Blog | Open City Healing Arts

People in caring professions such as teaching, social work and medicine face the challenge of learning to give without emptying ourselves, making do with limited resources, multitasking, and representing systems and institutions that may seem to care very little about those we are committed to caring for. All this can add a lot of stress to our jobs and our lives. Left untended, stress leads to fatigue, irritability and burnout.

We are not often taught how to care and maintain balance for ourselves. In this workshop participants will learn simple mindfulness practices, and participate in facilitated conversation about sources of stress, and about mindfulness as a means of stress management and self care.

Goals of class:

> Engaging in conversation about sources of stress at work, participants will explore a range of stress responses, both physical and emotional. We will discuss cultural and professional messages about stress, pain and suffering. burnout as a risk in the caring professions.

>Participants will learn simple sitting meditation, will learn about applications of mindfulness in daily life and and work. Participants will also learn qi gong, a form of moving meditation.

>Participants will learn techniques to bring mindfulness to daily life, to work and to stressful situations at work. Although these techniques can be taught to our students and patients, the focus of this class is on caring for the self while caring for others.

About the teacher:

Laura Hawley, Lic Ac, MSW is an acupuncturist and social worker. Her acupuncture practice includes a focus on the treatment of anxiety, depression and stress related disorders. A graduate of the practicum in Teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at the Jefferson Myrna-Brind Center of Integrative Medicine, she incorporates meditation instruction into her treatment of patients
. Her teaching includes Beginners Mindfulness at her practice, Open City Healing Arts, and seminars on Ethics and Communication for the Association of Professional Acupuncturists. She is also a volunteer teacher at Mighty Writers, where she leads a monthly book club for teenage girls.

Moxa Workshop at Open City Healing Arts November 14th, 10 am to 11 am

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Laura Hawley, Lic Ac, LCSW - No Comments

Moxibustion is a warming therapy that is wonderfully effective in a wide variety of health situations. Best known in the turning of breech babies, moxa is used for relief of arthritic pain, fatigue, numbness and difficulty sleeping. We invite you to learn more about this great adjunct to acupuncture. $10 includes a moxa stick for use at home.

Please register to save your spot!

Acupuncture Wellness Hour for new patients – June 23 at 5pm

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Laura Hawley, Lic Ac, LCSW - No Comments

Supporting Yoga with Acupuncture – Heather Shultz

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Laura Hawley, Lic Ac, LCSW - No Comments

As a long time yoga practitioner I know the joys and challenges of regular practice. I love how yoga keeps me strong and flexible enabling my active lifestyle. The practice also creates space in my day for quiet reflection and gratitude. I feel my best with regular practice. I am also well acquainted with the things that challenge my practice. Every yoga practitioner will have aches, pains and injuries at some point. Some pain is unavoidable and the result of the change practice brings to our bodies. This doesn’t mean we need to suffer. As an acupuncturist I rely on occasional acupuncture treatments to keep things running smoothly. When my knee or wrist starts to feel sore or tight I might modify my practice and get some acupuncture to cut down on the inflammation and help with healing.