International wellness pioneer and founder of The Marsh, A Center for Balance and Fitness, Ruth Stricker was honored recently for her life-long contributions as a humanitarian with an artistic life casting of her hands, created by renowned sculptor Don F. Wiegand. The life cast presents Stricker’s hands set in the fluid motion of Tai Chi, embodying her philosophies and life commitment to balance.
“It is an honor to celebrate Ruth Stricker and the extensive impact she has brought to humanity through her many and varied lifelong contributions,” says Wiegand. “Life casting is a 7,000-year-old process used to honor and memorialize presidents, popes, and great leaders. The life-casting process is both an artistic as well as a spiritual experience in which the person actually engages with the casting material and participates in the process that honors them.”
The Marsh, A Center for Balance and Fitness by Stricker in 1985, blending both allopathic and alternative disciplines with an acupuncturist and a cardiologist working side by side. Stricker is known for integrating Eastern and Western philosophies into her professional and personal life, having stated the resiliency of the human spirit makes it possible for us to find a sense of wellbeing in our lives, and that our challenge is to be emotionally resilient and physically healthy to handle change and stress. Her work has also extended to the former Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, where she researched and taught spirituality and wellness.
Stricker has previously been celebrated as the recipient of many awards including IDEA Association for Fitness Professionals’ Chris MacIntyre Award for Overcoming Obstacles, Setting High Standards, and Providing Inspiration Within the Fitness Industry; the International Spa Association’s 2004 Humanitarian Award; the IHRSA Vanguard Award in recognition of Leadership and Contribution to the Health and Fitness industry; and named a Healthy American Fitness Leader by The President’s Council on Physical Fitness. Most recently, she was named American Spa’s Industry Icon of the Year for the 2019 Women in Wellness Awards.
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