March 2016 Natural Awakenings Gulf Coast AL/MS

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Special Edition: FOOD CHOICES MATTER

Taste the MEATY Why Try Rainbow TRUTHS Acupuncture Expand Your Making Smarter Thousands of Palate with Colorful Veggies

Choices for Safer Meat

Studies Show Healing Results

March 2016 | Gulf Coast AL/MS Edition | HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

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letterfrompublisher After working with Tracey Glover on this month’s “Why Vegan” article, I sat down to dinner and commented to my family, “I’d really like us to reduce the amount of animal products we’re consuming.” Mays, our 6-year-old, asked why. “Well, it’s complicated,” I replied.

For most of my adult life, my eating preferences have been a bit complicated. I generally refer to myself as a vegetarian—having not had any meat or poultry for well over a decade now—but I enjoy fish and seafood occasionally, especially if it’s sustainably caught, and I do consume other animal products such as cheese, yogurt, eggs and honey. In addition to avoiding meat, my priorities are to actively seek out the healthiest and most sustainable options by focusing on local and organic whole foods, and avoiding processed foods by making as much as possible from scratch.

As you read all of the food-related articles in this month’s issue, you’ll see a variety of views represented. In the feature story, “Meaty Truths”, Melinda Hemmelgarn sheds some light on the many issues that make conscious eaters wary of the industrial meat system, while steering our omnivore readers toward smarter choices such as grassfed beef. Conversely, in “Why Vegan”, we learn that although their living conditions involve less suffering and fossil fuel use than that in factory farms, grass-fed cattle produce more methane and require more land and water. However, in our Wise Words article, land manager Allan Savory argues that holistic pasturing—livestock aided by holistic, planned grazing that mimics nature—can reverse climate change.

Like I said, it’s complicated!

My intention is not to cause confusion, but to foster awareness. So what will you do? Why not join the Meatless Monday movement or vow to learn more about where your food is coming from? Consider joining local groups that are making a difference, like the community gardeners featured in “Gardening for the Gulf Coast” that are promoting a homegrown, plant-based diet, while working toward reducing food insecurity in the area.

And if you’re wondering how I explained the impacts of a plant-based diet compared to that of one heavy in animal products to my 6-year-old, I told him to think about our own garden and the space, time and water it requires. We can grow vegetables along the side of our driveway in a couple months’ time, watering it only when the rain slows and harvesting the vegetables by hand at our leisure. Then I asked him to think about what it would be like to raise a cow. “He would need a lot of space! And we’d have to take care of it every day and it would take a long time for him to get big, and then he’d have to be killed!” Mays said, very matter-of-factly.

Is it that simple? Or is it so very complex?

My hope is that you take a few minutes to think deeply about how our food choices do indeed matter. There’s not a right or wrong answer, or a universally perfect diet. And like I say so often, there’s no decision or action too small. Every bite counts.

With Gratitude,

contact us Publisher/Editor Meredith Montgomery Publisher@HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com Marketing Manager Marcia Manuel Distribution Manager Stephanie Klumpp Editing Team Michelle Bense, Anne Wilson, Michael Wilson, Gabrielle Wyant-Perillo, Josh Montgomery Design and Production Meredith Montgomery Natural Awakenings Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi P.O. Box 725, Fairhope, AL 36533 Phone: 251-990-9552 Fax: 251-281-2375

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contents 10

6 newsbriefs 10 healthbriefs 12 globalbriefs 15 ecotip 16 community

spotlight 12 18 greenliving 24 wisewords 26 consciouseating 28 healingways 30 inspiration 32 fitbody 33 naturalpet 15 34 calendar 38 classifieds 40 naturaldirectory

Natural Awakenings is your guide to a healthier, more balanced life. In each issue readers find cutting-edge information on natural health, nutrition, fitness, personal growth, green living, creative expression and the products and services that support a healthy lifestyle.

16 GARDENING FOR

THE GULF COAST COMMUNITY

23

Urban Growers Feed Households and Stock Food Pantries

by Meredith Montgomery

20 MEATY TRUTHS

Choosing Meat that’s Sustainable and Safe

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

23 WHY VEGAN?

26

The Connection Between Humans, Animals and the Planet

by Tracey Narayani Glover

advertising & submissions HOW TO ADVERTISE To advertise with Natural Awakenings or request a media kit, please contact us at 251-990-9552 or email Publisher@HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com.

Deadline for ads: the 10th of the month prior to the month of publication.

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Deadline for calendar: the 10th of the month prior to the month of publication.

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24 LAND MANAGER

ALLAN SAVORY ON

HOLISTIC PASTURING

How Cows Can Help Reverse Climate Change

by Linda Sechrist

28

26 TASTE THE RAINBOW Expand Your Palate with New Colorful Veggies

by Judith Fertig

28 GOOD REASONS TO

TRY ACUPUNCTURE

Thousands of Studies

Show Healing Results

by Kathleen Barnes

32 ROLLING FOR FITNESS

33

DIY Rollers Ease Pain and Aid Flexibility

by Randy Kambic

33 WELL-MANNERED CATS

Simple Ways to Get Kitty to Behave

by Sandra Murphy

natural awakenings March 2016

5

newsbriefs Ocean Springs Spa Offers Oncology Skincare Wellness Spa of Ocean Springs, which opened earlier this year, specializes in oncology skincare.

The staff is specifically trained to provide skin care services to clients that have undergone or are presently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. These treatments, along with the use of strong medications, often cause dramatic skin changes.

The licensed estheticians use the safest, most effective plant-based, vegan products available to provide services and regimens that help maintain healthy skin. Free of all known harmful toxins, endocrine disruptors and ingredients such as parabens, preservatives, sulfates and gluten, their products are great for all skin types.

In addition to oncology skin care, all other traditional aspects of spa treatments are offered, including digital skin analysis, facials, waxing and microdermabrasion.

“We also offer wellness coaching to help with all of your nutritional needs,” says owner Kim LaMartiniere. “We provide our clients with everything they need to know to accomplish good skincare and wellness— working from the inside, out.”

Location: 21 Marks Rd., Ocean Springs, MS. For more information, call 228-2094090 or visit WellnessSpaOS.com. See ad, page 29.

Holistic Living Class at Foley Market Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market, in Foley, is hosting Johanna Earthly Ramos at 1 p.m., March 22, as a part of a new series focused on holistic body lifestyle changes. A Holistic Health Educator and founder of Earthly Bodies Natural Living, Ramos is committed to teaching others how to make their body a safe place to live.

“Your body can heal itself of all ailments and be in optimum condition if you give it what it wants—it will shine for you,” she says. Part of the program will include a juicing demonstration and attendees will be entered in a drawing for a Jack LaLanne juicer.

“Johanna is a shining example of how a diet of whole foods and other selfcare methods lead to good health,” says Market Manager Heather Pritchard.

Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market supports her wellness philosophy by offering fresh food from local farmers each Tuesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where consumers enjoy meeting local growers and knowing where their food comes from.

Cost: $5. Location: 20733 Miflin Rd. (Co. Rd. 20), Foley, AL. For more information, call 251-597-5557 or visit CoastalAlabamaMarket.com. See ad, page 27.

6

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Pomegranate Association forms in Alabama The Alabama Pomegranate Association was recently formed as a network of the state’s pomegranate growers and enthusiasts and is accepting new members. Membership options are available to commercial growers, hobbyists, researchers, educators and businesses that sell supplies for the production or marketing of pomegranates.

President Shane Jennings started out growing six varieties. “I found numerous people with heirloom pomegranates throughout the state; some came with the Spanish over 500 years ago,” says Jennings.

Now growing more than 70 varieties, Jennings is evaluating which ones perform best in Alabama.

The first annual meeting is planned for October 14 and will feature a full lineup of speakers, as well as the first Alabama pomegranate taste test, featuring more than 20 varieties.

For more information, call 251-7252184 or visit AlabamaPomegranate Association.com.

Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. ~Charles R. Swindoll

Metaphysical Mecca Opens in Foley The Bodhi Tree, a cultural crystal shop, recently opened in Tanger Outlet, in Foley. Specializing in providing a huge selection of healing crystals from all over the globe, the store offers spiritual and metaphysical supplies to both enlightened masters and those who aren’t sure what metaphysical means.

“We also carry oils and singing bowls and a great selection of jewelry, with more inventory arriving daily,” says manager Nick Terry.

Owners Vero and Brad Middleton have four stores in New York and opened the Foley location because Brad is originally from the area. As The Bodhi Tree grows in national presence, it maintains a mom-and-pop shop feel. In the friendly atmosphere, everyone—child or adult—is invited to play in the energy and touch any of the crystals.

Meet Vero—who’s known for telling customers that “Blissing out is free”—when she speaks at the Unlimited Horizons Expo, March 19 and 20, in Pensacola.

Location: 2601 S. McKenzie St., Foley, AL. For more information, call 251-600-9414 or visit BodhiTree. rocks. See ad, page 14.

Reiki Training Offers Nurses Continuing Education Nurses can now earn 13 hours of continuing education credits (CE) for The Reiki Center of Fairhope’s level one and two reiki certification courses.

The weekend workshops are offered monthly and taught by Reiki Master Teacher Julie E Brent.

Awarded by Commonwealth Educational Seminars, the CEs are accepted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the California Board of Registered Nurses.

Brent opened The Reiki Center of Fairhope in 2012 with the intention of expanding public Julie E Brent awareness of reiki and its benefits for improving health and well-being for individuals and their families. “I am very happy to be able to offer continuing education credits to nurses for my reiki workshops because I think this will help them with their work and help them enjoy a healthier life,” she says.

For more information, call 251-281-8811, email ReikiCenterOfFairhope@gmail. com or visit ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events. See listing, page 42.

Reiki Certification, Yoga Teacher Training and Massage School this Spring in Mobile Alabama Healing Arts (AHA) is accepting applications for all career certification programs, which are led by AHA educators with over 25 years of teaching experience.

March brings the Level I and Level II Usui Ryoho Reiki training and certification. Upon completion of Level I, participants can perform full-body treatments on others, as well as selftreatments, and a certificate to practice professionally is awarded. Level II continues the journey with mental/emotional healing and distance treatments.

Each level may be purchased individually, and for continuing education.

The 200-, 300- and 500-hour yoga teacher training, provided by an experienced registered yoga teacher (E-RYT), begins in April. Iyengar-style instruction, based on the teaching of Rodney Yee, emphasizes conscious body alignment and the utilization of props to ensure safety within poses and during transitions.

Training covers the physical and/or energetic body systems, teaching methodologies, breath and meditation practices and yogic philosophy. Graduating students will be eligible to become registered yoga teachers with Yoga Alliance.

The massage therapy evening class is scheduled to begin in April/May. The state-licensed school provides a 650hour curriculum that emphasizes handson technique demonstration and practice, and includes specialty techniques, fundamental sciences, a student clinic and outreach practicums. AHA currently has a 100 percent pass rate for students taking the MBLEx licensure exam.

Location: 6304 Cottage Hill Rd., Mobile, AL. For more information, call 251753-1937, email AlabamaHealingArts@ gmail.com or visit AlabamaHealingArts. com. See ad, page 3.

Stay Connected!

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newsbriefs

kudos

Free Food Films in Gulfport

Jude Forsyth, owner of Blue Willow Wellness, in Mobile, was awarded the Master of Internal Arts credential with the Nam Hoa Temple of Jude Forsyth Internal Arts on January 19. Forsyth received her Qigong/Tai Chi instructor certificate in 1994 and her teacher credential in 2008. “It is a gift to be able to share this wonderful moving meditation with students. I was surprised and I am honored

by Grand Master Jim Scott-Behrend’s decision to award me the Master’s credential,” says Forsyth.

Forsyth teaches a variety of courses in the Mobile area and also received her Master’s of Applied Gerontology degree from Brenau University in August 2015. Forsyth noted, “I have always been devoted to older adults and I hope that using both my master’s degrees will benefit their wellness.”

Coast Health & Nutrition, in Gulfport, is now hosting Thursday Nights at the Movies, from 6 to 8 p.m. each week.

“We are showing films that educate customers on food production, food processing and healthy food choices,” says store owner Denise Keyser. The documentary series The Truth About Cancer is currently being shown, which describes cancer prevention, alternative treatments and dietary and spiritual considerations.

Films such as Food Matters, Genetic Roulette and Forks Over Knives are some of the other food-related movies that the store plans to feature.

Coast Health & Nutrition is a wellness center offering natural and organic groceries, vitamins and supplements and professional services by a board certified chiropractor/nutritional counselor, massage therapist and wellness advocate.

Location: 12100 Hwy. 49, Ste. 628, Gulfport, MS. Seating is limited and reservations are required. To register, call 228-831-1785. See ad, page 21.

LEDs Illuminate the Original Oyster House In January, the Original Oyster House (OOH) on the Mobile Causeway updated 200 light fixtures with LED bulbs.

This non-toxic and recyclable option decreases energy consumption with a 67 percent reduction in kilowatt hours and lasts up to 50,000 hours—five times longer than other lights.

“Converting to LED lamps keeps a restaurant full of customers cooler on a hot summer day, since they emit no heat,” says Energy Management Analyst Rod Koberg, of Interactive Digital Technologies.

“The estimated ecological savings Joe Roszkowski, Original Oyster House and from switching the OOH restaurant to Bannister Chancellor, Bayshore Electric LED lights is the equivalent of saving 1,200 trees, 100,000 pounds of carbon emissions or taking nine automobiles off the road,” states Koberg. OOH also recycles its used vegetable oil into biodiesel to run company vehicles, generates power from a wind turbine and has solar water heaters.

For more information, call 251-2070007 or visit BlueWillowWellness.com.

Location: 3733 Battleship Pkwy., Mobile, AL. For more information call 251-9282620 or visit OriginalOysterHouse.com.

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Send submissions to Publisher@HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com or call 251-990-9552. For submission guidelines, visit HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com.

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Smile, it’s

free therapy. ~Douglas Horton

natural awakenings March 2016

9

healthbriefs

Magnolia Bark Knocks Out Head and Neck Cancer Cells

H

ead and neck cancers include cancers of the mouth, throat (pharynx and larynx), sinuses and salivary glands. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, more than 55,000 Americans are diagnosed with head and neck cancer, and almost 13,000 die from these diseases annually.

A study from the University of Alabama and the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that a magnolia herb extract called honokiol may treat these cancers. It tested human cancer cell lines in the laboratory from different parts of the body, including the mouth, larynx, tongue and pharynx. The researchers found that the honokiol extract halted the growth of each of these cancer cells and induced cell death.

Lead researcher Dr. Santosh K. Katiyar and his colleagues wrote, “Conclusively, honokiol appears to be an attractive, bioactive, small-molecule phytochemical for the management of head and neck cancer, which can be used either alone or in combination with other available therapeutic drugs.”

