Sessions and presenters

Friday, April 30 

Keynote session 1
The healing journey: Finding the gift in the connection between the mind, body & spirit

Dr. Joan Borysenko is a distinguished pioneer in integrative medicine and a world-renowned expert in the mind-body connection. Her work has been foundational in an international health-care revolution that recognizes the role of meaning and the spiritual dimensions of life as an integral part of health and healing. Dr. Borysenko has authored numerous publications including the 1987 New York Times best-seller Minding the Body, Mending the Mind which sold over 400,000 copies and was revised and republished in 2007 by Perseus Books as 20th anniversary edition.

After graduating magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College, Dr. Borysenko earned her doctorate in Medical Sciences from the Harvard Medical School, where she completed post-doctoral training in cancer cell biology. Her first faculty position was at Tufts University College of Medicine in Boston. After the death of her father from cancer, she became interested in the person with the illness rather than in the disease itself and returned to Harvard Medical School to complete a second postdoctoral fellowship, this time in the new field of behavioral medicine, followed by a third postdoctoral fellowship in psychoneuroimmunology. Dr. Borysenko also founded a mind-body program for cancer survivors.

Joan’s ability to blend science and real life experiences with her personal anecdotes and wisdom will leave you inspired with some practical tools to assist you not only on your cancer journey but in all areas of life.

Workshops, Saturday, May 1

The harmony of health

Inspirational… powerful… moving! Investigate how the power of music can transform the way you experience your daily life including practical and useful ways in which music can reduce stress and pain, and how using music intentionally can improve the brain’s ability to focus attention and improve memory. You will leave this session mentally and musically stimulated, in a good mood, able to better communicate with people, inspired & feeling hopeful about work & life.

Jennifer Buchanan specializes in the benefits of music in health and education. A professional music therapist, singer and educator, Jennifer is known for her warm, compassionate use and knowledge of music that builds people up. Jennifer has witnessed the power of music first hand developing hundreds of music therapy programs in Alberta through her well established company JB Music Therapy Inc. and as Past President of the Canadian Association of Music Therapy.

Jennifer’s music centered workshop is specifically designed to educate the audience on using music to: promote relaxation at work or at home, attain better focus and improve productivity, assist in finding new inspiration by igniting your creative thinking, unlock important memories, and develop meaningful relationships through positive social music experiences.

"Ultimate foods for ultimate health..and don't forget the chocolate!"

Liz Pearson is a Registered Dietitian, Award-Winning Professional Speaker and Bestselling Author. She has a passion for peanut butter sandwiches and an undying love for chocolate.

Liz’s approach to healthy eating is sane and sensible. She communicates timely, relevant nutrition research, while emphasizing the need for fun food (like chocolate!) in moderation. Liz runs The Pearson Institute of Nutrition. The mission of the Institute is to translate the oftenconfusing and ever-changing science of healthy eating into practical, commonsense advice that people can follow in their busy lives.

When Liz speaks, people don’t just listen, they change. Liz’s infectious enthusiasm, coupled with her unbridled passion and in-depth expertise, motivates people to make dramatic changes in the way they eat and live. Liz regularly receives calls and letters from past audience members saying what a difference her seminar made in their life.

Discover how food impacts how you feel, your energy level, and your ability to think and learn. Learn which foods slash your risk of heart disease, cancer diabetes and more. Understand the science behind losing and maintaining a healthy body weight.

 
Finding peace in the chaos of cancer

Cancer can turn life inside out, bringing unwanted change and loss, creating feelings of intense anxiety and fear. While cancer may be difficult to control, what we can control is our response to the chaos it creates. Find out why response-ability is crucial, the significance of managing the mind, as well as effective tools and techniques to redirect unhelpful thoughts and reduce the grip of fear.

Laurie Bonello, session facilitator describes her diagnosis of and experience with breast cancer like being pushed into a void a dark, frightening, and unfamiliar place. The need to make sense of the incomprehensible and find a way out of that void kept her moving forward. Following treatment and recovery, noticing feelings of increased contentment and health, Laurie knew she was making real progress when others commented on her change in outlook and confidence. Now seeing her cancer experience in a more positive light, she feels it was the first step on a life-changing journey, initiating a quest to find peace in the chaos of life.

