During the month of June, Grinnell’s Mayflower Community will present Thursday afternoon information sessions designed to expand thinking about healthy living alternatives. The gatherings will be offered from 2:00-3:00pm in the Carman Center on the second floor of the Mayflower Health Center, 600 Park Street. There will be no charge for the sessions, some of which will include demonstrations and all will include question-and-answer time.
The Mayflower Community feels a responsibility to educate staff, residents, and members of the community regarding why and how we can take care of minds, bodies, and souls. Each session will feature a professional in the field offering a variety of approaches to overall health and wellbeing.
The first session on June 6th featured Jackie Hutchison, a local certified physical therapist and physiohealth coach. Jackie is a certified craniosacral therapist and certified teaching assistant at the Upledger Institute.
Craniosacral therapy is a light touch, manual therapy focused on improving the form of the body, particularly the central nervous system, so that the body as a whole can function better. Jackie says, “Think of the body as woven biological fabric which is one continuous structure, head to toe, so that if any part is twisted, stretched, or compressed, the entire body would be affected. Trauma, such as a fall, car accident, whiplash, surgery, or just habitual poor posture and repetitive stress injuries has cumulative effects on the body.”
Benefits of craniosacral therapy include decreased pain, reduced Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease symptoms, improved sight issues, and relief from spinal column or nerve issues. Jackie demonstrated some of the therapy exercises.
Other planned sessions include:
- Thursday, June 13th – “Mindfulness in Daily Living” by Danielle Sadler, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.
- Thursday, June 20th – “Food as Nutrition and Food Quality for Your Health” by Dr. Jennifer Paisley and “Healthy Food Sources” by Andrew Dunham, organic farmer
- June 27th – “Letting Go of Everything That No Longer Serves You: Yoga” by Jackie Hutchison.
— Bob Mann, Sales & Marketing Director
