newsbriefs Mindfulness Series Offered at Newton Community Education
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ewton Community Education (NCE) presents a mindfulness series from April to June. Class offerings include Kabbalah: A Method of Healing, Mindful Parenting, Introduction to Mind Body Healing, and Buddhist Meditation Without Belief. Another series called Mindfulness: The Adventure of Living Well consists of four talks by leading practitioners and teachers of mindfulness. NCE also offers several types of yoga classes on an ongoing basis. “Our classes offer students a multitude of experiences to enrich their lives and bring them greater well-being,” says NCE Marketing Associate Paula Spies. “Our knowledgeable teachers will meet students where they’re at and help them to use these techniques in their daily lives.” NCE director Ed Hauben says that his own experiences with the transformative power of mindfulness led him to introduce this series. “At NCE I have embarked on a journey of providing a broad range of mind, body and soul classes. Our goal is to give the community greater access to a variety of teachings and teachers of mindfulness in order for participants to experience greater peace and harmony.” NCE is a self-sustaining branch of the Newton Public Schools and is open to all students, regardless of residence. Classes and talks take place at Newton North and South High Schools. For more information or to register, call 617-559-6999, email Staff@ NewtonCommunityEd.org or visit NewtonCommunityEd.org.
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Free Program with Spiritual Teacher Mirabai Devi
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piritual teacher and healer Mirabai Devi will host a free program called Awakening to Divine Love, from 4 to 8 p.m. on April 21 at the First Church in Boston. The event will begin with a spiritual discourse offering guidance for a new paradigm of healing, abundance, joy, love and bliss. A meditation follows the talk and leads up to what Devi calls a “light transmission” for each individual who wishes to receive one. This part Mirabai Devi of the program is accompanied by devotional call-andresponse chanting known as kirtan. “The transmission of divine light into your soul activates and awakens you to your true divine nature,” says event co-organizer Matt McDonald. “This transmission is called ‘shaktipat,’ or awakening of the inner spiritual energy, which accelerates the soul’s evolution, removes karma and purifies the energy centers of the body. As Mirabai often says, it’s impossible for the light not to work, as that is its nature.” Guests are invited to arrive at the start of the program or join it in progress. The First Church in Boston: Unitarian Universalist is located at 66 Marlborough St., Boston. For more information, call Sandy Blackman at 301-318-6936, email at Sandy@MirabaiDevi.org or visit MirabaiDevi.org.
Free Series on Integrative Medicine and Mental Health at Johnson Compounding
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ohnson Compounding and Wellness Center, in Waltham, will host a free seminar series this spring that explores the use of integrative medicine in psychiatry and mental-health treatment. The seminar will address the limitations of psychotropic medications and explore why the current trial-and-error, “polypharmacy” approach to the treatment of mental illness also may be Dr. James Greenblatt limited. Sessions will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on two Saturdays, April 4 and May 9. Dr. James Greenblatt, a dually board-certified child and adult psychiatrist, will present. The seminar will cover evidence-based research on nutritional therapies used to treat mental illness and emphasize nutritional factors that can be assessed through laboratory testing. “ADHD, anxiety, anorexia, depression, autism and other mental-health disorders often have dietary or biological causes that can be treated effectively once the underlying issues are known,” says Greenblatt. “Such factors as intestinal pathogens, inadequate protein consumption, food allergies and nutritional deficiencies, environmental toxins, gastrointestinal disorders and enzyme deficiencies can all contribute to improper brain chemistry.” Greenblatt is the founder and medical director of Comprehensive Psychiatric Resources, Inc., a multidisciplinary psychiatric group practice in Waltham. The seminar series is free to the public. For professionals interested in CEUs, $25 will be collected on-site for each session. Johnson Compounding and Wellness Center is located at 577 Main St., Waltham. For more information, call 781-647-0066 or visit ComprehensivePsychiatric Resources.com. See ad on page 11.
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