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 Miles Braun, MD, MPH
Integrative Medicine helps us to make skillful and healthy choices with regard to diet, exercise, sleep, connecting with others, stress reduction, and avoiding toxins. It also incorporates medical practices from other traditions, such as acupuncture, and the use of natural products and botanicals. Mind-body practices like meditation/mindfulness, massage, yoga and tai chi are key elements. Some other practices, more on the fringe, will also be addressed.
About Miles Braun, MD, MPH
Miles Braun, MD MPH is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He is also Director of the Adolescent & Young Adult Integrative Oncology Initiative at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. He served for 20 years in the US Public Health Service at CDC, NIH and FDA, including for more than eight years as a Division Director at FDA. He has more than 100 scientific-medical publications, including many in leading journals and some that affected medical practice in the US and beyond. He also has served in senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry.
This class is now full. Please check back at a later date for a similar program.
with Chef Kara Garrett
Start out the new year on a healthy note! Learn tips to make weekly meal planning easier and together we will prepare simple make-ahead and easy-to-reheat meals for the week.
We will prepare 4 dishes together and you will take home individual portions of each to enjoy for your lunch or dinner. Please bring your preferred reusable storage containers.
Menu items will include:
- Zesty Veggie & Black Bean Enchiladas
- Vegan Homestyle Lasanga
- Meditteranean Grain Bowl with Baked Falafel
- Tuscan Vegetable Soup
When registering, please indicate any guest(s) that will be joining you, and if you have any food restrictions or allergies. All items will be vegan, gluten-free and soy-free.
This class is limited to 10 participants. Be sure to sign up early!
Suggested Donation: $25
About Chef 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 class is now full. Please email programs@smithcenter.org or call (202) 483-8600 to be added to the waitlist.
with Laura Pole, RN, MSN, PCNS
Winter is a good time for treating yourself to some healthy pleasures. including eating delicious cozy winter foods. Brilliant winter squashes and root veggies, gorgeous greens and dark chocolate will make their way into the pots, pans, your plate, over your taste buds and into your happy bell. We’ll savor all this in each other’s good company. Join Chef Laura in this invitation to “feel good”.
*Please Note: Every individual’s needs are unique. We aim to offer a variety of health-promoting options for each individual to consider, but do not prescribe the specific dietary content of any program for anyone.
Suggested donation: $25, includes a health-supportive meal and all recipes
Our programs are open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.
About Laura Pole
Laura Pole, RN, MSN, comes with a diverse educational background including a Masters degree in nursing, chef certification, and professional music training. For over 20 years, she has been merging her careers as a health supportive chef, professional musician, oncology clinical nurse specialist, and a palliative care educator. Laura serves Smith Center in several ways: Director of Nourishment Education Programs, Director of Professional Trainings in Culinary Translation and Co-Creator/Coordinator of Patient Navigation Trainings. Laura is also on faculty for the nationally acclaimed Cancer-Fighting Kitchen workshops.
with artist Leigh Davis
Join us for a conversation and discussion with artist Leigh Davis focusing on ELEs (end-of-life experiences). ELEs are unusual experiences that typically occur around the time of a death and are experienced by a person who is dying or who has lost a loved one. These experiences can be interpreted as premonitions, deathbed visions, golden light, changes in the temperature or atmosphere, terminal lucidity, or eerie coincidences. The talk invites the audience to participate and speculate about the boundaries between the physical world, the emotional world, and what may exist beyond.
About Leigh Davis
I create multimedia work that is both deeply personal and anthropologically rich, navigating the complex line between voyeurism and empathy. In recent years, projects have taken the form of shrines, altars, and collections of various objects and images that work together to form a cohesive and immersive installation. To house these works, I have been drawn to sites that present their own spirituality or sense of community, using this intrinsic human quality to complement the stories represented in the installations. My overall work is designed to foster connection between viewers and community members, encouraging conversation about the aspects of humanity that keep us apart and bring us together. Currently, I am working on a body of work about the modern rituals surrounding death and the remnants of the life left behind. Vigil, my recent site-based audio installation, stems from my membership with a community of women continuing the tradition of bedside singing to the dying. This project was created for the historic chapel at Green-Wood Cemetery 10/17. I teach courses at Parsons the New School for Design and work between Brooklyn NY and Washington DC.