Probiotics Reduce Aggressively Negative Thoughts

R

ecent research from the Netherlands’ Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition has discovered that negative and aggressive thinking can be changed by supplementing with probiotic bacteria. The tripleblind study followed and tested 40 healthy people over a period of four weeks that were split into two groups; one was given a daily probiotic supplement containing seven species of probiotics and the other, a placebo.

The subjects filled out a questionnaire that measured cognitive reactivity and depressed moods using the Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity, which measures negative and depressed thinking. After four weeks, the probiotic group showed significantly lower scores in aggression, control issues, hopelessness, risk aversion and rumination, compared to the placebo group.

“The study demonstrated for the first time that a four-week, multispecies, probiotic intervention has a positive effect on cognitive reactivity to naturally occurring changes in sad mood in healthy individuals not currently diagnosed with a depressive disorder,” the researchers concluded.

10

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Metal and Mineral Imbalances May Produce Migraines

R

esearch from Turkey’s Yüzüncü Yil University has concluded that migraines may be linked with higher levels of heavy metals in the blood and deficiencies in important minerals. The research tested 50 people, including 25 diagnosed with migraines and 25 healthy control subjects. None of those tested were taking supplements, smoked, abused alcohol or drugs or had liver or kidney disease or cardiovascular conditions.

Blood tests of both groups found that those with frequent migraines had four times the cadmium, more than twice of both the iron and the lead and nearly three times the levels of manganese in their bloodstreams compared to the healthy subjects. In addition, the migraine group had about a third of the magnesium, about 20 times less zinc and almost half the copper levels compared to the healthy group. “In light of our results, it can be said that trace element level disturbances might predispose people to migraine attacks,” the researchers stated.

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Apple Munching Makes for Healthier Shopping

E

ating an apple before buying groceries may help consumers make healthier shopping decisions. This was the finding of three studies on healthy food purchasing conducted by Aner Tal, Ph.D., and Brian Wansink, Ph.D. In the research, published in the scientific journal Psychology and Marketing, 120 shoppers were given an apple sample, a cookie sample or nothing before they began shopping.

The researchers found those that ate the apple purchased 28 percent more fruits and vegetables than those given the cookie, and 25 percent more fruits and vegetables than those given nothing.

A related study by Tal and Wansink investigated virtual shopping decisions. After being given a cookie or an apple, 56 subjects were asked to imagine they were grocery shopping. They were shown 20 pairs of products—one healthy and the other unhealthy—and asked to select the one they would buy. Consistent with the results of the first study, those that ate the apple most often chose the healthy option.

Losing Pancreatic Fat Reverses Diabetes

A

study from Newcastle University, in England, has found that losing fat content in the pancreas can alleviate Type 2 diabetes. The researchers tested 18 obese people between the ages of 25 and 65 that were diagnosed with diabetes alongside a control group that were not. Subjects received gastric band surgery before eating an appropriately healthful diet for eight weeks.

During this time, subjects in both groups lost an average of nearly 13 percent of their body weight and around 1.2 percent of their body fat. More importantly, the diabetes group lost about 6.6 percent of triglyceride pancreatic fat, or about 0.6 grams.

The weight loss and loss of triglyceride fat from the pancreas allowed the patients to produce normal amounts of insulin. Professor Roy Taylor, the head researcher of the study, says, “For people with Type 2 diabetes, losing weight allows them to lose excess triglyceride fat out of the pancreas and allows function to return to normal.”

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Channel-Surfing Couch Potatoes May Lose Cognitive Skills

R

esearchers from the University of California at San Francisco, working with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and other research agencies, have found that watching television may affect cognition, specifically as it relates to executive function and processing speeds.

The study followed 3,247 people over a 25-year period, beginning in their early adult years. Those that frequently watched television during their early adult years had a 64 percent higher incidence of poor cognitive performance compared to less frequent television watchers. This was after adjusting results for the effects of many other known lifestyle factors that affect cognition such as smoking, alcohol use and body mass index.

The effects of television watching worsened when combined with reduced physical activity during young adult years. Those with low physical activity and a high frequency of watching television were twice as likely to have poor cognition compared to those that had low television viewing combined with high physical activity during that period.

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natural awakenings March 2016

11

globalbriefs

Nixing Monsanto

News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefits all.

The government of Guatemala has repealed legislation dubbed the “Monsanto law”, which was approved last year to grant the biotech giant special expansion rights into ecologically sensitive territory, after widespread public protest. The demonstrations included groups of indigenous Mayan people, joined by social movements, trade unions and farmers’ and women’s organizations.

Following political party battles, the Guatemalan Congress decided not to just review the legislation, but instead cancel it outright.

The Monsanto law would have given exclusivity on patented seeds to a handful of transnational companies.

Mayan people and social organizations claim that the new law would have violated their constitution and the Mayan people’s right to traditional cultivation of the land in their ancestral territories.

Lolita Chávez, of the Mayan People’s Council, states, “Corn taught us Mayan people about community life and its diversity, because when one cultivates corn, one realizes that a variety of crops such as herbs and medicinal plants depend on the corn plant, as well.”

Guatemala Just Says No

Whistleblowing Allowed

Court Overrules Law Gagging Animal Abuse Probes U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill has written that in a pivotal case of animal cruelty undercover reporting, the Idaho Dairymen’s Association responded to the negative publicity by drafting and sponsoring a bill in a class known as Ag-Gag legislation that criminalizes the types of surreptitious investigations that expose such violent activities. Seven other states currently have similar Ag-Gag laws on the books.

Winmill declared the law unconstitutional in his decision, stating that its only purpose is to “limit and punish those who speak out on topics relating to the agricultural industry, striking at the heart of important First Amendment values.” The law was deemed to violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, “as well as preemption claims under three different federal statutes,” cites Winmill.

“This ruling is so clear, so definitive, so sweeping,” says Leslie Brueckner, senior attorney for Public Justice and co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the case. “We couldn’t ask for a better building block in terms of striking these laws down in other states.”

Source: Food Safety News

Surging Organics

Costco Shoots Past Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, founded in 1978, grew to be the number one seller in the nationwide movement toward organic and natural eating, with more than 400 stores. But mainstream grocers such as Wal-Mart and Kroger have since jumped on the bandwagon, and smaller players like Trader Joe’s and The Fresh Market have proliferated. Now Costco has moved into the current number one position, illustrating the market potential of budget-conscious consumers that desire to eat better.

Source: The Motley Fool

Fossil-Fuel-Free Food Trucks Go Solar

The food truck industry is good for a quick, cheap meal or even a gourmet meal, but emissions from these portable feasts are a growing concern, given the estimated 3 million trucks that were on the road in 2012. New York state has launched an initiative to put 500 energyefficient, solar-powered carts on city streets this summer.

A pilot program gives food truck vendors the opportunity to lease the eco-carts for five years at little to no extra cost. They are expected to cut fossil fuel emissions by 60 percent and smog-creating nitrous oxide by 95 percent. If the technology was implemented nationwide, it could spare the atmosphere an enormous carbon footprint.

Conventional mobile vendors may spend more than $500 a month on fossil fuels; in addition to the gasoline consumed in driving, truck lighting and refrigeration systems are powered by diesel generators and propane fuels the grills, sometimes all running up to 10 hours a day. The annual nationwide load can add up to hundreds of billions of pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Source: EcoWatch.com 12

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Source: UpsideDownWorld.org

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Food Fight

College Cafeterias Lead the Way in Sustainable Eating Colleges and universities are changing how they purchase and prepare food in their dining halls to provide students healthy, sustainable meal options, with many of them working to source food locally.

American University, in Washington, D.C., purchases more than a third of the food served in its cafeterias within 250 miles of its campus.

McGill University, in Montreal, spends 47 percent of its food budget on produce from its own campus farm and growers within 300 miles.

Middlebury College, in Vermont, partners with seasonal local vendors, including those operating its own organic farm.

Taking it a step further, Boston University cafeterias serve meal options that include organic, fair trade, free-range, vegetarian-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free, sustainably harvested food items to students. Cornell University composts about 850 tons of food waste from its dining halls each year. At Duke University, surplus food is donated to food banks, and both pre- and post-consumer scraps are composted.

Other steps include the University of California, Berkeley’s new Global Food Initiative to address food security in a way that’s both nutritious and sustainable, and efforts at the University of Illinois to recycle cooking oil for biodiesel production.

Source: EcoWatch.com

FAIRHOPE, AL CHESTER SCHMIDT, LMT 19655 State Highway 181 251-359-0500 ReikiCenterOfFairhope@gmail.com ChesterSchmidt.com ROSIE BLUUM (DOWNTOWN) Kristen Kelly, LMT 6A South Bancroft Street 251-599-5943 • 251-517-5626 RosieBluum.com See ad, page 31.

THRIVE YOGA & MASSAGE Billie Reinhart, RYT, LMT 251-379-4493 Thrive@ThriveFairhope.com ThriveFairhope.com See ad, page 3.

FOLEY, AL THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE Charlene Rester, RN, LMT Historical Downtown 117 West Orange Avenue 251-550-0117

Advertise Your Massage Business on this page for $20/month!

Call 251-990-9552 to reserve your spot.

MOBILE, AL ALABAMA HEALING ARTS 6304 Cottage Hill Road 251-753-1937 AlabamaHealingArts@gmail.com AlabamaHealingArts.com See ad, page 3.

ELEMENTS THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE 6920 Airport Boulevard, Suite 111 251-342-6415 Mobile@TouchOfElements.com ElementsMassage.com/Mobile

MONTROSE, AL JEN ADAMS, LMT 22787 US 98 at Parker Rd., Bdg. D, Ste. 5 251-616-4201 JenAdams.Massage@gmail.com JenAdamsLMT.info

ROBERTSDALE, AL HEALING ACRES Massage, Reflexology, Colonics, Reiki 22355 Price Grubbs Road 251-300-9052 See ad, page 31.

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natural awakenings March 2016

13

globalbriefs

Corporate Conscience Unilever Reduces its Carbon Footprint

High Harvest

The world’s largest indoor farm, in Japan, covers 25,000 square feet, with 15 tiers of stacked growing trays that produce 10,000 heads of lettuce per day, or about 100 times more per square foot than traditional methods. It uses 99 percent less water and 40 percent less power than outdoor fields, while producing 80 percent less food waste.

Customized LED lighting helps plants grow up to two-and-a-half times faster than normal, one of the many innovations co-developed by Shigeharu Shimamura. He says the overall process is only half automated so far. “Machines do some work, but the picking is done manually. In the future, though, I expect an emergence of harvesting robots.” These may help transplant seedlings, harvest produce or transport product to packaging areas.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Sky Farms, the world’s first low-carbon, hydraulically driven, urban vertical farm, runs on a Sky Urban Vertical Farming System, making the most of rainwater and gravity. Using a water pulley system, 38 growing troughs rotate around a 30-foot-tall aluminum tower.

A much bigger project, a 69,000-square-foot vertical indoor garden under construction at AeroFarms headquarters, in Newark, New Jersey, will be capable of producing up to 2 million pounds of vegetables and herbs annually.

Consumer goods giant Unilever has pledged to eliminate coal from its energy usage within five years and derive all of its energy worldwide solely from renewable sources by 2030. The company will become carbon-positive through the use of renewable resources and by investing in generating more renewable energy than it needs, selling the surplus and making it available to local communities in areas where it operates. About 40 percent of the company’s energy use currently comes from green sources.

Paul Polman, company chairman, says the goal is “really doable.” He cites a new factory in China powered by wind and solar energy and a Paris office building that already contributes green electricity to the power grid.

Source: Tinyurl.com/JapaneseIndoorFarm

Source: The Guardian

Indoor Gardening is Looking Up

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ecotip Efficient Cook

Kitchen Recipes for Daily Energy Savings The kitchen is a hotbed of energy consumption when family meals are being prepared and even when dormant. Appliances make a big difference, and the tools and methods we cook with can reduce utility bills. According to Mother Earth News, cooking in a convection oven is 25 percent more efficient than a conventional oven.

Switching to an Energy Star-approved refrigerator that consumes 40 percent less energy than conventional models can save up to $70 in energy bills annually, according to ChasingGreen.org. They suggest performing defrosts routinely and keeping the door tightly sealed, especially on an older model. Position the fridge so that it isn’t next to heat sources such as sunlight, the oven or dishwasher.

While cooking, refrain from opening and closing a hot oven door too frequently, put lids on pots while heating and select the right size pans. Cooking with a six-inch-diameter pan on an eight-inch burner wastes more than 40 percent of the heat produced.

For cleanup, a full load of dishes in a water-efficient dishwasher uses four gallons of water versus 24 gallons for hand washing, according to flow meter manufacturer Seametrics.

A slow cooker uses less energy and needs less water to wash afterward (VitaClayChef.com), plus it doesn’t strain household air conditioning as a stove does. It’s good for cooking hearty stews and soups made from local seasonal vegetables, steaming rice, making yogurt and baking whole-grain breads.

Consider taking a break from the kitchen by ordering a week’s worth of organic, natural meals and ingredients delivered to the door by an eco-friendly meal distribution service, which cuts down on individual trips to the grocery. Search online for local service options.

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communityspotlight

The Lost Garden, downtown Mobile; Community Garden of Eatin', Fairhope

Gardening for the Gulf Coast Community Urban Growers Feed Households and Stock Food Pantries

by Meredith Montgomery

C

ommunity gardens promote fresh, local food consumption, provide positive recreational opportunities accessible to all ages, beautify public spaces and contribute to healthy social communities. Many are collections of individual garden plots—often serving individuals or families that lack yard space suitable for gardening—but in Lower Alabama, a growing number of community gardens are fighting hunger.

Built on former farmland, Jubilee Shores United Methodist Church, in Fairhope, is surrounded by expansive fields of grass. “I kept looking at all that grass and thinking about how the space could be used to feed people,” recalls member Susie Wallace. While at church one Sunday in June of 2012, the retired science teacher and master gardener heard God say to her, “What are you waiting for? Stop thinking about it and start now.” With the support of the staff and other members, a group met later that month and The Community Garden of Eatin’ was created to provide food for the community; a natural space for worship, meditation and relaxation; and environmental stewardship of God’s creation.

“The right people with the right resources continued to show up until it was a reality, and we planted our first crops that November,” says Wallace. There are 18 sixteen-foot raised beds that can be rented by community members. Renters range from master gardeners that have gardened their whole lives, to individuals with no previous growing experience.

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Victory Teaching Farm harvest, Mobile; Girl Scouts volunteer at The Beehive Garden, Mobile; “The experienced renters help the inexperienced, especially with their knowledge of which varieties grow well here on the Gulf Coast,” explains Wallace, who maintains an herb garden in one plot that can be gleaned by anyone.

