Natural Awakenings Magazine ~ August 2016

H E A L T H Y

L I V I N G

H E A L T H Y

P L A N E T

feel good • live simply • laugh more

FREE

Growing Up Wise Earth Rescues Empowered Guardians

Helping Kids Step How to Safely Help into Their Best Selves Injured Animals

Kids Say No to Global Warming

August 2016 | West Michigan Edition | NaturalWestMichigan.com natural awakenings

August 2016

1

Is A New MASSAGE THERAPY career in your future?

tOuchIng lIves, One bOdy At A tIme CLassEs offErEd:

Continuing EduCation

MassagE thEraPy

PrEgnanCy MassagE:

three cOnvenIent OptIOns! september 12th - June 2nd days: mOndAy-FrIdAy, 10 Am - 2 pm EvEnings: mOndAy-FrIdAy, 6 pm - 10 pm wEEkEnds: FrI. 6pm - 10pm & sAt./sun. 10 Am - 7 pm

August 2nd - 3rd, 6 pm - 10 pm

shoshin shiatsu:

August 8-9th, 10 Am - 6 pm

swEdish MassagE:

August 11th - 14th, 10 Am - 2 pm

aCE MassagE CuPPing:

Oct. 1st - 2nd, 9 Am - 6 pm [dOuglAs, mI] Oct. 5th - 6th, 9 Am - 6 pm [chIcAgO, Il]

Financial Plans Available 700 Hour Massage Therapy Diploma Program

We welcome your call!

269.568.5556 or 888.489.9660 o v u a : BodyBizInc.biz t L M r

2

isit

s

t

West Michigan NaturalWestMichigan.com 100 Edition Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas,

o

Earn

orE!

Michigan 49406 • info@bodybizinc.biz

contents 5 newsbriefs 8 healthbriefs 8 11 ecotip 12 globalbriefs 15 community

spotlight 20 healingways 22 fitbody 10 24 consciouseating 26 wisewords 28 inspiration 30 healthykids 32 greenliving 35 community 11 spotlight 38 naturalpet 42 calendar 44 classifieds 45 naturaldirectory

advertising & submissions HOW TO ADVERTISE To advertise with Natural Awakenings or request a media kit, please contact us at 616-604-0480 or email: Publisher@ NaturalWestMichigan.com. Deadline for space reservation is the 12th of each month prior to publication.

NEWS BRIEFS & ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS Email articles to: Publisher@NaturalWestMichigan.com. Deadline for articles is the 5th of the month prior to publication. Submit News Briefs online at NaturalWestMichigan.com. Deadline for News Briefs is the 12th of the month prior to publication.

CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS Submit Calendar Events online at: NaturalWestMichigan.com.

Calendar deadline is the 15th of the month prior to publication.

WHERE TO PICK UP NATURAL AWAKENINGS

Natural Awakenings is your guide to a healthier, more balanced life. In each issue readers find cutting-edge information on natural health, nutrition, fitness, personal growth, green living, creative expression and the products and services that support a healthy lifestyle.

EMPOWERED

Helping Kids Step into Their Best Selves

by Judith Fertig

20 SALT AIR IN THE CITY

Salt Rooms Soothe Allergies and Skin Conditions

by Avery Mack

22 JUST WALK

22 Minutes a Day Boosts Well-Being

by Randy Kambic

24 A GOOD FOOD FIGHT

Keeping Food Out of the Trash Bin

by April Thompson

26 BARNET BAIN ON HOW

Fresh Thinking Challenges Rigid Mindsets

28 EARTH GUARDIANS

Kids Say No to Global Warming

by April Thompson

30 YAY FOR PLAY

Ways to Spark a Child’s Creativity

follow us online...

Natural Sanctuaries Heal Body and Spirit

Facebook — Find us at Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan Twitter — Find us at NaturallyWestMI Instagram — Find us at NaturallyWestMI Pinterest — Find us at Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan

NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

24

by Linda Sechrist

by April Thompson

Check us out and connect with us on Facebook. Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest!

22

CREATIVITY CAN SAVE THE WORLD

If you enjoyed this magazine and would like to know where you can pick up a free copy in your area, please contact us at 616604-0480 or email us at: Publisher@NaturalWestMichigan.com.

BEYOND OUR FULL “CARBON NEUTRAL” DIGITAL ISSUE EACH MONTH...

16

16 GROWING UP

32 THE GARDEN CURE

38

by Sandra Murphy

38 HANDLE WILD THINGS WITH CARE

How to Help Injured Animals

by Sandra Murphy

natural awakenings

August 2016

3

letterfrompublisher

L

earning about how kids develop confidence and helping adults redevelop and retain theirs is a primary focus of my life coaching practice, particularly with women. Studies from institutions such as Learning Through the Arts from the Johns Hopkins School of Education and Learning and The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition show that children introduced to the arts at a young age tend to better adjust socially and excel academically. It helps them appreciate diversity, understand cultural complexities, work in community and even experience physical health.

contact us Publisher Pamela Gallina Editors S. Alison Chabonais Linda Sechrist Design & Production Interactive Media Design Scott Carvey Printer Stafford Media Solutions Natural Awakenings P.O. Box 330 Spring Lake, MI 49456 Phone: 616-604-0480 Fax: 616-855-4202 Publisher@NaturalWestMichigan.com

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Subscriptions are available by sending $30 (12 issues) to the above address. © 2016 by Natural Awakenings. All rights reserved.

Although some parts of this publication may be reproduced and reprinted, we require that prior permission be obtained in writing.

Natural Awakenings is a free publication distributed locally and is supported by our advertisers. It is available in selected stores, health and education centers, healing centers, public libraries and wherever free publications are generally seen. Please call to find a location near you or if you would like copies placed at your business.

We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles and advertisements, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised. We welcome your ideas, articles and feedback.

In my youth I considered myself an average student academically, but once I mastered a sport or created an art project I felt accomplished. Finishing a race, even in the middle of the pack, would bring tears to my eyes.

After I choked on a final exam, I’d belt out a tune and for that moment feel good about myself. I loved immersing myself in anything associated with nature and could sit out in the woods for hours and just think; ponds and creeks unfailingly calmed me. Today we call this a meditative state; to me it’s a natural way of life.

Funding cuts for arts curricula make it even more vital that parents play an active role in introducing dance, music, painting, nature and other forms of art and play into their children’s lives to foster their future success as confident and competent world citizens. It’s part of how we give them the needed tools to buck up when they fail, an inevitable part of learning, as we also give them loving resources necessary to developing the deep inner strength that enables them to pick themselves up and keep going, whatever comes.

In appreciation of artful parenting,

COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABILITY Natural Awakenings is locally owned and operated.

Pamela Gallina, Publisher

Never Glossy. Always Green.

Natural Awakenings practices environmental sustainability by printing on post-consumer recycled paper with soy-based ink.

This choice avoids the toxic chemicals and high energy costs of producing shiny, coated paper that is hard to recycle.

4

West Michigan Edition

Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan

NaturalWestMichigan.com

NaturallyWestMI

NaturallyWestMI

Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan

photo courtesy of The Healthy Hound Cookbook

newsbriefs

Frosty Treats for Furry Friends Cooling Recipes Alert

I

n our July issue on page 33 we printed a recipe for Watermelon Slush. One of our wonderful readers questioned the ingredient Coconut Water in the recipe and went to the website that we listed in the article under a Full list of Foods to Avoid: Tinyurl.com/ASPCA-Foods2Avoid and found that because of the high potassium content, coconut water should not be given to pets.

Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival

T

he focus of the annual Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is the National Coast Guard Memorial Service honoring those who sacrificed their lives in the service of their country. Since 1924 Grand Haven has celebrated our heroes with family events and fun activities. This week long celebration takes place July 29-August 7 in “Coast Guard City USA”, Grand Haven. Events include entertainment, downtown carnival, fireworks, two parades, kids day, senior day, car show, ship tours, street dance, and even a cardboard boat race.

For more information: CoastGuardFest.org

Ottawa County Parks – Day Camp for Kids

T

his day camp for children is designed to engage kids with nature through activities including games, stories and crafts. Survival! August 3 and Weather Watchers August 10. 9:30-11:30am. Hemlock Crossing Nature Education Center. Registration required.

The Nature Education Center, located within Hemlock Crossing Park, has exhibits, a wildlife den with critters and activities, a wildlife viewing area where you can watch birds and animals at the feeders, and a gift shop. The center also hosts a variety of educational programs for schools, special groups and the public. Funded primarily by a dedicated property tax, the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission promises opportunities for outdoor recreation and nature education for today and for future generations.

Ottawa County parks feature year round programs for all ages. For more info: Call Nature Education Center at 616786-4847 or NatureCenterMiOttawa.org/Parks

Grand Rapids Jazz Fest

T

he fifth annual Jazz Fest is a free community event of the nonprofit organization GR and Jazz. This year’s weekend long jazz festival is Saturday, August 20, noon-10pm & Sunday, August 21 1-9pm at Rosa Parks Circle, downtown Grand Rapids.

Jazz Fest brings together acclaimed jazz performers as well as emerging artists. This year’s line-up includes Cindy Bradley, Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra with Edye Evans Hyde, Organissimo, Tumbao Bravo, Steve Hilger, Tim Bowman, Bierenga-Sullivan Quintet, Lakeshore Big Band, Urban Jazz Coalition and Walter White.

For more info GrandJazzFest.org

beinspired The basic sources of happiness are a good heart, compassion, and love. If we have these mental attitudes, even if we are surrounded by hostility, we feel little disturbance. On the other hand, if we lack compassion and our mental state is filled with anger or hatred we will not have peace. — Dalai Lama natural awakenings

August 2016

5

recipecorner

coverartist

Spring Fever 20 Minute Vegan Potato Salad Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients 2 pounds quartered medium red potatoes 1/4 cup sliced green onions 1 small red or green bell pepper, sliced 1/2 cup Vegenaise (adjust for taste) 1 tablespoon inglehoffer original stone ground mustard

Instructions 1.

Add potatoes to boiling (salted) water; cook 12 minutes or until tender, Drain.

2.

Toss with remaining ingredients; refrigerate

For more recipes like this visit vegmichigan.org

Find what you love Do what you love Challenge yourself Take fear in one hand And courage in the other And walk on Unknown

by Mary Leslie Drawing since the day she could hold a crayon, Mary Leslie also spent much of her childhood collecting stray dogs and cats, injured birds and the occasional squirrel. Because her love of all things furred and feathered was matched by her passion to create, she learned to carefully observe and draw the creatures in her care.

Leslie studied art at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Art Institute of Atlanta, going on to paint murals throughout the Southeast. After moving from suburban Atlanta to a small farm in Madison, Georgia, she began focusing on nature and animals.

Spring Fever was commissioned by a grandmother who asked Leslie to paint a representation of her five granddaughters. “She told me that they loved to dress up and dance,” says Leslie, whose richly hued oil on canvas captures the sheer exuberance of youth and joyful movement. “It’s my goal in every painting to convey the character and personality of my subjects and pass it on to the viewers, hoping they can catch a glimpse of what I enjoy so much.”

View the artist’s portfolio at MaryLeslieStudio.com.

6

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.

Play is really the work of childhood. ~Fred Rogers

Moment of Peace Reiki Meditation Guided Relaxation Acupressure

Claire Crowley B.S., M.M., ERYT-500

1324 Lake Dr. Suite 7 616-295-1861 ClairCrowley123@att.net Moment-of-Peace.com

Wood & Saw

REMODELING AND HOME BUILDING Toxic-Free | Energy Efficient | Sustainable 616.834.2480 WoodandSaw.com Holland, MI natural awakenings

August 2016

7

healthbriefs

Delayed Kindergarten Reduces Attention Deficit

D

elaying kindergarten enrollment for one year shows significant mental health benefits for children, according to a Stanford University study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Reviewing results from a mental health survey completed by more than 35,000 Danish parents, the researchers saw that youngsters held back from kindergarten for as little as one year showed a 73 percent reduction in inattentiveness and hyperactivity for an average child at age 11, compared to children enrolled the year earlier.

Measuring inattentiveness and hyperactivity reflect a child’s ability to selfregulate. The generally accepted theory is that young people that are able to stay focused, sit still and pay attention longer tend to do much better in school.

“This is some of the most convincing evidence we’ve seen to support what U.S. parents and policymakers have already been doing—choosing to delay entry into kindergarten,” says Stanford Graduate School of Education Professor Thomas S. Dee. In addition to improved mental health, children with later kindergarten enrollment dates also exhibited superior emotional and social skills.

The number of U.S. children entering kindergarten at age 6 instead of 5 has progressively increased to about 20 percent, according to the study. Many parents are opting to delay kindergarten enrollment for a year to give their children a leg up in physical and emotional maturity and social skills.

Grape Juice Boosts Memory and Driving Skills

R

esearch from the UK University of Leeds has confirmed that drinking just one glass of grape juice a day increases spatial memory and driving abilities. The researchers attribute the brain boosting benefits to the polyphenols in the grapes.

The study followed 25 healthy mothers between the ages of 40 and 50. Each had young children and worked more than 30 hours a week. The mothers drank 12 ounces of Concord grape juice every day for 12 weeks and had their driving skills tested before and after the study period using a computer simulator.

Louise Dye, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Leeds and senior author of the study, notes, “This research is very promising, as it suggests that the cognitive benefits associated with Concord grape juice are not exclusive to adults with early memory decline. We saw these benefits even after the grape juice was no longer being consumed, suggesting a long-term effect of dietary flavonoids.”

8

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Breastfed Babies Have Fewer Colds and Ear Infections

A

study from the University of Texas has found that increased breastfeeding decreases ear infections among nursing children. The researchers followed 367 babies between 1 and 12 months old from 2008 through 2014.

The scientists analyzed family history traits of smoking, ear infections, breastfeeding and formula feeding. Nose and throat mucosal samples were taken throughout the study period to identify infections, and parents informed the researchers whenever the baby experienced an infection.

The study was led by Dr. Tasnee Chonmaitree, a pediatrics professor from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. “We clearly showed that frequent upper respiratory infections, carriage of bacteria in the nose and lack of breastfeeding are major risk factors for ear infections,” he states. “Prolonged breastfeeding was associated with significant reductions in both colds and ear infections, a common complication of colds.”

Aromatherapy Soothes Allergies

R

esearch from Korea’s Chung-Ang University has found that inhaling aromatherapy infusions comprising a combination of sandalwood, frankincense and ravensara for five minutes twice daily significantly reduces symptoms of allergies after seven days. The researchers tested 54 men and women, half of which were tested using a placebo of almond oil.

Total nasal symptom score (TNSS) and rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ) results were both significantly lower in the aromatherapy group. TNSS scores decreased by more than half and RQLQ scores decreased by more than 60 percent. Scores for fatigue and sleep quality also improved in the aromatherapy group.

“These findings indicate that inhalation of certain aromatherapy oils help relieve perennial allergic rhinitis symptoms, improve rhinitis-specific quality of life and reduce fatigue in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis,” Chung-Ang University’s Seo Yeon Choi and Kyungsook Park explain in their paper.

………

Naturopathic/ Holistic Health Care Family & Couple Therapy Health Coaching Organic Skin Care ………

Call Today for Your Complimentary Consult

………

638 W Fulton, Suite B, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 616-264-6556 grnaturalhealth.com

Prenatal Sun Exposure Lowers Asthma Risk

R

esearch has shown that children with mothers that live in sunnier locations during their second trimester are significantly less likely to have asthma than other children.

