|
Healthy Tips for... Healthy Living |
 Simple Ways to fit meditation into daily living
(part of a series) Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind on an object. What that object is varies from tradition to tradition and within that variation you get a multitude of different kinds of meditations. The object that you focus on could be your breath, it could be a spiritual being, imagining your own body filled with light, or it could even be a whole story. For example you might think about a whole scene, a time when you lost your temper and you might consciously replay that scene over and over but this time you try to feel genuine love and compassion for the person that you instinctually felt anger towards. The thing that makes it meditation and not just daydreaming is that you stay within the parameters that you set up for yourself as the "object" of your meditation. Traditionally that object always has something to do with opening the heart or feeling a greater sense of love and well-being.
Many people think meditation is about feeling calm or relaxed or just spacing out. It is not. Often time's meditation can be highly uncomfortable. Look at the excuses you will make to avoid meditating vs eating the ice cream in the fridge.The confusion comes from the fact that with a greater devotion to a daily meditation practice one notices a greater sense of well-being and your friends and family may notice that you are more calm or relaxed. But the actual practice of trying to reign in the mind is not an easy one.
With practice you may notice your life begins to feel more spacious as if some kind of invisible weight is lifted off of your heart. The daily practice of meditating begins to seep out into your daily life. For example you may get into an argument with your partner and suddenly because of your practice of meditation you become mindful of where the feeling of ill-will resides in your physical body. Just a small act of noticing something like that in the midst of strong negative emotion can have the power of creating a kind of spaciousness in the mind that makes you less controlled by your thoughts. You may, in the middle of a fight, loose you're feeling of anger and ill-will and suddenly feel compassion. So how to start.
Here are 5 guidelines for starting your meditation practice:
1) Admire the results-Find someone who is already practicing and admire their good qualities.
2) Make it Daily-It is much more powerful to sit everyday for 3 minutes than it is to sit for 1 hour once a week.
3) Same Time Same Place: As much as you can try to meditate at the same time of day daily. Petition off a small area of your home and use it just for meditation.
4) Pick an object: Pick the object before you start and stick with it for a month or so even if you get bored with it. Consistency is the key.
5) Rejoice: When you realize you have been spaced out for the last 10 min. thinking about breakfast, don't berate yourself. Instead rejoice in the fact you caught yourself-you just a mini awakening moment coming out of the fog of a scattered mind.
Will Duncan teaches meditation of all levels at Yoga Oasis on Tuesday nights. |
| Interviews in the Arizona Daily Star and on the John C Scott Morning Show |
Shay has been busy! On March 9th, she was interviewed on the John C Scott Morning Show. John and Shay talked about the April 4th Benefit and Upcoming Retreat this summer. On March 24th, Shay was interviewed in the business section of the Arizona Daily Star. To read the article click here. |
| Kidz Bytes |
Artwork by a young 1st grader-The project was to draw your peaceful place. Her caption reads "My peaceful place is the Montone". Thank you Aesha!
Artwork By Emily, 1st grade-Caption reads, " my peaceful place is with my Grama becaus they only take when I need to eat. That is why it is peaceful.and when it snows I make a snowman. I love it! |
Announcing Our Cause on Facebook
|
| We're now on Facebook and already have more than 160 members! Click here to see our Facebook page and become a member of the cause. |
| Thoughts From Shay |
 We are on a clear and profound mission to launch our inaugural healing retreat for children with special needs and their families this July. This will take all of our efforts to make this happen. We have incredibly committed teams of people that are working to turn this dream into a reality. And, we still need to raise $20,000 by May 15th to make it happen. I truly believe in my heart we will get there. It has been said that "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" and we believe strongly in the beauty of this dream. Please join us. Together we can help the healing retreat center take flight.
In gratitude,
|
|
JOIN OUR LIST
|
 |
| FEATURED CORPORATE SPONSORS |
|
and
DesertSalts.com
| |
|
| Letter from the Editor |
 We've made it!! Here we are into the 2nd edition of our newsletter and the response from everyone has been fantastic!! Thank you for all of your support. I have been a witness to some of the most amazing stories and circumstances since joining this cause-Shay has been the spark with her vision that has some of the most passionate and talented people coming to join us! I'm almost at a loss for words to describe the feeling. The children and the families will no doubt feel this when they are in our presence. Thank you all for participating and getting the word out there, your contributions & enthusiasm are blazing a trail for the Retreat Center to become a reality. Know that you are part of something big, something the world has not yet seen. I'm excited to bring you the updates from the last couple of months--incredible progress has been made by our Pilot and Events committees, we have picked our site for the first Pilot Program this summer, decided on dates for the program, and have a beautiful luncheon benefit planned for April 4th where we will release live butterflies! If you have not gotten your tickets for the event be sure to get the information below, you won't want to miss this!
Tina Roche RN, LMT
Integrative Communications
Newsletter Editor |
| In the News |
Updates on Our Progress
Wow--there's a lot to cover.....
