The activity will be complemented with a workshop where attendees can learn about anatomy and the periodic work of the spinal column complex.

Next Monday, June 30, the conference 'Why does my spine hurt?' will be held. Myths and truths about spinal care'', an activity framed in the School for the Elderly, belonging to the Extension Directorate of the University of La Serena. This free-entry activity will take place at 17:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Mutual de Seguridad de C. CH. C., located at Los Carrera 330, 3rd floor, in the city of La Serena.

This activity is organized in conjunction with the institution's Kinesiology program and aims to raise awareness of the chronic illness that frequently afflicts the Chilean population, especially the elderly. The director of the race, Mg. Alfredo Gary Bufadel, states that the activity will address ''the main myths regarding back pain in the elderly, myths as basic as whether back pain is related to changes in temperature, cold, heat, meals. or the shoes. The idea is to be able to clarify these myths with truths and falsehoods."

This conference will be the first encounter with the subject, since later a practical workshop will be held, in which self-knowledge of one's own body will be worked on through ''techniques to prevent spinal pain and in the case that older adults have "some pain or discomfort, educate them to know what they should do and what they should not do to reduce or completely eliminate that pain," said the specialist.

Registration for this workshop is open until June 30 or until available places are sold out. Classes will take place on July 1, 3, 8 and 10 at a cost of $5000 in total per person, with limited spaces. Classes are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays from 15:00 p.m. to 16:30 p.m. at the ULS Extension Center, located at Calle Prat 446, La Serena. 

For more information, you can visit the offices of the same premises or call 051-2204171, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on social networks.

The three activities were directed towards the search for people's psychological well-being.

Various work tools to practice how to take care of yourself was the main topic of the three self-care workshops given jointly by the Extension Directorate and the Center for Psychological Care and Comprehensive Health, CAPSI, of the University of La Serena.

''Relax your day, Relax your life'', ''Happiness day by day'' and ''Managing my stress'', brought together people of various ages, students, older adults and the general public, around a theme so necessary but far away at the same time, taking care of oneself, and the importance of the so-called protective factors in daily life. 

''How society is today in Chile, there are many factors that do not depend on us, such as environmental factors, whether noise, food, etc. So treating protective factors such as relaxation techniques, for example, is super important to be able to lead an optimal and quality life,'' said Julio Gutiérrez, workshop rapporteur and practicing psychologist at CAPSI. 

The professionals, Bianca Payacán and Julio Gutiérrez, led by psychologist Fernanda Castillo, delivered practical relaxation techniques, easy to learn and replicable in homes, with the intention of providing beyond a lecture class, a practical tool.

''The workshop was excellent, I found it from every point of view assimilable to anyone, and they are things that are useful for everyday life and that is very important. It is a word that is so fashionable and so overused, everyone says stress and no one knows what it really is and here it was known,'' commented María Angélica Brito. 

The professionals highlighted the importance of generating this type of workshops, since society has too many needs and little supply, a situation that these units took to organize these 3 self-care workshops framed in the ''Academic Workshops 2014'' of the Extension Directorate ULS.

After a magnificent 5th Season Concert, which was characterized by a choral symphonic repertoire, with more than 100 artists on stage and the premiere of the Anthem of the Coquimbo Region, the OSULS does not stop its hard work and announces spectacular presentations.

We will not only have football on June 13. For the same date, the concert ''Romanticismos'' is scheduled, under the direction of the German maestro Gottfried Engels, who visits the Coquimbo Region again to conduct the Symphony Orchestra of the University of La Serena.

Currently, Gottfried Engels serves as chief conductor of the Bonn Hofgarten Orchestra. Parallel to his activities as a director, he is a teacher and works as a soloist, playing in various orchestras and chamber music groups. Additionally, he has participated in various recordings for radio record labels. The main focus of his interest is the performance of baroque and classical music with original instruments.

In the Romanticismos concert, the public will be able to appreciate the work ''Peripeteia II'' by Manuel Contreras, the Symphony 104 in D Major by Franz Joseph Haydn and the Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 in Eb major Op 11 by Richard Strauss, which will be performed by soloist Bobbi-Jane Berkheimer, first horn of the La Serena University Symphony Orchestra, Master of Musical Arts (French horn) from New York University in Stony Brook, Long Island, under the tutelage of Professor William Purvis. She completed a Bachelor of Music at the Boston Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Thomas Newell. He has participated in master classes by cornists David Jolley, Barry Tuckwell, Frank Lloyd and cellist Bernard Greenhaus.

As is traditional, the University of La Serena Symphony Orchestra expects massive public attendance at these interesting musical events, which have already become a fundamental part of the regional billboard. The prices for both events will be $3.000 for the general public and $2.000 for students and seniors.

Symphonic Tango

A special event called ''Symphonic Tango'' is scheduled for the month of July, which will feature the participation of the prominent national director Francisco Núñez and the presence of the singers Katy Campos and Pablo Moraga, who will be accompanied by the musicians Rodolfo Jorquera and Cristian Molina on bandoneon.

''Nocturna'', ''Verano porteño'', ''Nostalgias'', ''A fuego slowly'' and ''Se dice de mi'', among other masterful works, will be performed by the musicians of the group, with symphonic arrangements, next July 4th starting at 20:00 p.m. at the Monumental Coliseum of La Serena, in which it will be one of the most attractive shows this winter.

Various areas of research and the main findings in relation to positive psychology and happiness were the central topics of the conference held by Mg. Mauricio Cerda at the Extension Center of the University of La Serena.