In addition to the adopted raised beds, the Garden of Eatin’ features seven 50-foot rows that grow fresh produce for people struggling with food insecurity.

This food pantry section of the garden donates 1,200 pounds of organic vegetables

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each year to Ecumenical Ministries and volunteers are always needed to grow, weed and harvest the bounty.

As Wallace was envisioning the Garden of Eatin’ in fields of grass four years ago in Fairhope, Pat Hall was finding inspiration in Government Street Methodist Church’s empty parking lot in downtown Mobile.

“I found my own backyard garden so enjoyable that I thought the church could utilize the parking lot space as a garden and experience the joy of gardening while helping others,” recalls Hall. As she began researching community gardens at other churches, she and the folks she was networking with recognized the value of working together and formed the Mobile Urban Growers (MUG) group.

This network of like-minded urban farmers and community gardeners in Mobile aim to share their pools of resources, knowledge and volunteers to support existing and new garden projects. Meeting monthly in different gardens, their goal is to curb food insufficiency in Mobile by making local, healthy food easily accessible for all.

MUG is involved in many group projects such as: the Lost Garden, which raises awareness and demonstrates the minimal cost and space requirements of urban gardening; the junior master gardener program in area schools; and the events of various agricultural and gardening organizations.

For the last three years, MUG has led an afterschool program at Taylor Park, teaching high-risk kids how to

grow fruits, vegetables We’re not only growing “Our hope is that and grains. This year on 50 percent of the the veggies, we’re growing spring crop harvest will Tuesday and Thursday afternoons the students home with the stucommunity and by shar- go are learning how to start dents and the other half an organic vegetable ing with one another, will be sold to local garden business. “Our grocers. Regardless of goal is for the kids to we’re fostering backyard how much they make, plant a cash crop, take gardening, healthy eat- we’ll use that to show care of it, harvest and how much they spent, sell it, all while learning ing habits, self-reliance how much they earned the ins and outs of how and what they need and sustainability. businesses work,” says to do to prepare for Hall. next year. Anything left

The kindergarten over will go into their ~Pat Hall through eighth grade pockets so they know students are divided Mobile Urban Growers what it’s like to have a into three groups—the salary,” Hall explains. board of directors, managers and work- MUG wants Mobilians to enjoy the ers—based on their age. Older students benefits of growing vegetables while enjoy being a part of the decision-making finding strength in knowing that they process and developing leadership skills, can provide for themselves. Hall says, while younger children learn how to be “We don’t have a big agenda, we’re just good workers. spreading the garden gospel.”

Operating as the board of directors with elected positions, the sixth through For more information about the Commueighth graders meet weekly to make deci- nity Garden of Eatin’, call Susie Wallace sions about what they’ll grow, how they’ll at 251-970-5860, email GardenOfEatin@ grow it (the site features a 300x300-foot JubileeShores.net or visit Facebook.com/ field for row farming, 12 raised beds, 12 JSUMCGardenOfEatin. in-ground beds and a cold frame) and what they’ll do with their harvest. Area For more information about MUG, call Pat business leaders drop in to share business Hall at 251-654-3935 or LeRoy Cassidey experiences, and financial management at 251-288-0273, or visit Facebook.com/ is also a focus.

MobileUrbanGrowers.

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South Alabama Homeschoolers at Junior Master Gardener class at Feeding the Gulf Coast Community Garden, Theodore; After School Program and Mobile Kappa League volunteers at Taylor Park Community Garden, Mobile;

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greenliving

Developing Gardens Instead of Golf Courses Agrihoods Use On-Site Farms to Draw Residents

by April Thompson

F

or thousands of homeowners in “agrihoods” across the U.S., homegrown is a way of life. Planned developments incorporating neighborhood agriculture are sprouting up in record numbers, according to Ed McMahon, a senior resident fellow specializing in sustainability with the Urban Land Institute.

He estimates there are a few hundred agrihoods nationwide, in all regions and at all price points. “The trend is the convergence of several things, including a growing interest in local business, local food, healthy lifestyles and the foodie culture,” says McMahon.

He adds, “Today’s developers have to differentiate their properties to survive, and farms have become the new golf course of real estate development.”

Agriculture is a far lower-cost amenity

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that can even return a modest profit by selling its harvest to the community.

Beyond food, agrihoods help grow community, a huge draw for those living in isolated suburban areas. In 2014, Abby and Michael Wheatfill moved their family to Agritopia, a planned community in Gilbert, Arizona, near Phoenix.

Billed as an urban farm, the central feature of Agritopia’s 166 acres, knitting together commercial, agricultural and open space with 450 residential homes, is a working farm, with roving pigs, lambs and chickens, a citrus grove and rows of heirloom vegetables.

Farm, family and community life are interwoven. The Wheatfills lease a plot in an on-site community garden.

Other residents buy shares in the community supported agriculture project

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or purchase produce or eggs from the community farm on the honor system.

“We especially love the narrow, tree-lined streets and wide porches, and that we can walk or bike to fun, locally sourced restaurants,” says Michael, a technology consultant.

Private backyards are small in favor of community space, nudging residents to meet each other, Abby says.

The Cannery, in Davis, California, is one of the newest agrihoods and also one of the few that redeveloped an industrial tract. This 100-acre development, still under construction, will feature 547 new homes on the former site of a tomato processing facility, in addition to affordable rentals for low-income families. Its heart and soul is a working farm that will feed the community’s households and supply its restaurants.

The Cannery is a pioneer in clean green energy, with solar-powered homes, connections for electric cars, and many other energy-conserving features. Thirsty homeowner lawns are prohibited in most of The Cannery’s mini-neighborhoods, but no home is more than 300 feet from public green space.

Samrina and Mylon Marshall, both physicians in their mid-50s, will be among the first residents to move in this spring. “We like that it’s a green energy community featuring multigenerational living. We’re also big on eating locally and seasonally, so the urban farm was a key draw,” says Mylon.

North Atlanta family Gil and Jeny Mathis and their two daughters, 12 and 14 years old, discovered Serenbe, a planned community in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, two years ago. Now it’s literally their second home. “It provides a different life for our children on weekends they couldn’t otherwise have. The community aspect has penetrated our lives in a way that we couldn’t have predicted,” says Gil.

Both girls love it, and the younger sibling is lobbying to relocate there full time. The family likes the people Serenbe draws and the opportunities to engage with them, the consistent access to natural and organic food and its artist-in-residence program.

Serenbe was the inspiration for the Olivette Riverside Community and Farm, a 346-acre, back-to-the-land project

near Asheville, North Carolina. Its owners are transforming a failed high-end gated community and adjacent historic farm along the French Broad River into an agri-centered development featuring a blueberry orchard, community gardens, vegetable farm and greenhouse.

“It’s vital that we re-localize our food supply,” says Olivette co-owner Tama Dickerson. “One of the first things we did was to incorporate this farm and see what areas we could preserve, because what you keep is just as important as what you develop.” Future plans include hiking trails, artist live-work spaces, tiny houses, little free libraries and a K-8 school.

Agrihoods aren’t solely for agriburbs.

Creative public housing developers are bringing agriculture to high-density neighborhoods. The smoke-free Healthy High-Rise Arbor House, a 124-unit, lowincome apartment in the Bronx, in New York City, features a 10,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse and a living lobby wall that grows organic vegetables for the community year-round. Residents can obtain a discounted share from the farm using SNAP benefits (food stamps) and take free classes in cooking fresh.

Arbor House also allocates 40 percent of its rooftop crop harvests for the larger community.

Agrihoods can take many forms, including those involving gardens cropping up in schools, parks and hospitals nationwide, as well as informal, guerilla gardens in vacant lots. Many cities, including Falls Church, Virginia, and Takoma Park, Maryland, have even changed local zoning laws so residents can keep chickens and bees in their backyards for eggs and honey, according to McMahon.

“The era of the 2,000-mile Caesar salad has come to an end,” says McMahon, citing high transportation costs that make locally sourced food good for businesses and consumers alike. “The trend of growing food closer to home— in some cases at home—is here to stay.”

Gulf Coast Community Gardens Whether you have a green thumb or not, there are many local urban gardens that offer opportunities to get involved. Volunteers and donations are needed at most locations, and some have plots available for adoption.

The Beehive Garden 901 Government St., Mobile, AL 251-654-3935 • TheBeehive.us Central Presbyterian Church Community Garden 1260 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 251-432-0591 • CPCMidtown.com Christ the Redeemer Garden 7125 Hitt Rd., Mobile, AL 251-639-1948 • RedeemerEpiscopal.org DeTonti Square Community Garden 311 N. Conception St., Mobile, AL 334-332-7417 Ed Lawrence Community Garden S. Summit St. (between Morphy Ave. and St. James Ave.), Fairhope, AL 251-928-8647 • FairhopeLocalFood.org The Exploreum Community Garden 65 Government St., Mobile, AL 251-285-9478 • Exploreum.com Feeding the Gulf Coast Community Garden 5248 Mobile South St., Theodore, AL 251-653-1617 x118 FeedingTheGulfCoast.org

Light of the Village Community Garden 333 Baldwin Dr., Prichard, AL 251-680-4613 • LightOfTheVillage.org The Love Mobile Garden 1550 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 251-422-1787 DauphinWayUMC.org/communitygarden Orange Beach Community Garden Behind Recreation Center, 4849 Wilson Blvd., Orange Beach, AL 251-981-6979 Orange Grove Urban Farm 311 Manassas St., Mobile, AL Facebook.com/SeedToTableGarden Providence Hospital Community Garden 6801 Airport Blvd., Mobile, AL 251-633-1342 St. Mark Community Garden 439 Azalea Rd., Mobile, AL 251-342-5861 • StMarkMobile.com Taylor Park Community Garden 1050 Baltimore St., Mobile, AL 251-654-3935

Homestead Village Community Garden 924 Plantation Blvd., Fairhope, AL 251-928-8647 • FairhopeLocalFood.org

Victory Teaching Farm 261 Rickarby St., Mobile, AL VictoryTeachingFarm.org

Jubilee Shores Community Garden of Eatin’ 17261 State Hwy. 181, Fairhope, AL 251-970-5860 • JubileeShores.net

Wilmer Hall Community Garden 3811 Old Shell Rd., Mobile, AL 251-422-1210

Connect with April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.

Christ the Redeemer Church Community Garden and The Love Mobile Garden natural awakenings March 2016

19

Meaty Truths Choosing Meat that’s Sustainable and Safe

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

I

n his essay The Pleasures of Eating, Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and poet, writes: “If I am going to eat meat, I want it to be from an animal that has lived a pleasant, uncrowded life outdoors, on bountiful pasture, with good water nearby and trees for shade.” He, like a growing number of conscious eaters, wants no part of the industrial meat system in which animals are raised in concentrated animal feeding operations.

Media coverage has helped educate consumers previously unaware of how their food is produced and why it matters. The documentary film Food Inc., as well as books like Fast Food Nation,

by Eric Schlosser and The Chain, by Ted Genoways, describe common livestock industry practices that mistreat animals, pollute water and air, endanger workers and threaten public health. With increased understanding of the connections between diet and health, climate, environment and social justice, even many Americans that still like the taste of hamburger and steak have sided with Berry; they want sustainably raised, humane and healthful red meat.

Unsustainable Corporate Lobby Every five years, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are revised to reflect the latest 20

nutritional science. In 2015, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee attempted to include the concept of sustainability. The committee, which included top nutrition scientists, defined sustainable diets as “a pattern of eating that promotes health and well-being and provides food security for the present population while sustaining human and natural resources for future generations.” It made the case that a diet higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods both promotes health and protects the environment—resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions, and less energy, land and water use.

But political pressure from the livestock industry prevailed, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell jointly announced, “We do not believe that the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability.” Instead, they advised the committee to focus solely on nutritional and dietary information.

I n h e r b o o k Fo o d Po l i t i c s , nutritionist and author Marion Nestle explains that recommendations to decrease consumption have never been popular with the food industry. Nonetheless, Roni Neff, Ph.D., who directs the Center for

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a Livable Future’s Food System Sustainability and Public Health Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, recommends consuming less red meat in particular, because of its large environmental footprint. Neff points out, “Thirty percent of greenhouse gas emissions are connected to red meat.”

However, not all red meat is created equal. In her book Defending Beef, environmental lawyer and cattle rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman makes a case for sustainable meat production, noting, “Well-managed grazing could be part of an effective strategy to combat climate change.”

In their book The New Livestock Farmer, authors Rebecca Thistlethwaite and Jim Dunlop praise the increase in farmers producing pasture-raised, ethical meats and the growing number of farmers selling directly to people that reject the industrial system. Neff likewise supports such sustainable livestock agriculture, which integrates pastureraised animals on farms, rather than isolating them on feedlots, where they typically eat a grain-based diet (such as genetically engineered corn) and receive growth stimulants, including hormones and antibiotics.

Risky Hormones and Antibiotics Mike Callicrate, a St. Francis, Kansas, rancher educated in the industrial model of meat production, is considered an expert on its negative consequences.

He served as an advisor for Food Inc., and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Callicrate observes, “The same chemical compounds that athletes are banned from using in baseball are used to produce our food animals, which our children eat in the hot dogs at the ballgame.”

According to the USDA, about 90 percent of feedlot cattle receive hormone implants to promote growth. Yet the European Union Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health reports that the use of natural and artificial growth hormones in beef production poses a potential risk to human health, especially among children.

Concerns about growth-promoting drugs led the American Academy of Pe-

Because climate change is accelerating and is already causing a multitude of adverse effects, and the footprint of our current food system is massive, we urgently need to create a national food supply that is both healthy and sustainable. ~Dr. Walter Willett, Harvard School of Public Health diatrics to call for studies that direct-ly measure their impact on children through milk and meat. The President’s Cancer Panel Report on Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk also states, “Growth hormones may contribute to endocrine disruption in humans.” Their dietary recommendations include choosing meat raised without hormones and antibiotics.

Rising Resistance Antibiotic resistance is now one of the world’s most critical public health problems, and it’s related to misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Antibiotic resistance—when bacteria don’t respond to the drugs designed to kill them—threatens to return us to the time when simple infections were often fatal.”

Veterinarian and food safety consultant Gail Hansen, of Washington, D.C., explains that bacteria naturally develop resistance anytime we use antibiotics.

“The problem is overuse and misuse; that’s the recipe for disaster.” She explains that more than 70 percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are not used to treat sick animals, but to promote growth and reduce the risk of infection related to raising animals in unsanitary, overcrowded spaces.

A recent report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states: Adding antibiotics to the feed of healthy livestock “often leave the drugs ineffective when they are needed to treat infections in people.”

