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Symposium aims to inform

A local conference promises to connect participants with health and wellness professionals. The Town of Okotoks presents its fourth Fitness and Wellness Symposium on May 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., in a slightly new format than past years.

A local conference promises to connect participants with health and wellness professionals.

The Town of Okotoks presents its fourth Fitness and Wellness Symposium on May 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., in a slightly new format than past years.

“We’re not actually doing a keynote this year, we came up with a series of ‘Talkotoks,’” said Tracy Church, Okotoks community programmer. “They’re basically just little 20-minute sessions featuring some local health and wellness professionals in our community.”

The theme is focused on physical activity and physical literacy across all ages, she said. The idea is to teach people the importance of activity and general wellness at an early age, and continuing certain activity levels to improve quality of life of for the aging population, she said.

In the past, the symposium ran all day and included a number of break-out sessions for people to choose from. This year’s will expose everyone to the same topics in shorter formats, she said.

The topic of each 20-minute speech is designed to fit the overarching theme, she said.

“We’ve got one that’s Building Communities Through Physical Activity, that’s being presented by one of our local instructors who’s active with our Town programs,” said Church. “Another is Physical Literacy, which is talking about living a healthy lifestyle.”

Others talks might be more specific to physical goals or ailments, or learning how to train for certain results. Another addresses mental health and focuses on refreshing the body from stress, and there are some nutrition and healthy eating components as well, she said.

“We’re trying to cover a little bit of everything,” said Church.

The symposium will also include a trade fair component, located in the main lobby of the Okotoks Recreation Centre from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and free to the public.

Up to 20 vendors will display products ranging from fitness clothing and organic coffee to health and supplement products, and some will offer services like health coaching.

“It’s quite diverse,” said Church. “We try to gear it towards health and wellness, but we also support local businesses as well.”

Janette Messer, Okotoks programs and events co-ordinator, said the symposium offers people a one-stop shop approach to health and wellness.

This year’s schedule was shortened up to accommodate the busy lives of prospective attendees, she said.

“We recognized often people want something short and sweet, information they can take away and use,” said Messer. “And, because the town of Okotoks is such a vibrant community and everybody has so much going on – they have children in sports, they’re here, there and everywhere.”

She said she hopes the new version of the symposium will draw more of a crowd for the afternoon. A lot of great information can be given out in a short amount of time, said Messer.

“They can make connections with experts in the field as well,” she said. “And, it’s a great opportunity for local experts to actually be able to be highlighted in the community.”

The Town is offering the symposium in partnership with Natural High Fitness to help promote healthy living in the community, said Messer.

To register, call client services at 403-938-8954 or go online at netreg.okotoks.ca. The course code is 52724 and cost of registration is $20.

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