February 2019 Letter from the Publishers

Mike and Cindy Hart

Greetings,

Although it’s February and the depths of what passes for winter in Houston, spring is right around the corner. Cindy has already gotten restless and started pre-spring cleaning and rearranging things at the cabin. Being able to see so much better after her cataract surgery might be a reason for her renewed attention to the ascetics of our home. On one of our recent trips to the city we brought back a lot of our photos and paintings. Working together to hang them in just the right places was fun and made the cabin feel even more like home. I’ve laid out the garden patches in front of the cabin. I wanted to use a permaculture method to grow most of our own food this year and since there is LOTS of downed trees and limbs on the property, I decided to try hügelkultur. This involves creating raised beds using large amounts of wood which decays creating a sponge for moisture and nutrients. I also plan to sheet mulch over the beds. How well it will work? We’ll let you know later this year.

This month’s feature articles describe the heart healthy benefits of a mainly plant-based diet. We’ve also included some recipes for you to try out. Diet is important to heart health but so are relationships and lasting love. This month’s magazine features two articles to help with your relationships. When focusing on heart health, you can’t leave out exercise. Be sure to read this month’s yoga naturally for tips on sustaining your practice for the long term. And if you like to read Natural Awakenings on your phone, just download the free ISSUU app. All the articles in this month’s magazine will also be on ISSUU specially formatted to be read on a smart phone or android. This is also the first month we will be uploading an expanded digital edition with pages of articles that just wouldn’t fit in the print edition.

Be sure to thank the business where you picked up your copy of Natural Awakenings. If you are having trouble finding copies of the magazine, our new distribution map has been uploaded to the website or you can also subscribe to the digital edition by texting NAHTX to 66866.

Until next month, remember to be kind. It usually doesn’t cost anything, and you may just make someone’s day.

bright blessings,

Mike & Cindy Hart