October 2010 Natural Awakenings Gulf Coast AL/MS

HEALTHY LIVING HEALTHY PLANET feel good live simply laugh more

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Special Edition

HEALTHY PLANET

WHAT WE NEED TO DO NOW

TRANSITION TOWNS Where Sustainable Living Is Real

Bill McKibben On: How to Be a

WAYS TO GO

HERO

Put More Plants on Your Plate

CLIMATE

VEGAN

OCTOBER 2010 | Mobile / Baldwin Edition | Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

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contact us Publisher/Editor Meredith Montgomery Assistant Editor Josh Montgomery Design Meredith Montgomery Michael Wilson Local Ad Sales 251-990-9552 P.O. Box 725 Fairhope, AL 36533 Phone: 251-990-9552 Fax: 251-281-2375 Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com MobilePublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com Multi-Market Advertising 239-449-8309 Franchise Sales 239-530-1377 © 2010 by Natural Awakenings. All rights reserved. Although some parts of this publication may be reproduced and reprinted, we require that prior permission be obtained in writing.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available by sending $24 (for 12 issues) to the above address.

Natural Awakenings is printed on recycled newsprint with soybased ink.

As someone who loathes running, prefers a cruiser to a mountain bike and would rather float than swim, I was in awe of my aunt’s recent completion of a half ironman triathlon. Raising money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, this achievement was not only a physical accomplishment, it was an act of benevolence as well. The story was so inspirational that I included it in this month’s issue in “Journal of a Reader,” on page 13.

“Transition Towns,” the green living piece on page 11, is another impelling article. Describing how communities around the country are transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle, this article references citizens working together to attain high goals. Within the next 15 years, residents of Berea, Kentucky plan to cut energy use by 50 percent and seek to obtain 50 percent of the town’s food from farms and processors located within 100 miles of town.

Just as aspiring to complete a triathlon may be an inappropriate goal for me at this point in my life, committing to decreasing energy use by 50 percent for Mobile and Baldwin counties by 2025 is an equally arduous, and perhaps unrealistic task. However, these two scenarios can serve as upwelling inspirations for individuals and communities.

This month’s Healthy Planet issue is full of ways to green your lifestyle. If we all commit to making more sustainable and environmentally friendly choices, our efforts as a whole will make a marked difference. Start by visiting the local businesses and practitioners mentioned in Natural Awakenings articles and advertisements. While benefitting your own well-being and that of the planet, you will also be supporting the local economy.

I don’t expect to start training for a triathlon anytime soon, nor do I anticipate a 50 percent drop in my energy bill. Nevertheless, I can start walking and biking more, and I can commit to using less energy around the house. Little steps can lead to big change over time. Together we can make a difference.

With inspiration and gratitude,

Meredith Montgomery

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October 2010

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Stand Out

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in the Crowd!

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Eastern Influences • Thai Massage • Reiki Neuromuscular • Deep Tissue • Orthopedic Swedish • Spa Therapies • Sports Massage

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Tranquility

by Laura Tucker

S

and and walls were the mediums of choice for artist Laura Tucker when she was a wide-eyed toddler, taking in her world with wonderment and an ever-growing imagination.

Family car trips as a youngster and teen found her busily sketching colored landscapes while nature’s creations and manmade scenes flashed before her hungry eyes.

Today, Tucker’s commissioned and gallery art has evolved into two distinct types of painting: abstracts comprised of geometric shapes with bold, sharply defined lines; and sensuously colored images with evocative, fluid impressions. “My inspiration is ignited by nature and the peaceful place in my heart—from family, and what love brings,” the Fort Myers artist explains, “and by the wildlife and the colors I wake up to every day in subtropical Florida.”

She painted Tranquility on a weekend trip to the Florida Keys. “I spent the day at the Turtle Research Hospital in Grassy Key, where the faces and soulful expressions of the turtles resonated with me. Tranquility is a state these turtles reach after rehabilitation and release back into the wild. It was also the state I reached while working through the entire painting.”

To view more of Laura Tucker’s art, contact her at 570-236-7676 or Tuck13soccer@aol.com.

“Leading the Way in Health Care & Massage Therapy Training.”

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contents 14 9 healthykids

11 greenliving

14 ecobriefs

16 healthbriefs

16 18 inspiration 19 localfeature 26 fitbody 29 consciouseating

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31 naturalpet

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

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

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.

9 BE AFRAID,

The Real Goblins

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

12 SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Resources on the Gulf Coast

by Meredith Montgomery

18 ECO-FILM PICKS

18

Movies With a Message Worth Watching

19 CONSIGNMENT SHOPS:

The Money and Planet Saving Option

by Meredith Montgomery

29

22 BE A CLIMATE HERO

Act Up. Act Now.

by Bill McKibben

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS Email articles, news items and ideas to: MobilePublisher@ NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for editorial: the 5th of the month prior to the month of publication.

26 EXERCISE FOR

CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS Submit Calendar Events online at Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

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

by Michael Curran

REGIONAL MARKETS Advertise your products or services in multiple markets!

Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. is a growing franchised family of locally owned magazines serving communities since 1994. To place your ad in other markets call 239-449-8309. For franchising opportunities call 239-530-1377 or visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

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BE VERY AFRAID...

Learn How to Avoid

SPINE HEALTH

Smart Training Beats Back Pain

29 ON THE VEGAN TRAIL

26

Why People Are Putting

More Plants on Their Plates

by Kristin Ohlson

31 PUMPKIN FOR PETS

by Morieka V. Johnson

Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com natural awakenings

October 2010

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newsbriefs Yoga at Your Desk and More Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio has new offerings this fall. The studio’s newest instructor, Tracey Glover, recently completed her teacher training in Rishikesh, India, and now leads the Sunrise Class at 6 a.m. every Wednesday.

A 10 a.m. Saturday morning class has also been added to the schedule and will be taught by all of the instructors on a rotating basis.

For days when leaving the office is not an option, access Quiet Mind’s Yoga at Your Desk YouTube video on their website. Viewers are led through a brief and gentle practice that can be done while sitting at a desk. Owner Ginger Dunaway says, “It is very beneficial to take a few moments to turn off the phone and forget about emails. Relaxing the body and quieting the mind will help heighten your attention and focus, ultimately making you more productive and more creative.”

In addition to a full schedule of yoga classes, Quiet Mind offers massage therapy. Dunaway and Heidi Pritchett each come with more than 11 years experience in that practice.

Location: 2065 B Old Shell Road, in Mobile. For the full schedule of classes and offerings, visit QuietMindMassageTherapy.com. See ad on page 39.

Fun, Funky and Free Offering an eclectic, yet mindful, selection of products for health, beauty, style and spirit, Rosie Blu is a little shop with a big spirit in downtown Fairhope.

Owner Betsey Grady describes the store as a little slice of West Coast, spiced with Alabama flavor. She says, “Rosie Blu is funky, natural and free: everything you think a San Francisco surfer may be.” All of the products that Grady carries are good for you, whether it be for the body, home or pet. The store is also good for the local economy, selling locally-sourced items such as Kittrell’s Daydream Apiary honey and soaps, Made in the Shea skin and body care and A Bee-Ville bee pollen to name a few. Other items include books, art, crystals, jewelry, soy candles and Tisserand Aromatherapy.

The animal-loving shop also carries items for four-legged friends, too, and is a supporter of The Haven. Filled with things that evoke smiles and contribute to more pleasurable living, Rosie Blu’s philosophy is that life is meant to sparkle, to be joyful and to be unedited.

Alabama Coastal BirdFest The Alabama Coastal BirdFest will take place October 14-17 to welcome and celebrate the annual fall migration of birds from all over North America. A wealth of birding trips, on foot and by boat, are scheduled for this year’s event and are appropriate for birders of all experience levels.

The opening night reception at 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center will feature a slide show by photographer Lisa Comer and a presentation by Dr. John Dindo, senior marine scientist and associate director of Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Reservations are required for Friday night’s program and all guided trips during the event.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., October 16, visitors can learn about coastal habitat at the free Bird & Conservation Expo on the grounds of Faulkner State College, in downtown Fairhope. A variety of presentations and exhibits are planned, in addition to live raptor demonstrations, programs on snakes of Alabama, a kids’ birdhouse build, and other hands-on activities for visitors of all ages.

John Borom, president of Mobile Bay Audubon Society and BirdFest chairman, says, “Alabama Coastal BirdFest’s mission is to preserve and protect habitat along the Alabama Gulf Coast, and in light of this year’s BP oil disaster, that mission is more important than ever.” Proceeds from the event are used to preserve and protect birding habitat on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

For more information, visit Alabama CoasalBirdFest.com.

Location: 422 Fairhope Avenue, in Fairhope. For more information: Call 251517-5326, or visit RosieBlu.com. See ad on page 31.

NEWS TO SHARE? Send submissions for news briefs and calendars to MobilePublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag. com or call 251-990-9552. To be considered for November’s issue, please send submissions by October 10.

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Bringing Meditation Into Daily Life

Reiki Workshop

Bill Karelis returns to Mobile for a presentation and retreat focusing on how meditation opens and sharpens the mind, and how these effects can be carried into the ordinary tasks of daily life.

A free public talk will be held at 7 p.m., November 5, in the Student Center room 212, at the University of South Alabama.

“Meditation: The Path of Insight,” a program from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., November 6, will be hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mobile. The suggested donation for this daylong event is $20.

A resident of Boulder, Colorado, Karelis has been practicing Buddhist-based meditation for 38 years. He founded the Shambhala Prison Community in 1996 to propagate education and meditation in prison systems internationally.

A Level I Reiki Workshop will be held at the new Fortis College of Massage Therapy location from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., November 20. Led by Kelly Laurendine, the workshop will cover meditation and breath practice; introduction and history of Reiki; principles of Reiki, basic hand positions; practice Reiki sessions; and Reiki I attunements. The cost of the class is $90, $75 for Fortis College affiliates.

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is an ancient healing system that utilizes energy to promote wellness. Teachable to anyone, the practice can be learned as a means to diversify a career in health, or to simply share with friends and family. The techniques can be administered to others or to one’s own body.

A student of various energy practices for more than 15 years, Laurendine first started practicing Reiki in 1999 and has taught workshops on the system since 2003. In addition to being an instructor at Fortis College in Mobile, she is a licensed massage therapist (LMT), experienced registered yoga teacher (E-RYT), master Reiki teacher and a student of Qigong

For more information, contact Eric Loomis at 251-661-0191, or visit uufm.org.

and Kung Fu. Location: 300F Azalea Road, in Mobile. For more information visit FortisCollege.edu, or call 251-753-1937. See ad on page 4.

Eco-Travel Website Launched Artistic Biodiversity The international See the Bigger Picture photo exhibition is making its U.S. debut at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center through November 21. Displaying 28 photographs taken by children worldwide, the collection showcases a stunning combination of art and science.

See the Bigger Picture originated in 2009, when Airbus, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and National Geographic launched an international competition for young people to submit their photographic interpretations of biodiversity.

David Trent, site director of Mobile’s Airbus Engineering Center, says, “With the oil spill, it’s now more important than ever to draw attention to the stunning variety and importance of nature, and to encourage everyone to get involved in preserving it.”

The exhibit is featured in the Exploreum’s outdoor courtyard. To further reinforce the theme of biodiversity, the panels are positioned in a tree-like manner among plants indigenous to the Gulf Coast.

Running a local version of the photo competition, the Exploreum and Airbus enlisted the creativity of children ages 6-14 to collect submissions of photographs illustrating biodiversity on the Gulf Coast. The work of three local children is on display during the international exhibit’s visit to Mobile.

Location: 65 Government Street, in Mobile. For more information, call 251208-6873 or visit Exploreum.com.

Coastal Dreams Travel of Gulf Shores has launched a new website to publicize eco-trips planned for 2011. Organized, small group trips are currently scheduled for Costa Rica, Peru and the Galapagos Islands.

Coastal Dreams Travel Agent Belinda Ringpfeil says, “As an environmental educator and experienced traveler, I am excited to offer these eco-tourism based trips.” The destinations are included in 1,000 Places To See Before You Die, A Traveler’s Life List, by Patricia Schultz, and the itineraries allow for plenty of free time, native food and culture, wildlife interactions and adventure sports.

For more information, visit Coast alDreamsTravel.

Weebly.com or email Coastal DreamsTravel@ earthlink.net.

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newsbriefs Finding Relief Through Sacrology On October 16-17, a Sacrology® class will be offered for massage therapists and anyone interested in the proper techniques of using the Sacro Wedgy®. Eligible for continuing education units, this class is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork in Alabama and Florida.

According to Sacro Wedgy business owner Cindy Ballis, “We will discuss which muscles are responsible for many common symptoms such as sciatica, back pain, hip pain and more. With the use of the Sacro Wedgy, the muscles relax back into alignment and many of these symptoms are able to resolve themselves.” The product serves as an effective tool for therapists and as a way for their clients to provide self-care.

“Helping people find relief is what it’s all about,” says Ballis, who promises a fun-filled class with an informative exchange of healing techniques. The cost of the class is $275 and includes a Sacro Wedgy set and workbook. Space is limited.

Location: 5650 Old Pascagoula Road, Suite 202, in Mobile. For more information, call 251-653-9258 or 800-737-9295, or visit SacrologyClass.com or SacrWedgy.com. See ad on page 35.

Art with a Conscious Bent The annual Artist Members’ Show is currently on display at the Orange Beach Arts Center through October 21. In response to the summer’s oil spill, the theme of this year’s show is “Gulf Stream of Consciousness.”

Viewers are invited to reflect upon the wonder of the Gulf and wonder about its future.

With a mission to provide a venue for inspiration, education, promotion and enjoyment of the arts for the residents and visitors to the Gulf Coast, the center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Location: 26398 Canal Road, in Orange Beach. For more information, call 251981-2787, or visit OrangeBeachArtsCenter.com.

Planet Yoga Workshops From October 15 to 17, Synergy Yoga and Pilates will host Planet Yoga’s Leeann Carey for a masterclass and an enlightening series of workshops exploring the potential of participants’ minds, hearts and bodies.

Attendees will take pleasure in the structure and form that key positioning skills and alignment principles can impart.

Carey is an acclaimed yoga instructor and founder of the Planet Yoga Method. She explains,”The advantage of the Planet Yoga Method is that the teaching is student-centered, not pose-centered. Students learn how to apply modifications to meet individual skill level, and provide therapeutic adjustments which support ongoing self-discovery, function and fun on the yoga mat.”

On the schedule for the weekend are a two-hour masterclass open to all levels at 5:45 p.m., October 15; an introductory workshop to the Planet Yoga Method from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., October 16; and a Slow Flow workshop, showing how to use the method to link and sequence poses, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., October 17. Open to both teachers and students, these classes require advanced registration, as space is limited. A total of 6.0 Yoga Alliance contact hours can be earned for the workshops.

