Building Bridges Day

First Annual Event

Saturday 12th August, 9:30am

Building Bridges Day is a community-focused event that promotes unity and connection among all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds or differences.

This event marks the First Annual observance of Building Bridges Day. This event will feature various activities, such as mural painting and community dialogues to foster relationships and encourage collaboration. There will be performances from different cultures, live band, food vendors and more.

LET’S BUILD BRIDGES TOGETHER

Publisher Michelle Dalnoky

Lead Editor Martin Miron

Production Assistant Joann Dalnoky

Design & Production C. Michele Rose

Sales & Marketing Michelle Dalnoky

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Publisher@NaturalAwakeningsSWPA.com

NaturalAwakeningsSWPA.com

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CEO Kimberly B. Whittle

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Balance in Health

We need to do all that we can to promote our health and wellness—that’s a big part of what Natural Awakenings magazine has always been about—learning and sharing ways to support our bodies, our minds and our souls. Each of us will find different avenues, different things that speak to us personally and work for us.

I have been a registered nurse for 29 years and yes, I still work as a nurse now. My own health crisis compelled me to go to nursing school, and because of that experience, I have been somewhat skeptical of conventional medicine from the outset. There is a place for conventional medicine of course, but I question the methods and approaches sometimes. For example, even in my clinical experiences in nursing school, I wondered why the system was medicalizing pregnancy, scheduling inductions, way overutilizing caesarian sections and the many, many interventions performed on pregnant women and brandnew babies before they even have a chance to bond with their mom.

Why not monitor and support this beautiful natural process and only intervene if something is going wrong? So much of this medicalized intervention actually causes problems, and the evidence of that is the U.S. has the highest infant and maternal mortality rate of any comparable country in the world by a huge number, according to many legitimate sources. If you are a woman of color, it is far worse, and comparable to the poorest nations on the planet. That is just one example and it just keeps getting worse and worse.

How can we have faith in this system? How is it that we are supposed to blindly follow practitioners who function in such a dysfunctional system? I have been saying for years that conventional medicine is a very successful business model. I also believe that allopathic medical doctors believe in what they do and have bought into the approach and philosophy that they learned. That doesn’t mean that I have, though; at least not fully. My sister recently had a health crisis and we went straight to the conventional medical doctors, and will rely on them to treat her while we look to deal with underlying causes like inflammation, nutrition, fitness, mental and emotional health, etc.

If I break something, I’m definitely going to seek out conventional medicine first. I even think that if someone has a health concern like diabetes or high blood pressure that is out of control and can be managed by medication, we should do so, and also do our best to figure out what is causing the problem to see if we can remedy it through natural means, nutrition and lifestyle modification while hoping to get off the medication. Simply rejecting any intervention and pretending nothing is happening can have grave consequences, and even be deadly.

We all need to learn more about and seek out functional and integrative medicine. These practitioners have often been educated in the conventional medical approach, but see the pitfalls of this philosophy and have made a decision to address the underlying causes of disease or dysfunction. They support and promote health first through nutrition, fitness, lifestyle modification, natural medicine and supplementation of critical nutrients to address inflammation, allergens and toxins. These doctors typically do more indepth lab testing to find the underlying causes of disease such as toxin exposure, genetic predisposition, etc., and formulate a plan to address those dysfunctions with corrective actions. I might also mention that we do have functional and integrative medicine practitioners in the Pittsburgh area. Take a look through this magazine and see.

Michelle Dalnoky, RN, BA, Publisher

Natural Awakenings is a network of natural lifestyle magazine publishers empowering local communities with knowledge, resources and connections to lead healthier lives on a healthy planet.

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Contents

10 CHILDHOOD FOOD ALLERGIES, INTOLERANCES AND SENSITIVITIES

Back-to-School Tips for All Ages

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14 MARIA RODALE on Letting Nature Heal Itself

16 LIFELONG LEARNING

Benefits of Being the Forever Student

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20 ECO-FRIENDLY U Sustainability on the Rise at U.S. Colleges

22 WALKING IN WONDER

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24 WATCHING FISH SWIM

The Joys and Benefits of Aquariums

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24 natural pet 26 calendar 30 resource guide 31 classifieds

Sustainability Summit

Presented by Humane Action Pittsburgh, a Serving Up Sustainability one-day summit, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., August 4, at UPMC Shadyside, will show participants how to incorporate more sustainable practices into their business model.

They will learn about applicable skills and knowledge on topics such as composting, single-use plastic reduction, energy usage and incorporating more plant-based options from experts in their fields. Breakfast and lunch will be provided, and ample time will be given to interact with vendors providing pertinent services. All businesses are limited to two participants.

Nonprofit Humane Action Pittsburgh is focused on advancing animal protections through education, policy and community action.

Admission is free. Location: 5230 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh. Register (required) at Tinyurl.com/Sustainability-Summit.

Brushstrokes to Unite Humanity Salem’s

Market and Grill is donating food for the inaugural Building Bridges Day event from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., August 12, in the Highmark Stadium parking lot, to build bridges between all members of the community, regardless of race, religion, background or financial status. It aims to promote unity and connection among all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds or differences. Highlights include cultural performances, live bands, vendors with school supplies, food and more, plus mural painting and community dialogue to foster relationships and encourage collaboration. Salem’s has worked with event organizer Ebtehal Badawi in the past, and she even painted a mural for the entryway of their upcoming new supermarket in the Hill District.

Admission is free. Location: 510 W. Station Square Dr., Pittsburgh. For more information, visit Tinyurl.com/BuildingBridgesDay. See ad, page 2.

Nature Field Trip for Teens

My Nature Outing will conduct a guided outdoor exploration for rising sixthto ninth-grade students from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., August 22, with Dr. Stephen Quigley, of University of Pittsburgh, at Magee Recreation Center.

Drop-off is at 9 a.m., with pick-up at 3 p.m.; check-In at lobby. All technology is provided. Bring lunch, a refillable water bottle, sunscreen/bug spray, comfortable shoes and clothing. Mention any allergies or accommodations needed. Children will return home with a free GitHub link to their project. there is no rain date—will supplement with learning activities.

My Nature Outing provides middle school students a path to environmental education and computer science.

Admission is free. Location: 745 Greenfield Ave., Pittsburgh. Register (required) at Tinyurl.com/MyNatureOuting.