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...

Children…we all love those adorable, energetic, creative, sweet, loving, delightful, expressive little beings! But children don’t always exhibit these traits. Then, they look to adults to help restore them to their precious little selves. As humans, we are programmed to be fiercely protective of our young, as is true with much of the animal kingdom. It is how we survive as a species. It is necessary, and that instinct cannot or will not change if we are to exist. This phenomenon is not true merely for individual families. It holds true for humankind. Recent events present a powerful example....

I am often researching mental health modalities that can alleviate human suffering, build a steady bridge to the authentic self and increase creativity in the way people approach the issues troubling them. Voice Dialogue is a technique that fulfills all of the above. Here is my conversation with Bridgit Dengel Gaspard, an expert in this field and founder of the New York Voice Dialogue Institute. MM: How do you use Voice Dialogue to help people overcome success blocks? BG: Voice Dialogue operates on the fundamental principle that all of our selves are originally designed to protect us. When working...

Maybe you’re surprised to know that the three following statements are common to me (and probably most bodyworkers): Thank you! I didn’t realize how much I needed that! You can use more pressure if you want. My (insert area of concern here) hurts, so please don’t work there. Perhaps you’ve even said one or more of these statements to your massage therapist. All of these statements have something in common to me as they project a level of detachment from peoples’ minds to their own bodies. After thirteen years as a practicing Licensed Massage Therapist, I witness the fact...

Mixing together egg whites, seaweed powder, and vegetable pigment sounds like the beginning of a witches brew. This concoction will soon be paint used in an art classroom. Taking cues from Renaissance painters there is a group of educators using the garden for more than visual inspiration. In a community that is learning to shun single use plastic, speak out on the dangers of chemical based fertilizers, and look for energy alternatives, why have we not yet embraced an ecological change in the classroom. A survey of seven Metro Nashville Public School art classrooms found that each classroom had...

Physical and emotional stress is a fact of modern life. We all experience it one way or another and sometimes it can help when motivating us to perform well. What exactly happens is the hormone epinephrine or adrenaline is released by the sympathetic nervous system stimulating the fight or flight response which comes in really handy in a dangerous situation. After the initial response, cortisol is released from the adrenal glands to keep the body on high alert. When the threat passes the parasympathetic nervous system puts on the brakes and cortisol declines. In chronic stress experienced over long...

Hey, quick question. Where was the rest of your body when your knee fell down the stairs or when your neck was in a car accident? Over thirty years of experience in various therapeutic capacities has afforded me the opportunity to see a trend that compromises the health and wellness of many people. The bottom line is we have become too compartmentalized in how to therapeutically treat people who have been injured. Areas of the body are treated without consideration or regard for the whole person, physically and emotionally. This is illustrated no better than in the occurrence of...

My interest in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s stems from my personal experience of caring for my parents over an eight-year period. My father died in two and a half years with frontal temporal lobe dementia with aphasia. My mother who died in May, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Both lived and died in the family home. I learned a great deal over the years about the devastation dementia and Alzheimer’s has on individuals, relationships, family members and caregivers. Please note there are differences between the diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s. The effects on the family and caregivers appear...

virtual landslide of data has continually emphasized the Western diet as the key factor in virtually every chronic disease . . . During the 20th century, food consumption patterns changed dramatically. . . . The largest change was the switch from a diet with a high level of complex carbohydrates, which naturally occur in grains and vegetables, to a . . . dramatic increase in the number of calories consumed from simple sugars. . . . High consumption of refined sugars is linked to many chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. ~ Michael T. Murray,...

Anxiety disorders are becoming more prevalent in recent years. Adults and children alike suffer from various forms of anxiety, including extreme fear or worry, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, post-traumatic stress, selective mutism, separation anxiety, and specific phobias. Anxiety disorders are closely related and often overlap with other conditions, including depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mood imbalance, and body dysmorphia. One common denominator that raises anxiety levels and alters mood is chronic stress. Researchers in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, the study of the effect of the mind on health and resistance to disease, have identified that chronic...

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m a healer, and I have anxiety. That’s right. I didn’t really understand what anxiety was, nor did I realize that I have been suffering from it my whole life until a few years ago when I experienced my first panic attack. My anxiety attacks are very physical. I can be perfectly fine one moment and then the next moment my heart pounds, I can’t breathe, and I become dizzy. I have chest pains, my arms and neck go numb and my mind begins to race down a spiraling...

Are you a parent experiencing a mix of emotions as a new school year begins? Is part of you relieved to have the kids resuming their routine, even if it’s chaotic? Is another part of you anxious, aware that it is just a matter of time until your student will need to make decisions around whether to go to college and how to fund it? Following are three steps for initiating the college funding conversation and planning process. Step 1: Set a goal. Everyone has different education needs. Some people have skills that are best suited for specific trades...

It has been said that inflammation is the cause of almost every disease and this is especially true when it comes to disorders of the gut. Intestinal inflammation not only causes GI upset and symptoms of discomfort but can also make it difficult to absorb nutrients from foods and supplements. If your GI tract is not functioning properly, it’s likely you’re not getting all the nutrients from your diet or supplement plan, which is why GI health is an essential part of whole body wellness. Without a happy, healthy, functioning gut, it can be difficult to achieve optimal health....

Our bones continually develop throughout our youthful years, forming the foundation of our body for our adult lives. When we were children we had nagging parents ensuring that we drank enough milk or avoided excessive bone-breaking activities. But now our bone health is entirely in our own hands and often we overlook the importance of maintaining them. Whether we are guilty of sneaking a few unhealthy snacks into our meal plan or stick to habits that only hinder our strength, as we grow older our bones begin to take strain. We only have one set of bones so it...