Location: 3152 Old Shell Road, Suite 2, in Mobile. For information, call 251-4731104, or visit synergyoga.net. See ad on page 39.

Music for the Ears Martha Umphrey is now offering sound therapy as a natural solution for tinnitus or diminished hearing due to injury, stroke or aging. When bombarded by low frequency machine noise (i.e. traffic, appliances and computers) the response of the ear, brain and nervous system is to shut down in varying degrees to block out some high frequency sounds. By listening to classical music recorded with enhanced high frequencies in a special pattern of high and low tones, sound therapy re-opens listening pathways and balances the nervous system.

Umphrey says, “As a singer, I have experienced a change in my vocal range since starting sound therapy. I now have a two octave vocal range.”

This treatment is based on 50 years of clinical research in hundreds of international clinics. In addition to relieving stress, improving sleep, and increasing energy levels, sound therapy helps those suffering from attention deficit disorder (ADD), tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness and speech problems.

For more information contact Martha Umphrey at 251-752-8122 or MarthaUmphrey@yahoo.com See listing on page 38.

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healthykids

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID...

LEARN HOW TO AVOID THE REAL GOBLINS

by Melinda Hemmelgarn

O

ur little ones, masquerading this month as ghosts and goblins, only look scary. What’s really frightening are the toxic chemicals lurking in our families’ food and water.

Pregnant women, infants and children are most vulnerable, because expectant, young and growing bodies are less able to break down and excrete toxins. Halloween screams for a list of valid fears, plus strategies to keep our families safe.

Pesticides: According to Charles Benbrook, Ph.D., chief scientist at the Boulder, Colorado-based Organic Center, more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the United States alone. More than half of the most widely applied pesticides are known endocrine disruptors, compounds that mimic natural hormones and interfere with normal development.

At Beyond Pesticides’ annual meeting last spring, Indianapolis-based neonatologist Dr. Paul Winchester explained

how pesticide exposure contributes to birth defects, autism, hyperactivity, diabetes, reduced fertility, obesity and cancer.

It’s no wonder that the President’s Cancer Panel Report recommends choosing foods grown or produced without pesticides.

Genetically Modified Foods: An estimated 70 percent of common processed foods lining supermarkets shelves, including Halloween candy, contain at least one genetically modified (GM) ingredient.

Yet, genetically modified crops and foods (GMOs) have never been tested for longterm safety.

Since the introduction of GM crops 13 years ago, Benbrook says pesticide use has increased by more than 300 million pounds. Because GM crops are designed to withstand pesticide spray, over time, weeds and pests naturally develop resistance, requiring more and stronger chemicals.

Mercury Rising: Recent U.S. Geological Survey research found mercury contamination in every fish sampled from 291 streams nationwide. More surprising, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) found mercury in assorted products

containing high fructose corn syrup, likely the result of the sweetener’s manufacturing process, says Renee Dufault, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration health officer.

David Wallinga, a medical doctor and director of the Food and Health program at IATP, says mercury is a toxic, heavy metal that harms brain development; no exposure level is considered safe.

Plastic Poisons: Like pesticides, plastics can release endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA) into food and water. Even more scary, “These compounds are biologically active at extremely low and previously undetected levels,” says University of Missouri biologist Frederick vom Saal.

Food Dyes: The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports that common food dyes can pose unnecessary risks for cancer, hyperactivity and allergies. Each year, approximately 15 million pounds of synthetic food dyes are added to foods that are heavily marketed to children.

It’s frightening to think of our children as guinea pigs for profit, isn’t

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October 2010

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it? Here’s how to keep family members safe:

Buy Organic: Researchers at Washington State University found that switching children from a conventional to an organic diet resulted in a dramatic drop in pesticide exposure. By definition, organic foods cannot contain GMOs, synthetic pesticides, artificial hormones or antibiotics. Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., a prominent ecologist and author of Living Downstream, says, “Organic food is really a bargain, when you consider the full cost to our children’s health and their environment.”

Read Labels: Most nonorganic corn, soy, canola and sugar (processed from sugar beets, not cane) are genetically engineered, although an identifying label is not required. Common GMO ingredients include soy lecithin, corn starch and high fructose corn syrup. “Good” food advocates suggest that we call or write our favorite food manufacturers and tell them we won’t buy their products if they use GMO ingredients or artificial colors.

Avoid Plastics: Always heat food in glass, lead-free ceramic, stainless steel or other non-reactive metal cookware (excludes most nonstick brands).

Avoid House and Garden Chemicals: Banish bug sprays and lawn and garden chemicals in favor of more natural products. Check with Beyond Pesticides for suggested alternatives, at BeyondPesticides.org.

Pass this Article on to Friends: Protect the neighborhood and beyond.

Petition Legislators: Ask representatives to support H.R. 5820, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act, at ewg.org/ actioncenter.

Melinda Hemmelgarn is a registered dietitian and award-winning writer and radio host based in Columbia, MO. Tune into “Food Sleuth” radio at kopn.org.Reach her at FoodSleuth@gmail.com.

Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t : Th e Organic Center (Organic-Center.org); Pesticide Action Network of North America (panna.org); IATP Smart Guides (HealthObservatory.org).

greenliving

Transition Towns Where Sustainable Living is Real

by Tara Lohan

processors within 100 miles of town, and generating 50 percent of its gross domestic product from locally owned, independent businesses.

The Transition Town Berea group holds monthly reskilling workshops to help locals acquire the know-how to grow their own food, weatherize their houses and install solar panels. Their projects help neighbors replant lawns with edibles and build raised vegetable beds. They’ve also auctioned rain barrels painted by local artists and organized a 100-Mile Potluck to celebrate local food and farmers.

More and more neighborhoods are making the transition Building a Future from the Ground Up to a climate-friendly community.

The Transition Towns movement in the

T

he coastal town of Lincoln City, Oregon, has a lot to lose if nothing is done about climate change. The town sits 11 feet above sea level, and unchecked climate change could erode its beaches or flood the town.

Residents are taking matters into their own hands. “We could ignore it, let the federal government deal with it,” Mayor Lori Hollingsworth says. “We’re not willing to do that.” Last year, Lincoln City committed to becoming carbon neutral, through renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon offsets.

Communities like Lincoln City have long been ahead of Congress and the White House on climate commitments.

Cities first began committing to Kyoto Protocol goals in 2005, through the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Now, more than 1,000 cities in the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signed on.

The community climate movement goes beyond government initiatives; it’s a cultural shift involving people from tiny rural towns to major metropolitan areas.

The Heart of Climate Action The fast-growing college town of Berea, Kentucky, is one of scores of U.S. communities that have become Transition Towns and formed a diffuse, grassroots network, led by individuals who are working to transform their own communities. While Berea is seeing its subdivisions expand and farmland disappear, one group of residents is making plans to help their community end its reliance on fossil fuels.

Berea locals have a goal they’re calling “50 x 25.” By 2025, they aim to have the town using 50 percent less energy, deriving 50 percent of the energy it does use from local sources, procuring 50 percent of its food from farms and

United States is less than two years old, but it came from the seeds of earlier relocalization efforts and other community climate groups and nonprofits.

A lecture on climate change may not appeal to everyone, but advocates find they can interest people in things like gardening, says Richard Olson, director of the Berea College Sustainability and Environmental Studies program.

“We talk to them about heirloom seeds and what their grandparents grew and if they’d like to learn canning. We get them involved without even mentioning transition or sustainability.”

Interest in climate-readiness is spreading: Austin, Texas, has an ambitious plan to make city facilities, vehicles and all other operations carbon-neutral by 2020. Louisville, Colorado, now has a car share program. Charlottesville, Virginia, is creating a trail system for walking and biking to connect schools, parks and other public spaces.

Greensburg, Kansas, a city of fewer than 2,000, was leveled by a tornado in

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May 2007. Residents have decided to rebuild as green as they can, requiring all city buildings to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED platinum rating for top-level environmentally friendly construction. They’ve also formed the group Greensburg GreenTown to increase public education about green living, make resources available at the library and distribute educational materials through online and telephone classes and events.

Green building initiatives also are spreading, thanks in part to Architecture 2030, a nonprofit based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which calls for an immediate 50 percent reduction in fossil fuel consumption in new buildings and renovations, and sets a goal of carbon-neutral design by 2030. The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted the program in 2006.

These communities hope they can lead the way toward the big changes we’ll need, both nationally and internationally, to respond to climate change. “Working at the community level to build resilience is the strategy that has the most chance of success,” observes Olson. “It’s not going to take until our grandchildren’s generation to see if we’ve succeeded. I think in 10 years we’ll see if we’re going to have a chance.”

For more information visit Transition US.org.

Tara Lohan is a contributing writer to YES! Magazine, a senior editor at AlterNet and editor of the book, Water Consciousness.

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Sustainable Living

Resources on the Gulf Coast

While the communities of Mobile and Baldwin counties still have some work to do before gaining recognition as climate-friendly or sustainable, there is a growing interest among individuals who are motivated to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. Natural Awakenings sought out some local businesses that share in this desire and provide sustainable options for mindful consumers.

Earth Resources Recycling Mobile 251-666-4482 EarthResourcesRecycling.com With a mission to make recycling easy so more people chose to participate, Earth Resources is a locally owned and operated company, specializing in residential and commercial curbside recycling within the Mobile city limits. Their services are also available for local events.

E.E.S. (Energy Efficiency Services) Serving Mobile and Baldwin Counties 251-583-6056 LowerYourPowerBill@gmail.com EES specializes in reducing power bills and taking advantage of government tax credits by weatherizing homes with radiant barriers; green, blown-in insulation; weatherstripping and other products. Also offering air duct cleaning and mildew remediation, this green business plans to add more green services to its menu of offerings as the new company continues to evolve.

Hughes Cremation and Funeral Service Daphne 251-621-5890 HughesFuneralService.com Hughes offers an eco-friendly burial service that avoids the use of toxic chemicals by forgoing the embalming process and uses a simple, wood casket. For those

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preferring cremation, ashes can be used to construct a concrete memorial reef. The reef, which is manufactured in Orange Beach, is placed in the Gulf of Mexico to provide habitat for marine life.

Jessie’s Restaurant Magnolia Springs 251-965-3827 JessiesRestaurant.com By installing rooftop solar panels to heat their water, choosing biodegradable to-go containers, conserving water and using solar-powered and LED lightbulbs, Jessie’s Restaurant makes sustainable choices a priority, despite the added expense and effort. Additionally, the employees rinse and collect the restaurant’s plastic and aluminum containers to drop off at the community recycle bin, because they lack the convenience of a recycling service.

JublieeScape Serving Mobile and Baldwin Counties 251-626-5587 JubileeScape.com JubileeScape is a landscape management company that believes in protecting the health of the planet. They focus on efficient use of water and encourage customers to utilize sophisticated irrigation control systems that react to current weather conditions. Additionally, they incorporate native plants whenever possible, use environmentally friendly pest control, and encourage organic gardening.

Lil’ Green Diaper Service Serving most of Mobile and Baldwin Counties LilGreenDiaperService.com 251-378-8115 For moms who desire to significantly reduce their waste, Lil’ Green Diaper Service simplifies cloth diapering. Each week, a cleaned and sanitized supply of diapers and covers are dropped off at your home as the soiled ones are picked up. The family-owned business provides everything needed to get started in cloth diapering, and also offers its services to those who wish to use their own diapers.

Mike Kerr Construction LLC Fairhope 251-391-4848 Although he received his green builder certification two years ago, Fairhope native Mike Kerr has been implementing green tactics in the new homes he builds and the existing homes he remodels for many years. He incorporates reclaimed materials when possible, opts for longerlasting products, uses low VOC paints and flooring and donates items for reuse to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore.

Stemz Flower Shop Foley 251-943-2837 This 15-year-old flower and gift shop received an eco-friendly makeover in January. Almost all of the shop’s flowers are now organic and VefiFlora certified, meaning they are sustainably grown.

Harvesting rainwater with a water catchment system to fill their vases and buckets, Stemz uses very little city water to operate.

The Journal of a Reader Featuring Kathy McNeil On August 22, 2010 Kathy McNeil participated in a triathlon requiring her to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles. In memory of her grandfather and cousin who battled Leukemia, she participated in this competition through Team in Training to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This is her account of this demanding and inspiring feat.

7:00 a.m. I am one of 2,700 participants at Lake Winnipesaukee, in New Hampshire, for the Timberman Half Ironman 70.3 as the first gun goes off–the mens’ pros are the first group to start.

7:05 a.m. It’s time for the “old women” (ages 45 and up). The race begins for us mortals!

7:10 a.m. The men ages 24 and under are next to begin their race, and a few of them catch me before I make the first turn on the swim course.

This is the toughest swim portion I’ve ever done; lots of jockeying for space, kicking, grabbing and pushing; it’s more survival than swimming.

7:49 a.m. After 1.2 miles of swimming, I am so happy to stand up and exit the water, making my way to the bike transition.

The 56 mile bike route is challenging, with the first 13 miles being practically all hills. The rain starts in earnest at mile 23, and then it’s really falling at mile 43.

The last 14 miles are just as hilly as the beginning miles and I find myself singing “The wheels on the bus go round and round,” just to keep the pedaling motion. I am really starting to slow my pace down due to the rain, especially on the downhills. But there are many flying by me.

11:20 a.m. I am again in transition, getting my bike back on the rack and my sneakers on for the run. The run is a 6.5 mile loop that we do twice (13.1miles/ half marathon).

Still going–it is really hard to go back out for the second loop! The rain has tapered off, just a few sprinkles, and temperatures are not above 65, which

is a perfect race day. I manage to keep my pace for the run until mile eight.

Now I’m walking more often than running. I keep making myself do some run segments and before I know it, I have passed that 12 mile marker. I somehow find the energy to run the final half mile.

2:26 p.m. As I’m approaching the finish line, I hear the announcer say, “Kathy McNeil of Old Saybrook, Connecticut– and she’s 55 years young!” The cheering really gets loud. I throw my arms up in the air with a huge smile and before I know it, I cross the line and someone is putting my finisher’s medal around my neck. It feels awesome. I actually finished the 70.3 mile race!

As someone is taking my timing chip off my ankle, I am handed a bottle of water. I ask for help in taking the screw cap off because I can’t.

4:00 p.m. We are headed home in the rain and bumper-to-bumper traffic.

9:30 p.m. We finally arrive home.

10:10 p.m. Sound asleep.

Kathy McNeil is a mother of three fabulous sons, wife of Gary for 32 fun-filled years, group fitness instructor to seniors and a woman who dreams of one day being an athlete.

