Community News
Injured? Chronic Pain? Try Pilates!

Pilates is an excellent thinking and movement tool for back, hip, knee and other pain, whether it is a diagnosed injury, such as a herniated, bulging or ruptured disk, or a suspected one. Pilates helps alleviate the symptoms from chronic medical conditions be it fibromyalgia, arthritis, spinal stenosis, or osteoporosis to name a few.

Pilates is a great tool for the gym too so that your old painful “work-out” gets replaced with a better, smarter, safer Pilates “work-in”. Pilates will help restore your knees, spine, pelvis, ribcage, shoulders, head / neck to your anatomic neutral so you can reduce and eliminate pain and get strong again.

Getting through the Holidays

Holidays can be a time of exuberant joy, excitement and giving. However for some it can also be a time that brings up deep feelings of grief, disappointment and loneliness especially when you have lost someone or something that is important to you.

Dealing with loss and pain while the rest of the world celebrates can be unbearable for some. Finding a new way to mark the ritual of the holiday and honour yourself or a loved one during this time of good cheer is a way to make the holiday experience meaningful. Finding a way of giving your energy to others, telling those you care about what you appreciate, writing a gratitude letter or diving yourself into a project, these are ways to help cope and get you through a difficult transition.

 

Ask Your Life Coach

How can one escape problems and the negativity around them?

The answer is we can’t escape problems and negativity. Escaping just brings denial and suppression, and we often continue to carry the problem with us. Ironically, it is our lack of acceptance and resistance to the problem that creates the pain. Resistance builds up an energy wall or block that, if not discharged, gets suppressed into the body. These blocks identify places where we have not enough understanding or love in our life.

So let’s, instead, jump into the problem head on and dispel it with the energy from within us. Orison Swett Marden wrote “Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” 

Feeding Hungry Minds

Imagine starting every day hungry, unable to focus on what your teacher is saying over your growling stomach and pounding headache.

Unfortunately, for too many Canadian children, this is a reality. When a child is hungry it is hard to learn, and yet 1 million Canadian children, that’s 1 in 6, face hunger every year. Undernourished children have difficulty focusing on tasks, have lower self-esteem and are absent from school more often.

Breakfast for Learning is one of the largest national charities committed to ensuring students attend school well-nourished and ready to learn. Working to support communities in every province and territory, Breakfast for Learning helps schools start and sustain breakfast, lunch and snack programs each year. Since 1992, Breakfast for Learning has helped 3.6 million children and youth enjoy over 554 million healthy meals and snacks.

Keep Your Pets Warm

Keep your pets inside as much as possible during winter months!

Cats will curl up against almost anything to stay warm, including car engines. Cats caught in moving engine parts can be seriously hurt or killed. If you light a fire or plug in a space heater, remember that the warmth may be just as inviting to your pets. Keep an eye out to make sure that no tails or paws come in contact with flames, heating coils, or hot surfaces. Pets can either burn themselves or knock a heat source over and put the entire household in danger. Pets that go outside can pick up snow, ice, and ice melting chemicals in their footpads. To keep your pet’s pads from getting chapped and raw, wipe their feet with a washcloth when they come inside.

Remember … if you are cold outside, they probably are too!

Book Club: A Candle at Both Ends

Thoughts of Inspiration for the Beginning and End of the Day, by Tiffany Prochera

A Candle at Both Ends by Winnipeg author, Tiffany Prochera, is an inspiring, thought-provoking and humorous collection of prose and poetry to help you wake up in the morning with enthusiasm and focus, and go to sleep at night resolved and peaceful.

With morning cheers, tips on how you can get the most out of life and be the person you truly to want to be and musings on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. A Candle at Both Ends allow you to take a moment to breathe, dream and create your life.

Energizing Date and Almond Shake

A little something to keep you warm and cozy this winter!

This is a creamy, delicious, soothing for the digestive system, helps build iron and perfect for a cold day.

