New Year 2010 Self-Care Retreat

Self-care is not self-indulgent, it is self-preservation.  Join us!

Make time for yourself with this unique retreat that will take you beyond New Year’s resolutions toward more sustainable self-care.

A workshop on the 15-Minute Beginnings approach to personal well-being begins the day, followed by experiential sessions in Reflective Writing (with Melissa), and Deep Restoration (with Tiina).  Scroll below for retreat outline and workshop descriptions.

15-Minute Beginnings
An Approach to Personal Well-being

BEYOND RESOLUTIONS
A One-Day Retreat for the New Year

Saturday, January 30 | 9:30am-4:30pm

with Melissa Melnitzer, MD
and Tiina Veer, RMT

$225

Click here to register now

The retreat includes:

• Lunch
• Guided Relaxation CD
• Hand-crafted journal
• Resource references
• Small group size

SPACE IS LIMITED, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE NOW!
halcyonhealth@gmail.com
(416) 530-9613

RETREAT OUTLINE

9:30 – 11:00
Introductions and greeting
Opening session:  “15-Minute Beginnings:  An Approach to Personal Wellness”

11:00 – 11:15
Break

11:15 – 1:15
Concurrent sessions in Deep Restoration & Reflective Writing (descriptions below)
(Attend one in the morning and the other in the afternoon)

1:15 – 2:15
Lunch

2:15 – 4:15
Concurrent sessions in Deep Restoration & Reflective Writing (descriptions below)
(Whichever you did not attend in the morning, you attend in the afternoon)

4:15 – 4:30
Come together for closing

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS AND FACILITATOR BIO’S

Reflective Writing with Melissa Melnitzer, MD
This workshop provides a safe opportunity to creatively free some of the inevitable emotional tension built up in our day to day lives.  It further allows for sharing among participants in a way many of us crave, but often miss out on amidst our usual stressors.  You will have the experience of a one-hour period to focus on reflecting and writing regarding something in your own experience.  In the next hour, you will have the opportunity to share your writing if you wish, and to participate in the discussion that ensues from the sharing that occurs among participants.  This can be a one-off exploration of the healing value of this format or can also potentially inspire personal initiatives that could stem from it.  The purpose is to provide a healing environment for participants to express themselves through writing and to partake in the writing of other group members.  This shared creativity can offer personal growth opportunities and is not a writing skills development forum.

Melissa Melnitzer, MD
Dr. Melnitzer is a family physician currently focused on psychotherapy practice, including facilitating an ongoing therapeutic writing group. Prior to this, she worked full-time for seven years as part of an interdisciplinary team serving homeless people in Parkdale. She is passionate about community medicine and holistic health. She is also passionate about the movement to open the vacuous space surrounding mental health issues, and to reveal the rich potential within all of us. Dr. Melnitzer’s therapeutic approach is eclectic, with a particular emphasis on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and an evolving concept she is creating called 15 Minute Beginnings. Her approach to personal well-being is detailed further in her blogs, 15minutebeginnings.com and  oprahandbeyond.blogspot.com

Deep Restoration with Tiina Veer, RMT
In this workshop, participants will learn techniques from the yoga and mindfulness traditions that can help to self-soothe, unwind muscle tension, relax the body and quiet the mind.  We will move slowly and gently through guided relaxation, reclining restorative yoga positions requiring little to no effort (and supported by props like bolsters and blankets), and simple breathing techniques, that together ultimately form a long guided meditation.  This workshop can be enjoyed as a one-time relaxation experience, or used to inspire ongoing practice as an antidote to stress or to counterpoise an active lifestyle.  The “fight or flight” response (stress response) was once rudimentary to our very survival. Now, though we share the same physiology with our ancient human ancestors, this fight-or-flight response has become maladaptive as many of us are living in a state of low-grade or elevated stress, attempting to meet ever-increasing pressures, demands and change without stopping to replenish resources.  This workshop or other restorative practices can be a pause at the proverbial well.  These movements and techniques are very simple and accessible, and with continued practice can become lifelong companions. Absolutely no experience with yoga or meditation is necessary.

Tiina Veer, RMT
Tiina is a massage therapist and yoga instructor, and is passionate about sharing simple self-care with her clients and students.  In her workshops and classes, Tiina enjoys employing simple practices from the yoga and mindfulness traditions, as well as simple tried-and-true “grandmother’s wisdom,” in a supportive and non-competitive environment.  She has a down-to-earth, non-dogmatic approach to teaching these tools in a way that is both relevant to everyday life, and approachable even to those who have never tried them before.