Community News
Animal Massage

Did you know that by massaging your animal friend, you are healing her/him? As with the majority of therapeutic touch practices, animal massage has many benefits. Massage helps to ease stress and anxiety; whether your animal is newly adopted or has recently been introduced to new circumstances. Massage improves circulation in older animals who are no longer able to walk well, or are anemic and malnourished. By massaging your animal, you are reducing muscle soreness and joint stiffness that may have resulted from arthritis or aging. Did you know that there is an entire practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine that focuses on massaging just the ear? There are many pressure points in the ear and long the animal’s body that can trigger a physical healing process. Perhaps the most important and enjoyable benefit of massaging your animal is the physical, emotional and spiritual connection that you will share from the experience!

Jill Saifer, Soulstice Spirit Healing
www.soulsticespirithealing.wordpress.com

 

Are you ready for change?

With the fall comes inevitable change…change of seasons, weather and schedules. Wondering what else you might be interesting in changing in your life? There are 5 core stages to creating change and making it happen and stick. What stage are you on?

The first stage is recognizing what it is you want to change. Naming the pattern, behavior or identifying the issue to focus on. Let’s say I want to decrease my anxiety. The second stage is about creating a plan of action to make the change you want possible. That would mean identifying when my anxiety comes up, what the triggers are and creating a plan to meditate and learn mindfulness. The third stage is figuring out whom to enlist, what type of structure is required to best support your success. I chose to exercise daily, learn deep breathing and release exercises known to help anxiety and empower myself to learn to work through the deep feelings under the anxiety instead of numbing out. The fourth stage is making the necessary changes step by step throughout your day. Taking time to tune into myself and learning how to slow down seems to help when I feel overwhelmed. The fifth stage is assessing what is working and not working within your plan and begin integrating it in your life. I changed the time I exercised and added in some yoga, stretching and began shifting my thoughts and core beliefs to a more loving and compassionate way of being with myself. Now it’s your turn…

D’Arcy Bruning-Haid, M.A. Counselling
www.souls-journey.com

What’s blocking you?

Did you know your natural state is one of health? Why then, does it seem that so many of us struggle with so many health problems? The problem isn’t you, its interference! Have you tried to drive across Winnipeg lately? You don’t get very far before you are slowed down or stopped by an orange sign or pylon. Your progress halted, frustration/irritation blazing! Then the repairs are completed, the signs are removed and traffic sails along, JOY! You have 70 trillion cells that know exactly what they are supposed to be doing every second you are alive, but something is in the way. The roadblocks holding your health back can come in many forms; stress, nerve interference, nutrition, exercise, and toxicity. When you identify the interference and remove the roadblocks, you will be rewarded with a body that begins to function normally. Remember though, health is a journey, not a destination, when you feel like you’re there – keep going!

Dr. David Newsham, Academy Chiropractic
www.academyhealthsite.com

Caregiver Pharmacy Support

It can be difficult to be a caregiver and manage multiple or complex medications for a loved one. It is important to ensure medications are taken appropriately to help maintain good health. A visiting pharmacist provides personal support with regular medication delivery and home consultations. The pharmacist reviews a client’s prescription drugs and over the counter medications to advise if there are any drug interactions and makes adjustments as necessary. This level of support can reduce emergency room visits and hospital stays and results in strong, trusting relationships between clients, caregivers and pharmacists. The visiting pharmacist also provides seamless care for hospital discharge patients and works closely with other health professionals to deliver a high level of care to the client. Care is tailored to specific individual needs such as assisting with blood pressure readings, adding medications as needed to adherence packaging and making changes in an efficient manner.

Teresa Giesbrecht, Care at Home Pharmacy
www.careathomepharmacy.ca

The Procrastinator’s Challenge

How many projects are on your back burner? If you’re like most people, that back burner is chock-full of tasks that have been in the planning phase for far too long. Getting stalled projects off the ground can be difficult. A plan of action is what’s called for:

1) Set a specific date and time aside for your project, allowing time for prep and cleanup.

2) A week previous, anticipate and gather all required supplies.

