Tag: Wellness

With Yael Flusberg, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, RMT, MS

Enjoy a greater sense of wellbeing and enhanced energy in our gentle yoga classes.  Learn various yoga postures, techniques in progressive relaxation, breathing practices, and meditation to help reduce stress, as well as balance mind, body, and spirit.  Our classes are specifically designed for adults facing stress, cancer, or other illness and are open to anyone interested in attending. All levels are welcome.

In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.

Yael’s Gentle Yoga Class Meets Weekly on Tuesdays from 6:00pm – 7:15pm.

Our programs are also 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.

Suggested Donation for 1 Class: $10

Suggested Donation for 1 Month of Classes: $25

About Yael Flusberg

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

 

With Bryant Johnson, Personal Trainer to RBG and Author of The RBG Workout, Michelle Stravitz, co-founder, 2Unstoppable, Ilana Gamerman, co-founder, 2Unstoppable

Join us for an afternoon of Motivation, Conversation, and Empowerment!  Meet Bryant Johnson – Supreme Court justice and octogenarian Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal trainer and author of The RBG Workout, How She Stays Strong and You Can, Too. 

As seen on Stephen Colbert and in the recent documentary, The RBG Movie, and featured in the book, The Notorious RBG, Bryant Johnson has been training Justice Ginsburg since 1999 when she completed treatment for colorectal cancer.  They’ve been working out together ever since!  Books and special-edition Super Diva! t-shirts will be available for purchase. Book signing to follow.

Suggested Donation: $15

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. All donations support future programming at Smith Center.

About 2Unstoppable

 2Unstoppable is a non-profit whose mission is to encourage and support exercise among women who have had a cancer diagnosis. Free online fitness buddy matching, oncology fitness resources, and community events at www.2unstoppable.org

with Dr. Mikhail Kogan, MD, Deidre Orceyre, ND MSOM Lac, and Paula Querido Kahn

Cannabis is becoming more widely available as a medicine in the United States as well as throughout the world. Although its medicinal use dates back thousands of years, health care providers trained in modern times during cannabis prohibition and stigmatization have very little knowledge regarding the pharmacology, benefits and risks, and dosing recommendations. Oncology patients are increasingly relying on on-line testimonials or advice from cannabis dispensaries to determine if cannabis may be useful for them. Recent surveys have shown that at least 50% of oncologists would like to have their patients try medical cannabis, but few actively prescribe – mostly due to lack of education on the topic.

This session will outline the basics of the system of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids, review clinical situations where cannabis may be a useful intervention and discuss and demonstrate some of the currently available delivery systems.

The topic is extremely important because of the global increase in the use of medical cannabis. It is being increasingly requested by a variety of different oncology patients. Medical cannabis is in the news on a daily basis and physicians are confronted with a paucity of knowledge and evidence to employ in discussion with their patients, In addition, many may face an ethical dilemma about making a recommendation to use cannabis to their patients in view of its overall illegal status globally. There is also a taboo associated with its consumption which prohibits many patients from discussing it with their physicians. The knowledge gap in this area for both physicians and patients is significant.

Objectives

Objective 1: Enumerate the clinical situations which have the best evidence to support the use of medicinal cannabis as it relates to oncology patients.

Objective 2: Discuss the effects obtained from different strains and modes of delivery of medicinal cannabis

Objective 3: Understand basics of the process of obtaining medical cannabis in the Washington DC and surrounding area.

Enrollment space is limited and we expect this workshop to fill quickly,  so register early to guarantee your place! To RSVP, please click the link at the top of this page, call 202.483.8600 or email programs@smithcenter.org.

About Mikhail (Misha) Kogan, MD, ABIOM, RCST

Dr Kogan is a leader in the newly-established field of Integrative Geriatrics.  He is the chief editor of the first definitive textbook of the field entitled “Integrative Geriatric Medicine”, published by Oxford University Press as part of Andrew Weil Integrative Medicine Library series and is frequent speaker at a variety of international conferences on the topics of Integrative Medicine and Geriatrics, healthy aging, and geriatrics, as well as neurodegenerative diseases, and use of medical cannabis.  Additionally, he has published in both Integrative and Geriatric topics in leading US-based journals.

Dr. Kogan currently serves as medical director of the GW Center for Integrative Medicine and associate director of the Geriatrics Fellowship Program.  He is the founder and director of the George Washington University Integrative Geriatrics Fellowship Track and the director of the Integrative Medicine Track program at the George Washington University School of Medicine, as well as serving as part-time faculty member of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, and the GW Center for Aging, Health and Humanities.

In addition to his academic roles at George Washington University Dr. Kogan serves on a number of national boards and organizations including: the American Board of Integrative Medicine within the American Board of Physician Subspecialists (ABPS), ProCure Art, PlantMed, and others.  Dr Kogan is also the founder and the chair of the board of AIM Health Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that provides integrative medicine services to low-income and terminally ill patients regardless of their ability to pay.

In 2017, after a decade of applying integrative approaches to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and optimizing comprehensive metabolic approach, Dr. Kogan founded the MK Cognition Institute (MKCI), dedicated to helping patients with Alzheimer’s disease identify and correct underlying metabolic driverswork, which is primarily based on Dr. Dale Bredesen’s research and newly created ReCode protocol.

For Dr. Mikhail Kogan, the practice of medicine, much like the rest of his life, has been a journey spanning many miles and many cultures, with valuable new learning and different perspectives accruing from each stage along the way. Those many experiences – here and abroad, in the classroom and the clinic, professionally and personally – have  given Dr. Kogan the skills, , openness, and inquisitiveness that set him apart, and distinguish him as a committed and caring practitioner within integrative medicine.

