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natural awakenings

February 2015

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contents 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.

14 CONSCIOUS DATING Jill Crosby on Looking for Love Online

by S. Alison Chabonais

15 LOVE TIPS FOR

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

by Kathy Cooper

16 HAPPY MEALS

Eating Healthy Foods Fights Off Depression

by Lane Vail

16 20

19 Dynamic Health and Fitness:

New Location … New You

20 FITNESS FINDS

Locate the Best Workout Space for You

by Debra Melani

22 HAPPILY COUPLED

Creating Loving Relationships that Thrive

by Judith Fertig

26 ECO FENG SHUI

Tips to Bring More Positive Energy into Your Home

by Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist

28 WHAT’S IN

22

YOUR WAY?

Obstacles Point the Path to Wholeness and Healing

by Deborah Shouse

32 WHEN YOUR

PET PASSES

A Guide to Mourning, Remembering and Healing

by Julianne Hale

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7 communitynews 12 healthbriefs 13 globalbriefs 14 wisewords 15 lovespotlight 16 consciouseating 19 business

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spotlight 20 fitbody 26 greenliving 12 28 inspiration 30 healngways 32 naturalpet 34 healthykids 36 naturaldirectory 41 calendar 13 42 classifieds

advertising & submissions how to advertise To advertise with Natural Awakenings please contact us at 803-233-3693 or email ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for ads: the 12th of the month.

Editorial submissions Email articles, news items and ideas to ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for editorial: the 10th of the month. calendar submissions Submit Calendar Events at MidlandsHealthyLiving.com or email to ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for calendar: the 10th of the month prior to publication. regional markets Advertise your products or services in multiple markets!

Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. is a growing franchised family of locally owned magazines serving communities since 1994. To place your ad in other markets, call 803-233-3693. For franchising opportunities, call 239530-1377 or visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

natural awakenings

February 2015

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Love, Football and Icebergs …

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contact us Owner/Publisher Annette Carter Briggs Writers MaryJo Briggs Odell Williams Sustainability/ Development Consultant Aloysius Anderson Senior Editor Sara Gurgen Design & Production Kristina Parella Billy Briggs Stephen Gray-Blancett Advertising Sales Annette Carter Briggs To contact Natural Awakenings Columbia Edition: PO Box # 2812 Columbia, SC 29202 Phone: 803-233-3693 Cell: 803-309-2101 Fax: 877-412-4905 ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com © 2015 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.

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We welcome your ideas, articles and feedback.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available by sending $24 (for 12 issues) to the above address.

t’s February, the “love” month; and, although it’s the shortest month of the year, it still represents two of the biggest, most recognized dates of this year’s national calendar: NFL Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day. The first, the Super Bowl, will most certainly hold hostage all our normal routine activities for hours from coast to coast on February 1 with gridiron plays, and, even better, great commercials to be talked about well after the play clock ends the game.

The second, February 14, Valentine’s Day, harnesses the very essence of love, as individuals everywhere look for the right relationship, right moment, right ring, or even the right card to say the words “I love you” the right way.

Now, I love football, along with countless other Americans. I was born and raised in a football town, namely Tampa, Florida—no Bucs jokes, please! I “love” lots of other things, too, like healthy food, good health, recreation, sunrises and sunsets, and the beach. Even so, when I ponder the term “love,” which Webster defines as an “intense feeling of deep affection and personal attachment,” I inherently know, as most do, that, although there are “intense” feelings for football, fun times and countless other enjoyable things, the best measure and use of love is far more complex and much deeper.

Love is all about legacy and life-on-life impact. I think of Jack and Rose in the movie Titanic, played so deftly by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Jack told Rose, “I will never let go,” as they faced an end-of-life “moment-of-truth” experience that we all remember to this day. I think of Celine Dion’s deeply inspirational lyrics in “My Heart Will Go On,” the movie’s featured song. Her angelic voice still rings clear, “Near, far, wherever you are. I believe that the heart does go on.”

What a beautiful picture of love.

Titanic captures the very deep, complex, and sometimes dark, side of love in a very unique way. It’s all about the heart. Love can be such a contrasting paradox: fun, yet heartbreaking; exhilarating, yet painful; fulfilling, yet depleting; and even life-lifting, yet, in some cases, life threatening, as so well depicted in this blockbuster movie sitting in my video archives.

Now, for a little cold water of truth and reality: The boat did sink, as they do sometimes; sunk by an iceberg. Probably unlike any other time in history, love is in high demand and deficit; researchers are trying to dissect it, songwriters are trying to define it, and Hollywood is trying to sell out movie theaters with it.

However, as rising national statistics on divorce, infidelity, domestic violence and relationships indicate, our “love boat” is in real danger. If nothing is done to save the ship, then, as the captain leveled to Rose in the movie, “It will flounder!”

Well … the sun is shining behind the clouds forming over the seas. One must understand that the worth of love for another is actually measured in the currency of integrity, commitment and dedication … not just feelings. Love is not a noun, it is a heavy-lifting verb. We must act accordingly. Jack pursued Rose with passion, commitment and resolve. We must pursue our loved ones the same way. Love is about a willingness to give up everything if it calls for it. What are you willing to give up for love, for your “Rose”—fear, pride, arrogance, immaturity, selfishness?

Yes, love sports; love your body with wellness and healthy habits; but, most of all, love your significant other(s), as Jack loved Rose … to the end!

Loving like Jack,

Natural Awakenings is printed on recycled newsprint with soybased ink.

Annette Briggs, Publisher

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communitynews The Gamecocks Run 6K

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orn to run? On Saturday, February 28, the inaugural Gamecocks Run will take place kicking off at 8 a.m. at Gamecock Park, next to Williams-Brice Stadium. This unique health and wellness event takes participants around and through famous athletic facilities, including the beautiful University of South Carolina (USC) campus. Participants can run or walk through the Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field, past the Carolina Tennis Center, alongside “the Dodie,” Rice Athletics Center and the Stone Stadium. The race route also traverses past notable USC campus landmarks, including the Cooper Library, Moore School of Business and the USC Horseshoe. The finish line for the run will be the half court line, on top of the Gamecocks logo, inside of Colonial Life Arena.

This is a timed event, perfect for runners and walkers alike. Overall and age-division award winners will be announced. T-shirts and event prizes, including USC men’s and women’s basketball game tickets, will be available as well.

In addition, shuttles will be available post-race to transport participants from the Colonial Life Arena back to Gamecock Park. Join the fun for a great day of group exercise.

For more information, call 502-653-4940, email Michael@ JamActive.com or visit GamecocksRun.com.

March for Meals 5K—the Wild Run

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n Saturday, February 21, the 12th annual March for Meals and 5K Run & Walk (the Wild Run), benefiting the Meals On Wheels campaign and other meal programs, will take Columbia by storm. Hosted

by Senior Resources Inc. and sponsored by South Carolina Electric & Gas, the event will take place at the Timmerman Trail, in Cayce. The newly certified course is flat, fast and family friendly. Anticipating more than 800 attendees, participants are asked to plan to arrive early. Sponsors, participants and donors will not only have the satisfaction of helping Senior Resources raise money to feed seniors through its Meals On Wheels and other meal programs, they will also help the organization raise awareness about the issue of food insecurity that many seniors face on a daily basis. All are invited to run and walk for the seniors they know and don’t know.

Cost: Runners, $35; walkers, $30; $15 ages 12 and under.

Early-bird registration available. Times: 9 a.m. until completion. Location: Timmerman Trail: Near Scana Headquarters and I-77, starting just west of the 12th Street Extension, in Cayce. For more information, call Debora Lloyd at 803252-7735, ext. 256, email DLloyd@SeniorResourcesInc.org or visit SeniorResourcesInc.org.

natural awakenings

February 2015

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communitynews World Wetlands Day

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ach year on February 2, World Wetlands Day is recognized. It is an annual celebration emphasizing the vital importance of wetlands to the world’s ecological health and of efforts to conserve these invaluable habitats. The Earth’s wetlands purify and replenish our water, provide food and sustenance, protect coastlines and act as a natural sponge against flooding and drought. The environmental focus specifically includes an emphasis on important wetland categories, such as wildlife, biodiversity, conservation, ecology, environmental health and habitats, ecosystems, plants and pollution. The day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran.

For more information, visit WorldWetlandsDay.org.

2015 Fashion for Fighters Runway Show

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n Thursday, February 5, from 6 to 9 p.m., join the Cancer of Many Colors Foundation for a fun night of family fashion at the 2015 Fashion for Fighters Runway Show hosted at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel. The public is invited to attend and, in so doing, show its support to fight against cancer of all types impacting the community.

Cost: $35 per person; $45 at door; $60 per couple. Location: Wingate by Wyndham: 108 Saluda Pointe Ct., Lexington. For more information, including how to sponsor, call Paulette Criscione at 803-359-1312 or visit CancerOfManyColors. com/fashion-for-fighters.html.

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Eighth Annual Francis Marion National Forest Cleanup

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ime to clean up! On Saturday, February 7, join PalmettoPride and the USDA Forest Service for the eighth annual Francis Marion National Forest Cleanup.

Volunteers will meet at the Forest Service office. Volunteers will be assigned to designated areas throughout the 260,000-acre forest. Participants are asked to dress appropriately for the weather. Sturdy shoes and long pants are encouraged. All cleanup supplies will be provided as well as a cookout lunch.

Forest Service office location: 2967 Steed Creek Rd., Huger, S.C. Times: 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, including volunteer inquiries, call 877-725-7733 or email Scott Morgan at SMorgan@PalmettoPride.org.

EdVenture After Dark Presents: GLOW

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eady for some fun in the dark? On Thursday, February 19, EdVenture Children’s Museum will host GLOW, an exciting event created just for adults. Sponsored

by BB&T, each attendee can express his or her colorful side with glow-in-the-dark manicures, body paint, laser tag and light graffiti. Adult beverages and “munchies” will be plentiful, with dance music provided by DJ RSN. Proceeds from EdVenture’s GLOW event will benefit EdVenture’s commitment to and mission to provide underserved families with access to the joy of learning. Must be 21 or older to attend.

Cost: $20 in advance (2 drinks included); $25 at door (2 drinks included). Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Location: EdVenture Children’s Museum: 211 Gervais St., Columbia. For more information, call 803-400-1165, email SGandy@EdVenture. org or visit EdVenture.org.

Countywide Adopt-A-Highway Campaign

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Richland County Now Offering a Variety of Grant Opportunities

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ichland County is currently accepting applications for a variety of grants that present incentives and opportunities to local residents, communities and organizations. The grants and programs are designed to support organizations that promote tourism in Richland County, encourage projects that preserve Richland County’s historical features and natural resources, and assist nonprofit entities. Grants available include accommodations tax grants, hospitality tax county promotions grants, discretionary grants, neighborhood matching grants, historic preservation grants and community conservation grants.

For more information, call Grants Manager Sara Salley at 803-576-2069, email SalleyS@RCGov.US or visit the grants page at RichlandOnline.com/ government/departments/grants.aspx.

n Saturday, February 7, Palmetto Pride, in partnership with Keep the Midlands Beautiful, will host a countywide Adopt-A-Highway litter campaign. Through the Adopt-A-Highway and Adopt-A-Street programs, caring citizens volunteer to take part in preserving and maintaining streets throughout the Midlands. A wide range of community organizations, like civic groups, businesses, schools and churches, adopt sections of road in or near their communities and remove litter from those segments at least four times a year for two years. The program helps advance tourism, development and quality of life for all our citizens by improving the appearance of our area, and also saves taxpayer dollars by performing a valuable public service on a volunteer basis.

For more information, including a list of pickup sites, call 803-758-6034, email Info@ PalmettoPride.org, or visit PalmettoPride.org or KeepTheMidlandsBeautiful.org.

2015 Midlands Heart Ball

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ime to put on that suit and tie for a great cause! On Valentine’s Day, February 14, the Midland’s Heart Ball will be hosted at the S.C. State Museum. Starting at 6:30 p.m., the event is designed to bring together influential leaders from the corporate, philanthropic and medical communities to raise funds and promote the lifesaving work of the American Heart Association12 (AHA). The evening’s black-tie festivities will include dinner, entertainment, dancing and an exciting SEI-Columbia auction. By attending, participants have the opportunity to become a critical part 540-1189-NA-Reach-MT-4x3 of the AHA’s mission.

