The Commonwealth Club Presents Member Led Forums August Series, 2019: The Art and Science of Well-being

San Francisco (June 26, 2019)—Well-being—the optimum state for individuals, families and communities—is the focus of August programing for the Commonwealth Club Forums. This series will focus on practical ways to create a state of wellbeing, drawing from the many sources of wisdom: science, tradition, and common sense. From Yoga to Yogurt, from Paintings to Pushups, our knowledge of the source of wellbeing and how to reach it is expanding in fresh and exciting ways. Join us at the Commonwealth Club to explore these paths to wisdom and being well with expert teachers, scientists, artists, and speakers to lead the way(s).

Dr. Carol Fleming, director of the Commonwealth Club Member-Led Forums, who spearheads and founded our popular summer program series remarks, “With all of the daily stress we face and chaos confronting us from the outside, we felt it critical to explore the many ways with which to cope and achieve peace of mind and physical well-being.”

Dr. Robert Kilpatrick, the founder and CEO of Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP), who helped orchestrate this summer’s programs added, “We must continue to examine all of the factors that contribute to healthy societies including the economic, political, social, technological and moral dimensions of those societies in order to learn how to become healthier ourselves. We’ve planned these programs with this in mind.”

The Commonwealth Club will hold this series in its new headquarters at 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco.

The Club’s August Series is an annual month of programming organized by the volunteer Member-Led Forums.

To arrange interviews with Dr. Carol Fleming and/or Dr. Robert Kilpatrick to discuss our upcoming series and share some of the many ways in which well-being can be attained please contact me, Riki Rafner at 415-385-5052.

Programs include:

Tuesday, July 30 / 5:15 p.m.
The Rights of Asylum Seekers: East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Max Thelan Boardroom
Speaker: Michael Smith, Director, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant’s Affirmative Asylum Program
Speaker: Kaveena Singh, Managing Attorney, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant
Organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

While the conditions in Central America produce caravans and others seeking safety, the rights of asylum seekers are continuously under attack. Speakers will address the roots of the problem—why people are fleeing, the mental health consequences and the difficult yet lifesaving process of seeking asylum. This presentation will highlight the role the U.S. government has played over the past decades in creating the so-called border crisis and will debunk the Trump administration’s attacks on asylum law. Founded in 1982 in response to civil wars and genocide in Central America, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant has been a leader in the sanctuary movement, providing yearly legal protection, advocacy, support and family reunification to thousands of refugees and undocumented immigrants.

Wednesday, July 31 / 5:15 p.m.
Reframing Elderhood, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Louise Aronson. M.D., Geriatrician; Educator; Professor of Medicine, UC San Francisco; Author, Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life and A History of Present Illness
Moderator: Jenara Nerenberg, UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center; Author, Divergent Mind
Organizer: Denise Michaud

Aronson will call for a large-scale shift in society and discuss how medicine’s attitudes toward aging offers a powerful roadmap for how we all approach old age. She will share anecdotes from her 25 years of caring for patients and her own experiences of getting older and watching her parents age. She will also draw from history, science, literature and popular culture to offer hope about aging, medicine and humanity itself. Aronson has received numerous awards for her medical work, teaching, educational research and writing

Thursday, August 1 / Noon
Your Health Destiny, Dr. Eva Selhub, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium with a book signing.
Speaker: Dr Eva Selhub, M.D., author, Your Health Destiny: How to Unlock Your Natural Ability to Overcome Illness, Feel Better, and Live Longer
Organizer: Dr. Robert Kilpatrick

Dr. Eva Selhub, M.D. will share ways in which we can take control of our health. Based on treating thousands of patients, Dr. Selhub discovered simple and easy ways to implement shifts in lifestyle, attitude, and overall approach to stress.

Dr. Selhub is an internationally recognized resiliency expert, physician, author, speaker, scientist, and consultant. Board Certified in Internal Medicine, she served as an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and as a Clinical Associate of the Benson Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital for close to 20 years, serving as their Medical Director for said of those years. Dr Selhub is now working with clients, corporations and scientific colleagues to redefine the ways in which we approach resilience as a model for optimum health.

Her other books include Your Brain on Nature: The Science of Nature’s Influence on Your Health, Happiness, and Vitality and The Love Response: Your Prescription to Transform Fear, Anger and Anxiety into Vibrant Health and Wellbeing.

Friday, August 2 / Noon
Qi Gong: More Energy and Less Stress, Qi Gong Expert Lee Holden, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Lee Holden, author, Qi Gong: More Energy and Less Stress
Organizer: Dr. Robert Kilpatrick

Renowned instructor in Qi Gong, meditation, and Tai Chi Lee Holden will discuss his philsophy and how it helps achieve health and well-being. Holden has worked to bring the ancient Taoist teachings to the West. He will offer simple techniques to enhance wellbeing that can be used anywhere. His work has popularized Qi Gong through books, classes, workshops, video courses, online programs, and PBS television programs.

Holden has been acknowledged by the International Chi Gong Association for his ability to make the esoteric Taoist teachings accessible to modern students without compromising or diluting their essence. He conducts training and certification programs in traditional and medical Qi Gong, and continues to study with Qi Gong masters in Thailand, Indonesia, Moscow, Japan and China.

A licensed acupuncturist, he practices in Santa Cruz and Los Gatos, California. In addition to his international teaching and private practice, Holden works as a stress management consultant to corporations.

