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What's Happening

The latest on events, retreats and more...



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Tea Time with Wind River - schedule today!

3/26/2020

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We thought about what makes our retreats and other events special and realized it is the personal connection, the times when we can laugh and cry and laugh again and we don't need to be in the same location to do that!

Open to anyone in our Wind River family (survivors, caregivers, volunteers, supporters, healthcare practitioners), we are rolling out a new way to connect with us, and hopefully experience a little Wind River magic from the comfort of your own living room that we are calling Tea Time with Wind River.

It's Simple:
  1. Use our new scheduling tool to Sign up for a 30 min time slot
  2. Make yourself a cup of tea just before your scheduled time
  3. Get comfortable, sit back and chat with one of our Wind River team members
* Who you will talk to may be surprise as in addition to Shannon, Cheryl and Dave, other team members like Healing Touch Guru Shirley, Tai Chi Mike, Artful Amber, Riveting Robin, and Bouncing Yogi Becca will be in as well!  Try it!
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DOCTOR'S ORDERS!

3/26/2020

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We are so very thankful to all the healthcare professionals who tirelessly support our cancer survivors, and now so many more of us.   

A favorite professional of ours, Dr. Chasse Bailey-Dorton of Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC offers these wellness words of advice for all of us!

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​THAT DISCOMFORT YOU FEEL IS GRIEF

3/26/2020

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Mental Health Corner

This article is SPOT ON for what many of us cancer survivors, and now the world are experiencing.   Please read when you have a moment.

That Discomfort You Feel is Grief
Harvard Business Review Article
March 23, 2020
By Scott Berinato

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Get Your Rear In Gear this Saturday!

3/25/2020

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Saturday March 28th -
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Since our in-person activities are being postponed in April, the Wind River Team has created an array of new programs to stay connected with you.  And we are also sharing uplifting offerings from trusted wellness friends. We are all in this together!

First Virtual Event:
Get Your Rear In Gear
Saturday march 28th - wherever you are!

Walk, Run (or Jump in Place!) in honor of the Get Your Rear In Gear Race that was cancelled.   Post a picture on our Facebook Page when you are done!

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Are You In Need? Let Us Know!

3/25/2020

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We know some survivors are considered at high risk for COVID-19 and may not have friends or family nearby to help with basic grocery shopping and other urgent needs.

If you are in the Charlotte area and you need some help, Click Here to let us know! We will follow up with you directly to explore options and see if we can get you some help. 
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Cheryl's Online Escape Recommendations ....

3/25/2020

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Looking for creative ways to enjoy new found family time? 

​Cheryl Lecroy of Wind River, and mother of 3 teenage boys offers you some of her favorite online escape ideas:


  • Dancing Alone Together aims to be a central resource for the digital dance world that is beginning to bloom. Including Live-Streamed Dance Classes and Dance Performance Footage & Films
  • 25 Virtual Tours Of Ireland Explore from the comfort of your couch
  • You can now download over 300,000 books from the New York Public Library for free
  • Google now lets you explore U.S. National Parks via 360-degree virtual tours
  • Welcome to Virtual School Activities for all ages! A collection of sites to live webcams, virtual tours/trips, and other miscellaneous fun educational sites.  
  • NASA makes their entire media library publicly accessible and copyright free 
  • Audible just made hundreds of titles completely free to help during coronavirus crisis
  • MetOpera - offers nightly streaming of awesome opera performances.. Cheryl's fave!

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​CONVERSATIONS WITH THE MASTERS

3/25/2020

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For our Business Owners

Many of our Wind River friends and supporters are also business owners. So we wanted to share with you a new free series that a regular supporter of Wind River is offering. 

Business Coach Katie Mattson-Craig of Daily Momentum is hosting 20 minute weekly discussing with different business building masters.  Listen in for their business and mindset tips to help you navigate these uncertain times!

SIGN UP: Daily Momentum Master's Series

WHEN: Monday mornings 10-10:30a EST, March 30th-June 29th

AND remember everyone, support your local businesses!  If someone is offering online yoga, art therapy, music or drumming lessons, or other wellness programs and you can afford to pay them their normal fee, do it!   We want to see all our smaller business survivor and thrive!

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​BRAIN SPOTTING - Changed my Life

3/3/2020

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​Wind River Alum SpotLight - By Laura Renegar
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PTSD and brain trauma aren’t just for those returning from an actual war zone; it is for any of us who have struggled with some of life’s hardest experiences.
 
Whether it’s cancer, divorce, mental or physical abuse, the loss of someone we love, a car accident, or a dysfunctional relationship … we all have something in common. Fear, anxiety, and hurt can prevent us from moving forward with hope for a happy future.
 
In my case I didn’t even know that I carried a traumatic wound in my brain from a spinal surgery I had 30 years ago.  During that surgery I woke up and I remembered everything, so when my current doctors began discussing another surgery on my spine, I had visceral physical reactions to the idea. My body was reacting to what my brain was holding onto from the past.  My anxiety was extremely high and I couldn’t control it, nor did I understand it since I have had 11 other non-related surgeries since that spinal surgery and for all those my level of nervousness was completely normal.  This was different and alarming.
 
My friend Shannon of Wind River called me 3 weeks before my spinal surgery and I told her about my anxiety. She recommended a visit to a trauma therapist, Kim Leppert, MSW, LCSW-S, CSAT, of FlyLeaf Consulting.  I went to see Kim and she changed my life.
 