Natural Awakenings 4.75 x 3.25 Time: 6:30-11 p.m. Location: S.C. State Museum: 301 Gervais RC St., Columbia. For more information, including ticket purchases, email Katie Gillig 11/24at Katie.Gillig@ Heart.org or visit MidlandsSCHeartBall.AHAEvents.org.

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natural awakenings

February 2015

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communitynews Take Heart and Smile Month at EdVenture

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hroughout the month of February, EdVenture Children’s Museum will present Take Heart and Smile, a special arrangement of presentations, labs and activities created just for kids. Hosted in partnership with South Carolina Dental Association, kids will learn and understand the importance of maintaining both healthier mouths and healthier bodies. Activities include a pig heart dissection in the bio lab from 10 to 11:30 a.m.; the Flora and Floppy Go to the Dentist presentation from 11:30 a.m. to noon; and the Acid Attack! presentation in the bio lab from 12:30 to 2 p.m. In addition, Mo and Flo robots appear between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cost: Members, free; children and adults, $11.50; seniors (age 62 and over) or military (with ID), $10.50; children under 1, free. Location: EdVenture Children’s Museum: 211 Gervais St., Columbia. For more information, call Dr. Kathie Williams at 803-400-1133, or email KWilliams@EdVenture.org or visit EdVenture.org.

Farm to Table: February Harvest Dinner

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ull up a chair at the dinner table. On Monday, February 23, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., the Farm to Table Event Company, in partnership with City Roots of Columbia, will host its February harvest dinner at City Roots Farm, the only sustainable, organic local farm in town.

Featuring superb resident chefs, this time-honored tradition will bring the best of local, fresh, cultural cuisine in a four-course format coupled with opening cocktails and great wine pairings.

Cost: $75. Location: City Roots Farm: 1005 Airport Blvd., Columbia. For more information, call 803-254-2302, or visit FarmToTableEvent.com or CityRoots.org.

Saluda Shoals: Parents’ Night Out

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n Friday, February 20, parents, and caregivers, are encouraged to take the night off and drop off their little ones at Saluda Shoals Park for a funfilled evening of activities and games in a safe and friendly environment. Dinner is included.

Cost: $15. Time: 6:30 to 9 p.m. Location: Saluda Shoals Park: 5605 Bush River Rd., Columbia. For more information and to register, call 803-772-3336 or visit ICRC.net/Saluda-Shoals-Park.

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MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Richland County Rolls out 48,000 New Roll Carts

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nother huge step in Richland County’s dedication to a sustainable future, the county is ramping up its recycling efforts by delivering new roll carts to more than 48,000 residents. The newly delivered roll carts represent the third and final phase of a plan to increase recycling availability to every resident serviced by Richland County Solid Waste and Recycling. Last January, 16,000 households received new roll carts, which replaced the red recycling bins residents previously used.

The new, green 95-gallon roll carts will give residents a larger container for holding their recyclables, which is intended to encourage more residents to recycle and increase the amount of recyclable materials collected. As a note and reminder, the recycling carts will be collected every other week and should be placed curbside by 7 a.m. Pickup dates and times vary, so please contact the offices of Richland County to request a copy of the residential collection schedule, if necessary.

For more information, contact the Richland County ombudsman’s office at 803929-6000, or visit RCGov.US/RichlandRecycles or RichlandOnline.com.

Bugs! Giant Robotic Creatures

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t’s a bug’s life. Throughout the month of February, come explore some of the world’s most common insects like never before as they are shown 40 to 120 times their size in this new and exciting exhibit at the S.C. State Museum. It features cutting-edge animatronics and interactive technology, showcasing oversized examples that bring to life the hidden world of insects. The exhibit includes giant robotic creatures, an insect portrait gallery, a live bug zoo, and interactive dragonfly, honeybee and mosquito heads. Also showcased in the exhibit is a hands-on kids’ station with a puppet theater and a giant ladybug and black widow spider perfect for photo opportunities.

Cost: Members, $4; visitors, $5. Times: Monday, and Wednesday to Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m. Location: S.C. State Museum: 301 Gervais St., Columbia. For more information, call 803-898-4921 or visit SCMuseum.org.

natural awakenings

February 2015

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healthbriefs

Mind-Body Therapies Stimulate the Immune System

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large statistical analysis of multiple studies on body-mind therapies such as meditation, tai chi, qigong and yoga found that the practices effectively reduce inflammation and show promise in modulating the immune system. Scientists at the Tufts University School of Medicine analyzed the results of 34 controlled scientific studies that collectively assessed 2,219 people.

Each study involved the use of at least one mind-body practice for between seven and 16 weeks and measured immune system health using multiple biological markers. Eighteen of the studies specifically examined inflammation factors, while seven evaluated antiviral-related immunity. Nine of the studies measured C-reactive protein (CRP) levels—an indicator of cardiovascular-related inflammation.

The analysis revealed that mind-body therapies reduced CRP levels in subjects with high risk factors for cancer, diabetes, depression and cardiovascular disease. The scientists added that some of the research suggested that mind-body therapy may also increase immunity against viral infections.

Calcium and Vitamin D May Help Prevent Dental Decay

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study from Argentina’s Buenos Aires University has linked dental caries to low levels of calcium and vitamin D. Dental status and caries risk were assessed by determining the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth, the amount of plaque and the sugar intake of 106 women of the average age of 24.

Calcium levels were deficient among nearly 60 percent of the women, 70 percent had low blood levels of vitamin D, 72 percent consumed soft drinks daily and all of them presented gingivitis (gum disease). The third with the highest caries scores and decayed or missing teeth had significantly lower calcium intake and vitamin D levels and significantly higher intake of protein and soft drinks, plus significantly higher plaque and sugar intake compared with the rest of the women.

The researchers concluded that low calcium intake is associated with a high risk of dental caries and a greater severity of oral disease. “Adequate nutritional status of calcium and vitamin D could be an additional factor that may help preserve good oral health,” they state.

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MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Organics Boast More Nutrients, Fewer Toxins

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onventionally grown foods contain pesticide residues that are three to four times higher than those found in organic foods (traces may be due to atmospheric drift from other fields or soils), according to a review of 343 research studies published last June in the British Journal of Nutrition. The review, which included studies of food grown in different regions and seasons, also determined that organic foods contained higher levels of healthy nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and antioxidants (specifically polyphenols), compared to conventional foods, which also contained significantly higher levels of cadmium, a heavy metal toxin.

The study’s authors found evidence that the higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations are linked to specific organic growing practices such as avoiding mineral nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, respectively. They commented, “Results indicate that switching from conventional to organic crop consumption would result in a 20 to 40 percent increase in crop-based antioxidant/ polyphenolic intake levels.”

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

Greenwashing Conundrum Biodegradable Plastic Bags Are a Hoax

In 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed recommendations for environmental marketing claims. The agency has sent warning letters to 15 marketers informing them that their claims may be deceptive, and requested more scientific evidence that plastic bags labeled as biodegradable, or “oxodegradable”, implying the bag will break down in time when exposed to oxygen, were true to the claim.

Because many bags are dumped in the low-oxygen environment of a landfill, the FTC considers those advertised benefits as dubious.

Joseph Greene, a professor at California State University, Chico, points out that oxodegradable should be amended to “oxofragmentable” to be more accurate, because the plastics just break into smaller and smaller pieces. Chemically, they don’t break down into anything less hazardous. In fact, if these plastic bags disintegrate in the ocean, the fragments will be about the right size for sea creatures to mistake them for plankton.

Source: Rabble.ca

Portable Feast

Guess Who’s Delivering Dinner A new service called Plated (Plated.com) is providing households the ability to prepare a fresh, homemade dinner without having to think about menu planning or grocery shopping. The ingredients arrive at the door in a biodegradable box, pre-portioned and ready to cook in 30 minutes.

Customers browse a rotating menu of chef-designed recipes on the Plated website and select their favorites each week, add the number of plates to the shopping cart and set a delivery date. For the price of subscription to the service, they receive a box with perfectly portioned ingredients and detailed cooking instructions. Based in New York City, Plated delivers its subscription boxes to 47 states, with plans to further expand in the next year.

Source: Treehugger.com

Forward Leap

Batteries that Last 1,000 Years A group of Swedish researchers has discovered an unconventional way to give new life to rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from iPhones to electric cars, using pine resin and alfalfa seeds. The researchers plan to take up to two years to improve the chemistry of the product, and claim that the recycled batteries could last up to 1,000 years, according to researcher David Brandell.

It has been estimated that demand for the batteries from automobile manufacturers could explode up to 400 percent in the next six years. The researchers see the technology as a global antidote to current methods for recycling manufactured Li-ion batteries that are energy-intensive and require toxic materials to manufacture.

Source: EnvironmentGuru.com natural awakenings

February 2015

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wisewords

Conscious Dating Jill Crosby on Looking for Love Online

by S. Alison Chabonais

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ill Crosby, owner and founder of the Conscious Dating Network, has focused on spiritual development and meditation for more than 30 years. Working as a director for the granddaddy of the original onsite photo/video dating companies, which included interviewing 6,000-plus singles, sparked a desire to create a venue for spiritually conscious singles to meet. So, 15 years ago, she created her flagship online dating site, SpiritualSingles.com.

NaturalAwakeningsSingles.com, launched two years ago as part of the network, shares the same database of members as SpiritualSingles.com and many affiliated conscious dating sites in the network.

Today, the Conscious Dating Network is the largest of its kind. From Mount Shasta, California, Crosby leads a team of specialists that care for members’ needs and provide a loving, inspiring site for singles to meet their beloveds.

How has online dating continued to evolve and what trends do you see now?

The stigma about meeting someone online has completely dissolved as success stories have become so common. It’s like shopping online—you can look at many different varieties and styles to find exactly what you are looking for, rather than physically searching store after store hoping to find something you like.

Technology has made a tremendous difference in price, accessibility and reach. Today, members post selfies as headshots, shoot their own videos and can access potential matches anywhere in the world.

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I used to think long-distance relationships didn’t stand a chance. However, with Skype and a willingness to relocate, many of our success stories start as long-distance connections. Video chatting is a great way to assess common values and get to know someone on a deep level before traveling to meet in person.

What distinguishes conscious dating sites like Natural AwakeningsSingles.com from mainstream sites?

Natural Awakenings Singles is a niche dating site for those that are conscious, spiritual and green. Singles with specific interests, passions and lifestyles usually prefer niche dating sites because they allow for more targeted search results, provided that the member database is large enough. Our database of more than 90,000 members globally is considered large for a niche. Mainstream sites may have more members; however, they require far more time and effort in sorting through profiles to find those with whom we might have something in common.

Natural Awakenings Singles is also much more generous than conventional pay models, in that free members can read and reply to personal messages and live instant messages sent from subscribing members. Most mainstream sites make members pay to read and reply to messages. Our primary goal is for our singles to become couples—to facilitate the tremendous amount of success our members experience, we do many things differently.

MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Have you seen any overall differences in the success stories the Conscious Dating Network facilitates?

Yes, our members usually connect on a deeper, “soul-to-soul” level and tend to understand that chemistry comes in all shapes and sizes. Our success story couples oftentimes have the feeling that they are destined to be together.

We encourage members to listen to their inner guidance in regard to whom to contact, be grateful in advance and stay in their divine flow.

When members tune in and act from this space, miracles happen.

Many of our “destined” couples go on to do amazing projects together, like opening retreat centers, writing books, facilitating workshops, starting intentional communities, creating nonprofit organizations and other beautiful ventures that neither of them would have necessarily done alone. The power of two seems to be exponentially greater.

What have proved to be your all-time favorite tips for online dating success?

By healing past traumas, loving and forgiving ourselves, and embodying our divine presence as much as possible, deep-seated feelings of unworthiness fall away and we emanate our true radiance, thus magnetizing a partner equally empowered and awake.

When we are in a place of personal power, there is no being shy or procrastinating. Imagine how it would be once you have met the love of your life, and focus on those feelings while browsing and reading profiles. When you notice a strong inner nudge to contact someone, do it. If it’s not mutual, that’s OK; don’t take it personally. That’s part of the beauty of online dating; the pool is large, and when the feeling and knowingness is mutual, you might just be starting a life together.

“In-joy” the process, be positive and choose to make it a fun adventure!

Joining NaturalAwakeningSingles. com includes access to all members of all the Conscious Dating Network sites.

