Your heart muscle works hard pumping your blood to deliver vital nutrients around your body and to feed your organs. Those of us with family history, or risk factors like obesity, circulatory disorders, high blood pressure and/or sugars, need to be extra aware and wary about our hearts. Take heart knowing that your risk can be reduced. Start by eating an anti-inflammatory whole foods diet. Exercise is essential so choose something you enjoy. Keep lean to reduce the “metabolic syndrome” risk factors. Talk to a professional about supplements such as coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a potent antioxidant that has been linked to normal cardiac muscle functioning to support cardiovascular health.
Community News
Hot or Cold?
Heat and cold therapy can be an effective and inexpensive way to relieve pain from a variety of conditions such as arthritis, pulled muscles, inflammation and swelling. Cold therapy is best for bruised or swollen joints and tendons; it improves nerve activity and blood flow. Use ice packs and a bag of ice cubes with a little cool water for acute injuries/pain, inflammation and swelling. Heat therapy improves blood flow, circulation and soothes muscles and joints and increases their flexibility. Use heat packs and pads for muscle pain, tension and stiffness. Take care, your body will thank you!
Is Medical Cannabis an Option for Me?
Are you wondering if medical cannabis could help you with some of your ailments? What can it be used for and how do you use it? How do you access it? Bring your questions to the Medical Cannabis Conference for Older Adults in Nanaimo, March 23rd in support of the Nanaimo Family Life Association. Medical and industry professionals along with older users will be on hand to talk about how medical cannabis is used to treat chronic pain due to injury, arthritis, cancer, depression, anxiety and more. At this one-day workshop, you will learn what to ask your medical professional about access and usage.
What to Wear to a Funeral
Dressing for a funeral can be tricky, especially in a time when traditional funerals are evolving to celebrations. What is important is to ensure you remain respectful to the family. Unless there is a specific dress code, lean toward dark shades or neutrals. Consider any cultural traditions to avoid wearing anything offensive. When in doubt about what to wear, ask someone. Dressing for any occasion can be stressful to some, especially for a somber event. When deciding what to wear, remember that funerals and memorial services are not about the attendees, but about the individual who has left us.
Drug Free Solution for Pain
Are you looking for a drug free solution for pain relief? Would you like to feel more balanced and stable when walking and increase your mobility? After years of research, VOXXLife has developed a technology (VOXX HPT) that triggers a very precise neuro response that helps the brain maximize its natural pain fighting mechanisms. The documented results and benefits from using products with the VOXX HPT pattern include enhanced pain relief and management, especially PDN pain, enhanced stability and balance, and improved mobility. Discover the technology of Voxx socks and insoles at the Oceanside Health & Wellness Fair on March 16 in Parksville.
Benefits of Ozone Therapy
Ozone Therapy has been utilized and heavily studied for more than a century. It uses ozone to boost the body’s system. Its effects are proven and consistent. Ozone therapies can be applied to the body in a variety of ways to accelerate healing, eliminate pain, inflammation, and induce detoxification while rejuvenating tissues and rebuilding healthy cells. Asthma, COPD, chronic and acute infections, Rheumatoid Diseases, Arthritis, and Inflammation to name a few, can all be helped with Ozone Therapy. By reducing inflammation and increasing the immune system’s performance, Ozone Therapy assists to restore function, cell renewal and health.
Take Care of Yourself
Providing long-term care for a loved one can be very taxing and time-consuming. With spring around the corner we are all itching to leave our cozy winter hearths and get back to being active. By bringing in in-home elder care, you can take time to care for your own health. Care for you loved ones frees up time for tackling your next challenge and helps ensure that you can enjoy the good things in life, going forwards. If you or someone you know would benefit from in home care, reach out to explore the options available.
Accept Help to Remain Independent
Sometimes people find it very difficult to accept help. With many seniors, accepting help seems like losing independence. Many feel that admitting you need help tells the world that you are no longer able to live on your own. Installing a medical alarm system can actually increase your independence and reduce the risks of living alone or being left alone in your home. In fact, with a locally monitored system, you may be able to remain in your own home, comforted by the fact that if something should happen, help is just a button push away.
Spring and Summer Activities
The City of Nanaimo’s Spring and Summer Activity Guide is here! Within its pages you will discover over 1,000 programs that are sure to keep you and your family active this spring and summer. We have courses in arts, crafts, dance, fitness, first aid, music, language, wellness, outdoors, sports, swimming and skating, and we have community event details. Studies continually show the benefits of being active and socializing as an important part of being healthy – both physically and emotionally. This spring and summer, take a moment and move with us! Need some ideas to keep you active? Contact the recreation experts at 250.756.5200 or visit recreation.nanaimo.ca.
How Do I Use Essential Oils?
Confused about the different ways to use essential oils? * Aromatically: Whether in a diffuser or just drops on a pillow or cotton ball this is the method for infusing the air around you. Great method for changing the mood in a room and for purifying the air. * Topically: Massaging essential oils (diluted) into target spots on the skin for pain or skin irritations. * Ingesting: Great for gut issues or systemic use. Only use doTerra CPTG oils (non-synthetic without contaminant.) * Cleaning: Citrus oils are all generally great cleaners. Your home will be cleaner, smell better and you are going to get rid of toxins. Want to learn more? Join a Thursday evening classes in Nanaimo.
Release of Tension Due to Injury or Trauma
When injuries to the body are as a result of impact, muscles around the site reflexively contract to protect you from the trauma. If the trauma is physically or emotionally significant, the shock to the body may result in the protective muscular contraction becoming habituated. Our brain behaves as if the injury is still happening and we develop what is known in Somatics as Sensory Motor Amnesia. This body–brain disconnect causes us to forget how to sense and move our muscles. Somatics Gentle Body Movement Classes re-educate the brain to release muscular tension and relax muscles back to their correct resting length without discomfort or painful stretching.
