Community News
Preserving the Human-Canine Bond

Community volunteers at ElderDog Canada Victoria provide no-cost services such as dog walking, transportation to and from a vet or groomer, foster care when a senior is temporarily hospitalized, and rehoming when keeping the senior and dog together is no longer feasible. Eligible seniors include those who have ongoing health and/or mobility challenges, require temporary support while they undergo and recover from surgery, or must move to a care facility and cannot bring their dog with them. If you are a senior who needs help caring for your dog, you can email ElderDog Canada Victoria at elderdogvictoria@gmail.com.

New Superberry: an Antioxidant Powerhouse

In the spectrum of nutrition, berries rank near the top, and among berries, none are more nutritious than the Aronia berry. That’s because powerful antioxidants (proanthocyanidins) in Aronia berries remove harmful free oxygen radicals from cells. Research shows that in diabetics, Aronia berry juice reduced blood glucose, and its extracts reduced inflammation and improved immunity. An extract of Aronia berries injected into highly malignant brain tumor cells killed malignant cells within 24 hours without harming healthy cells. And in hard-to-treat cancers, combining Aronia with chemotherapy improved the effectiveness of conventional drugs.

Optimize Your Life!

We all want to live our best life, but it’s pretty easy to feel off-track. This can sneak up on us – an unsatisfying job, an upsetting event, or feelings about an ex, can lead you to cope in unhelpful ways. Or maybe it’s unclear where this feeling comes from. It can be hard to know how to act confidently towards your goals! How do you think well of yourself when you’re stuck? Counselling is a safe, neutral place to explore what’s next for you, and to feel better about yourself.

Reach Your Potential and Invest in Self Care

When you are on an airplane, the flight attendant always tells you to put on your mask before helping anyone else. Why? Because you are no good to anyone else if you aren’t well. The same goes for everyday life. If you want to reach your potential, invest in self-care. Schedule YOU time in your calendar as if it were an important meeting. Start with once a week and eventually, try for once a day. Use that YOU time to do anything that helps YOU be well.

Product Spotlight: The RainMate®

Experience the sweet smell of clean. The RainMate® is the perfect air purifier for your home or office, with it’s compact size and chic design it fits into any decor. Utilizing mother nature’s most powerful element – water – it circulates fresh air throughout your space while radiating the gentle, ambient sound of running water. Infuse the water with any of 10 all natural scents like Eucalyptus or Tea Tree Mint and bring the spa to you! You can also use the night light and diffuse a calming blue light into the water basin for ultimate relaxation.

Healing Through Blood Flow

BEMER is changing the way we think about our health, challenging our understanding of the human body, and empowering us to reach optimal physical condition in a natural, non-invasive way. If micro-circulation to each cell is improved, cardiac function is enhanced, strength and energy increase, mental acuity and concentration are improved, detoxification processes improve, stress is reduced and sleep improves! ALL 100 trillion cells in the body are affected by blood flow, so ALL cells have a chance at healing. Imagine feeling better tomorrow than you do today!

Community Events

March 22nd, 1 – 4 pm: Deep Self Care – An Afternoon Retreat/Workshop. If you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, depleted or simply in need of some R&R give yourself an afternoon of Deep Self Care while you learn simple MindBody Yoga practices for everyday living that help to restore your sense of inner sustenance and connection. Brentwood Bay Resort. Harriet Ross – Certified Yoga Therapist, Yoga Teacher and Awakening Coach Space is limited, registration: YogaandHealing.ca
April 6 – 9 Tofino Yoga and Wellness Retreat. All-Inclusive 3 night, 4 day. Welcome to the Pacific Sands Yoga & Wellness Experience. From beachfront Tofino accommodations, morning/evening yoga and nourishing meals, to an apothecary workshop and optional surf/massage add-ons, this seaside savasana is what your mind and body has been craving. Namaste. Maximum 12 participants by design; limited space available. Pacific Sands PacificSands.com/offers/pacific-sands-yoga-wellness-experience

