Discovering Mindfulness. Real Stress Reduction Strategies Do Exist!
Discovering Mindfulness. Real Stress Reduction Strategies Do Exist!
Judy S. Itzkowitz, Ph.D., LLC, Educational Consultant
Do you have stress in your life? Stress can negatively affect all aspects of our lives. Come and learn practical strategies that can be put into effect right away. Dr. Itzkowitz understands the realities of living with an individual with disabilities.
Mindfulness means mindful awareness, by paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindful awareness can reduce stress and stress-related disorders. Learn how to be mindful (which is not that easy!) and actually find balance and peace of mind. Mindfulness works on anxiety, depression, pain, sleep disorders, and other health issues. Parents who have children with disabilities can NOT make the stress go away, but they can learn to handle it more successfully. Parents who have children with disabilities can learn to take care of themselves in the midst of caring for everyone else.
Some people think that mindfulness is one of the newest fads. It really isn’t though. Mindfulness has been around for a very long time. Learn the science behind mindfulness. Learn how you can bring mindfulness into your life so that you can meet daily stressors with a greater sense of balance and peace. Come bring your curiosity and join Dr. Judy for a morning of learning and exploration.
Held at the Waveny House in Waveny Park, New Canaan, CT, Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 10am to noon. Coffee and bagels served. Sponsored by SPED*NET New Canaan.
RSVP to Anne Treimanis at attorneytreimanis@gmail.com. SPED*NET Special Education Network of New Canaan, Ltd. (SPED*NET New Canaan”) is organized exclusively to educate the public on special education and disability-related issues. Directions to the Waveny House: http://newcanaan.info/content/9492/9224/675/1531.aspx
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About the Speaker:
Dr. Judy Itzkowitz has been an educational consultant for students with disabilities for 28 years. Her mission is to bring mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive psychology practices to children and youth with differing abilities, their families, and the individuals who support them so that people move in the direction of their dreams, experience more happiness and joy in their lives, and have better means to meet life’s challenges. She believes that it is vital that we focus on people’s strengths, capacities, and inherent goodness to promote well-being. She was one of the first consultants in the state of Connecticut to develop her own private practice specializing in inclusive education. She has consulted in over one hundred school districts throughout New England.
Dr. Judy (as people call her) has a life-long love and passion for study and learning. Dr. Judy has expanded her consultation practice by offering programs about mindfulness, compassion, neuroplasticity, and positive psychology. She has a daily meditation practice and brings mindfulness and compassion into all of her life’s activities. She has completed extensive professional activities on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction through the Center for Mindfulness in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has been studying how to bring mindfulness to children and into schools through Mindful Schools, Compassion and Wisdom Training, and Sitting Still Like a Frog. She has completed the first year of a three year professional program, SomaticExperiencing®, a program directed to relieve and resolve the symptoms associated with trauma and stress, developed by Dr. Peter Levine. She has also been studying social emotional learning and character development through the Academy of Social Emotional Learning in Schools, the College of Saint Elizabeth and Rutgers. She brings everything that she is learning into her own life and her professional activities.
Dr. Judy lives in South Windsor, CT, with her 93 year old mother and her two “boys,” Jesse and Jamie, the Bichons. You can learn more about her on her website, www.judyitzkowitz.com