S. Alison Chabonais is the national content editor for Natural Awakenings magazines.

lovespotlight

ebruary is nationally recognized as Relationship Wellness Month, and has long been considered the “love” month, spotlighting relationships and relationship building. In fact, in the U.S., more couples get married each year on Valentine’s Day, February 14, than on any other calendar date. Yes, love is “in the air,” and it is a very BIG deal.

Contrary to popular belief, successful relationships do not just magically “happen.” They are the culminating “fruits” of hard work, dedication and unselfish, intentional acts of caring and applied principles between two individuals. There are many helpful resources available to couples looking for practical tools and tips to enhance and improve relationships, with a few tips widely considered to be some of the most effective, provided below.

Read on … .

Be the best “self” to give

allowed here. Individuals should take turns in choosing the activities. Scheduling movie nights or candlelit dinners at home after the kids have been put to bed are great relationship builders. The ultimate goal is to spend quality, adult time together to keep the relationship healthy.

Do fun things and forget about the worries of the world.

Go to the park together, try a new sport, ride bikes or jump on a trampoline. Practice laughter, which has been proven to release endorphins. Act like kids again.

the best “self.” Eat healthy and nourishing whole foods.

Stay away from processed foods, incorporate exercise and live a balanced life. Spend quality time with friends, and do things that feed the soul.

Who doesn’t appreciate surprises and small acts of love? Make that loved one feel special. This is not just about bringing home flowers, but also includes the numerous small opportunities to show appreciation and love that make a huge difference. Examples include making coffee in the morning; preparing a dinner favorite on an otherwise insignificant day; or writing a special note, or message, just to say, “I love you.”

Set aside one night a week, or one night a month, just for that special someone. No children are

Relationships are not perfect. There will be disagreements from time to time. Remember to fight fairly and be respectful. Discuss current issues with a positive resolution in mind. Do not drag up old issues that create new wounds. Listen with an open mind, and do not presume to know how and what your loved one is feeling. Pick your battles carefully, and realize that not everything is worth fighting over. The goal should be to build bridges of unity, not walls of isolation.

Most individuals are looking for relationships, but more important, healthy and meaningful ones. Humans are “wired” for connection; and with the right application of love’s “best practices,” Valentine’s Day can become a day never to forget!

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consciouseating

carbohydrates, omega-6 fats and sugar.

His food philosophy serves as an overall prescription for mental health: “Eat food that comes from farms and not factories; simple, recognizable human food.”

Registered Dietitian Kathie Swift, an integrative clinical nutritionist in Lennox, Massachusetts, and author of The Swift Diet, agrees that food is powerful medicine. She recommends a balanced, flexitarian diet founded on plants, but including high-quality, animal-sourced foods. Just shifting our processed-foods to whole-foods ratio yields an improved mood, Swift says, which continues to motivate dietary change.

Prebiotic/Probiotic Potential

HAPPY MEALS Eating Healthy Foods Fights Off Depression

by Lane Vail

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dvertisements for antidepressants abound, yet a recent analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the benefits of treating mildly or moderately depressed individuals with these drugs “may be minimal or nonexistent” compared with a placebo. Most physicians agree that at least part of the prevention of and recovery from depression can be addressed through diet.

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“Every molecule in the brain begins as food,” says Dr. Drew Ramsey, author of The Happiness Diet and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Food choice is the biggest puzzle piece patients have under their control.”

Ramsey describes the modern American diet as being overwhelmed with highly processed foods, refined

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Recent science suggests a deeper meaning to the “gut feeling” adage.

Bacteria in the gut and neurochemicals in the brain communicate intimately and bidirectionally via the vagus nerve, explains Swift. Altering the gut’s microbial population, whether from chronic stress, antibiotic overuse or nutritional deficiencies, can change brain chemistry and thereby influence mood, mental clarity and sleep, she says.

In 2013, Canadian researchers altered both the neurochemicals and behavior in mice by switching their intestinal microbiota; anxious mice given the microbes of intrepid mice became braver, and vice versa. Another small study in the British Journal of Nutrition showed a decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms in volunteers taking probiotics for a month.

Essentially, says Swift, “We have a brain in the belly,” which must be nourished by both prebiotics (soluble fiber) and probiotics (fermented food). “Fiber

is the quintessential substance to feed the lovely community of bugs in the gut,” says Swift, “while fermented foods interact with resident bacteria and give them a boost.” She recommends a variety of vegetables as a primary source of fiber, especially legumes, along with fruits, nuts, cheese and the occasional gluten-free whole grain. Probiotic foods include fermented vegetables, kefir, yogurt with live active cultures and apple cider vinegar.

B Happy Most psychiatric medications target feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, says Ramsey, but the body also manufactures these chemicals naturally during the methylation cycle, a B-vitamin-dependent neurological process.

“B vitamins are superstars of the brain,” Ramsey says. “Think of them as lubrication for the brain’s gears.”

Folate, or vitamin B9 is particularly important to healthy nervous system functioning. A meta-analysis of 15,000 people reported in the Journal of Epidemiology associated low folate with

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Good-Mood Meal Plans Wild-Caught Alaskan Salmon with Sautéed Swiss Chard, Pickled Beets and Banana-Avocado Pudding Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3s, and Swiss chard offers fiber and folate. Beets are high in folate, as well as nitrites, which improve circulation throughout the body and the brain, says Nutritionist Kathie Swift. Double-down on beets’ power by eating them pickled in apple cider vinegar, promoting healthy gut flora. Bananas contain tryptophan, an amino acid involved in serotonin production, and avocados are high in folate and oleic acid, a model unsaturated omega-9 fat needed for healthy brains, advises Dr. Drew Ramsey.

Lentil Salad with Hummus, Grilled Asparagus, Broccoli, Red Onion and Grilled Watermelon Lentils, chickpeas and asparagus are high in fiber and B vitamins, while walnuts add omega-3s. Broccoli is an excellent source of chromium, a mineral found to lower blood sugar and reduce symptoms of depression in some people, according to a Cornell University study. Grilled onions (along with garlic, which can be blended into hummus) belong to a food family called alliums that promote healthy vascular function and blood flow to the brain and also contain a high concentration of chro-

mium, says Ramsey. Watermelon’s red color is due to its high concentration of the antioxidant lycopene, which helps resolve free radical damage, inflammation and hormone imbalances associated with depression, notes Swift.

Grass-Fed Beef with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Kale and Greek Yogurt Swirled with Raspberries A British Journal of Nutrition study showed that beef raised on chlorophyll-rich grass provides more omega-3s than grain-fed beef. Like other animal proteins, beef is a significant source of tryptophan. Kale and sweet potatoes contribute fiber, folate and vitamin A, which promotes the enzymes that create the pleasure neurotransmitter, dopamine. Yogurt is also high in tryptophan, and raspberries provide folate and antioxidants.

Free-Range Egg Omelet with Spinach, Tomatoes, Cheese and Fresh Papaya Eggs are a power-packed food full of B vitamins, tyrosine and tryptophan amino acids, plus selenium, zinc and iodide, micronutrients vital for proper functioning of the energy- and metabolism-regulating thyroid, says Ramsey.

Tomatoes and natural cheese are high in lycopene and tryptophan, respectively, and spinach and papaya are packed with folate and fiber.

a higher risk of depression. Dark leafy greens like kale, spinach and Swiss chard are high in B vitamins, as are beets, eggs, lentils, beans and whole grains; helpful fruits include papaya, avocado and berries.

Omega-3s Please “It’s a horrible notion that fat is bad,” says Ramsey.

Swift agrees, noting, “We need a major renovation and reeducation of this important neuro-nutrient.” The integrity of a neuron cell membrane, which Swift describes as “a beautiful and fluid layer of lipids,” is crucial for brain health because it dictates communication among neurotransmitters. “The fat we eat becomes the fat of our cell membranes,” she says. “So nourish your membranes with adequate amounts of the right types of fat.”

Long-chain omega-3s (DHA) docosahexaenoic acid and (EPA) eicosapentaenoic acid build and protect neurons, help prevent cognitive decline with age and can boost overall mood and mental performance, says Ramsey. A study in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry found that treating depressed patients with omega-3 EPA was as equally effective as Prozac. “DHA and EPA are the two most important fats for brain health on the planet, period,” states Ramsey.

Foods rich in omega-3s include fatty seafood like salmon, mussels and oysters, plus sea vegetables, walnuts, flaxseed and grass-fed beef. For vegetarians and vegans, Ramsey recommends an algal DHA supplement.

Focusing on feeding the brain doesn’t preclude staving off heart disease, obesity or diabetes. “Follow the rules of eating for brain health,” Ramsey says, “and you’ll also be slim, energized, focused and resilient.” It’s all a recipe for happiness.

Lane Vail is a freelance writer and blogger at DiscoveringHomemaking.com.

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businessspotlight

This veteran-owned and operated facility offers all the amenities of a private health club to include: • •

• • • • •

•

• • •

Dynamic Health and Fitness:

Brand new Matrix cardio Les Mills classes with certified instructors (BodyPump, BodyAt tack, BodyCombat) Large free-weight area Unlimited tanning Kids’ zone child care Indoor walking track Member club app with ad vanced-goal tracking Large group fitness studio (more than 50 classes a week) Spin studio Personal training services Dynamic extreme daily workouts

ynamic Health and Fitness has recently opened its brand new state-ofthe-art health club, located at 3225 Sunset Boulevard, in West Columbia.

With more than 14,000 square feet of workout space, the latest and most advanced exercise equipment, and a warm and friendly staff, the facility is ideal for anyone of all ages and fitness levels.

Since 2012, Dynamic Health and Fitness has been the most praised gym in the Carolinas, winning the 2012/2013 Best Health Club award, as awarded from Lexington Life Magazine. The club’s business runs mostly on word of mouth, positive member referrals and reviews.

Dynamic Health and Fitness also offers group fitness with a large selection of daily classes for all fitness levels, including Zumba, Les Mills, yoga, spin, barre and boot camps.

Come see what all the excitement is about and tour the brand new facility.

The friendly Dynamic staff is ready and eager to help residents of the Midlands area to set, track and achieve their personal health and fitness goals for 2015.

When visiting, make sure to see a staff member to receive VIP guest passes, download Dynamic’s free goal-tracking smartphone app, receive a free fitness assessment, and set up two free personal training sessions.

With its extended hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., Dynamic Health and Fitness is open longer than any other fitness facility in town.

“I love this place. It’s more like family than a gym,” says member Mary Kate.

“Best 2014 decision I made ... and a special shout out to my personal trainer, Qwel, who has already helped me to transform my body,” says member Hayley.

For more information, call 803-4659131 or visit DynamicHealthClub.com to get a membership started for free.

New Location … New You

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fitbody

FITNESS FINDS Locate the Best Workout Space for You

by Debra Melani

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ix years ago, Sherry Salmons, of Oak Ridge, Illinois, was perplexed by her “glowing, smiling, energetic” neighbor that worked full time while raising three young children, yet never seemed drained. Finally, she asked: “What’s your secret?” The answer was a life-changing visit by Salmons to a nearby holistic fitness studio.

Lucking into good recommendations can whittle down the multitude of choices available at 32,000 U.S. health clubs and studios, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. With the dual trends of niche studios and low-cost fitness centers fueling a diverse burst in workout options, club-seekers should apply their sleuthing skills before deciding on something that can prove so pivotal to their health.

Clue #1: Location and hours. If a facility isn’t near home or work, people won’t go, says Jim White, an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) health fitness specialist, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Our time is so valuable that going to the gym can’t be a hassle.” Check online

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and list nearby facilities and hours, scratching off any that aren’t open at convenient times.

Clue #2: Know what you need. Some people have absolute necessities for fitness success. “For instance, avid swimmers need a pool,” says Grace DeSimone, an ACSM personal trainer in New York City. “That’s going to reduce their choices considerably.” Other non-negotiable provisions might be a yoga studio, indoor track or child care.

Clue #3: Gym rat or newbie? A fitness facility that costs pennies a day might seem like an obvious choice, but not if our fitness level and knowledge are near zero. “A lot of people don’t know what to do in a gym,” observes White, who owns personal training studios in Virginia. “We’re especially for those who want their hands held or want to see results fast.” Niche studios focused on modalities from kick boxing to dance therapy can offer added guidance. DeSimone notes that other reputable facilities will likewise have accredited trainers, often at a low cost. Larger facilities also may

offer more options for a newbie to try out before settling on what they like, she says.

