Are You Ready to Start Your Life’s Ovation

By Emily Havens, Ovation Executive Community Relations Director

Three Signs You or Someone You Know is Ready for Senior Living

Whether you aspire to learn a new hobby, to spend more time in service to others, or to dust off that home fitness equipment, almost everyone has a goal in mind this year—other than celebrating the end of a turbulent 2020.

As you make plans for the new year, have you imagined a whole new, hasslefree life? Perhaps you have loved ones About the Author who are curious for an exciting way to Emily Havens is the Executive Community Relations Director for Ovation Sienna celebrate retirement or who have had a significant shift in health and are stepping Hills. Prior to developing her into a new stage of life. marketing career, Emily spent three years at The Spectrum and Daily News as a local Three Signs You Are Ready for Senior Living journalist. Emily has garnered several awards from the Associated Press, Utah Press 1. You are seeking an active, social, life-long learning environment. Association, and Nevada Press Senior living communities are Association. In addition to her notorious for putting emphasis on social contributions to journalism and activities, and Ovation is no exception. the digital marketing world, Emily is also a local nonprofit chapter president. These communities offer experiences that likely would have been out of reach or that make you say, “I would never have thought to do this for myself.” Brain and mental health are just as important as physical health, and retirement communities offer activities to keep you active and your assets sharp.

2. You are concerned about your health or the health of a loved one.

Perhaps you feel healthy and strong, but you simply are worried about the “what ifs.” What if my spouse has a stroke tomorrow? What if I suffer a fall next week? Do I have a plan? Getting a plan in place is imperative to having a successful transition into senior living at any stage.

3. You are clear on your priorities.

Take a hard look at what is most important in your life. Perhaps maintaining your yard and enjoying the view from your porch is important to you. Now ask yourself: Why? Is it truly the act of staying up on yard work, or is it that you enjoy having purpose and moving your body? Get realistic about your priorities, and remind yourself that hundreds of successful people like you move into retirement communities and wish they had done so sooner.

What is a retirement community?

Every retirement community has its distinguishing features. At Ovation—southern Utah’s newest, luxury community—you can choose from multiple floor plans in our fully-independent apartment homes or villas. The campus features a three-story, state-of-the-art building offering assisted living and memory care apartments in a luxury setting.

With many amenities—including housekeeping and nurses on staff 24/7—our retirement community offers a hassle-free lifestyle with a financial plan that is easy to manage. You can leave all the troubles of home ownership in the past!

Dare to start 2021 living completely hassle-free. Dare to aspire to a new start in a new community with a new outlook on life’s journey. Dare to live your life’s Ovation.

toPutting Insomnia

The Biggest Piece of the Health and Wellness Puzzle

By Bentley Murdock

We’ve all been there before, lying in bed, tossing and turning, rehearsing our mountainous to-do list for the next day. We’re inundated with mindless mental chatter: groceries, errands, worries, fears, and a slew of details that keep our minds erratically cyclical. It becomes maddening, particularly when we look at the clock and...it’s morning.

Many influencing factors create this reality, and one incredibly helpful way we can all start preventing it is a little activity I like to call Brain Vomit. When insomnia kicks in, take out a blank sheet of paper, and write down everything on your mind—every list, worry, goal, fear, highlight, success, memory, failure, symptom, victory, irritation, and pain-point. Try not to censor, edit, or critique any aspect of your expressive writing. Let it come out of you organically and as genuinely raw as you possibly can allow it to be. Let it all out, and see what shows up. It just might be more productively therapeutic than a deep psychotherapy session (which we all desperately need, especially after surviving 2020).

When you have to start thinking hard about what to write next, you’re done. Look over the sheet, and thank it all for arriving. Embrace it all equally, and acknowledge each point as valid. This is crucial to the logical mind because it reassures us that all details can easily be referenced and addressed in the morning. In a way, you’re tricking yourself into a dozen justifiable reasons to dismiss it all and to simply go to sleep. As you begin implementing this practice on a more regular basis, you’ll be amazed how differently you’ll feel going to sleep and waking up.