To be considered for future Journals of a Reader, email MobilePublisher@ NaturalAwakeningsMag.com for submission guidelines.

natural awakenings

October 2010

13

ecobriefs

Rainforest Rescue

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

Water Bubble

Two Reports Project Fresh Water Scarcity by 2030 A recent report by the World Economic Forum warns that half the world’s population will be affected by water shortages within 20 years. Unsustainable conditions are headed toward what the researchers term, “water bankruptcy,” that could incite a crisis greater than the current global financial downturn. Crops and people are in danger, as geopolitical conflicts are expected to rise due to dwindling water resources.

During the 20th century, world population increased fourfold, but the amount of fresh water that it used increased nine times over. Already, 2.8 billion people live in areas of high water stress, according to the analysis. A concurring UN World Water Development Report adds that shortages are already beginning to constrain economic growth in areas as diverse as California, China, Australia, India and Indonesia. The Associated Press reports that the pivotal Ogallala Aquifer, in America’s Great Plains breadbasket, stretching from South Dakota to North Texas, continues to be drained at alarming rates, while the natural recharge rate is considered negligible.

Daily Computer Use Helps the Cause

Using a green search engine for holiday shopping and other online searches can turn daily Internet use into a give-back to nature. Forestle.org is an independent nonprofit that donates all profits from sponsored links to The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program (more at Adopt.Nature.org). Together, Forestle home page visitors rescue thousands of square meters of rainforest every day. It has even partnered with Google.

Green Searching

Eco-friendly Manufacturer Turns Trash into Cash

Garbage Blight

Second Patch of Plastic Soup Spotted in Atlantic A rising tide of consumer plastics, jettisoned into the oceans via rivers, storm drains, sewage overflows and windstorms, is devastating the environment across the world, says Charles Moore, the ocean researcher credited with discovering a vast, plastics-infested area in the Pacific Ocean in 1997. Now, his Algalita Marine Research Foundation researchers have defined a second vortex of garbage in the Atlantic Ocean. The soup of confetti-like bits of plastics stretches over thousands of square miles of the western North Atlantic, with the densest concentrations between the latitudes of Virginia and Cuba, including the unique Sargasso Sea ecosystem.

Sea Education Association (SEA) oceanography faculty member Kara Lavender Law, Ph.D., clarifies: “There’s no large patch, no solid mass of material. If it were an island, we could go get it. But we can’t; it’s a thin soup of plastic fragments.” SEA, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, which has monitored the North Atlantic for 22 years, expects that several such areas exist in the world’s oceans.

The plastic soup has essentially become a permanent part of the ecosystem, posing harm to the entire marine food chain. The only remedy is to halt the influx of consumer plastics by producing less of them and recycling them all. Public education is key.

Get the scoop on Green Party values and candidates.

Visit gp.org/about.shtml and gp.org/candidates/index.php.

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TerraCycle’s award-winning entrepreneur, Tom Szaky, is turning conventional manufacturing on its head. The company now up-cycles consumer packaging waste into 186 products, available at retailers like Whole Foods Market, Petco, Home Depot, Walmart and Target.

The National Geographic Channel’s Garbage Moguls, which debuted new episodes of the TerraCycle experience this summer, illustrates such transformations as cereal boxes into notebooks, newspapers into pencils, cookie wrappers into kites, and disposable pens into trash cans. Schools and community nonprofits collect the materials for payment through eco-friendly local fundraiser.

For more information visit TerrCycle.net.

Gene Escape

Wild Roadside Canola Shows Herbicide Resistance of GM Cousins Across the United States, wild canola grows in asphalt cracks and along roadways; it’s been found that this weedy plant often survives herbicide applications. Scientists at the University of Arkansas recently discovered why: About 83 percent of the weedy canola they tested contained herbicide resistance genes from genetically modified (GM), cultivated canola. Globally, canola can interbreed with 40 different weed species, 25 percent of which are found in the United States.

The findings raise questions about the regulation of herbicide- and pesticideresistant weeds and about how these plants might compete with others in the wild.

Nature reports that GM crops have spread beyond cultivated land in several countries, including Canada, Japan, the UK and the United States.

Bioneer Heroes

Spotlight Recognizes Activists Protecting Our Coasts and Oceans The Blue Frontier/Peter Benchley 2010 Hero of the Seas recognition was awarded to Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the New Orleans-based Gulf Restoration Network (HealthyGulf.org), a frontline group dealing with the environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This year’s winner is just one of 2,000 groups and agencies working on behalf of ocean and coastline conservation. Blue Frontier’s mission is to strengthen and help unify this solution-oriented marine conservation community.

“As the Gulf disaster shows, we are all dependent on the ocean for protection, security and sustenance,” remarks David Helvarg, president of the Blue Frontier Campaign (BlueFront.org).

Guiding Light

South Pole Ozone Hole has Stabilized Ongoing monitoring by the British Antarctic Survey, which alerted the world to the hole in the protective ozone layer over the South Pole in 1985, has concluded that the hole has now stabilized. Thinning of the ozone that surrounds the Earth provided the first clear evidence that man could damage the global environment on a colossal scale. “It also provided the first case of concerted international action to counteract such an effect,” says Richard Stolarski, a research scientist with NASA, who has reviewed the history and science related to the phenomenon.

Scientists had discovered that the accumulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in industrial solvents, refrigeration, air conditioning systems and aerosols were depleting the blanket of ozone that surrounds the Earth. Action by United Nations governments around the world led to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, effectively phasing out use of such chemicals. Today, scientists predict that, with continued care, Antarctic ozone levels will return to their 1950s levels by about 2080.

E-Solutions

Where to Recycle Outdated Electronics U.S. consumers, who generate more than 3 million tons of e-waste annually, now have easier access to manufacturer recycling programs, responsible local e-recycling facilities and cooperating retailers. “If you make it easy, people will recycle their stuff,” says Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Electronics Takeback Coalition.

As of this year, 23 states mandate statewide e-waste recycling, and all but California make manufacturers responsible for providing it, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Seven more states introduced such legislation in 2010 (see ElectronicsTakeBack. com/legislation/state_legislation.htm).

This approach helps get e-products containing toxic materials out of landfills and incinerators, where they can contaminate water and air. It also shifts the need for cost-effective environmental responsibility to manufacturers, to encourage them to design more eco-friendly products. Ultimately, this should result in products with fewer toxic components and more reusable and recyclable components, requiring less use of virgin materials.

The world leader in e-waste recycling proves what’s possible; an industryrun program in Norway recycles 98 percent of all e-waste. By contrast, in 2008 Americans recycled only 13.6 percent of their e-waste, often storing old, unused units at home. Now they know where to take it.

Find local drop-off sites at Electronics TakeBack.com, click on Guide to Recycling Your Electronics. For local sites that accept electronic, automotive, hazardous, yard and other household materials, call 1-800-Recycling (1-800-732-925-464) or visit 1800Recycling.com.

natural awakenings

October 2010

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healthbriefs Why People Need Germs

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arents should ease up on antibacterial soaps and wipes and perhaps allow their little ones a romp or two in the mud—or at least more of an acquaintance with everyday germs, suggests a Northwestern University long-term study.

Exposure to germs in childhood, the researchers observe, helps develop the immune system and may help prevent cardiovascular and other diseases in adulthood. Such early exposure, they note, promotes the body’s own ability to regulate inflammation, a root cause

associated with many diseases.

“Now, for the first time in the history of our species, our bodies are being deprived of exposure to those everyday germs because we live in such a sanitary environment,” explains lead author Thomas McDade, of Northwestern. “Think about the immune system as [one] that needs information from the environment to guide its development and function; if you live in a rich microbial environment, you get exposed to lots of germs, and that helps your immune system develop.”

PESTICIDES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO ADHD

A team of scientists from the University of Montreal and Harvard University have discovered that exposure to organophosphate pesticides may be associated with increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Exposure to organophosphates, they report, might affect neural systems in ways that contribute to ADHD behaviors such as inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

An Apple A Day

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here’s truth in the adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Research published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology contributes to our understanding of why apples are good for us.

Microbiologists from the National Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark fed rats a diet rich in whole apples or apple juice, purée or pomace. Another group of lab animals was put on a control diet. The researchers then analyzed the animals’ digestive systems to see if eating apples had any impact on the amount of friendly bacteria in their gut.

“We found that rats eating a diet high in pectin, a component of dietary fiber in apples, had increased amounts of certain bacteria that may improve intestinal health,” says co-researcher Andrea Wilcks. “It seems that when apples are eaten regularly and over a prolonged period of time, these bacteria help produce short-chain fatty acids that provide ideal pH conditions for ensuring a beneficial balance of microorganisms. They also produce a chemical called butyrate, which is an important fuel for the cells of the intestinal wall.” Ultimately, a healthy digestive tract translates into a stronger immune system.

Source: BioMed Central, 2010 16

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How Sugar Feeds Cancer

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esearchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of U t a h h av e uncovered new information about the notion that sugar “feeds” t u m o r s .

W h i l e i t ’s accepted that tumor cells use a lot more glucose (a simple sugar) than normal cells, the new study sheds light on how this process takes place and might be stopped.

The researchers discovered that during both normal and cancerous cell growth, a cellular process takes place that involves both glucose and glutamine, a common amino acid found in many foods. Glucose and glutamine, both essential for cell growth, were thought to operate independently.

This groundbreaking research now shows not only that they are interdependent, but that restricting glutamine works to stop the utilization of glucose. Essentially, if glutamine is absent, the cell is short-circuited, due to a lack of glucose; thus, it suggests a new way to halt the growth of tumor cells. The researchers hope that their findings will lead to more effective cancer treatment therapies.

GINGER EASES MUSCLE PAIN

F

or centuries, ginger root has been used as a folk remedy for various ailments, including colds and upset stomachs.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain caused by exercise. Ginger that’s been heated, as by cooking, might even increase the root’s pain-relieving effects.

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an Unbalanced Environment

by John L. Stump, Ph.D.

StorE oPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK AND viSit

N

ow that the oil spill is under control, attention should be paid to the care and repair of the environment and human health. As several state and local agencies start the healing process within affected ecosystems, humans are left to fend for themselves.

With interest piqued by last month’s article about the toxic soup that resulted from the oil spill, individuals are looking for ways to prevent the health effects currently being experienced. Manifesting in the form of cold and allergy symptoms, concerned citizens’ bodies are putting out warning signs that they are out of sync with their surrounding environment.

As ancient and modern teachers of Japan, China and India say, balance is what is needed in any conflict in life, including health. Desired results are achieved with both a good offense and a good defense.

The Acid Alkaline Balance, by Felicia Drury Kliment, and Anticancer: A New Way of Life, by David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D., are useful references in this quest for balance. Although taking different approaches, both books guide readers to live in harmony with the environment by nurturing the body’s innate healing abilities though lifestyle modifications.

Humans are faced with environmental threats everyday, from oil spills and pollution to allergens and anxiety. For long-term health, the key is to maintain balance in the body so that it can properly respond to these traumas, and heal itself before the individual is even aware of any internal conflicts.

To do so, it is first important to encourage balance in the mind by maintaining a positive outlook, regardless of the present circumstances. Neuroimmunologist Ester



Sternberg discusses the powerful impact the mind can have on health in Healing Spaces: The Science Of Place and WellBeing.

Secondly, research indicates that those who have a spiritual path of some kind are better equipped to deal with these life insults. Part of the link between spirituality and healing may have to do with lower levels of stress hormones and higher levels of beneficial hormones that this type of connection generate.

Thirdly, an inner healing environment must be maintained in the physical body.

To do so, it is beneficial to have a health assessment to become aware of the current status of an individual’s body. A trace mineral analysis (TMA) provides a thumbnail analysis of toxic overloads in the body. The results of the TMA help establish a starting point for moving towards a more balanced and healthy body.

With these three aspects of balance in view, individuals can feel better equipped to work toward a more harmonious and healthy family lifestyle.

This is the second of a series of articles

by Dr. John Stump, DC, Ph.D., Ed.D., on the topic of preventative healthcare as it relates to the current environmental threats caused by the BP Gulf oil spill. For previous articles, archived issues are available online at Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

For more information on topics covered in this article, contact Dr. Stump at 251990-8188, BamaShogun@aol.com, or visit Alternative-Concepts.com.

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natural awakenings

October 2010

17

inspiration

ECO-FILM PICKS Movies with a Message Worth Watching

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s movie-making technology has become less expensive and more accessible, eco-films have exploded onto the scene. While companies like National Geographic and Discovery Channel continue to contribute high-quality nature films, independent eco-filmmakers are also releasing inspired films almost by the day. Because most of these movies run less than 90 minutes, they have become sought-after teaching tools for family movie nights, school classrooms and readers looking for a break from books.

It was a tough call, but after reviewing 50 standouts, Natural Awakenings picked five films highly favored for their clear message, entertainment value and motivating call to action.

FOOD, INC.: Producers present the whole enchilada when it comes to understanding what we eat and the implications of our food choices. Beyond a plateful of facts, it’s also packed with entertaining graphics. The climax answers the inevitable viewer question: “This is an appalling situation, but what can I do about it?” Attention parents: There is a documentary-style scene showing mistreatment of an ailing cow to fastforward through; otherwise, the coast is clear. (FoodIncMovie.com) TAPPED: Filmmakers tackle two significant issues facing the modern world: the emerging scarcity of water and the staggering quantity of plastic bottle waste.

Images of the Texas-sized floating island of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean will make us think seriously about kicking the bottled water habit for good.

(TappedTheMovie.com) 18

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A COMMUNITY OF GARDENERS: Anyone taking up the first lady’s call to home vegetable gardening will revel in this film’s portrayal of the many ways local gardens provide communities with gifts of food, knowledge, empowerment and reconciliation. A Community of Gardeners shows that local gardening is so much more than a labor-intensive solution to the ills of the manufactured-food industry; it is

also good for the soul. (Community OfGardeners.com)

THE END OF THE LINE: Much as the eco-film standard bearer, An Inconvenient Truth, sounds the alert on global warming, The End of the Line reports on the troubled state of the rapid decline of the fish stocks that feed the world. Similarly, the film highlights how viewers’ everyday choices can stop contributing to the problem.

(EndOfTheLine.com) FUEL: Civilization’s era of crude oil and other fossil fuels is rapidly coming to a close, while the future of energy has yet to be written. The replacement technologies for alternative sustainable energies are already understood, if not widely promoted.

Many are ready to be put to work now and await only our adoption. Next-generation technologies also beckon. Fuel, a Hollywood-style documentary featuring such environmental spokespersons as Woody Harrelson and Sheryl Crow, proves that the future of energy is as much about imagination and creativity as it is about kilowatt-hours. (TheFuelFilm.com) Contributors include Michael Curran, health writer, and Michael D’Estries, film reviewer.