Clue #4: Take a test drive. Make use of trial periods and guest passes. “Get a feel for the culture,” says Chris Freytag, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise and a personal trainer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “People are more likely to stay motivated in an environment that inspires them and with people that motivate them,” Freytag says.

During on-site visits, do we feel at home among kindred spirits our own age? Is the facility clean and secure?

Clue #5: Look at the equipment. If the gym doesn’t have the equipment we want to use, whether it’s Pilates or TRX equipment, free weights or Kettlebells, then move on. A gym worth joining will have plenty of up-to-date equipment that follows the latest fitness trends and works properly, says White.

prefers Pilates, but participates in all of the studio’s offerings, including massage, acupuncture and nutrition classes. While finding the right club has boosted her fitness level, she notes that the real magic has come in the form of revitalized energy. “It’s changed me in all aspects of my life. When I leave, I feel mentally focused, emotionally balanced and refreshed. It’s kind of transformational.”

Freelance journalist Debra Melani writes about health care and fitness from Lyons, CO. Connect at DebraMelani.com or DMelani@msn.com.

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Think Outside the Box

ne of the latest trends for health-seekers is joining more than one club.

Mixing it up can be a good way to go, says Jim White, owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios, in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia. “A lot of people are leaving the big-box gyms for more of an a la carte menu,” White says. “I have a client that strength trains with me in the mornings and then goes to spinning, barre and yoga studios in the afternoons.”

Up to 90 percent of small studio members belong to more than one club, according to the 2014 International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s annual industry trend report. That can both lessen monotony and provide a well-rounded fitness routine, White says.

Clue #6: Investigate the staff. Checking out the staff is key for those seeking specialized guidance, such as yoga, martial arts or personal training. Look for trainers and instructors available to help that are certified by a reputable program accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Investigating key employees’ backgrounds, including acupuncturists and massage therapists, is crucial.

Clue #7: Sign with caution. Avoid signing long-term, complicated contracts, which are rare these days, DeSimone counsels. “Don’t be overwhelmed by a high-pressured sales pitch; just stand your ground, because those people are at your service.” White recommends making sure the price includes expected services; feel free to negotiate, especially with initial fees. Understand all policies, especially cancellation clauses, and use a credit card, which is easier to correct if problems arise, adds DeSimone.

Although Salmons was lucky, with her neighbor’s recommendation leading her to her perfect studio, people should investigate to find their ideal fit. “It starts when you walk in the door,” Salmons says about her attraction to The Balance Fitness Studio. “The space is open, exposed and it’s got this very clean, feng shui energy.”

Not a traditional, iron-pumping, music-blasting gym fan, Salmons natural awakenings

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Happily Coupled Creating Loving Relationships that Thrive

by Judith Fertig

“To be fully seen by somebody… and be loved anyhow— this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

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t the conclusion of her bestselling memoir, Eat Pray Love, author Elizabeth Gilbert had fallen in love with Jose Nunes (called Felipe in the book), a Brazilian living in Indonesia. The divorced Gilbert, reluctant to have her heart broken again, had vowed never to remarry… yet ultimately changed her mind when U.S. immigration law presented her with multiple choices: marry so they could live together in this country, stay single and live as ex-pat partners or say goodbye to Nunes.

Gilbert chose a marital partnership that suits the shared life they want: honest and, after years of travel, settled in one place. She says, “For the first time in my life, living in a small town with a lovely husband in an old house with

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a big garden and several pets, I feel absolutely rooted in a way I have never experienced before and never would have imagined even desiring. But it is what we want—at least for now—and we’re relishing that stability.” Gilbert records the process of going from two global wanderers falling in love to a married couple sharing domestic chores in her follow-up memoir, Committed: A Love Story.

Love Science

The spark that ignites such a partnership is love, which is “primarily about connection,” says Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., a positivity expert and author of Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become. “It’s vital to our health

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and happiness, affecting our brains and bodies at the cellular level.

“We were born to love,” emphasizes Fredrickson, who also serves as a psychology professor and director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The evidence comes from research that shows how our brain and nervous system are designed to enhance our chances of experiencing it.”

When we share positive emotions with another person, experience a synchrony between their biochemistry and behaviors and ours, plus exhibit mutual care, love can bloom, whether we stay happily single or decide to pursue a committed relationship. She calls this triple-action sequence “positivity resonance”. Love, she observes, is less a smooth, solid path than momentary experiences of connection.

Making Love Last

The more areas of connection we have with our partners, the more opportunities we have to positively resonate every day, adds Frederickson.

Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., a psychology professor at California’s Santa Clara University and adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, agrees. “Long-term relationships, like marriages, are partnerships in living,” according to Plante.

“The vast majority of the time couples are together they’re not having hot sex, but are sharing a practical day-to-day life together.”

Shared activities aren’t always exciting or glamorous. Raising children, working, managing a home, cooking and cleaning, shopping, being with friends and family and the rest of regular daily living is where the rubber meets the road in relationship satisfaction, observes Plante. “If couples aren’t compatible in these areas, then the connection and attraction will inevitably atrophy, tensions emerge and too often, relationships fracture and fall apart.”

Compatibility means different things to different people, and requirements can change as individuals in a romantic partnership change over time.

Compatibility also means agreement

that the relationship is worth the effort to nurture and sustain it.

Partnering Life’s Dance

Five couples in different stages of loving partnerships share how they make their special relationships work. The key to them all is shared values.

Doing everything together. For newlyweds Drs. Josh and Chelsea Axe, of Nashville, Tennessee, a mutual commitment to vigorous wellness and physical fitness keeps them together. Says Josh, “The healthy lifestyle I have chosen to live is so important that I need someone who is able to not just agree, but also partner with me.” Married in 2012, the two chiropractic physicians went on to co-found the BurstFIT interval training program and meld their professional, as well as personal, lives.

Chelsea notes, “There is truth to the phrase, ‘Couples that sweat together, stay together.’ When working out together, you share a specific energy you create while pushing yourself to your mental and physical limits. You have your partner right there doing it alongside you, knowing they’re supporting you; so when you each break through a mental or physical barrier in your workout, you step over together into a strength and confidence that carries over into your marriage. Being a part of each other’s goals and the struggles to reach them unifies us.”

Remarks Josh, “I feel like we can both be successful individually, but when we’re a team, the outcome is synergistic.”

Chelsea adds, “It’s never a mindset of ‘me.’ It’s always ‘us.’”

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“Seventy-five to 80 percent of all chemistry evaporates within six to eight months unless the relationship is significantly undergirded by deeper and more durable compatibility.” ~Neil Clark Warren

Balancing work and play. Barbara and Bob Unell, of Leawood, Kansas, dated as teenagers, went their separate ways in college and then found each other again in their early 20s. “We went on a blind date in 1968 and both belted out songs on the car radio,” recalls Barbara. “I thought he had a great sense of humor and was fun to be with. All these years later, it feels like we’re still dating.

We’re crazy about each other.”

Both Barbara and Bob describe themselves as enthusiastic, playful, entrepreneurial, altruistic and geared toward creative projects, whether undertaken together or separately. “We’re both, ‘Let’s try this,’ sort of people,” says Barbara with a laugh.

When the Unells had twins, now grown, they realized there was no national publication addressing how to parent multiples, so they launched Twins magazine in 1984. Bob founded and managed an advertising agency while Barbara wrote bestselling parenting books, but the whole family traveled together on her speaking engagements. In response to becoming a breast cancer survivor, Barbara founded the nonprofit Back in the Swing in 2000 to support survivorship care at cancer centers.

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When they needed additional staff, Bob joined the team in 2009. One of the biggest things that Barbara has learned from Bob is, “You can make work fun.”

“Although we come from different backgrounds, Bob and I know the power of mutual respect, trust and kindness,” reflects Barbara. “Part of our connection is that we have shared history and never take each other for granted.”

Making long-distance work. Lisa Ekus, who runs the full-service culinary talent agency The Lisa Ekus Group, in Hatfield, Massachusetts, had been married twice and already raised her two children when she met Atlanta Chef Virginia Willis. They got to know each other through culinary events and to their surprise, fell in love. Over the past six years they’ve evolved a relationship that works for them—keeping a deep personal connection, but maintaining separate residences.

Cookbook author Willis gardens, develops recipes and writes for her Food Network blog, “Down Home Comfort,” at Ekus’ New England compound in the summers; Ekus travels to the South during cold months. They also meet up as often as they can at conferences, food and wine festivals and other events during the rest of the year.

“We are both smart, professional women who love what we do, have strong ethics and a high level of self-expectation in how we work,” says Ekus.

“We are also best friends and work together professionally. The respect we have for each other and our work is instrumental in our relationship.”

“We often joke about the North/ South, fast/slow cultural difference,” Ekus notes. “I’m more spontaneous; Virginia is more thoughtful in her responses. I tend to move fast and focus on checking off items, while Virginia is more about the journey and being in the moment. It often makes us each take stock and consider what we’re doing and saying.”

They make the “Marriages based on keeps them togethgeographic separaer—is a love of a mutual desire to tion work despite its playful fun and good inherent long-distance serve and inspire grow times with friends. complications via conKaren remarks, “I sistent communication, continually in richness knew Dick was saying good morning and beauty, and are ‘the one’ when he and good night every jumped flat-footed a benediction to all day by phone and over a wingback texting often. They who know of them.” chair at a friend’s hold regular agent/auhouse. That showed ~ Meher Baba thor meetings to make me that he was professional plans and young at heart.” personal calendar meetings at least

Making ends meet. Eleven years weekly, recognizing and respecting ago, when family therapist Susan Frankwhat is important to each of them. lin lost her husband, Michael, a university college professor, she felt Bridging the age bereft and overwhelmed. gap. Karen and Dick The pair had owned Eagle, from St. Louis, a country property Missouri, are 16 years near Cleveland, apart in age, but are Ohio, where they close in the ways that boarded horses. count. Both are Susan realized, “I strong-minded and still vie to couldn’t keep up get their own with everything way even after 30 on my own,” and years of marriage.

Jake Marshall, a “We argue over musician friend of the stupidest things, Michael’s, offered and then resolve our to help. Over time, disagreements and reSusan and Jake bealize how good we have came close, and they it,” says Karen. now live together.

What first attracted Although Jake is a them to each other—and great supporter in

many ways, he’s not in a position to help financially. Susan depends on her late husband’s insurance and pension benefits, which she would lose if she remarries. “Jake is so laid back and easy to be with, I can relax,” says Susan.

Michael, on the other hand, always seemed to fill a room. Jake helps Susan with chores around the property and she is always there cheering him on from the front row when he performs at local venues.

Cultivating Care

Working out as a couple, sharing a creative project or making a gourmet meal together can do more than keep partners feeling connected. Shared activities also keep the positive experiences ongoing and resonating. “That special bond and the commitments people often build around it are the products of love, the results of the many smaller moments in which love infuses you,” maintains Fredrickson. Such moments not only accumulate, but can also be stored in memory and banked to feed a relationship during the tougher times.

“Love is something we should re-cultivate every day,” she says. A loving partnership is always a work in progress.

Judith Fertig is a freelance writer from Overland Park, KS.

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greenliving

“Feng shui is about making our built environments in sync with nature and natural cycles.” ~ Alisa Rose Seidlitz to immediately create more harmony while eliminating toxins that are unhealthy and disrupt the energy flow.

Eco Feng Shui Tips to Bring More Positive Energy into Your Home

by Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist

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hen we’re hungry for change, we may feel the impulse to spruce up our living spaces. Rooms that feel cluttered, drab and unappealing drag on our energy. Applying the basic inspired tenets of the ancient Chinese art and

science of feng shui can transform and re-energize any space, improving the way we feel.

Translated as “wind and water,” feng shui—which has been creating healthy and harmonious environments since its origins 3,000 years ago—can activate our rethinking the arrangement, uses and tone of each room while bringing beneficial green changes home.

Feng Shui Basics When considering how to apply feng shui principles, it helps to have a trained practitioner make a map, or bagua, analyzing how energy, or chi, moves through a building. They will determine ways to help chi flow and settle in appropriate places to support all aspects of life. Recommended alterations typically start with furniture placement, color choices and key accessorizing. Sample bagua maps are available online for referencing.

While a complete feng shui treatment may require major revamping, we can also take some low-cost steps

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Bring in Green “Bringing natural elements into a space will aid the circulation of chi, help achieve a balance and yield an indoor environment of peace and calm,” says feng shui practitioner Maureen Calamia, owner of Luminous Spaces, in St. James, New York.