About the Author Bentley Murdock is a certified wholistic nutritionist, transformational trainer, and #1 best-selling author. With over twenty years of experience in wholistic lifestyle healing and wellness coaching (specializing in disease-symptom reversal and prevention), Bentley regularly incorporates the critical role that plantsourced, whole-food nutrition plays in all sustainable healing. As Director of Wellness with Alive & Well HealthCARE, he meets with local and remote clients on a personal level, educating them about taking full ownership and responsibility for the healing and wellness they desire. Bentley and his wife Michelle work with private clients from every walk of life, focusing on topics from family wellness and relational healing to home birth and intentional parenting. For more information, call 866396-8742, email Aloha@ HealisticVitality.com, or visit HealisticVitality.com.

When talking about resetting the sleep cycle, it’s mandatory that we bring up the body’s remarkable circadian rhythm—the body’s natural time clock built into each of our pineal glands and subconscious brains. Believe it or not, our bodies and minds always know exactly what time it is, but our senses and logistical reasoning cause us to doubt this incredible ability. We say things such as “It’s not that late” or “I don’t even feel tired yet.” We talk ourselves out of healthy sleep routines when we justify certain activities as more important than deep, nightly, critically-reparative sleep, disregarding that its presence represents over a third of our entire lives.

These behaviors shut down our own delicate circadian rhythm muscles and thus cause them to atrophy. Denying sunlight from your pineal gland (found in the center of the forehead) actually tells the subconscious mind that the sun, in fact, has not risen yet, and careful readjustments to our internal clocks must be made. Over time, we find ourselves sleeping all day and staying up all night for a hundred seemingly justifiable reasons. When the pineal gland receives brilliantly alerting blue light from abundant electrical sources and device screens of all kinds, it becomes undeniably certain that the sun is the source of this light and that it must be noonday. It then readjusts itself as if such were reality, and the cycle of madness continues.

One of the only sustainable remedies to this is to throw a massive wrench in the spokes, and force yourself to wake up at dawn to greet the real sun. Let the morning sun’s rays interact with your pineal gland, and acknowledge to yourself that this is the beginning of the day. The first few days of doing this will be rough (to say the least), but you’re fundamentally restructuring your perception of what your body needs. You’re getting back in touch with reality, allowing communication between you and your body to be fully reinstated.

In a short amount of time, you’ll find yourself collapsing in bed at around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. because your body knows that it certainly cannot maintain its routine of waking up early to greet the sun while staying up all night. Something has to give, and if we secure a stronghold on those priceless morning hours, we’ll find our natural and healthy bedtime arriving when it should. In time, you’ll find that you are more and more productive in those wee morning hours when most are still desperately trying to chase a few more minutes of frantic, unrestful sleep via the snooze button.

Another reason this time frame is so important is because when the body is trying to repair every night, it requires deep (REM) sleep cycles. If we’re awake during this window, it can’t happen. We start to rack up “sleep debt,” which is the body literally keeping a tally of how many hours it should have been allowed to sleep. Sooner or later, this debt has to be paid. This is why, all of a sudden, people get exasperatingly ill and end up sleeping for eighteen hours straight. The body refuses to put up with the detrimental charade of pretending it can somehow get by on a few hours of sleep every night. We all know what it feels like when the body finally says, “Seriously? This is ridiculous, and I’m not putting up with it any longer.”

Other factors that are incredibly disruptive to general sleep health are what and when we choose to eat and drink. A late dinner with heavy, fatty meat, a decadent chocolate dessert, and an alcoholic night-cap or a caffeinated drink while devouring hours of nightly news on a cell phone or iPad is quite possibly the worst pre-bedtime routine ever. It might actually take the body a full twenty-four hours to digest and fully process the meal alone, leaving no energy or fluids for the nightly cleanse and detox process that it is trying desperately to maintain. A light and early dinner, positive relational interaction, a great book (the paper kind), warm tea, soft lights, no devices, no caffeine or alcohol, no heavy dessert, a little brain-vomit or gratitude-journal writing, and a nice bath (with an early bedtime in mind all along) are all phenomenal ingredients for creating the ideal bedtime routine.

Oh, yeah. And one last thing: Turn off the news. Forever. =:o)

Dining Guide

St. George

Angelica’s Mexican Grill 101 E. St. George Blvd., St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-4399 Mexican | Vegetarian and Vegan Options | Family Friendly | $ Mon.–Thurs., 11:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Closed Sun.

Located Downtown on St. George Boulevard, Angelica’s Mexican Grill serves fresh, made from scratch authentic Mexican food. The flavor driven and nationally recognized menu provides everything and more that you would expect from a Mexican restaurant, including street tacos, Mulitas, Tortas, Sweet Carnitas, Machaca, and their famous salsa bar. Vegan and Vegetarian dishes are always available. Seating is available inside and also outside on the spacious patio. Catering & To-Go ordering available.

