with Grace Anderson

Undergoing cancer treatment usually means taking a step back from plants and produce for the sake of our immune systems. As survivors, getting back in touch with nature can aid our healing process both mentally and physically. During this program, we’ll take “getting back in touch” literally, digging our hands into the soil to pot a new plant, tasting fresh produce from the Kitchen Garden, and making our own tea blend. Join us at the U.S. Botanic Garden as we explore the healing power of plants!

Suggested Donation: $15

 

About Grace Anderson

Grace Anderson is an Education Specialist at the U.S. Botanic Garden and a survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Being able to work with plants and enjoy fresh produce after treatment was a vital part of her survivorship. She wanted to share that experience with other survivors and teamed up with the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts to start a program where survivors can celebrate heath through immersion in the world of plants.

This event has been postponed. Please check back for a new scheduled date.

with Chef Laura Pole

Are you or your loved one living with esophageal cancer and the eating challenges that come with it? Are you confused by all the dietary advice? If so, come join chef and oncology nurse, Laura Pole, and learn how to translate your diet prescription into tasty healthy food that you can actually enjoy eating. In addition to preparing and eating delicious food together, Chef Laura guarantees we’ll have fun!

 

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 Janice Levitt

REFRESH Whole Food Summer Cleanse

July 12 – 25

Take your knowledge about healthy eating and put it into practice in your own kitchen in this fully supported 14-day clean eating program emphasizing seasonal, natural, whole food cooking.

So many of you are trying to eat more wisely. It’s not easy to change habits: how you shop, what you habitually snack on, what’s in your fridge, what you prepare for dinner. Join us for this 14-day clean eating program that will help you put healthy habits into practice at home in your own kitchen.
You’ll prepare delicious, healthy meals with fresh, seasonal whole foods. You’ll increase your energy, improve your digestion, support your immune system, and feel good knowing you’re fueling yourself with nourishing food and extra self-care. Receive daily encouragement and support via email and a closed Facebook group from health coach Janice Levitt throughout the program, as well as recipes, guidebook, and a done-for-you shopping list so you know exactly what to do. Say goodbye to sugar cravings and discover how good you can feel with the healing power of whole foods. Learn more and register by July 4.

Fee: $129 

You can learn more about this program and register here: REFRESH Summer Whole Food Cleanse.

Please register for this program by Saturday, July 4, as all materials will be sent out on that day, giving you a week to read, shop, and prepare before the clean eating program begins on July 12. By registering through this special link, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Smith Center for Healing and the Arts.


About Janice Levitt

Janice Levitt, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, EML, CHHC, is passionate about helping people to feel vibrant and radiant through whole foods nutrition, a clean lifestyle, and radical self-care. She offers transformational individual and group health coaching programs and four seasonal cleanses, working holistically to support people body, mind, and spirit. She loves guiding people to listen to their body’s messages, find balance, increase energy, lose weight, reduce stress, improve digestion, cook delicious food, or manage chronic illness through making gradual nutrition and lifestyle changes. She also specializes in supporting with people with nutrition and lifestyle changes for thyroid and autoimmune conditions and hormone balance. Janice lives in Takoma Park, MD with her husband Dan and their organic garden. Her favorite room in the house is the kitchen!

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 Sylvia Sturm, EEM-CLP, RM/T

In order to give care, we must remember to take care. Using the Eden Method, this class is designed to introduce caregivers to simple tools for self-care. It will focus on harmonizing and rebalancing the body’s subtle energy systems thrown awry by the challenges of caregiving.

Anxiety, anger, fear, overwhelm, sleeplessness, exhaustion, depression, lack of concentration and health problems are some of the many symptoms brought about by the stress of caregiving and the resulting energy imbalances. Eden Method Techniques to address these imbalances and introduce harmony back into the body’s energy systems are the focus of the class. The techniques are simple tools anyone can use practically anywhere, anytime.

The class is interactive with tools being introduced and then practiced by participants. Dress comfortably!

 

About Sylvia Sturm, EEM-CLP, RM/T

Sylvia Sturm, EEM-CLP, RM/T, heads our Energy Balancing volunteer team. Sylvia is a Certified Eden Energy Medicine Clinical Practitioner and a Reiki Master Teacher. For many years she has managed a Reiki Volunteer group at a seniors’ residence and has served for 6 years as a Reiki volunteer in GWU Hospital. She is delighted to now work with a dedicated and wonderful team to address the balancing of one’s subtle energies in order to allow the body to completely relax. She has an independent practice in Kensington, MD. To learn more about Sylvia and subtle energies, please visit her website www.sylviasturm.com.

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 Janice Levitt

Come get inspired to take better care of YOU so you have more energy, stamina, and a stronger immune system. In this interactive presentation, Janice will discuss 5 key habits for living a healthy lifestyle. She will also introduce the upcoming Summer clean-eating program, REFRESH Whole Food Cleanse.


About Janice Levitt

Janice Levitt, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, EML, CHHC, is passionate about helping people to feel vibrant and radiant through whole foods nutrition, a clean lifestyle, and radical self-care. She offers transformational individual and group health coaching programs and four seasonal cleanses, working holistically to support people body, mind, and spirit. She loves guiding people to listen to their body’s messages, find balance, increase energy, lose weight, reduce stress, improve digestion, cook delicious food, or manage chronic illness through making gradual nutrition and lifestyle changes. She also specializes in supporting with people with nutrition and lifestyle changes for thyroid and autoimmune conditions and hormone balance. Janice lives in Takoma Park, MD with her husband Dan and their organic garden. Her favorite room in the house is the kitchen!

with Evolyn Brooks

Make a luxury intention candle, personalize your creations with crystals, flowers and glitter at this beautifully tablescaped setting. After the event, this special candle designed by you, will serve as a gentle reminder of the promise you made to call forth love, luck and grace in all aspects of your life!