Friday, August 16/ Noon
Israel’s Contributions to Well-Being, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Matan Zamir, Deputy Consul General for Israel to the Pacific Northwest
Organizer: Celia Menczel

Our distinguished panel will discuss the contributions and innovations Israel has made worldwide in solving health, environmental and economic problems. Israel has a history of coming to the rescue of other nations after disasters and emergencies. For example, Israel advised California and other areas with water problems. And it was the second country to arrive with medical help after the Haiti disaster. Come learn more about Israel’s contribution to our well-being.

Thursday, August 22 / 6 p.m.
Dr. Anthony Iton - ‘Building Healthy Communities.’ Senior VP of Health Communities, the California Endowment, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Dr. Anthony Iton, M.D., J.D., MPH, Senior Vice President of Healthy Communities, The California Endowment; Former Director and County Health O fficer, the Alameda County Public Health Department
Organizer: Patty James

The presentation will address the why, what and how of place-based work. Why addresses how when it comes to your health your zip code is more important than your genetic code. It explores the strength of the relationship between life expectancy and neighborhood. The what focuses on how place gets under the skin and changes our physiology. The presentation will also examine the components of the environment that shape health opportunity. Finally, the how will discuss the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative framework and how that translates into the investment strategies and policy and systems change approach to place-based work. Examples from the California Endowment's Building Healthy Communities will illustrate the approach and a review of the 10 year, $1 billion, multisite, multidisciplinary, place-conscious initiative. Its achievements will be presented.

Monday, August 26 / 6 p.m.
Beyond Wellness: Healing Ourselves and the Collective, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Elizabeth Kendig, Founder and Editor, “Healers”; Former Editorial Director and Content Strategist
Speaker: Linda Calhoun, Chair, International Relations Member-Led Forum; Founder and Executive Producer, Career Girls
Organizer: Linda Calhoun

As part of the wellness member-led forum series, this program posits that we all need healing, whether from a broken heart or chronic heart condition. Join "Healers" founder and podcast host Elizabeth Kendig in a conversation on wellness and how we can help heal ourselves.

Tuesday, August 27 / 6 p.m.
Emerging Health Technologies: Diagnosing, Designing and Controlling Our Wellbeing, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder, OpenWater
Speaker: Ben Hwang, CEO Profusa
Organizer: Patty James

This panel will discuss cutting edge technologies aiming to advance our health. Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen is the Founder of OpenWater, a start-up working on fMRI-type imaging of the body using holographic, infrared techniques. She is also a member of Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company. She was co-founder and CTO of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), Formerly an executive at Facebook, Oculus, Google, and Intel. The former MIT Professor has founded four hardware companies.

Ben Hwang is a digital health entrepreneur and CEO of Profusa. Hwang has seen first-hand the transformative impact that science and technology have had on change in our world, from his early exposure as an undergraduate research fellow in the lab of Leroy Hood at Caltech, where the automated DNA sequencer was developed, to bringing cutting edge life science tools to the market at Life Technologies Corp.

Thursday August 29 / 6 p.m.
The Power of Breath, Valerie Moselle, author, Breathwork: A 3-Week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm, and Better Health, Max Thelen Boardroom, with a book signing.
Speaker: Valerie Moselle, author, Breathwork, Founder of Luma Yoga, Santa Cruz, CA
Organizer: Dr. Robert Kilpatrick

Established yoga and breathwork teacher Valerie Moselle will offer her practical program to boost energy and physical health. She will explain how every breath we take has the power to heal—but learning how to take meaningful breaths takes practice. She will underscore the importance of beginning each day with breathing exercises. She says that ending each day meditating on clarity and calm is essential. With effective practices that address everything from allergies to anxiety and more, she maintains this breathing plan can be one’s guide to discovering the rejuvenating and varied benefits of breathwork.

Thursday August 29 / 6 p.m.
Food and Health from the Ground Up in California, Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium
Speaker: Daphne Miller, UCSF pediatrician and author of Farmacology
Speaker: Paula Daniels, Founder, Center for Good Food Purchasing
Speaker: Tracey Patterson, Director of Engagement and Strategy, California Food Policy Advocates
Speaker: Michael Jenkins, Executive Chef of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
Moderator: Ben Thomas, Farm to Market Director, Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Organizer: Cathy Curtis

California leaders will share how they are improving lives and working to ensure the success of ecological farming through the food that reaches the forks of families. What’s in our food and how it is grown has a profound impact on the health of our communities. Schools and hospitals are in an increasingly critical intervention point for food access and long-term food systems shifts. Food and health issues are set against a seemingly paradoxical backdrop: one in eight Californians face hunger because of distribution and incentive problems; at the same time, one in four Californians suffers from diet-related diseases, directly related to social inequality, poverty, and food availability.

Wednesday, Sept. 4 / 5:15 p.m.
The Longevity Project - Maurizo Gigola, Director, Writer, and Producer, in conversation with Robert Kilpatrick, Max Thelen Boardroom
Speaker: Maurizo Gigola, Director, Writer, and Producer
Moderator and Organizer: Dr. Robert Kilpatrick, President and CEO of Health Innovation for founder and CEO of Health Innovation for People, Inc. (HIP)

Maurizo Gigola in conversation with Dr. Kilpatrick will examine the The Longevity Project and the drivers of the length of life. They will examine the quality of life in Italy, Greece, Croatia, Lebanon, Portugal, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia and Cypress. They will explain how The Mediterranean Diet is a transnational intangible asset which can prolong life when combined with biodiversity, healthy lifestyles, beauty, and art.

Eating together is the basis of the cultural identity and continuity of the communities in the Mediterranean basin. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes the values of hospitality, neighborhood, intercultural dialogue, creativity, and represents a way of life guided by respect for diversity. Food plays a vital role in cultural spaces, festivals and celebrations, bringing together people of all ages and social classes, while women play a fundamental role in the transmission of knowledge.