Feng shui categorizes the natural elements as water, metal, fire, earth and wood, reflected in items like stones, plants and water features, as well as art and wall decorations and paint colors. Filling a home with living plants is favored by many feng shui experts.

“Surround yourself with green plants, including cuttings from the yard,” advises Debra Duneier, a feng shui master practitioner, certified eco-designer and author of EcoChi: Designing the Human Experience, in New York City. “They bring energy and life force into your home, while also filtering the air you breathe.” If adding plants isn’t feasible, she recommends picking up some fresh flowers each week. Remember to change the water every day and dispose of the flowers at the first sign of wilting (dying flowers bring negative energy).

Banish Toxic Materials “Healthy indoor air quality is an essential aspect of good feng shui,” attests Alisa Rose Seidlitz, an eco feng shui consultant/designer, certified green building and interiors professional and owner of Ambiance Eco, in Berkeley, California. “Materials used inside our homes, such as cleaning products and

furnishings, can either gas into the air. Look for “Feng shui contribute significantly available zero-VOC is the original widely to poor air quality or brands. Other options support positive feng eco-science.” include displaying art or shui.” colorful wall hangings. ~ Will LeStrange

Indoor air quality is Flooring. Many toxins significantly impacted lurk in conventional carby furnishings and décor. When seekpeting and adhesives used to lay wood ing out the cleanest, greenest options, or tile floors. Look for natural wool pay special attention to: rugs, reclaimed wood and zero-VOC

Cleaning products. Safely discard floor adhesives. Preserve resources and toxic cleaning chemicals by taking alter the energy in a space by repurthem to hazardous waste pickup sites. posing reclaimed materials for rehab Many household jobs can be done projects. For good feng shui, smudging with vinegar and baking soda. with dried sage cleanses any negative

Paint. Revisions in wall, trim energy leftover from previous owners. and furniture colors quickly freshen a

Furnishings and fabrics. Mainroom and bring new energy, especially stream furniture is typically treated when they align with Earth’s natural with toxic flame retardant, so always elements. Avoid conventional paint, ask how furniture has been treated which contains dangerous volatile before purchasing. Seek out nontoxic organic compounds (VOC) that offand natural materials like natural

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Color Me Feng Shui

ere’s a quick primer on the colors associated with each of the five natural elements and ways to bring them into a home. Seek a balance of all five in each room, appropriate to its use.

Wood Water Earth

Metal Fire

green, brown blue, black earth tones, soft yellows/oranges white, gray red, purple, bright yellows/oranges

living plants, wood, flowers water features, running fountains, glass brick, tile, ceramics rocks, stones sunlight

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Go Bagua

n online search for practical information on bagua-mapping resources produces these results. n Tinyurl.com/FengShuiBaguaMap n FengShui.About.com/od/feng shui-bagua n Feng-Shui.LoveToKnow.com/ Bagua_Map

rubber mattresses and hemp or organic cotton shower curtains and window coverings.

Follow Your Joy Feng shui is multifaceted, but at its center is a search for balance and harmony. When making changes at home, it’s good to know we can follow our instincts and add things that bring us joy. Feng shui experts provide guidance in choosing colors and elements, but each of us is ultimately the best judge of what feels best for our own space.

“I often ask my clients: What kind of message are you sending yourself?” says Duneier. “You can use your space to send yourself a message of a beautiful, abundant and healthy life.”

Sarah Tarver-Wahlquist, a writer from Tucson, Arizona, also freelances for GreenAmerica.org.

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inspiration

What’s in Your Way? Obstacles Point the Path to Wholeness and Healing

What Better Time To Find That Special Someone! oin the largest database of health-conscious, Jeco-minded and spiritual singles now and manifest an extraordinary relationship!

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by Deborah Shouse

ince childhood, Mary O’Malley always thought that something bad was about to happen and experienced a continuous dread that gnawed her insides. Over the years, she tried to eat, drink and medicate away the anxious feelings plaguing her, and sought help from group therapy, hypnotherapy and psychiatrists.

Then in 1972, in her late 20s, O’Malley attended a yoga workshop that helped advance her quest to let go of struggles and embrace life. Later, when she met Stephen Levine, whose teaching is influenced by Buddhism, he conveyed, “There’s nothing in you that needs to be fixed,” and invited her to view her own issues with curiosity and compassion.

The transformational insights learned along her journey shared in her book, What’s In the Way Is the Way, include simple tools for those that need to move beyond struggles to live in the present with more peace, ease and joy.

Train as a Tightness Detective

Ask this internal question when feeling stressed: “In what aspect of life am I holding on for dear life?” Is your breath short, are your shoulders tight; do you feel a fist in your solar plexus or an elephant sitting on your chest? These are indications that you’re aligned with some struggle. By softening and breathing into the tight places, you can open into life and better align with ease and grace.

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Strengthen the Curiosity Muscle

Whenever O’Malley experienced inner gnawing, she tuned into her body and inquired about the dread: “How big is it

and how deep does it go? Does it have a flavor?” The more she questioned, the more curiosity and attention she brought to the emotion and the freer she felt.

Turn Curiosity into Compassion

O’Malley learned to more accurately self-report her feelings.

Instead of, “I am afraid,” she learned to assess; “Dread is here.” Then she cultivated compassion, treating the dread as her friend signaling the need for a solution. She acknowledged and listened to the stricken and paralyzed parts of herself, knowing they were separating her from joy because they needed to be heard and understood.

Step Outside Struggle to Embrace Humility O’Malley believes that struggle is humanity’s core compulsion. We develop a story about the difficulty of life and heroically fight against myriad injustices. Yet making a U-turn in perspective to see them as challenges is tailor-made to help us recognize and achieve separation from our individual struggles in favor of a better way of experiencing life.

“The dictionary misses the full meaning when it defines humility as ‘lowliness, meekness, submissiveness,’” O’Malley believes. “True humility is a state of great availability, and from this kind of openness we can reconnect with the joy of being fully alive.” She now discovers gifts embedded in every single challenge.

Deborah Shouse blogs at DeborahShouseWrites.wordpress.com.

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healingways

LIVE HEALTHY In honor of American Heart Month, let the YMCA help you achieve and maintain a healthy heart through our programs and facilities that engage members in an active, healthy lifestyle.

The Y will help you take the steps to lead a longer, healthier life. Visit us at www.columbiayma.org or stop by one of our five area locations to learn more about what the Y has to offer.

Gentling

GRIEF Remedies to

Heal the Heart

by Kathleen Barnes

G

rief can arrive suddenly with the death of a loved one, serious illness, loss of a job, parental dementia or decaying relationship. In any case, it takes a toll.

“Grief encompasses all of our thoughts and feelings. Mourning is when we put them into action by talking, crying, perhaps doing rituals,” explains Tracy Riley, a licensed clinical social worker and grief counselor in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Grief isn’t something that’s over when you wake up one day,” Riley counsels. “It’s ridiculous when an employer gives you three days off and then expects everything to be fine.” She notes that time helps heal all wounds, but even a decade after losing a loved one, the pain can remain and life is never the same, although most of us learn to live with loss and move forward.

“Some things can’t be fixed,” concludes Megan Devine, a psychotherapist in Portland, Oregon, and author of the audio book, When Everything is Not Okay, who blogs at RefugeInGrief. com. After witnessing the drowning death of her fiancé, she says, “I didn’t need to hear platitudes that everything would be OK. I needed something solid to hold onto when my whole world exploded.”

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MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Physical Aids

An unexpected death and any emotional shock is an extreme stressor that causes the adrenal glands to release a flood of adrenaline. Tina Erwin, La Mesa, California author of The Lightworker’s Guide to Healing Grief, explains, “If you get a shock when someone close to you dies, your adrenal glands are blown out almost instantly and you are overwhelmed with adrenaline, much like we often see in people with post-traumatic stress disorder. You need to rebalance your body chemistry.”

Intense grief can sometimes show up as chest pain, a classic sign of heart attack, due to a temporary disruption of the heart’s normal pumping action from a surge in stress hormones, according to the National Institutes of Health. Yet Imperial College London scientists now have found that a recognizable “broken heart syndrome” may temporarily protect the heart from being overwhelmed with adrenaline.

“Healing the physical side of grief ultimately helps healing on an emotional level, too,” says Erwin. To assist herself following the death of her 6-yearold niece from a sudden infection, she uses several Bach flower remedies for trauma—Rescue Remedy, to rebalance

the flood of adrenaline; Star of Bethlehem, for shock and loss; and Mimulus, for fear and anxiety. “Combining a few drops of each of these in a water bottle or tea several times a day helps you regain a feeling of balance,” Erwin says.

She also likes drinking blood-cleansing noni juice to help wash adrenaline out of the body, and taking salt baths enhanced with lavender essential oil to literally “wash away the darkness.”

Emotional Aids

Riley views art and music therapy, plus journaling (a “personal roadmap” that helps chart her progress), as powerful healing tools. She’s also seen firsthand how animals can play a key role through the mourning process. Her miniature schnauzer intuitively approaches her clients that are anxious and grieving and gives them permission to pet him. “It puts people at ease,” she says. “Then they can talk more freely about their pain.” Numerous studies, starting in the 1980s, show that stroking a furry pet lowers blood pressure.

Helping a Mourning Friend H

ere’s comforting advice from grief advocate Megan Devine for friends yearning to soothe a bereaved friend.

Don’t try to fix it: Don’t say anything that tries to fix the unfixable, and you’ll do fine. It’s an unfathomable relief to have a friend that doesn’t try to take the pain away.

Grief belongs to the griever: You have a supporting role, not the central role, in a friend’s grief, which is an entirely personal experience.

Anticipate, don’t ask: Don’t say, “Call

me if you need anything,” because your friend won’t call; not because they don’t need support, but because identifying a need, figuring out who might fill it, and then reaching out to ask is beyond their energy level, capacity or interest. Instead, make concrete offers of practical assistance in doing normal tasks or chores for the friend and deliver on them.

Be willing to witness searing pain: Simply be quietly present. Acknowledge their state and stick with simple truths: “This hurts. I love you. I’m here.”

Charting a Personal Course

For the bereaved (literally defined as “torn apart”), the symptoms of grief are meant to slow us down, advises Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition, in Fort Collins, Colorado, and author of numerous related books, including Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart.

Society expects bereaved people to “carry on, keep their chins up, be glad they had him/her as long as they did or else be grateful that our loved one’s pain is over”—all platitudes that are more hurtful than helpful, says Wolfelt. Mourning takes time, but it also requires a social context, he explains. “It’s the shared response to loss.

If you isolate yourself, you are grieving, not mourning. You can’t do this on your own. It’s bigger than you.”

For those that feel stuck or unable to move forward, experienced grief counselors may be able to help.

Kathleen Barnes is the author of numerous health books, including Ten Best Ways to Manage Stress. Connect at KathleenBarnes.com. natural awakenings

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naturalpet

When Your Pet Passes A Guide to Mourning, Remembering and Healing

by Julianne Hale

A

pet’s love is extraordinary because it is unconditional. It doesn’t have expectations, pass judgment or try to leverage guilt. It is rich in loyalty, trust and adoration.

Domestic pets provide warmth, companionship and love, as well as purpose, fun and conversational gambits for family members. For lonely hearts, they are a lifeline, providing a physical, emotional and spiritual connection to life that may prove critical to survival and happiness.

Loving pets seem like an endless source of happiness while with us, but few outlive their owners. Loss is as much a part of having a pet as potty training. For some, the loss of a dog or cat is debilitating and the grieving process can take months.

Rev. Gary Kowalski, author of Goodbye, Friend and a Unitarian Universalist minister in Santa Fe, New Mexico, contends that the depth of the relationship that we develop with pets emerges from the time we spend with them every day—exercising, feeding, grooming and even sleeping with them. The relationship is pure and uncomplicated, and the pain of separation can be especially intense and profound.

The challenge of pet loss is often complicated by the difficult decision to

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euthanize an aged or suffering animal.

“One of the hardest things about having a dog is that sometimes you have to decide to end its life,” says Jon Katz, of upstate New York, a New York Times bestselling author of many books about dogs, including Going Home: Finding Peace When Pets Die. “Our job as pet owners is to be an advocate for our pets, making sure they do not suffer.

Don’t poison the joy that you shared with your pet with guilt over your decisions,” he says. Katz recommends taking photos of pets and making intentional memories in the time leading up to parting to encourage closure.