The AAP supports buying meat from organic farms, because organic farming rules prohibit the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics. Stacia Clinton, a registered dietitian in Boston who works with the international nonprofit Health Care Without Harm, assists hospitals in both reducing meat on their menus and increasing purchases of meat from animals raised without antibiotics. The goal is to reduce the growing number of antibiotic-resistant infections that cost hospitals and patients billions of dollars each year.

A Friends of the Earth report, Chain Reaction: How Top Restaurants Rate on Reducing Use of Antibiotics in Their Meat Supply, revealed that most meat served

by American’s top chain restaurants come from animals raised in industrial facilities where they are fed antibiotics. Only two out of 25 chains, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread, report that the majority of their meat is raised without routine antibiotics. A recent study by Consumers Union also found antibiotic-resistant bacteria on retail meat samples nationwide.

In California, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 27, making his the first state to ban the use of routine low doses of antimicrobial drugs that are medically important to humans to promote livestock weight gain or feed efficiency. The bill doesn’t go into effect until January 2018, but will contribute to making meat safer and antibiotic drugs more effective.

Red and Processed Meats Targeted Dietary advice to reduce the consumption of red and processed meats, regardless of how the animals are raised, is not new. Kelay Trentham, a registered dietitian in Tacoma, Washington, who specializes in cancer prevention and treatment, points out that joint reports from the World Cancer Research Fund International and American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) since 2007 have recommended restricting consumption of red meat to less than 18 ounces a week and avoiding processed meats.

In 2015, the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified processed meat (like hot dogs, ham, sausages, corned beef and beef jerky) as “carcinogenic to humans” and red meat (beef,

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Smarter Meat Choices

by Melinda Hemmelgarn Choose certified organic meat.

Organic certification prohibits antibiotics, added hormones and genetically modified (GMO) feed.

Select grass-fed and grass-finished meats. Look for the nonprofit American Grassfed Association (AGA) certification, which ensures animals eat only grass and forage from the time of their weaning until harvest, and are raised without antibiotics or hormones (AmericanGrassfed.org). AGA standards apply to ruminant animals only: beef, bison, goat, lamb and sheep.

Support Country of Origin Labeling. This mandates that retail cuts of meat must contain a label informing consumers of its source. The U.S. meat industry has worked to stop such labeling.

veal, pork, lamb, mutton, To be interested to meat from animals fed grain. horse and goat) as “probAccording to medical ably carcinogenic to hu- in food, but not in doctor and National Instimans.” Risk increases food production, tutes of Health researcher with amount consumed, is clearly absurd. Captain Joseph Hibbeln, and the evidence is stronconsuming fewer omega-6 gest for the relation of pro~Wendell Berry fatty acids and more omecessed meats to colorectal ga-3s may be one of the cancer.

Trentham explains some factors most important dietary changes for cutting that make red and processed meats the risk of chronic diseases, reducing inrisky. “Heating or smoking meat creates flammation, improving mental health, encancer-causing compounds. Processed hancing children’s brain and eye developmeats contain salts, nitrates and nitrites; ment and reducing worldwide incidence a chemical mélange of preservatives that of cardiovascular disease by 40 percent.

When it comes to eating meat, the can increase risk,” she says. Trentham and Karen Collins, a registered dietitian and agricultural practices, quantity conadvisor to the AICR, concur that the form sumed, and methods of processing and of iron found in meat also contributes to cooking make a difference. It turns out that what’s good for the environment is cancer risk.

Still, the IARC report recognizes, good for animals and people, too.

“Eating meat has known health benefits.”

Meat is a rich source of protein and B Melinda Hemmelgarn is an awardvitamins, iron and zinc. Livestock feed winning registered dietitian, writer further influences nutritional composi- and Food Sleuth Radio host with tion, with meat from cattle raised on K O P N . o r g , i n C o l u m b i a , M O . pasture (grass) containing higher levels of Connect at FoodSleuth@gmail.com. beneficial omega-3 fatty acids compared

Beware of misleading labels.

“Natural” provides no legal assurance about how an animal was raised. “Vegetarian feed” may mean GMO corn and/or soy. (See Greener Choices.org.)

Buy directly from family livestock farmers. Check out sites like Local Harvest.org and Tinyurl.com/Farmers MarketsDirectory.

Pay attention to portions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture serving size weighs three ounces, about the same size as a deck of cards. Think of meat as a side dish and balance the rest of the plate with vegetables, leafy greens, beans and other legumes.

Once a week, cut out meat. Participate in Meatless Mondays (Meatless Monday.org).

Assume all retail meat carries bacteria that can cause food-borne illness. Practice safe food handling as directed on package labels. (Also see FoodSafety.gov and KeepAntibiotics Working.com.)

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Grilling a Grass-Fed Steak Just Right

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

S

hannon Hayes, farmer, nutritionist and author of The Farmer and the Grill: A Guide to Grilling, Barbecuing and Spit-Roasting Grassfed Meat… and for Saving the Planet, One Bite at a Time, says cooking grass-fed steaks at too-high temperatures, especially when grilling, is a common mistake.

The West Fulton, New York, food expert describes how to achieve “a gorgeous sear on the outside, and a pink and juicy inside.”

When working on a grill, light only one side. When hot, sear an inch-anda-quarter-thick steak for no more than two minutes per side, with the grill lid off. Make sure fat drippings don’t flare up flames, which will blacken and toughen the meat.

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After the sear, move the steaks to the unlit side of the grill and put the grill lid on. Let them finish cooking indirectly for five to seven minutes per pound. The lower temperature cooks the internal muscle fibers, but prevents them from contracting too rapidly and becoming chewy.

As an alternative to grilling, use an oven and cast-iron skillet. Preheat the oven to 300° F. Next, heat the skillet over a high flame until smoke begins to rise off its surface. Coat the skillet with butter or tallow, then sear the meat for two minutes per side. Turn off the stove; leave steaks in the pan and move them to the oven, where they can finish cooking for five to seven minutes per pound.

Source: TheRadicalHomemaker.net

The Connection Between Humans, Animals and the Planet

Photo by Deb Durant

WHY VEGAN?

by Tracey Narayani Glover

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oo often human beings fail to see the kill all male chicks as soon as they hatch, interconnection that exists between whether they are on conventional farms the non-human animals and the or free-range organic farms, regardless of environment that surrounds us. As some humane labeling. Similarly, it cannot be asvegans adopt a plant-based diet upon learn- sumed that a grass-fed label is indicative of ing about the suffering of farmed animals, sustainability. Living conditions involve less others are influenced by the devastating suffering and fossil fuel use than in factory impact of animal agriculture on the envi- farms, but according to a study published ronment, while many make the switch to in Environmental Science and Technology, benefit their own health. The truth is, these pasture-raised cattle produce at least 20 issues are not separate. percent more methane than grain-finished

According to the United Nations Food animals, on a per-pound-of-meat basis, and and Agriculture Organization, the livestock they also require more land and water. sector consumes more edible protein—40 The United Nations reports that at percent of the entire world’s agricultural least 20 million people worldwide die output—than it produces, while occupying each year as a result of malnutrition, while 30 percent of the planet’s total land surface. estimates have been made that if Americans Animal-based foods such as meat, alone reduced their meat intake by just 10 dairy and eggs are highly resource-intensive percent, 100 million people could be fed compared to plant-based foods. For ex- with the land, water and energy that would ample, an acre of land used to raise cattle be freed up as a result. As pointed out by for slaughter yields 20 pounds of usable The World Watch Institute, the continued protein compared to the 356 pounds of growth of meat output creates competition protein that an acre of soybeans would for grain between affluent meat-eaters and produce. the world’s poor.

Product labeling that indicates varying As much of the world’s population levels of humane struggles to obAs pointed out by The World tain enough food, and sustainable practices entices Watch Institute, the continued many Americans conscious conare consuming too sumers but is often growth of meat output creates much protein and misleading. As an competition for grain between suffering from disexample, consider eases such as heart affluent meat-eaters and that it is standard disease, cancer, industry practice to diabetes, obesity, the world’s poor.

Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, stroke and auto-immune diseases. Research shows a high correlation between rates of these “diseases of affluence” and the consumption of animal protein.

But there is good reason for hope, as a growing body of nutrition science shows that a high percentage of these diseases can be prevented, or even reversed, with diet. According to Nutritional Biochemist T. Colin Campbell, who co-authored The China Study, “The same diet that is good for prevention of cancer is also good for the prevention of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and other diseases. That diet is a whole foods, plant-based diet.”

Note that there’s more to worry about than the antibiotics, steroids and hormones found in most animal products available today, making organic options less than ideal as well. “The real danger of animal products is the nutrient imbalances, regardless of the presence or absence of those nasty chemicals. Long before modern chemicals were introduced into our food, people still began to experience more cancer and more heart disease when they started to eat more animal-based foods,” says Campbell.

One of the biggest barriers to adopting a plant-based diet is the misconception that a vegan diet lacks essential nutrients or adequate protein levels. According to the American Dietetic Association, and many leading world health organizations, a properly planned vegan diet can provide all nutritional needs at all stages of life from infancy, through pregnancy, and into old age. Even in the most demanding physical conditions, a vegan diet is sufficient, as demonstrated by vegan athletes such as Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, mixed martial arts champion Mac Danzig, Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and two-time Badwater Ultramarathon winner Scott Jurek.

Is it a coincidence that the diet that can prevent suffering of animals is the same diet that can reverse the process of global warming and keep humans healthy into old age? What is good for the animals is good for the planet and good for our own health.

Tracey Narayani Glover, JD, E-RYT 200, is an animal advocate, writer, chef/owner of The Pure Vegan and a yoga and meditation teacher in Mobile, AL. Connect at ThePureVegan.com and ARCForAllBeings.org.

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Land Manager Allan Savory on Holistic Pasturing

How Cows Can Help Reverse Climate Change

by Linda Sechrist

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hen concurrent dangers arising from overpopulation, desertification (fertile land turning to desert) and climate change were just beginning to attract technological solutions, pioneers like Allan Savory, a young wildlife biologist in Zimbabwe, Africa, were researching how healthy soil captures carbon dioxide and stores it as carbon.

It’s the way nature renders the most pervasive greenhouse gas more helpful than harmful and a major reason why this is not happening globally is because of desertification.

This innovative game-changer has since received Australia’s 2003 Banksia International Award for “doing the most for the environment on a global scale” and the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, recognizing solutions that address humanity’s most pressing problems. The Savory Institute, founded in 2009, and its Africa Center for Holistic Management, demonstrate how using livestock to improve soil and decrease dependence on water— plus increase its ability to hold moisture and carbon—grows more grass and improves profits for ranchers, landowners and investors.

What prompted your examination of soil biology?

In the 1960s, I first became alarmed at the rate of land degradation in Africa’s vast grasslands, which were turning to desert. Looking for a solution, I hit upon a profound relationship—that the

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grasslands, their soils, soil life, plants and animals had evolved symbiotically with large, grazing herbivores of many species and packhunting predators. As my inquiry led beyond Africa, I noticed that the same was true of similar ecosystems worldwide, including those of the U.S. Great Plains.

Long ago, the Great Plains supported herbivores that traveled in immense herds for safety from predators. Where there are now approximately 11 large mammal species, there were once more than 50. The trampling of dung and urine, as well as grazing of such vast numbers constantly on the move, developed deep carbon-storing and rain-holding soils that also break down methane. Only in the presence of large roaming herds of herbivores periodically working the surface soil does this happen; it works much like a gardener does, breaking bare surfaces and covering them with litter and dung.

Only in this way do grasslands thrive.

How did this revolutionize your thinking about land and livestock management?

Being trained at a university to believe that grazing livestock causes land degradation blinded me to the deeper understanding that humans’ management of the animals, not the animals themselves, has been the problem. Historically, the healthiest soils in the world’s vast grain-growing regions were those that had supported the largest populations of natural wildlife and intact pack-hunting predators.

We now have in hand a natural solution able to reverse U.S. and global desertification, which is contributing to increasing severity and frequency of floods and droughts, poverty, social breakdown, violence, pastoral genocide and mass movement into cities and across national borders. Restoring brilliant natural functions through holistic management of even half of the world’s grasslands has the potential to pull all of the legacy carbon out of the atmosphere, put it back into the ground where it belongs and keep it there for thousands of years. Livestock aided by holistic, planned grazing that mimics nature can return Earth’s atmosphere to preindustrial carbon levels while feeding people with cleaner meat.

I can think of almost nothing that offers more hope for our planet for generations to come. In fact, it has so many benefits—including an eventual net cost of zero or less—that even if climate change wasn’t an issue, we should be doing it anyway.

How is holistic pasturing proceeding?

Ultimately, the only sustainable economy for any nation is derived from growing plants on regenerating soil. Today’s conventional agriculture is producing more than 75 billion tons of dead, eroding soil every year—more than 10 tons for every human alive. The largest areas of the world’s land are either grasslands or former grasslands.

Holistic, planned grazing to reverse desertification has gained support from thousands of individual ranchers, scientists, researchers, pastoralists and farmers. Currently, it is practiced on more than 30 million acres over six continents with encouraging success. The Savory Institute encourages and links locally led and managed holistic management hubs around the world, now numbering 30 in Africa, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and U.S., with more forming every year.

Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings. Connect at ItsAllAboutWe.com.

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consciouseating

Eating a rich variety of plant-based foods is fast, easy and satisfying. ~LeAnne Campbell

Taste the Rainbow, Expand Your Palate with New Colorful Veggies

by Judith Fertig

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mericans’ vegetable habits are in a rut. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 50 percent of the vegetables and legumes available in this country in 2013 were either tomatoes or potatoes. Lettuce came in third, according to new data released in 2015, advises Tracie McMillan, author of The American Way of Eating.

Further, 87 percent of U.S. adults did not meet basic vegetable serving recommendations from 2007 through 2010, a fact cited in the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.

Yet, urban supermarkets overflow with a wealth of common and exotic vegetables, often displayed side-by-side: broccoli and broccolini, green bell and Japanese shishito peppers, and iceberg lettuce and leafy mâche, or lamb’s lettuce.

Trying one new vegetable dish a week is a great way to increase our vegetable literacy, says functional medicine expert Terri Evans, a doctor of Oriental medicine in Naples, Florida. “Our diet should be 60 percent produce—40 percent vegetables and 20 percent

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fruit,” she says. “To keep this sustainable for the long term, we should eat what tastes good, not what we think is good for us. Some days, we crave the sweetness of carrots; other days, the bitterness of artichokes or the heat of hot peppers.

Our bodies can tell us what we need.”