Healing With Classical Yoga Therapy

The core principle of Classical Yoga Therapy is that people have an enormous natural capacity for healing and transformation in which Yoga can play an invaluable role. Whether the desire for healing stems from an illness, injury or from an urge to overcome inner struggle and engage a deeper exploration of oneself, a more individual, therapeutic approach to yoga is essential. Certified Yoga Therapists address your whole Being; Body, Mind and Spirit. In 1:1 sessions your particular confluence of issues, needs and capabilities are considered in the creation of your personalized practice, as are your age, energy level and lifestyle.

Reiki Really Works

Reiki is an energy healing treatment that works holistically; on the whole body, mind and spirit. Natural healing vibrations are transmitted through the hands of a Reiki practitioner to the body of the recipient. Reiki treatment can relieve stress and pain, induce relaxation, release emotional blockages, accelerate natural healing, balance subtle energies, and support other medical modalities, including traditional therapies. Reputable medical facilities are now offering patients alternative healing programs such as Reiki, and are analyzing the benefits and submitting them for review and compilation. The effectiveness of Reiki is finally gaining new, much-deserved respect within the medical community.

WELLness – Thank you, Live Life Alarms

My husband is in the early stages of Alzheimers. He continues to enjoy riding his bike and I used to get very worried as he would sometimes have difficulty finding his way home. Getting him a Live Life mobile alert was the best thing we have done as now I can readily find out quickly where he is. He recently went out cycling and was gone for some time so I called him on his alert pendant. Not only could I talk with him but the Mobile Alert sent me an automatic return text showing his exact location on Google Maps. This has given me so much confidence now and allows him to continue doing what he loves. Vicki Ogston. LiveLifeAlarms.ca

Understanding Yoga Therapy

The core principle of Classical Yoga Therapy is that people have an enormous natural capacity for healing and transformation in which Yoga can play an invaluable role. Whether the desire for healing stems from an illness, injury or from an urge to overcome inner struggle and into a deeper exploration of oneself, a more individual, therapeutic approach to yoga is essential. 

Many people associate Yoga with group classes practicing physical postures requiring strength and flexibility whereas  Yoga Therapy is taught 1:1 and can assist most people, even someone laying in a hospital bed. Yoga Therapy addresses your whole Being; Body, Mind and Spirit and is a discipline of identifying and refining the correct practices for you, AS YOU ARE. 

During our sessions I observe, listen and question to discover your particular confluence of issues, needs and capabilities such as physiological condition(s,) muscular-skeletal patterns and injuries, age and energy level, daily activities, unique personality and thought patterns, current life situation (we all go through times of engagement, despondency, joy, confusion etc.) Even your particular aspirations and connection to that which gives your life meaning are considered. I then choose the correct practices that will be appropriate for your particular journey into healing and well-being. 

As a Yoga Therapist I implement profound tools often overlooked in public classes such as breathing/energy regulation, contemplations, visualizations, meditations, interactive relational practices, lifestyle recommendations and dietary recommendations (based in Ayurveda,) and more. This is a modality that is specific to you and is comprehensive in its scope. 

Yoga Therapy requires your diligence in engaging your practice (which may be only 20min/day) as you are the primary impetus in your own healing and well-being. My role as your teacher is to support your healing and recovery by teaching you the correct practices and the accurate undertaking of them. As transformation occurs you notify me so that further modifications and adjustments to your healing practice can be made to suit your evolved state. 

I have observed that many people start off with good intentions but over time find it difficult to keep up a practice, I offer additional support in these instances.

As well as private sessions I also run public programs and professional training.                                     

To find out more about an upcoming program to support health care professionals email me at: harriet@yogaandhealing.ca

UPCOMING PUBLIC PROGRAM:  Deep Self Care Retreat; Sunday afternoon March 22nd,  1 – 4 pm (see website for details and to register.)

To find out more go to: YogaAndHealing.ca