Your Total Brain Health: The History, The Importance, The Action Plan

Understand what it means to live a brain-healthy lifestyle and how and why this booming topic has become so important to individuals of all ages. Walk away with practical strategies for keeping yourself and your family members healthy and resilient to diseases of the mind.

Dr. Cynthia Green, President, Memory Arts, LLC. October 28th 7pm - 8:30pm; Hilton Garden Inn - Free

Often viewed as a mystery, and out of our control, cultivating and managing the resource of your attention is a key component for personal and professional success and happiness. Learn how attention works and the benefits to your quality of life.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Wed, December 9th; 6pm - 8pm; $35 (We'll help you get started! Bring a friend and you each pay only $30.00) ; 2.0 CEU's available*

Read and discuss a wide variety of books, many available at your local library. Meet new people!

9/2/09 - Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

10/7/09 - The Lucky One, by Nicolas Sparks

11/4/ 09 - A Magnificent Mind At Any Age by Daniel G. Amen, M.D

No December meeting

First Wednesday of every month, 11:30am to 1:30pm. Free.

Wisdom Circles are a place of heartfelt speaking and listening. A place to explore perspectives on the human condition, life experiences, and our world. Each month a different Wisdom Principle of the 108 Principles gathered by Two Worlds Wisdom School will be featured. Join the conversation and see where it leads.

Third Friday of each month - November 20, and December 18; 9:30am to 11am; FREE - however, please call to reserve a seat.

Meditation is accessible to everyone and has been found to improve focus, sleep, and peace of mind. Try different types and learn how to develop your own practice.

Instructor: Don Gentner, LCSW. Oct 6th, Oct 22nd, Nov 3rd, Nov 17th. First class is 2 hours, the rest 1.5 hours; Andre House at Holy Cross Village; 6:30pm; $85.00

Your mind is one of the most important tools that you possess, but do you know how to effectively use it to implement new ways of thinking and to create a healthier lifestyle. Learn how the brain works and stores information and why the mind supports the repetition of negative behavior and limiting thought patterns. Learn how to create new habits and change your life. Join us to view a fascinating movie and participate in some follow-up conversation about how to evolve your brain.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Monday, November 2nd; 6pm - 8:30pm; $35; 2.5 CEU's available*

What can be learned by studying how a great mind works and how can you apply that insight to your own life? Learn how these two great minds cultivated and maximized the potential of their mind.

Albert Einstein - Thursday, January 7, 2010 1:00pm to 3:00 pm; $35.00; Charles Darwin - Thursday, January 21, 2010 1:00pm to 3:00pm; $35.00

The impact of spirituality on cognitive and overall health is a new theme in the brain health research. This nondenominational conversation presents a definition of spirituality and its role, and will offer thought provoking questions for how spirituality may apply and be cultivated in your life.

Instructor: Dr. Barbara Wilson. Nov 4th, 2009; 2:00pm - 3:00pm; $15.00

Finding peace and closure can be a balm to soothe the unresolved hurts or disappointments that we have experienced, or may even have caused. Forgiveness creates more space in your brain, and allows for new thought patterns. Learn the steps toward forgiveness and the powerful role it plays in our lives.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Monday, November 9th, 2009; 1:00pm - 3:00pm; $35 (Why wait! Register before 11/5/09 and receive $5 off registration); 2 CEU's available*

The Funtimer's get together weekly to play Euchre. Knowing the game of Euchre is required.

Friday's, 1:00pm to 3:30pm. Free.

Bring your friends, bring your kids. Join us for this fun evening of playing various games that require you use your brain.

October 7th and November 4th; 6:00pm - 8:00 pm; $5/each or $20.00 per family

Unlike any other program held at BrainWorks to date, the Great Books Build Great Minds course, based on the model developed by St. John's College, invites you to experience and explore the rich imagination of the greatest thinkers of Western Civilization. Dr. Matthew Costello, Professor of Psychology at IUSB, will host conversations, contemplations, and a dynamic place in which the participants can deeply engage with the assigned text and their fellow students. 75 pages of reading in preparation for each weekly conversation is required. The selected author for this class is Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Instructor: Dr. Matthew Costello from IUSB; Thursdays, January 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, and 25, March 4 & 11; 6:30pm to 8pm; $70

Held at Health and Lifestyle Center, 111 W. Jefferson, South Bend. Lessons available by appointment only.

