Just wanted to let everyone know of a fun, fitness-related event taking place on Family Day (February 15th).

MP Olivia Chow and Friends of Christie Pits Park are having their yearly Family Day skating party. There will be games, activities for kids, free hot chocolate and pizza, and of course lots of skating! It’s from 1-3pm.

If you go, enjoy it!

I always like to pass along information on what my fellow Halcyon Health practitioners are doing, so here’s an update for you all.

Melissa Melnitzer, our physician who specializes in psychotherapy, has started a new blog called Oprah and Beyond. She was inspired by both O Magazine and Oprah’s announced departure from television, and wanted to have a place to post light and fun reflections with a bit of a pop culture twist, complementing the concept she has developed with her 15 minute beginnings blog.

Tiina Veer, our yoga instructor and fellow RMT, will be continuing to teach her Yoga for Round Bodies class in the new year. She is likely going to offer it as a weekly class starting in January. All the details will be available on Halcyon’s website in the new year.

Tiina and Melissa will also be doing a one day self-care retreat on Saturday, January 30th. This workshop involves both reflective writing and guided relaxation and helps you work towards personal well-being for 2010! All the details are available here.

And finally, Halcyon now has a variety of yoga classes available to you, including Iyengar and Restorative.

Hope you all enjoy your New Year’s holiday plans and hope to see you in 2010!

Been a while since I’ve posted some fitness ideas. Here are a few now that the cold weather has hit us.

Esther Myers Yoga is offering several workshops, including one on Yoga for Health and Well-Being. For details on that and other classes, please see their website.

Octopus Garden also has several upcoming workshops. One that caught my eye takes place on October 31st, on proper alignment during yoga. For further details, check out their website.

On the theme of yoga, Passport to Prana is back again this year. For $30 you get a pass that gives you a single free class at a large variety of studios here in Toronto. If you are looking for a new yoga studio, or you just like the chance to try a bunch of them, this pass is a great idea for you!

Some locations of The Running Room still have their popular running classes going. If this interests you, there may still be time to register – check their website for details.

Whatever you do this month, have fun!

Two of my coworkers at Halcyon Health are putting on a Physician’s Wellness Retreat. I wanted to share the information with my own clients, as some of you work in health care, and some of you might be interested in offering such a workshop for your own organization. Please see below for the email I received from Tiina Veer, which I have published here with her permission.

Hello,
I’d like to inform you of a one-day Physician’s Wellness Retreat that I am delighted to be participating in, on Saturday, October 24th at beautiful Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, in Cambridge, Ontario. The retreat includes the main theme workshop, “15-minute beginnings,” an approach to self-care and the brainchild of my colleague here at Halcyon, Dr. Melissa Melnitzer. Melissa, myself and Dr. Heidi Walk will be presenting the morning and afternoon break-out sessions: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Heidi Walk), Deep Restoration (Tiina Veer), Relief through Writing (Melissa Melnitzer).

This new and innovative offering is supported by the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), in response to the mounting evidence of high stress levels among physicians, and the overwhelming positive response to a 15-minute beginnings pilot project with physicians across the province in April 2009. The hope for this project is to gain wider support and be offered within other health care provider communities eventually, as well.

If you are a physician, I invite you to join us for a relaxing and informative day of experiential learning and sumptuous lunch in a beautiful and relaxed environment. A wellness retreat for you–for your own self-care–that offers “…a dedicated day to begin to experience new ideas and practices that you can choose from to take back into your daily life and work. This takes place in a country spa resort setting so that if you wish you can round out your stay with spa treatments, local walks,” an extended stay, or as you like. See the attached brochure for details on workshop and break-outs. Approved for CME’s. Please pass along to your colleagues and networks. With enough interest, these retreats may become regular offerings.

If you are not a physician, I have cast a wide net with this email in the hopes that some of you will consider championing this with me by disseminating this email and attachment to physicians you may know, or within hospital/community health or related networks you are associated with.

I will be sending a shorter version of this out to my broader email list, as well… apologies if you receive this twice!

Thank you very much for your help spreading this exciting news,
Tiina

Note that versions of this workshop/retreat can be offered within a variety of contexts, please contact us if you are interested in discussing the possibility of offering this work within your organization.

Contact information for both Melissa and Tiina is available on Halcyon Health’s website.

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but I have some interesting fall classes to share with you all!

Esther Myers Yoga Studio has a weekend course coming up next month (October 24/25) which explores yoga and its health benefits. They mention it is not only good for yoga students (new and more advanced) but also good for yoga instructors, health professionals, and meditation teachers.

As mentioned previously, Flow! Yoga has now gone to a completely pre-registered class format. They still offer a variety of yoga classes, plus Nia and Pilates.

Octopus Garden yoga has several upcoming special classes, including another class with Danny Paradise. As well, they have three yoga retreats planned over the next year – two in Mexico, one in Tuscany!

The Toronto Bike Union will be hosting a bike tour of Toronto’s French forts on September 19th. It sounds like fun, especially if you’re interested in Canadian history, and it’s free!

The Running Room is still running their various clinics throughout the fall. Some of them start over the next few weeks. If you think running might be something you want to try this fall, the Running Room’s programs are a great way to do that.

Tango classes with Leeliana are back. Looks like most have already started, but some start this month. Her website has some details if learning to tango sounds like fun.

Registration for the various classes offered at the MNJCC has already begun, but chances are there are still spaces in many of their classes. Most classes don’t start for another few weeks. For the adult classes, see here and for the kids’ classes, see here.

Best Body Boot Camp has another session starting up on September 14th. This session will still be held in Christie Pits Park – a good way to get fit while enjoying the outdoors while those last days of summer are still here!

Registration for fall Pilates classes begins today at Body Harmonics. This is a great Pilates studio with a wide variety of classes, including a Post-Natal class on Tuesday afternoons (babies welcome!).

And finally, Halcyon’s own Tiina Veer is holding her Yoga for Round Bodies bi-weekly series again this fall. Classes start in October and are designed for any body at any level of fitness or yoga knowledge.

Whatever you do this fall, enjoy it!