A four-week progression through the Method of Joseph Pilates’ mind-body well-being system for the mat. In each session the core components and exercises are taught and practiced, adding on each week through compounding movements or adding props. The final class will prepare the group for any Advanced Beginner/Pre-Intermediate Pilates class.

Pilates’ Method is the comprehensive discipline of stabilizing and stretching the “powerhouse” muscles, while learning all movement and physical health originates in and from the core. Joseph Pilates designed his own physical therapy equipment after mastering and connecting the focus and forms of tai chi, yoga, gymnastics and boxing.

Using the connection between mental control and muscular discipline, the health of the entire structure is embraced through corrective motions and grace-based flowing movement. Discover how great it feels to move freely from head-to-toe while exposing yourself to untapped power of alignment-breathing-control of this therapeutic study!

Kendra Lockhart grew up intensively studying contemporary Ballet on North Shore. Training under some of the finest coaches and teachers, she was exposed to Pilates as part of the preparation to be a professional dancer. When an injury ended her training, it was the same exercise system that appeared in her physical rehabilitation. Years later when working as a personal trainer and nutritional coach, she dropped in on an “official” Pilates class at the gym. Immediately shifting the specialization of her field, she became a Pilates physical rehabilitative therapist and exercise program designer.
Kendra has had the fortune of working under one of the nation’s experts on Pilates rehabilitation. Her mentor, also a former dancer with Alvin Ailey, supervised her practical hours after lecturing and demonstrating at award-winning wellness resorts such as Miraval, Golden Door, and Canyon Ranch.

Summer pesto is all sunny pesto and creamy pine nuts.  In winter, sturdy parsley and rich walnuts stand in.  It’s decidedly different and equally delicious.

• 1 cup raw walnuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• course salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (loosely packed) parsley leaves and tender stems
• 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup of olive oil

Toast walnuts on a baking sheet at 350-degree oven until fragrant and crisp, about 6 minutes.  Halve garlic the long way and pull out any green shoots.  Buzz in food processor with 3/4 tsp salt and the pepper.  Add parsley, cheese and lemon juice.  Pulse a few times.  Then drizzle oil swirling into a think sauce.  Tumble in toasted walnuts.  Pulse a few for times leaving pesto chunky.

Cook brown rice pasta and toss with winter pesto.

Cost: $35 at the door, or $25 when prepaid by March 14
Call 847-486-8000 or email info@beoptimal.com to register today!

Living into your Aliveness . . . with grace, energy and meaning with Sarah Karnes

Is that inner voice nudging you to acknowledge, express, and act on your passion?  Have you had enough of the “same old, same old” ways and habits that make you feel less than fully Alive.

Join us for a valuable evening that will help you…

• Clarify and Empower what does strengthen and enliven you.
• Release stressors that drain your energy,  and squelch your inherent capacity for Love and Aliveness.
• Receive simple practices to calm, balance and energize your body, mind and spirit
• Define how you will more frequently Remember Joy , it’s a win-win!

Reclaim & Redirect the rich repository of Life Force inside of you, you deserve it and the world needs it!  Release patterns that squelch your inherent capacity for Love, Joy and  Aliveness.

About Sarah: Sarah Karnes is a facilitator for Conscious and Compassionate Leadership.  As a life coach, she empowers individuals and groups to move forward in meaningful dreams and goals in a way that incorporates love, joy and aliveness in the efforting.  As a facilitator with The Way of the Heart, she brings practices and awareness that help disarm limiting beliefs and attitudes. Addressing change from the inside out is key in truly shifting our experience of challenging situations. She appreciates partnering with her clients in the transformation of the “raw” ingredients of life into Spiritual Nourishment.

Join Darrell Jones for an evening of discovering what Spiritual Counseling is and how it can support your life. Darrell’s work is similar to working with many types of therapists except that Darrell applies spiritual principle and practice to the session. Spiritual Counseling begins with the idea that the client is already perfect and the work of the spiritual counselor is to assist the client in revealing that perfection. Activating Love, Forgiveness & Self Acceptance through the practices of Meditation, Prayer & Study is sure to awaken a deep wisdom within your life that will expand your relationships, work, creativity and possibility in your life.

Darrell Jones is a licensed spiritual counselor who provides loving, nurturing and transformative one on one counseling. Licensed in 2008 by the Bodhi Spiritual Center and the Centers for Spiritual Living, Darrell brings over 8 years of study and practice to his work. Darrell offers his services not only to the individual but also to groups and organizations through workshops, classes and speaking engagements. Darrell sees clients at the Bodhi Spiritual Center in Chicago, IL and Be Optimal Holistic Health Center north of the city in Glenview, IL, additionally; Darrell is also available for phone sessions.

