Wellness: Body, Mind & Spirit

As you proactively plan for your future, participate in this interactive guided discussion with experts in the field. Thoughtful planning and follow-through can help avoid a crisis should health care or housing needs change or life events force decisions to be made quickly. This course is designed to present a list of options, considerations, and professional services available to help you put a plan in place, ready to be implemented if needed. Topics will cover the benefits and care costs of remaining in your home, the services available should you decide to downsize and relocate and the differences in housing options and costs between continuous care retirement communities, assisted living, and small residential homes for modest incomes. There will be an overview on Medicaid, veteran's benefits and legal planning. One person registers in advance, a family member may register in class and attend at no cost. Moderator Deborah Bakalich is a member of Senior Care Lifestyles, a true one-stop senior care resource center.

Everyday stress can result in emotional pain and physical ailment. Holistic Practitioner, Sharon Burns, R.N., B.S.N., M.A., will teach you self-healing techniques based on the seven major energy points in our bodies called Chakras. These energy centers are responsible for maintaining the health of specific organs and bodily functions. You will become aware of how energy is changed positively or negatively by your thoughts, and how to treat and remove physical pain from your body just using your hands. Explore this proactive way for feeling your best.

Gentle Yoga is designed for those of us who feel we are too stiff, too out of shape, not the right shape or too old to start something new. Through creativity and compassion, you will learn to work with the body, not against it. Our bodies need to stretch and strengthen to find balance and ease, feel energized and relaxed, to be trusted and appreciated. Join in this exploration of new possibilities. Bring a blanket or yoga mat to class. Instructor: Helen Heffer.

In the last decade, research on the various health and well-being benefits of gratitude has become more mainstream and accessible. This course will provide an overview of these benefits and create greater awareness of the role gratitude plays in your life during both joyful and difficult times.Topics include a description of gratitude, why it is important, and offer proven strategies and techniques for enriching and sustaining your own gratitude practice. Thought-provoking information and discussion, along with humor, research data and affirmations will center around the health and well-being benefits of gratitude. The last class meeting will consist of a follow-up to identify the learning, successes and obstacles you may have encountered in your personal practice of gratitude. Instructor Linda Roszak Burton earned a B.S. in Health Education, is an ICF-ACC credentialed coach and certified in brain-based coaching from the NeuroLeadership Institute.

Take a break from the turmoil of daily life. Join a group of like-minded people for a half day of silent retreat. At the beginning of the class, the instructor will provide guidance to help you settle into silence. As the session continues, there will be less guidance as you learn to explore on your own. There will be alternate periods of seated and walking meditation. Both beginning and experienced mindfulness practitioners are welcome. Instructor Jerry Hartman is a graduate of the certificate program at the Meditation Teacher Training Institute, Washington, D.C.

Mindfulness meditation works by helping the practitioner achieve a better understanding of what is happening right now—whether positive, negative, or neutral—not what they want to happen or what think they should be happening. Recognizing that unconscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can undermine emotional, physical, and spiritual health, you will learn techniques to reduce stress and stress-related disorders. The class will consist of a presentation, opportunity to participate in guided meditation and time for discussion, questions, and answers. Instructor Jerry Hartman is a graduate of the certificate program of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute, located in Washington, D.C.

Learning to meditate or to do a yoga pose skillfully is a doorway to compassion. Our own lives, our loved ones, and our experiences offer the greatest opportunities for compassion to arise. As we deepen our practice, we come to heal ourselves and our world. Instructor: Helen Heffer.

This course, approved by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is designed for allied health professionals, educators, civic leaders, and community members to learn about the initial help that can be given to a person in a mental health crisis (severe depression, psychosis, panic attack, suicidal thoughts and behaviors) or showing symptoms of mental illness, until appropriate professional or other help (including peer and family support) can be engaged. Review the prevalence of mental illness in the U.S. and the associated emotional and economic cost. Label the potential warning signs and risk factors for depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, psychotic disorders, and substance use disorders. Compose a five-step action plan to help an individual in crisis connect to professional care. Identify resources available to help someone with a mental health problem. Upon successful completion, students will earn a Mental Health First Aider certificate. Mental Health First Aid certification must be renewed every three years.

Combining dance, martial arts, and mindfulness, nia tones your body while transforming your mind. More than just a workout, nia is a holistic fitness practice addressing each aspect of your life–body, mind, and soul. You can discover, explore, unleash, and enhance your individual potential to live a healthy and meaningful life by engaging your senses and listening to your body. Nia is based on the intelligent design of the body. Each workout brings mindfulness to your dance movement experience, leaving you energized, mentally clear, and emotionally balanced. Nia cardio-dance workouts combine 52 simple moves with dance arts, martial arts, and healing arts to get you fit in 60 minutes—body, mind, emotion, and spirit. Wear comfortable clothing and bring soft-soled slippers if you choose not to go barefoot. Instructor: Claudia Salomon

The word qigong literally means skill or cultivation of vital energy (qi). Traditional Chinese medicine believes that good health is the result of a free-flowing, well-balanced qi (bioenergy) system, while sickness, pain or physical disorders are the result of qi blockage, or unbalanced qi in the body. Qigong practice helps to balance the qi system in the body and break the qi blockages to recover health. It helps you develop a more relaxed, harmonious state of mind and body; reduce stress; resist illness; and heighten sensitivity to your body’s internal organs along with developing an energetic ability to regulate your own health and vitality. You will focus on body posture adjustment and gentle movement, mind-focused relaxation, and breath regulation practice. Instructor: David Foulk.

Discover t’ai chi, a form of active meditation that promotes calming, centering, and self-control. Instructor David Foulk introduces you to this practice of meditation and physical exercise, consisting of carefully coordinated, slow, natural movements proven to strengthen your body and mind. When the chi flows in a balanced fashion, you enjoy better physical and emotional health, increased longevity and inner peace. This course is appropriate for beginning and continuing students.

Mindfulness rests upon four foundations: the body, the mind, feelings, and thoughts. Mastering the four foundations is the best way to establish and sustain a meditation practice. Join us as we explore each of the foundations in turn, with short talks, guided meditations and group discussions
designed to increase your understanding of this way to practice meditation. No meditation experience is needed to participate in this workshop.

In yoga, the chakras are the seven major energy centers that parallel the spine. We will use the chakras as a map of human evolution, from survival consciousness to unity consciousness. Through classic yoga phases, breathing techniques, meditation, and discussion, we will explore how we and the human species are evolving toward our full potential. As we all experience challenges in relation to ourselves, our fellow human beings, and our planet, we are inspired to engage life from an ever-deepening and more conscious place. Please wear comfortable clothing and bring a mat or towel to class. Instructor: Helen Heffer.

This course is designed for both novice and experienced yoga students seeking to understand the fundamentals and experience the benefits of a personal yoga practice. Yoga pose fundamentals including synchronizing breath with movement, optimal alignment, core strengthening, flexibility
and balance will be explored and students will create a personalized yoga sequence for regular home practice. Poses will be adapted for individual abilities. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring a yoga mat or blanket. Instructor: Maura Conley.