Take a Walk and Check Out My Door

I scan lots of magazines, newspapers and websites for health news, and often find fun and informative tidbits to clip. Some of them make it onto the bulletin board on my office door -- check it out if you're in the Jutila Center near Suite 307. Right now there are clippings posted about:

--> effects of eating speed on weight gain (eat fast-gain more)
--> health warnings on cell phones and Wi-Fi
--> simple breathing techniques to boost metabolism
.... and cartoons!

Something that hasn't quite yet made it to my door are highlights from an article in the Jan/Feb 2009 AARP Bulletin, about the tremendous health benefits of walking. By walking briskly (3.5 miles per hour) for just half an hour per day, you can:

• Lose 15.6 pounds per year
• Increase aerobic capacity by 19%
• Save from $2,500 to $3,300 per year on medical bills
• Shorten healing times for skin wounds
• Increase cancer survival rate by 33%
• Decrease risk of disability by 41%
• Reduce risk for heart disease by 32%
• Reduce risk for stroke by 33%
• Reduce risk for Type 2 diabetes by 71%
• Reduce risk for Alzheimer's by 40%
• Reduce risk for arthritis by 46%
• Reduce bone density loss from osteoporosis

So walk on over, if you're close enough, and check out my door! Periodically I'll be changing the cartoons and clippings as I find more things to post.

North Coast Holistics: A New Direction?

My friends and colleagues know me as a writer. So a few of them seemed surprised when I rented office space to set up what's mainly a holistic health and nutrition business.

This is not as out-of-the-blue as it might seem. I have, after all, been the family "health nut" since high school. Nutrition was part of my curriculum as I earned a Biology degree at UC Davis. Then recently, I've taken several health-related courses and seminars as my spouse and I have searched for solutions to some challenging diagnoses. I'm now topping off that training with certificate courses in nutritional consulting and holistic stress management. Setting up the office is a way to share the knowledge I've gathered.

I'm not leaving my writing or environmental work behind. It seems like a natural to combine holistic health and sustainability, so the tag line for North Coast Holistics is "Healthy Solutions for People and Planet." And because I've studied the important role that writing can play in healing processes, I'm incorporating that, too.

Through North Coast Holistics, I am:

-> Teaching holistic self-care techniques, including integrative nutrition, non-toxic sustainable living, energy tapping, and writing for wellness;

-> Providing individual appointments for those who'd like to explore one or more of these areas in depth;

-> Offering additional information about holistic health and sustainability in a range of ways; and

-> Selling select books, green products & nutritional supplements.

Watch this blog for more details!