The Legacy Center is a
one-of-a-kind education center in a gorgeous, inspiring natural setting. Our educational work is based on bringing together the best ideas of today's top thinkers with a big-picture, legacy perspective.

The Legacy Center offers workshops and learning experiences for children, teens, adults, and elders. Individuals, couples, families, and small groups are welcome.

You can schedule a visit to our site to experience the transformative Legacy Labyrinth, take a thought-provoking guided Tree of Life Walk, or tour the trans/multi-generational design features of the building. We offer custom one-on-one workshops and interactive small-group workshops. Guest speakers, along with creative art and music events, also inspire and enlighten.

The Legacy Project's work at the Legacy Center builds on and enhances the education children receive in school, and provides personal and professional development opportunities for adults. New approaches to lifelong learning that look at the big picture foster more real, lasting solutions – and more hope. Education is the means through which we fulfill our greatest hopes and personal potential, make connections and contributions to our families and communities, and leave a meaningful legacy for generations to come.

The Legacy Center is located just north of Toronto, Canada, a 40-minute drive from both the downtown core and the airport. For those travelling from out of town, we have special accommodation rates available with a local hotel. For half-day and full-day workshops at the Legacy Center, a gourmet lunch featuring local foods is included.

Upcoming site experiences and workshops at the Legacy Center feature the Legacy Labyrinth, Tree of Life Walks, Be The Tree, Lunch With Susan, an opportunity to Unfold Your Potential, and How to Survive & Thrive as a Caregiver.

The Legacy Labyrinth at the Legacy Center is a unique, custom design that incorporates two elements. The first element is the Classical Seven Circuit labyrinth pattern. As shown, you enter through the single opening at the bottom and then walk the paths or circuits. The goal is in the center of the labyrinth. When you reach it, you've gone half the distance. You then need to turn around and walk back out. This classical pattern connotes both a seed and the human brain, both of which speak to the Legacy Center's site and goals.

The second element in the Legacy Labyrinth is that it incorporates the classical labyrinth pattern into the general shape of the letter "g"/question mark/winding path in the Legacy Project logo. The whole idea behind the logo is that each of us is on the journey of life. We walk a path and along that path we ask questions and make choices; the answers we discover and the choices we make determine our life as we live it. At the same time, as we walk our path, we leave a trail behind us for others to follow. Our legacy, therefore, is both ahead of us and behind us.

The Legacy Project is very much about helping children and adults make their life mean something – at the personal level (LifeDreams program), the interpersonal level (Across Generations program), and the level of community/world (Our World program). The labyrinth helps visitors explore their meaning in a way that brings together body, mind, and spirit in the context of the beauty of the natural world.

The Legacy Labyrinth is in a secluded area of the 15-acre site. Towering trees, including a White Pine that's over 100 years old, shelter the labyrinth. A gentle natural rise in the land to the side of the Legacy Labyrinth affords a lovely view of the design of the entire labyrinth. It also creates a natural amphitheater ideal for discussions and workshops.

A guided Legacy Labyrinth experience (2 hours) led by Legacy Project Chair and educator Susan V. Bosak is
$50 per person. For more information and to schedule your visit to the Legacy Labyrinth, e-mail or call
1-800-772-7765.

Tree of Life Walks

Where do you think it's best to plant a young tree: a clearing in an old-growth forest or an open field? Ecologists tell us that a young tree grows better when it's planted in an area with older trees. The reason, it seems, is that the roots of the young tree are able to follow the pathways created by former trees and implant themselves more deeply. Over time, the roots of many trees may actually graft themselves to one another, creating an intricate, interdependent foundation hidden under the ground. In this way, stronger trees share resources with weaker ones so that the whole forest becomes healthier. That's legacy: an interconnection across time, with a responsibility to both those who have come before us and those who come after us.

A guided Tree of Life Walk through the 15-acre Legacy Center arboretum connects you with nature, time, and ultimately yourself. A shaft of sunlight beams through the towering trees. The calls of birds echo as leaves rustle in the wind. You gain calm and clarity as you walk the site. Each tree tells a story. You learn how to hear the stories the trees tell, and use those stories to gain insights into your own life.

The arboretum is a place for exploration and discovery. While some areas are cultivated, others are uncultivated. And the more you look, the more you see. The microcosm of the arboretum is filled with natural delights, from wildflowers to mushrooms to wild berries.

The Tree of Life Walk helps you understand trees and the natural environment in a whole new way, including how to care for your own trees. As you enjoy the beauty and wonders of the natural world in this one-of-a-kind site, you'll feel relaxed and renewed, with a fresh perspective and energy that will lift your body, mind, and spirit.

A guided Tree of Life Walk through the Legacy Center arboretum (3 hours), led by educator Susan V. Bosak and recreational arborist Brian Puppa, is $65 per person. For more information and to schedule your Tree of Life Walk, e-mail or call 1-800-772-7765.

Be The Tree

In our hectic, over-scheduled world, sometimes the hardest thing is just to enjoy the moment you're in. The Be The Tree experience at the Legacy Center is a chance to relax and connect with nature, and also learn how to enjoy the moment.
It's a creative expression experience for children and adults.

We start by taking you on a quick tour through the Legacy Center arboretum to introduce you to some of the fascinating trees. Each has its own story and history. Which trees are you drawn to? Why? How do they make you feel?

Then, you choose a tree on the site that "speaks" to you. You can choose a tree based on how it
looks, its symbolism, or its personal meaning to you. The idea is to become or engage with that tree in some expressive way.

With the help of a professional mime, we give you a lesson on using your face and body to make shapes and express emotions. Mime is one of the oldest art forms and represents the peak of human performance and statement.

