Leaving Darpana

This last week has been an intense rehearsal period for all of the dancers and musicians involved in this project: a telling of the Savitri tale from the Mahabharata. At times it's been quite challenging for me, trying to realize the music of Joel Thome and provide the dancers with what they need. But it's a greatly talented and dedicated group, so the challenge has been worth it for me. Because of this I've had a little trouble keeping up with emails. I have, however, had some very interesting conversations with people from many countries about what I'm doing at Life-Cise.com and Stay Fit Stay Strong. There seems to be great interest in the benefits of exercise during and after cancer treatments.

Tomorrow morning we leave Darpana, which has been my home for the last week. While here, I've made good friends; learned a little about tango from Maria Heller (www.mariaheller.com.ar), a wonderful dancer from Buenos Aires who is studying and teaching here; and every day I learn from the musicians and dancers of the Darpana Academy. Our concert is actually at Auroville, in the state of Tamil Nadu. I have a 35 hour train ride!!! But I'm travelling with all the dancers and musicians, so it should be fun. - I plan to start learning Hindi.

Julie

Darpana

The Darpana Academy, where I'm staying and rehearsing in Ahmedabad, was founded in 1949 by Mrinalini and Vikram Sarabhai. It is now directed by their daughter, Mallika Sarabhai, with whom I am greatly honored to be working. Darpana is dedicated to the performance and study of the arts. A core group of multidisciplined performers work in the fields of dance, music, theatre, and martial arts. They are joined by students and performers from around the globe.

Darpana is also dedicated to the use of art as a development tool and agent of social change. They have partnered with the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation to reach out to college students across India to teach social responsibility and to engage in community service projects. With UNICEF they have created programs to train local itinerate tribal performers in shows dealing with issues of infant and maternal mortality. A recent show, "Unsuni, Unheard Voices" gives voice to the voiceless, helpless masses of India through five monologues. It's based on the book, "Unheard Voices" by Harsh Mander. This project has prompted the start of a new movement to make a difference, to take action to improve the lives of the less fortunate. You can read more about this project at www.unsuni.net.

I hope you will visit their website, www.darpana.com to learn more about this very special community of artists.

Julie

Greetings from India

Hello from Ahmedabad. I am currently in India working on a performance with dancers. I have the great pleasure of working with the wonderful dancer, Mallika Sarabhai, a very talented troupe of dancers, and some terrific Indian musicians. My part is a piece by Joel Thome for solo viola and electronics. We've been rehearsing here in Ahmedabad at the Darpana Institute for the Arts, a wonderfully vibrant community for artists from around the globe. It is a thrill to be involved in this project, but because of this I may be a bit tardy in replying to emails at Life-Cise. I am checking emails when I can, but I apologize if I'm a little late in my replies.

Julie

Ice Climbing in Ouray

I returned from a ski/ice climbing trip just a few days before the launch of Life-Cise.com. I was ice climbing with my friends from International Mountain Guides (great guides!). We were in beautiful Ouray, in Southwest Colorado. Normally I wear my compression sleeve while climbing, especially at higher altitudes. Ice climbing is quite upper-body intensive, so the sleeve is a good precaution against lymphedema. But, the first day of climbing I forgot to wear it (big oops!). I was a little nervous about possible swelling, but I also knew there was a lot I could do to help my body process the excess lymph. First of all, I am pretty strong and my body can tolerate a good upper-body workout. It's taken me a while to reach this point, though. I began rebuilding my strength very slowly, using little weight and measuring my arm to watch for swelling. I increased weight only after I was sure my body could handle it, and then only in small increments. And every day I did exercises to help my body redirect the lymph flow. So now I am confident that I can handle some pretty intense activities. Rather than fret about not having my sleeve on while climbing, I did what I could to prevent swelling. I frequently did my little exercises: with arms shoulder-height, out to the side, palms up, move arms in backward circles; with elbows bent, palms up (like you're holding a tray), pull your elbows back and in, squeezing your shoulder blades together; and jiggle arm overhead (I think lots of climbers thought I was oddly friendly, waving to everyone). And that evening I kept my arm elevated as much as possible, letting gravity help. I find it a little difficult to keep my arm elevated while I sleep because I roll around a lot. I try to surround myself with pillows so that whichever way I turn, there is a pillow to rest my arm on. My arm was fine, no swelling, but I made sure that I wore my sleeve for the next two days of climbing.

I am not recommending that everyone go out and try ice climbing. But I wanted to write about this to show that with patience, mindfulness, and a lot of work, it is quite possible to do some pretty high intensity activities. And most important, there is a lot that you can do to help prevent lymphedema. You do have a lot of control in helping your body to cope with a compromised lymph system.

Julie

We are Life-Cise!

I am happy to announce the launch of Life-Cise.com, our online training site. Those of you in the New York City area can still reach me for private training through StayFitStayStrong.com. Now, through Life-Cise.com, people throughout the country can have access to information and training tips and programs, covering fitness issues for all phases of cancer treatment and beyond. So check out Lifc-Cise.com & get moving!

Enjoy.

Julie