Thursday   

Explore meditation and the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda through an engaging 7-week journey designed to support balance, vitality, and overall well-being. Participants learn practical meditation techniques, receive an individualized mantra, and are introduced to Ayurveda—a holistic system of wellness that emphasizes understanding the mind-body constitution. Through simple Ayurvedic practices, students will explore how food choices, daily routines, rest, and self-care can support energy, digestion, sleep, and emotional balance. No prior experience is needed—just curiosity, openness, and a desire to thrive.

This course raises awareness about mental health in older adulthood by exploring four key areas:

-understanding mental health

-the physical challenges that influence emotional wellbeing

-the impact of ageism on selfperception -the barriers to care and advocacy.

The discussions and presentations focus on education, empowerment, and connecting individuals with supportive resources in their communities.

Find out how easy it is to build your own website, blog, chat or webinar. Make your own site or watch how it is done. We will explore popular website builders, including use of AI tools with WIX. Learn strategies to reach your intended audience, attract visitors to your site, enhance communications through social media channels, build loyalty, and maintain your website, blog or chat. All devices are welcome, but know how to use your device well. Enjoy learning about the most important tools for Internet communications.

Want to film your life and the lives of your family and friends? You can use the camera on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or an action camera like a GoPro. Learn how to shoot, edit, and enhance videos on each device, when it is best to use which one, filming techniques, smartphone video apps, useful accessories, plus creating scripts, background music, voice narration, editing tools, and AI as a tool to do and edit videos. Discover how to connect your work to other devices, achieve the best video quality, frame rates.

Bring your charged device to each class.

Prerequisite: Experience using your devices.

don’t know how to get started using it? Join this class and choose from popular free apps like; WhatsApp, LinkedIn, YouTube, Uber, Google Maps, Eventbrite, or AI apps like Canva, IoT, Invideo AI, Bluesky, Gemini, Llama, Copilot. Many are part of the social media environment. Or you could learn about gifs, memes, or how to navigate the huge selection on Amazon, the App Store, or Google Play Store. This hands-on class helps you practice using the apps you choose. You can learn on all devices and platforms, including computers or mobile devices. Bring a charged mobile device to class.

Whether you are an experienced singer or have always desired to sing, this creative chorus is for you. Together we will gain confidence in our natural singing abilities and musicianship. Performances will be scheduled when we are fully prepared.

Fee for music scores. A pencil w/eraser and a 1” BLACK 3 ring binder are required

Stay informed and have your say on the news of the day. Instructors will choose a few current event topics each week, give a brief presentation for each and then ask for thoughtful comments and questions from the class. Discussions are very much valued and are the core of the class. Class members are also encouraged to choose a topic of their own and present it for discussion.

Dungeons & Dragons has had quite a resurgence but many people are a little intimidated by playing, finding a group, or running a game. Whether you’ve played as a kid and want a refresher or you’ve never played before, this class will get you battle-ready! Learn the basics of the game, some history, and some Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG) alternatives to D&D. We’ll also learn where to find a game you can join or how to start one yourself, as well as where to find groups and online games.

Class fee: $10.00 for materials.

Learn the fundamentals of finger style, Travis picking, finger rolls, thumb independence, and chord melodies. Review knowledge of chords and positions. Learn a variety of song styles, including: traditional, folk, country, blues, and jazz.

CSULB, HS&D, rm 101 / Hyflex
It’s one thing to conjecture how AI may affect humanity at some future time, but it’s another to see how AI is being used right now. Louise Soe, who has taught several OLLI classes about what AI may do, has invited speakers who are dealing with the challenges of AI at work right now. In this class, you will learn how the City of Long Beach’s Smart City Initiative is managing the trade-offs between digital technologies that provide services and improve efficiency and public safety, with individual data privacy, when those technologies collect images and other individual data. A CSULB professor will describe her experience leading citizen “data walks” during which she discussed these smart technologies and gathered citizen reactions--and her current efforts to resolve these trade-offs. You’ll hear about the challenges faced by a high school teacher of AP history courses with heavy writing components. The CSULB librarian in charge of digital literacy and ethics will talk about preparing students to deal with digital privacy and the ethical use of chatbots. Two CSULB professors who received CSU grants to develop AI tools for classroom and teaching will describe and demonstrate their projects. Should be a lively class, so be prepared to listen and ask questions.

In this class, participants prepare memoirs that detail memorable life experiences. Each week, members have the opportunity to share the essays they have written in advance. Participants are asked to honor an 800-word/5-minute reading time limit in order to accommodate all class members. Each author will receive supportive feedback related to his/her submission. Discovering one’s personal writing style, voice, and effectiveness are part of the fun we enjoy in this class.

Join an introductory course to understand the music language and learn how to read and perform rhythms and pitches, chords, circle of fifths.

Materials: $5.00 for printed pages; a three-ring binder or folder and pencil with eraser.

For beginning students this is an Introduction to basic knitting and crochet stitches which will be class demonstration and individual instruction. Information covered in class will include, types of stitches, stitch abbreviations, pattern interpretation and basic tools/supplies.

Beginners, on the first day of class please bring a skein of size 4 or worsted yarn, and either size 7 or 8 knitting needles or a size H or I crochet hook, depending on your desire to learn knitting or crochet. 

 Intermediate students will continue to work on their projects with instruction and assistance from the instructor as needed. 

Tai Chi Chuan and have practiced in the past, come to this Intermediate class in the classic movements of Yang Style tai’ chi. Students will apply five basic principles: relaxation, separation of weight, waist turn, upright body and virgin hands.

Beginners meet on Tuesdays

Come draw with me - one line at a time. The Zentangle Method is an easyto- learn, relaxing and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structural patterns. The patterns are called "Tangles". We will create pencil and ink abstract drawings on 3-1/2" paper "tiles". No experience, planning or over-thinking required.

Bring a Notebook.

Materials are supplied at first class for $10 paid to the instructor.