Keep Expanding Choices

Going Green. Dark green and slightly peppery arugula is good with a little olive oil and lemon juice. Finely shredded Brussels sprouts bulk up a mixed salad, while adding the benefits of a cancerfighting cruciferous vegetable. Instead of mineral-rich baby spinach, try baby Swiss chard, suggests Matthew Kadey, a registered dietician in Waterloo, Ontario.

He also suggests microgreens, the tiny shoots of radishes, cabbage, broccoli and kale, all rich in vitamins C and E. Squash It. Varieties of summer and winter squash add color, body and flavor to one-dish meals, with the added benefits of B vitamins, magnesium and fiber. LeAnne Campbell, Ph.D., author of The China Study Cookbook, simmers a mix of fresh chopped vegetables including yellow summer squash or zucchini, and flavors with coconut and curry powder. Vegan Chef Douglas McNish, of Toronto, makes an okra and squash gum-

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bo in the slow cooker.

Sneak in a Smoothie. Change up a smoothie routine by swapping out the usual baby spinach for a blend of cucumber, apple and fresh mint, or else sweet potato and carrot, suggests Sidney Fry, a registered dietitian and Cooking Light editor, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Snack Attack. An array of colorful vegetables served with dips and spreads can be an easy way to experiment with veggies. Carrots in deep red, vibrant yellow, purple and orange are delicious raw and supply beta-carotene, promoting eye health. Leaves from pale green Belgian endive spears are tender and crunchy.

Orange or “cheddar” cauliflower has a more creamy and sweet flavor than its pale cousin.

“Colors equal health, and the more colors we eat, the better our overall health,” says Susan Bowerman, a registered dietitian, lecturer in food science and nutrition at California State Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo, and co-author of What Color Is Your Diet? “We also have to be willing to try new foods or new varieties of foods, or maybe to prepare unfamiliar foods in a way that will make them taste good, so that we will be willing to add more plant foods to our diet.”

Judith Fertig blogs at AlfrescoFoodAnd Lifestyle.blogspot.com from Overland Park, KS.

A Rainbow of Benefits

by Judith Fertig

T

he colors found in fresh vegetables can indicate an abundance of necessary phytochemicals and nutrients. “Many people I see in my practice consume excess food, but have nutrient deficiency,” says Terri Evans, a functional medicine expert and doctor of Oriental medicine.

Eating a variety of colorful vegetables can be part of the remedy.

“Each color in a vegetable represents 10,000 micronutrients,” explains Evans. “The more colorful you make your diet, the happier your body will be.” She notes that supplements supply a lot of one nutrient, while vegetables gift us with tiny amounts of many requisite nutrients.

According to the nonprofit Produce for Better Health Foundation, plant phytochemicals may act as antioxidants, protect and regenerate essential nutrients and work to deactivate cancer-causing substances. So, the more color on our plates, the better.

Yellow and orange—in squash and some tomatoes—point to higher levels of vitamins C and A. The beta-carotene behind these colors is renowned for supporting healthy eyesight.

Dark green—in leafy greens and cabbages—evidences higher levels of vitamins K, B and E. Chlorophyll creates the color and indicates its welldocumented detoxifying properties.

Red—in red bell peppers and tomatoes—indicates vitamin C. Lycopene, which provides the color, is widely associated with lowering the risk of prostate and breast cancers.

Purple and blue—in radicchio, red cabbage and eggplant—deliver vitamins C and K. Anthocyanins that create the color are powerful antioxidants geared to keep us heart-healthy.

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healingways

Good Reasons to Try Acupuncture Thousands of Studies Show Healing Results

by Kathleen Barnes

T

he ancient Chinese art of acupunc- the feel-good brain chemical serotonin and ture is gaining popularity in modern relieving inflammation, as well as bringing Western medicine for many reasons. many other body processes into normal “There’s lots of research to support the ef- function. fectiveness of acupuncture for a wide va- Brevard, North Carolina, licensed riety of conditions,” says Thomas Burgoon, master acupuncturist Paul Buchman, a medical doctor who practices internal adds, “Acupuncture differs from conmedicine in West Chester, Pennsylvania, ventional Western medicine in many and is president of the ways, primarily in that American Academy of when it treats a disease The U.S. Library of Medical Acupuncture, on the physical level, Medicine database an association of docit also has far-reaching tors of medicine and lists more than 23,000 effects on our mental, osteopathic medicine and spiritual studies on acupuncture. emotional that use acupuncture in aspects.” conjunction with conventional treatments.

Chronic back pain: Chronic low back

Acupuncture treatments typically in- pain affects 80 percent of us at some time volve the nearly painless insertion of very and is the second-most common cause of thin needles to stimulate the body’s natural disability in American adults, according to repair and regulation mechanisms based a University of North Carolina at Chapel on the fundamental Chinese medicine Hill study published in the Journal of the principle that the inside of the body can American Medical Association. often be treated from the outside. Burgoon A recent study of Australian explains that acupuncture works by stimu- patients arriving in Melbourne hospital lating and releasing the body’s natural pain emergency rooms complaining of low relievers, including endorphins, producing back pain found that those treated with 28

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acupuncture experienced as much pain relief in an hour as those given drugs.

“When I treat a person for low back pain, I always take pulses in several parts of the body, and then take into account many factors, including age, gender and life situation,” says Buchman. “The underlying causes of the pain may be different in a 20-something student with a stressful academic load than a 50-something woman that’s a recent empty nester redefining her future,” he explains.

When researchers at China’s Central South University reviewed 13 studies on acupuncture and low back pain, they concluded that comprehensive treatment plans that involve acupuncture are urgently needed.

Headache: Acupuncture has long been used to relieve the pain of migraines and tension headaches. Australian research published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that 16 acupuncture sessions cut in half the number of days that patients experienced migraines, significantly reducing pain.

“Acupuncture is a must-try therapy for anyone with migraines or chronic or tension-type headaches,” says Burgoon.

He notes that Aetna Insurance Company policy considers acupuncture among accepted, medically necessary treatments for migraines, chronic low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, postoperative dental pain and nausea associated with surgery, pregnancy and chemotherapy.

Asthma and allergies: More than 25 million Americans have asthma, including 6.8 million children. Danish research published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine showed that 10 acupuncture sessions given over a threemonth period reduced asthma symptoms and use of inhaled steroids, but only when acupuncture was ongoing. Benefits diminished when treatments were discontinued.

German researchers at Berlin’s Charité University Medical Center found similar effects for seasonal allergies by comparing it with the effects of antihistamines and sham acupuncture.

“Patterns of bad health get more ingrained in our body systems as we get older,” says Melanie Katin, a licensed acupuncturist specializing in treating children in New York City and professor at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. “If we

can catch an illness in a Find a local physician than atropine injecchild’s first seven or eight tions, and also recomtrained in medical years, we may be able to mends acupuncture for prevent it from becoming relief of nausea. “Acuacupuncture at chronic in adulthood.” puncture helps calm

Digestive problems: MedicalAcupuncture.org/ down an overactive Acupuncture has been FindAnAcupuncturist GI tract and stimulates found to be effective for an underactive one,” treating colic in babies, irritable bowel explains Burgoon. syndrome, morning sickness and post- Acupuncture is a non-pharmaceuoperative nausea caused by anesthesia tical remedy for many health problems, and chemotherapy treatments, verified Burgoon says. “I fell in love with acuin research from Australia’s University puncture when I discovered I could use of Sydney on patients after surgery for it to treat some problems that nothing metastatic liver cancer. Several other stud- else helped. I almost never prescribe any ies, including one from the Milwau-kee’s medications. Instead, I help people get off Medical College of Wisconsin, show pharmaceuticals.” that acupuncture rebalances the nervous system and restores proper digestive func- Kathleen Barnes is author of many natural tion, while relieving pain. health books, including The Calcium

The World Health Organization re- Lie 2: What Your Doctor Still Doesn’t view of research notes how acupuncture Know, with Dr. Robert Thompson. relieved gastrointestinal (GI) spasms better Connect at KathleenBarnes.com.

No Needles Needed for Kids

by Kathleen Barnes

A

cupuncture can be helpful for children, especially in treating asthma, allergies and childhood digestive disorders, including colic, says Melanie Katin, a licensed acupuncturist who specializes in treating children in New York City.

“Acupuncture for children rarely involves the use of needles. Since their qi (life force) flows very close to the surface of their skin, it doesn’t require a lot of movement to get things flowing in the right direction,” she explains.

Acupuncture for kids typically involves light, fast brushing of the skin to encourage a healing circulation of energy. Katin teaches parents to continue treatments at home. She explains that it’s still technically acupuncture, not acupressure, which would involve prolonged stimulation of the body’s energy meridian sites. Sometimes she includes the use of small instruments for tapping or brushing the skin and tuning forks to stimulate the meridian points. She remarks, “The kids love it.”

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relax • unwind • destress

inspiration

COLOR ME CALM Grownups De-Stress with Adult Coloring Books

by Avery Mack

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oloring books are no longer solely the domain of children. Immersion in this fun, creative pastime by adults even for just 30 minutes can constitute a focused meditation that relieves stress. Doctor of Psychology Nikki Martinez, in Chicago, says that famed psychotherapist Carl Jung believed coloring helps patients release anxiety.

“It uses both sides of the brain and improves organizational and fine motor skills,” says Martinez. “After I underwent a major surgery, I was on bed rest for eight weeks, and adult coloring books were a lifesaver. They passed the time, were pretty and kept me in a constant state of calm. I devoured them.”

Publishers Weekly reported combined 2015 sales of 1.75 million copies for the 10 bestselling adult coloring books through November. This trend was years in the making, originating when parents colored with their kids and sometimes on their own. Adults around the world now join coloring book clubs, hold related parties and take coloring breaks at work.

Last fall, Barnes & Noble hosted the oneday All-American Art Unwind, where customers colored and uploaded their results to Instagram and Twitter. Hallmark sent a crew of artists and calligraphers to select locations to help customers color their greeting cards.

“We scheduled a coloring session for a 55-plus community workshop,” relates Ninah Kessler, a licensed clinical social worker with the Sparks of Genius Brain

YOU’RE THE

March is Color Therapy Month

ARTIST

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Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

Optimization Center, in Boca Raton, Florida. “People had so much fun they wouldn’t leave. It’s creative, portable and inexpensive. You never face blank paper because the lines are there; you just pick the colors. There’s no stress about possibly making mistakes.”

“Animals, jungle or floral themes, and Zen-inspired mandalas are popular.

Customers like realistic, intricate drawings,” explains Idalia Farrajota, a Dallas executive with Michaels craft stores, which offers free, in-store coloring sessions and provides supplies. (Download a free sample book at Tinyurl.com/ BotanicalColoringPages.) Johanna Basford, a renowned illustrator from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is a hit with colorists, catering to their penchant for nature with Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and her latest, Lost Ocean.

“My daughter wanted to color her life, not do generic drawings,” says Dieter Marlovics, prompting him to establish ReallyColor.com, in Chicago. “Really-Color converts photos into coloring book pages to make individually tailored pages.”

Try these eco-tips: Sprout pencils, made with sustainable wood and fruitand-vegetable-based dyed clay instead of lead, are topped by non-GMO seeds that can be planted when the pencil becomes short. Inktense’s water-soluble brightly colored pencils mimic pen and ink; add water for translucency. Select recycled paper books, soy crayons, watercolor paints and non-toxic markers.

www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

Wonderfully Creative in Fairhope

E

ach Wednesday, adults gather at Soul Shine Yoga, in Fairhope for a mid-day creativity break from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Facilitated

by Susan Haines, Make it a Wonderful Wednesday helps participants de-stress and connect with other community members as they exercise mindfulness through coloring. The two-hour open sessions, which allow people to come and go as they wish, also include brief meditations for creativity and five minutes of shoulder, eye, hand and wrist movements.

In March, the Wednesday gatherings will explore the history, symbolism and variations of mandalas.

Coloring is always an option, but on the last Wednesday of each month, the group can make wisdom cards that are similar to mini vision boards or angel cards. “We make 4x6 magazine collage creations based on the idea of Neuro Tarot—letting your own mind create the message,” explains Haines.

The events are open to the public and pre-registration is not required. Soul Shine’s blankets and bolsters are available for comfortable seating and Haines provides the pencils, clipboards and coloring sheets. “Sometimes we’re quietly focused and sometimes we chat,” says Haines. “Adults are loving the chance to be still and create before returning to their day, creative solutions flowing.”

Cost: $5. Location: 103B N. Bancroft St., Fairhope, AL. For more information, visit Facebook.com/ ConnectColorCreate.

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fitbody

ROLLING FOR FITNESS DIY Rollers Ease Pain and Aid Flexibility

by Randy Kambic

M

ore amateur and serious athletes, people wanting to ease stiffness due to sedentary work and seniors are enjoying a new DIY way to massage out the kinks at home that’s becoming recognized for its benefits by experts worldwide.

For the first time, flexibility and mobility rolling ranks in the top 20 of the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends. Made predominantly of foam and hard rubber, the rollers can “massage, relieve muscle tightness and muscle spasms, increase circulation, ease muscular discomfort and assist in the return to normal activity,” according to the organization’s Health & Fitness Journal, which notes a growing market for the devices.

Dr. Walter Thompson, professor of kinesiology and health with Georgia State University, in Atlanta, was the lead author of the survey. He says, “Personal trainers have found that it works for their clients. We’ve also seen an increase in popularity in gyms and fitness clubs.” The trend is partly spawned by their use in Pilates. Thompson adds, “Tech devices, now central to our daily lives, have changed the way we

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plan and manage our workouts.” Yet, as with other such equipment, users must be educated on how to employ the rollers on their own.

Most rollers are available in smooth or ribbed textures in different sizes and densities. Sets include one for deep tissue rolling, self-myofascial release and trigger point relief, designed to aid muscles related to the back, hips, arms, glutes and hamstrings.

Dr. Spencer H. Baron, president of NeuroSport Elite, in Davie, Florida, was the 2010 National Sports Chiropractor of the Year and served as a chiropractic physician for the Miami Dolphins football team for 19 years. He starts patients out with rollers during office appointments, especially those with sports injuries.

“It empowers them to take charge of their fitness,” he says. “Those standing or sitting all day at work may need it even more than athletes do to improve circulation and stimulate the nervous system.”

While rollers can be administered to hamstrings and quadriceps by hand, he attests that the back is the most commonly targeted region, and suggests two corresponding maneuvers:

Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

Lie down with a foam roller under the neck at home. Gently roll it across to each shoulder blade, and then center it and roll it down to the buttocks; even to the hamstrings. Next, assume a squatting position against a wall and place a roller between the center of the back and the wall, gently rise up, and then sink down.

It’s also possible do this at work in private.

