Healing Through Art
- Stephen Leafloor had a difficult childhood, but he found an art form — hip hop dancing — that helped him heal.
- Leafloor now helps other young kids learn to manage their emotions through dance.
- “Strong men cry” too, he likes to say.
- Learning to cope with emotions is something cancer survivors know intimately well.
- Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and director of supportive care services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says some people may find talk therapy helps them deal with tough emotions.
- For others, there is support groups, medication, meditation and hobbies that bring you joy, like Leafloor found.
He grew up in Canada in a family that couldn't afford expensive hockey lessons. And at less than 100 pounds, he was "the smallest kid in the entire high school. It all led to a resentment that simmered below the surface.
Read MoreHe began dancing with a troupe that would perform around Canada, became known as Buddha B-Boy, and now finds joy in sharing dance with at-risk youth.
“I wanted to prove everybody wrong who likes to stereotype people,” Leafloor said.
Leafloor’s story of turning anger over life’s challenges into passion and joy is something survivors everywhere can find inspiration in. He’s featured In the SurvivorNetTV documentary “Radical Age,” which follows the stories of people over 50 breaking barriers and living their absolute best lives.
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Leafloor recounts hours of practice and choreography, in which he claims his shoulders often bled from practicing windmills, a move in which a person’s legs are in the air and they are spinning around the floor on their shoulders.
Because he and his troupe practiced so rigorously, the scuffs on his shoulder did not have time to heal overnight.
While B-Boy dancing provided Leafloor with a way to channel the anger from his youth, it also complimented his emerging political identity.
"B-Boys were not just dancers, but people who were against the system," he explains. He was developing a growing awareness of injustice around the world and how it corresponded to injustices he felt in his own circle.
"I see hip hop as this thing that has the wonderful potential to be this huge collective political movement towards a better world," he says in “Radical Age.”
Healing Through Hip Hop
Leafloor wanted to be a teacher at one point in his life but shifted to social work. He found a way to connect with young people who were disconnected or marginalized.
He has recently been contributing to a group called Blueprint for Life, a program that claims that young people "come for the hip hop, and they stay for the healing." The program has created over 100 offshoots and served more than 5,000 young people in Canada, especially in underserved communities.
Leafloor teaches B-Boy workshops, where he shows students how to dance: they learn his tips for top rock, footwork, and floor moves like windmills and freezes.
Many of the young people who participate in Blueprint for Life come to his workshops with problems and, even more pressing, a deep uncertainty about how to handle those problems.
He is especially aware of young men with anger issues, since he experienced the same tumultuous emotions during his childhood.
"Things can escalate really quick when men get caught up in not knowing how to recognize their anger," he explains, "and how to deal with their anger. Strong men cry. That’s not a weakness. Our vulnerability is our strength."
Leafloor believes that working out such difficult emotions through dance and movement can be revolutionary. Hip hop is a powerful path that takes young people in the right direction.
Finding Joy – No Matter Your Age
Working with young people and sharing his dance moves gives Leafloor a deep joy and a sense of vitality. One's age doesn't have to be a marker of slowing down, he believes.
As people age, they seem to fade from society, he has noticed. "Why are we fading away?," he asks. "Why aren’t we going out like blazing stars?"
Zillah Minx, the lead singer of the punk rock band Rubella Ballet, is one such blazing star. She travels with the band and performs at packed concert halls and clubs. Her career, which she still embraces at the age of 56, gives her a sense of creative satisfaction and connects her to people.
"The fact is that when you get to a gig and you get to meet people and talk to them," Zillah says in “Radical Age.” "It brings a joy to your life."
"People come up to you and they're holding onto you and you feel that magic coming off them, the same as you're giving to them," she explains. "Everybody is welcoming you, everybody wants you there, and it makes the difficult bits worthwhile."
Stephen Leafloor plans to continue dancing for many years to come. How good is he at those moves at the age of 58?
"I can do some shit that you can't even dream of," he says with a smile.
Learning to Manage Your Emotions
Leafloor’s story of learning to manage tough emotions is something cancer survivors are intimately familiar with.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis, or learning to live a new normal life during treatment, can bring on a range of emotions. From anger, to sadness, to grief, and anxiety. And it’s important to know it’s all normal.
Dealing with Grief after a Cancer Diagnosis
Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and director of supportive care services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously talked to SurvivorNet about coping with mental health struggles after a cancer diagnosis.
“Talk therapy really is the way to deal with these emotions,” he explained.
“It’s about meeting the individual patient where they are and their feelings, how they’ve always dealt with their body image, what the body image changes mean now in their lives and their relationships, and how they can move forward given the new reality.”
Ni Guttenfelder is a cancer survivor who would support Dr. Irwin’s views on talk therapy.
After her ovarian cancer diagnosis in October 2017, she decided to find a therapist to help her process her feelings. Unfortunately, her first therapist wasn’t the right fit.
"Initially I went to a session where I just cried and the counselor basically told me what I was feeling was normal and didn't offer me any type of feedback. But I knew that I needed something more than that. Not just a crying session and a pat on my shoulder," she told SurvivorNet.
"What I have found is that it's critical to find the right counselor, not just any counselor."
After finding a counselor she truly trusted, Guttenfelder began to see some clarity.
"One of the things that my counselor has taught me from the very beginning that has helped me is the concept of acceptance," she said. "Acceptance is a process. It's like downloading a computer file in increments. Visualizing it in that way has really helped me."
Outside of therapy, support groups, medication and meditation are other ways to address mental health struggles.
At the end of the day, all that matters if that you’re working to feel better and not pushing any mental health issues aside. Don’t be afraid to talk to a doctor or mental health professional for advice on where to turn.
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