Free and open to the public!

Music, Food, Prizes & More! Meet our practitioners and experience their work! We are so grateful for all of the people who have come through the doors here at Be Optimal, from our regular patients and clients of the clinic to our students and guests that come to classes and workshops in the Expression Studio. We are grateful for your business and your desire to grow and become your best you at Be Optimal. Come let us celebrate you with an and afternoon and evening of connection, sharing & fun!  If you have never been to Be Optimal this is a great opportunity to learn about the center and all that it has to offer.

Call 847-486-8000 to RSVP or email info@beoptimal.com

Join Dr. Cari Jacobson & Darrell Jones as they facilitate a powerful evening of Visioning and Vision Boarding.

The evening will start with a delicious healthy potluck. Bring your favorite nourishing dish to share with the group (plates, napkins & cutlery will be provided, please bring your own serving utensil for your dish). After the meal we will clear away the food and begin the visioning. Visioning is a specific type of meditation, where the intent is to sit in the stillness asking our higher Self, that part of us that only knows creativity, possibility and expansion, “What is the highest vision for my life in 2012?”.  Through asking this questions and others and sitting with the intent of “listening” for answers within, as opposed to brainstorming ideas we could “make” happen right now, we avail ourselves to possibilities in our lives previously not thought of, or new ways or modes of being in life that fosters the fulfillment of our heart’s desires. After the Visioning is complete we will move into the Vision Boarding process (made very popular by the book and movie ‘The Secret’, Oprah Winfrey other other teachers of the Law of Attraction). By moving directly from Visioning to Vision Boarding we can literally begin to manifest through words and images that which was revealed during our meditation. New Year’s resolutions are good, however, Visioning is great. Instead of “resolving” to do or not to do something this year, join Be Optimal and engage in the heart centered practice of Visioning, asking your entire being what it desires to be in the New Year!

$30 at the door, or prepay for $25 by January 28th

RSVP to info@beoptimal.com or 847-486-8000
This workshop includes taking your personal Enneagram Type Profile assessment.

Move into 2012 powerfully aligned to your purpose and connected to your essence.  Learning your Enneagram type will help you deepen self awareness, understand your true essence, and it will assist you in the sometimes difficult process of owning your power…AND…Help you to develop compassion for others as you begin to understand their unique lens.  Transform the relationships of your life with this tool.  The one common denominator of all or your life is you!  Whether it is work, romance, family or friendship, self awareness aides in the expansion of a greater life.  The Enneagram is a tool to deepen awareness of self and thus transform all of the relationships of our life!

Taught by Rosemary Hurwitz.  Rosemary has a communications degree from Marquette University and Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University of Chicago.  She has over twenty years experience in Career Consulting and with her husband, leads Retreats for engaged couples, called Discovery Weekend, patterned after Marriage Encounter. She has spent ten years studying the Enneagram and received her teaching certification in 2001.

$20 @ the door or prepay for $15 by January 24, call 847-486-8000 or email info@beoptimal.com

Join us for an evening of empowerment. We will discuss the practical aspects of assessing your financial situation, setting financial goals and creating a budget. We will also discuss the importance of your spiritual relationship with money. Is money a tangible thing or more like energy? Are your core values consistent with your relationship with money regardless of the amount you have? What are your thoughts or concerns about abundance and scarcity of money?

The presentation by Alan Gussis,CPA and Darrell Jones, Licensed Spiritual Counselor blends the practical and spiritual aspects of the money in your world. This is guaranteed to be an evening of empowerment, not just of your money, but the entire spectrum of your life!  Discover how financial empowerment and health contributes to your overall state of well being.

Meditation is a practice that takes place all over the world, by people of all ages.  A simple daily practice of 5 minutes can greatly increase the peace and relaxation in body and mind.  Come spend an evening exploring meditation through discussion and practice.  Experience different types of meditation and have the opportunity to ask questions about them.  We will also explore the questions:

• What is meditation?
• Why can’t I quiet my mind?
• What is the right way to meditate?
• How long should I meditate?
• Should I meditate with my eyes open or closed?
• Bring your own questions let’s explore together!

Facilitated by Darrell Jones, a licensed spiritual counselor who provides loving, nurturing and transformative one on one counseling.  Licensed in 2008 by the Bodhi Spiritual Center and the Centers for Spiritual Living, Darrell brings over 8 years of study and practice to his work.  Darrell offers his services not only to the individual but also to groups and organizations through workshops, classes and speaking engagements.  Darrell sees clients at the Bodhi Spiritual Center in Chicago, IL and Be Optimal Holistic Health Center north of the city in Glenview, IL, additionally; Darrell is also available for phone sessions.

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