Baron and his colleagues believe that rollers are beneficial to use on the shoulders and arms of tennis players and baseball pitchers. “I like the metaphor of a chef rolling dough in the kitchen. With a similar motion, you’re kneading muscles and tendons, improving blood flow and circulation to sore areas,” he says.

Jason Karp, Ph.D., the 2011 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Personal Trainer of the Year and creator of his company’s Run-Fit certification program, has seen the popularity of the devices on the rise with runners. “People like gadgets” that can help them, he notes. “Runners get tight from running, and rollers can help alleviate that tightness. I know a lot of runners that swear by them.”

Karp, a California author of six books, including Running for Women and his upcoming The Inner Runner, feels that rollers are especially well-suited for postworkout use. “The rollers are basically a form of self-myofascial release, which helps relax muscles by putting pressure on tight areas to cause the muscle to relax via its reflex to tension,” he explains.

It looks like this universally applicable and simple fitness tool will keep on rolling through this year and beyond.

Randy Kambic, in Estero, Florida, is a freelance editor and writer for Natural Awakenings and other magazines.

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side, clear shelves for climbing and have a cat tree or window shelf for optimum viewing. A nearby bird feeder will hold a feline’s attention for hours.

Werber advises, “For undisturbed household sleep, get the cat toys out about an hour before your bedtime. Fifteen minutes of play will tire a pet. Let him calm down and then feed him. A full cat is a sleepy cat.”

Some cats nibble, while others gulp food and then throw up. The recommended antidote is to feed smaller amounts several times a day. Cats should eat both dry and wet food to get carbohydrates and meat, Werber advises. Throwing up can be a sign of hairballs, even if unseen. Put the cat on a natural hairball remedy once a day for four days, then two times a week, until the vomiting stops. A touch of non-petroleum jelly on the cat’s nose or a bit of fish oil or pumpkin in her food will work.

When cats ignore the litter box, note what’s changed—the type of litter, location of the box, a lurking stray cat or the pet’s health. Arthritic cats find it hard to climb into a tall-sided box. Felines feel vulnerable when using the box, and like to know what’s around them—a lidless box makes them feel safer says Werber.

The rule is to have one more litter box than there are cats. If the house is more than one story tall, food, water, beds and litter should be available on every level.

“All cats should be kept indoors, microchipped and wearing a colorful collar and tags,” says Werber. Colors give birds fair warning if a cat ever goes outside.

With time and attention, any cat can become an active, well-behaved family member.

WELL-MANNERED

CATS

Simple Ways to Get Kitty to Behave

by Sandra Murphy

T

hree million cats end up in shelters every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Owners cite landlord restrictions or allergies in the family as leading reasons. Often, the animal is blamed for an easily fixed behavior problem; the Wake County Animal Center, in Raleigh, North Carolina, interprets rationales such as, “Kitty has a sensitive stomach [throws up] or pees under the bed [likely a urinary tract infection].”

“I prefer to call such things issues, not problems. They’re often evidence of natural instincts that need to be redirected,” says Anne Moss, owner of TheCatSite.com, from Tel Aviv, Israel. “A vet visit will rule out physical concerns so you can move on to behavioral issues.” Once a cat’s adapted to living with humans, life becomes more pleasant for everyone.

Cats can be trained. Dallas cat owner Bettina Bennett of WhichBoxMedia.com advises, “Start early, attach rewards and be consistent. Our four cats don’t scratch the furniture, come when called and know when it’s bedtime.”

Clicker training works well, adds Becky Morrow, a doctor of veterinarian medicine who teaches at Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh. “I have 13 cats living in my home and a sanctuary housing 65 more. They’ve learned to walk on a leash and obey commands.”

Dr. Jeff Werber, a Los Angeles veterinarian, has found that scratching furniture, biting people, nocturnal activity, throwing up and ignoring the litter box are the five most common complaints.

Scratching lets Kitty leave her scent,

stretch and shed old claws. He suggests, “Get a scratching post, but don’t put it in an-out-of-the-way location. Cats like to be where we are. Start with it in the center of the room and gradually move it to the corner.”

Measure how tall a cat is when standing on her hind legs with front legs fully extended. Get a post that is half again as tall so she can really stretch.

Gently rub her paws on the post first, and then dab on a bit of catnip as added enticement. Cats don’t like unfamiliar textures, so avoidance training tools can include laying aluminum foil or backingside-up carpet runners over furniture arms and cushions plus double-sided sticky tape at the corners to preserve upholstery.

When humans become a target for a cat’s pounces, use toys as decoys. A short play session will satisfy their desire to hunt.

Leave curtains open so she can see out-

Connect with Sandra Murphy at StLouisFreelanceWriter@mindspring.com.

Your Path to Self-Discovery & Personal Wellness MONTHLY CLASSES DESIGNED TO EMPOWER ONESELF TO HEAL, UPLIFT AND DETOXIFY THE BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT.

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markyourcalendar

Dates and times may change. Please call ahead to confirm. All calendar events must be received by the 10th of the month and adhere to our guidelines. Go to TinyURL.com/NACalendar to submit entries.

PLANS CHANGE!

Please call ahead to confirm dates and times.

TUESDAY, MARCH 1

$5 Hoppy Hour Yoga – 6pm. Join Soul Shine Yoga at Fairhope Brewing Co. for Hoppy Hour Yoga on the first Tuesday of every month. All levels. $5. Fairhope Brewing Co, 914 Nichols Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@ TheSoulShineLife.com. TheSoulShineLife.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

Anatomy of a Pose with Boyd Marks – 1-5pm.

Utilize universal principles of alignment to enhance your yoga practice. Increase awareness of how energy and prana move through the body. Breakdown a yoga pose and reconstruct it using alignment principles that apply to every pose. All levels. $35. Soul Shine Yoga, 456 Morphy Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@ TheSoulShineLife.com. TheSoulShineLife.com.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8

markyourcalendar Green Drinks Fairhope Join us for an informal yet engaging happy hour every second Tuesday and connect with other progressive people in our area.

Open to the public. Free to attend except cost of your drinks. Brief speaker and announcements at 6pm. Food from Sunflower Café. Local produce available from End of the Road Farm.

March 8 • 5-7pm

Fairhope Brewing Company 914 Nichols Avenue, Fairhope, AL. 251-279-7517 • MobileBayGreenDrinks@gmail.com Facebook.com/MobileBayGreenDrinks

FRIDAY, MARCH 11

Babywearing 101 – 11am. Come learn all about the different styles and brands of carriers and how to use them. Cost is $10 and you receive a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $100. Luna Babies, 1820 Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS. 228-357-5574. LunaBabies.com.

Join us for an informal yet engaging happy hour with like-minded folks every third Wednesday and a monthly speaker. Open to the public. Free to attend except the cost of your drinks.

March 16 • 5-7pm

Alchemy Tavern 7 South Joachim Street, Mobile, AL MobileBayGreenDrinks@gmail.com Facebook.com/MobileBayGreenDrinks

SATURDAY, MARCH 12

Quantum-Touch Level I with Julie E Brent – 9:30am-5:30pm. Mar 12-13. The class offers an important building block to learning the entire QT system. Learn to heal yourself and care for your friends and family, or if you work as a health care professional wishing to expand your skills. 13 Massage CEs. Quantum-Touch.com. $400 or prepaid 3 wk in advance: $350. Reiki Center of Fairhope, Fairhope, AL. ReikiCenterOfFairhope@gmail.com.

ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events.

Breastfeeding Support Group – 11am. Mom-toMom breastfeeding support with a Certified Lactation Counselor. Join us for conversation and support wherever you are on your breastfeeding journey.

Free. Luna Babies, 1820 Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS. 228-357-5574. LunaBabies.com.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13

Creating and Delivering Meaningful Workshops – 2:30-4:30pm. This insightful workshop will help you develop exciting and meaningful workshops with confidence, organization and impact. Great for yoga teachers, personal trainers, coaches or anyone interested in leading workshops. $20/$25 after 3/7/16. Soul Shine Yoga, 456 Morphy Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@TheSoulShineLife.com.

TheSoulShineLife.com.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

Mommy-to-Mommy Support Group – 11am. Moms and babies meet monthly with other women to offer mother-to-mother guidance, support and companionship. These groups provide a forum for new mothers to get together to compare notes, vent frustrations and form friendships. Free. Luna Babies, 1820 Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS. 228-357-5574. LunaBabies.com.

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34

Green Drinks Mobile

Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

#TheXtremeChange www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

Baby Food: How to Make Your Own – 1pm. Do you want to make your own baby food, but don't know where to start? We can help. Homemade baby foods are easy to prepare and much cheaper than store bought brands. Free. Luna Babies, 1820 Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS. 228-357-5574. LunaBabies.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

Childbirth Education Class – 1pm. This is a mini childbirth education class. We will go over labor, birth and postpartum care and issues. Please, call to register. $50. Luna Babies, 1820 Pass Rd, Gulfport, MS. 228-357-5574. LunaBabies.com.

Spring Equinox Yoga – 6pm. Soul Shine Yoga is celebrating the end of winter and the emergence of spring during a Sunset Spring Equinox Celebration! Join us for a donation-based class on the bluff at Fairhope Pier to benefit Fairhope-Point Clear Rotary Youth Club. Donation. Bluff above Fairhope Pier. Namaste@TheSoulShineLife.com.

TheSoulShineLife.com.

TUESDAY, MARCH 22

Making Your Body a Safe Place to Live – 1pm.

Johanna Earthly Ramos from Earthly Bodies will teach holistic body lifestyle changes in this new series for the market. $5. Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market, 20733 Miflin Rd, Foley, AL. 251-597-5557. CoastaAlabamaMarket.com.

SATURDAY, MARCH 26

Usui Reiki Level I & II Certification Weekend w/Julie – 9:30am-5:30pm. Mar 26-27. Level I gives you tools for self-healing, Level II increases your connection with the Reiki Energy, and learn to work on others in person and distantly. Nurses completing this program receive 13 CE hours credit. $333 or prepay $288. Reiki Center of Fairhope, Fairhope, AL. ReikiCenterOfFairhope@gmail.com.

ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

Oils, Nitro and Taxes! Oh My! – 6:45-8:30pm. Preparing your taxes can be stressful at times, but help is on the way. Starla Smith, CPA will be presenting helpful information that will take the dread out of your tax preparation and help you make the best of the situation! $5 at the door. Prodisee Pantry, 9315 Spanish Fort Blvd, Spanish Fort, AL. 251-621-1474.

LaurieAzzarella@gmail.com.

FRIDAY, APRIL 1

Spring Plant Sale – Apr 1-3. Baldwin County Master Gardeners sale offers many native plants for sale at very reasonable prices. We have mostly perennials but some popular annuals and herbs are also available. Free. Weeks Bay, Fairhope, AL. BaldwinCountyMasterGardeners.com.

Our coastline just got a little bit longer...

We’re Expanding!

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

Quantum-Touch Level I with Julie E Brent – 9:30am-5:30pm. Apr 9-10. QT is a method of natural healing that works with the Life Force Energy of the body to promote optimal wellness. QT teaches us how to focus, amplify and direct Life Force energy, for a wide range of benefits and often extraordinary results. 13 MT CEs. $400 at the door/prepaid three weeks in advance $350. Reiki Center of Fairhope, Fairhope, AL. ReikiCenterOfFairhope@gmail.com.

ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events.

Now serving

HARRISON & JACKSON COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI

(including Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach & Pass Christian)

in addition to

MOBILE AND BALDWIN COUNTIES IN ALABAMA (including Mobile, Daphne, Fairhope, Foley, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach)

TUESDAY, APRIL 12

Green Drinks Earth Day Celebration – 5-7pm.

Celebrate Earth Day with Green Drinks! Live music, vendors, food. Free to attend except the cost of your drinks. Fairhope Brewing Company, 914 Nichols Ave, Fairhope, AL. 251-279-7517.

MobileBayGreenDrinks@gmail.com. Facebook. com/MobileBayGreenDrinks.

L T H Y H E A

N G L I V I

SATURDAY APRIL 16

Spring/Summer Market on the Square Opening Day – 7:30am-12pm. The Spring/Summer market will be open Saturdays, Apr 16-Jul 30. Local produce, baked goods, honey, flowers, soaps, live music and more. Cathedral Square, downtown Mobile.

251-208-1550. SpecialEventsMobile.org.

Usui Reiki Level I & II Certification Weekend w/ Julie – 9:30am-5:30pm. Apr 16-17. Nurses receive 13 hours of continuing education credit for this Reiki Level I & II workshop, awarded by Commonwealth Educational Seminars (CES). Level I gives you tools for self-healing, Level II increases connection with Reiki Energy and to work on others. $333 workshop fee/$288 prepaid 7 days in advance. Reiki Center of Fairhope, Fairhope, AL. Questions?: AskJulieEBrent@ gmail.com. ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

Earth Day Mobile Bay – 10am. Alabama’s largest Earth Day celebration. Free. Fairhope Pier Park, Fairhope. EarthDayMobileBay.org.

Gulf Coast Natural Parenting Expo - Featuring The Great Cloth Diaper Change – 10am-2:30pm. Food, games, giveaways and participation in the worldwide event, The Great Cloth Diaper Change, at 11am. Details on Facebook. Free. Edgewater Mall, 2600 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS. GulfCoastNaturalParentingExpo@ gmail.com.

SATURDAY, MAY 14

Usui Reiki Level I & II Certification Weekend w/ Julie – 9:30am-5:30pm. May 14-15. Nurses receive 13 hours of continuing education credit for this Reiki Level I & II workshop, awarded by Commonwealth Educational Seminars (CES). Level I gives you tools for self-healing, Level II increases connection with Reiki Energy and to work on others. $333 workshop fee/$288 prepaid 7 days in advance. Reiki Center of Fairhope, Fairhope, AL. Questions?: AskJulieEBrent@ gmail.com. ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com/events.

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

•Businesses to serve as pick-up locations for our magazines •Health- and planet-conscious news and events •Loyal advertisers to sponsor our free community publication We’d love to hear from you: Natural Awakenings Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi 251-990-9552 | MSNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com Learn more: HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com natural awakenings March 2016

35

ongoingevents Please call ahead to confirm dates and times. All calendar events must be received by the 10th of the month and adhere to our guidelines. Go to TinyURL.com/NACalendar to submit entries.

sunday Discounts on Supplements – Every Sunday get 15% off supplements at Fairhope Health Foods (251-928-0644) and Virginia's Health Foods (251479-3952). 280 Eastern Shore Shopping Center, Fairhope, AL and 3055-A Dauphin St, Mobile, AL. VA-FairhopeHealthFoods.com.

Center for Spiritual Living Service – 10am.

Make every step, every choice, every word, a conscious one. Center for Spiritual Living, 1230 Montlimar, Mobile, AL. 251-343-0777.