A consortium of researchers from the University of Kansas, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology analyzed data from both hospitals and national surveys to determine sunlight exposure for the mothers. Increased exposure to sunlight increases levels of natural vitamin D.

“We’re not looking at sunny places versus nonsunny places,” clarifies David Slusky, a University of Kansas assistant professor of economics. “We looked at the relative differences of the level of sunlight at a particular place at a particular time of year.”

Creativity is

allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams

Your Journey Towards Wellness Begins Here

MUSIC LIFTS THE HUMAN SPIRIT (269) 366-4146 AlignedCare.net

QSM3 Upper Cervical Nutrition Response Testing Kinesio Taping Massage Therapy Laboratory Diagnostics

natural awakenings

August 2016

9

“Sick and Tired” of Feeling “Sick and Tired” Explore the benefits of

Young Living Essential Oils n Grown from NON-GMO seeds n Grown in organic soils n Cultivated with natural fertilizers n Watered by melting snows from

nearby mountains n Distilled by gentle, custom-

designed methods to release highest potency properties n As seen on the “Today” show n Kosher certified n Classified G.R.A.S.

Never Any

healthbriefs

Young Adult Insomnia Linked to Chronic Pain

R

esearch from the University of Groningen, in The Netherlands, has found that young adults between 19 and 22 years old that don’t sleep well may have more chronic pain later in life. The researchers followed 1,750 people for three years.

About 50 percent of the participants that had sleep problems at the beginning of the study still had them at the end of the study. Roughly 38 percent of those reported chronic pain after three years. This compares to 14 percent of those that didn’t have sleep problems at the start of the research, but reported chronic pain at its conclusion.

Overall, the study found that sleep problems were associated with more musculoskeletal pains, headaches and abdominal pain. The relationship occurred in both men and women, but was stronger among women.

Legumes Facilitate Weight Loss

A

3 Adulteration 3 Additives 3 Synthetics 3 Pesticides

For People AND Pets!

Available through local, Independent Distributors

Income Opportunities Also Available! www.youngliving.org/naturalhealth4U Ad sponsored by Marilyn York (Young Living Independent Member #489656)

review of 21 clinical trials has found that just one daily serving of legumes can facilitate an average drop of threequarters of a pound over a six-week period. Published in the journal Obesity, the research analyzed results from studies that tested a total of 940 men and women eating about three-quarters of a cup of beans, lentils, chickpeas and other legumes each day. The subjects reported feeling nearly one-third fuller on average after eating about 5.6 ounces of these foods with their meals, compared with a control group’s diet. These beneficial legumes may also reduce body fat percentages.

According to senior study author and physician John Sievenpiper, Ph.D., of St. Michael’s Hospital’s Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center and the University of Toronto, “Ninety percent of weight-loss diets fail, resulting in weight regain, which may be due in part to hunger and food cravings. Knowing which foods make people feel fuller longer may help them lose weight and keep it off.”

ADVERTISE HERE Contact us for special one-time ad rates.

and

watch

your

business

grow

publisher@naturalwestmichigan.com | 616.604.0480 10

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

ecotip Vegan Leather

Walk the Talk with Cruelty-Free Shoes With a wealth of luxury faux alternatives available in today’s market, shoe lovers can obtain the quality footwear they desire without incurring the usual environmental and human health costs.

Vegan leather is an animal-friendly alternative to real leather, derived from synthetic materials. No cow, sheep, goat or any other animal is killed in order to make vegan leather shoes, and for most people, that’s a good enough reason to choose it over the “real” thing. Provided that we pick the right maker, it also boasts the added advantage of being far more eco-friendly and sustainable than conventional leather.

Elizabeth Olsen, founder of the luxury vegan shoe brand Olsenhaus, says, “The only difference is the materials—one uses a dead animal’s skin preserved in toxic chemicals; the other is made from a mixture of natural and manmade materials that are better for animals and the environment.”

Twenty times more energy is used to create a leather hide than what is required for synthesized material. Conventional leather tanning involves treating animal skins with large quantities of toxic chemicals, including mineral salts, lead, cyanide and formaldehyde. This process wreaks havoc on our environment and the people that work in or live near tanneries, where chemical exposure can cause sickness or even be lethal.

Olsen cautions that just because a shoe is vegan doesn’t mean it’s been made in an eco-friendly way. She uses natural and manmade materials such as linen, cotton, cork, wood, imitation leathers and recycled faux suede in her vegan shoe line. To assess the quality of vegan leather shoes, she advises, “Shoppers can feel the material and look at the grain to see if it’s faux; with faux, the grain will show a repeating pattern. Also, look for labels noting materials either inside or on the bottom of shoes.”

Olsen notes that an online search for vegan fashion will yield everything from adult couture to baby clothes. Several websites and blogs report on the latest vegan products. She especially likes GirlieGirlArmy.com for vegan lifestyle and fashion.

FOLLOW US!

NaturallyWestMI

Ready to Feel Like Yourself Again?

Raymond Wan M-Ac, LMT, ADS, HHC

TuiNa (Chinese Massage) Acupuncture Acudetox Qi Gong Class

Alternative Care Solution Wellness Center 3790 28th St SW, Suite B Grandville, MI 49418

616-419-6924 altcaresolution.com

Never-Fail Insect Repellant 2 Tbsp eucalyptus oil 1 tsp cedar wood oil 1 tsp citronella oil 1 tsp pennyroyal oil 1 tsp lemongrass oil

Mix in warm water in a one-quart spray bottle. Shake and use liberally.

Source: Kathleen Barnes

natural awakenings

August 2016

11

globalbriefs News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefits all.

Scrambling Species

Climate Change Favors Some Birds over Others Decades of data show that climate change is manipulating the way avian species move across continents. For instance, the orchard oriole is losing prime habitat in the South, but gaining more up north. Thousands of species worldwide face the same dilemma. Specific birds need a particular habitat, such as open spaces or groves of trees, and some of their traditionally preferred spots are becoming unlivable.

England’s Durham University ecologist Phillip Stephens, along with researchers from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the U.S. Geological Survey, have compiled nearly half a century’s worth of occurrence data from thousands of citizen scientists. Birders submitted their observations to the PanEuropean Common Birds Monitoring Scheme and the North American Breeding Bird Survey for 145 terrestrial bird species native to Europe and 380 species native to the United States.

“We used that information to generate a prior expectation for whether the species would’ve been advantaged or disadvantaged by climate change,” says Stephens.

The predictions were compared with actual bird abundance data from 1980 through 2010, and the populations that were expected to lose suitable habitat declined, while those expected to find their habitats improve increased. He states, “Recent climate change has already favored one set of species over another.”

Read the report at ClimateChange.Birdlife.org.

LOL TTYL

Hope for a New Generation Despite being less confident than their elders, a new study by PsychTests.com, in Montreal, reveals that Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) are an ambitious and tenacious generation that continues to prove potential critics wrong.

Labeled by some as self-entitled, arrogant and immature from being coddled by hovering parents, the company’s research says that Millennials are not afraid to push themselves to achieve lofty goals, work hard or take on difficult challenges.

Collecting data from 1,035 people that took their Ambition Test, the researchers looked at the differences between Millennials, Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980) and Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1960) in terms of their levels of aspiration, persistence and sense of self-efficacy. The study reveals that while Millennials lagged a little behind the other two generations on some factors related to ambition, the potential of these young adults should not be underestimated.

“One can argue that Millennials’ hopeful and determined nature is a case of idealism,” explains Ilona Jerabek, Ph.D., president of PsychTests. “Some have just started out in the workforce, so they’re eager to prove themselves, which could also mean that at some point they’ll be blindsided by the reality of what it’s like to be out there in the real world.”

12

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Toxic Trinkets

Low-Cost Jewelry May Harbor Cadmium In recent years, the European Commission has banned cadmium in all jewelry sold in Europe, but those shopping for low-cost jewelry in North America from popular fashion chains may be wearing products made with cadmium, a heavy metal that can be particularly toxic for kids. There are no known risks for people that wear contaminated jewelry, but swallowing or chewing on a piece containing high concentrations of the toxic metal could allow it to seep into the body.

James Van Loon, director of risk management at Health Canada’s consumer product safety branch, says that children’s bodies more readily absorb the toxic metal, and because they are more likely to put things in their mouths, jewelry that is marketed to those under 15 should contain virtually no cadmium.

Dr. Gérald Zagury, who performed tests and has published several studies on heavy metals in jewelry, says one sample contained the highest amount of cadmium ever reported in Canada for such a product. “It’s pretty close to pure cadmium,” he says. According to Health Canada, cadmium is cheap and melts at a lower point than more commonly used zinc, lowering energy costs for product makers.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, cadmium is a known carcinogen that can also lead to kidney failure, bone loss and other complications in those that are chronically exposed over time.

Source: EWG.org

Good Reads

Fiction Readers Have More Empathy The love of books may begin at any age, but for most, it starts in childhood. Now, scientists are studying the effects of reading on the brain with MRIs, polls, surveys and experiments. The results indicate that readers of fiction are more empathetic toward others. By engaging with a story, they are temporarily placing themselves in a character’s shoes, thus fostering empathy in real life, and literary reading amplifies this effect.

According to a Stanford University study, reading a challenging book also helps us become smarter, as well as more empathetic. By attempting to tackle harder books, we create new connections in our minds that we might not have done otherwise. Neuroscientist Bob Dougherty remarks, “The right patterns of ink on a page can create vivid mental imagery and instill powerful emotions.”

David Comer Kidd, author of another related study, observes, “Like opening a window to let fresh air into our home, literature opens up our minds to the myriad ideas that we wouldn’t be able to experience on our own. We can pause to analyze the experiences depicted as if they were our own, expanding our experience of the world.”

Show Stopper

Circuses Cease Exotic Animal Acts The Ringling Brothers Circus made good on a promise to retire their last contingent of performing elephants to the Center for Elephant Conservation, in Polk City, Florida, with the last such show streamed worldwide in May. While Ringling will retain the services of tigers, lions, leopards, horses, camels, dogs and kangaroos, the Mexican Congress has voted to prohibit exotic animals under big tops across their country.

That means no more tigers jumping through hoops, elephants used as props or monkeys dressed in tiny outfits. The bill requires circuses to report the wildlife they own, which would then be made available to interested zoos.

Green Serenity Sikkim Now a Wholly Organic State

Sikkim, the northeastern Indian state located between Bhutan and Nepal, has rid its agricultural land of pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified crops and other artificial inputs on around 75,000 hectares, or about 300 square miles, of agricultural land, making it its country’s first organic state. Instead, farmers use natural alternatives such as green manure and compost.

Twelve years ago, the Pawan Chamling-led government decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state through a declaration in the legislative assembly. After the entry of chemical inputs for farmland was restricted and their sale banned, farmers had no option but to go organic.

Source: TheHindu.com

Source: The New York Times

Harmony ‘n Health Colon Hydrotherapy

Mary A. DeLange C.C.T. L.M.T. 616-456-5033

Some Benefits of Colon Hydrotherapy: ~ Remove Toxic Waste from ones body ~ Eradicate Constipation ~ Removes Stomach Bloat ~ Increase ones Energy

Therapeutic Massage also available

Mary@HarmonynHealth.net

www.HarmonynHealth.net

natural awakenings

August 2016

13

ADV ERTORIAL

Pamper Your Skin With Natural The Awakenings Best Nature Has To Offer Advanced Healing Skin Cream

{

Satisfied Customer

}

Natural Awakenings Advanced Healing Skin Cream is a wonderful product.

The skin cream goes on smooth and absorbs into the skin quickly - it is not “greasy”. I have been plagued with dry skin around my ears, belly button and scalp for over 20 years and this product

has healed those areas in just 3 days of use. The Manuka Honey that is in this product, I was told repairs damaged skin - now I am a believer!!! I continue to use this skin cream to keep my skin soft. I have to mention the product has a wonderful aroma, like peppermint, and when applying the cream one can feel a slight warming sensation and I know it is working into the pores to do it’s work!

Glad I tried this product! ~ Jim

The cold, damp winter days are upon us. Don’t let chapped or dry, flaky skin get in the way of your daily life. Natural Awakenings Advanced Healing Skin Cream, a soothing therapeutic balm made with exclusive Manuka Honey from New Zealand, is the ultimate skin moisturizer for everyone in your family. Order one for the office, too!

Therapeutic Qualities

Natural Awakenings Advanced Healing Skin Cream combines botanicals and a unique blend of essential oils for a deep moisturizing therapy. It soothes and relieves dry, itchy or cracked skin quickly while restoring moisture and provides ultra-hydration protection and soothing comfort to wounds, sores, cuts and burns. Manuka Honey also relieves the pain and itch of psoriasis and other skin conditions.

Besides its potent antibacterial properties, honey is also naturally extremely acidic, and that will eliminate organisms that decides to grow there.

Our Skin Cream Contains:

Restore Your Skin to Natural Youthful Beauty You’ll love Natural Awakenings’ therapeutic cream’s clean, fresh botanical fragrance.

Discover what our amazing skin cream can do: • Provides Ultra-Hydration of Skin • Enhances Anti-Aging and Skin Renewal • Soothes Dry, Itchy, Cracked Skin • Relieves Most Burns, Including Sunburn • Comforts Wounds and Sores MANUKA HONEY is produced by bees that pollinate New Zealand’s Manuka bush. Advocates cite its antibacterial properties.

Hydration is a Must

The skin has a water content of 10 percent to 30 percent, which gives it a soft, smooth and flexible texture. The water comes from the atmosphere, the underlying layers of skin and perspiration. Oil produced by skin glands and fatty substances produced by skin cells act as natural moisturizers, allowing the surface to seal in water. Natural Awakenings Advanced Healing Skin Cream, applied after a shower or bath as daily maintenance, will improve the appearance of skin and heal unwanted conditions. Natural Awakenings Advanced Healing Skin Cream also combines pure botanicals and a unique blend of essential oils for a deep moisturizing therapy.

What Is Manuka Honey?

4-oz jar $21.99 • 8-oz jar $39.99 + ONLY $5 for shipping Order today, available only at

ShopNaturalAwakenings.com or call: 888-822-0246

Like us on Facebook at Natural Awakenings Webstore

14

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Manuka Honey is gathered in the wild back country of New Zealand from the native Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium). The bees don’t use the pollen from a variety of other flowers or plants, so the content of the honey is very consistent. A 2013 study in the European Journal of Medical Research used active Manuka Honey under dressings on postoperative wounds for an 85 percent success rate in clearing up infections, compared with 50 percent for normal antibiotic creams.

communityspotlight

d r a d d o t S y l Emi

“A

writer is simply someone who writes.” This is one of the uncomplicated mantras of Voice & Vessel founder Emily Stoddard. She believes that “your voice is yours, and it is already with you. No qualifications or critics get to decide whether a voice is valid.”

Voice & Vessel is a studio space in Grand Rapids where Stoddard offers weekly writing workshops, monthly writing circles, and coaching for writers. Her workshops are rooted in the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) Method, which has been used by writers around the world for over 30 years. The AWA Method has five essential affirmations: 1. Everyone has a strong, unique voice.

2. Everyone is born with creative genius.

3. Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.

4. The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or artistic self-esteem.

5. A writer is someone who writes.

“In the AWA method, we work toward wholehearted writing,” says Stoddard. “This is an open, freeing way to face the empty page, put the words down and see where they lead. We can worry about grammar and form later. The first step is opening up to our curiosity and our voice.”

