Course

What if aging isn’t something happening to you, but something you’re shaping, moment by moment? Even in the hardest soil, something can still grow — that’s not a metaphor, it’s what your cells are doing right now. Guided by ancient wisdom traditions and new science — telomere research, neuroscience, and Amelia’s own decades training with advanced yoga and qigong masters in India and China — this course shows how joy grows alongside life’s real difficulties, not after them. No experience needed. Just curiosity about what your body, mind, and spirit can still do — whatever this year brings.

Faculty Bio 

Amelia Barili, PhD, is a Berkeley professor emerita and a faculty member of the Polyvagal Institute. She is also a recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Public Service. Her innovative pedagogy integrates neuroscience, meditation and service learning. 

This is a Livestreamed-Only Course

• Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time 
• Classes will not be recorded
• Limited to 40 members
• You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.

Schedule Highlights

• Course starts on Wednesday, Jan. 20, and ends on Wednesday, Feb. 17
• Classes meet for 5 weeks, 2 hours per session (1–3 PM)
• All course materials remain in Member Dashboards through March 28

 Member Praise for Amelia Barili

Great materials. Fantastic presenters. Good breadth of coverage for the topic. 

Professor Barili was excellent. She established a positive connection with each student and created a comfortable community to discuss topics. She was very organized and thoughtful and brought in speakers that are world renown. The syllabus was excellent and she covered all the material listed and provided reminders of assignments.

Faculty Q&A

• Read an interview with Amelia Barili from our archive.