Each month, we bring our readers tools and information to assist them on their path to personal wellness and healthy living...naturally! We feature articles by national authors as well as from local leaders in the fields of health, nutrition, fitness, organics, personal growth, sustainability and natural pet. Have something you'd like to read about? Contact us directly!
On a Roll
Foam Rollers Ease Pain and Workout Recovery
Foam rolling—rolling parts of the body on top of a lightweight foam cylinder—targets trigger points or painful knots in muscles and is a valuable tool for reducing chronic pain and enhancing workout recovery. From sciatica to pelvic floor dysfunction, there is...
Indoor Edible Gardening
Grow Veggies, Sprouts and Microgreens Year-Round
There’s no need to wait until the last frost date to sow a kitchen garden. Impatient gardeners or those without outdoor space can grow almost anything indoors with a little light and creativity. You can start many edible plants from seed on a sunny windowsill, even in...
The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicines
Promising Studies on Stress Disorder, Depression and Addiction
For more than 30 years, intersections of the human and natural world—our plates, farms and gardens—have been of interest to author Michael Pollan, who recently added the mind as another significant association in his latest book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence...
Canine Obesity
When Doggies Need Diets
A year ago, Leroy became exhausted lifting his furry head. Today, he has energy to run, chase and play, thanks to his owner helping the 11-year-old Shiba Inu lose 14 pounds. Leroy was adopted last May by Peter Nguyen, a facilities coordinator in Bellevue, Washington. Back then, Leroy...
HEALING FROM GRIEF
Four Ways to Find Peace
When I was 13, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. At 15, I was at her graveside, navigating my first experience with the other side of love: loss. Ten years later, my beloved and only brother died tragically as a result of PTSD and untreated...
Plug and Pedal
The Benefits of Using Electric Bikes
Gas-guzzlers are the worst of vehicles, emitting harmful pollutants and using up non-renewable natural resources. An Earth-friendlier alternative for work commutes or pleasurable neighborhood spins is the e-bike, powered by...
Eco
Shoes Off!
Keep Germs Outside
It may take some getting used to, and some friends may think it odd, but banning shoes in the house is a good idea. Research has shown that when we’re out and about, our shoes come into direct contact with a variety of microbes, including viruses and bacteria. If we...
Shefali Tsabary
Conscious Relationships
Offering innovative approaches to mindful living, Shefali Tsabary, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, international keynote speaker and bestselling author of The Conscious Parent, Out of Control and her latest...
Big Love From Small Animals
The Joy of Furry Little Companions
People think rabbits are quiet carrot-munchers, but they’re much more. Like many other small furry mammals, pet rabbits are expressive, intelligent and enjoy spending time with their humans...
Veggie Tricks
How to Get Kids to Eat Better
It’s the rare parent that doesn’t have to plead and plot to get a child to eat vegetables. That’s not surprising; almost no one is born with a natural hankering for broccoli, and being wary of strange new foods may be hardwired in us so we can survive as a species. Happily, clever workarounds can help move a child past exclaiming, “Yuck!”...
Tools for Inner Peace
Exploring Mindfulness and Meditation
The practices of mindfulness and meditation, although closely related, offer individual, science-backed benefits for both body and psyche. Mindfulness has been shown to amp up immunity and increase gray matter in the brain, and 2018 research published in Experimental Biology shows that just an introductory hour of meditation using breathwork and awareness of thoughts significantly reduced anxiety. The study indicates that when applied regularly, mindfulness minimizes arterial pressure and cardiovascular health risks associated with long-term nervous system stress....
Halting Hypertension
Exercises to Lower High Blood Pressure
An estimated 75 million American adults have blood pressure high enough to require management, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For people with hypertension, tempering stress responses and limiting consumption of sodium, caffeine, alcohol and sugar can make a difference. Fortifying these lifestyle changes with aerobic exercise, yoga and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can also help prevent and manage worrisome blood pressure readings....
Heartfelt Eating
Best Foods for a Heart-Healthy Diet
Hypertension affects nearly half of all Americans, increasing the risk for heart disease and stroke, the leading cause of death. We can help mitigate that risk and have a healthy “change of heart” by revamping our diets....
Live a Heart-Healthy Lifestyle
Integrative Cardiologists on Preventing Heart Disease
Cardiology has made mind-boggling advances in efficiently repairing everything from clogged arteries to floppy mitral valves and even replacing the entire failing heart itself. Yet the stubborn fact remains that almost half of all Americans suffer from cardiovascular disease, killing one in four of us, and those numbers are rising....
Conscious Living & Loving
Developing a Life and Relationships That Reflect the Real You
Imagine learning to live and love consciously, and to create the life that you are meant to live! You can develop a life and relationships that reflect the real you, your deep desires, and purpose....
Climate Anxiety
Navigating Our Emotions as the Planet Changes
Following a record-breaking hurricane season, out-of-control wildfires and a deadly prolonged pandemic, many of us are anxious and fearful, prompted by the growing realization of being in a state of...
House Blessings
for Clearing and Protecting Spaces
Moving into a house, office or any new space prompts us to envision bright days ahead filled with hope and joy. Perhaps this is why, from first-century Christians praying to dissuade...