You’ve probably heard the saying: “Home is where the heart is.” Between the familiarity, the memories and the sense of independence, it’s not a surprise 9 out of 10 older adults want to live in their homes for as long as possible. However, to age in place, seniors often need assistance. Help may come in many forms from family and friends to professional services. Here are some of the types of in-home care older adults may need to remain in their homes. Home Care There are two main types of private (or non-medical) home care: companion and personal. Companion...

Diabetes mellitus, more commonly known as simply “diabetes,” involves the dysfunction of insulin, a hormone produced by pancreatic beta cells which controls sugar levels in the body. Historically, there were two classifications of Diabetes mellitus: Type 1, an autoimmune disorder which attacks pancreatic beta cells and thereby prevents the normal production of insulin, and Type 2, a progressive disease that reduces the ability of the body to utilize insulin properly. More recently, a third type has emerged in the literature: Type 3c, insulin dysfunction resulting from pancreatic disease states. Because the therapeutic approaches for each of these distinct types...

“…the most meaningful label on your food . . . is the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic seal. For a product to be certified organic, it’s required to meet specific standards: Organic crops cannot be grown with synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides or sewage sludge. Organic crops cannot be genetically engineered or irradiated. Animals must eat only organically grown feed (without animal byproducts) and can’t be treated with synthetic hormones or antibiotics. Animals must have access to the outdoors, and ruminants (hoofed animals, including cows) must have access to pasture. Animals cannot be cloned.”...

Naturopathic medicine’s proverbial toolbox is full with herbs that can help treat anxiety and panic disorder. Plants with sedative or anxiolytic, (literally, “anxiety breaking”) properties can quickly dampen symptoms of anxiety. Some of these herbs may be familiar, frequently discussed in everyday culture; herbs like Passionflower, Oats, and Lemon Balm have wonderful calming qualities and many have used Valerian for its sedative properties in promoting sleep. I often give patients the example of Hops, which is used to make beer, and describe the use of Kava in the islands of the South Pacific to quell social anxiety. Another classic...

If you are an athlete and want to make sure that your brain is performing at its best, or you play a sport that has a possibility of concussive injuries, baseline testing at the beginning of the season is a must. At the NeuroEdge Brain Performance Center, we strive to bring athletes, students, executives, and anyone who wants to improve their overall cognitive well-being, the very latest in brain performance enhancement techniques. Triple Baseline Testing The first step in improving brain performance is to determine how the brain is currently performing with triple baseline testing. This baseline testing is...

Metaphors can be extremely helpful in understanding complex issues. After all, life is like a box of chocolates, right? Well, acupuncture, which has been historically understood in the West as a form of energy medicine with Qi flowing through invisible pathways on the body, is actually a very complex, highly sophisticated medical system. (The “energy” model of acupuncture is ac-tually based on a mistranslation of the Chinese character for Qi, but that’s another story for an-other day). To learn TCM, one needs to rewire one’s linear Western way of thinking, blazing new neural pathways to see the body as...

Sleep, water, stress reduction, exercise, and diet are key when it comes to brain health. Here’s my top recommendations for improving brain health: Sleep: We need at least 6 ½ hours sleep, preferably 7-8, for the body to be free of stress, and at least four hours before 3 am so we get the release of growth hormone that occurs in deep sleep, otherwise cortisol release will interfere, peaking at 4 am. Water: Adequate water intake is vital: dividing your weight in pounds by 2 gives the number of ounces of water per 24 hours. Try to sip throughout...

Bottom line: No personal or business standards? Then NO $$$! It seems like such a simple solution. Raise your standards and voila! – more highly motivated and abundant clients. The answer may be simple, but the reality is more complicated. Let’s first look at where most of us holistic and spiritual professionals stand today in our business. Unfortunately, most do not charge enough money for services and accept any unqualified client who will pay our undervalued rate. Then WE struggle to pay our bills. However, many holistic professionals are fearful of raising rates because clients will leave. What we...

I am currently in the midst of scanning two very large photo orders for two different clients. It’s so much fun for me because I love pictures and I love seeing the memories families have captured. Sometimes the individuals I may be doing Memory Books for have Alzheimer’s or Dementia and I really can’t converse with them about the process. But give me a little time and I can still tell the family stories … just by looking at photos. I did three Albums for a woman who has Alzheimer’s (I’ll call her Joan). I’ve never met her. Her...

Just thirty minutes from downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale is a small desert city known for its spas, outdoor trails, shopping, nightlife, and more than 200 golf courses. Farther north, trails wind through McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a desertscape of hills, rock formations and cacti. Nearby is Taliesin West, architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former home and studio. Downtown’s Old Town Scottsdale has 1920s buildings and 19th-century olive trees. Originally opened on December 20, 1956, Hotel Valley Ho has classically cool roots and stands as a modernist icon in Downtown Scottsdale. Owned by John B. Mills, along with Robert Foehl and his wife...

‘The American Riviera’ of the west coast also known as Santa Barbara is the perfect spot for a beach and adventure filled vacation. From wineries, to botanical gardens, art museums, and outdoor sports Santa Barbara has something for everyone. Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara is conveniently located right next to the ‘Funk Zone’ neighborhood, known to locals as the urban trendy spot in town. Offbeat, vibrant and full of character, this trendy industrial district sits a block off State Street near the entrance to Santa Barbara. Artists love to fire up their blowtorches and art lovers hit the streets to...