Originally from Grand Rapids, Stoddard spent a couple years in San Francisco and discovered the AWA Method. “I was

by Julie Hurley

doing a lot of writing workshops out there. It was wonderful to have that sense of writing community. Any night of the week, I could join a writing group,” says Stoddard, who has been writing for publication for over 15 years.

The AWA Method offered a new way to approach the creative process.

“It spoke to me,” says Stoddard. “It is one of the most generative methods for writing I’ve found. It gets to that free, open, follow-your-curiosity place where creativity can just happen. That is a place where many new writers are scared to go to, and established writers want to find more consistently.”

After an intensive training with AWA leaders in Chicago last fall, Stoddard became one of the only Certified Leaders of the AWA Method in Grand Rapids. This February, she welcomed her first group of writers to her new studio at Voice & Vessel.

“My hope is that the studio is an inviting, safe space for risk-taking to happen,” says Stoddard. “For people to wonder: What does my voice sound like? How do I play on the empty page? It’s exciting to see what stories bubble up.”

“It’s so simple - writing belongs to everyone. But that’s what has allowed it to be so profound for people,” she says. “With Amherst, the act of writing becomes an invitation, and there are practices and writing prompts to help you show up. You’re invited to the page. You’re encouraged to accept the invitation. As adults, we don’t get enough chances to learn so openly, and we can forget how joyful it is to put words on the page.”

Stoddard is conscious about protecting the confidentiality of the group, even from within. She encourages people to leave the pressures and expectations of the outside world at

the door. She keeps the introductions simple, and writers know each other on a first-name basis only. First-time writers and published writers often end up writing together, without knowing it. She even refrains from calling herself a teacher. “We’re all equals, facing the same blank page,” she says. “There’s no hierarchy, no experts and no lowly students, because everyone is accepting that invitation to begin again.”

Voice & Vessel’s workshops last four weeks, with eight people per workshop and plenty of individual support for each writer. Her monthly writing circles hold up to 12 people and provide a more reflective writing space.

Stoddard is also planning retreats, revision groups, and longer workshops for later this year and 2017.

“My first workshop was in February 2016, and almost every workshop has been full since then,” she says. “It’s been an honor to write with so many people, with so many unique voices.”

Stoddard says that it’s fun to watch people’s reactions when they step into her studio. “I made sure that it was cozy and welcoming. I wanted it to feel like a writer’s living room, rather than an office environment or classroom,” Stoddard says.

“People have told me that they feel like they’re on a retreat, not in Grand Rapids.”

One participant, Laurie LarsonDoornbos, had a glowing review for Voice & Vessel on her blog ThisisMySymphony.net: “It helps, too, that the studio space and the workshop facilitator are a delight.

Stuffed easy chairs, ottomans, sofas.

Lamplight and bookshelves. Not a conference table or florescent light bulb in sight. And our workshop leader, Emily?

She is a sweet young woman, willowlike and graceful, with what I suspect is a wise, old soul. She is gentle and encouraging. But above all, she’s a confident and skillful writer who knows her stuff.”

Voice & Vessel is located at 922 Fuller Ave NE #112, Grand Rapids. Info: VoiceandVessel.com or 616- 350-6210.

See ad page 7.

Julie Hurley is a freelance writer and co-founder of Principia Media and Kili Summit Club, two local businesses.

Married with two children, Hurley summited Mt Kilimanjaro in 2014.

natural awakenings

August 2016

15

GROWING UP EMPOWERED Helping Kids Step into Their Best Selves

by Judith Fertig

T

he plugged-in, stressed-out world that challenges adults can be even more difficult for teens in the throes of hormones, peer pressure and a selfie culture. Parents can help their children thrive and become empowered individuals by nurturing desirable character traits such as resourcefulness, resilience, perseverance, self-reliance, independence, empathy and social competence.

Child psychologist Michele Borba, Ed.D., of Palm Springs, California, is a former classroom teacher and the mother of three grown children who dispenses advice at MicheleBorba.com/blog.

Her main parenting focus is character education, as reflected in her latest book, Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. “Tune in to what your kids love,” advises Borba. “Then find learning experiences that help them develop traits they need to be happy, productive adults.”

16

West Michigan Edition

This positive parenting approach—accentuating youthful desires and strengths, instead of deficiencies and weaknesses—helps young people develop a secure footing in life. “Kids are driven by their hearts,” observes Borba. “A positive parent doesn’t do the cookie-cutter approach, as in, ‘That’s what worked for other kids in the neighborhood,’ nor even reference what the parent did as a teen.” Teens also impose upon themselves, thinking that being trendy, beautiful, rich and famous are valuable life goals. “The positive parent looks at each child as an individual, listens to what really makes them light up, and then supports that.”

Dreaming Big

Landmark Worldwide, active in 125 cities globally, is committed to the idea that people everywhere have the possibility of achieving success, fulfillment

NaturalWestMichigan.com

and greatness. Corporate leaders praise its programs for helping participants relate, communicate and perform well.

Josselyne Herman-Saccio, a Landmark program leader in New York City, remarks, “Every one of us has a dream, yet too many of us choose our path with fear, disguised as practicality. Our kids might get the message that, ‘You don’t do your dream as your career.’”

That thought can leave anyone feeling like something is missing.

After putting off her own career as a singer and ultimately deciding to go for it, Herman-Saccio recorded That’s What Love Can Do with her group Boy Krazy. The song rose to the top of the pop charts in 1993.

That empowering experience helped her decide to help others—including her own three children—fulfill their dreams. Today, Herman-Saccio leads the Landmark Forum for adults, and the company also offers a version of the course for 13-to-17-year-olds, an interactive, three-day program in cities across the U.S. It helps teens first understand their existing patterns of thoughts and behaviors and then move forward to create new possibilities and face new challenges and discover a new level of power, freedom, self-expression and peace of mind. For a teen to register, a parent or legal guardian must register for or have completed the organization’s adult forum and provide permission.

Teens planning for life after high school get help identifying their career passion at schools such as Upland Hills School, in Oxford, Michigan.

Its emphasis on experiential learning culminates in a senior project the teen produces, whether it’s writing a novel, building a storage shed or volunteering at the local senior citizen center. Each must someway contribute to the community. Beginning with the student’s dream, they must work their way through obstacles, setbacks and all the steps required to bring a dream to reality.

Emotional Literacy/Healthy Risk-Taking

Sometimes parents need to address a teen’s longing for friends and social connections. For youths that especially need to nurture their social skills, such

as high-functioning kids with autism or Asperger’s syndrome, film school might be an answer. At the Joey Travolta Film School and summer camp, in Lafayette, California, kids work together to make a movie; they start with a script, create sets, operate the camera, act and direct.

At the Hunter School, in Romney, New Hampshire, kids dealing with attention challenges can nurture mindbody awareness, energetic mindfulness and sensory integration. It all helps them get to know themselves and relate better to others.

Outdoor skills can help teens develop healthy risk-taking behaviors, as well as teach resilience, perseverance and self-reliance. SheJumps (SheJumps. org), in Salt Lake City, offers young women 6 to 18 years old an opportunity to master outdoor living skills, boost confidence and encourage leadership via collaborating with strong female role models. Fun activities include mountain biking, skiing and trailblazing.

Leadership

Over time, experiential learning can help youths develop leadership skills.

Lander, Wyoming’s National Outdoor Leadership School, a gap-year program for high school graduates taking a year off before college, offers courses lasting two weeks, several months or even a full year. Activities include sea kayaking, Alaskan mountain and glacier climbing and wilderness medicine.

Teens already on track and wanting to develop additional leadership skills can tap into motivational speaker and self-help author Tony Robbins’ annual Unleash the Power Within youth leadership program event. Groups of youths

14 to 17 years old collectively participate to create individual breakthroughs, move beyond fears and limiting beliefs, accomplish goals and realize true desires. Application requirements include a good academic record, at least 20 hours of community service and a guidance counselor’s recommendation.

Robbins maintains, “Grow and give is what life is all about.”

Service to Others

A way for youngsters 5 to 19 years old to become empowered is by joining a 4-H group in urban, suburban or rural areas.

If we envision a farm kid raising a calf to show at the state fair, that’s still one facet of today’s 4-H, but far from the entire scope. Founded in 1902, 4-H is a global nonprofit dedicated to learning by doing; specialties now range from computer science and graphic design to leadership, healthy living and the performing arts.

Positive mentoring by adults and developing community spirit ground 4-H clubs, camps and programs.

Research by Tufts University’s Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development and America’s land-grant colleges and universities shows that people with a 4-H background are more likely to give back to their communities than others (see Tinyurl. com/YouthDevelopmentStudy).

For Grammy-winner Jennifer Nettles, of Nashville, 4-H meant learning to perform at an early age, even flying to Chicago to do it. “I don’t know that I would be where I am today without 4-H,” she says.

“Mentors there help you. They helped me with the skills of performing and learning about being on stage; they also taught me the importance of giving back.”

Sustainable Sustenance

Growing food for themselves and others can be a great adventure for teens, while fostering resourcefulness, perseverance and ecological awareness. Seventeenyear-old Katie Stagliano launched Katie’s Krops, in Summerville, South Carolina, several years ago based on her desire to fight hunger by growing food for people that need it. Today, the enterprise offers grants for youth in any area to start and maintain a local garden, provided they give away the produce to the hungry.

The initiative has grown to more than 50 gardens around the U.S.

Both Mobile Urban Growers, in Mobile, Alabama, and Closer to Earth, in Oklahoma City, empower youth through exercising organic gardening skills, environmental and food justice advocacy and personal mentorship.

Empowering experiences for teens don’t have to cost a lot or involve travel.

“Dream big, but start small. Look around your own backyard, in your community,” says Borba. “Teens can learn to pay it forward in all kinds of ways. They can get together with their peers and take on a doable project to help others. They may even need to start by learning to self-regulate and manage stress by getting away from their phones and instead being outside getting exercise.”

Casual family activities can provide opportunities for conversations about what teens want in life or what they’re worried about, and that opens the door for adults to step up to help mentor and empower their children.

“Boys are more likely to talk while they’re doing something, like shooting baskets with you in the driveway,” observes Borba. “Girls are more likely to talk if it’s one-on-one.”

Positive parents actively listen and then clarify what they heard from their teens, says Herman-Saccio. This information helps point the way forward, to more interactive dialogue, brainstorming, problem-solving, helpful experiences and eventually, youth empowerment.

Judith Fertig blogs at AlfrescoFood AndLifestyle.blogspot.com from Overland Park, KS.

natural awakenings

August 2016

17

Masters of Yoga, Pilates and TaiChi

yoga

with a PRENATAL YOGA BABY WEARING BARRE MOM & BABY YOGA

view Practice Yoga Overlooking Versluis Lake

FERTILITY YOGA KIDS YOGA

www.expressionsofgraceyoga.com renewmamastudio.com | (616) 443-3995

$35 for 30 days unlimited yoga for new students only (some restrictions apply)

208 W 18th Street Holland, MI 49424 616-392-7580 info@miBodhiTree.com www.miBodhiTree.com

New Students

One Month of Unlimited Yoga & Tai Chi Classes for $49!

Love e v o L

e f i L r u o Y Your Life

Celebrating Our 15 Year Anniversary!

616.336.YOGA | FromTheHeartYoga.com

18

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

5270 Northland Drive NE | Grand Rapids, MI 49525 | 616-361-8580

EMPOWERMENT STARTS EARLY Positive parenting skills go hand-inhand with children learning how to be their best. Kids can get an early start at programs like these.

SCHOOLS

New Student Special 2 Weeks Unlimited Yoga Only $29 5570 Wilson Ave, Suite M. Grandville 616.745.0310 www.PeaceLabYoga.com

CALL 616.604.0480 to be a part of this exclusive directory!

Waldorf Schools Learning by doing and in-depth, selfpaced study are hallmarks of Waldorf schools across the country.

Circle of Seasons Charter School, a Waldorf-methods public school, in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, offers a head start on empowerment for K–4 students (CircleOfSeasons.org).

Winter Sun Schoolhouse Through music, drama, literature, play, science, journaling, and art, children are introduced to reading, writing and speaking, math, Spanish Immersion, Sign Language, communication, space and critical thinking. It’s a space that naturally encourages learning!

Winter Sun Schoolhouse – (Three Muskegon locations: Whitehall Road Campus 231-744.1028; Pennsylvania Campus 231.719.3159; Ruddiman Campus, 231.719-2550 or WinterSunSchool.com)

PROGRAMS & CAMPS

The Natural Learning School, in Memphis, Tennessee, guides toddlers through elementary school kids with whole-child education, including arts and green learning (NLSMemphis.com).

Kids Food Basket Kids Food Basket is a nonprofit organization attacking childhood hunger to help young people learn and live well.

(Grand Rapids, 616-235-4532 and Muskegon 231-747-8575)

WMCAT WMCAT is an innovative, forwardthinking organization grounded in the symbiotic relationship between space, technology and best-practice programming to provide equitable access to opportunity. (Grand Rapids. 616-454-7004 or WMCAT.org)

Women in Transition – Girls on the Run Program The goal of the program is to unleash confidence through accomplishment while establishing a lifetime appreciation of health and fitness.

(Allegan and Ottawa Counties 616-494-1719 or shylab@cwitmi.org)

Black River Public School A Montessori-based elementary school that fosters student achievement and responsibility in smaller sized classes and individualized learning plans to enhance advancement. (Holland 616-355-0055 or BlackRiverPublicSchool.org)

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp A summer school of the arts located on a 1,400 acre campus in Michigan’s Manistee National Forest, offers fine arts education for all ages.

(Twin Lake 231-894-1966 or BlueLake.org)

natural awakenings

August 2016

19

healingways

Salt Air in the City Salt Rooms Soothe Allergies and Skin Conditions

by Avery Mack

A

ccording to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, as many as 50 million Americans are affected by seasonal or year-round nasal allergies. Additionally, 56 million suffer from eczema, psoriasis or rosacea.

Prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs may help, but aren’t a cure. Salt therapy can be a gentler, all-natural solution for easing associated symptoms.

While eating too much salt is bad for the body, breathing it is a healthy activity. The Greek word for salt is halos, and halotherapy provides a welcome alternative to conventional pills, sprays and injections.

In the mid-1800s, after salt mine workers in Poland were found to have a low rate of respiratory illness, the Wieliczka Salt Mine Health Spa was established on the site of a mine to treat clinic patients for asthma and allergies. That pioneering facility is still in operation.

“In the beginning, I think salt therapy was seen as a time-consuming novelty. Now, holistically minded people are more supportive,” says Clay Juracsik, owner of the St. Louis Salt Room, in Maplewood, Missouri.

The room’s walls are covered in salt, with blocks of backlit Himalayan

20

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

pink salt at floor level. Clients wear disposable booties to walk through inches-deep, loose, mineral-rich Dead Sea salt to reclining chairs. The lights dim, soft music plays and salt, rich in negative ions, infuses the air for a 45-minute session.

“We have a second, smaller room where the walls and floor are not salted, so a child and parent can move around or play without disturbing others.

Our youngest client was 2 weeks old,” says Juracsik.

With the help of specially designed machines and software, microscopic salt particles one to five microns in size are circulated through the air to be deeply inhaled. As a natural anti-inflammatory agent, salt helps reduce swelling of throat tissues and nasal passages, making breathing easier for individuals suffering from such respiratory ailments as allergies, asthma, bronchitis and sinusitis.