The same kind of rituals we use to honor and say goodbye to other family members can likewise help ease the pain of a pet’s passing. Owners can gather with loved ones and friends to celebrate the life of their pet with a burial ceremony or memorial. Kowalski likes adding meaningful words. His book includes a variety of readings that pet owners can use in their rituals taken from poems, literature, the Bible and other sacred texts.

When a human friend or family member dies, compassion and empathy flows from everyone we meet, but many may not be aware of, or understand, the depth of grief associated with a pet’s death. “Some people feel embarrassed or don’t understand that

mourning a deceased pet is a normal process,” explains Julia Harris, a pet bereavement counselor from Ellijay, Georgia, and author of Pet Loss: A Spiritual Guide.

Support is essential during times of grief, and it can be difficult to find an understanding friend to discuss it with.

Several online communities are devoted to providing support. An Internet search of “pet loss support” yields a wealth of online resources.

In the same way that the belief in an afterlife comforts people of many faith traditions when a person passes, the possibility of the same destiny for pets can offer comfort. “Perhaps one of the most common questions I am asked is whether or not animals have a soul,” explains Harris. “I encourage people to know that the soul, like love, is eternal. It leaves the physical body, but the loving relationship continues.”

While there’s no standard timeline for the grieving process, it’s important to keep perspective. Excessive grief can lead to depression. “If the grief is interfering with life and your work, then you may need to seek professional help,” advises Katz.

Not even a parent is capable of providing the purely unconditional love we receive from pets. Kowalski views it as a sacred connection, observing that through the unconditional love and acceptance that we receive from our pets, we get a little glimpse of what God’s love must look like.

Julianne Hale is a writer and editor for Natural Awakenings and blogs about family life at AnotherGrayHair.

WordPress.com.

Helping Children Cope

F

or many children, the loss of a beloved pet is their first exposure to death, and age-appropriate honesty is the best policy for helping them through this difficult time. Rev. Gary Kowalski advises parents and caregivers to reassure kids that the death of an animal is not something they have to fear, and let them know that the animal is not in pain, is not sleeping and is in a peaceful place.

He cautions parents against speaking euphemistically about death to young children.

Involving children in the planning of a memorial service for a pet can be therapeutic. Let them talk openly about their favorite memories together and their sadness. Bereavement counselor Julia Harris encourages parents to share stories from their faith traditions that address afterlife. “These stories can help your child best understand that God continues to watch over their pet,” she contends. “This provides a sense of security that the pet is safe and remains with your child in spirit and memory.”

It takes one person to forgive, it takes two people to be reunited!

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healthykids

health. Children’s daily diets should contain omega-3-rich foods, such as chia, hemp, nuts and fatty fish. For children 12 and older, supplement with fish oil containing 1,200 milligrams (mg) of (DHA) docosahexaenoic acid and (EPA) eicosapentaenoic acid combined.

Try magnesium. Low levels of magnesium, also known as the calming mineral, are associated with restless legs, anxiety and irritability—all of which can exacerbate ADHD. For kids ages 4 to 8, start with 130 mg of magnesium in the morning. If the child has trouble sleeping, another dose before bed may help.

Reduce the dose if loose stools occur.

EASE ADHD NATURALLY

Nine Ways to Help Restore Calm and Focus

by Jenna Blumenfeld

A

lthough experts aren’t certain why it occurs, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects 3 to 5 percent of school-age children, causing symptoms such as inattentiveness, frenetic activity, anxiety and forgetfulness. Kids with ADHD typically respond to drug prescriptions designed to provide calm and focus, but some carry unpleasant side effects like appetite changes and muscle spasms.

Experts suggest considering these natural

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options to complement an afflicted child’s integrative treatment plan.

Nutritionist Sara Vance, owner, Rebalance Life, San Diego, California.

Up omega-3s. The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that recent studies show kids with behavior problems have low blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a nutrient vital for brain

MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Boost B vitamins. Vitamins B6 and B12 are important building blocks for brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Deficiency can impair nerve cell communication, hindering memory, focus and attention. Encourage a child to eat B-packed organic foods like eggs, poultry, bell peppers, yams and spinach, and sprinkle B-vitamin-rich nutritional yeast on dishes like noodles and soup.

Naturopathic Doctor Laurie Brodsky, e-consultant, DrLaurieND.com, New York City.

Give up gluten. Gluten is a complex, gooey conglomeration of many proteins that sticks to the digestive tract, often stimulating behavioral issues. When gluten inflames a child’s digestive system, brain inflammation likely occurs, as well. Look for gluten-free pasta, bread, crackers and cookies made from rice, quinoa, flaxseed and non-GMO (genetically modified) corn.

Pair fats with food. Healthy brain func-

tion requires a proper ratio of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats to the more common inflammatory omega-6 fats (found in canola, soybean and corn oils).

Encourage balance by eating omega-3 foods at mealtime, when the gallbladder releases bile into the digestive system, allowing better omega-3 absorption.

Avoid processed foods. High-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors such as Yellow 5, Blue 1 and Red 40 are linked to increased hyperactivity in children.

Choose whole, real foods like whole grains and organic meats, vegetables and fruits. Use maple syrup rather than white sugar to sweeten foods—it’s full-flavored, so a little goes a long way.

Behavior Specialist Margit Crane, educator, GiftedWithADD. com, Seattle, Washington.

Lead by example. Parents have more power to handle their child’s ADHD than they think. Model the desired behaviors—if children are not allowed to eat in the living room, the rule should apply to the whole family. Maintaining consistent rules is vital.

About Your Health Balance for Life

Services and products to help you create a healthful life.

Discover Columbia’s best kept secret for your natural health needs.

Live Blood Cell Analysis Infrared Sauna Nutritional Counseling Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Visit our website for more information or stop in!

803-798-8687 aboutyourhealthsc.com

About Your Health, Inc.

Set boundaries. Many parents and teachers believe that boundaries for ADHD-laden kids, that are often sensitive by nature, may be harsh or limiting. But these children actually thrive with boundaries. Rather than offer kids unlimited choices, give them two or three options. This helps a child feel safe. Regard a troubled child as scared, rather than angry—this will enable parents and caregivers to speak to them with compassion.

Work with teachers. Some children with ADHD may have trouble fitting into traditional schools. When speaking with teachers, use collaborative words such as “partnership” to obtain healthy cooperation. Teachers have an entire class to attend to, not just this child; address them with respect and understanding, and everyone will ultimately benefit.

Jenna Blumenfeld is the senior food editor at New Hope Natural Media, in Boulder, Colorado.

Copyrighted 2014. Penton Media. 114554:1214BN.

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naturaldirectory Connecting you to the leaders in natural health care and green living in our community. To find out how you can be included in the Natural Directory, call 803-233-3693 or email ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

ACCOUNTING Christina A. Boswell, CPA, LLC Quick Books Pro Advisor CBoswell@CABCPASC.com 803-233-9303 • CABCPASC.com

Christina A. Boswell has more than 25 years accounting and bookkeeping experience.

Boswell is a member of the SCACPA (SC Association of CPAs) and the AICPA (American Institute for CPAs). Her customized services include general ledger review and adjustments, bank reconciliations, light payroll services, quarterly/ annual payroll tax filings (including preparation of W-2s and 1099s), monthly tax filings and more.

BUSINESS COACH/LIFE COACH MATRX COACHING

Suzanne Riley Whyte 803-760-6403 • info@MatrxCoaching.com MatrxCoaching.com

Are you struggling to achieve your professional or personal goals? Success in business and success in life go hand in hand. Locally owned Matrx Coaching is uniquely qualified to enhance your inner strengths and incorporate them into your business and personal life. Customized training, tools and instruction.

Call to schedule a free consultation. See ad, page 9.

ACUPUNCTURE

CHIROPRACTIC

THE ACUPUNCTURE CLINIC

CHIROPRACTIC WELLNESS CENTER INC.

William D. Skelton, DAc 620 Sims Ave, Columbia 803-256-1000 • SCAcupuncture.com

Bill Skelton is dedicated to helping people live happier, healthier, active lives with safe, gentle and effective techniques.

He has 38 years’ experience and trained in the Republic of China.

Call to schedule an appointment. See ad, page 34.

AROMATHERAPY GARNER’S NATURAL LIFE

4840 Forest Dr, Ste 15-A, Columbia Trenholm Plaza, in Forest Acres 803-454-7700 • GarnersNaturalLife.com

Dr. Shelly Jones, DC Chiropractic Wellness Center Inc. 5209 Forest Dr, Ste C, Columbia 803-771-9990 • DrShellyJones.com

Webster Technique certified, Dr. Jones provides family chiropractic care, health information and wellness resources to support the body’s natural ability to heal, allowing one to feel better and enjoy living a more active lifestyle! Call to schedule your appointment or discuss bringing our onsite chiropractic care and health-education services to your business, school or athletic team.

Improve your level of stress, depression and mood with natural products from a locally owned family business. Our knowledgeable staff will guide you using aromatherapy for pain, anxiety, energy enhancement and more. We carry several brands of essential oils, including doTERRA. See ad, back page.

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CHIROPRACTIC FAMILY PRACTICE OF CHIROPRACTIC

Dr. Jim Minico, DC 203 Amicks Ferry Rd, Chapin 803-932-9399 • DrMinico.com PatientServices.fpc@gmail.com

It is our mission to provide the community with the highestquality chiropractic care possible.

Exceeding your expectations in a caring, modern and positive environment. Restoring the body’s natural healing process.

A holistic approach to health utilizing chiropractic, massage therapy, exercise therapy, nutrition, weight management and homeopathy. See ad, page 38.

OLD MILL CHIROPRACTIC

Dr. Eric Nazarenko, DC 711 East Main St, Ste L-2, Lexington 803-808-0711 • Eric@OldMillChiro.com OldMillChiro.com

True health is about wellness, vitality and correcting the cause of symptoms. Old Mill Chiropractic’s goal is to create a happier and healthier community through safe, natural and effective care. Taking the time to listen, we custom-tailor an individualized care plan to achieve your specific goals and needs. We want you to have a wonderful and healthy life. See ad, page 31.

Collaborative Law LAW OFFICE OF SHANNON K. BURNETT

109 N. Main St. Blythewood 803-786-1758 • Shannon.skblaw@gmail.com

Shannon Burnett helps families through legal issues that normally tend to tear families apart. She works in a collaborative fashion with other trained professionals to minimize the damage done to your family; it is her goal for your family to achieve a successful outcome and healthy resolution. See ad, page 23.

COLON HEALTH SPRING RAIN HYDROTHERAPY

Linda Salyer 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste H, Columbia 803-361-2620 • LSalyer@ymail.com

All disease begins in the colon.

Constipation; slow, sluggish bowel; gas and bloating? A colonic will help to rid you of these problems. Colonics promote good digestion, help speed metabolism, help lower cholesterol, and help relieve joint pain. Linda Salyer is IACN certified and a retired nurse. Special pricing every third week of the month. See ad, page 23.

ENVIRONMENTAL & FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

ESSENTIAL OILS doTERRA-CPTG® Essential Oils William Richardson 109 Coots Way, Irmo • 803-665-2943 WRichardson.doterra@ gmail.com

Dedicated to sharing, teaching and educating others in the uses and common applications of doTERRA’s Certified Pure Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils. William offers Aromatouch Therapy, extensive knowledge of Reflexology, biological surveys and is available for personal consultations and classes.

Call for consultation. See ad, page 32.

CENTER FOR OCCUPATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE

Dr. Weirs Lieberman • Dr. Herbert Lieberman 843-572-1600 • COEM.com

Preventative and Personalized Health Care w/more than 75 years of combined medical practice. Board-Certified Environmental, Functional and Integrative Medicine. We get to the root cause of your illness. Allergy Testing.

Autoimmune Diseases. Women’s Health. See ad, page 2.

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY CENTER FOR HEALTH INTEGRATION

Pamila Lorentz, MSW, RN, LMBT 6136 Old Bush River Rd, Columbia 803-749-1576 • CenterForHealthIntegration.com

Feeling scattered, disconnected, achy, or fatigued? CHI’s essential touch therapies help to restore, renew and revitalize the wellbeing experience. Services include: Craniosacral therapy, lymphatic drainage, directional healing, sound/vibrational therapies and integrative massage. CHI also offers therapy and young living therapeutic essential oils. See ad, page 8.

