| At one of several
business meetings that I regularly attend, another attendee,
Joy Cohen, is always an oasis of calm, stating her views
in a logical but gracious manner, no matter how heated the
discussion.
When Joy told me about a series of one-day retreats for
women which she organizes, I jumped at the chance to learn
how to decompress and unwind.
Early on a recent Saturday morning, about 20 women, some
from as far away as Stamford and Massachusetts, met in the
lovely, water-view lounge at the Mariner’s Point retirement
community in East Haven.
We all had been told to dress casually and comfortably
as this was to be a day devoted to stretching our body,
mind and spirit in restorative ways. And stretch we did
— after a light breakfast and chance to introduce
ourselves to one another, Lisa Laing, a fitness educator
and personal trainer, led us in exercises which stretched,
then relaxed, every part of our bodies.
Using our voices to sigh and shout as we stretched, we
quickly began to release built up tensions and unwind. Lisa
also leads Interplay Retreats which feature active, creative
ways to unlock the wisdom of your body. For information,
go to www.interplay.org.
After a second cup of coffee, the group settled into deep,
comfy lounge chairs to hear an eye-opening discussion on
wellness with food, conducted by Emrys Tetu of Chester.
Emrys has a string of impressive degrees from Brandeis and
the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She practices a
holistic approach to nutrition and feels all areas of our
lives are connected to how and what we eat. Our emotional
and physical well being are inter-related.
For instance, the emotional state in which your body comes
to a meal, affects that meal. Emrys discussed the fact that
too often we eat on the run and that families rarely say
any type of grace before a meal even though, whatever your
religion, it can be an important, relaxing moment just to
pause and appreciate the food we are about to enjoy. Preparing
food together as a family, is also a wonderful bonding experience
because we are nourished by our relationships as well as
by our food.
Emrys is an advocate of natural foods, whole grains and
foods raised without artificial pesticides. She encouraged
everyone to try to use more dark, leafy greens and also
diagramed how the appearance of a food is often a clue to
the body part which it helps.
For example, a sliced carrot looks like the pupil and iris
of the human eye, and carrots do help eyes to function better.
A red tomato has four chambers and the human heart is red
with four chambers. A walnut which looks like a small brain
helps many neurotransmitters for brain function.
Avocados target the health and function of the womb and
in one of nature’s great coincidences, it takes exactly
nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit.
Emrys made me re-think about how I am shopping for and
preparing foods and how I can eat in more healthful ways.
After listening to all the talk about food, a lunch of
sandwiches, salad and fruit with a piece of delicious dark
chocolate for dessert, was most welcome.
Our afternoon session began with learning how to breathe.
According to Cohen, when we breathe, we are breathing in
life force. Breath is a magical wonder pill. We practiced
“connected” breath, “kundalini”
breath for increased physical energy,
“ha” breath for improved digestion, “hong
sah” breath to calm the mind and my favorite, “ola”
breath for quickly reducing stored stress.
We also hugged our neighbors and told them what we found
most appealing about them. Then we all had a chance to experience
even deeper relaxation courtesy of chair massages with two
excellent massage therapists.
We were also supplied with the materials to create personal
mandelas. Mandela, which means “circle,” represents
wholeness and is found in many cultures. It is used for
centering and as a reminder of a guiding principle. I fashioned
a small, green frog on a happy yellow background as a reminder
that I will be happier if I can slow down and relax more
often.
Cohen, our retreat director, holds a master’s degree
from the Yale School of Nursing and a doctor of philosophy
from Walden University. She is also a graduate of the New
England Institute of Hypnotherapy.
Through her company, Holistic Care by Joy, she helps individuals
and families walk through illness, pain, addiction, phobias
and depression to find a sense of value, self-esteem and
a positive self-image. The day ended with a film presentation
of images which made us laugh and others which helped us
to reflect on what we had learned. A parting thought from
the retreat to share with my readers:
“When you worry and hurry through your day, it is
like an unopened gift, thrown away. Life is not a race.
Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.”
Jean Cherni is founder of Senior
Living Solutions, a retirement advisory service. Contact
her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds, Branford
06405.
H. Pearce Company REALTORS®
is a full-service real estate company with more than 100
agents and branch offices in greater New Haven and the Shoreline.
Corporate and & Commercial offices are located in North
Haven, where the company was founded in 1958. All listings
can be found in color on the web at: www.hpearce.com. |