“True halotherapy is based on using 99 percent pure sodium chloride in the halogenerator,” says Leo Tonkin, co-founder of the Salt Therapy Association, in Boca Raton, Florida. “Dead Sea, Himalayan or other salts can be used as décor.”

“My husband, Gary, had three sinus surgeries before he discovered a salt room during a trip to London and had a eureka moment,” relates Ellen Patrick, owner of four Breathe Easy salt rooms in New York City and nearby Westchester County.

“A client’s 4-year-old son tells Mom when he needs a treatment to ‘make his nose work better,’” reports Lisa Cobb, owner of Luxury on Lovers, in Dallas, Texas. “He uses a salt bed similar in style to a tanning bed and large enough for his mother to be with him for a 20-minute treatment. Pilots and flight attendants like salt rooms to counteract the recirculated air on planes. Athletes use them to increase lung capacity. A treatment works like a visit to the ocean.”

A recent pilot study conducted at The Salt Room, in Orlando, Florida, and published in the International Journal of Respiratory and Pulmonary Medicine, concluded, “Halotherapy is associated with improvement in

For a list of U.S. salt rooms, see Tinyurl.com/ SaltSpaLocations. symptoms of sinus disease in cystic fibrosis and should be explored as an adjunct treatment.”

Salt’s anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial properties may also reduce skin swelling and itchiness, and even acne, without drying the skin. Increased lung capacity aids blood circulation, which also helps improve skin health. Salt room operators note that frequent treatments are needed during early stages of therapy or during acute outbreaks of conditions, but can be reduced to a maintenance level over time.

Juracsik remarks, “The best success I’ve seen is with respiratory ailments like bronchitis and pneumonia. We

don’t need a new, fancy pill for every illness. Salt is historically proven to be a natural and effective way to improve respiratory health.”

Options go beyond basic treatments. “Meditating in the salt room allows double relaxation,” comments Patrick. “Salty yoga is one of my favorite therapies because clients can exercise and breathe easier at the same time.

Another option comprises a sound bath, during which crystal bowl music creates a vibration similar to piano notes to quiet and focus the mind during a salt session.”

Salt treatments can be experienced regularly, seasonally or as needed. For those free of respiratory issues, a salt room visit provides a refreshing way to relax, sit, chill and breathe. Patrick views it as a form of stress management to increase well-being.

Connect with the freelance writer via AveryMack@mindspring.com.

Let me help you learn more about what scientists and health professionals are calling the single, greatest discovery and breakthrough of our lifetime in health, anti-aging and athletic performance, endurance and recovery. If you ignore your health, it will go away. Have you had your molecules today?

Yoga, Dance & Meditation Classes • Live Uplifting Music • Workshops • Healthy Vegetarian Food • Children’s Tent • Healing Arts Center • Wooded Camping

Jacque Jennings - Carter

Experience summer in the undisturbed Pigeon River State Forest at Song of the Expe Morning Yoga Retreat! 800 acres of wooded camping and miles of hiking trails. Song of the Morning is open year round offering workshops, yoga, meditation, vegetarian meals and a variety of accommodations.

Anti-Aging Specialist • Independent Associate • International Business Developer 269.353.4000 office 269.779.2900 mobile • Jacque@AdvancingLives.biz

natural awakenings

August 2016

21

fitbody

JUST WALK 22 Minutes a Day Boosts Well-Being

by Randy Kambic

E

22

ven mainstream media have picked up on the many physical and mental benefits of walking, including

West Michigan Edition

weight loss, reduced stress, increased energy and better sleep, and that’s only the beginning. These additional com-

NaturalWestMichigan.com

pelling effects may well catalyze us to consistently step out for a daily walk, understanding that cumulative steps count, too. For more inspiration, check out this month’s race walking at the Summer Olympics.

Walking helps heart health and diabetes. According to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Walking program launched last fall, the risk of heart disease and diabetes can be significantly reduced via an average of 22 minutes a day of brisk walking. “Physical activity has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain cancers, osteoporosis, cognitive decline and even depression,” says Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of the division of preventive medicine at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Can you imagine if there was a pill that could simultaneously have all those benefits? Everyone would be clamoring for it.”

Walking reduces anxiety and clears thinking. The results of a national survey of nearly 3,000 women between the ages of 42 and 52 published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that those that walked as part of a regular physical activity showed fewer signs of depression compared with inactive women. The more physical activity a woman logged, the less likely she was to exhibit such symptoms, suggesting that moderate-to-intense levels of exercise may help protect against mental illness. The survey further revealed that 85 percent believe walking helps reduce any present anxiety and feelings of depression, while two-thirds reported that walking stimulates their thinking.

Walking facilitates doctor-patient communication. Columbus, Ohio-based Walk with a Doc (WalkWithADoc.org) helps organize free walking events each month via 230 chapters nationwide.

They’re led by physicians and other healthcare authorities. “It’s a casual forum in which to communicate and also learn about the health benefits of walking,” says Executive Director Rachael Habash, who’s aiming for 350 chapters by year’s end.

When doctors emphasize the benefits of exercise, patients tend to listen.

Walking boosts life performance.

“Until the late 1960s, 90 percent of America’s children that lived up to a

The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow. ~Henry David Thoreau mile away walked to school. Today, that figure is 30 percent,” says Sheila Franklin, of the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, in The Walking Revolution documentary (scroll to the video at EveryBodyWalk. org). Experts warn that less walking by youngsters can create sedentary habits and lead to shortened life spans.

Daily walks to school boost cognitive performance in students, according to Mary Pat King, the National Parent Teacher Association director of programs and projects. Dr. Richard Jackson, a pediatrician, professor and chair of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health at University of California, Los Angeles,. and former environmental health director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, reports that walking improves children’s learning ability, concentration, moods and creativity.

Even lifelong walkers are moved to walk more by using a pedometer to track their steps and distance traveled, says Dr. Lauren Elson, a physical medicine and rehabilitation instructor at Harvard Medical School, who is also the medical editor of the recent Harvard Special Health Report Walking for Health

(Health.Harvard.edu/walk). A metareview of 26 studies found that using the device raised physical activity levels by nearly 27 percent, adding about 2,500 steps per day. Most stores that sell exercise equipment offer inexpensive pedometers, while smartphone users can download an app such as Moves, Breeze or Pedometer++. Apple’s iOS includes the free app Health.

Walking leads to meaningful exchanges. Social connections and honest conversations between two people can be aided by walking outside instead of sitting inside. Clay Cockrell, a licensed clinical social worker in New York City, began walking with clients 12 years ago. He notes that casual venues like parks have been especially helpful for men. “They sometimes have a more difficult time making eye contact in sessions. Outside, they are looking where they are going, looking at nature, other people—the pressure is less. My own health has improved, as well,” he says.

He shares ideas with the public and other therapists at WalkAndTalk.com to maximize the benefits. He sees moving the body forward along a path as a metaphor for moving forward in life.

Adds Habash, “We believe that engaging in health should be simple and fun, like putting one foot in front of the other at every opportunity.”

Randy Kambic is an Estero, FL, freelance writer and editor who regularly contributes to Natural Awakenings.

Join our Natural Awakenings group on Facebook and we’ll directly alert you of upcoming happenings and events.

Find us @: Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan

Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

Subtle Energies & D-Rose Institute of Urevia® Healing Usui Reiki Classes ~ Urevia® Practitioner Level One ~ Karuna® Reiki Classes August 6 & 7

August 20 & 21

October 8 & 9

We offer certified and professionally accredited education for healing practitioners, holistic practitioners and health-care professionals.

Learning in a retreat like setting, on a beautiful private lake, providing nourishment, peace, growth, education, and healing.

Individual healing sessions are available by appt. Serving SW Michigan.

reikiconnect.com

269-838-4079

reiki-ureviaclasses.com natural awakenings

August 2016

23

consciouseating

A GOOD FOOD FIGHT Keeping Food Out of the Trash Bin

by April Thompson

A

s much as 40 percent of food produced in the U.S. is wasted, even as one in six Americans goes hungry. Instead of feeding people better, we are feeding the city dump. Of all types of trash, food consumes the most space in our municipal landfills, followed by plastic and paper. Rotting food then releases harmful methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

While food waste is a big problem, social entrepreneurs see a big opportunity.

Around the country, they are working to reduce, recover and rethink discarded food valued at more than $160 billion a year. In the process, they are not only cutting food costs, but also creating jobs and fighting climate change.

University of Maryland College Park alumna Cam Pascual co-founded the nonprofit Food Recovery Network (FRN) after watching hundreds of pounds of food hit the trash in her campus dining hall every night. Pascual and her colleagues mobilized a volunteer network to shuttle leftovers from the university to soup kitchens, donating 200 meals a night to feed the hungry.

In the last five years, FRN has recovered more than 1 million pounds of food from 184 campuses in 42 states, proving that ingenuity and philanthropy can together fight the food waste travesty. “There are two major barriers to recovering leftover food; one is awareness, like helping businesses to understand the laws that protect them from liability,” says Pascual, the organization’s current director of innovation and operations. “The other is the labor involved. Universities are the perfect ecosystem for food recovery because college students have flexible schedules and are community service-minded, offering a ready supply of volunteers.”

The latest FRN initiative is a certification program to verify that farms and restaurants are engaging in food recovery that includes creating a toolkit to help restaurants safely recover leftover meals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture recently set a goal of slashing food waste in half by 2030, with sev-

24

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Food waste reduction can be engineered in ways less noticeable to consumers, such as doing away with dining hall trays or using smaller plates. ~Cam Pascual

eral supporting bills approaching the floor in Congress. The EPA food recovery hierarchy calls for reducing food waste first and foremost, with recovering food to feed people or animals as a fallback and utilizing landfills only as a last resort.

“It’s one thing to set goals, but to realize those reductions in food waste, we have to change our behavior,” says Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It). Farms and households are the two largest generators of food waste, according to Bloom, whose blog at WastedFood.com offers dozens of beneficial tips for keeping food out of the trash bin.

Fighting food waste starts before we go to the grocery. Bloom recommends consumers organize cupboards to know what’s already in stock, plan meals and stick to the shopping list. Post-purchase, easy tips include serving smaller portions, freezing leftovers and sharing surplus with friends and neighbors.

Bloom’s website fans contribute more ideas like mixing veggie scraps into pet food or making them into soup stock. Using a smaller refrigerator keeps shoppers from bulking up while saving energy costs. The battle against wasted food needs to start at home, where small steps add up to big change.

Connect with freelance writer April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.

A FOOD FIGHT WORTH WINNING Diverting Unsold Food from Full Landfills to Hungry Tummies

J

onathan Bloom speaks to college students around the U.S. explaining how fighting food waste requires changing beliefs and behaviors about food. “Recognize that taste should trump appearance, and don’t be so concerned with superficialities,” is a leading message. He cites replicable countermeasures like Hungry Harvest and Imperfect Produce, both predicated upon giving “ugly produce” a second chance. Based in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco’s Bay Area, respectively, these businesses offer low-cost home delivery of surplus produce, much of which is rejected for not meeting grocery stores’ high cosmetic standards.

Here are more examples of the community pioneers working to divert food from overstuffed landfills to people.

Daily Table (DailyTable.org) purchases excess food from growers, manufacturers and supermarkets to provide healthy food at fast-food prices for populations in need. The Dorchester, Massachusetts, retail grocery store offers fresh produce and grocery items, plus ready-to-cook and grab-n-go prepared meals.

Fruitcycle (TheFruitcycle.com) makes healthy dried snacks from produce that would otherwise be tossed. The Washington, D.C.-area business also provides jobs for formerly incarcerated, homeless or otherwise disadvantaged women.

Food Cowboy (FoodCowboy.com) reroutes food rejected by distributors. Truck drivers use a mobile app to communicate availability of such produce and find a charity or compost site to accept it.

Re-Nuble (Re-Nuble.com) transforms food waste into affordable, organic fertilizer for hydroponic growing, thus contributing a solution to hunger.

BluApple (TheBluApple.com) makes a plastic, fruit-shaped device that can triple the shelf life of refrigerated food. It absorbs ethylene, a naturally occurring gas that accelerates spoilage.

Class is more important than a game. ~Pat Summitt

Reflexology and Massage Therapy

HALSEY FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC

Health from the Inside Out.

Call Today!

989-427-3457 503 E. Main • Edmore natural awakenings

August 2016

25

wisewords

Barnet Bain on How Creativity Can Save the World Fresh Thinking Challenges Rigid Mindsets

by Linda Sechrist

F

Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. ~Albert Einstein

ilmmaker Barnet Bain’s credits include writer/director of Milton’s Secret, due out this fall, starring Donald Sutherland and Michelle Rodriguez and based on Eckhart Tolle’s book, producer of the Oscarwinning What Dreams May Come, executive producer of the Emmy-award nominee Homeless to Harvard and writer/producer of The Celestine Prophecy movie. Now, as author of The Book of Doing and Being: Rediscovering Creativity in Life, Love, and Work, he offers tools that everyone can use to develop a creativity practice designed to move us beyond our unconscious hand-me-down worldview, escape mental and emotional straightjackets and unlock great reservoirs of imagination. In so doing, we discover we can create anything we like; from a work of art to a fulfilling relationship.

Why is creativity so vital now?

Relieve Stress and Anxiety Call Today to Schedule Your Massage Appointment 5260 Kalamazoo Ave SE Kentwood, MI. 49508 616.827.2350 www.NaturalChoiceChiro.com 26

West Michigan Edition

More than ever before, the nature of human consciousness today is making it apparent that we live inside stories and are pushing up against their edges. Strategies we’ve used to try to attain control, success or empowerment—structured ideas about how the world works, false assurances and guarantees about life—may not be working. As a result, we are mired in anxiety, stress and crises. It all offers us the opportunity to wake up to a larger truth that supersedes everything else: We must discover where our true safety resides, in building newly intelligent relationships within, as well as with others, using capacities beyond logic and reason.

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Why do we need an internal sense of safety?

Safety found within shows up in our experiences of the world. As we become increasingly reliant on and confident in our creative skills to survive and thrive, we give ourselves the gift of resilience in chaos.

Humanity’s creativity must be awakened in order to meet the challenges of a changing world and effectively address problems that appear to have too few solutions. The same inner awareness and skill set that give birth to the creative process can be applied to all aspects of life. Only through creative acts can we rise above unworkable paradigms, group thinking and earlier conditioning to create new and more fluid stories that grow from revised thoughts, beliefs, choices and attitudes that mature from the inside out.

Deep, compassionate understanding of how we arrived at this point allows us to shed restrictions. It begins with facing the whys and wherefores of our most intimate consciousness.

How do male and female energies play into this?

Everyone possesses both masculine and feminine energies; neither is better or less valuable than the other. Doing and acting characterize masculine energy, which makes things. It builds, structures, orders and files. Being characterizes the feminine, womb-like energy, pregnant with possibilities and subsequent manifested outcomes. The

capacities to imagine, feel and receive also are feminine. In the dance with the masculine, the harmony of these feminine qualities is the primal desire for and the impulse of creativity itself.

When the masculine and feminine energies are balanced and intimately joined, they express the ability to act, create, manifest, build and bring order.

When we learn how to balance them, we become more creative and effective, individually and collectively. We are better at meeting challenges and responding to opportunities.

How does chauvinism block creativity?

