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Our Center For Healthy Living Has Classes And Events Centered Around The Arts And The Life Of The Mind

Community And Campus Residents: Check It Out!

Do you enjoy art, movies, spirituality and using your mind? Do you enjoy getting together with like-minded people ? If you said yes to either one of those questions check out our classes. We have offerings ranging from poetry to how to increase your brain health to exploring how to apply ancient Zen principles to find balance in a graceful aging journey.

Register online through Syracuse OASIS or in person. For more information call Deborah Ellis at (315) 446-9111, ext. 256, or email info@sjfs.org.

Enroll now!

Views on Aging: Through the Movie Lens: Sundays 3-5:30 pm: 1/19, 2/16, 3/22, 4/26

Like movies? Interested in aging and how society looks at it?
Join in at Menorah Park's Center for Healthy Living to view and discuss a few films that offer some thoughts, a bit of wisdom, and even some gentle critiques on the usual portrayals of aging. Enjoy a facilitated discussion with Syracuse Jewish Family Service Director Judith Huober, an area expert on aging and movie buff.
Tuition: $45/4 sessions

Zen and the Art of Graceful Aging: Wednesdays, 2/26-4/1, from 1:30pm - 3:00pm

The gift of long life provides us with a personal, unique journey filled with change, opportunity and challenge. What most of us wish for is that we make the journey gracefully. While we have little control over what the aging experience will bring us, we have a great deal of control over what we think and how we choose to respond to each change.

Scientists have begun to recognize the healing and health promoting properties of mindfulness. This class with Peg Miller, LMSW, SJFS's Education Coordinator, will introduce a variety of Zen concepts useful in supporting a graceful aging experience. These concepts, while spiritual in nature, have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with health and happiness. Using humor, storytelling and simple exercises, this class provides a new take on ancient wisdom as a way to prepare your heart and mind for the journey ahead.

Tuition: $79/6 sessions

At Fayettteville Library

A Taste of Mind Aerobics:Tuesday 1/28,3:30pm- 4:30pm

Interested in our 12-week Mind Aerobics™ program but unsure what this is about? Come to this free introductory session and have a taste of this award-winning, evidence-based program and the science behind it. The New England Cognitive Center designed Mind Aerobics™ to provide a comprehensive mental workout across six cognitive domains and maximize mental functioning. At this session, you will learn more about these domains, how Mind Aerobics™ taps into them, and what research shows the impact to be. You will also participate in a live demonstration of some of the cognitive exercises that are part of this fun and innovative program. This session is appropriate for individuals with no cognitive impairment or mild cognitive decline.

Class will be held in the Treinen Social Center at Menorah Park.

Tuition: Free

Mind AerobicsTM: Mind Sharpener Tuesdays & Thursdays2/25-5/14, 3:30 pm - 5 pm

When most people think about aerobics, they think of vigorous exercise such as swimming or walking, designed to strengthen the heart and lungs. We all know that it's important to keep your body active, but what about your mind? Mind AerobicsTM is a 3-month program (24 1-hr. sessions offered twice/week) designed to keep your brain actively challenged. Developed by the New England Cognitive Center, this evidence-based, award-winning program provides a comprehensive workout across six cognitive domains to maximize mental functioning. Mind Sharpener is appropriate for individuals with no cognitive impairment or very mild cognitive decline. All potential participants must participate in a 15-minute, in-person screening to determine whether this is the right program for you; contact Ellen Somers at by 2/18 to arrange.

$260/24-session series

Mind Aerobics: Screening and Enrolling Now

Try Mind Aerobics, our fun, evidence-based, award winning suite of programs designed to provide older adults with comprehensive mental workouts that can help maintain or improve cognitive functioning or slow cognitive decline. These programs are developed to systematically stimulate six major cognitive areas of the brain, instead of focusing on only one or two cognitive skill areas like other programs.

Contact Ellen Somers, SJFS Assistant Director, to learn about enrolling. Mind Aerobics classes are organized by cognitive level and participants are grouped into classes based on their cognitive function. Each level has 24 1-hour sessions over 12 weeks taught by trained Mind Aerobics instructors.

New! M-Power U Now Enrolling for Parkinson's Community

Enrolling now: M-Power UA Learning Community for Early Memory Loss: A Parkinson's Community, on Tuesdays from 9:30am to 1:30pm at Menorah Park. Launching in January 2020. Contact SJFS Assistant Director Ellen Somers at x. 225 to make an appointment for screening and information!

Planning to Flourish: Lunchtime Conversations about Aging Well

Lunch & Learn with a SJFS Solutions Care Manager

March 3, 2019 , 11:30 am-1:00pm 

Bernat Special Events Rm , Le Moyne College—Noreen Reale Falcone Library

Open to All!