Integrative Wellness Newsletter of IWMF | | |
Happy New Year! This year, I invite you to consider undertaking a new venture: treating yourself as a "science experiment." Imagine doing everything you could to further your own well-being; everything you could to:
- Manage your stress
- Keep your body moving
- Regulate your nervous system
- Find moments of joy and creativity
- Connect with others in the WM community
Would addressing these layers affect your WM symptoms?
Would it improve your quality of life (QoL)?
Would an overall healthier "you" affect your WM outcome?
While there is copious research that shows that exercise, meditation, and mind-body practices like yoga can support cancer patients in numerous ways, there is not much research that is specific to WM (with the exception of a recent study tracking biometrics and QoL using wearable devices and questionnaires. That study showed increasing activity with WM decreased symptom severity and increased QoL!)
Why not find out firsthand if integrating IWMF wellness practices into your overall health plan could help you? Together, we can collect more of the growing anecdotal evidence that IWMF wellness programming can help you manage symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Dive into our newsletter to find out how to get started or keep going, with new offerings and more frequency this year.
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You Are Never Alone
I’m grateful for the music that still moves me; for yoga that reminds me my joints are still negotiable.
I’m grateful for all the everyday moments that make this “watch and wait” season less about illness and more about presence, patience, and pure joy.
-Gene Batiste, WM Patient, Washington, D.C.
| | IWMF offers a range of wellness classes tailored to meet the needs of those affected by WM. Our evidence-based practices address the whole person—not just the disease. Care partners always welcome! | | Integrative wellness is a term used to describe the IWMF’s holistic wellness programming, offered as a free resource to our patients and caregivers, to be utilized alongside standard medical care. | | | All the Info You Need to Find a Class | | What's New in 2026? | | Wellness Webinar: The "What Ifs" of WM | | Living Well with WM - Shirley D'Sa - WMFC Video | | Exercise and Cancer | | Ann Grace on The Bloodline Podcast | | "Just Breathe" - A New Offering | | Who Won the Piano from the Joy of Music? | | A Community Meditation to Connect Us | | Saying Goodbye to JoAnn Gardner | | | Class Zoom Links + Recordings | | |
Did you know? 72% of our 2025 wellness survey respondents reported that their Quality of Life (QoL) has improved due to the IWMF wellness program, and 48% say their main symptoms have improved.
- My quality of life has improved tremendously as a result of the IWMF Wellness offerings, especially my mental health. I feel less isolated and alone in my journey and living with this condition.
- I am becoming more physically fit, and more spiritually aware.
- My balance and coordination have improved, and my fatigue and anxiety levels have diminished greatly.
-IWMF Wellness Community Participants, 2025 Wellness Survey
| | We have increased the number of wellness offerings based on the survey you filled out a few months ago. You'll have 3-4 wellness offerings per week! Here are a few of the changes for 2026: | | |
Fitness:
- U.K. Fitness Instructor Mark Wild will motivate us more often: we've booked 12 "Get Moving with Mark" classes!
- We'll be adding some fitness class replays during lunchtime and are considering an evening class as well.
- (WM Patient and ACE Certified Personal Trainer Sharon Piotrowski will continue as her schedule and energy allows.)
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Relax / Meditate:
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Gong! There will be two Sound Baths per month instead of one; and thanks to a generous donation, the sound quality will be improving after our new equipment is put into place. So thankful!
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New Class Alert! Just Breathe: we are adding a breathing class that will meet once a month at rotating times (to explore what timing works best). More info below.
| | Start your year with movement - join Mark Wild on New Year's Day at 11am ET! | | |
Mind/Body:
- We've booked 10 Qigong classes aimed at specific issues such as Fatigue, Pain, Balance, Anxiety, and more, with Donna DeLuca. These will meet at 10:30am instead of 11am.
- Breakout Room Chats: after the first Chair Yoga class of each month, we will explore smaller Zoom rooms to allow for closer community connection.
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Some of our Chair Yoga classes will be Seated Only this year which will be indicated on calendar starting in February.
- (WM Patient and Yoga Instructor Sharon Rivet will continue to teach some Chair Yoga, Slow Flow Mat Yoga.)
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Find Joy:
- Laughter class with Betsy Mercer will meet every month!
- Dance it out: we've booked 6 Dance Therapy classes with Lynn Falk.
- Get Creative: the new Expressive Arts Therapy class with Dana Kuehn starts in February.
