Escape4Advocates Conference at Miraval Resort and Spa

Imagine spending a long weekend at a gorgeous spa, getting lots of self-care, and enjoying fun and productive time with other passionate cancer advocates. The amazing non-profit, BAG IT and their generous sponsors offer this program to cancer advocates every year. These cancer advocates include cancer survivors and “pre-vivors,” oncology health and wellness professionals, non-profit cancer organization leaders and others who are involved in moving the oncology field forward and supporting those dealing with cancer.

In January, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Escape4Advocates Conference at the Miraval Resort & Spa in Tuscon as both a participant and presenter. In the presentation with Santosh Rao, MD, integrative oncologist from Banner MD Anderson, and Dan Rubin, ND, naturopathic oncologist, and we shared information about the power of the many evidence-informed integrative therapies for people diagnosed with cancer. Our presentations covered many of the research-based therapies we share on the ICR website, such as yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, exercise, nutrition, stress management, naturopathy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

For the five days of the conference, we spent about half the time during each day in workshops learning about the latest in cutting edge cancer therapies—both conventional cancer care and integrative cancer care—survivorship, advocacy and self-care circles featuring drumming, gratitude and emotional processing.

During the other half of our days, we ate incredible, healthy meals (all included in the registration fee); enjoyed the gorgeous outdoors, the mountains, wildlife, walking paths and crisp, fresh air of Tucson; and attending classes like yoga, Pilates and meditation (also all included in the fee); and engaged in the extra services like massage, Ayurveda, healthy cooking classes, Equine encounters, art classes, and more.

During all of these times, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet and interact with other cancer advocates who are passionate about sharing what they know and continue to learn with their constituent populations, whether they are young people facing a cancer diagnosis, a specialized cancer group (e.g., lung cancer or leukemia) or other advocacy groups. Some of the groups represented included: Destination Hope, FORCE, Susan G. Komen, CLL Society Inc., Young Survival Coalition, Ovations for the Cure, A 2nd Act and The Dragonfly Angel Society.

The Escape4Advocates program selection involves a simple application process.

If YOU are an interested cancer advocate, or know one who might be interested, contact the Escape team here to get on the list for updates about the next Escape4Advocates conference coming up in 2020.

About Marianne Cirone

Marianne Woods Cirone, MS, MFA, CYT-500, is the founder and editor of the Integrative Cancer Review. She is a writer, yoga and wellness educator, healthcare consultant and passionate advocate for people affected by cancer.

As the Wellness Coordinator at the LivingWell Cancer Resource Center in Geneva, Illinois from 2007-2015, she managed thousands of wellness visits at six locations annually. Marianne leads cancer-focused trainings for 200- and 500-hour yoga programs and has published articles in YogaChicago and Yoga Therapy Today.

Marianne received a master’s degree in Health Systems Management from Rush University in Chicago and an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She holds yoga and meditation certifications from Moksha Yoga and the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago and Ritam Yoga (pending) in Los Angeles. She is a certified Cancer Exercise Specialist, certified yoga4cancer (y4c) instructor and Reiki Master.