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.”
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