Wellness Webinars Booked so Far:
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February - The Lowdown on Sugar and Cancer
- March: The Science of Yoga Nidra for Sleep
- April: Music Therapy for Pain Management
- November: WM + the Immune System with Dr. Sarosiek
| | Wellness Webinar: The "What Ifs" of WM | | |
The “What Ifs” of WM:
Adopting a Positive Mindset with Deborah Kelly
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Thursday, January 22nd at 12pm ET
What if it works out? What if it’s all ok? What if something good happens in spite of your WM diagnosis? Deborah Kelly is a mom, wife, certified life coach, and personal trainer living and thriving with WM.
Deborah made her WM diagnosis the starting point of a life focused on helping people adjust to the circumstances of their own lives.
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In this interactive webinar, we’ll meet an inspiring mother of 4 who was diagnosed with Waldenstrom at age 37. We’ll learn how life coaching continues to impact Deborah Kelly's WM journey, and how the tools Deborah uses for herself can help transform your mindset.
Join us to turn anxiety into action; go beyond surviving, and learn to thrive while managing a WM diagnosis.
Register here. This will be recorded but you still need to register to receive the recording and additional resources in a followup email.
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Read more about Deborah's article "Fitness is the Key to Managing my WM" in the July 2025 issue of The Torch on the IWMF website.
She is pictured here with her sister after finishing the HYROX race, a global fitness competition that combines 8 kilometers of running with 8 functional workout stations, held indoors to test endurance, strength, and stamina.
| | Living Well with WM - Shirley D'Sa - WMFC Video | | |
Prof. Shirley D'Sa of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation (UK) presented a thoughtful and inspiring talk, "Living Well with WM Through All Stages of the 'Disease,'" brought to you by The 2025 WMFC Virtual Educational Forum. Watch here.
Access All WMFC Ed Forum Recordings Here
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American College of Sports Medicine Roundtable on Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors
Historically, clinicians advised cancer patients to rest and to avoid activity; however, emerging research on exercise has challenged this recommendation. To this end, a roundtable was convened by American College of Sports Medicine to distill the literature on the safety and efficacy of exercise training during and after adjuvant cancer therapy and to provide guidelines.
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(Click the pic above to learn more about IWMF's fitness offerings.)
The roundtable concluded that exercise training is safe during and after cancer treatments and results in improvements in physical functioning, quality of life, and cancer-related fatigue in several cancer survivor groups.
Exercise training-induced improvements can be expected concerning aerobic fitness, muscular strength, quality of life (QOL), and fatigue in breast, prostate, and hematologic cancer survivors.
Visit the IWMF's YouTube channel to browse hundreds of exercise videos tailored to the WM population.
| | Ann Grace on The Bloodline Podcast | | |
The episode will be published sometime in early January 2026.
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Ann MacMullan recorded a podcast on The Bloodline with Elissa Baldwin at Blood Cancer United (formerly LLS).
They discussed integrative wellness, among other topics, and Ann shared some stress management tools to help navigate the blood cancer journey.
Sign up for The Bloodline podcast here to get the episode as soon as it drops!
| | "Just Breathe" - A New Offering | | |
New Class Alert! Just Breathe: Join us for 30 minutes dedicated to breath exploration, from basic breath awareness to specific breath techniques to:
- Manage anxiety and depression
- Improve fatigue, increase energy levels
- Improve focus
- Strengthen lung capacity
- Support immune system health
Just Breathe meets Tuesday, Jan. 6th at 9:30am ET on Zoom. This time will rotate each month to reach more time zones. Sign Up Here. You can find the recording here if that time is inconvenient.
Important Note: Always use breathing exercises as a complementary tool alongside medical treatment, and discuss with your doctor for personalized guidance. Certain breathing exercises are contraindicated for issues such as unmedicated high blood pressure. As such, none of our exercises will involve lengthy breath retention.
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Breathing exercises may offer significant benefits for Waldenstrom's (WM) patients by reducing fatigue, managing stress and anxiety, improving lung efficiency, and potentially aiding lymphatic flow.
Key Benefits for WM Patients:
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Fatigue Reduction: Deep breathing makes lungs more efficient, reduces effort from chest muscles, and can provide respite from fatigue.
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Stress & Anxiety Management: Calms the nervous system, helps manage anxiety, and promotes relaxation for better sleep.
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Lymphatic Support: Diaphragmatic breathing helps return lymph fluid and venous blood, supporting overall circulation.
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Improved Lung Function: Pursed-lip breathing helps empty stale air and strengthens the diaphragm, improving breath control.
