Meditation is on women’s ‘To do’list

The health benefits of meditation are vast and diverse, and so are the reasons why people meditate.

Meditation sessions, with local Jenniffer Barton, are among the range of activities Cobar Shire Council will be offering local women as part of next week’s Week of Women (WOW).

“Women coming together is a very healing and powerful collaboration and I’m grateful to be a part of the WOW line up this year to offer meditation,” Jenn said.

Since completing her qualifications as a practitioner in Hypnosis in 2018, Jenn has been conducting meditation in women’s circles.

“The classes that we are holding at the Youthie next week are going to be based around breathwork which is great for all ages to help with relaxation and calming of the mind.

“That’s followed by a peaceful guided meditation which will deepen that feeling of calm and relaxation through the mind and body.

“I choose to do guided as personally it gets you out of your own head and focuses on the present.” school-based nursing traineeship and Tiarna Jones is also undertaking Health Assistant Certificate training at the Lilliane Brady Village; Alice Prince is doing a Certificate III in Agriculture working with Nutrien Russell; and Chloe Seng is studying Dental Assistant Certificate III at the Thompson Family Dental Centre.

Jenn said meditation and breath-work have many benefits including: building skills to manage your stress; reducing anxiety; increasing self-awareness; focusing on the present; reducing negative emotions; increasing imagination and creativity; lowering resting heart rate; assisting with pain management; lowering resting blood pressure; and improving sleep quality.

“Meditation can be done at any age. This event is open to anyone 13+ who would like to join in.

“Meditation gives you great tools, once learnt that you have anywhere anytime to help in stressful situations,” Jenn said. See ad on Page 5 for Meditation times.

One other student, Wyatt Fairfull, has commenced an auto electrical school-based apprenticeship through TAFE, and is working in the family business with his dad James at Evolution Mechanical Repairs.

The school’s careers advisor, Megan Nicholson said all of the students are required to complete a minimum of 100 days of work over two years (apart from Alice who needs to complete 180 days).

“Students also need to manage their time appropriately to make sure they are keeping up with their other subject commitments,” Mrs Nicholson said.

She said the school-based training programs have had very good results

All six of the students who completed their two year traineeships last year have gained full time work locally and two of those have also gone on to undertake further studies.

Warm Autumn

Today marks the start of Autumn and temperatures in Cobar over the next week are expected to be warmer than average.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 30.1 degrees is the long term average temperature for this time of the year

Today and tomorrow we’re headed for a top of 33 degrees, while Friday and Saturday will be warmer with 34 degrees the maximum temperature forecast for both days.

The outlook for Sunday is warm and sunny with 35 while the mercury is expected to creep up to a very warm 37 degrees on Monday.

It felt like we were living in the tropics last week with hot days and a few afternoon thunderstorms.

Last Tuesday it reached 36.6 degrees with an afternoon storm which recorded 4.8mm of rain; Wednesday was 33 (with 2.6mm); Thursday’s top was 31.6; and Friday reached a top of 32.4.

It was a warm weekend with 34.1 the top temperature on Saturday and Sunday was our warmest day of the week with 37 degrees.

A week of events to celebrate women

Instead of just celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8 this year, Cobar Shire Council will be celebrating a Week of Women (WOW) from March 6 to March 11!

Cobar Shire was successful in securing a $5,000 NSW Government grant to provide the week-long WOW program of activities to engage local women.

Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said the NSW Government is providing $200,000 in grants to support Women’s Week events that help connect and celebrate the incredible contributions of women in our state.

“From Broken Hill to Byron Bay, we are bringing women together to celebrate and inspire each other.

“This program of events is the biggest ever and will deliver a wide range of practical supports that will benefit women right across our fabulous State,” Mrs Taylor said.

“This year, we have doubled the funding to give as many women as possible the opportunity to get involved in NSW Women Week.

“We are celebrating women from all walks of life and I’m absolutely delighted that the schedule of events reflects the creativity and diversity of women across metro and regional NSW.”

NSW Women’s Week promotes gender equality while celebrating the social and cultural achievements of women.

Events funded under the NSW Women’s Week Program for Cobar includes meditation, yoga, fitness and walking health and wellbeing sessions, a networking dinner, a craft workshop and local women speaking at schools in an effort to inspire ‘The Next Generation’ of women in Cobar.

The NSW Women’s Week Grants Program provides grants that support the key priorities of the NSW Women’s Strategy 2023-2026, which are: improving women’s economic opportunities, health and wellbeing, and participation in community.

All deadlines—2pm Mondays