More Great Films Black Gold: A Film about Coffee and Trade on the economics of coffee BlackGoldMovie.com

Garbage Warrior on truly sustainable housing GarbageWarrior.com

Blue Gold: World Water Wars on the politics of water BlueGold-WorldWaterWars.com

King Corn on the great American corn diet KingCorn.net

Dirt! The Movie on the vital role of healthy soil DirtTheMovie.org

The Last Beekeeper on the global bee crisis PlanetGreen.Discovery.com

Dive! on American food waste DiveTheFilm.com

No Impact Man on implementing sustainable living NoImpactDoc.com

Everything’s Cool on environmentalism in politics EverythingsCool.org Flow on the world water crisis FlowTheFilm.com

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Ripe for Change on the economics of agriculture CaliforniaDreamSeries.org/rfc.htm

Consignment Shops: The Money and Planet Saving Option

by Meredith Montgomery

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onsignment shops are gaining popularity as a means to while, another trailer is being unloaded near the back of the recycle items that are otherwise unwanted or outgrown, store, while a woman enters the front door with a lamp and for a profit. These establishments are also places where other home accessories filling her arms. affordable deals are abundant on gently

This is a typical scene at Kaglen’s, a used items such as furniture and clothing. consignment shop specializing in furniture Although sometimes unaware of their good and home accessories. Owner Martha planet ethics, consigners and frequenters of Lahti says of her customers, “We have regulars who come in twice a week and refuse consignment shops are leading the way in to tell their friends about us, because they sustainable consumerism and contributing don’t want to miss out on a good deal.” to a healthier local economy.

With new inventory arriving daily, this

As advertisers successfully encourage 12-year-old shop has gained a reputation citizens to want and desire more and more, of offering great variety at great prices. individuals often find themselves with

Lahti, a retired school teacher, says many more possessions than they actuthat what surprises new customers the ally need. Consignment shops provide an most about the store is how big it is. “The economical and environmentally friendly store front is deceiving,” she says. With solution for this excess. Taking gently used items to resale stores keeps unnecessary ~Martha Lahti, owner of Kaglen’s five rooms of smaller furniture and home accessories, plus a warehouse out back for waste out of the landfills, and because no Resale larger furniture, Kaglen’s is much bigger new goods are produced, purchases made than it looks from the road. at these stores have a minuscule environmental impact, compared to the purchase of a new item. In striving to live a sustainable life, consumers can take advantage Bargain Boutiques of the numerous consignment shops available in Mobile and Hertha’s Second Edition has been a fixture in downtown Baldwin counties.

Fairhope for more than 20 years (HerthasOnline.com). Selling women’s clothing and accessories, as well as children’s clothing up to size six, shoppers can expect to find stylish, name-brand Sustainable Furniture Shopping On any Saturday morning, traffic on Cottage Hill Road is starting items at this upscale consignment boutique. With 3,800 conto get backed up as a truck pulling a trailer full of furniture is signers and new inventory arriving daily, Hertha’s puts out an waiting its turn to pull into Kaglen’s Resale, in Mobile. Mean- average of 1,500 new items each week.

“We have regulars who come in twice a week and refuse to tell their friends about us, because they don’t want to miss out on a good deal.”

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October 2010

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Manager Jessica Jones says, “Our merchandise is very organized, so that customers can easily find what they are looking for.” With the clothing meticulously arranged by color, and a special wall that is reserved for designer brands, Hertha’s offers a user-friendly shopping experience for everyone.

The store’s namesake, Hertha Green, opened a second location in Mobile in 2009 that focuses on higher-end clothing and accessories. A third location is also open in Daphne.

With a storefront that is seasonally decorated and displaying current trends, deal-seekers should stop by Sensational Seconds when in Mobile (Sensational-Seconds.com). This consignment boutique offers desirable options in apparel for the whole family, as well as handbags and accessories. Owner Robin Hoffman accepts a variety of inventory for her clientele, but items must meet her standards of style and quality. She tells her consigners, “If you wouldn’t buy it, chances are someone else won’t want to buy it, either.”

What sets Sensational Seconds apart from many other consignment stores in the area is Hoffman’s selection of men’s merchandise and specialty sizes for women. “We carry men’s items such as suits, polos and shoes. In the women’s section, we carry all sizes, from zero to plus, and maternity sizes, as well,” Hoffman says. For those wishing to have the store to themselves, customers can now schedule their own Fashion Extravaganza, a 20

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private shopping experience with friends, while enjoying food, door prizes and hostess awards.

Recycling for Success

Decluttering closets for a good cause is made possible by Our Sisters’ Closet, which turns unwanted clothes into hope, selfconfidence and a second chance (OurSistersCloset.org). The mission of this nonprofit establishment is to increase the selfconfidence and job opportunities of disadvantaged job-seekers by providing free interview and workplace clothing to women, men and teens. They also provide job search support, career advancement training and mentoring.

With a background in fashion retailing and public relations, Director Terri Kearns heard about a similar program in Washington, D.C., in 1996, and immediately began working to make such a program a reality for less advantaged women in the Mobile area. She says, “We served our first individual in March 1998, and over 70 percent of our clients have been hired after visiting us.”

Social service agencies, job training programs and churches refer individuals to Our Sisters’ Closet boutique, where they are able to select an interview suit at no charge. Image consulting and professional one-on-one assistance in grooming, clothing care and finding the proper fit are provided. Once hired, they

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Advertise With Us Options for every budget

Photos by Meredith Montgomery: Clockwise, from top left: Sunglasses at Hertha’s Second Edition; Men’s shoes and shirt at Sensational Seconds; Women’s coat, skirt and shoes at Hertha’s Second Edition; Ceramics at Kaglen’s Resale; Girl’s dress at Hertha’s Second Edition; Girl’s dress at Sensational Seconds; Highchair at Kaglen’s Resale.

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are able to return for workplace attire. “We provide anything that we can to help individuals get the job, keep the job and move up in that job,” says Kearns.

Clothing that is not used in the boutique is gathered into a twice yearly Cheap Chic Boutique Sale that is open to the public and serves as a fundraiser for the organization. Anyone can help this worthy cause, because clothing donations, financial contributions and volunteers are always needed.

As the weather begins to cool off and the time comes to rotate seasonal items, keep local consignment shops in mind as a sustainable option for replacing gently used goods with new ones. Both bank accounts and the planet will be equally grateful.

Kaglen’s Resale, 3431 Cottage Hill Road in Mobile, 251-6662000.

Hertha’s Second Edition, 330 Fairhope Avenue in Fairhope, 251928-4866; 4358A Old Shell Road in Mobile, 251-517-1197; 25325 Hwy 98, Ste 1 in Daphne, 251-625-4332.

Sensational Seconds, 7695C Cottage Hill Road in Mobile, 251-639-6789.

Our Sisters’ Closet, Terri Kearns, 251-423-2001. natural awakenings

October 2010

21

BE A CLIMATE HERO Act up. Act now.

by Bill McKibben

A

t any given moment, there are a thousand things going wrong in the world. If we were to list just major environmental problems alone we could go on for a long time, citing everything from toxic contaminants in our food to the scarcity of safe drinking water.

This past summer, we all stared in horror at the slowly blackening Gulf of Mexico as the Deepwater Horizon oil slick spread on and below the water’s surface. Making such a list is such a depressing exercise that the temptation is to just walk away from the task. We might feel like a surgeon at a wartime field hospital, forced to do major triage.

Where do we turn first?

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The half-good news is that our planet’s mounting environmental troubles aren’t isolated, individual casualties. If we can figure out what the keystone is, then we can collectively start to work to cure a bunch of the most pressing problems at once. By the same token, if we guess wrong, we can labor for years to correct a particular woe, only to have our hard work overwhelmed by the underlying infection.

Based on the scientific evidence, I think it’s pretty clear that the most crucial of all the complex issues we face today revolve around the cause-and-effect relationship of burning fossil fuels and the accelerating changes in Earth’s climate. In short: If we can’t deal with global warm-

Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

ing, nothing else we do will really matter.

To put it more positively: If we can remove the needle from our arm that feeds society’s addiction to petroleum products, many of our other troubles would begin to wane.

Signs of the Times Let’s start with the hard stuff: Global warming is the first crisis we’ve ever faced that has the potential to shake our civilization to its core. So far, human beings have burned enough coal, gas and oil to raise the temperature of the planet about one degree Fahrenheit. That’s already been enough to cause all manner of troubles:

n The Arctic icecap is melting, and quickly. By summer’s end in 2007, a record-setting year, the northernmost continent, which moderates air and water temperatures for the whole planet, contained 25 percent less ice than the year before. As of this writing, the 2010 melt was outpacing that of 2007.

n The Earth’s hydrological cycles are undergoing a dramatic shift. Because warm air holds more water vapor than cold, the general atmosphere is about 5 percent moister than it was 40 years ago. This means more evaporation, hence more drought, in arid areas.

But on the rest of a planet, where what goes up must come down—we’re witnessing extraordinary increases in flooding. This year, for example, we’ve seen record (and lethal) rainstorms in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arkansas, just within the 1.5 percent of the planet’s surface comprised by the continental United States. n Overall, temperatures are rising to near unbearable levels as that single degree average increase on the thermometer reverberates in savage heat waves. This past spring, India experienced weeks of record temperatures that beat anything recorded since the British started measuring them in the early 1800s. Early this summer, seven nations smashed all-time temperature records. In Burma, the mercury set a new all-time record for Southeast Asia, at 118 degrees. In June, Pakistan went on to establish a new benchmark for the highest temperature ever recorded at any time, anywhere in Asia, of 129 degrees.

All of this is due to a single degree of global temperature increase. The climatologists have warned us that if the United States, China and other countries don’t make a super-swift transition from the use of coal and oil, the world’s collective temperature will climb something like five degrees before the century is out.

If one degree melts the Arctic icecap, we don’t want to see what five degrees looks like.

So, that’s the bad news. Here’s the good news.

Alternate Scenario Let’s imagine we took the most significant step we could to speed the worldwide

This year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest energy user, a status held for more than a century. Because China gets most of its electricity from coal, it’s also the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases as of 2007, yet the United States remains the world’s biggest oil consumer by a wide margin. We’re also by far the bigger energy consumer per capita, despite an overall 2.5 percent annual improvement in energy efficiency since 2000; the average American burns five times as much energy annually as the average Chinese citizen. ~ International Energy Agency transition off of fossil fuel. Let’s imagine that the U.S. Congress and the United Nations managed to agree on a national and international scheme to set stiff pricing on coal and oil that accurately reflects the damage these fossil fuels are wreaking in the atmosphere. If that happened, then many other things would follow.

The most obvious is that we’d see lots more solar panels and wind turbines.

Suddenly, anyone with a spreadsheet would be able to see that it no longer makes sense to invest in a coal-fired power plant. Anyone building a new apartment complex would immediately understand that it’s in his or her best interest to install solar hot water tubes on the roof. In China, the world leader in total energy use, yet also in renewable energies, 250 million people now get their hot water this way. But, such a simple and effective solution still has to fight against the force of economic gravity there, as elsewhere. As long as coal-fired electricity is absurdly cheap, renewable energy sources will stay marginal.

The effects of a widespread switch to clean and renewable energies wouldn’t be confined to the energy sector. Think

about farming. We’ve spent half a century building a giant agro-industrial complex that runs entirely on fossil fuel.

Yet author Michael Pollan recently calculated that it takes 10 calories of fossil energy to produce one calorie of food. Because that growing complex is a machine, not really a farm, the food it produces is terrible in terms of taste and nutrition, and includes toxic residues from pesticides, herbicides and chemically synthesized fertilizers.

The ultimate irony is that we now devote the best farmland on the planet, the American Midwest, to growing highfructose corn syrup. It’s a prime culprit in our country’s diabetes epidemic. The ripple effect goes on and on.

On the other hand, consider what would happen if the price of oil went up high enough that this nation could no longer afford to farm in the manner preferred by agribusiness behemoths? What would happen is that we’d need more Americans engaged in healthier farming, with human labor and ingenuity replacing some of the fossil fuel.

That would increase yields per acre and also increase the quality of the foods we eat. Research studies reported

by Jules Pretty, pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Essex, UK, in his book, Agri-Culture, have proved that small farms around the world are routinely as productive as agro-industrial lands, and that low-input farming, too, can feed the world with a wholesale switchover.

Again, this is already starting to happen: Farmers’ markets continue to be the fastest growing part of our nation’s food economy; the last agricul tural census found that the number of farms in the United States is increasing for the first time in a century-and-a-half. That’s good news and potentially great news, but small farming, co-ops and organic production will remain a small, marginal trend until the price of energy changes.

The day that happens is the day that everyone finds their way to a local farmers’ market.

Helpful changes roll out, from bus and train commutes replacing cars to the rising popularity of densely inhabited urban blocks, as cul-de-sac suburbia loses its appeal. Local storefronts naturally get the nod over big box chain stores, too, and so on.

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The Key to Change How do we make it happen? How do we change the price of energy, which is what almost every observer thinks is the only way we can make a real change in the physics and chemistry of the current global warming phenomenon, and make an effective difference in the short time allowed before the harmful consequences explode exponentially?

If only everyday people could do it solely by making personal energy improvements around the house, at work and in their communities—through such steps as switching to more energyefficient light bulbs and riding our bikes to work. Such changes are good to do, of course, and it all helps, but we don’t have a century to turn around our global situation. Which means we also need to engage in… politics.

We need to put the pressure on our leaders now to change the price of energy now. Remember—they’re getting plenty of pressure from lobbyists pocketing profits on the other side. Because of government subsidies and cartels, fossil fuel is the most profitable industry humans have ever engaged in; last year, Exxon Mobil Corporation made more money than any company in recorded history. That buys them a lot of power.

We won’t be able to outspend them, so we will have to do what people have always done when they have found themselves needing to take charge of their future: We must build a movement. Politicians won’t change because scientists tell them we have a problem—they’ll change

Scientific data shows the ocean becoming more acidic at an unprecedented rate as surface waters continue to absorb approximately a third of manmade atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions. ~ National Research Council, Ocean Acidification, 2010

Global phytoplankton populations have dropped about 40 percent since 1950, and scientists believe that rising sea surface temperatures are to blame. The microscopic plants both form the foundation of the ocean’s food web and gobble up carbon dioxide to produce half of the world’s oxygen output. ~ Dalhousie University, Canada, Nature, 2010 because enough people tell them they have to, or they’ll lose their jobs.

Building just this kind of movement is entirely possible.

Citizen Action Plan Two years ago, a few concerned citizens joined me in launching 350.org, a wholly grassroots campaign that takes its name from a wonky scientific data point.

NASA scientists led by James Hansen have published reams of data showing that, “Any value for carbon in the atmosphere greater than 350 parts per million [ppm] is not compatible with the planet on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.”