Prep Time: 10 min (plus overnight soaking)
Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients:

10 
medium dates, pitted and soaked.
1 tsp soaked fennel seeds.
25 soaked whole raw almonds or you can use cashews too!
2-3c warm water for the “milk” plus a cup boiling hot for blanching.
2 pinches cardamom.
1 pinch nutmeg.
2 pinches saffron (optional)

Directions:

Soak the pitted dates with fennel seeds and the almonds in separate bowls overnight. In the morning, drain and peel almonds. Pour some boiling hot water over almonds to blanch and then peel them easily (slip skins while the water is still hot or they stick again). *almond skins are hard to digest that is why they are skinned. Try it and see the difference! Blend with 3 cups fresh warm water and all other ingredients for 2 minutes or until smooth.

Comments and Tips: The added cardamom and nutmeg is delicious and really helps us handle the almond digestion and prevent water retention. Please be creative and add any spices you like to this.

Flatter Belly this Holiday Season?

As we age, we often feel the middle expanding.
Have you noticed we become shorter and wider? 

Fortunately, this is reversible! Block Therapy addresses the reasons tissue ages and safely and effectively teaches you how to take your body back to a more youthful place. Although it treats the whole body, it largely focuses on the foundational component, the rib cage and the core. This allows you to access proper diaphragmatic breathing, which creates the most optimal environment for the body to function. The results are improved digestion and elimination, and a waistline you will love.

It doesn’t matter your age, sex or physical condition, Block Therapy will teach you how to use your body the way it was designed, resulting in the healthiest version of yourself.

Kansa Vatki Foot Massage

Kansa Vatki Foot Massage works with Marma points, pressure or reflex points as in reflexology. These points work the receptors in the feet and lower leg which corresponds with major organs in the body. There are 107 Marma points, which form vital energy meridians running throughout the body. Several of these Marma points are worked on the legs & feet (the true place of ‘prana’ – the body’s vital energy), stimulating the body’s own innate ability to rebalance and harmonize the ‘doshas’.

Another important part of Kansa Vatki Foot Massage is the small bowl that has been carefully prepared with metals of copper, and zinc. Copper is known for its anti-inflammatory properties that help relieve joint pain. Zinc is known for its antiseptic properties in treating and preventing skin disorders. The Kansa Vatki bowl balances the energies of Vata, Pitta and Kapha, detoxifies and draws out excess heat from your body.

Sacred Source Medicine
www.sacredsourcemedicine.weebly.com

Heart Health

Heart Disease has become the most fatal condition in the world!

One out of every two people are having strokes and heart attacks, but also death in many cases. Depending on diet, family history, stress and inactive lifestyles, this silent killer, attacks! High cholesterol is also seen as a culprit, however there is huge benefit to having high HDL (good cholesterol). Having high LDL (bad cholesterol) can also be controlled by diet and lifestyle changes. It is recommended to have your blood pressure checked regularly and reduce high fat diets. Exercising daily not only is beneficial for your heart but also assists in stress reduction. Specific medical devices on the market can offer great health advice on your arteries along with stress testing such as the PulseWave and CardioWave. The medical award winning amino acid Arginine has also been proven to flush plaque from the arteries and assist with several health benefits! Together, lets help prevent heart disease!

Christy Kim, Cardiovascular Specialist, Face Up Health
www.faceupsalon.ca

Viewing Our Life as a Spiritual Teacher

There is an old Buddhist proverb…”When the student is ready, the teacher and lessons appear”.

With all the unrest and negativity in the world today it is easy to become disillusioned and disgruntled with life. Seeing the world through a loving lens can be challenging at times…but when you can embrace it, it offers meaning and purpose in our lives. Our life is a mirror that reflects and shows us exactly what is working and highlights old patterns, addictions, beliefs that aren’t working as well as they could. It is up to us to change, uncover, heal and transform old patterns to bring forward new opportunities to embody our greatness and compassion for ourselves and others. When we boldly step into the fire of our life, embrace it with an open heart and a firm yes, taking full responsibility for our growth and learning, doors open and opportunity is provided to grow spiritually.

A Soul’s Journey
www.souls-journey.com