Retirement planning can be an anxiety-inducing process for many, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In our 50s and 60s, the mindset is to save up for retirement. Investments are catered toward appreciation, can handle some volatility, and there is still time to save. Some people know where every penny is; some are not exactly sure what their money is invested in. It’s often hard to find the time to properly plan for retirement when you’re in the thick of a demanding career. Yet the need to feel secure, comfortable and prepared for the future may be...

Stress is something we all have experienced. We have all dealt with digestive issues at some point in our life, whether it be heartburn, gas, diarrhea, constipation: the list goes on. We have heard that stress can affect the digestive tract, but what about the reverse? Anyone who has ever had a stomach ache knows it can put you in a disagreeable mood. Our digestive tract is about 9 meters long (30 feet) from start to finish. Millions of nerves move the intestinal walls which communicate with the brain and control the digestive processes. This large organ is a...

I don’t recall hearing the word “spirituality” until my early 20s. It wasn’t an obvious part of my upbringing. But being that religion is one of the branches off of spirituality, maybe it was, albeit a slanted perception. I went to church with my dad and we would sit or stand in the foyer, prior to the main church area. The doors were closed between the foyer and the rest of everything so we heard the mass over the loud speaker. We didn’t actually hear much, however, because the men were busy talking about their week. So, basically, there...

When is the last time you did something for the first time? September is the perfect month to get out of your head and into your life. We are creatures of habit and love the familiarity of our day-to-day schedule. While there is nothing wrong in structure, when we do the same thing every day, and especially when we forget to bring a sense of gratitude to our life, we become numb to the extraordinary that can be found in the seemingly ordinary moments of our life. How would your day change if you removed all assumptions, expectations and...

Have you ever heard the saying that you can tell what your priorities are by looking at your calendar? The logic is that you make time in your schedule for the people and activities that are most important to you. We can apply the same approach to your finances. What you choose to spend your money on is a reflection of what is important to you. Just look at your expenses on your credit card statement. If you value convenience over cost, you may see a greater proportion of your food expenses used for eating out, rather than buying...

One of the trendiest exfoliation options today is dermaplaning, which is performed using a sterile surgical scalpel (not as scary as it sounds!) to manually exfoliate dead skin cells from the face. I had the exciting opportunity to sit down with Patricia Hunsberger, esthetician and owner at Nature’s Pure Skincare in Ridgefield to experience a treatment which I’ll describe shortly. Dermaplaning is a physical exfoliation method to the top layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, dead skin layer, and vellus hair, aka peach fuzz. This treatment results in ultra-smooth, fresh, and brighter skin. By removing that dead layer...

Efforts to increase healthspan by means of supplements and pharmaceuticals targeting aging-related pathologies are presently in spotlight of a new branch in geriatric medicine, geroscience, postulating that aging could be manipulated in such a way that will in parallel allow delay the onset of all age-associated chronic disorders. “Implementation of longevity-promoting supplements and medications in public health practice: achievements, challenges and future perspectives” ~ Journal of Translational Medicine (2017)   Yes, what they say is true. Aging is better than the alternative. But does your aging process haunt you? Are you concerned about doing all you can to age...

While preventing breast cancer is not an absolute, lowering your risks is an ideal way to do the best you can to stay healthy. Eating a healthy diet, consistent activity and movement, adequate sun exposure or optimizing your vitamin D levels, and effectively managing your emotional health are the cornerstones of just about any cancer prevention program, including breast cancer. For example, regular physical activity has been shown to decrease the likelihood of developing breast cancer by as much as 50%, once diagnosed. The following lifestyle strategies will help you to further lower your breast cancer risk: Get Annual...

To better prevent cancer occurrence or recurrence, the underlying causes of cancer such as DNA mutations and cellular metabolic dysfunction must be addressed. Thankfully, our body contains DNA repair enzymes and metabolic pathways to correct defects before they get out of control, or utilizes programmed cell death (apoptosis) for when cells become too abnormal for repair. Current estimates state up to 90% of cancers worldwide are due to environmental factors and could be preventable given the right dietary and lifestyle interventions. The predominant environmental factors that increase incidence of cancer are smoking, poor diet (fried foods, red meat), alcohol...

Hartford Baking Company started from a series of farmer’s market stands in Hartford – at Billings Forge in particular – and grew into a tiny café location on New Park Avenue, West Hartford in September of 2010. The first day of operations, the company baked 24 loaves of bread. Now, they bake thousands of loaves of bread nightly, distributing the same artisanal quality of the original production to two café locations, in addition to multiple local restaurants from Massachusetts to the shoreline. So how do you grow a company, over the course of eight years, without compromising quality or...

The psychologist Carl Jung believed that universal, mythic characters—archetypes—reside within everyone’s unconscious the world over. As humans evolved over time, these archetypes have come to represents common emotional patterns displayed by all people. Well-known examples of Jung’s archetypes within our psyche include the Victim, the Hero and the Caregiver. In the Noble Warrior program by Lorna Johnson, we discover a variety of archetypal patterns which arise in our professional lives and have a direct impact on our success. Two archetypal patterns from the Noble Warrior program are called the Saboteur and the Magician. The Saboteur represents our super brilliant...