Benja’s Thai and Sushi 2 W. St. George Blvd. #12, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-9538 Thai | Sushi | $$ Mon.–Sat., 11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.; Sun., 1:00 p.m.–8:00p.m.

Hungry for sushi? Hungry for Thai curries? Benja’s Thai and Sushi, in the heart of downtown at Ancestor Square, will satisfy your craving with fresh sushi, curries, noodles and a great beer and wine menu. Stop in with business colleagues, friends, a date or the whole family, and be sure to come hungry – in addition to curries, noodles and sushi, Benja’s salads, soups and sticky mango rice are not to be missed.

Cappeletti’s 36 E. Tabernacle, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-986-4119 Italian | Steak | Seafood | Contemporary | $$ Lunch: Tues.–Sat.,11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; Dinner: 5:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

Centrally located in historical downtown near Town Square, Cappeletti’s is a favorite for casual business lunches, friend and family gatherings and romantic evening dining. Authentic Italian pastas like gnocchi Bolognese or cannelloni will comfort and satisfy, but if you’re not in the mood for pasta, the fresh fish of the day, tender Black Angus flat iron steaks, market fresh meats and poultry are all prepared daily and presented beautifully. In this quaint and cozy family owned and operated restaurant, plan to settle in for warm, friendly Italian cuisine with an Argentinian flair, and leave satiated in body and soul.

Katering Koncepts, Inc. – Full Service Catering & Event Rentals 1495 S. Black Ridge Dr., Suite A210, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-574-0059 Menus include buffet options, breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, and gourmet lunch boxes.

Call Katering Koncepts when it just has to be Perfect! We will customize any menu just for your event. Serving the St. George and surrounding Southern Utah areas. Katering Koncepts sets a new standard in private, corporate and wedding events. We have a full line of rentals including tables, chairs, linens, formal dishware, decorations, dance floors, tents, serving dishes and many other items to help make your event a success. Call us or visit our website at www.kateringkoncepts.com for a complete list.

Pizza/Pasta Factory Pasta Factory: 2 W. St. George Blvd. #8, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-674-3753 Pizza Factory: 2 W. St. George Blvd. #8, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-1234 Pizza Factory Express: 1930 W. Sunset Blvd., St. George, UT 84770 | 435-634-1234 Pizza Factory Pineview: 2376 E. Red Cliffs Dr., St. George, UT 84790 | 435-688-2656 Pizza | Pasta | Dine-In | Take-Out | Delivery | Salad Bar | $$ Mon.—Sat at 11:00 a.m.

The Pasta Factory, with its year-round, climate controlled outdoor patio dining wows with custom-made pasta, soups, sandwiches and salads. The Pizza Factory offers three locations with the best and freshest salad bar in town; homemade soups, sandwiches, famous bread twists and Southern Utah’s favorite pizza combinations.

Red Fort Cuisine of India 148 S. 1470 E., St. George, UT 84790 | 435-574-4050 Indian | Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free Options | Healthy | $$ Mon.–Thurs., 11:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 12:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Closed Sun.

Located in the shopping and dining hub just north of St. George Boulevard, Red Fort Indian Cuisine is the only authentic Indian restaurant in St. George. The flavors are unique and harmonious, and many of their menu items are vegan, vegetarian or gluten free. Stop by and experience the delicious flavors of authentic East India. The elegant and inviting atmosphere paired with their kind and friendly staff, is sure to provide for a relaxing, enjoyable dining experience.

The Painted Pony 2 W. St. George Blvd. #22, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-634-1700 Steakhouse | Seafood | Contemporary | Healthy | $$$$ Lunch: Mon.–Sat., 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; Dinner: 4:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Sun., 4:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

In the heart of Ancestor Square, the Painted Pony delights with an upscale menu, full beer and wine list, cocktails and exceptional service. Prepare for a sensory experience with complex flavors, top-notch presentation and a beautiful atmosphere. Evening ambiance complete with soft lighting, fresh flowers and patio dining. Locally sourced, organic, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options are available for every palate.