DENTIST FOREST DRIVE DENTAL CARE

Dr. Joanna Silver Dover, DMD 5101 Forest Dr, Ste A, Columbia 803-782-8786 • ForestDriveDental.com

Dr. Dover provides comprehensive, and compassionate dental care. BPA- and Bis-GMA-free composites, BPA-free occlusal guards, natural periodontal therapy, fluoride-alternatives for tooth remineralization, and mercuryfilling removal following IAOMT standards using supplemental oxygen, special filters and amalgam separators to keep toxic metals out of our waterways.

See ad, page 17.

The Art of Dentistry

Dr. Gregory J. Wych, DDS 7505 St. Andrews Rd, Irmo 803-781-1600 • IrmoCosmeticDentistry.com

Dr. Wych and his staff are committed to giving each patient the quality care and attention each desire and deserve. He believes that in dentistry, discovering the cause of the problem is the key to resolving it and to preventing its recurrence. Something he has done successfully for his patients for more than 28 years. Call today to schedule your appointment.

See ad, page 4.

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naturaldirectory FENG SHUI EASTERN DESIGN AND HOME STAGING LLC

Ivy Ellerby, AFDP, ASP, IAHSP PO Box 84421, Lexington 803-470-4567 • DesignAndHomeStaging.com EasternDesignAndHomeStaging@gmail.com

Ivy Ellerby is a certified Advanced Feng Shui Design Professional with a background in clinical and experimental psychology.

She specializes in health and wellness improvement by using proven Feng Shui methods to create a balance of energy flow throughout the home, office or other occupied dwelling. Ellerby is also a nationally accredited home stager. Call today to schedule a consultation! See ad, page 27.

Green Lawn Care THE GREEN CHAOS SOLVED John Childs • Louis Carta 803-569-6177 TheGreenChaosSolved.com

We care for our customers, their lawns and pets while caring for the environment naturally, utilizing organic products, along with all-electric equipment, which is quieter and more earth friendly than gas-powered equipment. Other services include soil testing; weed, disease and insect control; and much more.

Call today for a consult.

HEALTH/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COACHING KATHY O’KEEFE, MS, RD/LD, CDE KOK Consulting & Coaching 803-261-2998 • KOK-candc.com

Kathy O’Keeffe offers a unique perspective to enable individuals to achieve their personal or business goals. She’s a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. Kathy has developed her effective style to empower those who are really ready to change! Call for a free consultation. See ad, page 30.

KATHY COOPER

Certified Holistic Health Coach 803-546-4464 • KathyJCooper.com KathyCooper02@gmail.com

Kathy Cooper is passionate about helping women live a healthy, balanced life. Each health coaching program is personalized to help improve your mind, body and spirit. Kathy offers individual and group health coaching programs, as well as health and nutrition workshops and cooking classes. See ad, page 33.

HEALTH & WELLNESS Back to Essentials, LLC (Complete Health and Wellness Center) Dr. W. Claire Wages, DC 1024 Wildewood Center Dr, Ste B Columbia • 803-736-8633 BackToEssentialsllc.com

Our office is a unique Chiropractic office designed to take care of the total body, mind and spirit! We aim to provide the highest quality of care and education, so that you can live life to its optimum and appreciate your body as a unique organism designed to heal itself.

BEYOND FITNESS WELLNESS SOLUTIONS LLC

Gary and Jennifer Mangum Independent Wellness Consultants & Personal Trainers 803-470-6632 LifeByDesign@BeyondFitnessWellnessSolutions.com

We cannot train ourselves out of bad diets. Gary and Jennifer offer a life-changing, super-nutrition program and exercise regimen.

Beyond Fitness helps individuals save time by effective coaching through the confusion of it all.

Call to get started with a free consultation. See ad, page 21.

TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE

Sylvia Saunders Stevens C.O.P.E. Certified Health Coach 803-917-3226 • SylviaS4Health@gmail.com

Looking to lose weight and learn how to keep it off? Want increased energy to do all of the fun activities in life? You can achieve optimal health with the personal guidance from a certified health coach that has been in your shoes. Call Sylvia to get started on creating the best “Rest of Your Life!”

See ad, page 25.

TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE

NJ Miler, C.O.P.E. Certified Health Coach 803-750-9695 • GaryNJ4health@gmail.com

This innovative weight-loss program allows you to eat every two to three hours while losing weight quickly and safely in partnership with a FREE personal health coach from the comfort of your own home. No pills, shots or stimulants are used—just food. Also, this physicianled program has no registration fees, meeting fees, or long-term contracts. See ad, page 25.

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Hypnotherapy BLOOM HYPNOSIS CENTER

Elizabeth Leaphart, MEd, NCC 1024 Wildewood Centre Dr, Ste A, Columbia • 803-282-9888 Elizabeth@BloomSC.com BloomSC.com

Columbia’s Hypnofertility® and Hypnobirth® practice for women, specializing in one of the safest and most effective natural fertility techniques available. Elizabeth offers a peaceful, healing retreat to support your natural or medically assisted conception, pregnancy, birth and afterbirth.

These powerful sessions open the connection between what the mind and heart desire and what the body manifests, and empower you with skills for a lifetime.

Free in-office consultation. See ad, page 20.

INTEGRATED HEALING PHOENIX RISING

Katz Delauney-Leija, MSW, EFT-CC, Psych-K Advanced, Health & Wellness Intuitive, CRA Certified 803-530-6199 • KDelauney@sc.rr.com

Katz integrates her therapy skills, insight, intuition and spiritual guidance to identify emotional issues blocking self-healing.

She incorporates her medical intuitive skills with Contact Reflex Analysis (CRA) to identify preclinical health issues impeding holistic wellness physically and emotionally.

INTEGRATIVE & HOLISTIC MEDICINE EXPECT WELLNESS

Dr. Rachel Hall 130 Suber Rd, Columbia 803-796-1702 • DrRachelHall.com ExpectWellness@sc.rr.com Find us on Facebook for great health tips.

Integrative/Holistic medicine consults for anyone wanting to approach their health more naturally. Dr. Rachel Hall is board certified in both family medicine and integrative holistic medicine. Together we will focus on finding the root of the problem, not just treating symptoms. Call today for a consult if you are looking to achieve balance. In-house diagnostic labs and therapies. See ad, page 17.

INTUITIVE READINGS THE SOURCE WITHIN YOU

Rev. Julie E. Bradshaw 803-800-9211 • TheSourceWithinYou.com

Julie Bradshaw specializes in helping people to receive guidance from their Higher Self as well as their guides and angels. She offers spiritual counseling and can assist you with relationship, financial, career and healthrelated matters.

SPIRITUAL

MASSAGE

SPIRITUAL DISCUSSION GROUP

Leslie A. Boland, LMT

Contact Steve 803-318-1887 • ECK-SC.org Meetup.com/Columbia-Spiritual-Seekers

120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste G, Columbia • 803-528-2119 HarmoniousHealing@gmail.com

Leslie’s 10 years’ experience includes Reiki, reflexology, touch for health, crystal therapy and much more. Her integration and use of modalities through unique and personalized-care techniques allow you to understand and interpret the messages that your body communicates, helping to promote balance between the body, mind and spirit. $10 off first visit.

Eckankar hosts open discussions (meetups), worship services and more at no charge. All are welcome.

Topics include understanding past lives, dreams, coincidences, God’s creative life force, and more. Call ahead: time and date may vary.

STRESS MANAGEMENT YOUR HEALTHY DIVORCE

NATURAL PET FOOD

Coulter Roberson, CDFA 803-261-3537 Facebook.com/YourHealthyDivorce

WOOF BAKERY

ALL-NATURAL DOG FOODS Janet Clamp • 803-240-4195 Janet.Clamp@gmail.com

Dogs get many of the same illnesses that humans do. If your dog gets urinary tract infections or bladder infections, one of the best ways to treat them is to give a vitamin C capsule twice a day for two/three weeks; then once a day as a preventative method. To determine what milligram, approximately 250 mg for smaller dogs and 500 mg for larger dogs.

NATURAL SKIN-CARE PRODUCTS JUST WANNA MELT LLC Misty Rawls • 803-331-0063 Info@JustWannaMelt.com JustWannaMelt.com

A green skin-care company that creates high-quality, all-natural products that are gentle on the skin and the environment. Our ingredients include organic oils, butters, herbs, botanicals, local grains, beeswax and honey. Visit our website for a complete list of retail locations.

Oxygen Therapy

Follow me on Facebook for tips, strategies and general information to help manage and reduce stress and its affect on the body, mind and spirit during and after your divorce. We have partnered with multiple companies to assist and help guide individuals through uncertain times.

THERMOGRAPHY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH INC.

120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste J, Columbia 803-798-8687 • AboutYourHealthSC.com

About Your Health Inc.’s main focus is health education and health-enhancing services.

Including one-on-one nutritional counseling, Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Reams pH testing, parasite programs, aqua-chi footbaths, far infrared sauna, weight-loss programs, and thermography. Hard-to-find natural, organic, whole food nutritional supplements, raw foods and natural household items. See ad, page 35.

VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENTS GARNER’S NATURAL LIFE

STUDIO O2

801 Gervais St, Downtown Vista Oxygen/Massage/Natural Beauty Services 803-667-9606 • Info@SO2Spa.com

Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a natural non-invasive way of giving your body what it needs to recharge and heal faster. Oxygen can aid in faster recovery from injury, migraines, chronic pain and overall detoxification. Call to schedule a consultation to learn how oxygen treatments can help you to live your very best. Re-charge your life! See ad, page 15.

4840 Forest Dr, Ste 15a, Columbia Trenholm Plaza 803-454-7700 • GarnersNaturalLife.com

At Garner’s Natural Life, we offer the purest, most innovative highquality natural products. With more than 130 collective years of wellness experience! We are proud to say that our knowledge allows us to encourage choices that will positively impact the heath and future of our community and environment.

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Check out our website: MidlandsHealthyLiving.com natural awakenings

February 2015

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BRINGING MORE THAN HOMEWORK HOME

By Ryan Hogan It’s the time of year when we send our kids back to school from the holidays. Unfortunately, while schools are good places to learn they are great places to catch a disease. In fact, children’s Upper respiratory illnesses (URI’s) cause more doctor visits and missed school days than any other illness in the US. Luckily, there are a few things you can do at home to help reduce the chances of your child getting sick at school this year.

sanitizer before eating snacks, lunch and after using a shared computer mouse, pencil sharpener, water fountain or other community objects.

Now, most people know we need to wash our hands, but one thing most people don’t really relate their health to is nasal hygiene. Using a saline spray with xylitol, such as Xlear Nasal Spray, is safe for all ages. Research has shown this natural sweetener is useful in preventing bacterial otitis media (ear infections), among other upper respiratory problems that are most likely to occur in fall and winter months. Additional xylitol studies have also shown a significant reduction in asthma attacks when a xylitol nasal spray is used on a daily basis.

Xylitol affects nose and throat bacteria in two ways:

HOW? Before we talk prevention, we need to know how infection spreads. Many childhood illnesses are caused by viruses and bacteria that are transferred from person to person. URI’s increase in fall and winter as we spend more time crowded indoors. All it takes is one sick child, going to school for the spread to begin. Small droplets from a child’s cough or sneeze travel through the air and land on surfaces like desks, doorknobs and people. These germs are easily spread when someone touches the contaminated object and then proceeds to touch their eyes, nose or mouth. Children’s immune systems are less mature than those of adults, so they’re more vulnerable to these germs. Washing your hands and your nasal passages and also keeping their hands away from their nose, eyes and mouth are the most preventative habits to form at a young age.

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Decreases the adherence of harmful bacteria on their surface cells.

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Stimulates the body’s own natural defense system

Since the average American child has six to ten colds a year, using a xylitol nasal spray is a safe and effective way to promote better upper respiratory health, year round.

FINAL HEALTHY TIPS In addition to frequent hand-washing, teach your child some other school health basics:

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Our best defense is to stop cold germs where they breed.

Good hand-washing is the most effective way to prevent bacteria and viruses from spreading. Wash your hands after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, handling trash and prior to touching food to help eliminate germs. Soap and water should be used for 20 seconds (about as long as it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice). Using alcohol-based hand cleaners is also effective. Remind your child to use the

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MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

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Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.

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Give your child a package of tissues to keep in his or her desk.

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Encourage your child not to share water bottles, food or other personal items.

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Ask your child’s teacher to include hand-washing time before lunch or snacks.

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Have your whole family practice nasal hygiene and the use of xylitol saline spray like Xlear.

