New Cure SMA Webinar Series to Focus on Health, Wellness

Cure SMA has developed a new three-part webinar series that delves into health and wellness topics pertinent to the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) community.

The three monthly installments of the Wellness Webinar Series will teach participants about a variety of strategies and tools that can be used for self-care and caring for others. It also offers opportunities to hear about disparate fields of personal and community wellness, including meditation and art therapy.

The first live, hour-long webinar, “Simple Mindfulness for Decreasing Stress,” will be presented on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. EST. The webinars are for U.S. audiences only. Go here to register.

One attendee of each of the monthly educational presentations will win a Cure SMA gift. The winner will be announced at the end of the event.

“With consideration of the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Cure SMA continues to advocate for the importance of overall health and wellness,” the nonprofit organization states in its event announcement. “All members of the SMA community are invited to join in and learn about a variety of valuable strategies and tools to best care for ourselves and others.”

The first webinar — two more will be announced later — will feature Tara Davenport, the mother of four children, including one with SMA. Davenport has practiced meditation for nearly a decade and recently finished a year-long mindfulness masterclass aimed at developing the skills needed to share the technique.

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which participants focus on being acutely aware of what they’re sensing and feeling in the moment. In the webinar, Davenport will teach attendees the simple meditative practice, which the organizers say can be used to reduce stress and promote feelings of happiness. She will share practical ideas about how the technique, which can be performed anywhere at any time, can be incorporated into daily life.

For more information about the series or to submit questions that may be answered during the upcoming webinar, write to [email protected]. The webinars are sponsored by Genentech.

The nonprofit Cure SMA provides support to patients and families affected by the disease. It also funds and directs research that aims to drive breakthroughs in SMA treatment and care.

The neurodegenerative disease SMA, which is characterized by progressive muscle weakness, affects 1 in between 8,000 and 10,000 people.