Community News
Compassionate Beauty Care

There are many thoughts that go through a person’s mind once a cancer diagnosis is received. What does the future look like and how will my life be changed. What common activities that I do now, will be affected by treatment and subsequent side-effects?

One thing that does not need to change is pampering yourself.  You may think that a trip to the spa is not something you want to experience while being in treatment. Not only is there the possibility of increased infection because your immune system is low, there is the discussion that you will need to have with the esthetician, that may make you uncomfortable.

Perhaps, going to a place that provides safe and hygienic manicures and pedicures is something you would consider. Where the treatments are non-invasive, no cutting of cuticles, no razors used on feet, just simply therapeutic services that are focused on the individual going through any cancer. Having a facial with no extractions, just comforting and customized for your skin. Using all natural products that contain no carcinogens or any toxins. Products with ingredients listings you can pronounce and recognize. The best part – not having to explain what you are going through because we know.

The Unexpected Gift
www.theunexpectedgift.ca 

Train for Your Sport

Depending on the sport/activity of your choice, the demands of that sport should influence on how you train. Factors that should be considered in training programs are the energy systems being used. For example, anaerobic/alactic exercise includes short powerful bursts of activity typically lasting 30 seconds or less. Activity at higher intensity levels performed greater than 30-45 seconds start to stress the anaerobic system which often produces lactic acid as a bi-product. This is known as “the burn” in the legs. Other factors to be considered are the work/rest ratios and movement patterns performed in your activity. This may influence your exercise program to include parallel stance (squats), split stance (lunges), or single leg stance (step ups) based on what activities you love to do. Remember, move well so you can move often.

Jason Moniz, South Sherbrook Therapy
www.southsherbrook.com

Block Therapy

Word is spreading! People all over the world are finding their way to Block Therapy and they love it. The best part is that the benefits are so varied. It doesn’t matter what your issue is, by using Block Therapy, it improves oxygen and blood flow and overall tissue health. We as a population need to take control of our health; we can’t expect the system to help us when we aren’t consciously aware of our own body. But it also isn’t our fault. We have been told to sit up straight but the force pulling us down is overpowering. Gravity is relentless and the resultant compression is what causes suffering. The solution is to de-compress; this is what Block Therapy does. This will open the gates for health and healing and create the space necessary for a fulfilling and creative life. Don’t wait any longer to feel great. Do Block Therapy!

Deanna Hanson, Fluid Isometrics
www.fluidIsometrics.com

Extension is the Key

As we hunch over our computers and phones, or lean forward to cook and wash dishes, ever think we pretty much do everything ‘in front’. Evolution has prepared us for some side reaches and some combination twisting movements, but hardly ever do we reach or work behind our bodies. Now that the majority of the population may sit for greater than 4 hours per day, we develop this forward head look that’s not only unattractive but possibly damaging to our health. Extension is the key. Working to strengthen those muscles on the back of our spine, legs, neck and arms that support these ‘forward activities’. Biomechanically, most of these muscles stabilize, and even decelerate the movement to maintain safety. Exercise to build stability; work the ‘back’ muscles twice as much as the ‘front’ muscles, ie; seated rows versus chest press. Exercise for function.

Concourse Physiotherapy
www.yourphysio.com

Care about Your Hair

Hair loss is a sensitive matter for chemotherapy and radiotherapy patients. For those undergoing treatment, capillary and sebaceous gland activity is sharply reduced, causing the scalp and skin to dry out considerably as well as leading to temporary hair loss. The Térapo Médik™ Well-Being

Care Kit lets you fully hydrate your scalp during treatments, ensuring vigorous regrowth after hair loss. It contains two sets of lotions and shampoos made with gentle natural ingredients that relieve dry scalp and hydrate to ease discomfort experienced during and after treatment. Undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment is already a lot to deal with. However, hair loss during this time can be even more distressing. While the Well-Being Care Kit is unable to prevent the loss of hair, their natural ingredients will nurture before and throughout treatment. A great way to help kick start your hair growth for stronger, fuller, healthier hair!

