Many of MIT Medical’s wellness instructors are available to offer virtual programs. A list of program areas and instructors is below. *Fees apply.
Note: Community Wellness at MIT Medical does not administer, promote, collect payment, or reserve rooms for any outside class, nor are we responsible for participant waivers or liability. Instructors will work with individuals, groups, and departments on costs and logistics for all outside classes.
Instructor Contact Information
Ashley Norwood
Alignment-based yoga
ashleynorwood@comcast.net
Ashley Norwood is a certified Wellness Coach, a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Practitioner, and Yoga teacher. Ashley leads MBSR courses, group health and wellness coaching workshops and yoga classes for Harvard University, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, MIT Medical, and Mount Auburn Hospital. By creating a supportive structure, accountability and giving expert advice she helps people bridge the gap between what they know they should be doing and doing it consistently.
Celeste Lemieux
Specializes in prenatal/post-pregnancy/gentle yoga
dancerceleste@gmail.com
Celeste teaches prenatal, gentle, and family & baby yoga classes at MIT Medical. She is a certified 500 hr Kripalu Yoga instructor who has been teaching since 1997. She has specialized in gentle, prenatal, postpartum yoga since the 2000s. Celeste is passionate about helping people of all ages and stages of life to feel more freedom in their bodies and have greater peace of mind!
Hadassah Segal
Gentle yoga & Pilates
hadassahsegal@hotmail.com
Hadassah helps people connect to their bodies through mindful movement and exercise. Her philosophy is that exercise should be pleasurable, not painful. As a teacher and trainer, she draws on her background in modern dance and somatic disciplines. Her sessions are designed for anyone who wants to get into shape, gain strength and flexibility, relieve stress, increase vitality, and/or rehabilitate themselves from aches and pains. She is also a certified Gyrotonic trainer with a private practice in Newton Center, MA.
Instructor Contact Information
Jim Roselando
Qigong
jroselando@me.com
Sifu Jim Roselando is the founder of the MIT Qigong Club & Harvard Qigong Club and one of a select handful of people in the USA who train directly with the Emei Linji Qigong lineage holder, Grandmaster Fu Wei Zhong. Sifu Jim Roselando is a devoted practitioner of Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation) and specializes in what is known as Yang Sheng (life nourishing) medical/healing methods. His articles have appeared inside such publications as; MIT's Traditional Medicine Society Journal, Inside Kung Fu, Martial Arts of China Journal, Martial Arts Illustrated, Wing Chun Today and is a columnist for Wing Chun Illustrated.
Instructor Contact Information
Wendy Mackey-Kydd
Childbirth, getting ready for baby classes, breastfeeding support, and new parent groups
wendymackeykydd@gmail.com
For over 15 years, Wendy has taught childbirth classes and parenting preparation at MIT Medical. She is an experienced childbirth educator, breastfeeding counselor, doula, and parenting group leader. Wendy's classes cover a full curriculum emphasizing freedom of choice in the birth and parenting experience. Her goal is to provide excellent, science-based information, to reduce fear and improve the experience for mothers, babies, and support people during their birth and early parenting adventure.
Wendy is a certified Health & Wellness Coach and holds a Masters degree in Health Education from Boston University. She trained as a Childbirth Educator and Breastfeeding Counselor at the Boston Association of Childbirth Educators (BACE) and Nursing Mother's Council (NMC). Wendy has two wonderful children who inspire her to become the best parenting, birth, and breastfeeding educator possible.
Workshops are facilitated by professionally trained and certified instructors.
*Customized workshops are available; please contact preferred instructor to discuss.
Free Your Mind: Learn Mindfulness Skills for Less Stress and More Joy in Work and Life led by Jennifer Earls
Ever feel like there's just not enough time? Like it's hard to focus with everything that needs to get done? And you're anxious or stressed? It doesn't need to be this way! Come explore different mindfulness skills, including deep breathing and the guided body scan, that you can use anywhere, anytime to calm and focus your mind in a rejuvenating way. Together we'll practice the mindfulness tools that will give you less stress, greater inner freedom, and more presence and joy in each moment at work and beyond!
The Mindful Way to Live Your Purpose at Work led by Jennifer Earls
Reconnect to who you are and WHY you do what you do. Use tools like mindfulness, reflective writing, and partner activities to experience yourself and your purpose in a fresh way. Explore your creative possibilities and leave feeling energized to live and work in a more meaningful way.
Mindfulness and the Power of Positive Emotions led by Ashley Norwood
"Mindfulness" and "positive emotions" are buzz words in our culture today with entire fields of scientific research to back up their many physical and psychological benefits. But reading and hearing about these practices is very different than experiencing them first hand. This workshop combines useful information and interactive exercises to teach participants how to integrate mindfulness and positive emotions into their everyday lives!
Tools for Managing Stress led by Ashley Norwood
With day-to-day stress and anxiety on the rise, both students and employees benefit from understanding the very human cycle of stress reactivity. In this workshop, participants learn a variety of techniques that help them better manage their stress and begin to break free from problematic and repetitive habits of mind.
Mindfulness for Weight Loss led by Ashley Norwood
Neuroscientists have discovered why dieting doesn’t usually work and can actually do more harm than good. There is growing consensus that mindful eating is the cornerstone to sustainable weight loss. In this workshop, participants learn a variety of mindful techniques that can help them change their relationship to food and create lasting physical and mental good health.
Yoga & Mindfulness for Stress Reduction led by Ashley Norwood
“Yogah cittavrtti nirodhah” means that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. In this workshop, Ashley uses a combination of yoga asana (basic beginner poses and gentle stretching) and mindfulness meditation - to give participants an experiential understanding of how yoga and mindfulness can profoundly relieve stress. By learning how to anchor your attention in your present moment experience, you build inner resiliency and change your experience of life’s day-to-day difficulties.
Change for Good: Creating the Healthy Life You Want (Group Health Coaching) led by Ashley Norwood
In this 6-week program, participants bring their own agenda and work on whatever goals they choose (e.g. better sleep, weight loss, becoming more active, increasing energy/focus, getting organized). The class provides opportunities for reflection and teaches how to how to break down goals into realistic, incremental weekly experiments. Ashley provides the tools, structure, and guidance and the group provides accountability and support. Each class incorporates evidence-based tools to support the process of change (mindfulness practices, journal writing exercises, goal setting and coaching psychology). Ashley teaches participants that they CAN take charge of their own wellbeing!
Series are facilitated by professionally trained and certified instructors.
Koru Mindfulness for students
Taught as a four week, 75 minute class by a trained and certified Koru teacher. Koru is an evidence-based curriculum specifically designed for teaching mindfulness, meditation, and stress management to college students and other young adults. No experience necessary.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) led by Ashley Norwood
This 8-week program teaches participants how to use their innate resources and abilities to respond more effectively to stress, pain, and illness. The program includes guided instruction in mindfulness meditation practices, gentle stretching and mindful yoga, group dialogue and daily home assignments. Research indicates that mindfulness practices can be highly effective in a wide variety of ways including lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms, greater energy and enthusiasm for life, and improved self-esteem. Participants learn how to decrease stress by applying mindfulness to everyday life!