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Mind-Body Connection: Focused breathing strengthens the mind-body connection, which can increase resilience, allowing you to move through the fluctuations of managing a chronic illness with greater equanimity.
| | Who Won the Piano from Joy of Music? | | We were so pleased to see so many people from all around the world joining us for December's special Wellness Webinar on The Joy of Music. You can watch the recording here: | | |
Declan is a 40-year piano veteran and a very generous fellow! He gave the gift of a free piano lesson to the WM community. Inspired by this, the IWMF Integrative Wellness Department decided to create a contest for participants to win a free digital piano.
Thank you to all those who entered! We received so many compelling entries, we had to choose two instead of one. (This was done randomly.) Congratulations to the lucky winners! Drumroll please....
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Anne Moffat, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
If I were to win, I would sign up for lessons and play on this keyboard every day!
I miss playing the piano after mine was destroyed by water in a freak incident - where a meteor plunged through the roof during a terrible storm, and water poured into my open piano creating a waterfall over the keyboard!
I’ve been 15 years now without a piano.
Diagnosed in 2013, treated in 2017 with B&R, and currently watching and waiting
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Barry VerMeulen, Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico
I would learn to play using Declan's methods and music. I've always wanted to play the piano and admire people who play.
As a WM patient, my chair yoga and painting by number sessions help me stave off depression and anxiety.
I believe a piano and lessons would be beneficial to my health and soul.
Completed immunotherapy 9/25.
Feeling almost normal. Friends are very supportive. I pray not to become discouraged.
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We can't wait to see how Anne and Barry benefit from having their own digital pianos.
Should you want to join the fun, Declan recommended the Yamaha NP-15.
The pianos are on their way!
| | A Community Meditation to Connect Us | | |
Come together as a community to experience true presence.
In this 25-minute practice, we start with breath awareness, share a visualization practice embracing opposites, and finish with lovingkindness, spreading the gift of tender compassion - first to ourselves - and then outward from there.
This was recorded on Christmas Day, but can be practiced anytime.
| | Saying Goodbye to JoAnn Gardner | | | | |
JoAnn Gardner, who passed away peacefully on December 16th, was an incredible gift to our IWMF Wellness community. She regularly attended our Chair Yoga class for years.
JoAnn listened attentively to others during the after-class support chats, offered valuable moral support and wise observances to her fellow WM friends, and shared her journey with us honestly - with wit, and with precision.
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According to her obituary, written by her daughter and caregiver Nell, JoAnn was the author of seven books, lectured widely, and was a member of the Garden Writers of America.
For 30 years she and her husband operated a hand/horse-powered back-country farm at the end of a peninsula on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It was this experience that inspired her many articles and books on country life, homemaking, preserving, and all aspects of gardening, with an emphasis on low-tech solutions for every problem.
| | | "What was perhaps most remarkable about JoAnn was her unwavering kindness through all her hardships. She always found something kind to say and listened attentively to all who needed her ear." | JoAnn was an indomitable spirit we won't soon forget - she inspired, cajoled, and towards the end, showed our WM community what it might look like to face the final chapter with admirable acceptance, with peaceful presence. We love you, Jo Ann. Thank you for you. To her family and friends - we send our most loving thoughts and prayers. | | | | |
"As the sap rises, the sure sign of new growth..the resilience and inspiration for us in this special community.
All thanks to IWMF and our own Ann Grace for bringing us together so we can help ourselves, help others. A sweet season is upon us."
- JoAnn Gardner (c.2023)
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We were humbled to learn yesterday that thanks to the help of her children, JoAnn left a sizable gift to the IWMF Wellness Program, to ensure that the legacy of our community continues for future WM generations. We are so grateful for this support!
Should you wish to donate in honor of JoAnn, you can do so here; and you can restrict your gift to the Wellness Program in the Special Notes section. Find JoAnn's books on Amazon.
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Each and every one of you is an integral part of this community. Together, we are stronger: you are never alone. A heartfelt thank you also goes out to the rest of the IWMF staff, along with all the incredible volunteers who generously share their time and expertise to support our WM community.
Don't forget to:
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Here's to the new year ahead!
Your friend in the WM journey,
Ann Grace MacMullan, C-IAYT
Director of Integrative Wellness
and Patient Communications
email: anngrace@iwmf.com
| | | CONTACT ANN with any questions or concerns, or if you'd like to be removed from this list. | | Note: The IWMF Wellness Program offers complementary or integrative practices to be used in conjunction with standard medical treatment, along with the approval of your doctor. | | | | |
