Are you vacationing away from home this summer and want to keep up with your walking meditation practice?

For those of you unfamiliar with labyrinths, they are ancient meditative tools that have been the focus of renewed interest in the health and wellness community for their use in relaxation and increased focus and concentration. Walking a labyrinth helps elicit a relaxation response, allowing us to slow down to a more natural state of being.

I have found a wonderful site which lists labyrinths around the world--all open to the public. To access the site go to the website for the Labyrinth Society and click on the link for the World Wide Labyrinth Locator.

I put this locator to the test this month while vacationing in northern Michigan, where I honestly did not expect to find a plethora of labyrinths! To my surprise I found several labyrinths within 20 miles of my vacation spot and had the opportunity to walk a remarkable community based labyrinth in the village of Ellsworth, Michigan. This 15 circuit labyrinth is beautifully surrounded by perennial plantings is nestled on the banks of Ellsworth Lake. It is a large labyrinth -- allowing for a walking meditation of nearly one mile. A feast for all your senses! Click here for a link to the Ellsworth Labyrinth Garden

Do you want to return to school with renewed skills and strategies for academic performance, artistic performance? Learn tools of relaxation, concentration, focus and creativity and ways to integrate these research-validated tools into your life at home and school.

Many studies have shown a correlation with continued use of these methods and improved standardized test scores (like PSAT, SAT, MCAS) as well as higher GPA and improved performance in the athletic arena. The Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers, as well as the U.S. Olympic Rowing teams have been taught and coached using these same methods.

The Tools for Teens workshop will be offered once this summer, on Friday, August 25 from 2-4 PM at my Concord office located at 97 Lowell Rd.

This workshop is appropriate for teens and young adults returning to middle school, high school or college. Enrollment is limited for individualized instruction. Class tuition includes a take home CD with relaxation and meditation exercises especially for students. Click on the link below for more information about the workshop.

For a wonderful opportunity to experience mindfulness in nature at Walden Pond in Concord, join me for an interactive workshop entitled Mindfulness at Walden on Wednesday, August 2 from 6-8 PM (raindate will be August 3) We will explore mindfulness through walking meditation, listening meditation, journaling, as well as sitting meditation following Henry David Thoreau's path to his cabin site and using some of Thoreau's quotes as springboards for our own meditations.

Fee for the workshop is $30 (parking available at Walden Pond for $5) Preregistration is necessary prior to July 28. Wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring a towel or blanket to sit on. (Bug repellent is strongly recommended) Materials will be provided.

Stress Resources is now accepting registrations for the Fall 2006 Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program beginning the week of September 25. Stress Resources is honored to be the only program offering 19.2 approved contact hours for nurses participating in the program. The MBSR program is modeled after the program started at UMass Medical School by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a program open to anyone interested in learning ways work with stresses in their lives.

Stress Resources offers this program to the New England community at a substantially discounted rate of $250 to ensure that program cost does not present a financial barrier to participation. The 8 week program is limited to 15 participants per session and is offered both Tuesday evenings or Friday mornings. Click below for more information.