CenterForSpiritualLiving-Mobile.org.

Open Table Worship Service (United Church of Christ) – 10:30am. Weekly progressive Christian worship. Gathering in the chapel at All Saints Episcopal Church, 151 S Ann St, Mobile, AL. 251-545-1011.

Ellen.OpenTable@gmail.com. OpenTableUCC.org.

Sunday Service – 10:30am. Explore a spiritual pathway with Mobile Unitarian Universalists, 6345 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. UUFM.org.

Unity Christ Church Sunday Service – 11am.

Tune in, turn on, tap into the loving presence of the Divine at Unity Christ Church. If you desire a nonjudgmental, open, supportive and loving spiritual community, Unity Christ Church of Mobile is here to inspire, uplift and celebrate the Divine. 5859 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-285-3440. Facebook. com/unityofmobile.

AHA Sunday Yoga – 11:30am. Mar 6, 20. Start the week off calm and centered. Energize, align, strengthen, center and de-stress through movement, body-mind awareness and breath. Beginner-friendly.

Props provided. Call/text 251-753-1937 to register. $10 drop-in or 12-class pass for $100. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-377-8940. AlabamaHealingArts@gmail. com. AlabamaHealingArts.com.

AHA Supervised Yoga Clinic – 1pm. Mar 13. Enjoy a class by our AHA yoga teachers-in-training!

School-supervised internship gives AHA students the opportunity to instruct in a professional setting and for participants to receive quality yoga classes at a great value. Beginner-friendly. Props provided. $5 per class, 2-for-1 classes on pass for $100. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-753-1937. AlabamaHealingArts@gmail. com. AlabamaHealingArts.com.

monday Soul Shine Hot Power Yoga – 8am. Mon-Fri. A faster paced power vinyasa flow builds strength, increases flexibility, strengthens your core and transforms your body and mind. Find your groove, shine your light and practice at your own level. Heated. $15 single class. Packages available. Soul Shine Yoga,

36

103B N Bancroft Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@ TheSoulShineLife.com. TheSoulShineLife.com.

Men’s Pilates Class – 4pm. Classes utilize reformers, Pilates chairs and barrels. There are 2-4 people in a class to insure each client receives the instruction they require. Individual and group sessions are 60 minutes. Call for more time options. Advanced registration required. 2-4 people/class: $30/person.

Individual sessions: $60. 4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-344-0590. PeakConditionPilates.com.

Doggie Happy Hour – 5-7pm. 1st Mon. A rescue networking event hosted by My Happy Dog 123.

Bring your dog for drinks and live music while raising money for a local rescue foundation. Q&A with local vets. Free grain-free dog treats. Raffle prizes. Puppy photo booth. Free. OK Bicycle Shop, 661 Dauphin St, Mobile, AL. Viviane Hentschel: MyHappyDog123@gmail.com. Facebook.com/ myhappydog123.

Yoga Dance Fusion – 5:30-6:30pm. Connect with your inner rhythm and flow through Rebecca’s unique blend of yoga and dance. A fusion of dance styles mixed with yoga and breath will be an exploration of your own creativity and energetic flow. Absolutely no experience necessary. $15 drop in, packages available. Soul Shine Yoga, 456 Morphy Ave, Fairhope, AL. 251-929-4634. Rebecca.SoulFlow@gmail.com.

TheSoulShineLife.com.

Yoga with Chris G – 5:45pm. Join Chris Garrett for an energizing blend of Iyengar and vinyasa yoga.

Recharge the body, soothe the soul and refocus the mind after a long day. Breathe, work and find joy in the movement! Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104. Synergyoga.net.

Together We Can – 6-8pm. A Family Center class to help parents build a better future for their children by working together as co-parents. Open to couples regardless of their relationship. Become a team that supports your family's success. Free.

27365 Pollard Rd, Daphne, AL. Christie Brannon: 251-626-1610.BaldwinFamilies@gmail.com.

FamilyCenterMobile.org.

tuesday Farmers Market – 9am-2pm. Tues & Sat. Farmers market offering direct farm sales to the public. Fresh seasonal produce, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, honey, jellies, baked goods, handcrafted soaps and local artistry. Open year round. Know your farmer. Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermans Market, 20733 Miflin Rd. Foley, AL. 251-597-5557. MktMgrFoley@gmail. com. CoastalAlabamaMarket.com.

Yoga with Manja – 9am. Enjoy Manja Podratz’s zest and refreshing energy as she puts you back in touch with your body, restores the mind and leaves you refreshed, energized and focused. Revel in the bliss and embrace the joy of your day! Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104. Synergyoga.net.

Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

PLANS CHANGE!

Please call ahead to confirm dates and times.

La Leche League Mobile Bay Area – 10:30am. La Leche League meetings are open to all women with an interest in learning about and supporting breastfeeding. Meetings are always free and babies/children are welcome. 251-689-2085. For location information or breastfeeding help contact AmandaLLLMobile@ yahoo.com or MeghanLLL@yahoo.com.

Pilates Classes – 12pm & 2pm. Also 12pm, Thursdays. Classes utilize reformers, Pilates chairs and barrels. There are 2-4 people in a class to insure each client receives the instruction they require. Individual and group sessions are 60 minutes. Call for more time options. Advanced registration required.

2-4 people/class: $30/person. Individual sessions: $60. 4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-344-0590.

PeakConditionPilates.com.

Grief Recovery Meeting – 1-2:30pm. This is a Christian-based grief recovery program for all losses. Experienced, professional and compassionate staff members support you through the grief process with the goal of transitioning into a renewed life of purpose and fulfillment. Ascension Funerals & Cremations, 1016 Hillcrest Rd, Mobile, AL. 251634-8055. AscensionFuneralGroup.com.

Green Drinks Fairhope – 5-7pm. Every 2nd Tues. Join us for an informal yet engaging happy hour with like-minded folks. Connect with other progressive people in our area. Brief speaker at 6pm. Open to the public. Free to attend except the cost of your drinks. Fairhope Brewing Company, 914 Nichols Ave, Fairhope, AL. 251-279-7517.

MobileBayGreenDrinks@gmail.com. Facebook. com/MobileBayGreenDrinks. $5 Hoppy Hour Yoga – 6pm. Every 1st Tues. Join Soul Shine Yoga at Fairhope Brewing Co for Hoppy Hour Yoga on the first Tuesday of every month. All levels. $5. Fairhope Brewing Co, 914 Nichols Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@TheSoulShineLife.com.

TheSoulShineLife.com.

AHA Evening Yoga – 5:45pm. Give your spirit the gift of a calming and centering tune-up by improving posture, muscle-tone, strength and flexibility, establishing core strength, refreshing the mind and restoring healthy balance. Beginner-friendly. Props provided. Call/text to register. $10 drop-in or 12-class pass for $100. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-377-8940. AlabamaHealingArts@gmail.com.

AlabamaHealingArts.com.

Outstretched Christ-Centered Yoga Class – 5:45pm. Also at 8:15am on Wed. Each week Pneuma offers two donation-only yoga classes open to the public. Classes are appropriate for all levels and include a Christ-centered devotion. Donation only.

1901 Main St, Daphne, AL. See website for more info: Pneuma-Yoga-Movement.com.

Yoga with Valerie – 5:45pm. Join 200-hr RYT Valerie Mitchell for a glorious yoga experience as she challenges with a strong emphasis on alignment and focus while still calming the mind. Relieve stress and rejuvenate, energize and recharge the body.

Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104.

Synergyoga.net.

Sierra Club Meeting – 6-8pm. 1st Tues. Open to the public. 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort, AL. Pranic Healing and Meditation – 6:30pm. Headaches, stress, physical or emotional ailments bothering you? Experience healing for your mind, body and soul, with Pranic Healing and/or Meditation on Twin Hearts. We all have the ability to heal ourselves and others. Classes also available. Donation. Center for Spiritual Living, Mobile, AL. 251-454-0959.

wednesday Pilates Classes – 6am Yogalates. 8am Chair Pilates.

6pm Reformer. There are 2-4 people in a class to insure each client receives the instruction they require. Individual and group sessions are 60 minutes.

Call for more time options. Advanced registration required. 2-4 people/class: $30/person. Individual sessions: $60. 4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251344-0590. PeakConditionPilates.com.

Pilates for Older Adults – 9am. Wed & Fri. Includes work on the reformer and mat focusing on balance, core strength and flexibility. Slow to moderate pace. Advanced registration required. 2-4 people/class: $30/person. Individual sessions: $60.

4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-344-0590.

PeakConditionPilates.com.

$5 Yoga & Chair Yoga – 9:15am, Flow. 10:30am, Chair Yoga (seated or holding onto chair to practice balance). Beginners welcome. Bring your own mat.

Enjoy exercise at every level. Improve balance, strength and flexibility. $5. Fairhope UMC CLC, AL. 251-379-4493. ThriveFairhope.com.

Yoga – 9am. Wed & Fri. Experience yoga with emphasis on breathing, alignment and slow flow. Use of props to support your practice. All fitness levels welcome. Class size limited, call/text to register 251-583-0049. $10. Richard Fitness Systems, 1880 Airport Blvd, Ste D, Mobile, AL. 251-583-0049.

Free Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis – 10:30am. This chair yoga class is free to participants with MS and funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Build strength and flexibility while improving balance and circulation. Fairhope, AL. Thrive@ThriveFairhope. com. 251-379-4493.

Make it Wonderful Wednesday Creative Meditation – 11:30am-1:30pm. Join Susan Haines for a mid-week break to connect to your creativity. Get centered, grounded and experience less stress through the creative meditation of coloring along with movements for wrists and hands. $5. Soul Shine Yoga, 103B N Bancroft Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@ TheSoulShineLife.com. TheSoulShineLife.com.

Kids Yoga – 4-5pm. Children will cultivate inner peace and focus while exploring their creative energy. This class promotes acceptance, mindfulness and creativity in a supportive environment.

Taught by Rebecca Washburn. Parents: attend Hot Power class at the same time. $8, packages available. Soul Shine Yoga, 103 B N Bancroft St, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@TheSoulShineLife.com.

TheSoulShineLife.com.

AHA Flow Yoga Basics – 4:15pm. Energize, align, stretch, strengthen, center, calm, renew and restore. Build stamina, flexibility and improve heart health through the coordination of breath and movement in this fun and funky vinyasa flow class.

Beginner-friendly. Props provided. $10 per class, 12-classes for $100. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. Call/text 251-2223186 to register.AlabamaHealingArts@gmail.com.

AlabamaHealingArts.com.

ballet, Pilates, yoga and classic fitness exercises.

Focus and move to the music and really change your shape! Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104. Synergyoga.net.

Eastern Shore MS Support Group – 5:30pm. 2nd Wed. Eastern Shore MS Support Group meets each month at Ruby Tuesday in Fairhope, AL. Family, friends and caregivers are always welcome. Weezer: 251-928-7606.

Green Drinks Mobile – 5-7pm. 3rd Wed. Join us for an informal yet engaging happy hour with like-minded folks. Connect with other progressive people in our area. Open to the public. Free to attend except the cost of your drinks. Alchemy Tavern, 7 S Joachim St, Mobile, AL. MobileBayGreenDrinks@ gmail.com. Facebook.com/MobileBayGreenDrinks.

Near Death (NDEs) and Related Experiences – 6pm. 2nd Wed. Mobile affiliate group of IANDS. All are welcome to share experiences and support.

Free. West Regional Branch, Mobile Public Library, Grelot Rd (near University Blvd), AL. 251-3408565. Lbrlumin@aol.com. IANDS.org.

Fitness Fusion with Chris G – 5:45pm. Join Chris Garrett and give yourself the best seat in the house with Core Barre—work your body to a fusion of

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classifieds Fee for classified listings is $1 per word. Volunteer opportunities are listed for free as space is available.

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VOLUNTEER OPPS AZALEA CITY CAT COALITION – Volunteers needed in any capacity. Contact Susan Young: 251-648-7582. SusanYoung@ AzaleaCityCats.org.

DOG RIVER CLEARWATER REVIVAL STORM DRAIN MARKER PROJECT – Volunteers needed to educate the public about the storm drain system. Supplies and instructions provided. Work at your convenience.

Contact Janet Miller: J46Miller@yahoo.com.

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Chill Skills – 7-9pm. The Family Center offers an inspiring four-week class designed to change your life outlook. Learn what fuels your anger and how to see it in a new light. Warning: classes may cause peace. $25/week. 601 Bel Air Blvd. Suite 100, Mobile, AL. Call 251-479-5700 to register for next class.

thursday Yoga with Dana – 10am. Take a break before lunch.

Join Dana and let breath and body move in sync as her seamless style transforms the body, relieves stress and relaxes the mind. Leave feeling on top of the world and really enjoy the glory of the day!

Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104.

Synergyoga.net.

Group Reformer Class – 4pm. Catch the wave of classical fitness and join Dana in the afternoon for a Pilates group reformer class. Stand taller, get toned and be both leaner and stronger. Please log onto the website to make reservations. Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104. Synergyoga.net.

Men’s Pilates Class – 5pm. Classes utilize reformers, Pilates chairs and barrels. 2-4 people in a class to insure each client receives the instruction they require. Individual and group sessions are 60 minutes.

Call for more time options. Registration required.

2-4 people/class: $30/person. Individual sessions: $60. 4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-344-0590.

PeakConditionPilates.com.

Buti Yoga at Soul Shine Yoga – 5:45pm. Buti Yoga has a foundation in power yoga and is fused with tribal dance, plyometrics and deep abdominal toning. This, plus rockin, fun dance music, creates a high-intensity workout that transforms the body and soul. Unheated, 60 minutes. $15 single class.

Packages available. Soul Shine Yoga, 456 Morphy Ave, Fairhope, AL. Namaste@TheSoulShineLife. com. TheSoulShineLife.com.

Movie Night – 6-8pm. Showing a different thoughtprovoking movie each week. Seating is limited; please reserve your seat by calling 228-831-1785.

Free. Coast Health & Nutrition, 12100 Hwy 49, Ste 628, Gulfport, MS. Dynamic Dads – 7-9pm. The Family Center is the site of the Mobile County Fatherhood Initiative.

Six Thursday night classes delve into the importance of fathers and how to meet the challenges of being the father your children need--A super hero for your super kid! Free. 601 Bel Air Blvd, Suite 100, Mobile, AL. Lydia Pettijohn: 251-479-5700.

FamilyCenterMobile.org.

friday Pilates Classes – 8am & 10am. Classes utilize reformers, Pilates chairs and barrels. There are 2-4 people in a class to insure each client receives the instruction they require. Individual and group sessions are 60 minutes. Call for more time options. Advanced registration required. 2-4 people/class: $30/person.