It sounds like an unpromising banner to rally people around—too serious and too depressing, because we’re already well past the 350 mark. The atmosphere is currently at 392 ppm carbon dioxide, which is why the Arctic is melting. So far, we’ve racked up some successes; in October 2009, we held an International Day of Action that created some 5,200

demonstrations in 181 countries. That’s a lot—in fact, CNN called it, “… the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.”

Online images posted from those events banish wrong preconceptions people might have about who is and is not an environmentalist. Most of the rallies were orchestrated by poor, black, brown, Asian and young people, because that’s what most of the world is made up of.

Six weeks later, at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 117 nations endorsed that 350 target, which was good; except that they were 117 poor and vulnerable nations, not the richest and most addicted to fossil fuels. So, we fight on.

This October, we’re holding a 10/10/10 Global Work Party. It’s set to spread around the world, too, with people in thousands of communities doing something practical: putting solar panels on local schools, harvesting community gardens and planting mangroves along rising shorelines.

In Auckland, New Zealand, they aim to repair every bicycle in every garage.

The intention will be twofold. Point one is that bikes are good. Ditto solar panels.

We need both in our communities. Point two acknowledges that we know we can’t solve climate change one bike path at a time.

So we’re also intent on sending a strong political message to our leaders: If we can get to work, so can you. Right now. If I can climb up on the roof of the school to hammer in a solar panel, you can climb to the floor of the Senate and hammer out some helpful legislation. It’s time to shame our government and corporate leaders a little, and maybe inspire them, too.

This is far from the only people’s campaign swelling around the world.

They range from the small and specific (e.g., Project Laundry List, which advocates for right-to-dry laws that would let all Americans hang their laundry on clotheslines) to the far-ranging Green for All, which works for clean energy jobs across the country. This year, the Great Power Race, between campuses in the United States, China and India, will make news via a friendly competition to see who can come up with the most creative sustainability ideas. Then there’s PutSo-

larOnIt.com, pushing the U.S. president and other world leaders to at least do the symbolic work of sticking panels on the roof of the White House and all of its equivalent buildings around the world.

The list goes on.

We all need to get to work addressing climate change right where we live, in our communities. We need to build towns and cities that make sense and create jobs for families. We also need to build a world that works, because the best organic gardener on Earth won’t be able to cope with 30 straight days of rain, or a month with no rain at all, without helpful policies. That means resorting to politics, which is another way of saying that we must work together as people for better solutions to climate change than what we have now. It can be beautiful. If you don’t believe me, check out the pictures at 350.org.

Organizing a local action for 10/10/10 doesn’t need to be large or complicated; these acts are about community and solutions and sending a message to the world. Find ideas at 350.org, search People or nearby work parties.

We understand that 10/10/10 is one important day of many in a long, universal (and beautiful) fight for a workable planet. Other groups doing great work include:

Friends of the Earth (foe.org)

I dare you.

Bill McKibben is the author, most recently, of the bestselling Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. He’s the founder of 350.org, and a scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. The Boston Globe this year described him as “…probably the country’s leading environmentalist,” and Time called him “… the planet’s best green journalist.”

We the People Can Help Mother Earth

Center for Biological Diversity (BiologicalDiversity.org) Energy Action Coalition (EnergyActionCoalition.org)

Interfaith Power and Light (InterfaithPowerAndLight.org)

Air pollution is turning Mother Nature prematurely gray. ~ Irv Kupcinet

ACT NOW LOCALLY

Mission Transition: 10/10/10 Global Work Party Ever’man Natural Foods will host a Global Work Party from 1-4 p.m., October 10. The event is being held in support of 350.org’s mission to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis, and to create a new sense of urgency and possibility for our planet.

Since children are the future of our planet, the event will be a kid-friendly, hands-on, activity-oriented fair to educate the community on how individuals can conserve at home, in the garden, in neighborhoods and in the world. Participants will show the world that the community is committed to reducing emissions by ten percent this year.

Location: Ever’man Natural Foods, 315 West Garden Street, Downtown Pensacola. Contact: Elaine Sargent, 251-572-7230.

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fitbody

EXERCISE FOR SPINE HEALTH SMART TRAINING BEATS BACK PAIN

by Michael Curran

A

s exercise reaches beyond the realm of pure athletics to include fitness fans everywhere, people have noticed that their efforts to stay in shape often are thwarted by back pain. That’s why knowledgeable trainers counsel that any well-designed workout must honor the health and mechanics of this important part of the body.

Dr. Karen Erickson, a New York City-based chiropractor and spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association, sees firsthand why alignment is crucial, especially if an individual has a history of back pain. “Good stability and good flexibility are the big factors for keeping the spine healthy,” she says. No matter what exercise modality one chooses to practice, Erickson advises beginning conservatively, as benefits can be achieved without pushing the level of difficulty.

Core Strength Counts Developing muscle strength throughout the torso is key to maintaining the correct spinal curvature for a strong back. In addition to the muscles that directly attach to the spine, the spine is also stabilized by deep stomach strength, strong pelvic floor support and the upper thigh muscles. Pilates is well-known for its focus on such core conditioning.

“Pilates uses apparatus expressly designed for working the abdominals and the back,” explains Lolita San Miguel, from her studio in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. “Most of our work is in the supine or prone positions [lying down], so that the vertical pull from gravity is lessened, and the body can be worked with a more correct alignment, and thus more effectively.” One of a small group of active practitioners who studied with Pilates method founder Joseph Pilates, San Miguel is a living testament to the benefits of the practice. When this 75-year-old isn’t doing her daily Pilates, she’s engaged in other physically demanding activities.

“Pilates makes life sweet for the senior,” she says.

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Posture Matters Despite well-meaning parental advice, it turns out that good posture entails more than just pulling our shoulders back.

Alignment practices like Restorative Exercise and the Alexander Technique were designed to develop an awareness of full-body mechanics as we go about daily activities.

Annette Cantor-Groenfeldt teaches the Alexander Technique in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “The central theme of the technique is the spine, learning how to maintain length through the spine as you move,” she advises. “It is used extensively by actors, dancers, musicians and other highperformance people whose activities depend on postural alignment.”

In 2008, the Alexander Technique was the subject of a yearlong study published in the British Medical Journal, where it was shown to be effective in relieving lowback pain. The system focuses on both mental and physical aspects of movement, and usually includes passive treatments on the massage table, where the teaching practitioner manipulates the body to help release muscular tension.

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October is National Spinal Health Month

Stay Flexible Keeping spinal movements fluid and supple is also essential for keeping the discs of the spine healthy. Tai chi and the related qigong emphasize this kind of mobility.

“Many Tai chi students find that they can move some of their vertebrae, but others seem to be stuck, with several vertebrae moving as one,” reports Sound Beach, New York-based Tai chi Master Bob Klein. He explains, “In Tai chi, you become a master of moving the spine so that it almost seems devoid of bones, flowing and turning with ease, in exact coordination with the rest of the body.” Both Tai chi and qigong are gaining popularity among those who are looking to maximize a cardio-style workout, while minimizing impact on their bones and joints.

Yoga is a longtime favorite approach to maintaining both stability and flexibility through strong muscles and alignment.

Ana Forrest used her hatha yoga practice to recover from an accident that seriously injured all the regions of her spine, and Forrest Yoga was born out of her retraining. “People spend 90 percent of their waking hours in positions that compress the spine—in how they sit, how they stand, even how they do backbends in yoga class,” she observes. “Part of a good yoga practice is to create length in the spine, create a feeling of spaciousness in the body.”

While Erickson considers herself a fan of all the exercise modalities listed here, she always emphasizes personal responsibility when it comes to back health. “Never do an exercise that causes you pain,” she offers as a rule of thumb. For longterm back health, she explains that chiropractic care is great for improving alignment and other back-related issues, yet is no substitute for daily exercise and self-care.

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Michael Curran has credentials in psychology, ayurvedic medicine, and Restorative Exercise™. He is the director of Health and Wellness Media (HealthAndWellnessMedia.com).

Contacts: Karen Erickson at DrKarenErickson@msn.com; Ana Forrest at ForrestYoga.com; Bob Klein at Movements OfMagic.com; Lolita San Miguel at LolitaPilates.com; and Annette Cantor-Groenfeldt at 505-670-0474.

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Workplace Wellness

Posture, Body Mechanics and Ergonomics for a Healthy Spine

by Julie Wilkins, OTR/L

W

ith a large number of occupations requiring long hours of desk work or traveling in cars, many people’s lives are becoming increasingly sedentary, resulting in poor spine and back health. It is beneficial to become more mindful of spine health, more knowledgeable about body mechanics and safety in movement, and more proactive in how to properly care for one’s body.

Ergonomics is the science of modifying workspaces for proper postural alignment. The study of this concept of body mechanics offers the following general recommendations for healthy back care:

tached. This helps avoid the repetitive movement of looking down, which becomes stressful to the neck over time.

Sit Well

Lift with the Legs

Maintain proper posture when seated by ensuring that the hips are slightly higher than the knees and that the feet feel well supported by the floor. Invest in a lumbar roll to place between the lower back and the chair, in order to support the natural curve of the lumbar spine.

Look Straight Ahead

Set up computers directly in front of you, with the top of the screen at eye level. When copying written material into the computer, prop a clipboard vertically with the materials at-

Stretch the Back

To counterbalance the time spent sitting or in forward flexion positions, lie on the floor, stomach down, and lift the chest and lower rib cage to bring the spine into extension. Repeat this movement 10 times every few hours during the day. While seated, sit up tall and take breaks to twist the spine to the right and the left.

Never bend forward and lift heavy objects with a rounded spine.

Always squat down, bring the load close to the body and stand up using the muscles of the legs. When unable to lift an item with this posture, ask for help.

Follow these simple tips in the workplace and your spine will thank you.

Julie Wilkins, OTR/L, is a licensed occupational therapist and yoga instructor in Baldwin County, AL. She is available for workplace wellness consultations and yoga instruction. Contact JWilkins75@gmail.com.

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On The

WHY PEOPLE ARE PUTTING MORE PLANTS ON THEIR PLATES

by Kristin Ohlson

B

ased upon what he observed at a plantation in Hawaii on his first job out of medical school, California physician John McDougall has eaten a vegan diet for 35 years.

There, he cared for workers hailing from China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines, and quickly noticed that first-generation immigrants didn’t have the diseases he’d been trained to treat: no heart disease, no diabetes, no cancer, no arthritis. However, he saw more evidence of these conditions with each succeeding generation, as the workers increasingly indulged in standard American fare.

“My first-generation patients kept to the diet they had eaten in their home countries,” McDougall says. “They lived on rice and vegetables, with very little meat and no dairy. But, as their kids started to eat burgers and shakes, the kids got fatter and sicker.”

Accounts like this contribute to the fact that today, as many as 8 million Americans say that they are vegetarians, according to a 2009 Harris Interactive survey commissioned by The Vegetarian Resource Group. Of these, about a third are vegans, who avoid meat, eggs and dairy products, as well as meat. Many choose a plant-based diet for better health; others, because they believe it’s more humane and environmentally conscious.

According to the Natural Marketing Institute, as many as 30 percent of Americans say they are trying to reduce their meat intake.

Vegan advocates, who include celebrities like Alicia Silverstone, Tobey Maguire and Woody Harrelson, support a robust vegan infrastructure, with new

cookbooks and gourmet recipes, hip new restaurants and an explosion of websites and chat rooms devoted to a plant-based lifestyle.

Some omnivores doubt that people can be either healthy or satisfied without the nutrients and flavor of animal products.

After all, didn’t we evolve from meat eaters? Yes, our huntergatherer forbears may have liked meat, explain some experts, but it comprised only a tiny part of their diet—those animals were hard to catch. Instead, early humans subsisted largely on wild vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Milk and cheese didn’t become a diet staple until 10,000 years ago, and then only in Europe.

Author Virginia Messina, a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in public health, based in Port Townsend, Washington, says her research for the American Dietetic Association confirms that vegetarians overall have lower levels of bad cholesterol, less obesity and a lower incidence of both hypertension and colon cancer than meat-eaters. Vegans have even lower cholesterol and blood pressure than vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy.

But eschewing animal products only leads to improved health if people follow some basic guidelines. Vegans must be sure to eat a variety of whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds—good sources of protein—as well as fruits and vegetables. (Messina notes that the average person needs about 55 grams of protein a day, about half that ingested in a typical America diet.) And, while plant diets are generally rich in iron, Messina notes that vegans need to make sure that the iron is well absorbed by eating a diet rich in vitamin C—leafy greens, as well as citrus, peppers, potatoes, melons and tomatoes. She reminds vegans to get enough zinc in their diets with nuts, seeds and seed butters like tahini. Some nutritionists suggest that vegans take a vitamin B12 supplement, as well as a calcium supplement.

Vegans insist that giving up these animal products doesn’t mean giving up the pleasures of food. Perhaps no vegan chef has done more to convince skeptics than Isa Chandra Moskowitz, with cookbooks like Vegan with a Vengeance, Veganomicon, and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. (She also founded the Post Punk Kitchen vegan website with free recipes at theppk. com). Many of her recipes take fewer than 45 minutes to prepare, often from inexpensive ingredients. “It’s an economical way to eat,” she says. “It’s the way poor people have always eaten.”

Certainly, it takes some retraining to adopt a vegan diet.

Some people start by keeping meat portions to three or four ounces and going meatless one day each week, as author Michael Pollan recommends. But once people get the hang of preparing tasty, plant-based meals, they realize the breadth of the culinary experience.

“The people who have been vegan for any length of time actually have a diet that’s subnatural awakenings

October 2010

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stantially more diverse and interesting than the typical omnivore,” observes Erik Marcus, author of The Ultimate Vegan Guide: Compassionate Living Without Sacrifice. “You might think that your diet becomes more limited if you get rid of animal foods, but the opposite is actually true.”

Kristin Ohlson is a freelance writer in Cleveland, OH. Reach her at KristinOhlson.com.

Defining Different Strokes It’s common for people to become quasi-vegetarians on the way to a way of eating that’s even more health- and planet-friendly. Here’s a look at various dietary practices. n Omnivore: eats both plant- and animalbased foods n Flexitarian: inclined to mostly eat vegetarian, but sometimes adds in meat n Vegetarian: eats no meat, including fish and shellfish, or any animal byproducts; also known as a lacto-ovo vegetarian (eats dairy and eggs) n Lacto-vegetarian: a vegetarian who eats dairy products, but not eggs n Ovo-vegetarian: a vegetarian who eats eggs, but not dairy products

A Vegan Taste For those wanting to get a taste for a vegan diet, The Sunflower Cafe in Fairhope and The Sunflower Cafe II in Mobile offer a diverse menu with some options that contain no animal-derived ingredients. The staff at restaurants shared the following vegan recipes for those interestsed in cooking up a vegan meal in their own kitchen.