In this 90 minute workshop you will learn:

  • The difference between a goal and an intention.
  • How to set new life goals and intentions that support your aspirations.
  • How to create an intention candle that adds positive energy to your life and home, supports your goals and serves as a reminder to pursue what’s best for you in life.
  • How to practice kindness and compassion for yourself as you pursue your dreams.
  • How to release emotional blocks and thought patterns that no longer serve you.
  • How to create a daily mantra that connects you with the highest version of yourself.
  • How to center yourself with breath work, healing touch and the five reiki precepts.

Suggested Donation: $25

 

About Evolyn Brooks

In My Solitude LA began with the heartfelt desire of Founder and TV Producer, Evolyn Brooks to create a luxury, handcrafted candle, wellness goods and lifestyle line to help women relax and practice self-care.

As a breast cancer survivor and thriver, Evolyn shares through her book, “Her Name Is Cranberry,” a message of how to overcome obstacles and create the life of your dreams. She brings her ideas to life through intention based “self-discovery through DIY” candle making experiences around the world.

She created and used the Journey Candle Collection, a project she began to support her healing process while undergoing chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. “The Journey Candle Collection can be used to overcome any subconscious mental or spiritual blocks that diminish your power to focus on an area of your life that needs to be healed,” says Evolyn. By clarifying the intention and outcome you want in your life, it’s easier to claim your desire and create it with power and confidence.”

In My Solitude LA is a female owned, Los Angeles based company that is dedicated to creating mindful products and experiences. https://www.inmysolitudela.com/

This event is being hosted virtually via Zoom. In order to participate live and receive the Zoom link, please purchase tickets below or email carla@smithcenter.org.

Join us to celebrate the beauty of life and survivorship. Come enjoy music, poetry and stories performed and shared in honor of cancer survivors, and in memory of our dear friend and colleague, Fatima Djalo Johnson.

Please stay tuned for an updated list of performances, speakers and other fun opportunities!

Fatima Djalo Johnson touched the lives of so many people around the world in countless ways. Her bravery to reach for the stars and to create a life of joy and fulfillment was truly inspiring. Knowing Fatima meant learning to see life through a brighter lens, to face challenges fearlessly, and to never surrender hope. Fatima lost her battle with cancer on February 12, 2019, two days before Valentine’s Day, a reminder to all who knew her to love and live as big as we can and to never take a single day for granted. The 1st Annual Survivor Voices was Fatima’s effort to uplift those who had persevered through cancer. It is our hope that the event will live on in her honor and carry her light for years to come. 


In honor of what would have been Fatima’s 31st birthday this year, tickets to Survivor Voices are available in increments of $31. Please be as generous as you can.

 

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 Debra Diamond, Ph.D.

In “Diary of a Death Doula: 25 Lessons the Dying Teach Us About the Afterlife,” psychic medium, and near-death experience researcher Dr. Debra Diamond presents the story of life as a hospice ‘Death Doula’, revealing 25 critical life lessons from those at the threshold of the afterlife, and those who have already crossed over, ultimately revealing a new way of understanding death.
Dr. Diamond will present for ~45 minutes, followed by a question & answer portion.
About Debra Diamond, Ph.D.

Debra Diamond, Ph.D. is a former Wall Street money manager, regular CNBC commentator and Professor at the Johns Hopkins University who left a high profile life to pursue a life of purpose and spirituality. She earned an MBA from The George Washington University and a Ph.D. from the Esoteric Interfaith Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of the Holistic Studies Institute of New York, has completed mediumship training at the Arthur Findlay College in the UK and trained at the Carl Jung Institute in Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland. Debra is the author of “Life after Near Death: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Transformation in the Extraordinary Lives of People with Newfound Powers” and “Diary of a Death Doula: 25 Lessons the Dying Teach Us About the Afterlife.” Debra is dedicated to the empowerment of her clients.

with Tamara Wellons, Artist in Residence Manager at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts

featuring Kinard Cherry

Valentines Day 2020!

Please join us for a new concert series at the gallery hosted by our very own Tamara Wellons, Artist in Residence Manager at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts and Washington, DC based vocal artist.

Each quarter Tami will host a series of different accompanying artists and musicians. The first series will debut on Valentine’s Day as we celebrate love with the smooth rhythms of Tami Wellons and her husband, Kinard Cherry.

Tamara Wellons is a vocal music recording artist who has a voice that flows seamlessly from hymns to soulful house music. Upholding her southern Virginia roots and musical tradition, Tamara has performed on prestigious national and international stages, such as London’s Jazz Café, DC’s Blues Alley, Richmond Jazz Festival, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and many more. Her latest project was recorded with bassist, drummer and lead guitarist and husband, Kinard Cherry.

Tickets: $15

with Helen Frederick

The Healing Arts Series

Exploring the concept of site-specific space and working from a probe the instructor will provide, you will experiment with one element that can be repeated, expanded, or interfaced with itself to plan a small artwork. With personally defined activities derived from objects that act as touchstones, you will take a role in exploring a sensorial or physical experience, as seen in the artworks of Material Woman. This may include the act of splicing ropes, yarn or paper; piling up of small three-dimensional objects, using words and your voice, or inviting others to help you create a tiny installation. We live in a country of cultural appropriation where we desire to experience each other in ceremony. Bring one or two objects with you that you feel represent a deep connection about you, a material that you respond to, and may relate to your cultural roots. Participants and the instructor will enjoy conversation before and after your work is created to share some conclusions. No artistic experience required.

Suggested Donation: $15