It's time to Be The Tree. We'll take several photos that will become keepsakes for you from the experience.

This is a unique way to learn about the natural world and trees, and a fun way to learn more about yourself. Can you let go and enjoy the moment? When you do, you'll leave seeing and feeling the world around you in a whole new way.

Check out more photos from Be The Tree experiences in the Legacy Center arboretum.

The Be The Tree creative expression experience is for individuals and families, children and adults. Be The Tree (3 hours) is $95 per person. For more information and
to find out about upcoming dates, e-mail or call
1-800-772-7765.

Lunch
With Susan

Susan V. Bosak, MA, is the Legacy Project's Founding Chair. She is an educator, researcher, and bestselling author. She travels extensively and speaks to children and adults across Canada and the US. She offers ideas and insights that enlighten and entertain, move and motivate.

Lunch With Susan is a half-day experience that's your chance to get to know her on a more personal level, and in turn better understand yourself. She easily connects with people in a meaningful way.

We all know that one of the best ways to relax and connect is to share a good meal. Lunch With Susan starts with a gourmet lunch featuring delicious local foods. Each part of the meal is specially chosen to prompt thought and discussion (we can accommodate food allergies and other requests).

After lunch, depending on your interests, the workshop is customized to speak to your personal and professional learning goals. It can include both indoor and outdoor experiences.

The Lunch With Susan half-day workshop is $145 per person, and is open to individuals, couples, families and small groups (up to 5 people). For more information and to schedule your Lunch With Susan at the Legacy Center, e-mail or call 1-800-772-7765.

Unfold Your Potential

Enjoy a full day retreat at the Legacy Center as you Unfold Your Potential.

Led by Legacy Project Chair and educator
Susan V. Bosak, this inspiring personal and professional development one-day workshop is tailored to the interests
of participants. It includes a gourmet lunch featuring local foods and an autographed copy of Susan's bestseller Dream.

You have 30,000 days or so walking this planet. How are you going to make those days matter? Each of us evolves our legacy and makes ourself matter over the course of our life. This workshop helps you create, connect, change – your life in the context of the people and world around you.

Maybe you want to reenergize your work or family life. Maybe you're facing a life challenge, like a new career or an illness. Or maybe you're just asking some questions about your life and how you're living it. Meaning is a notoriously vague concept. Yet the very nature of being human means we venture into the web of what meaning is to try to understand ourselves and our life. We want it all to "make sense." Some may say these "big" questions are just too heavy. It's better to just forget about them and live your life. The problem is that we all eventually face moments where the big questions come looking for us – moments when we look into the mirror and don't recognize ourselves, times of personal loss or challenge, or even world events that seem overwhelming.

The Unfold Your Potential workshop draws on the Legacy Project's three banner programs: LifeDreams (developing your personal potential to create your life), Across Generations (your connections with others, particularly between generations), and Our World (how you can learn from the natural world and positively change your community). Come create, connect, change with us.

This workshop incorporates both indoor and outdoor learning experiences, including a special walk on the Legacy Labyrinth.

The Unfold Your Potential one-day workshop is $195 per person. For more information and to find out about upcoming dates, e-mail or call 1-800-772-7765.

How to
Survive & Thrive as a Caregiver

The opportunity
to take care of and give back to someone – particularly someone you love like a parent or grandparent, a life partner, or a brother or sister – is a gift. All too often, though, it can also become a heavy burden. Many caregivers experience so much stress that they become physically and emotionally exhausted, are forced to give up their job and lose their friends, and ultimately sacrifice their health and financial security.

From studies of caregivers over the last thirty years, the Rosalynn Carter Institute estimates that about a third of family caregivers decline in health and well-being and age prematurely. Another third adapt to the stresses with varying degrees of success. Many do learn new skills and become more empowered in all areas of their lives. And another third say their lives have been significantly enriched. The How to Survive & Thrive as a Caregiver workshop is about becoming part of that second or third group.

As the population ages, caregiving is an increasingly important intergenerational challenge. The Survive & Thrive workshop for family and professional caregivers is all about caregiving that speaks to the heart.

We cover practical "how to" topics along with information and insights on how to meet your emotional needs while meeting the needs of the person for whom you're caring.

The workshop is led by educator, bestselling author, and Legacy Project Chair Susan V. Bosak. When Susan's father had a severe stroke in 2009, the professional suddenly became very personal for her. She had to make a decision about how to care for him, as well as her mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007. Susan has worked in the field of aging and intergenerational relationships for over 15 years. She made the life-changing decision to move her parents into her home and become their 24/7 caregiver. This personal experience has brought a rich new dimension to her professional work (read Susan's article Rethinking Eldercare).

Susan shares her personal and professional insights with warmth, humor, and inspiration. Topics covered in the day-long workshop include:

Participants will also have an opportunity to walk the Legacy Labyrinth as a way to "recharge your batteries." Walking a labyrinth – which, unlike a maze, is a single, defined path – offers an opportunity for reflection, peace, and connection with nature. As Gail Sheehy describes in her book Passages in Caregiving, a caregiver's journey is very much like walking a labyrinth: at times you feel like you're going in circles, but there is a way in and a way out, and you can be enriched by the journey.

The day-long workshop includes a light gourmet lunch. Each participant also receives a copy of Susan's Survive & Thrive caregiver booklet filled with "how to" steps, tips, reminders, and a resource listing.

The How to Survive & Thrive as a Caregiver one-day workshop is $195 per person. For more information and
to find out about upcoming dates, e-mail or call
1-800-772-7765.