal objectives of dramatherapy are the strengthening of observational and relational skills, greater access to emotional expression (and emotional containment), and the expansion of the many roles we play in everyday life. We’ll explore a range of tools and methods including role methods, psychodrama, sociodrama and forum theater. We’ll also dip into other expressive therapies including movement, writing, music, and visual arts. 

 

Healing Through Drama will be offered as a 4-part workshop series, with each week building on the next. Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the group and dramatherapy tools and practices.

Healing Through Drama is a 4-part program series hosted on Fridays from 10:30am-12:00pm ET, beginning on September 17th (no session on October 8th).

Participants are encouraged to attend all four sessions to get the most out of the program. By registering above, you will be registered for all four sessions. Please let us know in advance if you will not be able to attend all four sessions.

Program Sessions: 

  • Friday, September 17th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, September 24th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 1st, 10:30am-12:00pm ET
  • Friday, October 15th, 10:30am-12:00pm ET

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/series

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, you must register here or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org

with Smith Center Movement Facilitators & 2Unstoppable

Gentle Yoga in the Gallery

Join us and get to know our incredible partner 2Unstoppable and Smith Center’s dedicated team of movement/exercise program facilitators.

 

Our team of experts will share how to cope with low motivation, how to increase your stamina and strength (especially during and after your cancer treatment) and how to take the next step and explore trying something new in a safe, comfortable and non-competitive environment. Learn how to implement a regular exercise program – one that meets you and your body where it is today.

Smith Center Recurring Movement Programs: 

  • Qigong
    • Bi-Monthly on Mondays, 7-8pm with Kevin
  • Chair Yoga
    • Weekly on Tuesdays, 12-1pm with Beth
  • Gentle PM Yoga
    • Weekly on Tuesdays, 6-7:15pm with Yael
  • Body Groove
    • Weekly on Wednesdays, 12:30-1:30pm with Johnnette
  • Gentle AM Yoga
    • Weekly on Thursdays, 10:15-11:30am with Kiersten

2Unstoppable Recurring Movement Programs: 

  • Yoga4Cancer
    • Monthly on Saturdays, 1:30-3pm
  • Virtual Meet-Up
    • Monthly on Sundays, 7-8pm
  • Walk-n-Talk
    • Monthly on Weekends
  • And More!
    • E.G. Squat Challenge, Zumba Gold, Upper Body Challenge

About 2Unstoppable

2Unstoppable is a non-profit organization founded by two women with a personal history of Breast Cancer and who realized the many benefits of staying active during and after treatment.  We now want to help other women on their cancer journeys experience a better quality of life and improved outcomes through exercise.

About Beth Lawrence, RYT500

Beth Lawrence Gentle Yoga Chair Yoga Instructor Smith Center

Beth discovered yoga in early 2002 as a mother of six month old twins. She was looking to get back into shape after their birth. In yoga, she found far more than she anticipated- an age old practice designed to help people relieve stress- both mental and physical. After a few years of regular practice, she knew she wanted to share her positive experiences with others. She has been leading yoga classes in the DC area since 2007 after completing her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Nth Degree Yoga with Martha Rosen. In 2011, she went back to earn her RYT500. Her personal practice is inspired by Integral Yoga and Sivananda Yoga, both of which incorporate body and mind into the practice.

About Ilana Gamerman, RN, MSN

I am an avid exerciser for over 20 years.  Exercise helps me focus, clears my thoughts, and basically makes me feel good.  I guess that is why I am so committed to exercise and rely on it so much.  So, when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, it is no surprise that I turned to exercise to help me get through the difficult diagnosis phase all the way to post treatment.  Whether it was a walk or an easy class at the gym, moving made me feel better and more importantly gave me a sense of control. I know how difficult it is to summon the energy to “move” during this time and having supportive friends helped so much.  A better quality of life and outcomes through exercise is what I hope to help every person faced with a cancer diagnosis achieve.

Ilana Gamerman is a Registered Nurse with a Masters degree in Nursing Informatics.  Her combined passion for helping people and for exercise is what drives her motivation to help every woman diagnosed with cancer become unstoppable. Ilana’s co-founding of 2Unstoppable is driven by her dedication to fitness, healthcare and helping others. She lives in Vienna, VA with her husband and has three sons.  

