New Trillium Woods Series Nurtures Spiritual Wellness

The 8 Dimensions of Wellness Program at Trillium Woods fosters whole-person health because to be truly well, humans need a sense of purpose, positive relationships, intellectual stimulation, and spiritual fulfillment in addition to physical health.

Through our exciting, fun, and fulfilling activities, amenities, and services, we carefully foster and bolster Emotional Wellness, Environmental Wellness, Vocational Wellness, Intellectual Wellness, Physical Wellness, Spiritual Wellness, and Social Wellness, while our Health Services promote physical health.

To nurture Spiritual Wellness, we offer weekly transportation to religious services and host a very active Bible Study Group — but we also understand that the spirit can be nourished in other ways, beyond or in addition to an adherence to a particular faith or denomination. Examples include meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude.

“Trillium Woods welcomes residents from all faiths and philosophies,” explains the senior lifeplan community’s Executive Director, Joe Amend-Marshall. “We’re proud to now offer the Well-Being Series featuring bi-monthly workshops from the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing to promote and enhance spiritual wellness for all our residents.”

During the first workshop, “Purpose, Meaning, and Spirituality,” speaker Mariann Johnson explored purpose and meaning as a source of one’s spirituality. She defined spirituality as being connected to something larger than oneself, often involving a journey for meaning in one’s life. Framing spirituality as a broad concept with room for many perspectives and as a universal human experience that touches us all, she introduced attendees to the purpose and aging work of Minnesota author and researcher Richard Leider.

Johnson, a well-being and mindfulness instructor at the Earl E. Bakken Center, has studied and practiced mindfulness meditation for over 25 years and is a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor through Brown University’s Mindfulness Center.

Upcoming workshops in the series include “Holidays Challenges: Navigating Transitions, Grief, and Loss,” “The Well-Being Benefits of Awe,” and “Cultivating Gratitude: A Powerful Well-Being Ally.”

Of course, spiritual wellness is just one of our 8 Dimensions of Wellness. “Our dedicated Community Life Services team creates a schedule every month full of parties, classes, workshops, lectures, games, events, club meetings, and trips — each of which promotes at least one aspect of wellness,” says Amend-Marshall. “A wide variety of social opportunities, fitness initiatives, and ways to engage with the community and the greater world are imperative for senior wellness, especially in a geographical region that experiences long winters, which can lead to social isolation.”

Trillium Woods also offers regular club meetings, arts and crafts classes, card and table games, music groups, movie nights, language classes, book clubs, and writers’ groups.

To learn more about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness at Trillium Woods, Plymouth’s only Lifeplan senior living community, visit https://trilliumwoodslcs.net/8Dimensions, where you can also check out all the exciting events we have planned in our monthly newsletter.