We believe students require more than just academic instruction to grow into the best versions of themselves. Our online center provides a loving, peaceful and nurturing virtual environment with a team that strongly believes in our vision and mission.

Our Mindfulness Program: The Medicine Wheel & Me ™

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Our Mindfulness Education program, The Medicine Wheel & Me teaches children and adolescents to understand and accept both aspects of themselves. However, our focus is to provide them with the tools and experiences to help them feed the GOOD and help them understand that they always have the choice as to which wolf they are going to feed.

Primary Mission of the Medicine Wheel curriculum:

To develop inner resiliency to manage difficult lifetime situations with ease.
To maintain/develop a strong and positive self-image as the best form of protection from outside negative influencers.
To have/increase compassion for oneself and others to increase level of lifetime happiness.
To understand the universal laws of nature to provide a solid base to meaningfully interpret unfolding events in one’s life.
To understand the body’s capacity to heal itself to increase self-reliance, self-confidence and the ability to live in a healthy state of mind, body, soul, and spirit.

The Medicine Wheel is the ancient practice of viewing oneself as having four important aspects of self, i.e. the physical body, the mind, our emotions, and our spirit body. Our goal is to teach the students, at age appropriate levels, the following learning objectives.

THE BODY

To understand the body as a complete system operating in harmony with our electromagnetic /energy system of the universe.
To learn 5 examples of how the world outside of self is also inside of self.
To learn and adopt an expression of appreciation for the food we eat through a mindful eating practice.
To understand the connection between food choices and the health status of our mind and body through a mindful eating practice.
To understand the electromagnetic field and the body’s subtle energy system, including the 7 major chakras and major energy channels.
To learn and practice 10 body movements that promote a focused mind, energized physical body, decreased cortisol, and enhanced immune system.

THE MIND

To understand that our thoughts have an impact outside of oneself.
To understand that our thoughts impact our emotions.
To understand the connection between positive beliefs, health and well-being.
To learn and practice Psych-K to shift negative belief patterns to positive ones.
To learn about the Medicine Wheel, its history, purpose, and symbolism.
To construct a school-based Medicine Wheel, choosing the colors and symbols as a school.

OUR EMOTIONS

To learn and practice four breathing techniques to calm the mind and body.
To learn and practice Emotional Freedom Technique to reduce the emotional disruption and physical ailments resulting from negative thought and belief patterns.
To learn and practice Vocal Toning to bring the mind and body to calm, disengaging the fight, flight or freeze response.
To build a deeper understanding of oneself, i.e. unique gifts, talents, preferences, goals, aspirations, behavioral patterns, body image

OUR SPIRIT

To understand the belief in our higher self – that small voice inside our self that gives us guidance.
To understand and experience how all life forms are interconnected.
To understand the connection between spending time in nature and quality health and well-being.
To connect with the natural world to promote health and well-being.
To understand and increase the ability to intuit what is right or wrong through a strong connection with the body.
To view growth and change as an expected and natural process.

Meet Your Teacher

Your teacher is Dr. Paula Petry, the Chief Wellness Officer for the Lightwork Education & Wellness Center. Dr. Petry has developed this curriculum for you. She does this by blending her background in education, teaching, mindfulness, and the science of the mind.

Dr. Petry is the founder of the non-profit organization Parent to Parent of Miami, Inc. which she created to help other parents of children with a disability. At the medical school at the University of Miami, where she was faculty for 12 years, she developed the still existing ArtAbilities program to promote the artistic talents of students with disabilities. She also created, Understanding the Family Perspective, a curriculum to teach pediatric residents about children with special health care needs and their families.

More recently, Dr. Petry has written her life’s story in her book, A Mother’s Courage to Awaken where she describes her experiences with alternative approaches to healing, those you will learn about in your course, to help her heal from the loss of her daughter. She’s the creator of a virtual course for parents and others that also applies the holistic Medicine Wheel approach to wellness.

Dr. Petry is currently living in Cooperstown, NY where she is the co-owner of the Light of Heart Sanctuary.