Twenty-Five Main Café 25 Main Street, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-7110 Cafe | Coffee Shop | Gourmet cupcakes | $ Mon.–Thurs., 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

Visitors step from the streets of St. George to an atmosphere reminiscent of a Soho cafe when they stop by this counter-style downtown gem for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Delectable salads, panini sandwiches done to perfection, and pasta are the featured menu items, but most diners frequent the café for its cupcakes. Twenty-Five Main is perfect for a business lunch or breakfast, a get-together with friends or a quiet spot to relax in the evening before absorbing the downtown art-walk in St. George.

Magleby’s 1450 Hilton Dr., St George, UT 84770 | 435-652-9600 American / Dine-In | Catering | $$ Mon.–Sat., 7:00 a.m.–9:00p.m.; Closed Sun.

With over thirty years of catering experience, we guarantee to make your next event magical! Everything we do we do with love, and you won’t find another catering company with as many homemade recipes or fully customized options. If you’re looking for a culinary experience creatively tailored to fit your event, we’re at your service.

PIZZA FACTORY

The Pizza Factory St. George, located in the historic Ancestor Square, has become one of the most well-known tourist stops in southern Utah over the past forty-two years. “We have customers who say they plan much of their vacation around coming to The Pizza Factory when they come to town,” stated Bill Randall, founder and owner of The Pizza Factory in St. George.

The idea for The Pizza Factory originated during the early 70s when a group of friends travelled to southern Utah for a ski vacation. Finding there wasn’t a pizza parlor in the area, they declared that “the need created an opportunity.” Subsequently, the first Pizza Factory opened its doors in Cedar City, Utah, in 1974. Through the years, the menu offerings have been refined to now include Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas, specialty pizzas, sandwiches, calzones, a fresh salad bar, and deluxe desserts, including custombuilt cookies, smoothies, and more.

ST. GEORGE PIZZA FACTORY TO CELEBRATE FORTY-TWO YEARS OF “CUSTOM-BUILT GOODNESS”

After buying out some of the original owners, Bill Randall and Bill Kringlen opened up shop in St. George, Utah, on August 20, 1979. “We’re here because we love southern Utah and the people,” Randall stated. “We have a personal involvement with the community and want to continue providing a great place and environment where people can come and enjoy lunch and dinner.”

The Pizza Factory provides its customers with an enjoyable dining experience by making its pizza with only the finest ingredients and toppings possible. “Our emphasis has always been on quality,” Randall continued. “That’s what our customers like, and I guess that’s why we are still around after all these years.”

Menu choices are unlimited with a myriad of sauces and topping combinations from which to choose. The Pizza Factory offers nine made-to-order specialty pizzas in combination with the numerous sauces and toppings available. “Everything is done to order. You can have it your own way— custom-built. We also create our own sauces, and we make them fresh daily. The Pizza Factory provides the one-and-only Factory ambience while dining in our comfortable atmosphere,” Randall explained.

In 1994, Randall and Brad Nelson established The Pasta Factory, a restaurant that allows its customers to create their own signature pasta dishes or to pick one of the many freshly made entrees or salads on the menu. With eight made-to-order specialty entrees in addition to fourteen different types of pastas and seven varieties of sauces and six selections of toppings, your meal will be the ultimate dining experience. The Pasta Factory provides a comfortable, Europeanstyle atmosphere while dining inside, or you can opt to dine outside underneath the shade of a canopy.

Over the years, two more Pizza Factory locations have been added, one at Pineview Plaza and one on the corner of Dixie Drive and Sunset Boulevard. These locations offer a combination of the Pizza Factory’s signature, custom-built pizzas as well as their create-your-own pasta dishes. They provide dine-in, take out, drive thru, and delivery.

For more information, call The Pizza Factory at 435-628-1234, or go online and check out their amazing custom-built menu items at stgeorgepizzafactory.com.

For competitive athletes, few experiences rival Race Day. Tucked into a horde of jittery, heel-bouncing colleagues in the chilly pre-dawn hours, the adrenaline overload is palpable.

Seconds tick down, the gun goes off, and YES!!! You’re one with a joyful, mobile community.

But…what about now? With the global pandemic making large gatherings verboten, athletic directors have had to get creative. “Virtual” being the buzz-word in everything from education to entertainment, it has become the standard for athletic competitions as well.

