Leah Matalon, who has been leading an exercise group on Tuesday mornings at All Souls for over two decades, was the featured speaker at the Women’s Alliance meeting in May where her talk, “Body Awareness,” focused on “how a healthy body supports a sound mind and indomitable spirit.”

She described how various teachers and techniques have influenced her over the course of her career, especially Fritz Frederick Smith, MD, DO, founder of the “Zero Balance” philosophy of combining scientific medical knowledge and ancient meditation and acupressure practices. To complete her presentation, she led the group in a meditation exercise based upon the concept of Qì (Chi) [], ‘energy,’ guiding the group to focus on a journey through the body and its connections to both the earth and the sky, and the ancient understanding of these connections in the practice of Eastern healing arts.

Ms. Matalon will begin a new semester of Tuesday morning exercise beginning in September. The class itself features exercise, personal attention to individual “trouble spots” and fun music to move to.