Resolutions: Mini Workshops to Jumpstart Your New Year

Need a boost to your New Year? Ready to make 2015 your best year ever? Join us for our annual “Resolutions,” a day devoted to starting the year right. We’ll feature local experts presenting mini-workshops on topics ranging from clearing the clutter, to navigating difficult conversations, to making fitness goals. Come to one workshop or several, and bring your questions, ideas, and a snack too. No tickets or registration needed. Participants will receive 10% off recommended Resolutions-related books, that day only.

11:00 a.m.: Simplifying for the New Year with Carolyn Koehnline: Simplicity isn’t just about confronting clutter and having less. It’s also about enjoying what you have and making room for new possibilities. Carolyn Koehnline, mental health counselor, journal therapist and clutter specialist will guide you gently and playfully into the territory of simplifying your life while living in a world filled with complications and distractions.

Noon: Difficult Conversations with Janet Ott: Are you putting off a conversation with someone important to you, and that person is living rent-free in your head? Are there tough conversations you tend to avoid? Start the New Year by learning tools to enhance all your relationships. We will discuss WHEN to speak up, how to create safety in a conversation, and how to “confront” effectively. Janet Ott is an executive coach, facilitator and mediator. She is in the business of “provocative conversation.”

1:00 p.m.: Planning Ahead with the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement (WAHA): WAHA is a nonprofit organization based in Bellingham, Washington whose mission is to connect people to health care and facilitate transformation of the current system into one that improves health, reduces cost and improves the experience of care. Join a couple of facilitators as they discuss their resources and services.

2:00 p.m.: Altering the Future with Food with Sonja Max: Cancer, chronic disease and global warming hang in the balance of your fork – or spoon – several times a day. Often blamed on genes, crooked corporations, fast food, or just plain someone else, you may not realize the power you have to steer the future of your health – and that of our planet – with what you eat. Far beyond free range eggs and grass fed beef, there are more ways to substantially reduce your risk of disease (even prevent the common cold!) and lighten your carbon footprint in the process.

3:00 p.m.: Top Ten Tips for Running or Walking Success with Steve Roguski: Find out what it takes to start and maintain a running or walking routine. Steve is the owner of Fairhaven Runners & Walkers and has been running for 40 years. Steve believes that there is an athlete in all of us and finds great satisfaction in helping people of all abilities find success in feeling fit.