Love Letters to Our Bodies: Day of Renewal is Your Time to Breathe & Relax

You Always Takes Care of Others Now Its Your Turn - Friday, July 17

On Friday, July 17, 2026, Moyo Institute will host the Love Letters to Our Bodies: Day of Renewal — a wellness summit created specifically for Black women navigating cancer and the caregivers in the family whose role it is to take care of everything and everyone else. We will gather in person at The Center for Healthy Communities Oakland, 2000 Franklin Street, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for a full day of health information, restorative integrative therapies, community connection, nourishment, and healing.l.

“Every woman who has had to deal with cancer deserves a day where her body is honored, her story is held, and her healing is centered.”

Why the Day of Renewal?

In my more than thirty years as a Reiki Master and the founder of Moyo Institute, I have sat with many women navigating cancer. What I hear, over and over, is not only about the physical journey of treatment — it is about the exhaustion of always having to be strong, the isolation that comes with a diagnosis, and the hunger for community that truly understands.

The Love Letters to Our Bodies Workshop Series has been offering a healing container for these women for five years. The Day of Renewal is an expansion of that vision — a summit-scale gathering where women who are in active treatment, survivorship, or serving as caregivers can come together, breathe, receive healing, and simply be held by a community that sees them.

The name says it all. This is a day to renew. A day to receive, restore, and reconnect — to themselves, to each other, and to the deep knowing that healing is their birthright.

What to Expect at the Day of Renewal

We have built a day that moves — from gentle opening to deep restoration to joyful community. Here is a glimpse of what participants can look forward to:

•       Presentations from our partner organizations on holistic pillars of health after a cancer diagnosis and the free holistic therapies for low income women at Charlotte Maxwell Clinic

•       Micro Reiki Sessions offered throughout the day by a team of skilled practitioners

•       Tapping (EFT) Sessions for emotional release and nervous system support with Jennifer Groebe

• QiGong or Herbal Wellness session with Shereel Washington

•       A Healing Sound Journey — a full-group experience of deep rest and restoration -led by Adriana Parrish

•       A Nourishing Lunch provided on site

•       A presentation on the Food as Medicine research project underway by Stanford and  BLACC – Black Ladies Advocating for Cancer Care with Starla Gay & Suzette Chaumette

•       American Cancer Society’s Voices of Black Women study

•       The “Shining Star Caregiver” recognition — honoring  extraordinary caregivers from our community

•       Community contemplation, journaling & sharing

•       A community raffle with meaningful prizes

The day is designed to honor the whole person — body, mind, heart, and spirit. Whether you have attended a Moyo workshop before or this is your first time in our community, you are welcome here.

A Coalition of Healing Organizations

The Day of Renewal is made possible through the generous partnership of three extraordinary Bay Area organizations, each of whom will present at the summit and bring their unique gifts to our community:

Charlotte Maxwell Clinic — Integrative Cancer Care For decades, Charlotte Maxwell Clinic has provided integrative cancer care to low-income women in the Bay Area — living proof that every woman deserves holistic healing that honors her whole self. We are so proud to have them with us on July 17.

East Bay Healing House — Mindfulness & Wellness East Bay Healing House is a beloved East Bay institution offering healing modalities rooted in mindfulness and wellness. Their practitioners will be offering Reiki and other healing experiences throughout the day.

Black Ladies Advocating for Cancer Care (BLACC) — BLACC in partnership with the Stanford Medicine Office of Community Engagement (OCE) and Suzette Chaumette of Food Indy, brings their powerful Food as Medicine research and programming to the Day of Renewal — offering practical, evidence-based wisdom about the role of nutrition in cancer support and recovery.

Nominate a Shining Star Caregiver

One of the moments I am most looking forward to on July 17 is our inaugural Shining Star Caregiver Recognition.

Behind every woman navigating cancer, there is often a caregiver who shows up quietly, consistently, and completely. They drive to appointments, hold hands through hard news, prepare meals, manage medications, and carry grief alongside their loved one — all while rarely being seen, let alone celebrated.

We are honoring these extraordinary people at the Day of Renewal. They will be invited as our honored guests, recognized before our entire community, and gifted a certificate and a gift bag in gratitude for their service.

Nominations are open now and close on Friday, June 20, 2026.  To nominate someone who has shown up for you through cancer — click here or email info@moyoinstitute.org to request a nomination form. Tell us who they are and why they deserve to be celebrated. We will take it from there.

Are You a Holistic Practitioner? Join Us as a Volunteer.

If you are a practitioner of integrative or holistic healing — Reiki, Healing Touch, sound healing, Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping, Chair Massage, Reflexology, Breathwork, or another healing modality — and you feel called to offer your gifts at the summit, we would love to hear from you.

We are welcoming volunteer practitioners for the Day of Renewal on July 17, 2026. This is a beautiful opportunity to serve our community, connect with other healers, and be part of something truly meaningful.

To express your interest, please send an email to info@moyoinstitute.org with the subject line: Volunteer — July 17.  Please include your name, your healing modality or practice, and a brief description of your experience. We will be in touch.

Join Us · Tickets & Registration

Tickets for the Day of Renewal are $20. Scholarships are available for those who need them — because no woman should be turned away from healing for financial reasons.

If you are connected to one of our partner organizations — Charlotte Maxwell Clinic, East Bay Healing House, or BLACC — please ask your organization for their exclusive VIP code, which makes attendance free for their community members.

Register now: https://tinyurl.com/Renewal-Day-July17 

Put it on your calendar Now!

Friday, July 17, 2026  · 

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The Center for Healthy Communities -- Oakland

2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94612 

BART: 19th Street Station · 20th Street exit

Parking: Douglas Parking, 2003 Franklin Street · $14 all day

A Final Word

Moyo means heart. It means life. And on July 17, we want to fill a room with both.

If you are a Black woman navigating cancer — in treatment, in survivorship, or someone who has been or is currently a caregiver, the person your whole family relies on — this day was made with you in mind.

Come as you are. Come with your grief and your hope and your tired, brilliant, beautiful body. We will be there to receive you.