Chauvinism, an elevation of masculine

over feminine energy, would separate us from our feelings. It does violence to femininity and castrates legitimate masculinity. The mildest trace of such subordination diminishes and reduces primal creative energies to second place, so that nothing new can arrive. Civilization suffers from this systemic disorder to the degree that we believe our needs won’t be met unless we are controlling or relying disproportionately on action principles. A culture that elevates doing over being is ignorant of how to pop the clutch and shift into neutral, and so keeps driving down the same road without hope of changing direction.

When spirituality was more alive inside religious traditions, we honored the sanctity of the Sabbath and the

importance of putting aside doing in order to be intimate with the mystery of life. It’s what breathes new life into our thoughts and feelings, arousing body, mind and spirit to new heights.

Every creator understands that all creativity is a gift of the feminine energy and a gift of the gods. Integrative masculine energies are always constellated around such a gift. Allowing ourselves to become intimate with a greater state of being rather than doing, we open ourselves to receiving a new relationship with life.

Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings. Connect at ItsAllAboutWe.com.

WANT TO CONNECT WITH OUR READERS?

THREE-MONTH EDITORIAL CALENDAR AND MARKETING PLANNER

S E P T

The Yoga Issue plus: Healing Music

Our Readers Are Seeking These Providers & Services:

Yoga Classes, Studios, Teachers, Events & Workshops • Wellness Trainers & Coaches • Life Coaches Natural Recreational Supplies • Yoga Apparel & Gear • Concerts, Music Festivals & Recorded Music Providers... and this is just a partial list!

O C T

Chiropractic Issue plus: Game Changers

Our Readers Are Seeking These Providers & Services:

General, Advanced & Sports Chiropractors • Integrative & Natural Healthcare Providers Independent Living Aids • Mobility Supplies • Physical Therapy • Gyms & Fitness Centers Community Activists Groups • Civic Organizations ... and this is just a partial list!

Mental Wellness plus: Beauty

N O V

Our Readers Are Seeking These Providers & Services:

Alternative & Energy Healing • Counseling/Therapy • Functional Medicine & Integrative Physicians Food Addiction Recovery • Hypnotherapy • Massage Therapy • PTSD Counseling • Relationship Counseling Acupuncture • Bodywork • Facials • Organic Hair & Nail Care • and this is just a partial list!

Contact us to learn about marketing opportunities and become a member of the Natural Awakenings community at:

616.604.0480 • publisher@naturalwestmichigan.com natural awakenings

August 2016

27

inspiration

EARTH GUARDIANS Kids Say No to Global Warming

by April Thompson

A There is a fountain

of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.

When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. ~Sophia Loren

28

West Michigan Edition

t age 6, climate change activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez gave his first speech to a packed crowd in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado.

Raised in the Aztec tradition, he was taught that as indigenous people, they are descendants of the land and inherit a duty to protect it.

“I felt such sadness that my generation inherited this crisis to clean up.

That night, I saw that those emotions could be channeled into action and my voice could make a difference,” says Martinez, founder and youth director of the nonprofit Earth Guardians.

Ten years later, his impassioned message has sparked a global movement. More than 2,000 “youth crews” from Bhutan to Brazil are fighting climate change and improving their communities in other ways.

These activists aren’t yet old enough to vote, but are still making their voices heard by global policymakers. On their behalf, Martinez delivered a plea to representatives from 192 countries at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on climate change last year, asking for stronger measures to protect both the planet and its people. He particularly pointed to the ever-increasing “climate refugees” that have lost their homes to rising oceans and other havoc caused

by Earth’s warming trend.

Although Martinez serves on President Obama’s youth council, he

NaturalWestMichigan.com

and 20 other young plaintiffs filed a landmark lawsuit earlier this year against the federal government for failing to protect its citizens from climate change. The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring America’s president to establish a national plan to decrease atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to “safe” levels by 2100.

At home, Martinez is working with Boulder County community and environmental organizations to locally eliminate pesticides from parks, charge for plastic bags at retail, regulate coal ash emissions and ban fracking.

EarthGuardians.org offers many ways anyone can plug into the movement, whether taking individual actions to lighten our carbon footprint, creating school gardens or signing its Silence into Action pledge, inspired by Martinez’s younger brother Itzcuauhtli’s 45-day silence strike for climate action.

“The most important thing you can do is educate yourself. Whatever makes you come alive, use that passion to make a difference,” says Martinez, whose performances as a pianist and hip-hop artist inform and enliven music festivals worldwide. “Together, we can create a legacy we can be proud to pass on to the next generation.”

Connect with freelance writer April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.

beinspired Only in an open, nonjudgmental space can we acknowledge what we are feeling.

Only in an open space where we’re not all caught up in our own version of reality can we see and hear and feel who others really are, which allows us to be with them and communicate with them properly.

Pema Chodron

natural awakenings

August 2016

29

healthykids drop in original thinking that happens as students move into early adolescence,” reports Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind.

Creativity isn’t only child’s play; parents also could do well to infuse their own lives with its discoveries and delights. “Through creativity, parents can reawaken a sense of wonder and joy, and nurture characteristics like patience,” says Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way for Parents: Raising Creative Children.

YAY FOR

NaturallyWestMI

PLAY

Ways to Spark a Child’s Creativity

by April Thompson

W An Interspiritual Church

An Alternative to Traditional Religion Radically Inclusive

Sunday Worship: 10:30am Wednesday Discussion & Meditation: 6:00pm Pastor Sherry Petro-Surdel 3493 Blue Star Highway Saugatuck, MI. 49453 616-836-1555 www.Spirit-Space.org

30

West Michigan Edition

hether it’s playing dress-up, making forts from sofa cushions or drawing pictures, creative moments can define and distinguish a happy childhood. Yet it’s not all just fun and games, according to experts. Childhood creativity, nurtured both in the classroom and at home, is crucial for developing qualities such as sound decision-making, flexible thinking and mental resiliency.

Analyzing more than 150 studies across the fields of psychology, neuroscience, education and business management, the Center for Childhood Creativity, in Sausalito, California, found many important life skills are affiliated with a creative upbringing.

The resulting white paper, Inspiring a Generation to Create, underscores that rather than simply being an innate trait, creativity can be taught.

“Creativity should be an integral part of every child’s education. The research shows that we can avoid the

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Engaging Parents

Cameron wrote the book in part to guide her own daughter, actress and film director Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, in her creative journey through motherhood.

While many such works focus on art projects for kids, Cameron’s book emphasizes activities that put creative fuel in the parental tank. For example, she recommends parents take up the ritual of “morning pages”; writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts the first thing each morning.

Jean Van’t Hul, author of The Artful Parent, started a daily sketchbook practice for herself and to set an example for her kids. “I like that the kids see me creating regularly and they’ve joined in a couple times. I also want to get over my self-limited belief that I’m not a good artist,” remarks Van’t Hul, who blogs at ArtfulParent.com.

Engaging Kids

A family ritual, like a bedtime story or relationship with a pet, can be re-imagined to inspire household members to co-create together. “Instead of always reading to my kids, we take turns making up stories by ‘giving’ each other three things, like an airplane, a shovel and a pair of pants, which we have to use in a story,” says Nicole Corey Rada, a working mother of two in Richmond, Virginia. “Sometimes, we pretend our pets are having conversations, and use different voices and accents to express what they might be saying, given their

Every child and parent is creative. Exercising our creativity is an act of faith. ~ Julia Cameron circumstance at the time. This is a family favorite; we laugh constantly.”

Mark Runco, Ph.D., a University of Georgia professor of gifted and creative education, founder of the Creativity Research Journal and advisor to the Center for Childhood Creativity, notes the importance of balancing unstructured and structured activities, creating space for both individual expression and creative collaboration.

To foster the former, Van’t Hul encourages “strewing”, which she refers to as “the art of casually yet strategically leaving invitations for learning and creativity out for kids to discover on their own.” Invitations to play could be a basket of non-toxic blocks, a recycled-paper sketchpad opened to a blank page or some nature finds from a walk in the woods.

As an example of the latter, Cameron suggests that parents lead kids on a weekly creative expedition, allowing the kids to choose a new place to aimlessly explore such as a park, bookstore, pet shop or museum. According to the author, that sense of shared adventure, fostered in a safe space, naturally nurtures the creative process, both for now and the future.

“If you make art the center, insisting that kids be creative, they may feel a sense of pressure,” advises Cameron.

“If you make inspiration the center, it spills over into art.”

Connect with freelance writer April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.

Unlock Your Profit Potential

ADVERTISE HERE

Contact us for economical ad rates. publisher@naturalwestmichigan.com | 616.604.0480 natural awakenings

August 2016

31

Refresh

The Garden Cure Natural Sanctuaries Heal Body and Spirit

by Sandra Murphy

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir Renew

Since ancient times, gardens have been employed as a place of healing for body and spirit. Japanese healthcare providers prescribe shinrin-yoku, meaning, “walking in forests to promote health” or “forest bathing”. Its intent is to use sight, sound and smell to connect with nature through stress-reducing, meditative walks.

Based on a program created by the Morikami Japanese Gardens, in Delray Beach, Florida, Washington state’s Bloedel Reserve, on Bainbridge Island, conducts Strolls for Well-Being. Partici32

West Michigan Edition

pants sign up for a free, 10-week session of 12 self-guided walks and three group meetings. A companion workbook is provided to encourage journaling on themes such as forgiveness, gratitude and joy.

“Public gardens are a safe place where people can focus and do the work,” says Erin Jennings, with Bloedel.

“We see people that wish to reflect and refuel or simply be more aware and intentional in life.” With 150 acres of natural woodlands and landscaped areas, ranging from a moss garden to a bird marsh, participants can take as much time as they need.

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Photo courtesy of The Boiron Medicinal Garden at the Rodale Institute

greenliving

Bees are an integral part of any flowering garden, and Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary, in Floyd, Virginia, sustainably hosts 30 hives on six acres adjacent to a field planted with buckwheat, mustard, sunflowers and clover for its biodynamic beekeeping. An orchard on the property dovetails with an organic farm next door. Tours, talks, plant sales, food and music enhance the hospitality.

Hope Hill Lavender Farm, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, adds lavender to soap, sugar scrubs, lotion and essential oil. “It takes 11 pounds of hand-picked fresh blossoms to make one ounce of essential oil,” says Troy Jochems, coowner with his wife, Wendy. A member of the mint family, lavender adds distinctive flavor and fragrance to both sweet and savory dishes (find recipes at HopeHillLavenderFarm.com). Visit the farm on summer weekends through mid-August and plan to partake of the annual lavender festival next June.

In Glen Allen, Virginia, visitors enjoy a cool serving of lavender lemonade or honey ice cream at Lavender Fields Herb Farm after a stroll through the garden. Greenhouse tours and fall classes on growing herbs, vegetables and lavender include how to make an herbal wreath.

Restore

Tea Wellness classes and tastings of fair trade heirloom varieties are a big draw at Light of Day Organics, in Traverse City, Michigan. They’re taught by founder and horticulturist Angela Macke, a registered nurse. It’s the only dual-certified organic and Demeter Biodynamic commercial grower of tea plants in North America.

The Boiron Medicinal Garden at the Rodale Institute, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, emphasizes the importance of plants in homeopathy. Maggie Saska, plant production specialist with the research farm, explains, “Walking tours with educational signage in the garden let visitors know which species to look for when planting their own organic healing garden. Plants from a store may not be organically grown or of the correct species,” although a nursery may afford more options.

Nature is my medicine. ~Sara Moss-Wolfe

Christophe Merville, D.Pharm., Boiron USA director of education and pharmacy development, attests that many familiar plants can offer benefits beyond beauty, such as reducing stress, promoting healing or easing congestion. He cautions, “People think plants are naturally safe, but they can be dangerous. St. John’s wort extract, for example, can relieve mild depression, but interacts with prescription medicines. It also reacts to light, so users may experience rashes from sun exposure.

“Lemon balm can be made into an antioxidant tea. It can be grown in a garden, on a balcony or indoors, and combines well with chamomile or lavender.

We like it for helping to relieve anxiety or to improve mental performance.”

Merville suggests steeping German chamomile tea for relaxing sleep.

He says breathing in the steam helps a stuffy nose. When used as a compress, it can relieve pain and itch

from rashes. “Don’t drink too much or make it too concentrated,” he warns, because of its blood-thinning properties. Saska and Merville recommend that enthusiasts take classes, work with an herbalist and find a good reference book. Merville prefers Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal for beginners.

Vicki Nowicki, founder of Liberty Gardens, in Downers Grove, Illinois, observes, “The world is seeing the first generations that don’t have a relationship with the land or know how to grow their own food.” Its seed-lending library, classes and tours, along with other healing gardens throughout the country, aim to get everyone back to basics including going outside.

Connect with freelance writer Sandra Murphy at StLouisFreelanceWriter@ mindspring.com.

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

Americans’ Inside Story n Only 12 percent of U.S. adults go outside nearly every day, 8 percent several times a week and 6 percent only once or twice a week. Two percent never venture outside. n When U.S. adults take time out of doors, just under a third spend more than an hour there and almost a quarter spend at least 30 minutes while the rest average five to 10 minutes or less. n Thirty-eight percent of Americans 55 years and over invest at least an hour outside each day, compared to 25 percent of those under 35.

Source: National Recreation and Park Association

~Sophia Loren

332 S. Lincoln, Lakeview, MI 989-352-6500

Rev. Barbara & Bob Huttinga PA-C Certified National Health Practitioners & Naturopathic Educators

Holistic Health

Healing Body, Mind & Spirit

Healing Techniques

Products

Healing & Nutrition Consultation Muscle Testing Reflexology Therapeutic Massage Light Touch Healing Natural Hormone Therapy Iridology Reiki Virtual Gastric Band Acupuncture

Homeopathic Remedies Essential Oils Bach Flowers Personal Care Eco-Friendly Household Items Herbs Gifts, Music, DVD’s Food Many Books Including: Put Your Health in Your Own Hands

by Bob Huttinga

TheHealingCenterofLakeview.com natural awakenings

August 2016

33

Get Fast Relief From Difficult Skin Conditions DermaClear Stops Itching Pain and Embarrassment

H

arness the timeless healing power of calcium montmorillonite/ calcium bentonite clay to relieve the discomfort of shingles, psoriasis, eczema, itchy allergic rash, poison ivy, jock itch, insect bites and stings, first-degree burns and scalds and more. All-natural Natural Awakenings DermaClear stops itching within seconds.

{ Terrific Product!}

This is the BEST product I’ve ever used for treating psoriasis with unbelievable results! After applying it on the affected areas on my skin for about a month, my condition is practicaly disappeared. Highly recommend it and well worth the price! ~ Judith

{ Thumbs Up!}

I gave it to my daughter about two weeks ago. She had an outbreak on legs. Last weekend she showed me her legs, they were clear, and it helped stopped the itching. She gave me a thumbs up. ~ Linda

Have a Stubborn Skin Disorder and Tried Everything Else?

Finally, there’s a natural, affordable solution

DermaClear brings comforting relief to sufferers of many skin irritations. The cooling and soothing calcium mortmorillonite/ calcium bentonite clay has been proven to be effective against: • SHINGLES • RASHES • PSORIASIS • ECZEMA • BURNS • JOCK ITCH • STINGS & MORE 4-oz jar $29.99 plus $5 shipping FREE Shipping on orders $75 & over

Order online today at

ShopNaturalAwakenings.com or call: 888-822-0246

Like us on Facebook.com/NAWebstore

34

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Shingles sufferers say they are able to sleep for the first time in days or weeks. DermaClear eliminates crusty, white psoriasis and starts restoring the skin within just a few days of daily use.

