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22-06-2012 19:41

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By KRISTINA THOMAS

ThisWeek Community News Friday June 22, 2012 4:57 PM

The Sunbury Library doesn't just offer books about yoga, it offers hands-on instruction.

For the second consecutive year, the library will offer yoga classes at 1 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays, throughout the year.

The class costs $5 and "yogis" will need to bring their own mats.

Gentle yoga, geared toward those with physical limitations, is at 1 p.m. Beginner's yoga, an introduction into yoga, is at 7 p.m.

Mary Nice, adult services manager, said she tries to offer programs that are of interest.

"We have books and videos on yoga and we know these are popular," she said.

"This is a great class for stress relief and it keeps or community healthy. I even take the classes," she said.

Nice said she also likes to promote local people and instructor Leslie Myers is very enthusiastic and dedicated.

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Yoga classes help give 'brains a break'

I could not imagine the words "yoga" and "military" used in the same sentence when I first began studying yoga 17 years ago at the Omega Institute. The world of yoga, with its grounding in nonviolence, and that of the military, with is call to violent action if necessary, seemed to me to be polar opposites.

Slowly, yoga is being accepted as an effective complementary therapy for mental health issues including PTSD. Many returning service members experiencing symptoms of combat stress such as nightmares, chronic physical pain, hyper-vigilance, sleeplessness, difficulty in controlling anger, and problems in personal relationships say they feel somehow disconnected from themselves, from their loved ones and from life as a whole. You see that look on the faces of veterans when they first hear about yoga class as part of a treatment program for PTSD, the one that says, "you've got to be kidding." But often another veteran will jump in: "I know what you're thinking, and I felt the same way. It took me a while to even give it a chance, but you know, it really helps me."

Are there enough yoga teachers and therapists to complement the work of other health professionals addressing the growing health crisis those now face who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even Vietnam? That crisis is here, now:

Up to 37 percent of the more than 2 million service members who have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan are struggling with serious mental health problems including PTSD, major depression, and traumatic brain injury.

Active duty suicides reached epidemic levels in 2010 with one active duty service member committing suicide every 36 hours. Our veterans are killing themselves at twice the rate of other Americans.

There are approximately 214,000 women serving in the military today, with more entering military service every year. In addition to the combat experiences that their male counterparts have to cope with, female veterans suffer from significantly higher rates of Military Sexual Trauma and have suicide rates that are up to three times higher than the rates of civilian women. In addition, the impact of these problems has a cascading effect on each of the 8-10 family members directly related to each service member and veteran.

Despite barriers to care (e.g., the perceived and/or actual availability of health care services, particularly the availability of women-specific services), soldiers are seeking mental health help more than 100,000 times a month. The number of active duty troops discharged from the army for mental health problems increased by 64 percent between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, there were 17,538 hospitalizations for mental health problems and 11,156 for injuries and battle wounds. Mental health problems now account for one in nine medical discharges.

Yoga is being offered in some VA medical centers to help address unmet mental health needs. In fact, a recent study found that nearly 30 percent of Specialized PTSD Treatment Programs offer yoga as a treatment option. But is this enough? Are we moving fast enough? Veterans and active duty military personnel who practice yoga regularly report reduced anxiety and depression, improved sleep and concentration, a greater ability to focus on the positive, support in addiction recovery, pain relief, and increased ability to deal with the mental and emotional strain of combat.

Ways to Help

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Rob Schware: Veterans, Trauma and Yoga: Are We Moving Quickly Enough?

SPOKANE, Wash. -

Tomi Wheeler may be the unsung hero of the deputy shootings on Tuesday, being the first one to arrive on scene to help wounded Spokane County Sheriff deputies Matt Spink and Mike Northway.

"The whole time I was like I can't let him die, I can't let him die," Wheeler said.

Gunshots, blood and sirens didn't stop Wheeler on June 19.

"I just hopped out of my car and did it. He's lying on the ground bleeding, there is no other option," she said.

It began as a "plain" day, as Wheeler calls it. She had cleaned and organized her home and then in the afternoon it was time to head to the YMCA in North Spokane where Wheeler teaches aerobics.

"I always cut through the cute little neighborhoods in that area, it's just kind of a thing I do," she said.

Wheeler always takes a different way to work. She never knows where she'll end up but she never thought it would be here. At first, Wheeler heard gunshots and then saw an SUV come racing through, she ducked and then dove right in.