The most exciting news is the decision to hold our first retreat for our families this summer from July 19th-25th 2009. Mark those calendars! It will be held at the White Stallion Ranch in the Marana, Arizona. It is a 3000 acre ranch surrounded by beautiful desert landscape and breathtaking mountain views. There will be plenty of space for our families, treatment rooms for our services and room outdoors for activities and relaxation! The True family will be hosting us for this momentous occasion and have been truly wonderful in their help and kindness in getting us started. Click here to visit the ranch website to see more: www.whitestallion.com
April 4th Benefit & Butterflying Event, Tucson AZ
Our Events Planning Committee has been hard at work planning the first annual fundraising benefit in Tucson, AZ. It will be held Saturday, April 4th at 11:30am at the Tucson Country Club. Click to view the invite. There will be a steel drum band on the lawn to start the festivities, a live auction and raffle along with each participant getting to take an active role in the release of live butterflies! Guy Atchley from KGUN 9 (ABC) has offered to be our guest speaker for the event. We are very excited to welcome him to our cause! Tickets for the event are $45 each (a great price for a wonderful lunch and cause). RSVP's can be sent with a check to Integrative Touch for Kids 8340 N Thornydale Rd #110-153 Tucson, AZ 85741. All proceeds will go directly to the funding of our first healing retreat planned for this July 19th-25th. We'll be hosting 5-6 special needs children and their families. If you have any questions or would like to donate please email shay@integrativetouch.org. We hope to see you there!!
Community Information Sharing Event
We had a Community information sharing event on Wednesday Feb 11th @ the Embassy Suites on Skyline and Campbell. It was a chance to get information out to the Tucson community about our plans for the center. We had a great turnout and made some new friends and contacts in the process! Some have now joined us in our journey. We will have more of these community information sharing events coming up if you missed it. This is a way for anyone who has not heard of the vision to get first hand information about our plans. We want to thank the Embassy Suites for their generosity and assistance in making this happen for us! If you are looking to host a meeting or conference in Tucson, give them a call!
The Gathering of Healing Arts Practitioners
Our 1st gathering of Healing Arts Practitioners happened on Friday, January 30th @ the Center for Expressive Arts Therapy. Healers, bodyworkers, childlife practitioners, social workers, teachers and more came to the event. We made vision boards, talked about why this vision came to be in our hearts and had a great potluck. It was a tremendous success! Formation of the teams who will work either directly with the families or indirectly by helping us to set up the program for our upcoming retreat is taking place. Surveys went out 2 weeks ago for healing arts practitioners who want to be involved. If you missed the deadline but want to participate in the program this summer please click here to complete the survey as soon as possible. We will also need your resume, and licenses/certifications, if applicable, in order to get you signed up. We would encourage you to attend one of our upcoming meetings for healing arts practitioners. If you haven't gotten emails about the meetings and want to, send us an email requesting to be added to the healing arts practitioners email list. We will be having regular phone and in person meetings as we prepare for our first retreat.
As a collaborative community we love to have everyone's input! This vision is taking shape through the combined efforts of not only the active committees but by this group of healing arts practitioners who have stepped up and are offering their help, time and passion. Thank you. We all look forward to our upcoming journey with you on our team!
One last announcement: Our April 4th Benefit to raise money for our summer program will include a live and silent auction and raffle. Some of the therapists have chosen to donate a session or two for the cause. If you would like to participate in donating, please contact me-Tina- at tina614@comcast.net. Thank you for all that you are doing!
The Pilot Planning Committee Update
Our Pilot Planning Committee is....(if I said busy, I would be making a huge understatement.) They have pitched in extra time and meetings to roll with the needs of the program as we plan for our big inaugural week in July. At one point they even ditched the chairs to set up an organizational chart with sticky notes on the floor! Timelines, planned therapies both core and elective, families to serve and outcome measures are just a few of the issues facing this group. They are not only coming up with brilliant ideas and workable concepts but making decisions to keep us moving in a forward direction. They should be applauded for their efforts and abilities to work collaboratively with so many pieces of the puzzle to be put into place. As one of the great committee minds reminded us...just showing up is the first huge step and then letting the work flow from there... I think they are well on their way =)
Well, there you have it... The updates, the happenings, the who's who, the good, the ... well actually it's ALL good! |
| Modality Awareness |
|
|
Play Therapy
In this edition of our Modality Awareness section, we bring you Play Therapy! Jamie Lakin Kelley brings us information on her work with Play Therapy. She is a Certified Play Therapist Supervisor in private practice for the last 9 years. As a mom of 2 and Licensed Social Worker, Jamie has learned the value of play for children to express their emotions and heal from difficult situations. While working as a social worker she saw a 4 year old who had been involved in a car accident at the age of 2 who was having terrifying nightmares. Several weeks of visits in her office (with the use of a toy dinasour smashing into a matchbox car) and the nightmares were gone! It was the start of a new path for Jamie as she sought registration for play therapy.
