NorthWay Group...working with individuals and groups as they realize their fullest potential.

Let NorthWay Group plan your retreat!  We can:

• Assist you in identifying and planning your retreat, seminar or meeting so that it meets the needs of your organization or business.
• Assist you in choosing and organizing classes to meet the needs of your organization.
• Provide recreation, education, teambuilding, facilitation and more.
• Retain instructors/presenters for any on the classes or workshops you choose.
• Make sure your day runs smoothly.

To find out more about us, visit our website at www.northwaygroup.com

Workshop Descriptions

Wellness Topics:

Health Risk Appraisal
Taken on-line before the event, this appraisal includes 100 questions about lifestyle habits such as nutrition, medical self-care, fitness, safety, environmental, social, and emotional awareness, and intellectual wellness, occupational wellness, and life purpose & values.  The assessment provides one with an overview of good habits as well as areas to be improved that can be printed and can remain private. The total Health Risk Assessment is a wonderful tool for a company that is interested in reducing the amount of employee sick time, insurance premiums, etc. as it gives employees and employers a chance to see where their health-related behaviors put them at risk for diseases such as heart & circulatory diseases, diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, and stress-related diseases such as depression and anxiety.  It is also a measure of social & emotional support, and because research has shown them to be a crucial part of disease risk and disease tolerance, it gives someone in the company's Employee Assistance or HR departments a place to begin working with an employee if an employee so chooses.

Screenings for Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, and Blood Glucose
Lab staff completes screenings on-site in 10 minute increments so that large numbers of employees can be assessed.  A Health Educator can review the results with each person.

Preventive Health Screening: What Tests Do I Need and When Do I Need Them?
A medical staff person will give individuals an overview of important health screenings for themselves and their families.

What Does Your Cholesterol Score Really Mean?
In this workshop, learn the meaning of the terms Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, & Triglycerides and why they are significant indicators of heart health. 

The Medical Complications of Obesity
Our population is growing increasingly obese.  What does the term obese mean and why should it concern you?  What does it mean for one’s health as we age? 

Recognizing & Preventing Diabetes
Diabetes in our society is increasing and it has long-term consequences for our well-being!  Learn what you can do to prevent this condition. 

Demonstration of Low Fat but Delicious Cooking
This workshop provides a look at easy, healthy, and delicious preparation of meals & snacks.

Stress Management
Almost all conditions of ill health have a connection to the amount of stress in one’s life.  Learn a few techniques to recognize your symptoms and actions you can take daily to reduce the ill effects and feel better. 

Healthy Back Presentation
Everyone experiences back pain at some point in his/her life.  Learn how to take care of your back.  It will include exercises for good posture, and movements to avoid.

Burning More Calories through the Day – What is a NEAT Office/Workplace?
Interested in changing your workplace to a place where people walk while they have meetings, stand or bike at their desks, or where employees wear mobile phones on their belts which measure their vertical time?  Learn about re-designing a workplace to include healthy activity at your place of work.

Sleep Disorders, Sleep Apnea, Effects of Chronic Insomnia, Jet Lag, etc.
Sleep disorders are very common.  Imagine flying in a plane, riding on a bus, or being near a crane where the operator has not slept well!  Learn about sleep disorders and how they affect the
work you do. 

Relaxation
Have you ever not been able to relax?  Bring a blanket, a pillow for under your knees, and prepare to learn several forms of relaxation that you can use at work and at home to assist you in becoming relaxed yet focused as you go through your day.

Yoga
Learn to release physical tension, gain strength and flexibility in this class as you move towards a state of calm.  Dress in comfortable clothes for movement. 

Pilates
As an exercise system, Pilates improves one’s overall agility, flexibility, strength, and posture.  Join this intensive stretching class to work your abdominals, legs, arms, and back on a mat.

Nordic Walking
Join the walking craze and learn to use walking poles to increase shoulder, triceps, and abdominal strength, burn more calories, and get a better overall workout.  Come with walking or running shoes, casual dress.

