Omega to Host Wendy Sanford, M.T.S., M.F.A. & Norma Meras Swenson, M.P.H.

Authors of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" to Lead Sexuality Workshop for Women

RHINEBECK, NY - The Women's Institute at Omega is proud to announce that Wendy Sanford and Norma Meras Swenson, authors, experts, and trailblazers in the women's health movement, will lead Our Bodies, Ourselves, a 5-day workshop, September 16-21, 2007 at Omega's Rhinebeck campus. In 1970, the Boston Women's Health Collective published the first edition of Sanford and Swenson's book, Our Bodies, Ourselves. A turning point in the women's health movement, the guide soon became an indispensable, enduring resource for women and has since been named one of the books that have had the "greatest influence on the development of health services and health care policy," by the Journal of Health Services Research and Policy.

"Sadly, our culture still distorts women's sense of their own sexuality because of the damaging way women and girls are portrayed in the media. Young girls grow up watching hypersexualized images of unattainable standards of beauty. The groundbreaking work from Our Bodies, Ourselves has helped women reclaim the natural lifelong journey of sexuality, opening up doorways of pleasure and good health," stated Carla Goldstein, Director of the Women's Institute at Omega.

The aim of the workshop will be to teach women how to deepen their power and pleasure as sexual beings. The workshop will include guided meditation, artwork, journaling, small group discussions, and presentations by Sanford and Swenson. Through these activities attendees will gather information about women's sexual health and functioning, share experiences, and critique the influence of social institutions on women's sexuality today.

This workshop is an excellent opportunity for teachers, health care and mental health professionals, and anyone else interested in deepening their understanding of women's sexuality.

Wendy Sanford, M.T.S., M.F.A., has been a coauthor for 30 years of the "Sexuality," "Body Image," and "Women Loving Women" chapters in Our Bodies, Ourselves; and a contributing author to Changing Bodies, Changing Lives.

Norma Meras Swenson, M.P.H., has been a coauthor for 26 years of Our Bodies, Ourselves and is a contributing author to Ourselves Growing Older. She teaches women's health at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has worked with groups worldwide on sexuality issues.