Want to get the most out of your garden this year? Here are a few tips passed down through the years. When planting your seeds, always plant three in a hill: one for the good, one for the crow, and one to grow. Plant crops that grow above ground during a waxing moon, and plant crops that grow below ground on a waning moon. A homemade pesticide can be made from tobacco to spray your plants. And lastly, some have found that burying a piece of iron beside your roses will make them more fragrant. If it worked for our grandparents maybe it’ll work for us too!
Community News
Living an Intentional Life
Mind, body, and soul work together to make the best of our lives. Innate health and natural talent is amazing; however, it’s also necessary to be intentional. We need to put in the effort to care for each part of our being. Medical check-ups and dentist appointments are well embedded in our lives. Other expressions of healthy living, such as yoga and psychotherapy, have gained ground because they truly enhance our lives. This makes us stronger and more resilient. What are you doing in the studio of your mind, body, and soul to make the best of your life?
Learning-Related Vision Disorders
While 20/20 vision is a great start, our vision is also related to how well our eyes work together with our brain to process visual information. Many children who suffer with vision problems can go undiagnosed since learning-related vision disorders may not be revealed through a regular eye exam. Lack of eye movement control, focusing difficulties, poor visual memory, and much more can make learning seem overwhelming. Without fundamental visual skills, children may have more difficulty with reading, writing, and comprehension at school. A developmental optometrist diagnoses and provides treatment options for learning-related vision disorders.
Walking – The Activity of a Lifetime
Exercise does not have to be complicated. We almost always have access to somewhere to walk, and walking is a great activity. If you are going to walk and haven’t done so in a while start slowly. We recommend increasing the length of the walk by 10% per week maximum. If you have been walking and want to know what you can do to increase your intensity, speed up or add some stairs to your walk. Getting to a moderate to vigorous intensity during your walk requires you to be at a point where you are working so hard that you are feeling challenged and almost out of breath.
Clean Eating: Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
2 cups + 3 tbsp gluten free all-purpose flour, 1 7.5-g package active dry yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp maple syrup, 1 1/2 tbsp butter (melted), 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup warm water. Directions: Mix flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, melted butter, olive oil and warm water and mix until combined. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 450. Spread the dough onto a pizza pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Add your healthy toppings and place back in the oven until heated through. Enjoy!
Words to Live By
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
-John Wooden
Fit for the Job?
Whatever physical activities are involved at your job, a physiotherapist will test your functional abilities to make sure you are able to carry out all of your work demands. Can you lift 50 lbs with proper mechanics? Are you safe to climb ladders? Do you have good balance? Do you have enough muscular endurance? Don’t guess, take the test! Physiotherapists can also measure spinal range of motion – a stiff spine is a predictor of possible injury. By testing your push/pull/lift and carry, a physiotherapist can help to PREVENT injuries and keep you working. Remember, “Work Shouldn’t Hurt!”
Richard Van, BMR-PT, GlenYoungPhysioTherapy.com
Imagination is a Gift of Healing
Imagine what you would do, where you would go or who you would be if you had the opportunity, for just a few hours, to make that happen? When we visualize our preferred-self we might discover many things. It could lead us to make an important decision to change something that’s been bothersome. It might help us solve a problem or create a new venture. Many of life’s simple and complex discoveries and innovations have come from the use of imagination. Emotional healing can also be accessed through the mind’s ability to envision a new beginning and make appropriate changes. What are you doing with your imagination these days?
Gerry Goertzen, MA Registered Psychotherapist, Riverbend Counselling & Wellness, RiverbendCounselling.ca
See Better In Any Light
Every day our vision is affected but light in one way or another. Glare reduces visual acuity and is less aesthetically pleasing. Ultra violet rays assault eyes everywhere, 365 days a year. These UV A and UV B rays are invisible but accelerate eye aging, especially cataracts. Changing light conditions causes visual discomfort, squinting, and dark/ light adaptation stress. If your lenses are dirty or scratched this will increase light scatter and reduce your visual acuity. Poor contrast and indoor blue light in the visual environment cause eye fatigue. Your Optometrist can guide you and recommend protection for these everyday lighting quality concerns. Your solution may be personalized depending on your environment at work and play, to bring light under control.
Dr. Douglas Puttaert, Optometrist, East St. Paul EyeCare, EastStPaulEyeCare.ca
The Benefits of Stretching
Stretching can improve your joint range of motion, balance, flexibility and decrease your risk of injury. Here are some tips to help you stretch: Warm up your muscles before stretching with 10 minutes of gentle exercise like walking. Hold a sustained stretch for 10 to 30 seconds and don’t bounce when stretching. Only stretch to the point of mild discomfort. If it hurts, you’re pushing too hard. Breathe normally when stretching and balance your routine by working opposing muscle groups each time you stretch. Remember to check with a health professional before stretching if you have or have had an injury or are unsure how to stretch properly.
Jasdeep Ruprai, Pharmacist, You Drugmart, YouDrugMart.com
Weight Loss: The Real Truth
Weight loss is something that many of us are considering, so what is a safe weight loss goal? A weight loss goal of 1-2 lbs per week is sustainable and possible. The key word here is sustainable. There are lots of fad diets out there that promise and sometimes even deliver the weight loss levels promised. Weight loss is about changes that you make to both your activity levels as well as your food intake. The real equation for weight loss is the difference between calories in and calories out. It really is as simple as that.
Manitoba Fitness Council, ManitobaFitnessCouncil.ca