Resistance Training with Body Weight and Bands
Resistance is one of the best ways to develop strength, and all it takes is a little time and a thera-band!  Learn how you can develop more muscle thereby increasing muscle tone and calorie burning.  Dress in comfortable clothing and prepare to be active. 

Reflexology
Based on the understanding that pressure on certain parts of the hands or feet can promote health in the particular organ that corresponds to that “reflex,” you will learn basic pressure points that you can use on yourself to treat common complaints such as sinus trouble, back pain, stress, etc.  It improves circulation, reduces pain, and promotes overall healing. 

Ergonomics
Have you ever come away from your desk at the end of a day with a headache?  Ever sore in your neck or shoulders or have hand or elbow pain at the end of a day?  This course will help you to understand the importance of a proper desk, chair, keyboard, and screen set-up that will maximize your work while having minimal negative impact on your body.  It will also include stretching exercises that you can do at your desk to relieve the tension of your working muscles.

Work Styles, Teams at Work, and Team Building:

Coaching Effectiveness for Individual Leaders
Like elsewhere in our nation, coaching as a tool for leadership success is being used successfully in MN.  Coaching has far-reaching implications for an organization as its department managers and employees begin to use the tools.  Learn the skills of being “coach-like” in your workplace and begin to change the culture.

DiSC Inventory
The DiSCinventory, taken on-line before the workshop, offers an understanding of relationship dynamics by applying the time-honored DiSC model to interpersonal style.  Using this instrument and working with a facilitator, individuals and groups will able to reduce conflict and increase their effectiveness when relating with others on their teams.

Coaching Effectiveness for Teams
Working with highly skilled coach-facilitators, employees will learn coaching skills and how their application can change the dynamics of a team, the atmosphere in your workplace, or their interactions with customers.

Team Building
Working in teams requires offering and receiving different perspectives.  In this experiential workshop, you will learn more about yourself and how you act and react in a team, where you hold back, when you offer your skills.  Come prepared to play, be energized, and be challenged! 

Emotional Intelligence: Creating Communities that Care
Does emotional literacy make a difference in the way small groups, large groups, organizations, and businesses succeed?  Join a facilitator in looking at Daniel Goleman’s work on why and how self-awareness, persistence, zeal, motivation, empathy, and social deftness of the people in your organization can make a difference in your success.

Board Development
Having the “right people on the bus” is extremely important to the success of a non-profit, and it begins with the Board of Directors.  This workshop will assist your board in recruiting, orienting, educating, and developing a team that supports the organization as it carries out its mission.

A Commitment to Greatness
What is your organization or your business the best at?  What are you passionate about? What is it that you do better than anyone else?  Working with a facilitator, discover and build upon your answers to those questions.

Kathie Allen, a co-founder and principal of NorthWay Group, Inc. loves to create those moments when people see for themselves that change is possible.  Prior to founding NorthWay Group with Gary Dietrich, Kathie was a certified life coach who worked with a variety of clients including college students, mid-career professionals, and retirees.  That work followed her 31-year career as an instructor and athletic director at Itasca Community College.  Kathie has a master’s degree in education and a certification in holistic stress management.  She is an associate certified coach through the International Coach Federation, a graduate of the Co-Active Leadership Program, and the LeaderImpact Program.  In her spare time, she enjoys anything outdoors – gardening, time at the cabin, walking in the woods or being on the water.

Betsy McBride is an associate with NorthWay Group.   Betsy is currently the Executive Director of the Itasca County Family YMCA.  She has worked in the non-profit sector for 19 years.  Betsy holds Chief Executive Officer and Senior Director Certifications from the YMCA of the USA.  She is also a certified Fitness Specialist with the YMCA, and has worked with people of all ages (youth though older adult) in a wide variety of areas from program development and implementation to customer service and policy creation.  Having grown up in a family of 10 has shaped her outlook on how to get things done.  She strongly believes that teamwork is a way to accomplish great things.