event brief

New York Cares Coat Drive Launches Early With New York City’s homelessness and unemployment as high as they’ve been since the Great Depression, the New York Cares Coat Drive—one of the city’s largest and most cherished charitable winter traditions— has taken on special significance this year. In fact New York Cares has launched its 2020 drive early, to get coats distributed as quickly as possible to nonprofits, schools and communities most impacted by COVID-19. Every $20 donation to the drive buys a new coat for a New Yorker in need. The goal is to ensure that no one has to skip a meal to buy a winter coat, no parent is forced to choose between buying school supplies and staying warm, and no essential worker has to commute without a warm coat on their back. The program has distributed more than 2 million coats over the past 31 years. “I’ve always donated,” says one program volunteer. “I was raised on donations. Thrift stores carried my family through tough times. I’m not rich, but I’m happy. And if I can make someone else happy then I’m coming full circle.” The need for basic assistance in New York has been dire since spring. Between March and April 2020, the unemployment rate in the city more than tripled, from 4.1 percent to 14.2. The number of public assistance recipients in the city rose nearly 16 percent between February and June, and the number of residents enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) increased by 12.5 percent during that period.

To contribute or more information, visit NewYorkCare.org/coats. See ad, page 35. Blue Star Biofeedback Mind-Body Technique Can Boost Overall Wellness Most health and wellness practitioners have to rely on anonymous case studies when recommending a certain therapy or treatment. Lisa Doyle-Mitchell, owner of Blue Star Biofeedback, can speak from her own experience with the mind-body technique that is her professional specialty. “Biofeedback was one of the tools I chose to be part of my personal recovery through multiple sclerosis,” Doyle-Mitchell says. “It brought a voice to my subconscious as to the underlying cause of this bump in my road, which led me to a breakthrough. . . . I continue to use biofeedback to maintain my well-being to this day.” Nikola Tesla once wrote, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” These concepts hold the secrets to health and healing too, Doyle-Mitchell says. Our entire body continually vibrates at a subtle level, moving energy and information through our connective tissues. As a certified biofeedback specialist, DoyleMitchell uses the L.I.F.E. Biofeedback System, which scans nearly 7,000 energy patterns. By identifying which energy vibrations are out of balance, she says, the system can put them back into harmonic balance, allowing the body to return to a state of resonance. She says she’s found that people are generally “ready, willing and able” to step out of their comfort zone to address and take on the underlying cause of their situation and be free from all that is holding them back. “I believe that when we shift our perception to asking, ‘What is the gift and lesson of this experience I’ve been hit with?’ we open ourselves to less resistance energetically, uncovering a solution and in turn producing results,” she says. Currently Blue Star Biofeedback is offering six biofeedback/coaching sessions for $495, a 40 percent savings.

For more information, contact Lisa Doyle-Mitchell at 239-851-4729 or visit BlueStarBiofeedback.com. See ad, page 19.

local insight Amazing and Sometimes Simple Reasons to Explain the Way We Feel

by Dr. David Pollack

My wife relayed the following message to me from a patient today, and I thought it best to start with it: Good morning! I had to contact you marina vitale/Unsplash.com to ask you to please pass along a message to Dr. Pollack for me. Please tell him Kathryn says he’s a real-life miracle worker! My allergies have made me absolutely miserable these past few weeks, to the point where my sinuses look like I have bruises on my face and my ears were clogged to the point where I could barely hear. Last night at my appointment, I casually said to him that I was speaking loudly because I couldn’t hear well, not realizing he knows how to take care of clogged ears and stuffed sinuses. He worked some sort of magic, and I’m finally feeling relief this morning. Promise me you’ll pass it along because I don’t have any upcoming appointments and I want him to know I’m really appreciative! It wasn’t the reason I went in, but he still took the time to take care of it. So many people are complaining of allergies lately—between the fall winds, dust from the heaters being turned on and, of course, our lovely masks. There are many reasons for these complaints. In Kathryn’s case, I actually noticed her cheekbones (called zygomas) were not aligned; one was significantly higher than the other. When I mentioned this, Kathryn said her mom has always said her face is a pinch crooked. Upon palpation (pressing), the right side was extremely tender and painful. I then tested, using a standard applied kinesiology muscle test, to see if the bone was out of place in the cheek itself or the bone behind it, called the sphenoid bone. The sphenoid is a large butterfly-shaped bone that actually extends from ear to ear, through the whole head. I found it was twisted in the counterclockwise direction. So, I simply twisted it back and told her to take a look in the mirror. “My face is straight!” she exclaimed. To be clear, there are many reasons for sinus issues—from a zygomatic or sphenoid malposition; to digestive problems, including GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), bloating or bowel issues; to toxicity of the liver, kidneys or lymphatic system. Most often, despite what the bloodwork might suggest, we find that it is not a direct allergy. The allergy is often the result of one of the previously mentioned issues or even some I haven’t mentioned. There are amazing, sometimes simple reasons to explain why we feel the way we feel. Perhaps you don’t have to feel that way anymore. Wellness is a choice and a dynamic process. Let’s choose abundant health together.

Source: Dr. David Pollack, of Pollack Wellness Institute, located at 66 Commack Rd., Ste. 204, in Commack. For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit https://www. pollackwellness.com. See ad on page 5.

SUPPORT LOCAL ADVERTISING

SMALL BUSINESSES ARE THE CORNERSTONE OF OUR COMMUNITY. LET US HELP YOUR BUSINESS WEATHER THESE TIMES OF CRISIS—CONTACT US TODAY TO ADVERTISE IN OUR NEXT ISSUE: 212.726.1420