CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Living Beauty Cancer Foundation provides both in-person and online programming! Our workshops, movement classes and one-on-one sessions are currently being held online and our overnight retreats and day retreats are held in person! Please check your emails for information on our programs and to stay updated on any upcoming retreats. If you are new to the organization, please feel free to sign up to become a Living Beauty in order to stay up to date with upcoming events, resources and other news and information. If you have any questions, please contact our program director at [email protected].
Upcoming Program Events
Body Care for Optimal Pelvic Floor Function Series
With Elyse Sparkes
4 Tuesdays in July
2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd
5:30pm-7:00pm (PST)
Via Zoom
This month you’ll learn basic anatomy, breathwork, and simple movements to help
restore your pelvic floor function. Your pelvic floor supports the organs of your pelvis, coordinates to help with proper bladder, bowel, and sexual function, and helps both stabilize and mobilize your pelvis, sacrum, and spine. Spoiler: it’s not just about kegels!
Your whole body has a part to play in keeping the pelvic floor area healthy, balanced,
and able to do its job well. This is for you if you experience incontinence of any kind,
chronic constipation, pain during intercourse, unexplained hip/back/tailbone pain,
experience pelvic organ prolapse, or just want to better understand your pelvic anatomy to be able to advocate for your healthcare, feel empowered, and increase your body connection and awareness.
WEEK 1: Pelvic Floor 101
What/where is the pelvic floor? Why is it important? How can I feel what’s going on
“down there”? My abs feel like they’ve gone numb… how can I engage them? Should I be doing more kegels? These are all questions we’ll address in week #1. We will start with basic education, anatomical awareness, and simple breathwork and movements to help you connect with and access your pelvic floor and deep core musculature.
WEEK 2: Hip Helper
In this class, we’ll focus more on a movement sequence for hip mobility and stability, and overall hip strength. Muscles surrounding the pelvis (such as glutes, hamstrings,
abductors, and adductors) are all so important and influential to the pelvic floor area. We will also do some assessments to address things like hip asymmetries and pelvic
positioning.
WEEK 3: Chest, Ribs, Scapula – Oh my!
In week 3 we’ll dive into thoracic mobility, gentle self-massage, and breathwork. Lack of mobility around the rib cage, chest, and shoulder blades can impact the function of your diaphragm and the pelvic floor area. We will focus on getting more movement into these areas through a focus on rib cage alignment, thoracic rotation and side bending, increasing range of motion at the shoulder joint, and strengthening the upper back.
WEEK 4: Feet + Floor + Full Body
To tie it all together we’ll zoom in on our feet and discover the multitude of connections between the feet and the pelvic floor. You’ll practice exercises that can help improve your gait, balance and stability, and glute engagement. Then we’ll zoom back out and look at the body as a whole, putting it all together for overall optimal core and pelvic floor function.
Throughout the series it will be helpful for you to have:
-A chair
-A tennis ball or something similar (rolled up pair of socks works)
-A yoga strap, long resistance band, or long scarf
-A folded yoga blanket or towel
Elyse Sparkes is a Certified Restore Your Core® Movement teacher, Certified
Personal Trainer, and Registered Yoga Teacher. She’s passionate about helping
people sneeze without peeing their pants, reduce chronic constipation, and enjoy
intercourse without pain. She created the #BeKindBodyMind movement to help people be kinder and more compassionate to themselves, increase mindfulness as they exercise, and approach movement for mental health and overall healing. She currently lives by the beach in Ventura, CA and works with people virtually through workshops, group programs, and private sessions.
For information on how to register for this series please reach out to [email protected].
Empowering You with Simple Remedies to Relieve Pain
with Dr. Allison Philips, DC
Wednesday, July 24th
5:00pm-6:00pm (PST)
Via Zoom
Join us for an evening of empowering movements and stretches from the lenses of a
chiropractor; expertly led by Dr. Phillips!