Here in southern Utah, St. George Races (SGR) was among the first organizations to jump on the virtual bandwagon. “When our races started getting canceled due to COVID last year, we were looking for a solution that would still involve people and give them something to live for,” said Aaron Metler, recreation supervisor for races

About the Author Marianne L. Hamilton is a veteran journalist whose work appears in regional and national publications, and a marketing writer for Fortune 500 corporate clients. When not race walking, hiking, or teaching water aerobics, she is a member of the St. George Arts Commission, Board Chair of Art Around the Corner, and is the Special Events Manager for Docutah. She and her husband Doug are also coadministrators of the St. George Wine Club, and race directors for the Huntsman World Senior Games. and special events. “We got an email from Vacation Races, who are always ahead of the curve, and they announced they were making some upcoming races virtual. We took that idea and…well, ran with it.”

Instead of asking athletes to simply complete a specific distance on any day, Metler and his team devised an entire virtual race series, which they christened Flatten the Curve. During the month of May, participants were encouraged to run, walk, or roll (via bicycle or rollerblade) as many miles as possible. An online leaderboard tracked each athlete’s distance; awards were given for mileage milestones (20, 50, 100 miles, etc.) along with a unique, mask-shaped medal.

“It was a lot of fun during that dark period,” recalled Michelle Graves, deputy director of Arts and Events for the City of St. George, Utah. “We were amazed that we had 1,141 participants with almost every state represented and people from Europe and Asia as well. That gave us a lot of momentum in our department.” So strong was that momentum that St. George Races extended its virtual series throughout June (via the Forget the Couch challenge) and July (with Fly the Coop).

The new year marks the debut of SGR’s Flex Series, a hybrid virtual/in-person collection of events being staged throughout 2021. Registrants will have the option of completing twelve races of varying lengths in any location they prefer at any time throughout this year. Said Graves, “We think it will be really fun for families and very small groups to train together, do their race whenever they want, log their times, and then get their medals and awards…all while staying safe.”

The Huntsman World Senior Games has also launched a virtual option under the EPIC Virtual Events name. This month saw the launch of their new Beast Series, an annual slate in which athletes will complete a 5K run or walk each month and then post their times. Finishers’ medals and apparel for 2021 will feature members of the animal kingdom (grizzly, shark, hippo, etc.) that personify strength, agility, and endurance. And while the organization’s mission is to foster worldwide peace, health, and friendship in the 50+ set, under the EPIC banner, this new series has no age limitations.

Games CEO Kyle Case explained, “We wanted to make our series super-easy and fun, with no barriers to entry. We’re starting with our base of contacts, but everyone of every age is welcome to take part. We hope our athletes will grab their kids and grandkids, participate, and then proudly display their medals.”

Rhondalon Crawford, a Huntsman World Senior Games power walker, traditionally depends on St. George Races events to train for the Games. After COVID shuttered her usual competitions last year, Crawford was delighted to learn that she could still compete virtually. “I’m not good about getting myself THE

Power walker Rhondalon Crawford models just a few of the many medals she’s earned since she began participating in virtual races during the pandemic.

Just after finishing his solo St. George

Marathon, Tri-Fit Physical Therapy owner Lance Himelright takes five. out there, so it was really great to have a reason to do so. Each day I’d think, ‘OK, I have to put in my miles and log them,’ which was very motivating. My goal was always one hundred miles a month. If you just do three miles a day for thirty days, you get there really quickly.”

After completing the SGR series, Crawford found multiple virtual series’ being offered worldwide. Her medals racks now sport an array of large, colorful mementoes signifying her power walking achievements. “I pick the races that offer the coolest medals,” she laughs.

Tri-Fit Physical Therapy owner Lance Himelright, an avid triathlete and marathoner, took to his wheels during last year’s virtual summer series. “The St. George Races program gave me a chance to stay active,” he said. “I mentioned the program to my staff and patients, and many of them participated, too. Getting a medal for each event was motivation in itself. I’d look each day at the leaderboard to see where I was, and that motivated me to work harder.

“I loved it; I received four medals and some other cool swag,” Himelright adds. “Plus, I was able to make new friends and once again feel the excitement of competition.”

With widespread COVID immunization still months away, mass-gathering races are also off the books. In the interim, virtual races will be an attractive option. “As people navigate through the wasteland of canceled events, they’re missing that sense of togetherness,” Case said. “We realize we can’t recreate that virtually. But we don’t want to lose sight of health and wellness, being active, and maintaining our fitness levels.

That’s our goal for 2021.” More information about the St. George Races Flex Series can be found at https://www.sgcity.org/races/sgrflex.

Visit thisisyourepic.com for details about the EPIC Virtual Events Beast Series.