bodymindspiritworks   LLC

Touching another with perception and sensitivity, understanding and deep awareness of the other's suffering and bliss;
Touching another with intention and skill, bringing relief from suffering, allowing peace, assurance, gratitude, wisdom and love.

We take each component of the definition… for example, "touch," "compassion," "care," "perception," "sensitivity," "understanding," "awareness"… and engage a deep conceptual and experiential exploration of each term. By working in this way with both discussion and with practical exercise, participants gain a rich understanding that includes physical, cognitive/emotional, and spiritual dimensions, along with an increased capacity for actually providing profoundly compassionate care through simple touch.

The Touch as Compassionate Care workshop can accommodate a variety of settings and presentation formats, ranging from 12-hour weekend seminar, to a series of shorter segments presented across a number of weeks.

The Intensive Journal is an integrated system of writing exercises, much more than simple iary or daily journal writing. Many different areas of life are integrated into an emerging understanding, including personal relationships, career and special interests, body and health, dreams and imagery, and meaning in life. The cumulative effect of working with the Intensive Journal gives access to creative capacities and untapped possibilities.

Stress is a given for all life, and it is not all bad! Without the background stress the natural environment continually puts upon all living things, there would be no life at all. So what are we stressing about? Plenty! The problem is that today much of the stress in our lives is different from what our physical and emotional systems were designed to handle: it is greatly increased, it doesn't let up, much of it we cannot even influence let alone control, it comes from many other sources than the natural environment, it has become chronic and permanent.

Our bodies live in an almost-steady state of "fight or flight." Chronic stress has devastating negative consequences in our lives, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

"All Stressed Up with Nowhere to Go" is an integral approach to dealing with the experience of being all stressed up, but now with SOMEWHERE to go.

Instead of focusing on "stress reduction" or "de-stressing" (which often amounts to avoidance), the workshop will focus on identifying the sources of stress unique to the life context of each participant, determining which are outside the participant's control, which are within, and which might, at best, only be influenced. The workshop will teach the responses most effective in each of these areas. The intention is to help participants move from "coping" toward "mastery."

The schedule for this one-day experience begins with check-in at 9:30 a.m.; session begins at 10:00 am. and concludes at 4:30 p.m. Lunch is included. This workshop will initially be offered Sunday 8 March 2009; participants limited to 10. More workshops will be added on future dates. This is a full-day immersion experience. As a result of the work, participants will:

1. Invest a day in a peaceful environment conducive to peacefulness and relaxation.
2. Be nourished by healthy and flavorful lunch prepared with care.
3. Learn about distress ("bad" stress) and eustress ("good stress") and the consequences of chronic stress of any kind; learn about our natural biological responses to stress (known as general adaptation syndrome) and why it may actually be counter-productive in today's world.
4. Identify the specific areas of distress in their lives.
5. Learn specific body-mind-spirit practices and techniques for responding to stress effectively.
6. Create an action plan for dealing with primary sources of distress.
7. Create a sustainable plan for ongoing healthy response to stress.

It takes ambulances an average of 8 minutes to respond once they get dispatched (it takes about 3 minutes for an emergency call to get routed to the correct agency for dispatch). Brain tissue starts to die within 4 minutes and brain damage is likely. After about 8 minutes, brain damage becomes irreversible. CPR helps prevent brain and heart damage, making community awareness and skills essential to a patient survival.

Classes are offered at Bodymindspiritworks in Grafton, WI or at another site of your choosing, and are limited to 6 students. Minimum class size for off-site instruction is 3 students. Classes are led by Jennifer D'Alessio, CC/NREMT-P, an American Heart Association CPR/BLS Provider Instructor.

Click on the image for more information!