Caritas Healing Connections


We invite you to join us monthly for a chance to return to your Caritas Community to share and reconnect.

April 20 | Agenda & Theme

TOPIC: Yoga Tools for a Healthy Response to Stress

Presented by: Denyse LeFever, MBA, C-IAYT
www.lavenderomwellness.com

Topics include:

  • Definition of stress
  • Distinguish between stress as motivator and chronic stress
  • Discuss how chronic stress can impact overall health
  • Healthy responses to stress
  • Experiential practices

About the speaker: Denyse first discovered Yoga as a teen to alleviate stress and anxiety associated with taking standardized tests. She found both the gentle Hatha based practice and meditation helpful in easing her into adulthood. As she embarked on her over 30-year career in global business, she periodically returned to Yoga to maintain a sense of balance.

Approaching her senior years, Denyse’s Dad was diagnosed with dementia. She noticed that when he could no longer communicate verbally, movement to music became a way to connect with her Dad. Gentle movements and subsequent sense of connection reminded her of her early experiences with Yoga.

After a career move and a personal diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes, Denyse decided to take her casual interest in Yoga to professional level study focusing on yoga’s wellness benefits. Denyse, as a certified Yoga Therapist, completed over 1000 Hours of Yoga Therapy Teacher Training. She holds certifications in iRest® and I AM™ Yoga Nidra as well as Chair Yoga and Chair Yoga Dance through Sherry Zak Morris, Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors at Duke University Integrative Medicine as taught by Carol Krucoff and Kimberly Carlson, Yoga of the Heart and Cancer through Nischala Joy Devi and Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation’s Brain Longevity Training Program. Denyse is a Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle coach through the University of Virginia.

In 2020, Denyse took her yoga teaching on-line. On zoom, she offers chair yoga, chair yoga dance, restorative yoga and Yoga Nidra classes to a global community across the US and Europe.

In 2022, Denyse was invited to offer weekly Bedside Yoga Therapy to cancer patients admitted to Inova Fairfax Hospital and to outpatients undergoing chemotherapy at Inova Schar Cancer Institute. Through Inova’s Life with Cancer Program, cancer survivors, caregivers, family members, and hospital employees have enjoyed sharing yoga practices with Denyse. She also serves on the Yoga Special Interest Group for the Society for Integrative Oncology and the Yoga Advisory Board for the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation. Denyse lives with her husband of 35 years in Falls Church, VA.

Schedule

Free. Available to all. Every 3rd Saturday of the month. One hour.

~ 8am Pacific
~ 9am Mountain
~ 10am Central
~ 11am Eastern

Zoom Link: bit.ly/CaritasHealingConnections

2024 Dates
  • Apr 20, 2024
  • May 18, 2024
  • Jun 15, 2024
  • Jul 20, 2024
  • Aug 17, 2024
  • Sep 21, 2024
  • Oct 19, 2024
  • Nov 16, 2024
  • Dec 21, 2024

Facilitated for WCSI by:

Carole Bergin, Retired RN, CHTP/I, Catechist of the Good Shepherd. Co-teach Healing Touch Classes for nurses, provide Healing Touch sessions for cancer survivors, teach Children's Liturgy, act as a hospital Eucharistic Minister, and visit a local retirement community for prayer circle.

Marcy B. Newman, DACM, MSN, RN. MPH:
Caritas Coach®, former adjunct faculty for Pacific College of Health and Science, former employee Whole Health Program Manager, Certified iRest® Yoga Nidra teacher. Teaches/facilitates iRest Yoga Nidra, guided imagery, compassion centering, body scan, various breathing exercises and loving kindness meditation.

Got an agenda item?

 Contact info@watsoncaringscience.org.

Mission

To create a sacred and safe space for the Caring Science community to share healing modalities (i.e. Caritas moments, healing poems, meditation, yoga, music, etc.), and connect with one another.

Goals
  • Hold a monthly 1 hour zoom session with a set structure
  • Allow for 10-15 minutes of open sharing at the end
  • Have a group of moderators to organize and facilitate each session (rotate)
  • Assign 1 moderator per session/set a schedule for 6 months
Structure of Each Session
  • Opening reflection, calling us to the space in stillness and presence (by moderator/facilitator)
  • Offer space for a maximum of 3 healing, sharing moments of 5-10 minutes each
  • Open sharing time around 10-15 minutes
  • Closing (5 minutes)
Disclaimer
  • Caritas Healing Connection sessions are not an alternative for professional therapy or training.
  • We celebrate each other but this is not a space to showcase professional achievements.
Participation Request

To put your name forward to offer either a modality/reading or to facilitate please contact us info@watsoncaringscience.org.

Thank you!


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