Tuesdays, 2 - 3pm; Free

As humans we are routinely bombarded with information. Identifying what we wish to remember, and applying the right strategy to store the information and retrieve it is key. This class will present an array of memory techniques to boost your remembering skills.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW; Wednesday, January 27, 2010; 1:00pm to 3:00 pm; $35

A 24-session cognitive training program by CogniFit, an award winner for research based cognitive games. Designed to improve your attention, memory, speed of processing, and language. Programs will self-adjust to your changing skill. Learn more about MindFit.

Set your own schedule, Mon - Friday; 12noon - 4pm in November or December; $90.00

Intelligence is not fixed at birth. It can be awakened and strengthened throughout life.

According to Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University there are at least 8 kinds of intelligences that form the full range of human potential in both adults and children. When we learn to switch from one to another, our thinking takes on fresh perspectives, and we have the opportunity to gain new insights and approach problem solving in innovative ways.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Monday, September 28th; 6pm - 8:30 pm; $45.00; 2.5 CEU's available*

• Name on the tip of your tongue?
• Misplaced your keys again?
• Forgot what you wanted from the other room?

Learn how information is stored and retrieved, the relationship between sleep and stress on forgetfulness, and strategies you can put to use immediately to improve the formation and retrieval of memories. If you want to remember it, we'll show you how.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Mondays, September 14th, 16th, 21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th; 1pm - 3pm; $139; 10.5 CEU's available*

Memory is a skill that is trainable, and impacted by several factors including stress. Too much can shut down important circuits necessary for clear thinking and crisp memory. Finding the right balance and management tools to balance stress enhances your overall energy and your memory skills. In this program you will learn over 25 stress management and memory enhancing techniques and have the opportunity to try some out while in the class.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Wednesdays, September 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th 6pm to 8:30pm; $139; 11.5 CEU's available*

When out of proportion, stress causes whole body problems and memory difficulties. Over 75% of physicians visits are due to stress. Learn what is happening in your body when you are stressed and how it compromised your thinking and memory. Walk away with a technique for how you can stop it in its tracks - today.

Two- 2-hour sessions; September 21 and Sept. 28th; 4-6pm; $135

Tai Chi is an ideal exercise for lifelong well-being. The movement patterns and a simplified form of the traditional Yang Style Tai Chi is offered.

Research shows that Tai Chi reduces falls, reduces chronic pain, improves sleep, improves alertness, and enhances physical alignment, balance, relaxation, and mental focus.

Instructor: Mary Hagen, PT. Every Tuesday, 11am to 12noon; Every Thursday, 5:30pm- 6:30pm; $8 per class or purchase a punch card for 6 classes for $35

As we get older, how our memory works becomes more important to us. Many hold questions and concerns but hesitate to ask. Join us for this program providing overview information on the complex process of memory. Learn what it is and how it works as a foundation to improving it.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW; Wednesday, December 2, 2009; 1:00pm to 3:00 pm; $35

Yoga offers a meditative flow through a wide range of basic postures that emphasize muscular movements linked with breath. Research indicates yoga offers many results including improved concentration, reduced stress, increased flexibility, and reduced blood pressure. Fluid Power Vinyasa, Gentle Vinyasa, or Yin Yoga.

Instructor: Machelle Lee. Every Tuesday: Session I Active Yoga - 5:30pm to 6:30pm; Session II Gentle Yoga - 7:15pm to 8:15pm; Bring a mat; $12 to drop in or purchase a punch card for $60 for 6 classes

An aging brain has amazing abilities and strengths. This program digs a deeper in how mind and memory works as we age. Improve your understanding of what areas show some decline and what normal decline looks like, what typically stays the same, and what actually gets better!

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW; Wednesday, January 13, 2010; 12:30pm to 2:30 pm; $35

The brain is an incredibly complex organ, and new information continues to be released on how the brain works as experts study it from many different disciplines and on many different levels. As the information is distilled and simplified, many myths spring up. This lunch and learn will present the latest research on brain health, and will provide an overview of the science while debunking some of the falsehoods.

Instructor: Rosemary Cox, LCSW. Wednesday, December 9th; 11:45am - 1:00pm; Free; 1.0 CEU provided*