A certified human resources professional, certified hypnotherapist, member of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, advanced Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner, and Reiki Master, Laurie is committed to living simply, not simply living.

Author of the bestselling book Across the Void: Through Cancer and Into Life, a series of motivational hypnosis CDs, and the Achieving Balance home study workshops series, Laurie is dedicated to freeing herself and others from perceptions and beliefs that are limiting and cause suffering.

Yoga thrive

Carol Wallace started practicing yoga in 1994, when she became hooked after attending her very first class. Encouraged by fellow students, she started teaching in 2001 and attended the teacher training at Prairie Yoga Centre in Regina. Carol has trained with Judith Hanson-Lasatar, a restorative yoga therapist and is certified as a Relax and Renew Trainer. In January of 2009 she completed a three year teacher training at Yoga Central in Saskatoon and received her certification with Yoga Alliance, which is an internationally recognized certification.

Carol also completed in the spring of 2009, a teacher training at the University of Calgary that evolved from an 8 year study on the effects of Yoga on cancer survivors and is certified to teach the Yoga Thrive, Therapeutic Yoga for Cancer Survivors program. She was drawn to the program, as she has family, and close friends that have been affected by cancer. Carol feels it is an opportunity to share the gift of yoga with others to help ease the side effects of the treatments and assist her students in finding peace of mind and an overall better quality of life.

Carol continues to seek further opportunities of continuing her education in yoga therapy. She lives in Moose Jaw, works full time and teaches the Yoga Thrive program as well as gentle, multi-level and intermediate classes to beginners, continuing students and seniors.

Carol feels very happy and blessed to be able to share with her students the inner peace, self acceptance, balance and ease of movement that arises from the focus on the union of body awareness and breath. 

 
Have I told you lately that I love you? A workshop for couples.

Join Dan & Carol Ohler for an informative, engaging and fun workshop that will give you the tools, techniques, strategies and practice to boost your relationship with your life partner to a higher, more intimate, and more loving level. You’ll gain what you need, and you’ll gain tools that you can easily share with others in a highly beneficial way. You’ll lose too-big time. You’ll lose stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, and blame. If you really want to hang on to those stressful emotions and you think you will just sit and listen, this isn’t the workshop for you.

The big D (diagnosis), doctor’s appointments, travel, finances, physical & emotional pain, time alone and time away from each other they can all add emotional stress to your life partnership, can’t they?

How can you make sense of it all and still live a life filled with an abundance of love, joy, happiness and peace? At first thought it may seem tough and virtually impossible. However, there are some key common sense strategies that we can all consciously apply every day to any relationship regardless of our situation.

Dan & Carol Ohler are speakers, storytellers and human relationship experts who are passionately dedicated to communication, happiness and helping people live positive, conscious and loving lives. In their 26 years of marriage they have learned what it takes and they want to share it with you.

Keynote session 2, Sunday, May 2
If you have cancer, you'd better like lasagna! 

Susan Minns is a humorist and motivational speaker who shares the account of her diagnoses of both Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer as well as job loss and a family house fire and the ways in which she has chosen to meet these trials head on!

Born in Toronto and raised during the swingin’ 60’s Sue has never lost her love for the wild side, or her hatred of camping (she will tell you that she doesn’t really have MS, but just refuses to spend another vacation in a tent). Her hobbies/obsessions include her family, travel (big cities, not the wide open spaces), music (listening not performing, funk not opera), garishly painting old furniture and watching “Survivor.”

Sue worked in the childcare field for over 20 years until her Multiple Sclerosis forced her to look at a second career. The kids loved it when “Miss Sue” would tell them stories and now it’s your turn to sit back and hear some of them.

Susan states “You can’t always choose what happens to you but you can always choose what it does to you.” The London Free Press reported that Minns doesn’t trivialize tragedy. Rather, “she encourages her listeners to turn to humour to help cope with life’s catastrophes.”

Susan regularly gets audiences laughing at the calamities of her life lived in the disaster zone and then she will reprimand you for spending the last hour laughing at a crippled woman in a wheel chair.