Do you lack energy? Do you become anxious or tense easily? Suffer from depression? Never before have our bodies been exposed to so many chemicals. Our psychological environment is changing. There is more traffic and less nature to balance our needs. Many people are struggling just to survive; with very few thriving well into their elder years. Nutritional and lifestyle changes can help decrease the effects on our brain and other areas of our body that accumulate oxidative stress and age us prematurely. We need to ensure our blood sugars are balanced, eat complex carbohydrates like legumes, lentils and healthy grains and smart fats like olive oils, free range eggs, salmon and coconut oil.

The feeling of safety and security in your home is now available wherever you might be! Whether in your home, walking to your mailbox or going on vacation, there are devices available that give you 24/7 access to help. These on-the-go devices, can send an alert when you press a button, sense when you fall and send an automatic alert, and provide direct, two-way communication with a 24/7 Response Center. They are designed to help locate the user in a variety of situations – home or away, indoors and out. It really is possible to get out there and enjoy life with peace of mind.

With the New Year upon us, this is the time we reflect on the past year and look forward to what we hope for the new year. Amidst the cliché resolutions to ‘stop procrastinating’, ‘eat healthy’ and ‘wake up early’ many of our hopes boil down to three simple things; health, family and happiness. This may mean looking for help to keep your elderly family members healthy and happy. Keeping loved ones comfortably in their own homes as long as possible alleviates some of the stress off the family’s primary caregivers allowing for more quality family time.

As a graduated BC Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) at Naturally Healthy Clinic, Cari is excited to offer therapeutic treatments to her patients. A thorough assessment and specific individual treatment plan will create the road to recovery. Modalities include myofascial release, trigger point pressure release, active stretching techniques, as well as Swedish massage. Cari aims to create a calm and relaxing environment to allow patients to rebalance and restore both body and mind. Direct billing to insurance companies will be available soon! Call Naturally Healthy Clinic (250) 755-4051 to book your appointment with Cari today.

Do you enjoy working in your garden but find some of the work required to be too much? As we age, operating some yard equipment and climbing ladders can become dangerous. But we still want the yard and trees to look good and be cared for. Enjoy your garden again by hiring help to do the heavy work such as digging, pruning the trees and hauling away the debris. Your fruit trees will look their best and produce bountiful fruit when they have been pruned by a professional. January is a good time to have your fruit trees pruned.

When you have made the decision to move a loved one into a long term care community, here are some tips to help with the transition: – Be open with family members – talk about the decision; – Arrange for your loved one to visit the community where they will be going; – Determine what can be done before moving day such as preparing their room with personal items and labeling clothing; – Take moving day off and spend it with them; and – Introduce your loved one to the staff members. Keeping these tips in mind will help make the move easier for everyone.

With our busy lives we want a skin care regime that is simple and effective. Choose a product line that provides ideal skin care with four easy steps: 1) Cleanse, 2) Eye treatment, 3) Antioxidant Serum for the day or Retinol Serum for night and 4) Moisturizer. Look for a skin care line with the highest standard of ingredients that has been developed for all skin types. Riversol, Alumier, Cellex- C and Vivier offer medical grade quality. Skin care should protect your skin, while fighting multiple signs of aging that includes fine lines, wrinkles and sun damage.

Long-term stress can have taxing effects on our health; our hearing health is no exception to this. Our hearing relies on tiny sensory hairs in the inner ear to translate sound frequencies into electrical pulses that can then be received and interpreted by our brains. These tiny hairs rely on oxygen from blood circulation to function. When our bodies experience stress, our adrenaline increases to prepare our bodies to act— we breathe faster to divert oxygen to our muscles. This isn’t harmful in the short term, but long-term stress can suppress our bodily systems and lead to a variety of illnesses. Taking deep breaths, exercising, and taking time out of your day to spend time with loved ones can help to reduce stress and guard against the illnesses that may result.

For more than 50 years, The SOS Caring for Community at Christmas program has been making life a little bit brighter for local residents in-need. The program provides a special gift for children and youth, and adults receive local grocery store gift cards. Find an SOS Angel Tree in one of dozens of local businesses, purchase the gift listed, and return your unwrapped gift to the store. A local child’s heart will fill with excitement when they find your gift on Christmas morning. The program also gratefully accepts monetary donations to ensure adults can purchase food that is important to them over the holidays.