Out November General Meeting of CFUW-Stratford will feature a panel discussion on Chronic Inflammation. Well will discuss the benefits of yoga, anti-inflammatory foods and therapeutic touch.
Benefits of Yoga : Linda MacKay, Registered Social Worker and a Certified Yoga Instructor
Anti-inflammatory Foods : Diana Sutherland, Registered Dietician, Zehrs
Therapeutic Touch : Jennifer Brion, Registered Nurse and Registered Practitioner: Therapeutic Touch Ontario, Wellspring Volunteer
Linda Mackay is a certified yoga teacher and also an advanced practitioner in LifeForce Yoga® (LFY), which is the intentional focus of yoga for mood management. She is on the faculty and a mentor with the LifeForce Yoga® Healing Institute. Linda has co-led training programs with founder Amy Weintraub, at Leading Edge in Toronto, The Cape Cod Institute, and Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health. Linda, a registered clinical social worker, worked at the University of Waterloo’s counselling and psychological services for over 15 years, but now co-owns a private practice, The Space Within, in Stratford, Ontario. Here she offers individual psychotherapy, LFY workshops and retreats, and leads introduction to mindfulness and mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT). She has been teaching MBCT at in the Social Work Mindfulness certification programme at Wilfrid Laurier University for many years, and has led school based programs for grades 4-6. Her corporate presentations have included mindfulness for stress reduction, sustaining health over the career-span, dealing with conflict, and LifeForce Yoga for clinicians. She continues to teach Chair Yoga for OneCare, now online, and, in pre-Covid times, her Yoga for Every Body class ran weekly, as did guided meditation drop in sessions. She will focus a brief overview on the health benefits of yoga, to reduce stress, inflammation in the body and gut, and increase immune resilience and will try to get in a couple of short seated practices to demonstrate.
Diana Sutherland is a Registered Dietitian for Zehrs in Waterloo. She has two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo, the other in Food and Nutrition from the University of Western Ontario. She completed a one-year internship at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener as part of her practical training in becoming a Registered Dietitian. Diana has been a dietitian for over 4 years, and has been with Zehrs for almost 3 years now. Through her role as an In-Store Dietitian for Zehrs, Diana helps people out in a variety of ways, through client consultations, personalized shop & learn sessions, group programs and workshops, and presentations out in the community such as for corporations or community organizations. At this time, Diana is offering most of her services virtually. Diana takes an evidence-based and non-judgmental approach with clients. She is a strong believer that feelings of guilt and shame have no role in the eating experience, and is passionate about helping people shift away from fad diets and restriction, towards wholesome nourishment for the entire body.
Jennifer Brion s a retired advanced practice Registered Nurse Clinician with a BScN from York University. She worked in Mental Health and Addiction for 40 years. Her career included many different aspects of Mental Health nursing culminating in her role as the Consultation Liaison Lead to medicine and surgery. She became interested in Therapeutic Touch through nursing education experience in 1998, then becoming a registered practitioner in 2002. Since then, Therapeutic Touch has become a lifelong passion. She is presently a member of the Therapeutic Touch Network of Ontario and the Teachers Collective. Jennifer moved to lovely Stratford 3 1/2 years ago after retirement where she now volunteers at Wellspring Stratford, providing cancer care support through Therapeutic touch sessions to those in need.