SUNFLOWER BURGERS Ingredients 1 medium onion, diced 1/2 cup organic carrot, peeled and chopped 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth 2 tbsp olive or melted coconut oil, plus more for pan 2 tbsp Bragg’s liquid aminos

3 tbsp tomato paste 1 cup TVP (texturized vegetable protein) 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw 1 tbsp dried thyme 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tbsp dijon mustard 2 tbsp peanut butter 1/2 - 1 cup brown rice flour

Preparation Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute carrot, mushroom and garlic in oil until onion is translucent. Add in vegetable broth, Bragg’s, tomato paste, TVP and sunflower seeds. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 7-8 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let mixture cool enough to handle.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add in the rest of the ingredients to mix by hand. Form into 1/4 -1/3 cup patties and place on well oiled pan.

n Pescetarian: a vegetarian who eats fish (may also avoid factory-farmed fish)

Bake for 20-30 minutes until the tops look dry. Flip patties and bake for 15 more minutes on other side. Remove from oven and enjoy on your favorite bun or atop a salad.

n Vegan: eats no meat, eggs or dairy, and no animal-derived ingredients, like gelatin, honey or whey; usually also excludes wearing and other uses of animal products, such as leather, wool, angora and cashmere

VEGAN CARROT GINGER SOUP

n Raw: consists of only unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115° Fahrenheit n Macrobiotic: consumes unprocessed vegan foods and sometimes, fish; generally avoids refined oils, flours and sugars n Fruitarian: eats only plant foods that can be harvested without harming the plant Contributing sources: International Vegetarian Union; Vegetarian.About.com; VeggieVisitors.com

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Ingredients 2 lb bag of organic carrots, peeled and chopped 1 large red onion 6 organic garlic cloves

2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced 1 tbsp olive oil 1 - 13.5 oz can organic coconut milk

Preparation Saute onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil in a large pot. Add carrots and enough water to cover all vegetables. Cook until carrots are tender.

Blend carrot mixture with a hand blender, or in batches in a regular blender, until smooth. Add in coconut milk and salt and pepper to taste.

Contact: The Sunflower Cafe, 280 Eastern Shore Shopping Center, Fairhope, AL, 251-928-0644. Sunflower Cafe II, 3952 Airport Boulevard, Mobile, AL, 251-345-0495. Va-FairhopeHealthFoods.com.

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naturalpet

Pumpkin for Pets

by Morieka V. Johnson

L

ike kids who clamor for every tidbit in a candy store, Val Clows’ Great Danes have their choice of flavorful, high-quality dog kibble. But they still can’t wait to get their paws on new deliveries of pumpkin-based granola arriving at her Holistic for Pets shop in Sarasota, Florida.

She reports that her two-legged customers enjoy eating the pumpkin product, too.

“Everybody is looking for something tasty that’s low calorie and high fiber,” says Clows, smiling.

Traditionally reserved for grocery store aisles, pumpkin is now showing up in pet stores, too, as human food-grade animal treats, dried kibble and simple puréed goodness. A growing array of pet food products, from granola to dog biscuits, touts pumpkin for its vitamin A

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and fiber content.

“We’ve been using pumpkin for a long, long time at our house,” remarks Clows. “But about two years ago, I started seeing pumpkin products labeled for pets, as well as pet treats that are pumpkin based. My dogs particularly love canned pumpkin, laced with a touch of cinnamon and ginger.”

As with all good things, use pumpkin in moderation, suggests Dr. Jennifer Monroe, of Eagles Landing Veterinary Hospital, in McDonough, Georgia. “Pumpkin is good for pets with digestive issues, especially those on a hypoallergenic diet, because it doesn’t typically appear in pet foods,” she says. “But it’s best in small doses, in order to prevent weight gain.”

The low-calorie gourd comes loaded

with carbohydrates; one cup of puréed, canned pumpkin has as much as eight grams.

Monroe observes that pumpkin has been a go-to item for pets with digestive issues since she was in veterinary school in the mid-1980s, primarily because it is a relatively inexpensive and readily available item. Bland, white rice is another popular home remedy for settling pets’ stomachs, she notes, but its high fiber content typically makes pumpkin the better choice. Before stocking up on pumpkin, Monroe recommends starting with prebiotic and probiotic products, which have been tested extensively for their health benefits.

When diarrhea strikes, Veterinary Doctor Alice Martin, of Eagles Landing, says it’s best to consult a professional before attempting any home remedies.

Monroe adds that cats with constipation need no more than one to two tablespoons of pumpkin per can of cat food.

For dogs, the amount of pumpkin should be at least 10 percent of the day’s total caloric intake.

As autumn temperatures drop and pumpkins become readily available, many pet owners prefer the all-natural, do-it-yourself approach. Monroe likes to grow and purée her garden pumpkins as a good-tasting aid to ensuring a happy, healthy home.

Morieka V. Johnson is a freelance writer in Atlanta, GA. Reach her at Morieka@ gmail.com.

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calendarofevents All Calendar events must be received by the 10th of the month prior to publication and adhere to our guidelines.

Go to Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com to submit entries.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 1

BayFest – Oct 1-3. The sound of the Southeast.

Mobile’s music festival. Downtown Mobile. Tickets and information at BayFest.com. Info@BayFest.com or 251-208-7835.

Soul Masters – 6:30pm. A complimentary presentation of the documentary film “Soul Masters.”

Experience enlightened teachings and travels in the western world of soul master Dr. Zhi Gang Sha. Free.

1230 Montlimar Dr, Mobile. Harmony.Blessings@ gmail.com.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 2

Love, Peace and Harmony Workshop – 8:30am12pm. Dedicated to the purification of the gulf waters. Participate in an introductory discussion on the multimedia teachings of the soul master Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha. $30/individual, $50/couple.

1230 Montlimar Dr, Mobile. Harmony.Blessings@ gmail.com.

Yoga Workshop Bhagavad Gita with Nancy LaNesha – 10am-12pm. Challenge your body with strong poses and challenge your mind with philosophical concepts from an ancient, sacred yoga text.

Beginners welcome. Hosted by Kula Yoga Community. Donation. Space 301, downtown Mobile.

251-202-YOGA. KulaYogaCommunity.org

SUNDAY OCTOBER 3

Charity Yoga Class – 5:45pm-sunset. Yoga class taught by Dana Goudie to benefit the Baldwin Animal Rescue Center. Fairhope Bluff south of Fairhope Ave, Fairhope. Billie Reinhart: 251-379-4493.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 8

Yoga Performance Art – 6-9pm. Help Kula Yoga Community promote the presence of yoga in Mobile!

Free to watch or participate in this group practice and advanced yoga demo. Cathedral Square, downtown Mobile. To participate, contact Amanda Brenner: 251202-YOGA. KulaYogaCommunity.org.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 9

Reflexology Workshop – Oct 9-10. 8am-5pm. Learn therapeutic Ingham Foot Reflexology taught by Laurie Azzarella, International Institute of Reflexology instructor. Use on family, friends or professional clients.

16 CEUs for therapists. $375 new students. Comfort Inn, Pensacola Beach, FL. 850-380-4943.

Women in Business Marketplace 2010 – 8am12pm. Farmer’s market, live music, marketplace vendors, family and pet friendly. Sensational Seconds will be a vendor at this event. Free. Cathedral Square, downtown Mobile. 251-660-2725.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13

International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDS) – 6pm. Ongoing discussion and support group affiliated with IANDS. Discussion expands to include intuition, after death communication, consciousness studies and related areas of interest to attendees. Free. Mobile Public Library on Grelot.

251-344-1528.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15

Love, Peace and Harmony Class – 9-11am in Daphne. 1:30-3:30pm in Mobile. Music and insights inspired by New York Times best-selling author Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha. Free. Conference room, Daphne Public Library. Conference room, Mobile Public Library, Moorer/Spring Hill branch. Harmony.

Blessings@gmail.com.

Planet Yoga 2 Hour Masterclass – 5:45pm. Revel in the sequencing and sensations as Leeann Carey uses the Planet Yoga Method to guide you through an enlightening class encounter. Enjoy on-going self-discovery, function and fun on the yoga mat!

Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

Jon Miller Concert – 7pm. Conscious Mile Center for Spiritual Living is proud to welcome back Jon Miller, of the Jon Miller Band, in concert at our coffee house. All of his friends and fans are welcome for an evening of music and laughter. Donation. 1230 Montlimar Dr, Mobile. 251-343-0777.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16

Dynamic and Therapeutic Yoga Workshop – 11am-2pm. The Planet Yoga Method uses direct cues and open-ended inquiries to weave a theme into dynamic sequencing and brings therapeutic results to your practice. Be prepared to have a yoga experience and not just another yoga class. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 17

Planet Yoga Method: Slow Flow – 12-3pm. Build heat from the moment you step on the mat. Learn to link poses breath-by-breath using the creative and dynamic class mapping sequencing of the Planet Yoga Method. Develop an understanding of breath, body awareness and control. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 21

How Essential Oils Can Work for You – 7-8:30pm.

Laurie Azzarella will present the enlightening work of Katherine Fuller, M.S., which explains the science behind essential oils, their health restoring effects on the body as well as the phrase, “I just know they work!”

Free. Office/Home, Bay Branch Estates, Daphne. Must RSVP: 251-625-0080.

Hands-on Green Cleaning PartyHidden Toxins – 10am-12pm. Make your own inexpensive toxin-free cleaning products for pennies a day. These products work great without harm to the environment, family or pets. $20 includes new non-toxic cleaning products: window cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, power scrub and a bonus of homemade mouthwash. 28550 N Quarry Ln, Elberta. RSVP Heidi: 248-767-4347, LivingAn ointed.com.

Hands-on Green Cleaning PartyHidden Toxins – 6:30-8:30pm. See 10am listing. 28550 N Quarry Ln, Elberta. RSVP Heidi: 248-767-4347, LivingAn ointed.com.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 27

Hidden Toxins – 10am-12pm. In your food, drinks, baby, skin, pet and cleaning products. Learn how to protect yourself in this environment and become aware of the other toxic chemical names and how to rid them from your body at the cellular level. Especially relevant in light of oil spill. $20. Coastal Ballet Academy, 113 W Laurel Ave, Foley. RSVP Heidi: 248-767-4347, LivingAnointed.com.

Heal Your Body – 1-3pm. You don’t have to live with pain, illness, dis-ease and disabilities. Hands-on class for ADHD, diabetes, psoriasis, Alzheimer’s pain, fibromyalgia and more. Essential oil treatments for pain that you can do yourself. $20. Coastal Ballet Academy, 113 W Laurel Ave, Foley. RSVP Heidi: 248-767-4347, LivingAnointed.com.

Hidden Toxins – 7pm. See 10am listing. Free.

Fairhope Health Foods, Fairhope. RSVP Heidi: 248767-4347, LivingAnointed.com.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 28

Hidden Toxins – 7pm. See Oct 27 listing. Free.

Virginia’s Health Foods, Mobile. RSVP Heidi: 248767-4347, LivingAnointed.com.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 29

Raindrop Technique Class – 10am-4pm. A class for massage therapists wanting to learn the Raindrop Technique using Young Living therapeutic-grade, FDA-approved essential oils. Limited space. $50.

Location TBD in Elberta and Mobile. RSVP and more info: 248-767-4347, HeidiRogge49@yahoo.com.

LocalRaindrop.com.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 30 FRIDAY OCTOBER 22 MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Cheap Chic Boutique – Oct 20-21. Fri 8:30am6pm. Sat 9am-3pm. Clothing, accessories and shoes for every woman. Fundraiser for Our Sister’s Closet. Sisters of Mercy Building, St. Mary Parish, 1450 Old Shell Rd (across from McGill-Toolen YOUR HighMARK School), Mobile.

TerriCALENDAR! Kearns: 251-423-2001, OurSistersCloset@comcast.net. OurSistersCloset. org.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 14

How Essential Oils Can Work for You – 1-3pm.

Laurie Azzarella will present the enlightening work of Katherine Fuller, M.S., which explains the science behind essential oils, their health restoring effects on the body as well as the phrase, “I just know they work!” Free. Curves, Hwy 13, Daphne. Must RSVP: 251-604-9532.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 26

SATURDAY OCTOBER 23

Howl-O-Ween – Spooky pooch parade and Most Spooktacular costume contest benefitting Baldwin Animal Rescue Center. The Wharf, Orange Beach.

251-928-4585. BaldwinHumane.org.

Raindrop Technique Class – 10am-4pm. See Oct 29 listing. RSVP and more info: 248-767-4347, HeidiRogge49@yahoo.com. LocalRaindrop.com.

Balloon Glow in the Gardens – 5-8pm. Hot air balloons will be glowing on the Great Lawn during the evening for kids to enjoy while they are trickor-treating throughout the gardens. $5/Adults, $3/ Children. Bellingrath Gardens and Home, Theodore.

251-973-2217. Bellingrath.org.

Yoga Halloween Party – 3-6pm. Join Kula Yoga Community in a light-hearted yoga practice lead by all yoga teachers and stay for refreshments after. Costumes encouraged!. Donation. Space 301, downtown Mobile. 251-202-YOGA. KulaYogaCommunity.org.

PLAN AHEAD FRIDAY NOVEMBER 5

Port City Craftsman Arts and Crafts Show – Nov 5-7. 9am-5pm. $2. Abba Shrine Auditorium.

Schillinger and Hitt in Mobile. Ginger McCracken: 251-341-0773.

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Bringing Meditation into Daily Life – 7pm. Bill Karelis talks about the use of mediation in daily life.

Free and open to the public. Student Center, room 212, University of South Alabama, Mobile. uufm.org. Eric Loomis: 661-019.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 6

Meditation: The Path of Insight – 9am-4pm. Bill Karelis returns to Mobile to offer a seminar focusing on how meditation opens and sharpens the mind and how these effects are carried into the ordinary tasks of our daily lives. $20 suggested donation. Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mobile, 6345 Old Shell Road. uufm.org. Eric Loomis: 661-0191.

Port City Craftsman Arts and Crafts Show – Nov 5-7. 9am-5pm. $2. Abba Shrine Auditorium.

Schillinger and Hitt in Mobile. Ginger McCracken: 251-341-0773.

SUNDAY NOVEBER 7

Port City Craftsman Arts and Crafts Show – Nov 5-7. 11am-4pm. $2. Abba Shrine Auditorium.

Schillinger and Hitt in Mobile. Ginger McCracken: 251-341-0773.

ongoingevents

All Calendar events must be received by the 10th of the month prior to publication and adhere to our guidelines. Go to Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com to submit entries.

sunday Conscious Mile Spiritual Center Service – 10am. Make every step we take, every choice we make, every word we speak a conscious one.

New Thought Spiritual Center, 1230 Montlimar, Mobile. Rev. Sherrie Quander, 251-343-0777.

CMSpiritualCenter.org.

