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Registration opens for holistic health institute

June 6, 2005

KALAMAZOO--The beauty of northern Michigan will combine with new and innovative approaches to health care when the Western Michigan University Holistic Health Care Program holds its seventh annual summer institute, attracting students and health care professionals from across the country to Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula.

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 24-30 and July 31-Aug. 6--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 two 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 canoe trip as part of therapeutic homework," says Samantha Rowland, a WMU graduate student who attended the institute last year. "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 will take place July 24-30 and will offer courses in spirituality and therapy and an introduction to holistic health care. The second session, July 31-Aug. 6, will offer courses in holistic methods and healing through visual art. 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.

Space is limited. For a brochure and application, contact Mary Swartz, director of WMU's campus in Traverse City, at Western Michigan University, NMC University Center, 2200 Dendrinos Drive, Suite 200-B, Traverse City, MI 49684; phone: (231) 995-1788; fax: (231) 995-1789; or e-mail: <mary.swartz@wmich.edu>. Those interested in the institute also may visit the Web site <www.wmich.edu/holistichealth>.

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

WMU News
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