At first I was skeptical because I didn’t feel like what I was experiencing was from actual trauma. I hadn’t been in a war or witnessed a shooting, it was “just” back surgery from 30 years ago. But I went ahead and made my appointment and I am so thankful that I did!  My anxiety went from an 8 (1 to 10) to a 4, and within a few days, down to a 2!

How you ask? We did something called Brain Spotting. It is related to EMDR and biofeedback and works by locating points in the client’s visual field that help to access unprocessed trauma in the sub-cortical brain. I don’t fully understand how it works, but what I experienced was off the charts and life changing!  My brain trauma has been released. It sounds crazy, right? Well, I cannot even describe how different I felt when I walked out of her office.  I had two appointments for this issue, but the main release came in just one 2 hour appointment!  I had my surgery in early February, with no anxiety, and my recovery has been so much better than I could have ever hoped for.

Think of how many people could be helped by something like this. Brain spotting works on anxiety, trauma, PTSD, addiction, grief….all kinds of things!  Being involved in the breast cancer community I know many survivors that have come out of cancer treatments, and surgeries, with some level of trauma and or PTSD.
 
If any of this resonates with you, please consider getting help. I have been able to take the hundred-pound weight I have been carrying around (and didn’t know it) and toss it into the wind. Poof. It’s gone!
 
Thank you Kim Leppert for giving me back my mental and emotional freedom before my surgery.  Thank you for changing my life!  Laura Renegar

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​MUSHROOM MANIA

3/2/2020

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Over 55 Wind River survivors and family members came out for our first (annual?!) Mushroom Log Inoculating workshops.  We held four workshops across the two days.  Everyone went home with mushroom log(s) and a smile!

David Dahl and David Pschirer had pre-cut the red oak trees from our property, and together they offered instruction and guidance to everyone.  We had 3 different kinds of shiitake mushroom spores that folks injected into their logs, after they drilled the holes and before they sealed the spores in with melted wax. 

Recipes and nutrition insights were provided by Cheryl Lecroy. Cheryl and Shannon worked their magic providing lunch for all who participated.

And thanks to our wonderful supporters, this event like our retreats was provided at no charge to anyone attending!

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Wellness Wednesdays!!!

3/2/2020

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Spring 2020 Dates: 
Pick a Wednesday (April 8, April 15, May 6)
 by clicking  HERE


At Wind River we are BIG believers in the power of laughter and connection to heal, but we also understand the power of slowing down and taking personal time to quiet the mind. Taking time for stillness is a form of self care that is often overlooked but is a powerful de-stresser - especially when you do it in a beautiful place in natural setting!

Returning this Spring 2020, Wind River is opening the grounds of our Wellness Center on select Wednesdays from 10am-4pm Survivors, Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals who need a break from the city and just need some quiet, re-centering time in nature.   

This is unstructured time for you to do what you feel serves you best.  Sit by the creek and listen to the birds, relax in a hammock, write in your journal, meditate, pray or take a walk on the trails and just let go for a while.  We may be on the property working on a project or you may not see us at all - no matter, this is your time and there are plenty of great spaces on the property for contemplation and meditation (or singing, drumming or art if that's your thing)!

Get away from it all for a couple of hours or bring a lunch and stay for the whole day and carve out some personal time to find a calmer, clearer, more peaceful state of mind.  

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  • WHO - Survivors, Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals who need a "reset"
  • WHEN - Wednesdays 10am-4pm  (Pick a Wednesday that is convenient for you: April 8, April 15, May 6)
  • HOW - Simple.  Just let us know you are coming at least the day before by signing up HERE.
  • HOW MUCH - Free, free, free free
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Self care starts with YOU!

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Colon Cancer Awareness Month Spotlight - Robin Viar and her Twin Sister

3/2/2020

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​Colon cancer awareness month! Watch for spotlight stories starting with Wind River Alum Robin! 🤗
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I would be happy to share to help others!! I’m Robin Dam Viar, diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic Colon Cancer almost 8 years ago at the age 39. I actually had many symptoms, very anemic, stomach and pelvic pain, cramping, some bleeding. But since I was so young, I had to keep pushing so my doctors would listen that there was a real problem. I went from going to the doctor once a year to going to the doctor constantly. Because of this, one doctor actually diagnosed me with Anxiety (and nothing else). I finally found a doctor that would listen and I thank god for her every day. Screening saves lives and is so important. I was too young for a screening, so also listening to your body is incredibly important, because we know when something is wrong. I was given 10% odds to live when I was diagnosed. And I am NOW 7 YEARS cancer-free. In 2018, my FRATERNAL twin sister, Meredith L. Chezem, was diagnosed Stage 2 Colon Cancer at 45 years old, and has found out she has the Lynch Syndrome gene (I do not). She is also clear from cancer! 

__________________________

SO, WHAT CAN YOU DO to PREVENT COLON CANCER, the second leading cause of death by cancer?

1. Be a Super Hero to your family by making sure you step up and get screened if you are due (or past due).  * Colon cancer is PREVENTABLE 91% of the time when caught early!  

2.  Sign up to fund raise and be heard for the Charlotte based fun run called Get Your Rear in Gear which will be held on Saturday March 28th - mark your calendar and sign up today for the Wind River Team (sign up here)!  By helping here, you are also helping Wind River continue to offer free retreats and programs to colorectal survivors (we received a grant this year from this race and Colon Cancer Coalition).   THANK YOU CCC!




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