HEALTH

Just Breathe

By Jennifer Sperry | Dandelion Photo Credit: Lilli Wheeler S pending time in the outdoors has many health benefits. Studies show that taking time in nature can support the improvement of positive mental health wellbeing and encourage the decrease in certain disease risks. Finding time to get outdoors may be the challenge for you. Don’t hit a huge goal today. Success is many goals hit. Give yourself something you can achieve. Take a “smoke break”!

Before you close my article hear me out! No, I am not saying smoking is healthy, I have a degree in health. But interestingly, people feel calm from “smoking”, which is actually scientifically impossible because Nicotine is a stimulant! So minus the Nicotine, think about the beauty of a “smoke break”! Your company probably allows “smoke breaks” and you step outside to the outdoors, taking a break from your stresses, stretching those muscles, and inhale just good old fresh air; slowly, deeply, and hold it… before you release the breath. This is actually breathwork!

“Smoke breaks” allow a person to step away to the outdoors where they are surrounded by the beauty of the local area, fresh air, possibly enjoying other friends and coworkers and just breathing! So yes! I think everyone should just take a “smoke break”, walk away from your world for a moment, give yourself some time, maybe multiple times, throughout the day to be present with your breath. Breathing decreases stress, calms the nervous system, stimulates all our body systems to work the best they can.

Germs cannot live in an oxygen-rich environment, and studies show sleep can be improved. Calming the nerves can literally take seconds with the right breathwork because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain that you are safe, you are calm. So reduce that tension! Take that “smoke break” at work and again at home; give yourself that time in the outdoors!

Knowing that Nicotine is a stimulant, yet “smoking is calming”, we know the actual act of “smoke breaks”, the deep breathing and holding of the breath, is the reason the mind and body become calm. That is exactly what you are going to do! You are going to remove yourself from the indoors, find a space, take a long, deep breath and hold it before you slowly let the exhale release.

Within three cycles of this type of breathwork, you should notice a marked decrease in anxiety and a sense of wellness and calm. The goal is to slowly take a breath for eight seconds, hold that breath for eight seconds, exhale for eight seconds, hold that breath out for eight seconds, then repeat.

When you first start your breathwork you may notice it may only take four seconds to fill your lungs, maybe you can only hold the breath for two seconds and the exhale is less than three seconds. That is okay! Just keep breathing. Notice where you are breathing from? The chest or the belly? Belly breathing is deep and relaxed breathing.

Breathing from the chest is from the flight or fight response. Don’t force anything to happen. Just breathe… eight seconds breathe in…eight seconds hold the breath in… eight seconds breathe out… eight seconds hold the breath out… (repeat three times.) The breath will correct itself to belly breathing in no time!

Be okay to take that healthy “smoke break”! I am hopeful this article will help a smoker who is struggling to quit as well! You already have the tools my friend! I believe in you! Just keep breathing! V

Jennifer is a writer, the owner of an online alternative health company and IAM Retreats, LLC. You can reach her at exhalellc@gmail.com

Copyright © 2019 Jennifer Sperry, all rights reserved

Adventure at Havasupai/Havasu Falls

By Christine Ward L ast May, my daughter Michelle and I were lucky enough to secure reservations for camping at

Havasupai/Havasu Falls, it was the adventure of a lifetime.

The Havasupai people, or Havasuw `Baaja, the people of the blue-green waters, are the traditional guardians of the Grand Canyon. Related to the Yuman, the Havasupai have from the beginning, inhabited the Grand Canyon and its environs.

By 1919, with the establishment of the Grand Canyon National Park, the Tribe was restricted to 518 acres, five miles wide and 12 miles long in a side canyon. The Tribe has since had 188,077 acres of their former homelands returned to them, which makes up their reservation today.

The Havasupai Reservation is located in Coconino County, at the southwest corner of the Grand Canyon National Park. The nearest community to the Reservation is Peach Springs, 64 miles southwest from Hualapai Hilltop. Every year, more and more people choose to visit this amazing area, and every year it gets harder and harder to get reservations. Reservations ARE required and all camping reservations are for three nights, four days.

Havasupai is located in Havasu Canyon on the south side of the Colorado River. Getting to the camping, village, lodge, and incredible waterfalls requires hiking in and out. It is an eight mile hike from the start to the lodge and tourist office, and another two miles to the campground. Then, of course, it’s also 10 miles to hike back OUT. The average is four to six hours to hike in, five to seven hours to hike out, that is entirely dependent on trail conditions and your fitness level.

This is not a spur of the moment hike, you need to plan well for it to make sure you have all the supplies you need for the four days, and your backpack is as light as possible. It is not recommended for first time overnight backpackers.

There are a limited number of pack mules available to carry your gear from the trailhead to the campground, for a fee. There is also very limited helicopter service to take you OUT of the campground and back to the trailhead. There are no reservations available for this service, it is first come, first served and you need to get in line early to have a chance of flying out.

