I started StrongerThruCancer because people fighting cancer are grossly underserved in the health and wellness community.
I am a cancer survivor too and when it comes to exercise, there just aren’t many options specifically geared towards people on this journey. I didn’t feel like going to a gym with “regular’ people. I didn’t want to see people feeling and looking their best when I felt like every day was a struggle.I was worried that I wouldn’t get the care I needed in an exercise class or with a personal trainer. And I certainly didn’t want the exposure to germs during active treatment. But I also didn’t want to do it alone.
It has now been years since my last treatment, but I still feel the need for a specific place to rebuild and readjust to a continually changing version of me.
With first-hand experience leading and instructing Livestrong at the YMCA many years later, I saw firsthand the benefits of a regular fitness and wellness practice. I saw people supporting each other’s’ journey! People of all ages and fitness backgrounds They all made progress and improved their fitness and mental attitudes.
But these other programs were limited.
12 weeks doesn’t establish a permanent routine; it’s just a start. And participants would regularly tell me they wished they could continue, that they needed a community to help motivate them, support them, and make them accountable.
And then our lives turned upside down in 2020. We became more isolated and less active.
I knew, now more than ever, that my fellow cancer warriors need a safe place, on any day, or every day, to get that community back. To continue to build their health and wellness. So I got to work, utilizing my 16 years of experience with cancer and fitness, creating such a program. Combining low intensity at home workouts, done with little or no equipment; and using yoga and mindfulness practices such as journaling, intention setting, and meditation, to create a live community where we all share some of the same anxieties, struggles and triumphs. Self care is not an option, and beating cancer begins with self-care.
Are you ready to become StrongerThruCancer? We’ll be there with you on your journey! Certifications : Cancer Exercise Specialist through ACE, Cancer & Fitness through the Livestrong Foundation, Experienced Yoga Instructor through the National Yoga Alliance, Group Fitness through the YMCA