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

Sunday Worth-ship Celebration – 10:30am. Find, strengthen and celebrate one’s connection with Divine Spirit. Donation. Unity on the Eastern Shore, 22979 US Hwy 98, one mile north of US Hwy 104, Montrose. 251-990-8934. UnityEasternShore.org.

Sunday Worship – 11am. Celebrate Spirit in this special and sacred space. Unity Mobile, 5859 Cottage Hill, between Hillcrest and Knollwood, Mobile.

251-661-1788.

ADOPTION OPTION

Free Sunday Matinee – 2-3pm. Different nature films shown each week. Free. 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort. 251-625-0814.

monday Pizza Night – First Mon each month. Have a little fun while getting healthy. Free pizza for members.

All Planet Fitness locations (3 in Mobile, 1 in Daphne). For details: 251-414-2700.

LILLY - If you could use a little sweetness in your life then Lilly is your girl. A great little dog, she arrived afraid, shy, and looking for a second chance at love.

She has since come out of her shell and blossomed into a fantastic dog with a big personality. She enjoys other dogs at The Haven and does well with kids.

MIRA- This larger than life girl is a 4 year

old Maine Coon mix. She has a gorgeous face and a beautiful long coat to match her friendly personality. She enjoys spending her days at The Haven sunbathing in the indoor/ outdoor cat community center with her other fantastic feline friends.

For more info on adopting these or other animals, contact The Haven:

www.havenforanimals.org 251-929-3980 34

NA Mobile / Baldwin Edition

Strengthening and Stretching Class – 9am. Free for Thomas Hospital Seniors’ Best members (free membership). James P. Nix Center, Fairhope. For more info: 251-928-2835.

Pilates Plus – 9:15am. Pilates plus yoga class helps to strengthen deep core muscles. Some pilates experience is necessary. $15/drop-in. $10/with package.

Integrated Fitness, Fairhope. 251-554-4121.

Bosom Buddies Breast Cancer Support Group – 12pm. Second Mon each month. For breast cancer patients, families and friends. Thomas Hospital Health Resource Center. For more info: American Center Society, 251-928-8650 or Thomas Hospital, 251-279-4008.

Restorative Yoga – 6:15pm. Ultimate relaxation and stress relief. All levels welcome. More classes and packages at YogaBirds.com. $15. Yoga Birds, Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

Pranic Healing and Meditation – 6:30pm. Every Monday. Join us and experience healing for your mind, body and soul followed by the Planetary Peace Meditation. Classes available. Free. Mobile.

RSVP: 251-454-0959.

tuesday 10% Terrific Tuesdays – 10% discount entire stock.

The Health Food Center, 5238 US Hwy 90, Ste G, Mobile. 251-661-3065.

Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

Bagel Morning – Second Tues each month. Have a little fun while getting healthy. Free bagels for members. All Planet Fitness locations (3 in Mobile, 1 in Daphne). For details: 251-414-2700.

Complimentary First Facials – Tues-Sat, by appointment only. First-time facial customers receive their first facial free. Monette’s Family Hair, Magnolia Place, Hwy 98, Ste J, Daphne. Dixie: 251-621-8511.

Mindfulness Meditation – 8:45am. Experience Benefits of mediation practice. More classes and info at YogaBirds.com. Free. Yoga Birds, Fairhope.

251-990-3447.

Low Impact Aerobics Class – 9am. Free for Thomas Hospital Seniors’ Best members (free membership). James P. Nix Center, Fairhope. For more info: 251-928-2835.

Anusara-Inspired Yoga – 9:15am. Explore asana with Melanie Buffet, E-RYT in this radically affirmative method. More info at YogaBirds.com.

Packages available. $15. Yoga Birds, Fairhope.

251-990-3447.

Fibromyalgia Support Group – 10:30am. Second Tues each month. For friends and family of patients with Fibromyalgia. Thomas Medical Center, Boardroom, Daphne. For more info, call Jason Pierce, 251-752-1140 or Thomas Hospital, 251-279-4008.

Chair/Supported Yoga – 11am. Yoga is for everybody! First class free for locals. See YogaBirds. com for more info and packages. $15. Yoga Birds, Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

Vinyasa Flow with Tracey, RYT-200 – 9:30am, 4pm. Challenge your body, still your mind, and connect with your own inner light. Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio, Midtown Mobile.

251-476-6463. QuietMindMassageTherapy.com.

Mindfulness Meditation – 5:30pm. Every Tues and Wed. Experience the benefits of meditation practice.

More classes at YogaBirds.com. Free. Yoga Birds, Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

Fairhope Bicycle Company Ride: Thrills, Old Battles Road Criterium Practice – 6pm. 45-60 mins on closed course. Riders are able to drop out and re-enter. Leave from Fairhope Bicycle Company, 325 S Greeno Rd across from Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. 251-990-7383.

LA Hikers Meeting – 6-7pm. First Tues each month. Free and open to the public. 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort. LAHikerMeetings.

Blogspot.com.

Positive Parenting Class – 6-8pm. Kids don’t come with a set of instructions. Get the tools and skills to create your happy, healthy family. Free. The Family Center, 601 Bel Air Blvd, Ste 100, Mobile. 251-4795700. Kids101@comcast.net.

Running Wild Group Run – 6pm. A social group run starting and finishing at Running Wild store.

Open to everyone, all ages and abilities. Just show up and run! Run different distances ranging from 3-6 miles. Free. Running Wild, 214 Fairhope Ave, Fairhope. Jon Adams: 251-990-4412.

Mobile Bay Canoe and Kayak Club Meeting – 7-8:30pm. First Tues each month. For pro-paddlers and those brand new to the sport. A great place to meet others interested in kayaks and canoes. Open to the public. 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort. BayKayaker.Blogspot.com.

Sierra Club Meeting – 6-8pm. First Tues each month. Open to the public. 5 Rivers Delta Center, Spanish Fort.

Amphibian and Reptile Keepers Meeting – 6-8:30pm. First Tues each month. Anyone interested in herps is welcome. Membership is free. 5 Rivers Delta Center, Spanish Fort. GulfCoastHerpSociety. webs.com.

Diabetes Support Group – 6:30pm. First Tues each month. For people with diabetes and their families and friends. Thomas Hospital Diabetes Center.

For more info: Thomas Hospital Diabetes Center, 251-279-1700.

CWG Mobile Group – 7-9pm. Second and fourth Tues each month. Read and discuss books by Neale Donald Walsch. Joy N Love, 171 Crenshaw St, Mobile. 251-382-4215. CWG_Mobile_Group@ yahoo.com.

Rosie Blu’s Free Meditation Classes – 7pm.

Guided meditation is a relaxation exercise and a way to reconnect with the divine spirit that resides in each of us individually; however, mostly, it is just a nice break from a crazy pace and hectic lifestyle.

Free. Healing Hands Massage, 409 N Section St, Fairhope. Jennifer: 251-517-5483.

Spiritual Cinema Group – 7-9pm. First and third Tues each month. View and discuss spiritual DVDs. Contact Heiner, 251-607-9089.

wednesday

pany, 325 S Greeno Rd across from Thomas Hospital Discounted Perms for Seniors – Seniors 65 and over receive discounted perms. Monette’s Family Hair, Magnolia Place, Hwy 98, Ste J, Daphne. Dixie: 251-621-8511.

Sunrise Yoga with Tracey, RYT-200 – 6am. Each day is a new beginning. Awaken your body, mind and spirit in the stillness of the morning. Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio, Midtown Mobile.

251-476-6463. QuietMindMassageTherapy.com.

Viniyoga with Rhonda – 6:45am. Viniyoga is directed toward healing and knowing your body - a yoga for all ages. Join teacher Rhonda Gran-Proescher and renew your spirit. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile.

251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

Yoga with Annette – 8:30am. Join Annette PorterHam for an energizing yoga experience. Relieve stress, relax your mind and rejuvenate and recharge your body. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251473-1104. synergyoga.net.

Positive Parenting Class – 9:30-11:30am. Kids don’t come with a set of instructions. Get the tools and skills to create your happy, healthy family. Free. The Family Center, 601 Bel Air Blvd, Ste 100, Mobile.

251-479-5700. Kids101@comcast.net.

Alzheimer’s Support Group – 10:30am. First Wed each month. For family and friends of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Thomas Medical Center, Daphne. For more info, call Bunnie Sutton or Kellie Sutton of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of the South, 251-660-5661 or Thomas Hospital, 251-279-4008.

Group Meditation – 11-11:25am. Come learn to meditate in this supportive group setting. Donation.

Kula Yoga, Daphne. 251-202-YOGA. KulaYoga Community.org.

Unusual Film Series – 2pm. Third Wed each month.

Thought provoking cutting-edge films shown on big screen in meeting room. Adults only. Free. Popcorn and drinks included. Foley Public Library. 251-9437665. FoleyLibrary.org.

Gentle Yoga with Nadine – 5:30pm. Join Nadine Dalati for this gentle series of poses to deepen the breath, increase flexibility and balance, and calm the mind. Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio, Midtown Mobile. 251-476-6463. Quiet MindMassageTherapy.com.

Yoga Flow – 5:30pm. Flow from pose to pose while experiencing the many physical and mental benefits of yoga. Beginners always welcome. $15/ drop-in. $10/package. Integrated Fitness, Fairhope.

251-379-4493.

Anusara-Inspired Yoga – 6:15pm. Take your asana practice to incredible heights. More classes at YogaBirds.com. Great package deals available. $15. Yoga Birds, Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

thursday Low Impact Aerobics Class – 9am. Free for Thomas Hospital Seniors’ Best members (free membership). James P. Nix Center, Fairhope. For more info: 251-928-2835.

Running Wild Group Run – 6am. A social group run starting and finishing at Running Wild store.

Open to everyone, all ages and abilities. Just show up and run! Run different distances ranging from 3-6 miles. Free. Running Wild, 214 Fairhope Ave, Fairhope. Jon Adams: 251-990-4412.

Sunrise Yoga with Chris G. – 6am. Join Chris Garrett for energizing yoga that will both calm your mind as well as enhance and refocus your body.

Start off your day with some zest. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

Mindfulness Meditation – 8:30am. Experience the benefits of meditation practice. More classes at YogaBirds.com. Free. Yoga Birds, Fairhope.

251-990-3447.

Low Impact Aerobics Class – 9am. Free for Thomas Hospital Seniors’ Best members (free membership). James P. Nix Center, Fairhope. For more info: 251-928-2835.

Story Time at 5 Rivers – 10-10:30am. For parents and children. Relax while we do the reading. Recommended for children age 6 and younger, great for toddlers and lap babies too. Free. 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center, Spanish Fort. 251-625-0814.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Support Group – 10am. First Thurs each month.

Thomas Medical Center, Daphne. For more info: Joy Peters, 251-626-6337 or Thomas Hospital, 251-279-4008.

ALS Support Group – 11am. Second Thurs each month. For people with ALS and their families and friends. Thomas Medical Center, Daphne. For more info: Lynn Sanderson, 205-937-4415 or Thomas Hospital, 251-279-4008.

Yoga with Tamara – 4:15pm. A new class with Tamara! Enjoy her energy as she challenges you with a strong emphasis on alignment and focus while calming the mind. Synergy Yoga and Pilates, Mobile. 251-473-1104. synergyoga.net.

Fairhope Bicycle Company Ride: Ladies Night – 6pm. 3 groups: The Katie and Jill-20 mi at 18mph, The PeeWee-20 mi at 15mph, The CC-12 mi at below 15mph. Leave from Fairhope Bicycle Company, 325 S Greeno Rd across from Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. 251-990-7383.

Vinyasa Flow – 6:15pm. Tap into your natural rhythms and let your body follow! See YogaBirds. com for packages. First class free for locals. $15.

Yoga Birds in Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Support Group – 6:30pm. Open to individuals, friends and family. The Harbor, Thomas Hospital, Daphne.

For more info: NAMI, 251-965-6264.

Natural Cosmetic Class – 6:30pm. Third Thurs.

Learn to make natural cosmetics with Made in the Shea’s Debbey Swanson. Rosie Blu, Fairhope. 251517-5326. RosieBlu@gmail.com.

friday Fortis College Massage Clinic – By appointment.

Receive a one-hour massage by a highly skilled student. $25. Fortis College, 3590 Pleasant Valley Rd, Mobile. Call for an appointment, 251-344-1203.

Family Fridays – 7am-10pm. Offers children a balloon and coloring page. Free. Smoothie King, 720 Schillinger Rd S, Mobile. 251-633-9033.

Fairhope Bicycle Company Ride: Saturday Morning Shop Ride – 7:30am. 34 mi at 17mph. Leave from Fairhope Bicycle Company, 325 S Greeno Rd across from Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. 251990-7383.

Foundations Yoga – 9:15am. Learn safe, basic yoga poses and skills. More classes for all levels at YogaBirds.com. First class free for locals. Yoga Birds, Fairhope. 251-990-3447.

SCIATICA? BACK PAIN? HIP PAIN?

POOR POSTURE? Relaxing 20 minutes daily on the Sacro Wedgy® may be all you need. Placed under the sacrum (tailbone), it allows the hips to suspend and relax, letting go of nerves and ultimately “rebalancing.” Only $29.95.

For the therapist:

Demonstrations or info, call 251-653-9258 or 800-737-9295 www.sacrowedgy.com natural awakenings

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Phat Girlz Running Club – 9:30am. A diverse girls only walking and running club. Come out and join the Phat Girlz for a fun, social and healthy run or walk. Open to all women of all abilities, strollers welcome. Free. Running Wild, 214 Fairhope Ave, Fairhope. Jon Adams: 251-990-4412.

Music at the Market – 11:30am-1:30pm. Third Fri each month. Catt Sirten playing live music at the Windmill Market. Fairhope. WindmillMarket.org.

Vinyasa Yoga with Ginger – 12pm. Join Ginger Dunaway for this fluid series of poses to increase strength, flexibility and balance in the body and mind. Class is instilled with yogic philosophy meant to connect you more deeply with this ancient tradition. Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio, Midtown Mobile. 251-476-6463. QuietMind MassageTherapy.com.

Fairhope Bicycle Company Ride: Saturday Afternoon Junior’s – 4pm. Frazier Cycling junior’s skill session and ride. Ride groups decided after 1hr skill session. Ages 10-18. Leave from Fairhope Bicycle Company, 325 S Greeno Rd across from Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. 251-990-7383.

First Friday Artwalk – 6-8pm. First Fri each month. Enjoy an artsy and fun-filled night with an evening of exhibit openings, guest artists and live entertainment throughout beautiful downtown Fairhope. Map of participating venues available at the Eastern Shore Art Center, 401 Oak St, Fairhope.

251-928-2228. EasternShoreArtCenter.com.