City Looks
www.citylooks.ca 

Reduce Your Stress

If stress has you anxious, tense and worried, consider trying meditation. Spending even a few minutes in meditation can restore your calm and inner peace. Anyone can practice meditation. It’s simple, effortless, natural, and it doesn’t require any special equipment. You can practice meditation wherever you are. Meditation is considered a type of mind-body complementary medicine. It produces a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind. During meditation, we go beyond the sphere of thoughts and experience pure consciousness, our own reservoir of inner piece, creativity and energy, enlivening our whole physiology. It can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health. These benefits don’t end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and may even improve certain medical conditions.

Lilian Lontra, Transcendental Meditation
llontra@tm.org

Caregiver Pharmacy Support

It can be difficult to be a caregiver and manage multiple or complex medications for a loved one. It is important to ensure medications are taken appropriately to help maintain good health. A visiting pharmacist provides personal support with regular medication delivery and home consultations. The pharmacist reviews a client’s prescription drugs and over the counter medications to advise if there are any drug interactions and makes adjustments as necessary. This level of support can reduce emergency room visits and hospital stays and results in strong, trusting relationships between clients, caregivers and pharmacists. The visiting pharmacist also provides seamless care for hospital discharge patients and works closely with other health professionals to deliver a high level of care to the client. Care is tailored to specific individual needs such as assisting with blood pressure readings, adding medications as needed to adherence packaging and making changes in an efficient manner.

Teresa Giesbrecht, Care at Home Pharmacy
www.careathomepharmacy.ca

Book Club: Gut

The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ. By Giulia Enders. The gut’s nervous system, food intolerances, allergies, gut bacteria and the science of bad breath are detailed, suggesting the body’s “most underrated organ” plays a greater role in our overall wellbeing than we might have otherwise thought. Throughout the book, Enders points out, it is the gut that most frequently presents us with some of life’s most pressing questions. Pick up a copy at your local book store.

Clean Eating: Easy Healthy Borscht

Ingredients:

4 cups of organic beef broth
1 cup diced carrot
½ cup garden peas
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped potatoes
2 cups beets with stems and leaves diced
1 onion chopped
4 fresh sprigs of dill
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Alternately, cook on top of the stove until the vegetables are soft enough to eat. Serve topped with sour cream.

 

Burn Fat, Don’t Abuse Carbs

Many leading scientists, medical professionals, and nutrition experts agree the ketosis lifestyle is the pinnacle of health and wellbeing. Ketosis is a natural metabolic state where the body burns fat for most of its energy rather than carbohydrates. Fat offers the body 225% more energy than carbohydrates. Today, most people have sugar-burning bodies, not fat-burning bodies. Fat-burning bodies typically experience better energy and fewer cravings due to balanced blood sugar levels. Typically, without several days of fasting or sticking to unrealistic diet plans, our bodies cannot reach ketosis and take advantage of this energy. So unless you have serious discipline and nowhere to go, nutritional ketosis has been believed to be out of reach… until now.

David Warfield, ForeverGreen Ketopia
www.warf.fgxpress.com

The Procrastinator’s Challenge

www.doneanddone.ca

How many projects are on your back burner?

If you’re like most people, that back burner is chock-full of tasks that have been in the planning phase for far too long. Getting stalled projects off the ground can be difficult. A plan of action is what’s called for:

1) Set a specific date & time aside for your project, allowing time for prep and cleanup.

2) A week previous, anticipate and gather all required supplies.

3) Enlist help! There are times in our life when we all could use a hand – that extra push is often what we need to see a project through to a successful conclusion.

4) Put on some great tunes, have your beverage-of-choice on hand and Get to Work.

5) You’ve done it – enjoy your results!

Done & Done Family Concierge Service
www.doneanddone.ca