Atrius Health Classes and Support Groups

Atrius Health offers a wide variety of health and wellness classes as part of our focus on your total health needs. Each year, we offer more than 600 classes including support groups, chronic disease management, mind and body, prenatal and postpartum care and more. We’ve highlighted just a few of our class offerings below:

Loss of a Loved One – Bereavement Support Group

The loss of a loved one can be one of life’s most difficult experiences.  While grief is a natural and normal response to loss, there is no formula or “right way” to grieve.

Group discussions can be helpful to learn coping techniques, not only from the group facilitator, but from the other group participants.  Common questions that are addressed include:

• Are your feelings normal?
• How long will this last?
• How to cope with holidays, birthdays and anniversaries

Each session will give you the opportunity to share your feelings with others.

We welcome adults who are coping with the loss of a friend or family member due to death regardless of when the death occurred. This ongoing group meets at Dedham Medical Norwood every Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is free of charge. For questions, please contact Dave Quemere at dquemere@vnab.org or 781-455-6661 ext. 4079 or click here to register online.

Strong Women Stay Young – A National Fitness Program for Women

This exercise class, designed for women 40+ years of age, is based upon Dr. Miriam Nelson’s Strong Women book series. During this 8-week class, you’ll learn basic, safe exercises using weights. The class is run by trained professionals who will ensure you use proper form to avoid injury. The benefits of this program include:

• Build muscle mass, thereby assisting you in weight loss or maintenance
• Build bone mass, thereby preventing osteoporosis
• Improve balance, thereby decreasing the risk of falling
• Learn an exercise program that you can continue on your own at home after the completion of the course

These one hour sessions take place twice a week.

Classes will be held at our Harvard Vanguard Watertown practice beginning September 6th and our Harvard Vanguard Somerville practice beginning September 12th. Classes fill up fast! To register for either of these classes, please click here or call our health education department toll free at 877-439-5465.

Got Stress?! Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) class

Mindfulness has become popular for many, very good reasons. There is a growing body of research proving the benefits of mindfulness for both physical and mental health. Especially intriguing are the studies over the past few years (summarized in this wonderful video) using brain scans that show how practicing mindfulness physically alters the structure of the brain in a positive way.

Another factor is our increasing need to find a way to “unplug” from our 24/7, technology-driven world. There are so many ways in which technology continues to improve our lives, and at the very same time it is undeniable that it is negatively impacting our health.

When asked who benefits from taking an MBSR class, our course instructor, Ashley Norwood, replied, “Is the answer ‘everyone!’ too broad? Seriously though, I have never had someone take the course and tell me at the end that they didn’t benefit from the experience. I find that everyone walks away with an enhanced ability to take care of themselves both mentally and physically. They also leave with a set of tools to help them truly ‘show up’ and be present for the important moments of their life. It’s always fascinating to meet the participants in the first class and hear what brought them to the course – there’s such a wide variety of reasons: anxiety, depression, hypertension, sleep problems, chronic pain…just to name a few.“

Classes include guided instruction in mindful meditation practices, gentle stretching/mindful yoga, and plenty of group dialogue. Participants are also given a home assignment each week which is a big part of the effectiveness of the course.

The course was developed in 1979 by Jon Kabat-Zinn in Worcester at UMASS Medical School so there are over three decades of research supporting the results. We have adapted the original course curriculum to eight, 75-minute classes with a half-day retreat, and we limit class size to twelve participants. We’re offering the following two classes this fall:

• Kenmore – Monday nights from 6:30pm to 7:45pm beginning on September 26, 2016
• Post Office Square – Wednesdays during the lunch hour from 12:15pm to 1:30pm beginning on September 28, 2016

You can register by following this link or by calling the health education department toll free at 877-439-5465.

Prenatal Yoga

Expecting a baby? The gentle, careful practice of yoga is particularly well suited to pregnancy, helping you to feel good throughout your pregnancy. Taking prenatal yoga classes is one way to increase strength and flexibility, improve sleep, reduce stress, and your improve posture. It also helps pregnant women to develop proper breathing and relaxation techniques for easier and more comfortable labor.

Another great benefit is meeting other expecting mothers, giving you the chance to talk with others who are going through pregnancy. Sharing the pregnancy journey can help ease your anxiety about impending motherhood while at the same time ease any pain and calm your body.

Prenatal yoga classes are offered at the Harvard Vanguard Burlington, Harvard Vanguard Quincy and Harvard Vanguard Somerville locations. To register for any of these classes, please click here or call our health education department toll free at 877-439-5465.