All children are children finally - it hardly matters to which race or culture they belong - they belong first to the race and culture of children." from One Thousand White Women - The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
Play is the language of children. It is a natural activity of childhood, and thus a developmentally appropriate way to connect with children. A Play Therapist enters the child's world, and experiences the unique ways a child puts together meaning based on his or her life experiences. Play Therapy is a way of being with children in a way that supports emotional growth and balance.
Typically, Play Therapy takes place in a specialized playroom with toys selected for therapeutic potential. Toys are symbols in play. For example, a doctor kit can represent health concerns or nurturing. A police officer hat and badge can represent power and control or safety. Money or treasure can represent well-being or power. In Child Centered Play Therapy, the therapist is an active observer of the child's play. The child leads the way, and when the therapist provides a safe and judgment-free containment for the play, the child can find what they need to heal and grow.
Because a playroom is not always available, some Play Therapists "take it on the road". A tote bag of toys used in a private space can offer a Play Therapy experience in other settings such as schools, clinics, or at home. Regardless of setting, the healing aspect of Child Centered Play Therapy is the relationship between a therapist and a child. The emotional environment is permissive and accepting, yet contained by limits to help a child feel safe.
Although the therapeutic value of play was recognized as early as 1930, Play Therapy blossomed following Carl Rogers' Client Centered Therapy in the late 1940s. Rogerian therapy is based on unconditional positive regard of a client. In Child Centered Play Therapy the relationship between a therapist and a child provides the "consistent acceptance of the child which is necessary for the development of enough inner freedom and security by the child to express self in self-enhancing ways". The focus is on the person, not the problem; the present, not the past; feelings rather than thoughts or acts; understanding rather than explaining; accepting rather than correcting; child's wisdom rather than therapist's knowledge.
Child Centered Play Therapy is based on the belief that a child in a physically and emotionally safe environment will find and do what they need for healing. Other schools of Play Therapy are more directive, utilizing techniques to lead and teach a child. Play Therapy can also be used in groups, with parents, and with adults. As long as play is the therapeutic element, it is considered Play Therapy. This is different than talking to a child while playing with toys. Children often can't articulate, or don't want to talk about, feelings around difficulties. Play allows them to communicate and to process challenges without talking about them directly.
The established credential for a Play Therapist is Registered Play Therapist (RPT) or Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor (RPT-S) through the Association for Play Therapy. After a number of years of experience, training hours and supervision, a therapist can apply for registration. For more information about Play Therapy, go to www.a4pt.org.
Jamie Lakin LCSW, BCD, RPT-S | |
| Community Member Spotlight |
Sandy Bleaman
In each edition of our newsletter, we would like to spotlight one of our Integrative Touch Community members. It is one way we can all get to know one another as we build our community-
In this edition I would like to introduce you to Sandy Bleaman. Sandy is one of our Pilot Planning and Event planning Committee members. She not only sits on both committees, but she heads up the volunteer program for special events. Since hearing about Integrative Touch for Kids, Sandy has been involved in any and every aspect she can. And we're glad she's here!
Sandy grew up in New York City and attended Rutgers college to study Psychology-- before developing a passion for teaching while she was working as a teachers aide. She also worked as a research assistant for preschoolers with Autism. Autistic children were segregated from the mainstream classes at that time and Sandy would help the families establish Individualized education goals, or IEP's for the children.
After her and her husband Marc moved to Arizona, Sandy attended graduate school at the U of A and in 1995 obtained her Masters degree in Severe/Profound and Developmental Disabilities. As a special education teacher, She developed and implemented the Inclusion program at Espero Canyon middle school, effectively bridging the gap between regular and special education classes.
She currently spends her time at home raising 3 beautiful young girls Emily(12), Allison(9), and Olivia(7) & enjoys helping out at the girls schools and with their activities. Sandy is an avid Anusara yoga practitioner and has taught classes at the Jewish Community Center. "Yoga has a way of bringing everything into balance for me", I love the physical challenges and spiritual aspects of the practice."
It was through Yoga that Sandy became involved in our community at Integrative Touch for Kids. During one of her classes, the yoga teacher spoke about the work Shay was doing in the community and the plans for the Healing Retreat Center. Sandy says she was immediately drawn to the vision, "I'll never forget that moment, the vision was so clear to me. I felt it in my heart and in my bones that I had to get involved. The feeling was so strong, I knew that I needed to contact Shay right away, It is an incredible honor to be a part of this journey."
We are so glad Sandy didn't skip out on class that day!! Thank you for your commitment in all that you do.
Tina Roche- |
| Join Us! |
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Community Celebration and First Annual Benefit for the Healing Retreat Center in Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Country Club, 11:30am. Tickets can be purchased on our website www.integrativetouch.org. Just click on donate and enter April 4th in the purpose field. Tickets are $45 each and should be purchased in advance.
For more information contact us at 520-303-4992 | |
|
|
|
This photo was taken of Shay at the Tucson Botanical Garden Butterfly Exhibit by Guy Atchley, ABC News Anchor from KGUN-9. You can view this and other photos on his website: 