Even with all of these tips, your kids are bound to come down with something over the course of the school year. We all get sick at some point or another, forming healthier habits and maintaining a positive attitude is all we can do as parents.

For more information, please visit www.xlear.com.

calendarofevents NOTE: All calendar events must be received by Feb. 12 (for March issue) and adhere to our guidelines.

To submit listings, visit MidlandsHealthyLiving.com. $20 for 30 words each month.

ALWAYS CALL AHEAD BEFORE ATTENDING EVENTS TO AVOID LATE CANCELLATIONS AND CHANGES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17

Basil Days Discount at Rosewood–8am-8pm.

20% off purchase price, mention this listing. Deli sale items not included. Rosewood Market, 2803 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. Info: 803-530-3270, RosewoodMarket.com.

You Never Walk Alone–7-8:30pm. Lesson: A Guide to Your Angels w/Joanne Yacovone. Donations welcome. Seven Rays Bookstore, 3701 N Main St, Columbia. Info: 803-404-4519.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 3rd Annual Mah Jongg Tournament–9:30am-3pm.

Dairy luncheon included. Registration is required.

Minimum donation: $50. Space is limited. Info: Call Ruth Rast at 843-384-8266.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 Basil Days Discount at Rosewood–8am-8pm.

20% off purchase price, mention this listing. Deli sale items not included. Rosewood Market, 2803 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. Info: 803-530-3270, RosewoodMarket.com.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13 Natural Solutions with Essential Oils–7pm. Capital City Chiropractic, 1221 Bower Pkwy, Columbia.

Info: Call William Richardson at 803-665-2943.

Valentine’s Dance with Heart ‘n’ Soul–7-10:30pm.

Featuring R&B band Heart ‘n’ Soul. Rock to the classic hits of the 1950s and ‘60s. Open to the public.

BYOB and snacks. Advance tickets: $15; $20 at door.

Info: 803-779-1971, LourieCenterSC.com.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 Beyond Fitness Nutrition Program–3-5pm.

Personal trainers Gary and Jennifer Mangum will discuss how to use The Best Nutrition Program with exercise for optimal change. Hampton Inn, Lexington. Info: 803-470-6632.

Native Plant Workshop with a SC Master Gardner–2pm. Learn how to create a natural, sustainable garden with native plants. $2 donation.

Katie & Irwin Kahn Jewish Community Center, 306 Flora Dr, Columbia. RSVP and info: Lauries@ JCCColumbia.org.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Unity of Columbia Talents and Treasures Gala–7-10pm. Silent auction, poetry readings, music, champagne and desserts. Cost $10. Proceeds used to support church programs. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd. Info: 803-736-5766.

Basil Days Discount at Rosewood–8am-8pm.

20% off purchase price, mention this listing. Deli sale items not included. Rosewood Market, 2803 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. Info: 803-530-3270, RosewoodMarket.com.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21 doTERRA Business Building Training–11am1pm. Capital City Chiropractic, 1221 Bower Pkwy, Columbia. Info: Call William Richardson at 803665-2943.

plan ahead SUNDAY, MARCH 1 Beyond Fitness Nutrition Program–3-5pm.

Personal trainers Gary and Jennifer Mangum will discuss how to use The Best Nutrition Program with exercise for optimal change. Hampton Inn, Lexington. Info: 803-470-6632.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY MARCH 6-8 SEASIDE SOUL JOURNEY–Dr. Darlana Fiehtsam and Eleanor Rimedio, along with Bob Proctor, certified coach, present a transformational travel class and retreat: How to use the universal laws and metaphysical meditation to manifest your dreams and life’s purpose. Cost: $647, includes food and accommodations. Folly Beach, SC. Info: Call 803-422-4101 or 843-327-8848, email Rimedioer@yahoo.com or visit HarmonyBegins.com/ News-and-Events.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 How to Attract Everything You Want Seminar–2-3pm. $90, advance; $100 at door. Lexington Leisure Center, 108 Park Rd, Lexington. Info: Call Suzanne Riley Whyte at 804-760 6403 or visit MatrxCoaching.com.

Essential Oil daily Usage–7pm. Capital City Chiropractic, 1221 Bower Pkwy, Columbia. Info: Call William Richardson at 803-665-2943.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Basil Days Discount at Rosewood–8am-8pm.

20% off purchase price, mention this listing. Deli sale items not included. Rosewood Market, 2803 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. Info: 803-530-3270, RosewoodMarket.com.

OUR LOCAL CATCH

Sustainable Seafood from the Southeast offering fish, shrimp, shellfish & smoked fish.

Rosewood Market – Thurs. & Fri., 1 – 6 p.m.

Sign up for our E-newsletter at

OurLocalCatch.com

natural awakenings

February 2015

41

ongoingevents

classifieds

sunday

wednesday

Eckankar Spiritual Discussions and Community HU–10am. Free. Every 2nd Sunday. An esoteric approach to God realization without dogma or judgment. 7 Oaks Rec. Center, 200 Leisure Ln, Columbia. Info: Call Steve Fischer at 803-318-1887, or visit Eck-SC.org or Meetup.com/Columbia-Spiritual-Seekers.

Biergarten at Gardener’s Outpost–5:30-7:30pm.

Every 1st Wednesday of the month. Live entertainment and refreshments. Browse Biergarten’s unique garden gifts. Gardener’s Outpost, 709 Woodrow St, Columbia.

Info: 803-252-0041, GardenersOutpost.com.

YogaFit© Basic Stretch & Flow–2pm–w/Jane Mergle. Every Sunday for 6 weeks. The YogaFit© program begins with hatha yoga, a classic yoga style. Cost $10 per class or $50 for 6 classes. The Balance Institute, 1905 Sunset Blvd, Ste C, W Columbia. Info: Call Mergle at 803-360-2361 or visit TheBalanceInstitute.com.

monday Gentle Hatha Yoga–5:30-6:45pm–w/Delores Pluto. $8 drop-in, $40 for 6-class pass. Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Rd, Columbia. Info: 803-606-9974, DPluto@Bellsouth.net.

Stretch and Relax Yoga–10:30-11:30am–w/Anahata Musick (Feb. 9, 11:30am-12:30pm). For movement-related injuries, chronic pain and lower-back/ core issues. Gentle yoga from the techniques of mind-body medicine. $20 drop-in. Palmetto Spinal Center, 612 Ott St, Columbia. Info: 803-765-2159, YogaAndWellness.com.

Wellness Opportunity Meeting–6:30-7:30pm.1st & 3rd Mondays. Attendees will learn how to take control of their personal health. Our simple proven products are changing lives now. Free. 3924 Forest Dr, Ste 1, Columbia. To register, call Coulter at 803790-2674, or Kristina at 803-559-9326.

tuesday Kundalini Yoga and Meditation–6:30-8pm–w/Anahata Musick. Life-changing yoga exercise, breathing, meditation, mantra. 2730 Millwood Ave, Columbia.

Info: 803-765-2159, YogaAndWellness.com.

New Patient Community Acupuncture–11am-2pm¬–w/Noemi Wilson, licensed acupuncturist. 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Cost: $10 initial paperwork fee plus $20-$40 sliding scale for treatment. New patients schedule by calling 803-732-6635. Info: IrmoChiropractic.com, click on the “Acupuncture” tab. Clinic located inside of Irmo Family Chiropractic, 1032-A Kinley Rd, Irmo.

Prenatal Yoga–5:30-6:45pm–w/Channing, RYT200. Open to all students. Prepare the mind and body for labor and more. Cost: 1st class free, $10-$14/ class packages. Expecting Well, 514-A Gervais St, Columbia. Info: 803-661-8452, ExpectingWell.com.

Seidokan Aikido of SC–6:30-8:30pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays and 9-11am on Saturdays. Cost: Monthly $40/adult; $30/students; $20/children.

The Balance Institute, 1905 Sunset Blvd, Ste C, W Columbia. Info: TheBalanceInstitute.com.

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Columbia Edition

Multi-Level Yoga–5:30-6:45pm–w/Robin Pawlina, RN, CYI. She has taught yoga for more than 20 years and creates an environment that allows the student to manage stress with a relaxed and supportive style. Cost: $15/class, $66/6-wk session. About Your Health, 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste J, Columbia.

Info/register: Call Pawlina at 803-926-0895.

To place classified listing, email content of listing to ColaPublisher@ NaturalAwakeningsMag.com or mail with payment to Natural Awakenings, P.O. Box 2812, Columbia, SC, 29202. $20 for 30 words each month.

Additional .50 per word over 25 words. Please include billing contact information. Deadline is the 12th of the month prior.

Business Opportunity

Stretch and Relax Yoga–4:30–5:30pm–w/Anahata Musick. Gentle yoga stretches, breathing and relaxation with gentle waves of the gong 2730 Millwood Ave, Columbia. Info: 803-765-2159, YogaAndWellness.com.

Spread your wings – Add a Rejuvenation Studio to your existing beauty, fitness, or health/wellness business. Bring in new customers, gain revenue from several sources, and your customers will love it. For more information, call 864-569-8631.

thursday

Do you know at least three people looking to lose weight? If so, you can create extra income with SBC.Visit a246175.sbcPower.com or call Patricia Johnson at 803-556-7584.

Dimensional Dowsing–7:30-9pm–w/Katz Delauney-Leija, MSW. Every 2nd Thursday. Learn new energetic skills to apply in your life on a daily basis. Cost: $20. 6 Cupola Ct, Blythewood. Info: 803-530-6199, Katz-PhoenixRising.com.

Directional Healing–6-7pm. Every 1st Thursday.

A systematic, multidimensional approach to healing the physical and inner bodies through vibration.

Must pre-register to confirm; space is limited. $15 fee. Center for Health Integration, 6136 Old Bush River Rd, Columbia. To register and for info, call Pamila Lorentz at 803-749-1576 or visit DirectionalHealing.com.

Gentle Hatha Yoga–5:30-6:45pm–w/Delores Pluto. $8 drop-in, $40 for 6-class pass.

Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Rd, Columbia. Info: 803-606-9974, DPluto@ Bellsouth.net.

Prenatal Yoga–5:30-6:45pm–w/Rachel Hall, MD, RYT-200. Open to all students. Prepare mind and body for labor and more. Cost: 1st class free, $10-$14/ class packages. Expecting Well, 514-A Gervais St, Columbia. Info: 803-661-8452, ExpectingWell.com.

Career Opportunity Columbia Natural Awakenings is seeking a qualified and experienced advertising account specialist to join its Columbia team. If you are a self-motivated, energetic, independent thinker with great people skills, call today to schedule an interview: 803-233-3693.

The Balance Institute is looking for pt/ft practitioners. We’re looking for self-starters, team members, contributors to client health and able to do community service. Email resume to TheBalanceInst@aol.com.

HAIR SALON Locs, twists, naturals and braids, starting at $20.

Call Alexis, 803-354-3477.

LIQUIDATION

Rosewood Sidewalk Farmers’ Market–4-7pm.

Every 2nd and 4th Thursdays. Meet your SC growers. Rosewood Market, 2803 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. Info: 803-530-3270, RosewoodMarket.com.

Liquidation Sale -7 Rays Bookstore is liquidating its book inventory, all books are wholesale priced or less. 3701 N. Main St., 803-404-4519.

saturday

SERVICES

Prenatal Yoga–w/Rachel Hall, MD, RYT-200. Prepare mind and body for labor, delivery and welcoming new life. Open to all students. Time varies each week. Cost: 1st class free, $10-$14/class packages.

Expecting Well, 514-A Gervais St, Columbia. Info: 803-661-8452, ExpectingWell.com.

Tai Chi/Qigong–10:30-11:45am–w/Suzanne Riley Whyte. Open to all; no training necessary.

Experience peace through relaxed movement. $10, Lexington Leisure Center, 108 Park Rd, Lexington.

Info: 803-760-6403, MatrxCoaching.com.

MidlandsHealthyLiving.com

Angels Affordable Caskets, Urns & More.

Eco-friendly caskets, green burials, cremation jewelry, urns, flowers, gifts, etc. Caskets $450 & up. Pet services also available. The smart-choice funeral store, 3130 Platt Springs Rd, West Columbia. Call Wilenda at 803-608-8005. AngelsAffordableCaskets@gmail.com.

Integrative Health Clinic – Experience multiple modalities at your church or community organization. Call Pamila, 803-749-1576.

natural awakenings

February 2015

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