Dr. Allison Phillips attended Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, where chiropractic was founded over a hundred years ago. She learned a variety of
chiropractic techniques so that she can tailor what she does according to each patient’s needs. Before graduating, she completed a rotation in an interdisciplinary setting working alongside medical doctors for patients with complex care needs. She also traveled to Manaus, Brazil to provide care for an underserved community.
Having grown up in Wheaton, Illinois, Dr. Phillips returned to the greater Chicagoland area upon graduation. She worked in a well-established clinic in Northwest Indiana until moving to Los Angeles when her husband was accepted to medical school at U.S.C. After working in a variety of clinics here, she decided to start her own practice, Sequoia Chiropractic, a concierge clinic that meets patients in their homes and workplaces to provide care. In this setting Dr. Phillips honors patients’ values while striving for integrity and excellence in all that she does.
For information on how to register for this workshop, please reach out to [email protected].
Monthly Yoga Nidra
With Sharon Holly
Thursday, July 25th
7:00pm – 8:00pm (PST)
Via Zoom
Yoga Nidra is an ancient meditation practice that utilizes your innate biological
process of sleep to access the deepest state of consciousness, where restoration
can occur on all levels of your body and being. You will be guided through a series
of breath and awareness techniques that support the body in releasing physical,
mental, and emotional tension.
This practice allows the body to enter the space between wakefulness and sleep,
unlocking your healing potential. This ancient yogic technique effortlessly takes you
to a state of deep relaxation where you may change your relationship to pain,
habits, and stressful situations. With practice, it can provide you with the capacity to
move through life with greater ease and peace, no matter what the external
circumstances are around you.
It is typically done lying down on the floor, couch, or bed but can also be done in a
recliner or comfortable chair. Each class will start with a short lesson followed by
Q&A. The actual meditation will be approximately 40 minutes. Benefits of Yoga
Nidra have been reported to support better sleep, decrease pain, anxiety, blood
pressure, as well as increase energy, mood, and overall well-being.
ALL LEVELS ARE WELCOME, and no prior experience is needed.
Sharon Holly is a Living Beauty, Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), y4c (yoga for
cancer) Teacher, Certified TRE® (Tension/Trauma Release Exercises) and The
Resilience Toolkit Provider. On her healing journey with breast cancer, Sharon was
introduced to various modalities through retreats offered by Living Beauty that
were not only a tremendous part of her healing process but also inspired and set
her on the path of her life’s purpose… empowering and guiding fellow
survivors/thrivers towards their inner wisdom and healing, which ultimately result
from understanding and navigating their nervous systems. She feels blessed to be
able to share the gifts that were so readily given to her and continue to provide
support on her healing journey.
Sharon currently teaches small group classes and private yoga therapy sessions in-
person and online through her company, Healing Breath Yoga Therapy, as well as
at preschools, yoga studios, and cancer centers including: TCRF/Magnolia House
and CSC-LA. She has taught previously at physical therapy offices, psychological
trauma treatment centers, elementary, and high schools. Sharon also holds
certifications for adult and children’s yoga as an E-RYT/CYT-500, Amrit Yoga Nidra
Instructor, and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
Register once for the whole year!
For information on how to register for this class, please reach out to [email protected].
Serenity Yoga Retreat
Starts: Wednesday, August 14th at 3:00pm
Ends: Friday, August 16th at 12:00pm
Serra Retreat Center
Malibu, California
Set at the serene Serra Retreat Center in Malibu, Tari Prinster, founder of Yoga4Cancer (y4c), will guide 22 Living Beauties in gentle and restorative y4c yoga. The y4c methodology is a carefully constructed system of yoga poses and sequences, each one based on the needs of cancer survivors.
The goal of this retreat experience is aimed toward overall wellness in mind, body and spirit by way of yoga, meditation, and education. The Serenity Yoga Retreat is ideal for your personal healing and rejuvenation!
Applications for our waitlist are now open. For information on how to apply, please reach out to [email protected].