Guest: Steven Thompson, Co-Chair, UCSF Black Men's Health Committee | Cancer Survivor & Advocate We talk a lot on this show about the bodies of African American women — but this week, we're widening the lens. Because the truth is, the health of the men in our lives is deeply tied to our own. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Black men in the United States. Black men are diagnosed at significantly higher rates than white men, and they are more than tw

Reversing Her Father's Prostate Diagnosis by Detoxifying Everything There's a moment many of us reach when caring for a loved one — where medicine alone doesn't feel like enough, and we start looking at everything else: the food on the table, the air in the house, the quiet stress that lives in the walls. That's the moment clinical herbalist and nutritionist Tiara Willis found herself in while supporting her father through his health journey. On the next episode of Love Lette

Be Ready to Learn Something New in Episode 42 of the Love Letters to Our Bodies Podcast For a long time, psychedelic-assisted therapy has felt like a conversation happening somewhere else — in wellness circles that weren't built with African American women in mind. Episode 42 of Love Letters to Our Bodies opens that door. My guest, Courtney Watson, is the founder of Doorway Therapeutic Services, a group practice of predominantly QTBIPOC providers built on ancestral wisdom, l

African American Women Experienced Integrative Therapies for Support On July 17th, 70 African American women gathered at The Center for Healthy Communities in Oakland for the Love Letters to Our Bodies: Day of Renewal Wellness Summit — a day devoted entirely to rest, healing, and reconnecting with our bodies. From the moment doors opened for Check-In and Sacred Rose Entry, the energy in the room was warm, welcoming, and full of intention. Opening remarks set the tone for the

Love Letters to Our Bodies Podcast | Episode 41 The healthiest African American women begin as informed Black girls. That belief is the foundation of everything Lisa Monroe, PA-C has built. A physician assistant with 18 years in healthcare — from emergency medicine to gynecology oncology — Lisa spent nearly two decades watching the same patterns unfold in Black women's bodies. Then she asked a different question: What if we got there first? In Episode 41, Gwendolyn sits down

A conversation with UCSF’s Michelle Moseley and faith health advocate Marion Harris on closing the gaps that medicine alone cannot fill. There is a question that sits at the heart of Moyo Institute’s work: What does it look like to care for the whole person — not just the disease, but the grief, the faith, the community, the body that has been through so much? Episode 39 of Love Letters to Our Bodies takes that question into one of the most powerful and underutilized spaces i

In Episode 38 of Love Letters to Our Bodies, Gwendolyn Mitchell sits down with Reverend Jackie Mungo, founder of The Healing Institute Global Network, to talk about the personal loss and calling that shaped a decade of service. After her own misdiagnosis and the loss of her husband to cancer, Jackie built an organization rooted in a simple promise: “I don’t want anybody to go through the cancer diagnosis by themselves.” Together, Gwendolyn and Jackie talk about treatment comp

On healing childhood hurts, breaking generational cycles, and learning to trust the healer within There are conversations you plan, and there are conversations that arrive. The episode you're about to hear with Dr. Brenda Wade was the latter. Dr. Brenda Wade is an internationally recognized psychologist, bestselling author, media expert, and founder of Modern Love and Relationship Global Training Programs. She has served as in-residence psychologist for ABC, NBC, CNN-HLN, and

Maggie Burgett Opens Up About Hands Holding Space on Episode 35 of Love Letters to Our Bodies There is a kind of care that needs no words. In Episode 35 of Love Letters to Our Bodies, Gwendolyn Mitchell sits down with Maggie Burgett — Healing Touch practitioner and Board Member at Charlotte Maxwell Clinic — for a quiet, tender conversation about what happens when trained hands hold intentional space for a body that is healing. Healing Touch is an energy-based therapy that wor

You Always Take Care of Others. Now It's Your Turn - Don't Miss Out! On Friday, July 17, 2026, Moyo Institute will host the Love Letters to Our Bodies: Day of Renewal — a wellness summit created specifically for African American women who have experienced cancer directly or as a caregiver. Often, it's one or two caregivers in the family whose role it is to take care of everything and everyone else. Also, many sisters who are navigating cancer still have to take care of their

