Community News
Ride Don’t Hide!

Spring is finally here and it’s the perfect time to get outside after a long, cold winter! Outdoor exercise is a great way to soak up the sun’s vitamin D, get your blood pumping, and reconnect with your community – all proven ways to boost your mental health. Need some motivation? Think about joining the Ride Don’t Hide movement, a Canada-wide community bike ride to build awareness for mental health. This year’s ride will be held at the Vimy Ridge Park, and its 21 km route will take you and our 300 riders through Winnipeg’s beautiful downtown. Ride Don’t Hide is for riders of all skill levels; it is not a race, but, rather, an opportunity to celebrate mental health and honour the recovery journeys of people who live with mental illness. Join the Ride Don’t Hide movement and celebrate mental health!

For details, visit: www.ridedonthide.com/mb/ride/winnipeg. Sean Miller, mbwpg.cmha.ca

Love Keeps You Healthy

Being in love not only gives you a bounce in your step, but it also has several proven health benefits. When you are in love, your brain produces a hormone, which is its own natural form of amphetamine called dopamine that contributes to feelings of elation, pleasure, optimism, energy, and a sense of well-being. Physical touch, such as hugging, handholding, and lovemaking, releases a hormone called oxytocin, which lowers stress hormones. Studies have demonstrated that people releasing these hormones have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, greater resistance to colds and flus, and decreased stress and depression. It has been documented that happily coupled people also tend to live longer. We have always known eating healthy foods help maintain a healthy body. Now there is no disputing that healthy relationships foster a long and healthy life. Finding your life partner has more benefits than we once realized.

Lianne Tregobov, Intuitive Matchmaker, CamelotIntroductions.com

Clean Eating: Veggie Burgers

1 lg. red onion

1 lg. bell pepper

3 carrots

1 sm. head cauliflower

1 lg. stalk broccoli

1 C almonds, soaked 12-24 hours.

1 C sunflower seeds, soaked 5-6 hours

1/4 C sesame seeds, soaked 5-6 hours

5 cloves garlic

2 T Braggs or to taste

1 t cumin

2 T dried Cilantro or 1-2 C fresh

Blend all ingredients and seasonings in a food processor. Form and put 1/2” thick patties on a teflex sheet and place trays in dehydrator. Dehydrate at 105º for 8-12 hours. Flip burgers after 4 hours and remove teflex sheets, continue to dehydrate for 4-5 hours.

VeganRawFoodRestaurant.com

Product Review: Organo Gold

Organo Gold is a leading coffee product enriched with 100 Percent Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum Red Mushrooms. Ganoderma Lucidum promotes health and wellness by increasing antioxidant levels, combat harmful free radicals and boosting the immune system. Ganoderma has been known for centuries for alkalizing and oxygenating the body to establish the foundation for a lifetime of good health, removing the basis for osteoporosis, arthritis, adultonset diabetes, heart disease, and many other degenerative conditions including cancer. Ganoderma is a super herb which rapidly oxygenates your body and automatically adjusts your Ph to a healthy balance at the cellular level. Experience the benefits of Ganoderma with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee. Connoisseurs will appreciate the robust, smooth flavor. Awaken your senses and enrich your day with a classic cup of coffee that’s as flavorful as it is invigorating.

DrinkOrgano.ca

Feel Better with Bowenwork

A man in his mid-thirties came in for Bowenwork, but the way he walked made it look like he could be in his mid-eighties. He was wincing from the excruciating pain he was feeling in his lower back, and taking tiny steps to get into my office. When I asked how much pain he was in from 1-10, he said about a 12. He had a physical job, and it was taking a visible toll on his body. Initially, he was skeptical that anything could help, but he didn’t want to go for surgery, and he wanted something that wouldn’t crack or physically force movement to his body. After three gentle treatments, he couldn’t believe it. His back pain was gone, his knee pain had vanished, and his seasonal allergies were not acting up either. “I don’t know what you did,” he said…”but it worked!”

Bernadette Kozak/Certified Bowenwork Practitioner, WinnipegPainRelief.ca

Mary’s Story

“I don’t know who I am anymore, where I fit in, I just feel lost. I used to love my job, now I just feel detached. I can’t shut out thinking about my job after hours. Boundaries have become blurred, I’m having trouble sleeping, and I don’t feel safe anymore. Things I thought I dealt with in my own childhood are coming back. I am having a hard time watching the news or movies…I am an emotional wreck.” By becoming aware of the changes in her feelings and recognizing the signs of stress, and with help, Mary was able to engage in emotional self-care (counselling and balancing life), identify cognitive changes by paying attention to her thinking and knowing she is not alone, engage in healthy behaviours (boundaries and taking time off), and find ways to stay spiritually connected.

