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Registration open for holistic health institute

June 7, 2006

KALAMAZOO--A unique learning opportunity set in scenic northern Michigan will attract students and health care professionals from around the country to the Leelanau Peninsula next month when Western Michigan University's Holistic Health Program presents its eighth annual summer institute.

Group discussions and other activities will blend with yoga classes on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Students enrolling in the institute may take courses for personal enrichment or for application toward WMU's popular 18-credit-hour graduate certificate program in holistic health care. Classes are offered in a non-traditional, collaborative setting.

Two classes are offered in each of two sessions--July 23-29 and July 30-Aug. 5--and allow students to experience as well as learn about holistic health. In addition to the variety of complementary and interdisciplinary approaches offered in each class, students will have an opportunity to participate in group discussions and self-care practices. Each person will be taught by experienced members of WMU's holistic health care faculty, including one of the authors of the popular book on holistic health, "Seeds of Awakening."

"There is nothing like starting your day at a sunrise yoga class on Lake Michigan, spending your day in classes integrated into the campus and community and ending your day with a hike as part of therapeutic homework," says Samantha Rowland, a WMU graduate student who attended

the institute. "It is a phenomenal environment to learn and grow in. The instructors take advantage of every opportunity to enhance their courses with the community, nature and the invaluable experience of Leelanau."

On average, the institute draws about 35 to 40 students per week. Students live on campus during the week, commute from nearby cities like Traverse City or Glen Arbor or stay in a nearby campground. Located at the Leelanau School, a private 50-acre boarding school in scenic Glen Arbor, the campus is in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on the coast of Lake Michigan, 25 miles west of Traverse City, 260 miles northwest of Detroit and 340 miles northeast of Chicago.

The first session, July 23-29, will offer courses in expressive arts and an introduction to holistic health care. The second session, July 30-Aug. 5, will offer courses in holistic approaches to stress and health and humor. Students may take one course per session.

The Leelanau Holistic Summer Institute is open to both undergraduate and graduate students and is appropriate for health care professionals, teachers, social workers, nurses, therapists, physicians, ministers, occupational therapists, artists and counselors. Those interested in incorporating holistic approaches into their personal, family and work lives and students enrolled in health care-related degree programs also may find it valuable.

Registration is open until June 28, but space is limited. For a brochure and application, contact Kim Stevens by at WMU's regional campus in Traverse City, at Western Michigan University, NMC University Center, 2200 Dendrinos Dr., Ste. 200-B, Traverse City MI 49684. Stevens can also be reached by phone at (231) 995-1846; by fax at (231) 995-1789; or by e-mail at TC-Campus@wmich.edu. Brochures also may be downloaded from the Web at www.wmich.edu/hhs/holistichealth.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
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Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
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