By Mary Wade Burnside
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT —
Where can women try physical activities such as Zumba, Pilates, yoga and kayaking, hear a keynote speaker talk about resilience and then spend the afternoon in workshops with topics such as being caregivers, financial health, how to talk to a pharmacist and physical therapy?
The Women on Wellness retreat, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Heston Farm in Fairmont, allows women to come to talk about all these issues and more.
“The day is meant to help women make changes to lead healthier lifestyles,” said Janine Breyel, who does outreach coordination for the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at West Virginia University, one of 20 such centers in the United States.
This is the sixth retreat held at the Heston Farm, although the National Center has held mini-retreats at other locations around the state.
The day begins with a nutritious breakfast, Breyel said, and then women can try five of about 15 movement activities, which include yoga, Pilates, Zumba, kayaking, canoeing and even a special type of hula hooping called Hoopla that features a special type of hoop made for women.
“It’s meant to give women the opportunity to see what’s out there in the community that they can take advantage of and offer them different ways to become more active and get more activity in their lives,” Breyel said.
After the activity sessions, the women will have the opportunity to eat lunch and listen to a keynote speaker, Elizabeth Coffey, the director of the family assistant program with the West Virginia National Guard, who will be talking about resilience.
Coffey’s appearances is part of a theme for this year’s Women on Wellness retreat in which female veterans or active-duty members of the military or their spouses have been invited to participate in the day for free.
“We understand that 15 percent of the military is made up of women,” Breyel said. “They primarily come from rural areas. We know there is a big population out there to benefit from this. We want to do a special outreach.”
After lunch, the afternoon is filled with health education, which Breyel calls “an open buffet of ideas.”
Women can choose four sessions in which to participate, including how to talk to a pharmacist, guided imagery meditation, aging gracefully, financial check-up, women-owned small businesses, women caregivers and physical therapy for women’s issues.
“We want women to have fun in an inspiring, motivating day,” Breyel said. “We want them to leave with the tools to continue to implement those changes they want to make in their lives.”
Hilda R. Heady, senior vice president of Atlas Research, a service disabled veteran-owned small business, has been helping to coordinate the military aspect of the day, which also will include a cross-generational panel of women veterans from the area.
“In that panel, they will be talking about a variety of issues, including their adjustment back into their community and their families,” Heady said.
The panel will include a Navy yeoman from World War II as well as two women who served as nurses during the Vietnam War, Heady said.
“We just want women veterans and active duty women to know that the rest of the women in the community care and are concerned about their well-being,” Heady said.
Health problems that women serving in the military face include muscular/skeletal problems from exposure to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as traumatic brain injuries. Also, one in three women in the military, according to national data, have been exposed to military sexual trauma, Heady said.
Those issues are on top of the same ones that non-military women will experience.
“There is a smorgasbord of different activities that is done primarily to expose women who may not know what yoga is like to try to see how they feel about it and see if they want to incorporate it into their life plan, or find another activity,” Heady said.
An original member of the advisory board for the National Center on Excellence in Women’s Health, both she and Breyel note that of all the other National Centers in the country, the one at WVU serves a more rural population and they take that mandate seriously.
“We’re the only one that is serving a primarily rural population,” Breyel said. “You’ll find other National Centers of Excellence at Brown, Harvard, UCLA. So we’re in good company, but we are unique.”
As a former member of the advisory board, Heady has participated in previous retreats and really enjoys them.
“I really love the spirit that they have about them and the enthusiasm in terms of feeling comfortable to learn new things,” she said. “There isn’t any judgment. It’s not like an hour-long aerobics class. Some people are very fit and there are others who are not. We even have women who are disabled who attend and found it a wonderful experience.”
From her standpoint, Heady laughed, “One thing I discovered is that Pilates are not for me. I have some serious balance issues. But the golf was wonderful and the Zumba, so it’s possible to pick and choose and customize what’s going to work best for you.”
Nonetheless, Vikki Ludwig, a Pilates instructor who teaches in Bridgeport and Clarksburg, enjoys giving the participants the opportunity to try out the exercise that emphasizes stretching and strengthening the body’s core.
Ludwig tells participants about Joseph Pilates, who developed the form of exercise, and shows them moves they can do anytime of day in a variety of places, such as sitting in their car or in a chair.
“According to Joseph Pilates, you have to do Pilates 10 times to understand it, 20 times to notice a difference and 30 times to get a new body,” Ludwig said. “But after the first time, you definitely sit taller, your tummy is held in and you breathe better. When you work out on a treadmill, you’re using your big muscle groups, and Pilates is more about being a work-in rather than a work-out. You start from your core and work out to the bigger muscles. You have to retrain yourself to work the smaller muscles.”
Ludwig has taught at previous retreats and enjoys the events on a variety of levels.
“I just find it amazing — the outreach,” she said. “They hit all aspects of health for women, in helping them make decisions. It’s helping from mammography to dental health and movement. It’s an awesome, encompassing event. There’s no judgment. I really appreciate it. It’s a really neat, great thing for the state.”
The Women on Wellness retreat takes place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Heston Farm. The cost is $50, but Breyel said no one is turned away because of inability to pay and that those who can are encouraged to give scholarships so others may attend. For more information, call 304-293-2895 or check out www.wowicandoit.com or www.wvhealthywomen.org.
E-mail Mary Wade Burnside at mwburnside@timeswv.com.