DermaClear draws out and dries up discharges in rashes, soothes, cools, speeds healing, reduces scarring and helps prevent neuropathy (nerve pain).

Secret Ingredient is How it Works

Natural Awakenings DermaClear contains a proprietary blend of homeopathic remedies to combat trauma, rash, pain, itching, scarring and nerve damage in a carrier base of calcium bentonite clay, used all over the world for centuries. Cooling and soothing, the clay penetrates pores and other open areas of the skin and pulls out toxins and inflammation. The homeopathic ingredients address the root causes, speed up the healing and help bring even deeper toxins to the surface for the clay to pull out.

For Best Results

Apply concentrated DermaClear to affected areas once a day or as needed. It can be thinned with water for a lighter, invisible consistency. Do not cover or bandage the area; clothing may be worn when dry. Conditions usually improve in just a few days and the soothing, cooling effect is felt immediately. There is no expiration date, just add water and stir to refresh.

Natural Awakenings DermaClear is the perfect resource to try after people have turned to conventional medical treatments that failed, – but because DermaClear is so inexpensive, free of side effects and drug interactions and easy to apply, why not try it first?

communityspotlight

S

ummer and Fall offer some of the best opportunities for fun in West Michigan. People who are from this area feel truly blessed to live so close to the many festivals, concerts and outdoor activities. Locals know the wonders of life here, but vacationers may not realize just how close they are to all the special activities available to them.

The Michigan Irish Music Festival is just one of those events that has grown and developed since its inception 17 years ago. What began as a small, grass roots festival has now developed into a vibrant four-day event that boasts over 900 committed volunteers. According to their website, last year the festival gained its highest attendance ever with over 21,000 patrons. Laura Holmes, festival marketing director and board member, states that about 75% of volunteers are repeat volunteers. “The reason the Irish Fest is so successful has to do with the number of committed, experienced people. The board is directly involved with the festival, and the leadership and planning committees are really dedicated,” says Holmes.

Traditional Irish culture

surrounds Heritage Landing in downtown Muskegon throughout this festival, which is packed with Irish music bands, dancers, delicious food, drinks and specialty vendors. Young attendees can find a little fun at the Wee Ones tent area with crafts and activities designed just for them. In the quaint tea room tent, patrons can enjoy hot tea and delicious treats. For the whiskey lovers in the crowd, the popular Whiskey Snug tent is available, as well. At the Highland Games area, men and women can participate in various traditional competitive activities. On Sunday, there is a traditional Irish Catholic Mass, which is free for anyone to attend. With something for all ages, it is sure to be a memorable experience.

Currently, over 20 bands are slated to perform this September on five stages. Genres range from traditional Irish folk music to more contemporary Irish tunes. Patrons can freely roam from tent to tent experiencing the different bands and activities.

What makes this festival special is its generous nature and outpouring of cash and food donations over

the years. Patrons are encouraged to bring in non-perishable items throughout the weekend to be donated. According to Holmes, “We’ve given over $25,000 cash over the past three years to Loaves and Fishes, Kids Food Basket and Salvation Army Food Pantry.”

Holmes notes that the time of year for the festival was strategically chosen to help the surrounding community thrive during the month of September, delighting area business. Hotels fill up during a time of the year that would otherwise not be as busy and restaurants as well as other service oriented businesses also see an increase in their sales, which helps the whole community.

Friday night is a popular family night with free entry between 5 pm and 6 pm. This night is sponsored by Family Financial Credit Union. Patrons can enjoy a preview of what the festival is about, enjoy food and listen to music.

Many area organizations sponsor this festival, making it truly a community wide event. Saturday tends to be the busiest day with all activities and tents open.

Over the years, Muskegon has really developed into a desirable place to visit for both family and adult-orientated events. The Irish Music Festival is definitely one of those events to add to the calendar this September. Make it a date or a family outing or to really get involved with something truly special, choose a volunteer opportunity. Several areas of the festival are still in need of volunteers.

The festival runs September 15 -18 and has multiple ticket price options including weekend passes, and children 12 and under enter for free. Buy ahead online for discounted tickets. Visit michiganirish.org for more information or to register for a volunteer opportunity. Heritage Landing is located at 701 Shoreline Drive in downtown Muskegon.

Julie Reynolds is a contributing writer and has a background in advertising, teaching, writing and real estate. She can be contacted at ReynJ36@gmail.com

natural awakenings

August 2016

35

If You Are Reading This, So Are Your Potential Customers.

Contact us today for ad rates.

616-604-0480 36

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

Monday, September 12th 3501 Lake Eastbrook Blvd., SE, Suite 252, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-5988

2:00 pm — 7:00 pm

All adjustments, exams and massage donations will go to Upper Cervical Advocates, a nonprofit organization directed by the Tomasi’s, and are eligible for tax deductions.

Dr Mike interviews James and Rhonda Tomasi

on GRTV’s “Health Talk.”

Watch HEALTH

TALK on

Rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit with Specific

Chiropractic, Medical Massage and CranioSacral Therapy To reserve your time, please call Jane at:

(616) 575-9990

For More Information, go to BurconChiropractic.com natural awakenings

August 2016

37

naturalpet

HANDLE WILD THINGS WITH CARE How to Help Injured Animals

by Sandra Murphy

Reach Your Target Market Secure this ad spot!

Contact us today!

W

hen encountering a bird or animal that appears to be abandoned, take only minimal steps to help. “People mean well but a lot of rescues we see, didn’t need help,” says Lacy Campbell, wildlife care center operations manager for the Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon.

Make sure the animal is away from traffic or predators, and then call a local wildlife rehabilitator before taking further action, especially if the animal is injured.

Vulnerable Little Ones

616.604.0480 38

West Michigan Edition

Baby squirrels can fall out of the nest.

“Leave him at the base of the tree,” says Jennifer Keats Curtis, author of the children’s book Squirrel Rescue. “Mom will rebuild the nest before coming to get her baby. If it’s cold, put it in a box with a towel. Once squirrels have been treated as a pet, they can’t be released.”

Tiny, not-yet-feathered nestlings should be returned home; it’s a myth that human scent poses a problem.

If the nest is out of reach or can’t be located, make one with a box and soft cloth. Put it in the tree, so the parents can resume feeding. Leave the area so as not to frighten them.

NaturalWestMichigan.com

“After young robins, scrub jays, crows and owls leave the nest, they typically spend up to a week on the ground before they can fly,” says Campbell. “At night, the parents will escort the fully feathered fledglings to safety beneath a bush.”

In parks, ducks and geese may nest away from the water. Mama will lead her babies to the pond, even across busy streets. If it’s safe, stop the car to halt traffic, act as their crossing guard, and then resume driving.

A box turtle operates on innate GPS. “It lives in an area the size of a football field,” explains Curtis. “It will go onward, no matter how many times people try to redirect it. If injured by a car or lawn mower, the shell can be mended by a rehab center.”

Bunnies eat at dusk and dawn. Inbetween, the nest may look abandoned.

“Wild baby rabbits are difficult to keep alive if injured,” says Curtis. “At sundown, see if mom returns; if not, they need a wildlife rehab expert.”

A lone, young raccoon is either old enough to climb a tree by itself or the mother will carry it. If we feed a raccoon, it will become a beggar.

Opossums are dramatic actors. When

The best outcome for injured animals is rescue, rehabilitation and return to the wild. cornered, they hiss and fall over and play dead in a coma-like state for up to four hours. Check back later. If a mother possum has been killed by a car, call a rehab official to check her pouch for potential babies.

“If you find a young deer fawn or moose calf, leave it. The mother comes back several times each day to nurse,” advises Amanda Nicholson, director of outreach for the Wildlife Center of Virginia, in Waynesboro. “Its coloring helps it remain undetected by predators.”

Other Unexpected Encounters “Don’t feed wild animals or leave out food or accessible comestible trash.

Bobcats, wolves, bears and coyotes will avoid people unless food is involved,” cautions Jennifer Place, program associate for Born Free USA, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. “Wild animals protect their space, food and young, so stay on marked trails when hiking and never turn your back on them.”

For unexpected meetings, stay calm. “Make sure there’s an escape route for the animal,” says Place.

“With foxes or coyotes, throw sticks or small rocks, but don’t hit the animal.

Make yourself look large and yell.”

With snakes, sidestep away slowly for more than six feet before walking in the other direction. Bears require a different response. “Speak in a low voice so the bear realizes you are not prey. Never climb a tree,” says Place.

“Bears know the terrain, can run faster than a horse and can climb trees, too.

Sidestep away, remaining carefully upright, calm and unthreatening. If the bear moves toward you, keep talking until he moves away. Running kicks in its prey drive.”

Yellowstone Park regulations

require visitors to stay 25 yards away from most wildlife and 100 yards away from bears and wolves. Selfie photos with animals can result in injury or death for humans and animals through carelessness; safety depends on good judgement, respect and common sense.

Friends of wildlife know beforehand how to contact local rehabilitators if there’s an emergency, observe before taking action, and protect pets. “Always leash dogs when going into the yard at night and keep cats indoors,” says Place. “Peaceful co-existence allows for the safety of both people and animals, domestic and wild.”

Connect with freelance writer Sandra Murphy at StLouisFreelanceWriter@ mindspring.com.

Wildlife Transport Tips If a wild animal is injured, wear heavy gloves in its vicinity to avoid being bitten or scratched. Completely cover the animal with a blanket so it stays relatively calm, and place it in a carrier for transport to a rehabilitation facility. A warm hot water bottle can help ward off shock.

Do not give the animal water, milk or food. Time is of the essence to ward off dangers of stress. Wild animals can carry disease without appearing to be ill. Fleas, ticks and mites are likely, so keep injured wildlife away from pets and children.

Are you interested in PREVENTION?

has the technology to provide risk assessment

THERMOGRAPHY for many conditions including: neurological breast cancer diabetes thyroid

Safe - Tested - Effective - Painless - Potentially Life-Saving Contact us for more information: 616-724-6368 AdvancedThermalImagingLLC.com

Member IACT

3093 Broadmoor Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 natural awakenings

August 2016

39

Join Us in Spreading the Light.

Become a Natural Awakenings Publisher!

Create Your Future with a Lifestyle Franchise!

22+ years of leadership in publishing has made Natural Awakenings the #1 healthy, green living magazine with 98 editions across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic ... ... and we continue to grow!

• Meaningful New Career • Low Initial Investment • Proven Business System • Home-Based Business • Exceptional Franchise Support and Training • No Publishing Experience Necessary

Natural Awakenings recently received the prestigious FBR50 Franchise Satisfaction Award. Our publishers ranked us among the highest in franchise satisfaction for our Training, Support, Core Values and Integrity!

To learn more, visit:

FranchiseBusinessReview.com

We are currently expanding across the U.S. and Canada. To find out more about starting your own Natural Awakenings magazine or acquiring an existing one,

visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com/mymagazine or call 239-530-1377 40

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

SEPT YOGA IS THE POETRY OF MOVEMENTS

Meet the HCA Acupuncture Team 40 Years of Experience Helping with: Infertility, Acute/Chronic Pain, Digestive Disorders, Insomnia, Anxiety, Hormone Imbalances and Addiction.

Also offering pediatric acupuncture for allergies and colic.

Now Accepting Priority Health/American Specialty Health Insurance for Acupuncture Services.

3368 Beltline Ct NE, Grand Rapids | 616-361-9221

HolisticCareApproach.com

Fresh Waters Cleaning Company Creating healthy environments for healthy lifestyles

All Natural, Non-Toxic Residential Cleaning So Fresh, So Clean Call Today for a FREE Quote 616-240-5673 FreshWatersCleaning.com

Janice Bunn, Owner

Vikki Nestico R.Ac., Dipl. OM

located at:

Renewal Skin Spa 6080 28th St SE Grand Rapids

Today’s business climate poses new challenges.

Advertise your products and services in our

September Yoga & Music Issue

To advertise or participate in our next issue, call

616-604-0480

Make 2016 Your Healthiest Year Ever!

Restore balance in your life, visit grandwellness.net

Pain Relief • Fertility • Digestive Disorders • Depression Hormone Imbalance • Cancer Treatment Support • Insomnia

For appointments or to schedule a FREE consultation call 616-940-1177 or go to GrandWellness.net

Spiritual Energy Healing

Ama-Deus is a healing method from a whole or soul perspective that is used to access a stream of consciousness that is Love, the force that draws us back to Source.

International Association of Ama-Deus, LLC P.O. Box 93 • Lowell, MI 49331 • elizabethcosmos@sbcglobal.net natural awakenings

August 2016

41

calendarofevents

$ave Time & Energy!

Please call in advance to ensure that the event you’re interested in is still available.

ALL MONTH LONG

BVI School of Ayurveda Accepting Applications – Through August 31. Ayurvedic Consultant Certificate Program. Webinar and On-Site courses. One weekend a month. State Licensed. NAMA Member.

Request Catalog. The Sambodh Society, Inc. 6363 N 24th Street, Kalamazoo. Info and tuition cost visit AyurvedaMichigan.org. 269-3814946.

Complementary Consultation – A consultation is a conversation, not an examination and certainly not a high-pressure sales pitch. After all, we aren’t the right office for everyone, so doesn’t it make sense to discover that before you begin a relationship with our practice? Brain and Body Chiropractic, 833 E 16th St, Ste 175, Holland. Info & Appointments: 616-202-6368.

New Client Gift – New Consultation Clients get a Welcome Gift worth over $300. Schedule a consultation with Dr. LeAnn Fritz, ND and you’re entitled to this welcome bag of products to get you started, absolutely FREE! Mention this ad to receive your gift. New Hope Health, 10373 Riverview Dr, Plainwell. Info: 269-204-6525.

Empowering Youth and Creativity – 9:307:30pm, Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm, Sat. Learning and creativity start with a healthy brain! Please stop in to explore ways to empower your child with a jump start on natural health! Vital Nutrition 169 Marcell Dr NE Rockford. Info: avision@charter. net or 616-433-9333

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3

Sacred Sound Concert and AUM Tune-Up Workshop – 7pm. Sacred Sound Concert by Paradiso and Rasamayi, and Aum Tune-up Workshop. Featuring the World’s largest Crystal Didgeridoo, Singing Bowls, Seed Mantras, and more. Info: 269.221.1961 or visit Sambodh.US “Programs”. Location: Sambodh Center, 6363 N. 24th St., Kalamazoo. Info and tickets: OnlineSoundHealing.com Guided Meditation and Healing Circle – 7-8pm.

Escape from stress and discover an inner world of calm, peace & joy through guided meditation, and energy healing from Healing in AmericaTrained Practitioners. $5 Donation. Holistic Care Approach, 3368 Beltline Ct., NE, Grand Rapids.

Info: laurie@healinginamerica-midwest.com or call 269-908-1016

THURSDAY AUGUST 4

Sacred Sound Concert and AUM Tune-Up Workshop – 7pm. Sacred Sound Concert by Paradiso and Rasamayi, and Aum Tune-up Workshop. Featuring the World’s largest Crystal Didgeridoo, Singing Bowls, Seed Mantras, and more. Info: 269.221.1961 or visit Sambodh.US “Programs”. Location: Sambodh Center, 6363 N. 24th St., Kalamazoo. For details and tickets: OnlineSoundHealing.com

42

West Michigan Edition

Visit NaturalWestMichigan.com for guidelines and to submit entries. All Calendar events must be submitted online by the 15th of the month prior to publication.