3) Enlist help! There are times in our life when we all could use a hand – that extra push is often what we need to see a project through to a successful conclusion.

4) Put on some great tunes, have your beverage-of-choice on hand and get to work.

5) You’ve done it – enjoy your results!

Done & Done Family Concierge Service
www.doneanddone.ca

Better with Balance

Balance plays a key role in sports performance, injury prevention, and the activities of daily living. Good balance is a fine coordination of muscles, nerves, the brain, the inner ear (vestibular system), and your eyesight. Every move you make sparks rapid-fire communication between these systems, to keep you upright. Any injuries to your muscle-skeletal system and in fact simply aging, can affect your balance. Balance exercises enhance the mind-body connection to keep you safe and injury free. Our physiotherapists can assist you in instruction of exercises to maximize your balance.

Nicole Marier, Action Physiotherapy & Wellness Clinic
www.actionphysio.net

Book Club: Gut

The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ. By Giulia Enders. The gut’s nervous system, food intolerances, allergies, gut bacteria and the science of bad breath are detailed, suggesting the body’s “most underrated organ” plays a greater role in our overall wellbeing than we might have otherwise thought. Throughout the book, Enders points out, it is the gut that most frequently presents us with some of life’s most pressing questions. Pick up a copy at your local book store.

Clean Eating: Easy Healthy Borscht

Ingredients:

4 cups of organic beef broth
1 cup diced carrot
½ cup garden peas
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped potatoes
2 cups beets with stems and leaves diced
1 onion chopped
4 fresh sprigs of dill
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Alternately, cook on top of the stove until the vegetables are soft enough to eat. Serve topped with sour cream.

 

Burn Fat, Don’t Abuse Carbs

Many leading scientists, medical professionals, and nutrition experts agree the ketosis lifestyle is the pinnacle of health and wellbeing. Ketosis is a natural metabolic state where the body burns fat for most of its energy rather than carbohydrates. Fat offers the body 225% more energy than carbohydrates. Today, most people have sugar-burning bodies, not fat-burning bodies. Fat-burning bodies typically experience better energy and fewer cravings due to balanced blood sugar levels. Typically, without several days of fasting or sticking to unrealistic diet plans, our bodies cannot reach ketosis and take advantage of this energy. So unless you have serious discipline and nowhere to go, nutritional ketosis has been believed to be out of reach… until now.

David Warfield, ForeverGreen Ketopia
www.warf.fgxpress.com

The Procrastinator’s Challenge

www.doneanddone.ca

How many projects are on your back burner?

If you’re like most people, that back burner is chock-full of tasks that have been in the planning phase for far too long. Getting stalled projects off the ground can be difficult. A plan of action is what’s called for:

1) Set a specific date & time aside for your project, allowing time for prep and cleanup.

2) A week previous, anticipate and gather all required supplies.

3) Enlist help! There are times in our life when we all could use a hand – that extra push is often what we need to see a project through to a successful conclusion.

4) Put on some great tunes, have your beverage-of-choice on hand and Get to Work.

5) You’ve done it – enjoy your results!

Done & Done Family Concierge Service
www.doneanddone.ca

Acupuncture

The ancient art of acupuncture works by stimulating our body’s neuroendocrine system to produce its own natural pain relieving chemicals, endorphins and serotonins, which help the body to heal itself. Stimulation occurs when fine needles are inserted into specific places on the body, known as acupoints.

Acupuncture is often used as an adjunct to physiotherapy treatment to alleviate both chronic and acute pain, swelling, muscle spasm and even headaches. It is used widely in sports physiotherapy, and is used to encourage and support a healthy active lifestyle. Acupoints can be picked to target various muscles, joints, promote energy or relaxation and more. Medical studies comparing physiotherapy treatment plans with and without using acupuncture found that those who had acupuncture, had faster results and longer lasting benefits. If pain is limiting your function in work, life or play, consider acupuncture as a possible adjunct to a good physiotherapy and exercise program.

Kristi Hunter, Prairie Trail Physiotherapy
www.prairietrailphysio.ca