If your New Year’s resolutions included learning something new, or getting healthier, your 2011 goals are among the top ten in the nation.  Here are two free to the public events going on this week where you can do both.     

Dominican's Heritage and Alumni House has heritage of its own 

Today, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Dominican University of California will host a reception to unveil the Dominican Heritage and Alumni House in the newly renovated 123 year old Edgehill Mansion.

From 2 p.m. to 2:40 p.m., everybody’s favorite movie reviewer and film historian, Jan Wahl, who appears regularly on KRON  TV and KCBS Radio, and is also an instructor in Dominican’s Osher Lifelong Leaning Institute, is slated to give a lively presentation “ Movies that Changed the World And Our Lives” in the Garden Room.  Her fascinating and fun lecture will cover movies that had an impact, from politics to American comedy to social issues to romance.

Tours of the three story 14,000 sq. foot building will be conducted by Mary Grandin, a 1951 Dominican graduate, who lived in Edgehill Mansion when it was a dorm.

From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the Dominican Jazz Band will perform in Heritage Hall. And from 5 p.m. to 5:40 p.m., in the Garden Room, Dr. Bernard von Bothmer, a Dominican history instructor, will talk about his book, “Framing The Sixties: The Use and Abuse of a Decade from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush.”

Constructed in 1887, the 19th century Queen Anne Victorian House has quite a history. It was originally acquired by the Dominican Sisters in 1920 from the widow of William Babcock, whose husband had received the house as a wedding gift from his father.

Over the years it was converted into a residence hall and dining hall, and later served as classrooms, offices and even a pre-school. The structure was closed in 1985 due to seismic concerns, four years prior to the Loma Prieta  earthquake.

The $8 million dollar renovation was completed last fall just in time to host a  private reception for California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, who engaged in a televised debate on the Dominican University of California campus.  

The building now houses the offices of Alumni Relations, the Campus Ministry, Career and Internship Services, Dominican Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Student Life, International and Student Lounges as well as the St. Catherine Benincasa Chapel and Interfaith Hall.

Dominican Heritage and Alumni House

75 Magnolia Avenue

San Rafael, CA  94901

For more information: (415) 482-1800 

Holistic health approach     

On Wednesday, January 26, assisted living facility Aegis of San Rafael is hosting the first in a series of monthly events featuring talks by Sutter doctors on their particular area of expertise. 

January kicks off with Dr. Molly Roberts, who is an integrative medicine physician at the Institute of Integrative Medicine in San Francisco and Marin.  “Taking Care of Yourself in 2011” offers an integrative approach to good health.  Her talk about living better draws on her knowledge of combining conventional Western medicine and proven healing practices from around the world. 

The event will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and refreshments will be served. 

“We are doing this once a month through July,” said Meredith Browning, Marketing Director for Aegis Living in San Rafael, who organized the speakers. “The point is to reach out to the senior community to educate them on how to stay healthy.”

According to Dr. Roberts, good health requires integrating many aspects of well-being – from the physical and mental to the environmental and spiritual. This holistic approach to health goes beyond symptom treatment.

Previously a holistic physician at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Dr. Roberts has expertise in family medicine, psychotherapy, spirituality, functional medicine and women’s health. She is the co-author of "The Individual Optimal Nutrition Handbook" and combines warmth and insightful care to help treat a wide range of chronic and complex health concerns.

 The Institute for Health and Healing embraces the idea that the body’s innate healing abilities are supported through the four pillars of self-care: nutrition, physical activity, relaxation and social and spiritual connections.

Dr Roberts asks, “As a unique individual, what changes in your self-care can you make to complement the professional care you are already receiving?”

To RSVP: (415) 472-6530