Mindfulness is the New Weapon Against Obesity:

White Plains, NY, November 14, 2014 (Newswire.com) - (White Plains, NY)  Integrated Peace Arts, a non-profit organization, will be offering the Mindful Life Weight Loss Program beginning January 2 through March 6, 2015.  Mindful Life Weight Loss helps Westchester residents lose weight through the ancient practice of mindfulness. Responding to statistics that 85% of people who lose weight ultimately gain it back, the program uses a comprehensive, behavioral approach to target lasting weight loss.

Mindful Life Weight Loss helps participants to make small changes in habits across multiple areas of their lives. According to founder Kim Gold   "This isn't the next new diet. We help people to understand weight loss in the context of their whole lives, and see how each area of their lifestyle interacts with other areas. Mindfulness is the tool that helps people gain greater awareness and make effective changes. The medical establishment is beginning to recognize the importance of this approach." Stating that "the best diet is the one you don't notice," the program touts a slow and gradual approach to change. Gold and her co-founder Steve Kanney promise a highly personalized experience, and are known for their caring and warm approach.

The Mindful Life Weight Loss program is taught in a 10 class series that outlines the basics of the system. Participants also attend unlimited group sessions. Group sessions are the backbone of the program. According to Kanney, "The research shows that groups are crucial to weight loss success. Groups also allow for members to build community, brainstorm, and help others. Helping others is one of the best ways to help yourself."

Gold describes mindfulness as "awareness mixed with compassion" and points out that the compassionate aspect of the program helps people to be kinder to themselves, and to increase their self-care. According to Gold, "there is a lot of shame, blame, and judgment out there when it comes to obesity, and we can all use more compassion."

The program arose out of Gold and Kanney's work teaching the Japanese martial art of Aikido. They found that people would begin training in Aikido to lose weight, but then habits in other areas of their lives undermined those efforts. Kanney combined his decades of expertise in meditative disciplines with Gold's knowledge of systems-based behavioral change from her Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Mindful Life program was created. "We began the program to fill a need, and were inspired by how well people responded to it" said Gold, "We are very excited to be expanding our offering through Integrated Peace Arts to reach a greater cross-section people."

Classes are offered at 77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 1W, in White Plains on Fridays from 8:30 to 9:30 pm. The cost is $50 for 10 weeks with a sliding scale available based on income. Group sessions are included during this period. Additional details can be found at their website weightlosswestchesterny.com. Contact Steve Kanney either through the website or at 914-648-0492.

Integrated Peace Arts is a 501 (c) (3) corporation that promotes the nonsectarian principle of peace. Through various outreach programs, IPA helps Westchester County NY residents learn how to discover greater effectiveness, peace and happiness in their daily lives. Current IPA program offerings include: Mindful Life Weight Loss, Aikido Westchester NY program for children with special needs, financial education, coexistence with wildlife, and animal rescue.