New practice in Merrick improves the mind, body and soul

In a nondescript, one-story building just steps away from the bustle of Merrick Avenue, meditation music flows through the clean, open space of The Mindful Connection, a new integrative care center in Merrick. Pops of green from decorative plants play off the cream-colored walls, which give way to a bank of offices that belong to the center’s 11 practitioners.

As a college student, founder Dr. Lauren Altchiler, a Merrick native, dreamed of curating a center dedicated to providing integrative care — that is, treating the body as well as the mind. While practicing as a clinical psychologist for the past 25 years, she met like-minded professionals to grow her practice with, and so, The Mindful Connection was born.

“While I had been encouraging patients to meditate and running stress management workshops for many years, I know my limitations,” Altchiler said. “It’s better to meditate with a meditation instructor who knows how to be one-on-one.”

The center, which opened last month, employs a group of practitioners skilled in a variety of specialties under one roof. Patients have access to psychologists, social workers, a functional medicine doctor, a mindfulness meditation instructor as well as reiki, acupuncture, hypnosis and Chinese medicine specialists. Patients can visit The Mindful Connection for a single service, or have their choice practitioners work together to facilitate an integrative care plan, and maximize their understanding of their unique mind-body health.

“There’s nobody taking a global look of your health and then saying, ‘let’s figure out how to make you optimum,’” said Dr. Michael Gruttadauria, who practices functional medicine. “If we start unwinding these physiological issues, you’re going to get better faster — that’s the beauty of being in a setting like this.”

Because of the center’s collaborative approach to care, practitioners sometimes share patients to find their most optimal path to wellness. Altchiler provided an example of one of her patients who has social anxiety. She referred him to Gruttadauria and Dr. Hildur Pálsdóttir, who practices mindful meditation. With Pálsdóttir’s help, the patient was able to build a daily meditation practice to quell his anxiety, and developed a diet plan with Gruttadauria to improve his physical health.

“Now, he’s soaring in his therapy,” Altchiler said.

Aside from the mind and the body, the practice also aim to improve the soul. In the waiting room, patients can share what they’re grateful for on the gratitude board, a corkboard dotted with handwritten Post-it notes, or write an anonymous message, quote or poem in a communal inspiration journal. In one corner, the “meditation garden” gives patients a place to unwind before or after a session. It includes a bench, meditation cushions, a foot massager and wireless headphones to use to listen to guided meditations, music or mindful podcasts. Additionally, the center hosts wellness workshops.

Cultivating a sense of community, Altchiler said, allows patients to better connect with themselves and with others. “We need to incorporate mindfulness … to [connect] to all the things that are really, foundationally, what we need to feel support [and happiness] in our lives,” she said.

For more information about The Mindful Connection, visit www.themindfulconnectionli.com.