By Abbey Cannan
Don’t bottle it up is the message the five local Rotary Clubs aim to get across to the Noosa community in their initiative to raise awareness and opportunities for pathways to assist with recovery for people touched by PTSD and mental health.
The combined Rotary Clubs of Noosa Heads, Noosa Daybreak, Noosa, Cooroy and Eumundi have launched a joint project, where a host of local celebrities will support the don’t bottle it up theme as part of the clubs’ ongoing activities.
This event is a follow on from the highly successful it’s a beautiful day by the river PTSD activity by the combined clubs in November 2021
One of the first events is a combined meeting at Cooroy RSL on May 16 with guest speaker, Dr Ben Isbel, discussing the ageing mind and dementia.
This meeting will enable members of the public to attend the Cooroy RSL from 5.30pm at a cost of $30 a head, including a meal.
Dr Isbel, who operates Pramana Wellbeing at Palmwoods and was formerly with the Thompson Institute at USC, will discuss the latest research in healthy brain ageing, including his own neuroimaging research into the effect of mindfulness and lifestyle change to slow and prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
His research has shown that eight weeks of mindfulness can increase attention and memory performance, speed up neural activation, increase the efficiency of neural responses, and increase the volume and size of key brain structures.
“Think about what this means,“ Dr Isbel said.
“This is actually reversing the age-related loss in brain volume and neural speed as we age. If mindfulness increases brain volume and neural response speed, then it is reversing the normal age-related reductions that we expect to see as we get older.
“A key message of the healthy brain ageing science is that once we are over the age of about 55 years, most of our risk for developing dementia in the future is in our hands – in the lifestyle choices we make.
“This is a very empowering message, because it puts us in charge of our health. Right now we can make healthy lifestyle changes and significantly reduce our risk of developing dementia in the future. If we know what changes to make, then we can do it right now.”
There is a limited number of seats available for this very pertinent and informative talk by Dr Isbel.
Members of the public can register and make payment at eventbrite.com.au/e/healthy-ageing-mind-talk-tickets-330290587037