We did not plan on taking the helicopter out, but after several days of hiking, many blisters, and cold, rainy weather on our departure day, we decided to try and take advantage of the helicopter. We were VERY fortunate to get on one of the last helicopters flying that day, and Michelle was very grateful.

The Havasupai host several Facebook Groups that provide a LOT of detailed information about getting reservations, pack mules, recommended supplies, and more. Search Havasupai Falls on Facebook and join those groups if you are interested in reservations for 2021. Reservations are available online only, they will go on sale February 1st 2021. It is highly recommended that you create an account BEFORE the day reservations open, because the spots go so fast that you don’t want to waste time creating an account.V

SUU and Best Friends

Members from Southern Utah University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, SUU Professional Development and Leadership, and Best Friends Animal Society attend the partnership announcement in Kanab, Utah.

SUU and Best Friends join to provide first in the nation University endorsed certification for Animal Services Leadership. In a first-of-its-kind partnership, Southern Utah University and Best Friends Animal Society are providing leadership and hands-on training experiences for animal service leadership to help combat the killing of pets in the nation. is known for their pioneering work in lifesaving and animal welfare. They are as committed to innovation and learning as the university is,” President Wyatt said at a recent press conference announcing the partnership. “We are very proud to begin providing leadership development for animal service professionals and look forward to implementing future learning opportunities that speak to their needs.” By Haven Scott | Photos courtesy of Southern Utah University and Best Friends Animal Society

Known as the Executive Leadership Certification (ELC) program, the contemporary curriculum provides educational and development opportunities for proven life saving practices in animal services, health and welfare. Best Friends has more than 5,000 partners working closely with communities on transformational change nationwide, meaning the learning opportunities are extended even further by the academic partnership with SUU.

SUU President Scott Wyatt said a partnership by the pioneers of higher education in southern Utah with the pioneers in animal welfare nationally is an iconic and appropriate opportunity for those who support terminating the practice of killing of pets in America’s animal shelters. “Best Friends Curriculum for the SUU/Best Friends partnership was crafted by Tawny Hammond and Aimee Charlton of Best Friends. “Currently, most of the pets that are put down everyday in America are not sick, aggressive, or old — they are simply homeless or abandoned and looking for acceptance,” Charlton said.

In partnership with the SUU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, those who successfully complete the ELC will receive an SUU Institutional Certificate validating the programmatic rigor required. Participants can earn up to six academic credits for successful completion of the ELC that may be applied toward SUU bachelor’s or master’s degree programs.

SUU Professional Development and Leadership staff, along with other national experts, will provide instruction in proven lifesaving animal services. Blending in-person and online learning, instructors facilitate proven programs, procedures and policies to end the killing of pets, create supportive nokill communities and strengthen animal services leaders. Currently, a certificate open to all interested in animal services leadership is being developed by SUU Professional Development & Leadership and Best Friends leadership and education experts.

“This partnership is laying the groundwork for others to follow,” said Julie Stuart Castle, SUU alumna (class of 1993) and Best Friends Animal Society’s Chief Executive Officer. “We realized there was a need to professionalize the profession of animal services. This is a pivotal change in animal services leadership that is now rooted in foundational courses. The graduates of this groundbreaking educational program will inspire the leaders that will help us reach the next level. Where our founders inspired us, we are galvanizing the movement with a plan.”

Best Friends created the university-based partnership with SUU to establish large groups of animal service professionals and leaders who can continue the “gritty” path the founders of the sanctuary began decades ago. More recently, the animal sanctuary located in Kanab launched their “Save Them All” campaign to end the killing of all pets in the nation's animal shelters by 2025, and implement programs to find homes for them instead.

Southern Utah University President Scott Wyatt mingles with a new friend from Best Friends Animal Society.

“Grit means sticking to it no matter what — grit means not giving up. And grit means powering through it when everyone else quits. Our founders were considered troublemakers and misfits,” Castle said. “At first everyone thought they were crazy, but they inspired the movement that so many people are now contributing their lives too. What they began, we are now finishing.”

When Best Friends began in 1984, approximately 17 million pets were euthanized in North America annually. Last year, only 733,000. Yet, in some ways they are just getting started. Due to one word — the “no” in no-kill — there is still much work to do. V

For more information about SUU Professional Development and Leadership offerings, visit suu.edu/prodev, or call (435) 865-8259. Since 2017, Southern Utah University’s Professional Development and Leadership program has been providing opportunities for working adults to advance in their careers and gain professional advantage. Participants can choose from many in-person and online classes, earn SUU Institutional Certificates, and even credit that can be applied to university degrees. For more information about SUU Professional Development and Leadership offerings, visit suu.edu/prodev, or call (435) 865-8259.