Denotes an event sponsored by Natural Awakenings Magazine West Michigan.

Reading the Great Lakes –7-8:30 pm. Come explore the Lakes with us! We’ll read a range of titles including mystery, history, fiction, and nonfiction all taking place in the Great Lakes region—from Chicago to Cleveland. This book club will be lead by our librarians and will take place the first Thursday of every month. Additional copies of the book are available to be checked out on Level 4 of the Main Library. Grand Rapids Public Library, 111 Library St NE Grand Rapids. For info and complete list of books: visit GRPL.org/rtgl or jhight@grpl.org or call Jennie 616-988-5400. August’s selection is Ravens in the Storm by Carl Oglesby.

MONDAY AUGUST 8

Writing Workshop – 6-8 pm. Get tools and support to discover the stories you carry. All experience levels are welcomed in this 4¬-week series, led by a Certified Leader of the Amherst Writers & Artists Method. An energizing and supportive approach to writing. Cost $125. Voice & Vessel, 2922 Fuller Ave NE, Suite 112, Grand Rapids. Info & Register at VoiceandVessel.com or call 616-350-6210.

SUNDAY AUGUST 14

Law of Attraction Discussion: Conversations with Hermaden – 3:30pm. Learn to fine-tune the intentional creation of your life. Join Graehme Hall in a free law of attraction discussion group at 2:00 p.m. Or attend Conversations with Hermaden, a group of wise and loving non-physical teachers to have your questions answered. Cost $10. Hermaden Institute Event Location: The Dominican Center at Marywood, 2025 Fulton St. E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503. For more info: visit Hermaden.org or kghall@att.net

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17

Writing Circle – 6-8pm. Looking for a space that will help you pause and set creative intentions? Join us for a reflective writing circle. Includes readings, writing prompts, and creative practices to connect with your voice and stories. All experience levels are welcomed. Cost $10. Voice & Vessel, 2922 Fuller Ave NE, Suite 112. Grand Rapids Info & Register: VoiceandVessel.com or emily@voiceandvessel.com Essential Oils – 6:30pm. Learn the secrets of great health through the power of essential oils and chiropractic work! Two holistic professionals Ilka Handshaw and Dr Ben Lucey will be honored to speak to you. Lucey Chiropractic and Wellness Center, 6504 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids. Free CD and refreshments. Must RSVP 616-259-7509.

SATURDAY AUGUST 20

What’s Your Dosha? Workshop – 2-5pm. Learn from the Experts, why your Ayurvedic Constitution is important to your health; experience pulse

NaturalWestMichigan.com

assessment and more: B.A.M.&S Ayurvedic Practitioners, Prathibha Balan and Preeti Vesikar, and Nanette Bowen (PA & Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist).

Cost $20 at door. BVI School of Ayurveda, The Sambodh Society, Inc. Sambodh Center, 6363 N. 24th St. Kalamazoo. Info: call 269.381.4946. or visit AyurvedaMichigan.org.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24

Robotics and Game Design Class – 10am. Sylvan Learning of Muskegon is hosting a Robotics and Game Design class at the Spring Lake District Library. Cost free. Contact the library at (616)8465770 for details. Reservations required. Limited availability. 123 E Exchange St, Spring Lake. Call Lisa at Sylvan to set up your event today: (231)7990613 or Muskegon.MI@SylvanLearning.com

THURSDAY AUGUST 25

Robotics – 6:30pm. Sylvan Learning of Muskegon is hosting a Robotics class at the MCC Lakeshore Fitness Center, 900 W Western Avenue, Muskegon.

Reservations required. Cost $10. Limited availability. Info: Contact the fitness center at (231)722-9322 or Call Lisa at Sylvan 231-799-0613.

MONDAY AUGUST 29

Ama-Deus Among Us – Last Monday of each month. Alternates between 1-3pm and 6-8pm.

Energy healing forum. Meditation/healing sessions for balancing and replenishing. Open to Ama-Deus participants and those interested in experiencing Ama-Deus healing method. Love offering. Unity Center for Spiritual Growth, 6025 Ada Dr SE, Ada. Info: Kim at kimgo@me.com

savethedate Save The Date Events

Must be submitted online each month at NaturalWestMichigan.com. Events priced $80 or more require a corresponding display ad. There is a $40 charge per listing, up to 50 words. Current advertisers, distribution sites or nonprofits, use this listing in place of your two free listings.

savethedate September 12

Annual Anniversary Open House –Burcon Chiropractic. 3501 Lake Eastbrook Blvd NE, Grand Rapids. Info: 616-575-9990 or BurconChiropractic.com.

savethedate September 16

200 Hour Teacher Training Class – Hillaire Lockwood from Hilltop Yoga in Lansing will conduct the class. This course will be held September 16 - November 12 and consists of 9 consecutive weekends of training: Fridays 5pm - 10pm and Saturdays 7AM-6PM with a lunch break Bodhi Tree Yoga and Wellness Studio, 208 W 18th St, Holland. Info: MiBodhiTree.com.

savethedate September 18

Grand Rapids Veg Fest – 10:00am. Join us with over 70 exhibitors, informative speakers, cooking demonstrations and food trucks. Register for our newsletter to stay up on all the fun events We have planned throughout the summer and fall.

Deltaplex Arena, 2500 Turner Ave NW, Grand Rapids. Info: GRVegFest.com

savethedate September 23

Ayurvedic Consultations – 8:30am-7:00pm.

Ayurvedic Consultations with Ayurvedic Practitioner, Bill Courson, BVSA. 8:30am – 7:00pm.

BVI Ayurveda, The Sambodh Society, Inc. Event location: Sambodh Center, 6363 N. 24th St. Kalamazoo. Info: 269.381.4946 or AyurvedaMichigan.org

savethedate October 11

Intuition Retreat – 9:00am - 4:00pm. A sacred sanctuary, Oasis Retreats and Workshops are for those seeking awareness for their life vision.

Tune into inner guidance, let go of beliefs that no longer serve you and gain awareness of God’s vision for your prosperous future. $111 includes lunch and activities. Grand Rapids. Register or sponsor: LUXCHIX.com/events.

savethedate November 11

Experiential Reclamation Therapy for Men — 8:30am-4:30pm. A conference for therapists and others who work with men. Explore an effective, innovative, and integrated approach to Men’s Wellness, Recovery, Emotional and Relational Health. Presented by The Men’s Resource Center of West Michigan and Body and Soul Grand Rapids. Event address: 2025 Fulton St E, Grand Rapids. Info: visit menscenter.org/conference

savethedate November 12

Annual Meniere’s Symposium – Burcon Chiropractic. 3501 Lake Eastbrook Blvd NE, Grand Rapids. Info: 616-575-9990 or BurconChiropractic.com.

ongoingevents Note: Visit NaturalWestMichigan.com for guidelines and to submit entries. Events must be re-submitted each month by the 15th of the month. Events subject to change, please call ahead.

sunday Spirit Space Sunday Worship – 10:30am. An interfaith, non-denominational gathering place for worship and spiritual enrichment. Join for inspiring messages called Reasoning’s. Spirit Space, 3493 Blue Star Hwy, Saugatuck. Info: 616-836-1555 or Spirit-Space.org.

Sunday Series – 6pm. Explore spirituality, universal truths, self-mastery and balanced, positive, loving and joyful living with The Coptic Center and their ongoing offering of enlightening ministers, teachers and guest presenters. Love offering. 0-381 Lake Michigan Dr., Grand Rapids. Info: TheCopticCenter.org.

monday Hot Yoga – 5:30-6:45pm & 7-8:15pm. Sweat with this active, energetic, athletic style of yoga with traditional poses in a hot room. Not recommended for people with heart or lung conditions or those not engaged in regular exercise. $12 drop-in. Hearts Journey Wellness Center, 6189 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale. Info:HeartsJourneyWellness.com. or info@HeartsJourneyWellness.com.

The Practice of A Course in Miracles – 7-8:30pm.

Learn miracle-mindedness. Got joy? This is how to have it. Hint: You already do. All are welcome. Free.

Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain St. NE, Grand Rapids. 616-458-5095.

tuesday Beginning Yoga – 9:30am and 7pm. This class will introduce you to basic postures, breathing techniques, and mindfulness with an emphasis on building body awareness. Gentle yet relaxing in nature, you will leave feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and having a greater sense of health and well-being. $12 drop-in. Hearts Journey Wellness Center, 6189 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale. Info: visit us at HeartsJourneyWellness. com or info@heartsjourneywellness.com.

Gentle Hatha Yoga – 7:45-9am & 9:15-10:30am.

With Mitch Coleman. Drop-ins welcome. White River Yoga Studio, 8724 Ferry St., Montague. Info: 231-740-6662or WhiteRiverYoga.com.

Yoga – 4pm and 6:30pm. The ultimate beginning Yoga begins at 4 pm and an easy to level 1 class begins at 6:30. Cost donation. 973 W Norton Ave. at Calvin Church, Muskegon. Info: visit faithandyoga. com or call Vicki 231-288-1076.

Wednesday Yoga 101 – 9-10:15am. New to yoga? This is a great class for you! Even if you’re not a beginner, this is a wonderful refresher practice to fine tune your alignment and form. Your Inner Space, 451 Columbia Ave, Holland. Info: 616-994-8087 or JoiDupre@ YourInnerSpace.net or www.yourinnerspace.net

Chair Yoga – 10-11am. Chair yoga classes include movements and breathing exercises designed to encourage relaxation and increase mobility, balance and strength. $12 Drop in. Hearts Journey Wellness Center, 6189 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale.

616-307-1617. Info: HeartsJourneyWellness.com. $20 off BioMeridian Assessments – Food allergies, environmental allergies, organ function and real food menus and shopping lists for families that are healthy and kid-approved. Grand Rapids. 616-3659176. IntegrativeNutritionalTherapies.com.

Meditation – 6-7pm. Join together for meditation that begins and ends with live, native flute music.

Attend the full hour or any portion of the meeting.

Spirit Space, 3493 Blue Star Hwy, Saugatuck. Info: 616-836-1555 or Spirit-Space.org.

Goddess Unleashed: Awaken Your Divine Feminine through Dance – 6-7pm. No dance experience is required, just a willingness to be open to move and explore your body, thoughts, emotions, heart, and soul through dance. First Class $5. Your Inner Space, 451 Columbia Ave, Holland. Info: Joi Dupre, 616-994-8087 or YourInnerSpace.net

Thursday Hot Yoga – 5:30-6:45pm & 7:00-8:15pm. Sweat with this active, energetic, athletic style of yoga with traditional poses in a hot room. Not recommended for people with heart or lung conditions or those not engaged in regular exercise. $12 drop-in. Hearts Journey Wellness Center, 6189 Lake Michigan Dr, Allendale. Info:HeartsJourneyWellness.com. or info@HeartsJourneyWellness.com.

Yoga to the CORE – 5:30-6:30pm. Focusing on the core will bring strength and freedom to your asana practice as well as your everyday activities.

Get ready to feel the burn! Your Inner Space.

451 Columbia Ave, Holland. Info: 616-9948087 or JoiDupre@YourInnerSpace.net or www.

YourInnerSpace.net Alignment-Based Yoga Class in Prospect Park – 7-8pm. Meet on E 22nd Street side. Free.

Holland. Contact: Joi Dupre, 616-994-8087 or YourInnerSpace.net

saturday Outdoor Yoga – 8-9am, Saturdays, July 9-August 13. Sponsored by Holland Parks & Rec. $5 donation does to the Sal Perez Scholarship Fund. Kollen Park, Holland. Info: MIBodhiTree.com.

Gentle Hatha Yoga – 9-10:15am & 10:30-11:45am.

With Mitch Coleman. Drop-ins welcome. White River Yoga Studio, 8724 Ferry St., Montague. 231740-6662. Info: WhiteRiverYoga.com.

Sweetwater Local Foods Market – 9am-1pm.

A double-up bucks and bridge card market.

Hackley Health at the Lakes building on Harvey St. Located inside during inclement weather.

Muskegon. 231-861-2234.

natural awakenings

August 2016

43

classifieds Fee for classifieds is $1 per word per month. To place listing, email content to publisher@naturalwestmichigan. com. Deadline is the 10th of the month.

HELP WANTED MASSAGE THERAPIST - Must be licensed and very well experienced. $30/Hr. We provide everything including a gorgeous water view and hydraulic table that is handicap accessible. Must be able to work Mon, Wed, Fri afternoons and every other Saturday. Dr. Burcon will work closely with you on difficult cases in order learn the nuances of his patients. Must be able to perform deep tissue massage, and we have some calls for CranioSacral therapy. If you are knowledgeable in developing x-rays or have experience as a chiropractic assistant, the income is increased. We also have a generous bonus program. Burcon Chiropractic, 3501 Lake Eastbrook Blvd SE, Suite 252, Grand Rapids. Fax resume to 616-575-9995 or e-mail to DrBurcon@ yahoo.com. For more info: 616-575-9990 or BurconChiropractic.com

Stay Informed Throughout The Month @ NaturalWestMichigan.com

Well done is better than well said. ~Benjamin Franklin

44

West Michigan Edition

NaturalWestMichigan.com

thenaturaldirectory

ENERGY HEALING MATRIX ENERGETICS

...connecting you to the leaders in natural health and green living in West Michigan. To find out how you can be included in The Natural Directory, log-on to NaturalWestMichigan.com/advertising.

ACUPUNCTURE GRAND WELLNESS

Vikki Nestico, R.Ac. Located at Renewal Skin Spa 6080 28th St. SE, Grand Rapids 616-940-1177 • GrandWellness.net At Grand Wellness, we focus on a holistic approach to wellness, promoting healing through acupuncture, herbal therapy and lifestyle modifications. Call to set up a free consultation to discuss how Chinese medicine can help your specific health concerns. See ad, page 41.

BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION WOOD & SAW

Andrew Gielczyk Licensed Builder 616-834-2480 • WoodAndSaw.com Wood & Saw is focused on creating a sustainable high quality of life for our clients.

Building simple, costeffective, energy-efficient, toxic-free homes and remodels that achieve the healthiest possible indoor air quality. See ad, page 7.

CHIROPRACTIC CARE BRAIN & BODY CHIROPRACTIC Drs. Lily & Kody Semrow Holland • 616-202-6368 Brain-BodyHealth.com

Our doctors provide a comprehensive solution to resolving problems of the spine and nervous system. Dr. Semrow is one of 400 doctors in the country certified in the functional neurology protocol for neurostructural correction. See ad, page 13.

DYNAMIC FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC Dr. Ronda VanderWall 4072 Chicago Drive, Grandville 616-531-6050 • DynamicChiro.com

Family owned and operated in the heart of downtown Grandville, Dynamic Family Chiropractic focuses on lifestyle improvements through living a maximized life.

A safe and natural approach to health through the combination of exercise, nutrition, detoxification and chiropractic care.

COLON HYDROTHERAPY HARMONY ’N HEALTH

Mary De Lange, CCT, LMT 1003 Maryland Ave, N.E., Grand Rapids 616-456-5033 • HarmonyNHealth.net Certified therapist since 1991 offering colon therapy in a sterile and professional environment.

Using a holistic approach, colonics relieve constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, poor digestion, back pain, body odor and more. See ad, page 13.

TRICIA E. GOSLING

Holistic Energy Therapies 616-481-9074 HolisticEnergyTherapies.net Offering an advanced clientcentered dimension of colonics since 1996: gentle, safe and effective. Eliminate toxins and enhance well-being. Also offering Quantum Biofeedback sessions.