When I first encountered the work of Dr. Candace Pert several years ago, something shifted in me. Not just intellectually — but in my bones. Because what she proved in a laboratory was something that healers, spiritual teachers, and wise women have known for generations: your emotions are not separate from your body. They live there. They speak there. And they heal there. If you are navigating cancer — or loving someone who is — this matters deeply. Let me share what Dr. Pert

Shereel Washington, Clinical Herbalist There is a thread of healing wisdom that runs through the African diaspora — carried in the hands of midwives, root workers, grandmothers, and medicine keepers — that has too often been unnamed, uncredited, and overlooked. In Episode 33 of Love Letters to Our Bodies, we trace that thread with one of its living embodiments: Shereel Washington, clinical herbalist and founder of Ixalted Natural Body Care & Botanicals. Shereel has spent year

Episode 32 of Love Letters to Our Bodies Your body may be holding more than you realize—grief you haven't named, stress you can't locate, emotions settled into your bones. What if healing could begin not with force, but with listening? In this grounding conversation, I spoke with Adriana Parrish , founder of East Bay Healing House , about how Reiki and sound healing support emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. From Grief to Healing Adriana's journey into the healing

We're honored to welcome Ricki Fairley, Co-Founder and CEO of Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, to "Love Letters to Our Bodies." As a triple negative breast cancer survivor and thriver, Ricki has transformed her personal experience into powerful advocacy that's changing the landscape of Black breast health. Through Touch, she's building a movement that brings together patients, survivors, healthcare professionals, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies to work colla

Love Letters to Our Bodies Podcast | Episode 30 Sherry Steine What does it feel like to trust your body again after cancer? For many women, treatment can leave them feeling disconnected — from their bodies, their breath, and their sense of safety. In Episode 30 of Love Letters to Our Bodies , host Gwendolyn Mitchell sits down with Sherry Steine, an accredited yoga teacher, trauma-informed yoga therapist in residence, and certified aromatherapist, for a conversation that is

Natalye Pearson, PsyD We are thrilled to announce a powerful new episode of "Love Letters to Our Bodies" featuring Dr. Natalye Pearson, a licensed clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience specializing in racial trauma, mental wellness, and radical self-care. In this deeply important conversation, Dr. Pearson helps us understand the profound connection between racial trauma and physical health, offering both insight and practical tools for cultivating resilience

What if treating cancer required no incisions, no radiation, and minimal recovery—just sound waves precisely targeting tumors? That’s histotripsy, an FDA-approved treatment transforming how we approach liver cancer. What Is Histotripsy? Histotripsy (pronounced “histo-TRIP-see”) uses focused ultrasound waves to destroy liver tumors non-invasively. The sound waves create microscopic bubbles within the tumor that rapidly expand and collapse, mechanically breaking apart cancer ce

Mechanism of Action: Histotripsy uses focused ultrasound waves to mechanically destroy tissue through cavitation, without heat or ionizing radiation. In contrast, radiation therapy works by causing direct DNA damage through double-stranded breaks and indirect damage via reactive oxygen species. Treatment Profile: Histotripsy : Non-invasive, non-thermal, no incisions or needles, typically outpatient single-session treatment with quick recovery Radiation Therapy : Can involve

As of late 2024, histotripsy is available in 18 states across the U.S., with systems in approximately 40-100 hospitals were expected to have the technology by end of 2025. You can access histotripsy now at the following locations: Major Academic Centers • Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio) - One of the first to offer the treatment • Mayo Clinic (multiple locations) • University of Michigan Health / Rogel Cancer Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan) • University of Chi

New Episode of Love Letters to Our Bodies Podcast Jennifer Groebe, LCSW What if healing could be as simple as tapping on specific points on your body while focusing on what troubles you? In our latest episode of Love Letters to Our Bodies, I sit down with Jennifer Groebe, a licensed clinical social worker and certified Energy Psychology practitioner, to explore the transformative power of Tapping—also known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Jennifer brings over two decade