The academic approached the topic from the importance of being and feeling happy in different instances, at work, with friends, in all interpersonal relationships, emphasizing that it has been studied to what extent, depending on the level of income, people are happier. The conclusion was that above the poverty line there is no relationship between happiness and the level of economic income. Likewise, he referred to interpersonal relationships and among them those of a couple.

''It has been studied that when people feel happy, their relationship improves and their marriages improve. Couples who are married have a higher level of happiness than those who live together (...). It has been seen that people begin to improve performance in their work relationships. It has also been found that they are people who tend to live longer,'' Cerda emphasized.

The different applications of positive psychology, in psychotherapy, specific disorders, in schools, among others, have led to thinking that a positive lifestyle should be recommended, was one of the conclusions of the rapporteur, who also analyzed happiness as a new paradigm, in economics, public policies and in psychology.

Cerda also referred to the example of Bhutan, ''a country in Asia that had the very good idea of ​​creating a Ministry of Happiness and created an indicator that they call Gross National Happiness, which they place parallel to the famous GDP, a product gross domestic which is one of the economic indicators. Well, they are basically looking for a development of the individuals of the groups, of the organizations of their nation, that is in line with people experiencing a significant degree of happiness and they are translating this into changes in public policies, in changes in health, in changes in education, in changes in the relationship between human activity and the environment, etc.''.

Finally, attendees received recommendations and mainly tools to live positively and attract happiness, among which were: eating healthy, doing physical exercise, practicing meditation, taking care of their interpersonal relationships, enjoying free time, among others.

One of the attendees at this conference, Carolina Henríquez, highlighted the presentation of the speaker, who ''addressed all the advances that have existed in this new paradigm of human development that addresses happiness and that in one way or another what is looking for is to have a healthier, more loving society, in which we respect each other more and people truly have more meaning in our lives in enjoying and relating in a more respectful way.''

Finally, Susana Alcazar referred to the style of the conference and the initiative of the institution. ''This is the first time I have come to a conference of this type and I found it very interesting, easy to understand (...). It is good that they make these types of instruments known so that we, common people, can be better,' she concluded.

This second conference of the cycle ''Psychology and contemporary society'' was organized jointly by the Directorate of Extension and the Department of Psychology of the University of La Serena.

With the maximum number of people in the room's capacity, the conference ''Zen and Death'' was held at the ULS Extension Center, directed by Rodrigo Fernández Portaluppi, a shudosan Zen meditation monk, who addressed death and especially the fear of it, seen from the perspective of Zen Buddhist meditation. 

''In the end what we need to overcome death is to reconcile ourselves with life,'' the speaker stated during his presentation, explaining from Buddhism how death is experienced and why.

''The fear of death is the fear of losing the self, but when one leaves behind the ignorance regarding who I am, one knows who one is, one never dies (...) fear only exists because there is ignorance,'' he stressed. .

In addition, he made a special invitation to meditate on daily life. ''We spend our time demanding things from life or imposing duties on life. If we reconcile ourselves with life and realize that we are life, we are not foreigners or guests in life, but we are life, we can make the fear of death disappear, which is an inevitable biological fact, but the fear of Dying is something we can work on and it will help us discover the value of our life now,'' he said.

After the conference, interested attendees had the opportunity to express their doubts and discuss the topic with the speaker, in addition to highlighting the completion of this activity. ''I find it super interesting to create instances in which we can share our concerns and also be able to learn more from another point of view. A few years ago I started Zen meditation and it has helped me a lot in life to be able to see in a simpler way each stage that I am going through, so everyone is invited to meditate, to sit here and now,'' said Cristian Alfaro.

The conference was part of the XXIV School for the Elderly, organized by the Extension Directorate of the University of La Serena.

The activity will also premiere a piece of Brazilian music called “Jongo.”

This Thursday, June 5 at 19:00 p.m. The academic and artist Alejandrina Reyna will perform at the Extension Center of the University of La Serena, who will perform on piano various musical pieces by two Latin American artists, Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil) and Ernesto Lecuona (Cuba), who will give life to the chamber music concert: ''Villalobos Lecuona''.

''Heitor Villa-Lobos is going to be the first part of the concert and Lecuona the second. I have chosen this program very carefully, I have been increasing more and more works by Villa-Lobos in my repertoire because they really captivate me. The pieces that I am going to play from him are of a rather popular nature, it is like what is popular brought to concert music, in a concert language, but with a very popular essence," said Reyna, a professor in the Department of Music. of the ULS. 

The artist explained that Villa-Lobos is a very important character in the world of music, since he dedicated himself to the task of meticulously studying all the folkloric and popular music of his country, he toured the Amazon and extracted folkloric essences that he later added in his music. On the other hand, she pointed out that Ernesto Lecuona, a very important musician whose singing was significant for symphonic music. ''I chose the pieces that are Afro-Cuban, that are also very rhythmic,'' she emphasized. In addition, she highlighted that her program will include two or three musical pieces that belong to a genre called Bachiana, a title given in homage to Bach. 

Finally, Reyna referred to a piece that will be premiered in Chile during this concert. ''I must note that there is a Brazilian piece that I am going to play, called 'Jongo' and it is by Lorenzo Fernández, and this “Jongo” is a piece that is going to be premiered in Chile. It is a very beautiful piece that has a whole description of the drums on the piano.'' 

The invitation is to attend this concert whose value is $3.000 general admission and $1.500 for students of all ages. It will be held at the Extension Center, located at Prat 446, with spaces limited to the capacity of the room.