I-ACT certified Instructor.

Barbara Zvirzdinis, WK, CMT 616-581-3885 ASenseOfFlow.com Matrix Energetics is a system used to heal, transform and create new possibilities in your life. Using the principles of quantum physics and subtle energy during a Matrix Energetics session we are able to enter into different realties and download new possibilities for your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual selves.

ESSENTIAL OILS BE YOUNG ESSENTIAL OILS

Clara VanderZouwen Independent Sharing Partner 616-481-8587 ClaraVZ@sbcglobal.net BeYoungTH.com/Partners/Claravz Be Young Essential Oils are E.O.B.B.D. guaranteed 100 percent pure for the safety and benefit of your family, pets - even horses.

Offering free monthly classes, Zyto Compass Bio-scans, ionic detox footbaths and aromatherapy jewelry! ClaraVZ@sbcglobal.net.

BODY BIZ, INC.

Rick Hayhurst Wellness Services & Education 100 Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas 269-568-5556 or 888-489-9660 Info@BodyBizInc.Biz • BodyBizInc.Biz

COSMETICS SERENDIPITE ORGANIQUES

Teri Kelley • 616-719-0610 Teri@SerendipiteOrganiques.com mkt.com/serendipite-organiques Your online source for organic, non-GMO makeup and body care. Offering several lines, you’ll find everything you need to cleanse and beautify your body head-to-toe.

Serendipite also carries a 100% organic dog care line.

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY ST. BRIGID’S CRANIOSACRAL CENTER OF GRAND RAPIDS

Kelly O’Brien Pahman • 616-617-3130 Kelly@StBrigidshlc.com StBrigidshlc.com/Craniosacral-Therapy A gentle, effective, healing touch for anxiety, chronic pain, fertility and pregnancy concerns, head trauma, and more. Kelly offers services to all ages as a certified holistic doula and a craniosacral therapist (Upledger).

Young Living essential oils are time tested, researched based formulas that support every aspect of living. As seen on the Today Show, essential oils impact all areas of being by enhancing a positive emotional state, bringing mental clarity, supporting physical wellness, home cleaners, skin care and promoting a deep spiritual awareness.

Income opportunities available! Member #: 3886397. See ad, page 2.

MOONDROP HERBALS, LLC

Cottage of Natural Elements 351 Cummings, NW Grand Rapids 616-735-1285 • MoondropHerbals.com Your local source for all things natural and botanical. Essential oils, bulk herbs, tea, hand-crafted bath & body products, raw ingredients, containers, local artwork, unique gifts. Practitioner discounts. Space rental and artisan consignment. See ad, page 20.

natural awakenings

August 2016

45

YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OILS Marilyn York Independent Distributor 1-877-436-2299, ext. 2 YoungLiving.org/NaturalHealth4u

Become an Independent Distributor. Discover the high potency of therapeutically authentic essential oils from Young Living. Enhance your own health, as well as others who seek holistic wellness options. Free training. See ad, page 10.

HAKOMI THERAPY KEN PORTER CST, CHT

HEALING SERVICES THE REMEDY HOUSE

Jodi Jenks Natural Health Practitioner, Reiki Master 616-443-4225 TheRemedyHouse.org Certified in bodywork, lymphatic drainage, raindrop therapy, CranioSacral, reflexology, iridology, natural health consultations including a zyto bio-communication scan. Emotional clearing with essential oils and energy work, reiki, Energy Touch. See ad, page 7.

HEALTH EDUCATION CENTER

Pamela Gallina, MA CMC 616-433-6720 PamGallina@LIAConsulting.org LIAConsulting.org

Naturopathic/Holistic Practitioners and retail health store. Natural health consultations, classes, oils, h e r b s , h o m e o p a t h y, hypnosis, foods, candles, crystals, books, CD’s, massage, reflexology, emotional clearing, raindrop therapy, foot detox, DOT/CDL health cards for truck drivers. See ad, page 33.

Pam works with highly – motivated individuals as they focus on their complex life agendas and aim for their very best life-work balance. This provides a powerful framework for building more effective relationships while maintaining a balanced and fulfilling personal life. See ad, page 44.

Barbara Zvirzdinis, WK, CMT 616-581-3885 ASenseOfFlow.com Certified Matrix Energetics Practitioner, Certified Wholistic Kinesiologist, Certified Massage Therapist, Reconnection Healing Practitioner, Certified Herbalist, Certified Acutonics Practitioner and Certified Reflexologist.

Specializing in muscle testing, massage, energy medicine, nutritional counseling, lectures and classes.

DEBRA STALSONBURG TIMMERMAN, RN HTP

Guided Transformations 9964 Cherry Valley SE, Ste. 2, Caledonia 616-401-7199 • GuidedTransformations.net Registered nurse specializing in lifestyle change, weight management and pain reduction.

Restoring balance and harmony using Healing Touch, reflexology, aromatherapy, guided imagery & visualization practices.

HOMEOPATHY BOB HUTTINGA PA-C

THE WELLNESS FORUM 616-430-2291 WellnessForum.com

Educational programs for personal health improvement.

Workplace wellness programs. Wellness Forum Foundation focused on school nutrition and children’s health. National conferences.

West Michigan Edition

LIA COACHING AND CONSULTING

Bob Huttinga PA-C & Rev. Barbara Huttinga 332 S. Lincoln Ave., Lakeview 989-352-6500 TheHealingCenterOfLakeview.com

A SENSE OF FLOW

Hakomi Therapy can truly change your life. It’s a mindfulnessbased, experiential therapy for transforming the unconscious patterns that keep you from the love, joy, and fulfillment you deserve. Offered with exquisite care and attentiveness.

LIFE COACH

THE HEALING CENTER

HOLISTIC HEALTH

3355 Eagle Park Dr. NE Ste. 107, Grand Rapids 616-262-3848 BodyAndSoulGR.com

46

HEALTH / WELLNESS CENTER

332 S. Lincoln Ave., Lakeview 989-352-6500 TheHealingCenterOfLakeview.com A Certified PA since 1976, Bob Huttinga practices both traditional and homeopathic care. He finds the cause and the homeopathic remedy. Most insurance accepted, except Priority Health, Blue Care Network or Medicaid. See ad, page 33.

NaturalWestMichigan.com

MASSAGE THERAPY BODY BIZ, INC.

Rick Hayhurst Wellness Services & Education 100 Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas 269-568-5556 or 888-489-9660 Info@BodyBizInc.Biz • BodyBizInc.Biz Welcome to Community Massage at Body Biz, Inc. The Massage School in Douglas, Michigan, where students gift their time to raise money for our Scholarship Fund. Your $40 donation is used for tuition assistance. Your donation at work means future jobs for students who, with your help, can improve personal circumstance through short-term training for a long-term career!

For your donation, you’ll receive a 55 Minute Student Massage Therapy Session for stress management and/or to reduce soft tissue pain and dysfunction. See ad, page 2.

BODY BIZ, INC.

Rick Hayhurst Wellness Services & Education 100 Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas 269-568-5556 or 888-489-9660 Info@BodyBizInc.Biz • BodyBizInc.Biz As a Clinical Massage Therapist with 25 years of training and experience, Rick Hayhurst supports patients back to health from a whole person perspective.

Through following conversational and visual cues, each session is a unique journey of discovery inviting underlying traumas to be revealed. Sessions are about creating positive change, or healing, and may include any or all of the following tools: traditional massage and bodywork, guided imagery, wellness and energy coaching, quietude, breath work, work with colors, and specific vibrational frequencies or energies. See ad, page 2.

DYNAMIC FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC & MASSAGE THERAPY Jaci Timmermans, MT 4072 Chicago Drive, Grandville 616-531-6050 DynamicChiro.com

Offering Swedish massage with integrated techniques, chosen specifically for your unique body. Relieve those tired and sore muscles and rejuvenate. Call for on-going monthly specials and discounts.

HARMONY ‘N HEALTH

Mary De Lange, CCT., LMT. 1003 Maryland Ave. NE, Grand Rapids 616-456-5033 HarmonyNHealth.net Over 24 years of professional experience and trained in a complete range of modalities.

Whether you are seeking relaxation, renewal or treatment for a specific condition, Mary will help find an approach that is helpful for you. See ad, page 13.

MEDITATION/ENERGY WORK BODY BIZ, INC.

Rick Hayhurst Wellness Services & Education 100 Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas 269-568-5556 or 888-489-9660 Info@BodyBizInc.Biz • BodyBizInc.Biz Meditation is an opportunity to receive energy, or vibratory frequencies, that can support you in your daily life. If you’re managing stress, pain, or the various demands of life, meditation can support you by bringing in the energies needed to nurture and nourish each aspect.

As we meditate, together we’ll balance our bodies, clear unneeded and unwanted energies and traumas and then go on a journey to receive the desired vibratory frequencies. See ad, page 2.

MEDITATION/REIKI MOMENT OF PEACE

Claire Crowley BS, MM, 500 hr ERYT 1324 Lake Dr, Ste 7, Grand Rapids 616-295-1861 Moment-Of-Peace.com An opportunity to experience emotional and physical wellbeing through meditation and reiki, Moment of Peace aspires to help you savor each moment, embrace all that your life offers and celebrate the joy of everyday. See ad, page 7.

BVI SCHOOL OF AYURVEDA

MIDWIFERY

Ruth Small, Ph.D., Director 269-381-4946 Ayurveda@SambodhSociety.us AyurvedaMichigan.org

FULL CIRCLE MIDWIFERY SERVICE, INC.

Patrice Bobier CPM Hesperia: 231-861-2234 Jennifer Holshoe Grand Rapids area: 616-318-1825 FullCircleMidwifery.com In private practice since 1982 - specializing in home birth and a team approach. Over 1,550 births attended.

Offering midwifery care that maintains a family-centered safe birth experience. Empowering women to stay healthy during pregnancy, give birth naturally and parent in the best ways. Free initial consultations including prenatal check-up.

PERSONAL GROWTH IN THE HEART COUNSELING, PLLC Laurie Schmit, LMSW Grand Rapids, 49505 616-426-9226 Facebook.com/InTheHeartCounseling

Transformative counseling, workshops, energywork, breathwork, rebirthing and emotional clearing, all with confidential, caring support.

Collaborative, active and affirming approach for adults wanting to break free and move into true authentic living. Close to downtown Grand Rapids.

SALON SERVICES CJ’S STUDIO SALON

5286 Plainfield Ave, NE, Grand Rapids 616-364-9191 CjsStudioSalon.com An award-winning hair stylist with 30 years advanced education, that uses and sells organic hair care products as well as uses a professional line of organic hair color. Ionic Detox Foot Baths also available.

School of Ayurveda. State licensed.

Certificate program for healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, yoga teachers, wellness educators, massage therapists, holistic health specialists, chiropractors, dieticians and those seeking to learn selfhealth-care. Instructors highly qualified (B.A.M.S.).

SKIN CARE LAKESHORE NATURAL SKIN CARE 10500 Chicago Drive Holland Twp • Zeeland 231-557-3619 LakeshoreNaturalSkinCare.com

Specializing in advanced, customized skin care with Elina Organics. Facials, body treatments, needle-free Mesotherapy, TriPolarRF, DermaLaser, Facial Hydratherapy, Oxygen Facial Therapy, LED, microdermabrasion, bamboo massage, Raindrop, reiki and more.

THERMOGRAPHY ADVANCED THERMAL IMAGING OF WEST MICHIGAN Julie Bennett 616-724-6368 AdvancedThermalImagingllc.com

Thermography is a safe, tested, painless, and effective procedure providing information for breast cancer risk assessment, breast cancer prevention and early detection, possible hormone imbalance, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, musculoskeletal inflammation, and neurological problems. See ad, page 39.

SCHOOL / EDUCATION BODY BIZ, INC.

Rick Hayhurst Wellness Services & Education 100 Blue Star Highway, Suite D, Douglas 269-568-5556 or 888-489-9660 Info@BodyBizInc.Biz • BodyBizInc.Biz Remember those days at Summer Camp where you were with your friends all day long; where you had classes, but it didn’t feel like school; where you were enriched by experiences unique to camp; where you look back fondly on the memories? Massage School is very much like summer camp. New friends, new experiences, and new skills; all the while, discovering new parts of yourself! Flexible schedule and financial plans available! See ad, page 2.

on

Natural Awakenings Magazine of West Michigan

natural awakenings

August 2016

47

A V OYA G E TO W E L L - B E I NG Book by Oct. 24TH for Best Rates & Availability

MARCH 11 - 18, 2017

Join our 14th annual Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise for 7 nights on the luxurious MSC Divina, one of the most ecologically-friendly and elegant cruise liners on the seas. Bask in gracious Italian hospitality and service all while enjoying inspiring lectures and vegan natural foods prepared by our own chefs. Departing from Miami, FL and sailing to lush Ocho Rios, Jamaica; historic Georgetown, Cayman Islands; sunny Cozumel, Mexico; & the paradise of Nassau, Bahamas. Learn more about the classes, cuisine and itinerary at holisticholidayatsea.com.

Chosen by National Geographic Traveler as

ONE OF THE 1 00 BEST WORLDWIDE VACATIONS TO ENRICH YOUR LIFE

FEATURING WORLD-RENOWNED CHEFS, TEACHERS & HEALERS Co-author of The China Study and author of Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition; featured in the film Forks Over Knives

T. COLIN CAMPBELL, PH.D.

Physician, author, & internationally-recognized speaker on nutrition; founded NutritionFacts.org; spoke at Congress, on Dr. Oz, & the Colbert Report

MICHAEL GREGER, M.D. Hailed as “the conscience of the food movement” by TIME Magazine, Baur is co-founder & president of Farm Sanctuary, an activist, popular speaker & author

Best-selling author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease; starred in the film Forks Over Knives; featured on CNN’s special The Last Heart Attack

CALDWELL ESSELSTYN, JR. M.D.

GENE BAUR

FOOD OPTIONS FOR EVERYONE - VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE, OIL-FREE AND SHIP’S MENU SWIM, SNORKEL AND KAYAK IN THE CRYSTAL WATERS OF THE CARIBBEAN AWARD-WINNING ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY SHIP DAILY YOGA, MEDITATION, PILATES, QI GONG, DO-IN, RUNNING, FITNESS & BODY BUILDING CLASSES 45 TEACHERS • 145 LECTURES & WORKSHOPS 11 COOKING & BOOTCAMP CLASSES CEU & CME CREDITS AVAILABLE

48

DANCING, SOCIALS & SINGLES EVENT VEGAN PIZZA & ICE CREAM PARTIES CANCER SUPPORT GROUP & RECOVERY PANEL PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS & TREATMENTS West Michigan Edition AVAILABLE NaturalWestMichigan.com

Founder of the Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine; author of Food for Life & Power Foods for the Brain; active health advocate

NEAL BARNARD, M.D. Emmy Award-winning author of seven bestselling cookbooks; host of the television show Christina Cooks; health educator for 25+ years

CHRISTINA PIRELLO

LEARN MORE holisticholidayatsea.com info@holisticholidayatsea.com 1-800-496-0989 (Toll Free US) 1-828-749-9537 Holistic Holiday at Sea holisticholidayatsea.com/blog

BOOK TODAY Lorraine Travel bookings@holisticholidayatsea.com

1-877-844-7977 (Toll Free US) 1-305-443-0542 Option 1 for program information Option 2 for travel agent All reservations for our holistic group must be made through Lorraine Travel