Our Programs

OMA Center for Mind, Body & Spirit’s Programs for 2024

Art in the Garden’s year-round programming supports youth and family in holding themselves and others in compassion and growing in connection to self, others, and the earth. To support this journey, Art in the Garden’s programs address the impacts of childhood adversity and trauma on health and learning. We use an intentionally trauma-informed, anti-racist, LGBTQA+ welcoming, culturally responsive, joy-centered and liberatory pedagogy.  Art in the Garden’s programming in the arts and ecology gives youth tools to reduce stress and empowers confidence, compassion, and civic engagement. Youth deepen self-awareness by identifying and honoring their emotions, thoughts, and values; youth strengthen relationship and teamwork skills through restorative approaches to conflict; and youth develop responsible decision-making skills through solutions-based projects. Workshops with community partners empower youth to see themselves as creators of positive change.

OMA Lecture Series is a monthly event which will be hosted at the Unity Church, East End of Pittsburgh. Each lecture highlights different holistic practitioners and experts from the Pittsburgh area and beyond, and invites them to share their knowledge and skills with attendees. Topics are varied, but all relate to mind-body-spirit wellness, and each provides an opportunity for attendees to begin or continue their journey with personal wellness. Lectures are currently priced nominally to the public and we offer scholarship assistance to anyone with financial constraints. Live events are also broadcast virtually through zoom and recorded for playback for all attendees.

Food for the Soul is an opportunity to share thoughts, ideas and needs on each other’s journey in the realm of Body, Mind, and Spirit in a comfortable environment of like-minded individuals. Food for the Soul events are casual, intimate gatherings led by an OMA facilitator. In these meetings, various topics of mind, body, spirit, and other interests are discussed over a light meal. Food for the Soul is offered less frequently than our monthly lectures, offering a more personal experience for individuals who may have questions about their own journeys, and who wish to seek a deeper understanding of more complex topics. Food for the Soul began in December 2017. We only ask for donations if one can contribute and if not, attendance is free.  Food for the Soul will resume at a date to be determined.

Trauma Informed Training/Education supports adults in developing mindfulness practices, strengthening conflict transformation skills, developing awareness of the effects of implicit bias, building skills that foster supportive relationships with youth, and supporting youth in developing resilience and social and emotional intelligence. Our professional and community workshops are a bridge designed to connect educators, community organizations, families and professionals across generations and the healthcare spectrum. Attendees gain an understanding of social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral health issues and learn necessary skills to support youth. Keynote speakers and workshops teach awareness and identification of trauma and ACE’s in children/youth along with concrete, actionable holistic skills adults can use to support youth in developing resilience and stronger brain architecture and the healthy overall development of our families and youth. In addition, we will provide education on polyvagal theory and its application, Breathwork, Tai Chi, Relaxation Exercises, Restorative Justice Circles, LGBQT issues and trauma experiences and Mindfulness.

Workshops in Mind, Body & Spirit from practitioners locally, nationally and internationally. OMA offers a variety of workshops, for example Spiritual Healing and Human Design (Katie Rubin, 5-week class); Cultivating Change from Within-Journey toward Anti-Racism (Anita Russell); Session for Balance and Peace (Irina Grundler); Writing to Heal (Robin Clarke, MFA, MA, LSW); and The Alphabet Circle Journey (Dr. Maxine Wright-Walters, a 2-week workshop given in 2022).

We offer workshops that take place in one occurrence or over a period of weeks.  Highlighting Holistic Practitioners locally, nationally and internationally has been possible over the last few years since this event has been broadcast virtually using Zoom. Now that we are live in person, we are also presenting seated events and streaming them simultaneously through zoom. We also had a women’s weekend Fall Retreat in 2022 and are planning a weekend co-ed retreat for May 2023 and again in Fall 2023.

You Are Not Alone:  Let’s all drop the pretense that we are either normal, or abnormal. We are all in the same support group: ordinary people who must deal with the struggles that come with being human. We all carry this heavy weight—a trauma, in today’s terminology. We all at the same time struggle to meet our basic human needs for connection, community, acceptance, and validation among ones who share our culture and language, or not, for authenticity–the capacity to feel what we feel and to be in touch with our bodies and to express what we feel when we need.

Fundamentally, that is the ultimate trauma, the disconnection from ourselves. These panel conversations are part of OMA’s Trauma program, designed for the sharing of stories around our diverse life experiences, and exploring the connections among us all.  Join us in this online series as we continue our journey home to ourselves and to one another for in the presence of compassion, healing is possible. Only with compassion can we bear our pain.

InflexionPoint Podcast: Cultivating Change from the Inside Out.  Join Host/Creator Anita Russell, and co-hosts Gail Hunter and Mavis Bauman in a brave space to ponder The Cairo Question, and engage in dialogue based on the premise that dismantling racism goes beyond laws and legislation or politics or economics. It’s an inside job where personal transformation and accountability impact social change in multiple dimensions: individual, interpersonal, systemic, and structural. It’s a place to get comfortable with deconstructing your inner thoughts, ideas, and beliefs for self-critical examination and begin being open to having conversations about racism, personal transformation and personal accountability. This podcast airs on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6:00-7:00 PM Eastern time. See InflexionPointpodcast.com: Cultivating Change from the Inside Out.

A Trauma Symposium for the Healing of All Generations is a conference planned for the near future. This symposium is a city-wide call to action to address trauma and abuse as a public health issue. We seek to address the collective arena of trauma and its effects throughout the generations to break cycles of silence and harm. We aim to address, prevent, and mitigate adverse experiences, trauma, and abuse and hold space for all people to be a part of a city-wide transformation to support the wellbeing and health of all. Through collaboration with local and national individuals and organizations, we hope to show the possibilities for healing that emerge when communities come together to provide all people with access to holistic, trauma-informed care. We believe that when we heal ourselves in the present, we heal the generations to come. See our upcoming You Are Not Alone Trauma Symposium.