Individual sessions: $60. 4500 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-344-0590. PeakConditionPilates.com.

Purification Meditation – 11am. Join Betsey Grady from Rosie Bluum in the hot room and purify your body and mind with a guided meditation and creative

38

Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

PLANS CHANGE!

Please call ahead to confirm dates and times. visualization. Let the heat of the room envelop you as you go deeper within to rest in the calm center within you. $10. Soul Shine Yoga, 103-B N Bancroft St, Fairhope, AL. Betsey: 251-517-5626.

AHA Supervised Student Massage Clinic – See web calendar for dates. School-supervised internship gives opportunity for student practitioners to work with clients in a professional setting and clients to receive quality, full-length healing treatments at a great value. Call for appointment. $25 for 50-min full-body student massage session. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-753-1937. AlabamaHealingArts@gmail.com.

AlabamaHealingArts.com.

saturday Saturday Morning Yoga with Augusta – 7:308:45am. All levels. The movements will challenge you to stay mindful and your mindfulness will allow you to honor your limits without judging yourself. $15 drop-in. $10 students and instructors. Creative Outlet, 66 1/2 S Section St, Fairhope, AL. 251-9285363. HeartStringsYoga.com.

Farmers Market – 9am-2pm. Tues & Sat. Farmers market offering direct farm sales to the public. Fresh seasonal produce, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, honey, jellies, baked goods, handcrafted soaps and local artistry. Open year round. Know your farmer. Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermans Market, 20733 Miflin Rd. Foley, AL. 251-597-5557. MktMgrFoley@gmail. com. CoastalAlabamaMarket.com.

Weekend Yoga – 9am. Join Chris M, Bo, Valerie or Angela and start your weekend with a revitalizing and bliss inducing class. Refresh and renew the spirit—bring the joy and zest back as you kick start your day! Synergy Yoga & Pilates, Mobile, AL. 251-473-1104. Synergyoga.net.

Second Saturday Kite Flying – 10am-4pm. Kite flying exhibition and free kite flying lessons for single line, dual line and quad line sport kites. Bring one of yours or fly one of ours. Free. Long Beach Harbor area, Beach Blvd at Jeff Davis, Long Beach, MS. 228-206-0322. KewlKites.com.

AHA Qigong – 10:30am-12pm. Mar 19. Explore the healing art of Qigong, an ancient Chinese exercise system that combines repetitive slow movements, focused intention, breathing techniques and meditation to achieve balance and harmony. Call/text 251-209-3714 to register. $10 per class, 12-classes for $100. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. Info@AlabamaHealingArts. com. AlabamaHealingArts.com.

AHA Supervised Student Reiki Clinic – See web calendar for dates. School-supervised internship gives opportunity for student practitioners to work with clients in a professional setting and clients to receive quality, full-length healing treatments at a great value. Call for appointment. $25 for 50-min full-body student Reiki session. Alabama Healing Arts, LLC, 6304 Cottage Hill Rd, Mobile, AL. 251-753-1937. AlabamaHealingArts@gmail.com.

AlabamaHealingArts.com.

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natural awakenings March 2016

39

naturaldirectory

COUNSELING

Connecting you to the leaders in healthy and green living in our community. To be included in the Natural Directory, email Publisher@ HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com.

Did you miss our 2016 Healthy and Green Living Directory? Contact us to find out where you can pick up a copy of this expanded edition, or read it online at TinyURL.com/NAFeb16.

BABYCARE

ACUPUNCTURE BISHOP PHYSICAL THERAPY

LUNA BABIES

Patrick Miller, Licensed Acupuncturist 1203 Highway 98, Suite 1-C, Daphne, AL 251-626-7778 • BishopPhysicalTherapy.com

1820 Pass Road, Gulfport, MS 228-357-5574 • LunaBabies.com Facebook.com/lunababiescd

Acupuncture treats neck and back pain, weight management, sciatica, arthritis, headaches, stress/ anxiety, digestive issues, fertility issues, menstrual and menopausal symptoms and more. Experience natural pain relief with acupuncture, chiropractic care and physical therapy. See ad, page 29.

A natural parenting store proudly offering a growing selection of clo th d iap er s an d accessories, baby carriers, unique gifts and other green products for families. Classes and support groups offered regularly. See ad, page 11.

AKASHIC READINGS BETSEY GRADY

Founder of Rosie Bluum 6A S Bancroft Street, Fairhope • 251-517-5626 BetseyGrady.com • RosieBluum.com Referred to as the Book of Life, the Akashic Records are soul records, storing all information of an individual, place or thing. A consultation offers deep levels of guidance from the masters, teachers and guides, supporting you in living life from your authentic essence.

See ad, page 31.

BEAUTY B-BUTTERFLY SALON

103A North Bancroft Street, Fairhope, AL 251-990-9934 BButterflySalon.com salon offering organic B-Butterfly Aproducts and services

SALON

including hair color, perms and shampoo.

Make a difference today in your hair, your life and the Earth. Visit us for a free hair exam today and go organic! Manicures, pedicures and eyebrow waxing also available. See ad, page 27.

Make our community a little GREENER...

Support our advertisers.

40

Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

www.HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com

REBECCA WASHBURN, LPC, RYT

Licensed Professional Counselor 400 Fairhope Avenue 2A • 251-929-4634 Counseling@RebeccaWashburn.com Experience inner peace and harmony of mind, body, emotion and spirit. Let go of patterns from the past and create a life that honors who you are. Children, teens and adults welcome.

Insurance accepted.

CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY KRISTEN KELLY, LMT

Rosie Bluum 6A South Bancroft Street, Fairhope, AL 251-599-5943 • 251-517-5626 Offering Chinese Craniosacral Therapy, a subtle blend of Chinese meridian therapy and craniosacral energy work, that indirectly approaches physical and psychological imbalances.

This experience teaches your body to use its own bioelectric immune system. See ad, page 31.

CRYSTALS AND GEMS THE BODHI TREE

Located at the Tanger Outlet 2601 South McKenzie Street, Foley, AL 251-600-9414 • BodhiTree.Rocks The Bodhi Tree (pronounced /BŌ DĒ/) is a cultural crystal shop fit for both enlightened masters and those who aren't sure what "metaphysical" means. We carry the largest selection of crystals in Alabama. You are loved!

See ad, page 14.

For every $100 spent in locally owned businesses, $68 returns to the community.

source: the350project.net

DENTISTRY DR. DAYTON HART, DMD

IAOMT Protocol 225 West Laurel Avenue, Foley, AL 251-943-2471 • DrDaytonHart.com Free book for new patients: Mercury Free Dentistry.

Offering ozone; laser (nosuture) gum surgery; testing for compatible materials and cavity-causing bacteria; examine for gum disease and bacteria; laser cavity diagnoses; saliva pH check; oral galvanic screening; no fluoride.

ESSENTIAL OILS LAURIE AZZARELLA YL #327923 Daphne, AL • 850-380-4943 LaurieAzzarella@gmail.com Laurie.MarketingScents.com

Experience the healing, uplifting and detoxifying benefits of authentic, genuine therapeutic grade essential oils and supplements. Contact us for personal Zyto Wellness readings and wholesale privileges. Wellness classes last Thursday of the month at Prodisee Pantry.See ad, page 33.

NAN cardholders receive discounts at these businesses. Visit www.TinyURL. com/NANCard for details.

Pick up a copy of Natural Awakenings here.

FENG SHUI FENGSHUI831

Meryl Hyderally, Feng Shui Design Consultant 251-463-1862 • Meryl@Hyderally.com fengshui831.com

THE HEALTH HUT

680 S. Schillinger, Mobile, AL: 251-633-0485 (Across from Home Depot) 6845 Hwy 90, Daphne, AL: 251-621-1865 (Across from Fresh Market) For 30 years The Health Hut has been the go-to place for high quality, whole-food vitamins, herbs and sport supplements at great prices. Service-oriented, knowledgeable staff. See ad, page 15.

fengshui 831

Utilizing feng shui principles, let us create an organized and productive space that reflects who you are while enhancing your life, personally and professionally. It's about more than aesthetics— holistically designed spaces are conducive to an effortless life. See ad, page 31.

FOOD & NUTRITION COAST HEALTH & NUTRITION

12100 Highway 49, Suite 628, Gulfport, MS 228-831-1785 CoastHealthAndNutrition.com Local health food store and wellness center to support your healthy lifestyle: natural and organic options for food, supplements, cleaning supplies and skincare.

Chiropractic care, massage therapy and essential oil counseling also available. See ad, page 21.

FAIRHOPE HEALTH FOODS AND THE SUNFLOWER CAFÉ

280 Eastern Shore Shopping Center 251-928-0644 • Café: 251-929-0055 Va-FairhopeHealthFoods.com Comprehensive health food store and organic café serving the public for 40 years. Extensive supplement selection; organic groceries, produce and meats; bath and body products; bulk spices and herbs; pet supplies; baby products and more. Monthly product specials. See ad, back cover.

VIRGINIA’S HEALTH FOODS AND THE SUNFLOWER CAFÉ II 3055 A Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 251-479-3952 Va-FairhopeHealthFoods.com

Comprehensive health food store and organic café serving the public for 40 years. Extensive supplement selection; organic groceries, produce and meats; bath and body products; bulk spices and herbs; pet supplies; baby products and more. Monthly product specials. See ad, back cover.

HEALING ARTS PRANIC HEALING IN MOBILE Deana Lannie 251-454-0959

Free healing nights and group meditations every Tuesday. Pranic Healing classes and the advanced technique of Superbrain Yoga. See ad, page 31.

TAKE ACTION TO SHOW YOU ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE Advertise in Natural Awakenings’

Everyday Sustainability April Issue

To advertise or participate in our next issue, call 251-990-9552 natural awakenings March 2016

41

NATURAL PRODUCTS

HOLISTIC WELLNESS EMILY SOMMERVILLE, RYT

Certified Health Coach Emily@TheSoulShineLife.com • 205-478-4287 TheSoulShineLife.com

DAVID'S GALLERY

809 Gulf Shores Parkway Gulf Shores, Alabama 36542 251-948-7862 Offering cannabidiol (CBD), a natural remedy for anxiety, insomnia, pain, etc. CBD products in 11 different forms, plus essential oils and kratom available. Your one stop alternative shop.

Mention this ad for 10% discount.

Increase energy and manage stress by finding balance in a life that lets your soul shine.

Find true health and vibrancy by fueling your body with clean, nutritious foods. Free initial consultation.

MASSAGE THERAPY JEN ADAMS, LMT

22787 US 98, Building D, Suite 5, Montrose 251-616-4201 • JenAdamsLMT.info JenAdams.Massage@gmail.com Unique massage technique that is gentle enough for the severest sufferers of pain and deep enough for the most rigorous of athletes. 14 years experience in the bodywork and natural wellness field.

METAPHYSICAL

NETWORKING

Offering gifts and services that nurture your spirit. Books, card decks, essential oils, Bach Flower Remedies, crystals, salt lamps, incense and organic clothing. Local art, jewelry, honey, soaps and candles. See ad, page 31.

Fairhope & Mobile • 251-279-7517 MobileBayGreenDrinks@gmail.com Facebook.com/MobileBayGreenDrinks An informal yet engaging happy hour with likemobile bay minded folks every second Tuesday in Fairhope and every third Wednesday in Mobile. Connect with other progressive people in our area. Sponsorship, speaker and catering opportunities available.

See ad, page 24.

GREEN DRINKS

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT JULIE E BRENT, RMT, MA

Energy Healing Educator In Fairhope, AL by appt: 251-281-8811 AskJulieEBrent@gmail.com JulieEBrent.com • ReikiCenterOfFairhope.com Take the time for yourself with someone who values you. Julie is experienced in offering help with mind, body, spirit. Reiki, yoga, reflexology, Law of Attraction coach, conscious channel and teacher.

Reach Your Target Market

21 Marks Road, Ocean Springs, MS 228-209-4090 WellnessSpaOS.com

A Wellness Spa specializing in oncology skincare. Also offering digital skin analysis, facials, waxing and microdermabrasion. Wellness coaching available. Everything you need to know to accomplish good health, skincare and wellness. See ad, page 29.

TEA 10025 County Road 64, Ste. 1, Daphne, AL 251-391-0109 • ZenTeaFairhope@gmail.com LivingZenTea.com Facebook.com/zenteafairhope A tea shop offering premium tea, herbs and tea accessories from around the world.

Uplift your energy and spirit and experience all the healthy benefits of tea. (Location: corner of Highways 64 and 181).

WELLNESS CENTERS HEALING ACRES

22355 Price Grubbs Road Robertsdale, AL 251-300-9052 Experience wellness with massage, reflexology, body treatments, Reiki, colonics, essential oils, wellness classes and more. Walk our new labyrinth (open to the public during daylight hours)! See ad, page 31.

Pick up a copy of Natural Awakenings here.

Contact us today: 251-990-9552 or Publisher@HealthyLivingHealthyPlanet.com Gulf Coast Alabama/Mississippi Edition

ZEN TEA

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WELLNESS SPA OF OCEAN SPRINGS

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THE WILLOW TREE AT ROSIE BLUUM 6A South Bancroft Street, Fairhope, AL 251-517-5326 or 251-751-6945 TheWillowTreeAtRosieBluum.com

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Organic Wine | Bath & Body Products | Dairy-Free

Organic Meats | Supplements | Detox Products

Organic Produce | Gluten-Free | Bulk Spices & Herbs

Your Wellness is Our Business Serving the community for 40 years.

Baby Products | Pet Food and Supplies | Essential Oils

15% off supplements every Sunday!

MARCH SPECIALS: 20% off

Source Naturals, Planetary Herbals, Jarrow and Megafood products!

Garden of Life & New Chapter 20% off everyday!

Virginia’s Health Foods • 3055 A Dauphin St in Mobile • 251-479-3952 Fairhope Health Foods • 280 Eastern Shore Shopping Ctr in Fairhope • 251-928-0644

Offering full organic lunch menus in Fairhope & Mobile.

Also Sunday brunch and dinner on Thursdays and Fridays in Fairhope Featuring free-range meats, farm-fresh produce, organic wines & options for special dietary needs (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free).

Asian Fusion • Mediterranean • Italian • Tex-Mex • Thai Pizza • Sandwiches • Pasta • Salads Catering service and take-out available. Menus online. Call for specials.

Located next door to Fairhope Health Foods and inside Virginia’s Health Foods in Mobile.

Fairhope: 251-929-0055

Mon-Sat 10:30am-4pm; Sunday Brunch 10:30am-2pm Thursday & Friday Dinner 5-9pm

Mobile: 251-479-3200 Mon-Sat 10:30am-4pm Sunday 11am-2pm

www.VA-FairhopeHealthFoods.com