Born in Moscow, in the former Soviet Union, Dr. Kogan emigrated with his family  in his teens, first to Israel,and then to the United States, where he obtained his medical degree from the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He followed a Primary Care and Social Medicine Track residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, and a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., which led to a position as an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care.

In addition to his training in conventional Western medicine, Dr. Kogan has actively pursued a number of other healing arts and practices that have shaped his understanding of and approach to patient care. He is a graduate of a two-year training course in craniosacral therapy–a subtle osteopathic modality that has a wide range of effectiveness for different conditions such as headaches, back pains, and fatigue. He has also completed a four-year program at the Suluk Academy, a teaching center based on the principles and traditions of Sufism, where he learned how to incorporate meditation, mindfulness, and different spiritual practices into his daily life and his work with the patients. Among his many other areas of study are courses in Nutrition, therapeutic use of vitamins, Functional Medicine, botanicals, and other alternative modalities.

Weaving those tools into the fabric of his medical practice has enabled Dr. Kogan to provide innovative and effective treatments to his patients with minimal use of invasive procedures or heavy reliance on medications and to understand the importance of self-exploration, awareness and positive lifestyle changes as essential milestones on his patients’ journeys towards better health.

Dr. Kogan practices Geriatric and Integrative Medicine in a variety of settings:  at the George Washington Hospital, at the GW Center for Integrative medicine and the MKCI, as well as serving patients in home visits

Outside of the clinic Dr. Kogan, together with his wife Angela, stays busy raising young sons Peter and Sebastian. True to his calling as an integrative practitioner, his leisure time is replete with healthy lifestyle activities that nourish both body and spirit : he enjoys vigorous exercise, frequent nature walks with his family (and dog), mind body practices such as weekly Sufi Meditation classes, beekeeping and gardening.

About Deirdre Orceyre, ND, MSOM, LAc

Dr. Deirdre Orceyre is a clinically trained, board certified, licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist specializing in Integrative Naturopathic Oncology. Dr. Orceyre serves as Naturopathic Medical Director for the GW Center for Integrative Medicine in Washington DC. In addition to her private clinical practice, Dr. Orceyre offers naturopathic consultations and acupuncture to breast cancer patients at the GW Comprehensive Breast Care Center, is adjunct faculty at Georgetown University and is a contributing author of multiple peer-reviewed integrative oncology publications and presentations. She is an active member of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP).

Dr. Orceyre uses diet and lifestyle interventions, herbal medicine, acupuncture, nutritional supplements and homeopathic medicine to help cancer patients minimize side effects of conventional treatments and return to optimal health after treatment. Her goal is to help each individual patient find balance and support – physically, emotionally and spiritually – as they navigate through the cancer diagnosis, treatment, healing process and beyond.

About Paula Querido Kahn

Paula Querido Kahn is Director of Community Engagement at Takoma Wellness Center. She is a licensed occupational therapist and a founding family member of TWC. Paula began her career as a therapeutic recreation specialist with a focus in gerontology. Following employment in adult day health, subacute rehabilitation, and in-patient psychiatry, Paula pursued a master’s degree in occupational therapy at Tufts University. As an occupational therapist, Paula served older adults in rehabilitation and long-term care before joining the family at TWC in January 2014.

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 Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT

Mandalas for Managing Stress and Increasing Wellbeing

Mandalas – circular designs that communicate symbolic meaning – have been used for centuries as a form of contemplative practice in many spiritual traditions.

In this brief but focused workshop, we will use mandala imagery, writing, and meditative practice to bring creativity, healing, and an increased sense of grounding and balance into our lives. Absolutely no previous art experience is needed. The workshop is designed for all ranges of artistic experience–you need not consider yourself an artist to attend.

 

Suggested Materials:

  • Paper to draw on – can be any size or color that you like; we usually work with something between 6 x 6 to 12 x 12
  • Art supplies to draw or paint with – E.G. colored pencils, magic markers, chalk or oil pastels, watercolor paints, and/or acrylics
  • Plate or circular shape – to draw an outline of a circle on the paper
  • For those of you who do creative or art journaling, you are welcome to use your journal to create your mandala.

Suggested Donation: $10

About Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT

Rebecca Wilkinson

Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BC, is a Registered and Board Certified art therapists with twenty years of experience in mental health and in facilitating training and workshops. She serves as adjunct faculty at George Washington University Graduate Art Therapy Program and provide continuing education and development through the Potomac Art Therapy Association. She facilitates supportive workshops for those affected by life threatening illness and the professional providers working with them. Co-founder of Creative Wellbeing Workshops, LLC, which provides training, consultation, and clinical therapy designed to reduce stress, prevent burnout and increase life satisfaction and wellbeing.

With Kiersten Gallagher and Maura Singer

In this two-day healing workshop, we will explore stress relief techniques, practice qigong, yoga and meditation, work with grief and loss in small groups, and use ritual to process. We will use art, writing, and movement as tools to find our voice and purpose through creativity. We will connect with and draw from the healing power of nature. The format of this group work is based on Healing Circles principles to build companionship, support, and trust in the inherent wisdom and compassion of each individual and of the group. Women ages 20-55 at any stage are welcome.

Workshop is limited to 12 participants; please RVSP early to secure attendance.

Workshop is from 11am – 5pm Saturday, August 5th and Sunday, August 6th.