Patty Parsons, RSW, CCC, ParsonsTherapy.com

Heed the Gut-Brain Connection

More and more evidence is showing that your gut health has an enormous effect on your brain, your body’s immune system, and hormonal secretion. Food sensitivities can cause ill effects beyond the physical symptoms of inflammation, allergies, and asthma. Anxiety, depression, irritability, and mood swings can also appear, because they create imbalances in key chemicals in the brain. Dietary changes that include probiotics, fermented foods, and natural fats help your microbiome and gut-brain signaling. Stress and cortisol equip you with energy to attend to tasks at hand; however, excess or chronic stress has a negative effect on brain chemistry, causing thyroid dysfunction and/ or adrenal fatigue, which leads to compromised mental and physical health. Know that Brainwave Optimization brings relaxation to the master regulator of the nervous system – the brain – so it can help your gut. In a “both-and” world, it’s all connected.

Joanne Couture, LalobaTraumaRelease.com

Detoxing Your Body

Pollutants from the environment – in the air, water and foods that we eat – as well as wastes produced from normal bodily processes, can accumulate within the body and lead to a state of congestion. To help maintain a healthy balance of assimilation and elimination, the Wild Rose D-Tox Program is uniquely designed to enhance all aspects of the metabolism. It is a proven 12-day cleansing program that follows a healthy and satisfying meal plan. Emphasis is placed on supporting the function of the liver, the small intestine and the bowel (large intestine) to promote proper digestion and elimination of toxins and wastes. The Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox program is simple to use. It has excellent benefits for both young and old, and it is enjoyed by both the novice and the experienced cleanser as a hearty diet can still be maintained.

Nathan Zassman, Aviva Natural Health Solutions, AvivaHealth.com/WildRose

Detoxing Your Body

Pollutants from the environment – in the air, water and foods that we eat – as well as wastes produced from normal bodily processes, can accumulate within the body and lead to a state of congestion. To help maintain a healthy balance of assimilation and elimination, the Wild Rose D-Tox Program is uniquely designed to enhance all aspects of the metabolism. It is a proven 12-day cleansing program that follows a healthy and satisfying meal plan. Emphasis is placed on supporting the function of the liver, the small intestine and the bowel (large intestine) to promote proper digestion and elimination of toxins and wastes. The Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox program is simple to use. It has excellent benefits for both young and old, and it is enjoyed by both the novice and the experienced cleanser as a hearty diet can still be maintained.

Nathan Zassman, Aviva Natural Health Solutions, AvivaHealth.com/WildRose

Love Connection

In today’s fast-paced society finding love can be a difficult task. Technology often replaces human to human contact, and actual socialization has decreased. Many people have resorted to the Internet in attempts to find love. Virtual dating can be a very daunting task with terribly mixed results. There are wonderful, quality, single people, of all ages in Manitoba who are at a loss as to where find love. A Matchmaker is often the answer. Matchmaking is an age-old profession that historically has brought love into peoples’ lives for centuries. An experienced Matchmaker hand picks and presents individuals who have been screened and are suited to their clients often resulting in long lasting love. Placing your heart in the hands of a good Matchmaker should lead to an amazing love connection with someone who is right for you.

Lianne Tregobov, Camelot Introductions, camelotintroductions.com

Vipassana Meditation

Research has shown that meditation can expand the brain, and help people avert stress and disease. One way to achieve this is through Vipassana meditation, a technique that emphasizes mindfulness, with the goal of seeing things as they “really are.” An ancient meditative technique from India, Vipassana was taken up by Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) just over 2,500 years ago. Vipassana meditation is the practice of freedom. It is an honest and direct practice: the moment-to-moment investigation of the mind-body process through calm, open, and precise awareness. Learning to observe our experience from a place of spacious stillness enables us to relate to life with a balance of wisdom and compassion. This experience fosters clarity and penetrating insight into the nature of who we are, as well as increased peace in our daily lives.

Brett Scott, Disability Tax Credit, DisabilityTaxCreditWinnipeg.com