"If I died doing something like that, I know my family would be proud of me," Wheeler said.

Wheeler found deputy Northway lying on the ground. Matt Spink was still standing and calling for back-up. Wheeler isn't a deputy, but for a few minutes she was their back-up.

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Aerobics instructor turned lifesaver in deputy shooting

West Essex residents have been busy at college over the last four years and have the degrees to show for it.

Following is a list of those who have earned their degrees

Thomas Rogers of Essex Fells graduated from the University of New Hampshire during the Commencement Ceremony held Saturday, May 19, 2012, on the Durham, N.H., campus.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, cum laude.

Students who received the honor cum laude graduated with a grade point average of 3.2-3.49.

Kaitlin Mylod of North Caldwell received her bachelor of arts degree in applied psychology from Bryant University, Smithfield, R.I., at its 149th Commencement on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Mylod was named to the deans list for the spring 2012 semester.

Joseph Giordano Jr. of Roseland graduated with a bachelor of arts in communication from DeSales University, Center Valley, Pa., on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

During the ceremony, DeSales President the Rev. Bernard OConnor conferred degrees upon 420 graduates, including undergraduate and graduate students. Arthur L. Scott, president of Northampton Community College, delivered the commencement address and was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., has conferred bachelors and masters degrees to students who completed their graduation requirements during this past spring semester. Degrees were awarded Sunday, May 20, 2012 for studies in liberal arts and professional programs in engineering, education, management and music.

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Colleges award degrees to West Essex residents

Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 3:04 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 at 3:04 p.m.

Practicing yoga even a few times a week could deliver benefits both physical and mental.

The improvements to your body are easily recognizable. The range of motion in your joints will increase along with your flexibility and balance, said Jana Whiddon, owner of Yoga Pointe in Lakeland. Some positions are known to ease symptoms of menopause or PMS.

Perhaps unexpected, women can see an increase in muscle from doing yoga.

"Yoga is a nice balance of things, strength being one of them," said Whiddon, who has taught the practice for 12 years.

Mentally, yoga can help ease pressure for women who balance different roles in daily life, Whiddon said. If you work a full day and then switch roles at home to be a mother, it creates tension in the mind.

Practicing different postures and breath awareness allows you to "increase your self-knowledge and connect more with your internal locus of control," Whiddon said.

Yoga cultivates a state of mindfulness, a way of paying attention to what every moment has to offer, Whiddon said.

"It's a way of living in the moment and experiencing the moment for everything it has to offer, instead of being on autopilot," Whiddon said.

Yoga has a spiritual element, but doesn't preclude any certain religious belief. The American Yoga Association says the practice is commonly thought to be derived from Hinduism, but that's a misconception.

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Yoga Offers Many Benefits for Women

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21-06-2012 14:28 Win/Wins and Empathy! Success for entrepreneurs Julie Melillo Life Coaching. Request rates, speaking presentations or appearances by filling out the form on the web site above.

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I once had a preconceived impression of life coaching as a New Age concept, so I was quite surprised to discover that I knew a life coach. I have worked with Barbara Marchand on any number of projects that involved such decidedly down-to-earth organizations as the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Alameda Welfare Council.

I have always known Barbara as level-headed, practical and honest. When she asked me if I would be interested in trying some coaching, I had to re-evaluate my whole idea of it.

When I first started talking with Barbara about this, I had just learned that my mother-in-law had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The family was in the process of sorting out her living arrangements, medical care and financial situation, all the while grieving the future loss of a vibrant and brilliant woman. Because my mother-in-law had always been fiercely independent and (justifiably) proud, this turn of events completely sideswiped us.

I was unfamiliar with the process involved with consulting a life coach, I wasn't sure whether what I was going through was even an appropriate direction to pursue. My understanding of what I would address during the coaching process would be to try to organize my time and resources, or to try to get in the routine of regular exercise or eating right. How would those principles apply to processing the painful, frightening truth of what we were going through?

I have plenty of sympathetic ears and shoulders because we are by no stretch of the imagination the only people going through the ageing process with our parents. I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have a support network to help with the unfamiliar emotional terrain.

I am discovering, however, that there are actually very practical, organizational facets to this process. For example, I was trying to determine what government programs might be available to my mother-in-law.

I discovered on the Internet that there are any number of government programs, but the qualifications for each of these programs differ in infinitesimal ways. I found the language on these site deceptive and unwieldy.

