Newsletter of the Vital Aging Network--
celebrating more than 20 years of service and education!
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This group of Wellness 50+ participants was preparing for an evening walk in Stillwater recently to view the holiday lights. | |
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In this edition
- Can't do it without you!
- About Aging with Gusto
- Attend our live Aging with Gusto workshop in January
- Wellness 50+ news and events
- Resources from other agencies
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News from Aging with Gusto | |
About our Aging with Gusto program | |
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Jan Cunningham is Aging with Gusto's program coordinator. Contact her at jancunninghamAWG@gmail.com for information about scheduling Aging with Gusto and Confronting Aging workshops for your groups.
Aging with Gusto workshops: are designed as a three-part, interactive series of sessions, with each session lasting about 90 minutes. Sessions may be held in person or via an online platform such as Zoom. They are led by trained facilitators.
The sessions include:
- What contributes to your Aging with Gusto?
- How can you recognize and respond to ageism?
- How can you use your values and goals to live a life with gusto?
Confronting Aging workshops: are one-session events, again led by trained facilitators, that guide you and your group through activities that explore the roots and effects of ageism and create opportunities for you to discover ways to combat it.
Both workshops are available in person or virtually via Zoom.
Sessions for the coming months are being scheduled now. Contact Jan for details!
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Join our next Aging with Gusto workshop in January
Aging with Gutso in person is back!
Join us on Wednesdays January 11, 18, and 25, 2023, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the TriDistrict 197 Thompson Park Activity Center for a three-part, highly interactive series striving to encourage a more positive view of aging, increase awareness of ageism and its impact, explore how to maintain well-being and manage challenges as we age, and develop ideas for how to Age with Gusto. (Research shows people with more positive views live an average of 7.5 years longer than those with less positive views.)
The cost per participant is $24 for three sessions.
Register here
The Thompson Park Activity Center is located at 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul.
This series is made possible through the cooperation of the Vital Aging Network, Sholom, and TriDistrict 197 Community Education.
Questions? Contact Program Coordinator Jan Cunningham at jancunninghamAWG@gmail.com.
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VAN's Aging with Gusto team participates an a second Combating Aging workshop
The Vital Aging Network and the Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging completed the second online session of their Combating Ageism workshop on October 25. About 100 individuals attended this highly interactive session focused on:
- The fundamentals of ageism, including the stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination directed towards older people based on age and its impact on attitudes about aging.
- Recognizing how ageism in all its forms – institutional, interpersonal, and self- directed – is affecting your life, work environment, and the systems you can influence.
- Taking home practical strategies to identify and constructively address ageism easily. Some of the comments received about the workshop include the following:
Here's what two participants said:
"Made me take a step back and think about what I say and what my family/co-workers say about age."
"Filled with lots of 'real life' experiences, not just textbook examples."
You can look for more opportunities to attend Combating Ageism in 2023.
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What is Wellness 50+ all about?
Cottage Grove - Forest Lake - Oakdale - Stillwater - Woodbury
Phillips Neighborhood
Wellness 50+ has active teams in Washington County (Cottage Grove, Forest Lake, Oakdale, Stillwater and Woodbury). It also has a team in the Minneapolis Phillips neighborhood. Its purpose is to promote health and wellness in those communities. Wellness 50+ teams plan and facilitate activities that include walking groups, healthy cooking classes, book clubs, recipe sharing and more.
Click here to learn more about Wellness 50+ goals and strategies.
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Wellness 50+ community-wide events | |
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Wellness 50+ hosts a series of community-wide events in addition to events organized and led by our four community groups (Oakdale, Cottage Grove, Stillwater, and Phillips neighborhood).
All of our community-wide events are listed regularly in this newsletter AND are posted on the Wellness 50+ website calendar. Use this link (https://vital-aging-network.org/wellness-50) to see the calendar and to add upcoming events to your personal calendar.
Registration for community-wide events is via our Meetup group "Wellness 50+ Twin Cities". Join the group (Wellness 50+ Twin Cities Meetup Group). You will receive email notifications when an event is ready for registration.
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Upcoming community-wide events
--1st Tuesday, January 3,-- Yoga at the Oakdale Discovery Center, 12 noon
Tatjana Zemcuznikov, Holistic Health Educator, will lead us in a one-hour yoga class indoors at the Oakdale Discovery Center. She teaches an integrated blend of Yoga and ChiGong moves and meditation. Come, relax, and rejuvenate yourself to begin a new year! Register through Meetup (Jan 3 Yoga at the Oakdale Discovery Center).
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Community-wide activities we've enjoyed recently | |
--1st Tuesday Stillwater Holiday Lights Dec 6
We had a wonderful full-moon evening walk enjoying the seasonal lights and displays of downtown Stillwater. Wellness 50+ wishes everyone Happy Holidays and a healthy New Year. We hope to see you at one of our events in 2023.
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Oakdale Wellness 50+ events | |
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The Oakdale Wellness Movie Club will discuss the movie Little Miss Sunshine on Wednesday, December 28, beginning at 1 pm at the Oakdale Library.*
The Oakdale Wellness team is sponsoring a Red Cross blood drive on Friday, December 30, from
9 am-3 pm at the Oakdale Discovery Center**. Sign up to give blood at redcrossblood.org.
The Wellness Book Club will discuss The End of Your Life Book Club on January 24, at 6:30 pm at the Oakdale Library.*
Wednesday Walks continue through the winter at 10 am. Meet at the Oakdale Discovery Center** to walk the paths of the beautiful Oakdale Nature Preserve.
Journaling to Boost Your Memory Saturday, January 14, from 1 - 3 pm Oakdale Discovery Center**. Learn about journaling as an activity to aid memory and enhance creativity. Register by calling 651-747-3860 or online at www.oakdalefun.com.
*The Oakdale Library is located at 1010 Heron Avenue North, Oakdale, MN
**The Oakdale Discovery Center is located at 4444 Hadley Avenue North, Oakdale, MN
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Resources from other agencies
Ramsey County-St. Paul Public Heath provides information about a variety of services and opportunities to benefit older adults. If you would like regular information, add your name to the e-mail list by contacting Julia Wolfe at julia.wolfe@ramseycounty.us .
Click here to see the monthly Healthy Aging Digest newsletter The newsletter will download as an icon on the bottom of your screen. (Thanks to Ramsey County Public Health.)
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From the website Next Avenue: Recently the website Next Avenue published an article by Elizabeth Roper Marcus called Proudly Proclaiming My Age. She asks the question: We all want to live long lives, so why should those who have reached older age be demeaned? Read the article here. (Thanks to Sally Brown for sharing with us this piece that explores the topic of ageism.)
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Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you.
— Anne Lamott (from the website Inspiringquotes.com)
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