Alums Gather Virtually for Calming, Mindful Wellness Weekend

Groton alumni destressed, decompressed, and even decluttered together during the school’s first Virtual Wellness Weekend in early May.

 

Ellie Bassick-Trovato '84 kicked off the weekend on Thursday, May 14 with a session titled “Forged by Fire: Developing Your Children's Resilience, Confidence, and Happiness.” By sharing a personal story about the death of a loved one, Ellie, a women’s empowerment coach, taught lessons about resilience during these difficult times and showed participants how to encourage open dialogue.

 

The Friday event featured Sarah Stuart '83, P'20, the CEO and a mindfulness instructor at Really Mindful Group. Sarah led a session called, “Leading from Home with Mindfulness: Strategies for Stress Resilience in an Online World.” She discussed mindfulness and the breadth of scientific research supporting its benefits, and also led the group through three mindfulness options that can be used at the home or office. 

"For me, the most interesting insight was to understand mindfulness as a reflective place of choice between stimulus and response,” said participant Margaret Rhinelander Rizzi '83. “Sarah is a very effective presenter with a background of high achievement in academics and varied high-stress corporate workplaces, which makes her passion for this subject relatable to people who work in many challenging fields.”  

 

Saturday brought yoga with Justin Ifill '02, who led a 75-minute, vinyasa-style “rhythm and flow” class, starting slowly and then really heating up. Justin has been teaching virtual yoga classes since New York City’s stay-at-home order began (including many free sessions) at ifillyoga.com.

The final session of the weekend, Sunday afternoon, featured Tinka Markham Piper '91, a “chaos counselor” and founder of Solve My Space. In her interactive session, “Finding Clarity at Home: Jumpstarting Projects to Declutter, Organize, and Redesign Your Home,” she offered tips for making space in the home more peaceful and gave feedback to participants who shared their spaces and goals for them.

After the weekend, participants said they appreciated the reminder to take time to focus on self-improvement and peacefulness even, or especially, during this pandemic. Groton sends thanks to all who participated and to Ellie, Sarah, Justin, and Tinka for sharing their work with the Groton community.

Groton’s Alumni Office is planning another “Virtual Weekend,” focusing on food and drink, June 12–14.—Allison MacBride