About Johnnette Armstrong

Certified Personal Trainer, Herbalist, Pink Pilates instructor, Health Coach and a Groove Method Provider. I call myself a Wellness Advocate. I have worked in the fitness field for over 15 years and I currently offer classes at Hope Connections in MD, work with seniors, and offer one-on-one personal training.

After my own struggle with body image and self-esteem, I went on a journey to find out the healthy way to lose weight and feel better about myself. I discovered that there is no right way to wellness. We are all beautiful and unique individuals and over the years I have learned three important things for teaching and working with people:

  1. How to create a space where people feel good about themselves.
  2. The importance of accurate knowledge to take care of our bodies.
  3. And how to consistently move our bodies so that we feel good. 

After 15 years of working in this industry, I have found that there is more than one way to move our bodies. The most important thing is to find one that you enjoy. I am super excited to bring Groove Method to you. It’s a fun and simple way to move our bodies. The cool thing is, anyone can do it! 

My passion is helping people to create a wellness toolbox that works for the whole person. Thank you in advance for allowing me to share my passion with you!

About Kevin Mutschler, L.Ac., NCCAOM

Kevin Mutschler

Kevin is a board-certified acupuncturist (NCCAOM) and Qigong educator with over twenty-five years experience in healing arts practice, research and education, including work in medical anthropology, somatic therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Kevin has special interests in working with patients living with chronic illness, migraine, MS and cancer. He is a Smith Center fellow in Integrative Cancer Care Navigation and is a member of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

About Kiersten Gallagher, RYT200

Kiersten Gallagher, RYT 200 and Certified Herbalist has studied yoga for over 25 years. Over the last decade, Kiersten has developed yoga programs and has provided a place for healing in the cancer community, in underprivileged neighborhoods, for special needs children, for teens and adults with drug addiction and for those struggling with body image. Kiersten invites you on a journey of healing to help guide you to a place where yoga will make a real difference in your life.  Kiersten’s goal for you is that you feel better when you leave class- mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually, than you may have felt when you stepped through the door to begin your practice.

About Michelle Stravitz

When I was diagnosed in June 2015 with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, fitness, in its various forms, had been in and out of my life since my 20’s. However, my oncologist was clear with me – move as much as you can throughout treatment to combat fatigue and anxiety. I took her words to heart, and I made fitness a part of my complementary treatment plan. Some days that meant walking with a friend or the dog, and on other days I found a gentle yoga class or an oncology exercise session. The benefits were definitive and numerous. Now that I am post-treatment, I recognize the extraordinary importance and impact of regular exercise for cancer patients and survivors. As a breast cancer survivor, I have made fitness a priority in my life, and I want to help every patient and survivor to do the same. Based on my own experience, and after reviewing a lot of research, I know that having someone to walk with, or just to encourage us to get moving, makes all the difference – and that’s why I am so committed to the mission of 2Unstoppable. Join our program and community and feel better!

Michelle Stravitz is a PCI-Certified Parent Coach, holds an MS from The GWU, and BS Engineering and BS Economics degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Founding 2Unstoppable brings together a wealth of experience and passion advising and serving on the boards of various non-profit organizations and running a small management consulting firm. Michelle is the CFO of Spectrum Management Consulting and is also a professional event coordinator. She has served as a peer supporter for women of all ages undergoing treatment for breast cancer, both informally and through organizations such as Sharsheret and Life With Cancer. She lives in Fairfax VA with her husband, four children, and one dog.

About Yael Flusberg, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, RM/T, MS

Yael Flusberg Gentle Yoga Instructor Smith Center

Yael Flusberg first came to yoga hoping she could get rid of stuff, namely the ways life’s stresses and traumas had become painfully embodied. Fifteen years and thousands of layers of release later, yoga continues to teach her how to make strategic, creative, and life-nourishing choices. Trained as an integrative yoga therapist, Yael’s classes blend active with receptive states of being, and are both insightful and lighthearted. Off the mat, she is a coach, writer and energy therapist. Since 2005, Yael has taught yoga classes at area hospitals, libraries, workplaces, schools, and yoga studios. As an integrative yoga therapist (E-RYT500) she facilitates both group and individual yoga therapy sessions, working with people dealing with a variety of conditions including cancer, digestive disorders, diabetes, eating disorders, fibromyalgia, hypertension, mental health challenges (including depression, anxiety, grief and trauma), rheumatoid arthritis, scoliosis, and sports injuries. She currently teaches a weekly therapeutic class for people living with cancer and their caregivers on GW’s campus. More info: www.yaelflusberg.com