Events

Jun
29
Mon
A Conversation on Walking Mindfully @ Online event
Jun 29 @ 5:15 pm – 6:30 pm
Mental health and wellness professionals discuss the mental health benefits of walking. Afterwards, they’ll guide us on a mindful walk.

About This Event

Walking is one of the simplest and most accessible activities we can take part in, yet it can play a transformational role in improving our mental and physical health. Even a short, 10-minute walk each day has been found to reduce stress, anxiety, and fatigue while boosting our mood and sleep quality.

In this online event, A Conversation on Walking Mindfully, you’ll learn why walking is good for your mental health and how you can practice mindful walking to derive mental health benefits. You’ll hear from two mental health and two wellness professionals and have the opportunity to ask questions. After our discussion, we’ll lead you through a virtual, 10-minute mindful walk that we’ll experience together but apart using Zoom. Walk in your living room or in your neighborhood: It’s up to you! We’ll reconvene to wrap up and share how it felt.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS ZOOM EVENT ON EVENTBRITE. YOU WILL BE EMAILED A LINK TO JOIN IN THE REMINDER EMAIL SENT THE DAY BEFORE IT TAKES PLACE.

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About Our Speakers

Nicole Armstead-Williams (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a clinical social worker/therapist (MSW, LICSW) who provides individual therapy and therapeutic forest bathing experiences to survivors of trauma/loss/grief, acute and chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. She holds awareness to unique issues of mental health and intersectionality, focusing primarily on racial identity/issues impacting black people, indigenous people, and people of color, women’s issues, and LGBTQIA+ issues. Ms. Armstead-Williams is founder of Prolific Harvest, a mission-driven private practice that honors the power of narrative and nature as growth toward trauma repair. She infuses walk-and-talk therapy with sensorimotor approaches, mindfulness-based stress reduction practices, and creative writing journal prompts to support clients in their healing journey.

Colleen Avis is an Ayurveda and yoga wellness coach who works with clients to find balance in their lives through nourishment, movement, mindfulness, and time in nature. Ms. Avis often meets her clients in nature for meditative walks and yoga. Chopra Center-certified in Ayurveda and meditation, and a Yoga Medicine certificate yoga teacher, Ms. Avis combines these skills to create offerings that meet her client’s unique needs, meeting them where they are.

Gretchen Robbins is a health and wellness coach who offers her clients walking and coaching sessions, culinary coaching, and healthy cooking classes. She has a master’s degree in Health and Wellness Coaching from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Ms. Robbins uses accountability, goal setting, and coaching techniques to help her clients achieve the balance that works best for their unique situations.

Jennifer Udler, LCSW-C is a licensed clinical social worker who leads the team at Positive Strides, a unique psychotherapy practice where therapists walk and talk outdoors to physically and emotionally move a client toward their therapeutic goals. Ms. Udler specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, and supportive counseling.

Nov
16
Mon
A Conversation on Healthy Living Through Walking @ Online event
Nov 16 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Four health and wellness professionals will share their best ideas for staying motivated to achieve better physical and mental health.

About This Event

The conversation will be centered around committing to a healthier lifestyle. We will discuss how to get started with walking, yoga, and other forms of exercise and activities that are not only good for your physical health, but can also help you to be mentally and emotionally healthy as well.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS ZOOM EVENT ON EVENTBRITE. YOU WILL BE EMAILED A LINK TO JOIN IN THE REMINDER EMAIL SENT THE DAY BEFORE IT TAKES PLACE.

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About Our Speakers

Marsha Banks-Harold is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator, and owner of PIES Fitness Yoga Studio. She is an intuitive healer called to empower clients to fortify one’s strength of awesomeness; to learn to rely on one’s authentic self; and to cultivate everlasting physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual (PIES) peace. Marsha is the creator of the flagship yoga class My Body Don’t Bend That Way designed for clients who don’t believe they are flexible enough for yoga, who are afraid to get onto the floor, who are living with physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual pains, or those who have restricted range of motion.

Victor Carcamo grew up in Los Angeles and was raised by parents who supported his love of sports from a very young age. Over the years he played many different sports, but soccer turned out to be his greatest love. He attended Cal-State LA on a soccer scholarship and went on to play professionally in both Sweden and El Salvador. He became a certified trainer through ACE and has been personal training for about 15 years. He currently works for the Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) as the director of operations and teaches the BID’s bootcamp. He also shares fitness and nutrition tips through the One20 Brand.

Erina Chander is a peer wellness specialist for Arlington County’s Healthy Living Program. She has lived experience with a mental illness and shares her experience and makes connections with others who have mental health challenges to bring about balanced health and wellness. She believes cultivating a healthy body creates a healthy mind. Erina enjoys hiking and being creative.

Deanna Cordova is a health professional and entrepreneur. She is the proud owner of DC Fit 10, a training community that she founded in 2014 to encourage people to laugh more, move more, and to play hard. She grew up in Santa Fe, NM, and was a multi-sport athlete all of her life. She went on to play basketball at Seattle University where she earned a BA in Business Management. After college she earned an MA in Kinesiology from Cal State Long Beach and began learning the ropes of the training industry. In 2005 she started helping people to develop their bodies as machines, encourage them to move more and to move often, and to always remember to have fun. She plans to continue this for the rest of her life. Her training philosophy is that everyone and everybody is an athlete. Whether you are training for a specific event or training for life, she is here to help you. She is certified with NASM, AFAA, TRX, FAI, FMT, and Parkinson’s Regeneration.

About Our Moderators

Marianna Cardozo is the Arlington County Healthy Living Program Coordinator. Marianna is a social worker and a certified personal trainer and ACE-certified health coach. Marianna approaches her practice from the perspective that health and well-being should be self-defined and self-determined, with an emphasis on developing intuitive, compassionate, and trusting relationships with ourselves. “All bodies are good bodies”, and we all deserve to feel safe and empowered in ours.

Mary Dallao is program manager for WalkArlington. She loves being outdoors and can often be found walking or running on one of Arlington’s beautiful trails.