Before long I felt as if I would never make progress on this relatively small project I had been assigned, much like being the poor sap that catches the ball in the middle of the game, with no idea of what the rules are or what team I'm on.

Like any team coach, Barbara is not on the playing field. She is able to watch the "game" from a distance, and see the directions available to me. With a gentle nudge, she points out what she can see, and then the obstacles fade away. It might be a simple suggestion to call an organization to ask for help, or it might be a way to sort out the information that I have to be able to make heads or tails of it.

One of the most important tools that Barbara has given me is to write things down. I should I say she has reminded me that I already have this tool. This might involve a writing note about a conversation with a medical professional, or jotting down a question that has come up that I need to find the right person to ask. It might mean simply writing down the way I feel at any given time about the process.

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Facing Life Challenges with Life Coaching

Fit Business Insider has just launched a metabolic training certification to help fitness professionals develop their personal training skills. The certification was developed with leading metabolic training expert B.J. Gaddour.

Elizabethtown, KY (PRWEB) June 19, 2012

Fitness business consulting firm Fit Business Insider has just launched a new metabolic training certification. The certification was developed with the help of personal trainer B.J. Gaddour, the fitness industrys leading expert in the field of metabolic training.

Perhaps most widely known to the public as Mens Health magazines go to resource for metabolic training information and training programs, Gaddour has been a wildly successful trainer and fitness guru in recent years.

While Gaddour is now one of the leading experts in the field of fat loss, he notes that his journey to the top of the fitness industry started at square one.

I got interested in fitness because I battled obesity when I was younger, Gaddour explains. Because of that struggle, I have taught myself everything I possibly could about burning fat. I have come to the conclusion that these metabolic workouts do the trick when it comes to fat loss.

While Gaddour has long seen the value of training for fat loss, not all personal training businesses emphasize these results. You would be surprised how many trainers just give rote workouts without any real strategizing for burning fat," notes Fit Business Insider co-owner and CEO Pat Rigsby.

What we are doing, with the aid of B.J. Gaddours expertise, is teaching trainers how to separate themselves from the pack by offering the one thing clients seek more than anything else: fat loss, says Rigsby.

Gaddour concurs, adding that it is very important to distinguish yourself as a personal trainer. In my opinion, the best way to carve out a niche for yourself in the fitness industry is to produce great results but do so in a new, fun way people cant get elsewhere.

B.J. Gaddour notes that one of the most significant measures a fitness business owner can take is to seek out the kinds of resources that can help them grow as trainers. It is my sincere hope that this metabolic certification will help people achieve personal training success.

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Fit Business Insider, a Fitness Business Consulting Service, Launches Metabolic Training Certification

State workers will have to pay more for their retirement benefits and work more years before claiming them, according to changes to the states retirement plan that the General Assembly approved Thursday.

Working longer means state workers would withdraw less money from the states $25 billion retirement fund a taxpayer-supported fund that accountants estimate will run out of money sometime over the next 30 years if no changes are made. Having state workers pay more an extra $567 a year from the average public employees paycheck means taxpayers will pay less.

The changes plug the retirement systems projected $15 billion shortfall by making it nearly impossible for state workers to get a retirement check and a paycheck at the same time a practice critics refer to as double dipping.

This is a retirement system. And retirement system means that you retire. Its not an annuity that all of a sudden I get to a point where I can collect it, said state Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, one of the authors of the bill. We want these people to retire. ... Its not a second income.

Lawmakers killed the controversial TERI program, which allows state workers to retire and return to work for up to five years while they earn both a salary and a retirement check.

Lawmakers also made it much harder for public-sector employers to hire retired workers back to their old jobs. Under the new law, retired employees who return to work would have to forfeit their retirement checks once they earn $10,000 in salary in one year.

And if those public-sector employees state and local government workers plus teachers want to buy so-called service time to retire early, the price is about to go up significantly.

The S.C. State Employees Association supported the bill but said the TERI and return-to-work programs are not the bogeyman that lawmakers made them out to be.

TERI is an incentive to get quality employees to come and work for the state, said Carlton Washington, the associations executive director.

TERI will be phased out over five years. The return-to-work changes and the service time requirements, which allow workers to buy credit for additional years of service, will not go into effect until Jan. 2, 2013. That gives current state workers who are close to retirement six months to make up their mind.

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Retirement system changes OK’d