Most of us would love to be a little more healthy—to eat a little better, to be a bit more active, to spend more time on the hobbies that nurture our sense of well-being, to devote more time to family activities, to find “balance”. Yet, many of us struggle to accomplish these goals… or, at least, to sustain them over time.

Meeting Waters YMCA can help. The regional Y is offering a free ten-week course called Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle. The program meets from 6:30-8:00pm on Thursday nights at Meeting Waters YMCA’s Bellows Falls’ facility on Atkinson Street. The first session will be held on October 15th.

Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle is a facilitated education and support group designed by Meeting Waters YMCA staff for “health seekers”—those children, adults and families that desire a healthier lifestyle but need guidance and support to achieve and sustain that goal. Support for health behavior changes will come not only from the Y staff but other participants, as well.

Unlike most health programs, Journey focuses on physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It does not offer prescriptive recommendations but, rather, helps each individual assess and plan for ways that they can sustain a healthier lifestyle. Topics to be explored include readiness for change, goal-setting, barriers to change, supports, prioritizing, celebrating success, and dealing with setbacks.

Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle will be facilitated by Susan Fortier, one of its co-creators, and Steve Fortier. Both are YMCA of the USA-certified Fitness Specialists. Susan holds a degree in Sports Medicine with a concentration in Physical Therapy while Steve’s undergraduate degree is in Fitness and Health Management. They have been co-directors of the Meeting Waters YMCA since October of 1998. They came to these roles after years of running their own community health consulting firm.

According to Susan, “Journey respects the resources, supports and barriers that each person has in their life as it relates to their health. Through the program, we help individuals increase their resources and supports while reducing the barriers that are keeping them from achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. People in the group—not just Steve and I—will be important resources in this process. And, we’ll bring in other local experts and resources as needed once individual and group goals have been established.”

Fortier offers one example from a previous Journey group. “A woman came to the program because she was feeling badly about her lack of activity and its effect on her physical and emotional well-being,” Fortier explained. “By focusing on our (the YMCA system’s) three dimensions of well-being—spirit, mind and body—this person quickly came to realize that her main ‘barrier’ was her lack of tapping into her artistic interests. Through the process, she reconnected with her arts mentor, who happens to walk on a routine basis, and soon the two of them were walking regularly and using that time together to talk about art. The Journey participant started painting more, started showing her art more, and, as we expected, her physical, mental and spiritual health started to improve, as a by-product. This is just one of many stories of how people have found their own barriers and supports for maintaining a healthy lifestyle by going on a Journey with us.”

Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle is part of Meeting Waters YMCA’s Activate Windham County community health promotion initiative which aims to reduce barriers and increase supports for “health seekers.” Activate Windham County efforts are leading to changes in lifestyle health at individual, family, organizational and community levels.

Meeting Waters YMCA is a charitable, social service organization founded in 1895. Its programs take place at its facility in Bellows Falls, camp property in Springfield, and satellite sites in Brattleboro, Chester, Dummerston, Alstead and other communities in Vermont and New Hampshire. More information and a registration form for Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle and other Meeting Waters YMCA services is available at their website at www.meetingwatersymca.org or by calling their office nearest you—Brattleboro: 246-1036; Bellows Falls: 463-4769; or Springfield: 885-8131.