First Friday Night Entertainment – 6-9pm. First Fri each month. Leavin Brothers play at the Windmill Market and wine is always free. Food from Mary Ann’s and Moe’s also available. Weekend market vendors will be set-up. WindmillMarket.org.

Hot Yoga Party – 6pm. 90 min heated vinyasa.

Sweat out your toxins before the weekend. Bring a towel and water. Donation. Kula Yoga, Daphne.

251-202-YOGA. KulaYogaCommunity.org.

LoDa ArtWalk – 6-9pm. 2nd Fridays in downtown have become quite a popular time and place to be at. With the LoDa ArtWalk in its 4th year, the event seems to be getting better each month. Cathedral Square Arts District, Mobile. 251-208-7443.

Fortis College Student Clinic – By appointment.

Receive a one-hour massage from a highly skilled student. $25. Fortis College, 3590 Pleasant Valley Rd, Mobile. Call for an appointment, 251-344-1203.

Yoga Body/Buddha Mind – 8am. Rotating teachers weave philosophy through poses for all levels.

Kula Yoga, Mobile and Daphne. 251-202-YOGA. KulaYogaCommunity.org.

Vinyasa Flow – 9:15am. Flowing poses for all levels moving mindfully with your breath. See YogaBirds. com for more classes. $15. Yoga Birds, Fairhope.

251-990-3447.

Baldwin County Humane Society (BARC) Pet Adoption – 10am-2pm. Third Sat each month.

Adoption event. PetSmart, Eastern Shore Center, Spanish Fort. 251-928-4585. BaldwinHumane.org.

Yoga Class – 10am. Balance out your weekend with this calming yet energizing yoga class. Quiet Mind Massage Therapy and Yoga Studio, Midtown Mobile. 251-476-6463. QuietMindMassageTherapy. com.

NA Mobile / Baldwin Edition

Rates for classifieds start at $16 per month. Listings must be received by the 10th of the month prior to publication. Email MobilePublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com for details.

FOR SALE CURRENTLY PUBLISHING NATURAL AWAKENINGS MAGAZINES – For sale in Austin, TX; Manhattan, NY; Pensacola, FL; Southwest VA and Ventura/Santa Barbara, CA. Call for details, 239-530-1377.

HEALING ENERGY NEEDED

Apple Market now open in Mobile. Featuring Alabama Home Products, Amish Wedding goods, and frozenprepared seafood items from Coden. 9180 Airport Blvd, 2.5 mi W of Schillinger. 251-635-0067.

SERVICES MAGIC FINGERS – Massage therapy in the comfort of your home. Fifteen years experience.

Call Norah: 251-725-7312.

THE WATERS OF THE GULF NEED YOUR HELP! – Sing along with Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha and renew the life-giving energies of the Gulf of Mexico. LovePeaceHarmonyMovie. com.

NEED CLEAN? GO GREEN! – Green Clean provides environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning services for commercial and residential properties. Schedule a free in-home consultation and estimate today. 251-508-3796.

BECOME AN INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENT – Work online at home. Small startup cost. Training provided. CoastalDreamsTravel@ earthlink.net.

NUMEROLOGY AND ASTROLOGY – Numerological and astrological analyses of birth dates and names with general six-month forecast included. Rosie Blu in Fairhope. 251-517-5326.

RosieBlu.com.

OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER IN COSMETOLOGY – Are you a creative individual that has dreamed of a career in cosmetology? Formerly known as Capps College, Fortis College School of Cosmetology can help you reach that dream. Call us today at 251-342-3230.

INTERESTED IN TEACHING YOGA? – Looking for yogis with personal practice and belief that yoga is transformative. Willing to train/mentor. 251-202-YOGA. KulaYoga Community.org.

PRODUCTS

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classifieds

FRESH PRODUCE AND SEAFOOD – Crab

PRIVATE FITNESS AND LIFE COACHING STUDIO – Fitness training, nutritional guidance and life skills coaching at Bodi By You in Mobile.

251-422-7265. BodiByYou.com.

YOGA AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS – Gentle, therapeutic or fitness-based classes customized to groups or individuals and led by occupational therapist/yoga instructor. JulieWilkinsYoga.com.

JWilkins75@gmail.com YOGA WHEN AND WHERE YOU WANT IT! – YogaSource offers classes at your home or business for fitness and relaxation. Single or groups. Props provided. 251-202-YOGA. Kula YogaCommunity.org.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Azalea City Cat Coalition – Volunteers needed in any capacity: transporting cats, trapping and adoption events. Contact Susan Young: 251-6487582. SusanYoung@AzaleaCats.org.

BARC! – Baldwin County Animal Rescue needs volunteers for the office, adoptions and events.

Call 251-928-4585, ext. 3 or visit Baldwin Humane.org.

Dori Dogs – Volunteers (both human and dog) are needed for therapy dog work. 251-348-2158.

DRBrown05@yahoo.com.

Habitat for Humanity – Volunteers currently needed for Interfaith Build and Women Build every Saturday 8am-4pm. Groups or individuals welcome. Contact for details: 251-476-7171 or JTidwell@HabitatMobile.org.

NATURAL AWAKENINGS WANTS TO HELP YOU RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS. SEND US YOUR LISTING. IT’S FREE! 251-990-9552 MOBILEPUBLISHER@NATURALAWAKENINGSMAG.COM

Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

naturaldirectory Connecting you to the leaders in natural healthcare and green living in our community. To find out how you can be included in the Natural Directory, email MobilePublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com to request our media kit. Rates begin at $36 a month.

ART FAIRHOPE ARTIST GALLERY

18 South Section Street, Fairhope 251-990-8763 FairhopeArtistGallery.BlogSpot.com

MOBILE CENTER FOR JOYFUL LIVING

422 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope 251-517-5326 RosieBlu.com

60 N Ann Street Mobile, AL 36695 251-391-6960 The Center for Joyful Living—practicing disorganized religion. Come live the Question with us, Sundays, 10:30am.

251-391-6960.

Be delighted by the local color of diverse, original and affordable artwork. Look for the golden palette and ART above the door. Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. Sun 1-4pm.

BEAUTY

ROSIE BLU

CLEANING SERVICES GREEN CLEAN, LLC

RIKKI M

Threading Expert (Facial Hair Removal) 251-508-1983 ThreadingByRikki.com Licensed cosmetologist, Master stylist. 34 years experience. Color Correction Specialist. Long hair foil highlights. 20 years experience Brazilian Wax.

ROSIE BLU

422 Fairhope Avenue, Fairhope 251-517-5326 RosieBlu.com Offering all-natural and organic products for body, mind, spirit and home.

Quality lines at affordable prices from local vendors and artists. Samples given when available. See ad page 31.

CHILDBIRTH SERVICES

Nicoll Mastin 251-508-3796 Green Clean, LLC provides environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning services for commercial and residential properties.

Regular and deep-cleaning services are available, as well as special services such as organizational assistance. See ad page 25.

Birthing from Within classes provide a holistic and mindful approach to childbirth preparation.

CHURCHES CONSCIOUS MILE SPIRITUAL CENTER OF MOBILE

Sundays at 10am 1230 Montlimar, Mobile 251-343-0777, CMSpiritualCenter.org Rev. Sherrie Quander invites you to visit a loving, inclusive spiritual community where we aim to make every step we take, every choice we make, every word we speak a conscious one. See ad page 28.

MIDDLE EARTH HEALING AND LEARNING CENTER 20205 Middle Earth Rd, Citronelle, AL 251-866-7204 MiddleEarthHealing.com Wisdom of the Earth, therapeutic-grade essential essences now available. These high-vibration, 100% pure oils are hand poured with ritual and ceremony. Consultations and classes are available.

See ad page 10.

FOODS AND SUPPLEMENTS BURIS FARM MARKET & BAKERY 3100 Hickory Street Loxley, AL 36551 251-964-6464 On Hwy 59 on the way to Gulf Shores, AL. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh baked strawberry shortcake, ice cream and much more. Your “first and last” stop to the beach, or any other time.

CONSIGNMENT HERTHA’S SECOND EDITION Fairhope, Daphne and Mobile HerthasOnline.com

Upscale consignment boutiques: 330 Fairhope Avenue in Fairhope, 251-928-4866; 4358A Old Shell Road in Mobile, 251-517-1197; 25325 Hwy 98, Ste 1 in Daphne, 251-625-4332. See ad page 2.

KATRINA BREELAND

Birthing from Within™ Mentor Mobile, AL, 251-554-5704 Facebook.com/MadeForLoveMobile

Offering essential oils, blends and body care from Tisserand Aromatherapy: a bottler of nature at its finest. See ad page 31.

ESSENTIAL OILS LAURIE AZZARELLA, LMT, CRR Young Living Educator, Sponsor #327923 251-625-0080, LaurieAzzarella@gmail.com YoungLiving.com/AzzFoot Experience the healing, uplifting and detoxifying benefits of therapeutic-grade essential oils and supplements. Contact us for personal consultations, in-home classes, household products, health supplements, diffusers, group presentations and business training.

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, featuring organic food, free-range meat, organic wine. Store open 7 days a week. Serving the public 33 years. See ad page 17.

VIRGINIA’S HEALTH FOODS AND THE SUNFLOWER CAFE II 3952 Airport Blvd, Mobile 251-345-0494 Café 251-345-0495 Va-FairhopeHealthFoods.com Supplements, wheat- and gluten-free, organic produce and meats, vegetarian, low carb, sports nutrition, books. Café features a juice bar. Store open 7 days a week. Serving the public 33 years.

See ad page 17.

natural awakenings

October 2010

37

GRAPHIC DESIGN

MASSAGE THERAPY

MICHAEL M. WILSON

FORTIS COLLEGE

Creative & Graphic Designer MMWilson@gmail.com MMWilson.com For all of your graphic design needs, including but not limited to websites, logos, brochures, posters, postcards, business cards reports, greeting cards, mailers, newsletters, menus and door hangers. See ad page 21.

Student Massage Therapy Center 3590 Pleasant Valley Road, Mobile 251-344-1203, FortisCollege.com

Norah Carter 251-725-7312 NorahCarter@yahoo.com

PRANIC HEALING IN MOBILE Deana Lannie 251-454-0959

Free healing nights and group meditations every Monday.

Pranic Healing classes and the advanced technique of Superbrain Yoga.

ART BY MER PET PORTRAITS

Fairhope, AL 601-918-2833, Art.By.Mer@gmail.com MeredithMontgomery.com

JOHN L. STUMP, D.C., PH.D., ED.D. AND BOB SAXON, D.C.

Commission a portrait of your pet. Portraits are original acrylic on canvas paintings from your photos. View online gallery for examples. Gift certificates are available.

315 Magnolia Avenue, Fairhope 251-990-8188, BamaShogun@aol.com Alternative-Concepts.com Acupuncture. Chiropractic.

Nutrition.

VICTORIA WEBB PHOTOGRAPHY

Holistic Health Coach 251-422-8203, KirstenChristmas.com Kirsten.M.Christmas@gmail.com

1050 Hillcrest Rd, Mobile AL 36695 251-639-1311 SheltonAcademy.org No entrance/exit exam. Work at own pace. Get diploma whenever you complete all requirements. One-on-one instruction. Small classes, Grades 5-12. School MondayThursday, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Fully Accredited.

SOUND THERAPY MARTHA UMPHREY

251-752-8122 MarthaUmphrey@yahoo.com Offering sound therapy as a natural solution for tinnitus or diminished hearing due to injury, stroke or aging.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING First Conservation Community in Gulf South, Located in Baldwin County Dauerwalden.com 251-937-3276 Minutes from Pensacola, Mobile and Gulf. Only 25 homesites, more than 1,100 protected acres. Rolling hills up to 275 feet. 20 miles of equestrian trails.

Lifestyle portraits and wedding photography.

When was the last time you talked with someone about your health and received the personal attention you deserve. Could one conversation change your life?

TRACEY GLOVER, J.D., RYT-200

Discover health in mind, body and spirit. Offering health and wellness coaching, and healthy cooking classes.

NA Mobile / Baldwin Edition

SHELTON ACADEMY

251-716-9699 VictoriaWebbPhotography@hotmail.com VictorialWebbPhotography.com

KIRSTEN CHRISTMAS

38

Train for a career as a professional Massage Therapist.

1,060-hour program. Fortis offers the most comprehensive and in-depth training in the region. See ad page 4.

DAUERWALDEN

PHOTOGRAPHERS

202-421-0410 Tracey@ShantiWarrior.com ShantiWarrior.com

Massage Therapy Program of Study 3590 Pleasant Valley Rd, Mobile 251-344-1203, FortisCollege.com

In home or studio sessions available by appointment. $75 for 1 hour studio session, $100 for 1 hour out call. 15 years experience. See ad page 21.

PETS HOLISTIC CARE

FORTIS COLLEGE

Massage really works. Schedule a therapeutic massage with our Student Clinic. Friday and Saturday appointments, along with some weekday appts. See ad page 4.

MAGIC FINGERS

HEALING ARTS

SCHOOLS

REFLEXOLOGY LAURIE AZZARELLA, LMT, CRR 251-625-0080 Daphne, AL 850-380-4943 Pensacola, FL LaurieAzzarella@gmail.com, Reflexology-USA.net

Upcoming Workshops: October 9 and 10 at Comfort Inn on Pensacola Beach, FL. Certification in Ingham Reflexology through the International Institute of Reflexology. 16 CEUs per workshop. Available to everyone, these workshops provide education in better health naturally. Young Living Essential Oil Education also available.

Mobile.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

YOGA YOGA BIRDS

458-B North Section Street, Fairhope 251-990-3447 YogaBirds.com Fairhope’s yoga studio and boutique with yoga classes for everyone: Anusara-Inspired®, Foundations, Vinyasa Flow, Restorative, Chair Yoga, weekend workshops and more. View full schedule and sign-up for classes and special events at YogaBirds.com See ad page 39.

MASTERS OF YOGA & PILATES Yoga is an immortal art, science, and philosophy. It is the best subjective psycho-anatomy of mankind ever conceived for the experience of physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual wellbeing. It has stood the test of time from the beginning of civilization and it will remain supreme as a precise psychophysical science for centuries to come.

-B.K.S. Iyengar

Synergy yoga & Pilates

Group Classes

Private Lessons

Dana B. Garrett MS, ACSM, RYT PhysicalMind Institute Stott IM and IR Certified

www.synergyoga.net 3152 Old Shell Road, Suite 2 Mobile, Alabama 36607

251.473.1104

Relax. Refocus. Recharge.

Quiet Mind Massage Therapy & Yoga Studio

Ginger Graf Dunaway LMT 762 Heidi LeBlanc Pritchett

LMT 1962

(251) 476-MIND (6463) 2065 B Old Shell Rd at Upham www.quietmindmassagetherapy.com natural awakenings

October 2010

39

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