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Creating a New Economy Fairness for People and the Planet

SHOP SMART Keep Your Dollars Green and Local

OCCUPY

COLUMBIA

MERCURY Dental Fillings

SAFELY REMOVED

November 2011

Columbia Edition

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

letterfrompublisher

contact us Publisher Keith Waller Assistant Editor Sara Gurgen Design & Production Kristina Parella Stephen Gray-Blancett Advertising Sales Annette Briggs Judi Burton To contact Natural Awakenings Columbia Edition: 404 64th Ave. N. Myrtle Beach, SC 29572 Phone: 803-233-3693 Fax: 803-753-8096 ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com www.HealthyLivingColumbia.com

© 2011 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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We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles and advertisements, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised.

We welcome your ideas, articles and feedback.

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

Natural Awakenings is printed on recycled newsprint with soybased ink.

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Columbia Edition

When I was a kid—probably barely 4 feet tall, I tried to join in a basketball game with kids much bigger. No one took me seriously. I’m not sure I’d ever played before, and maybe as a joke, someone tossed me the ball and screamed “throw it.” I knew the goal was to get the ball in the basket, so from half court, I heaved it toward the basket without thinking. Everyone stopped screaming and turned. The ball sailed in a perfect arc and swished through the basket.

There was a moment of silence, and then more screaming and cheering. I wasn’t sure why.

Wasn’t it the point to get the ball in the basket?

So, now what was the big deal? I threw the ball through the basket. So? I think we’ve all done that at some point. A nearly miraculous feat accomplished, because we had no idea it was that hard to do, especially when you’re 4 feet tall. We just did it without thinking. There is a magic in doing things without exercising those thoughts about how difficult, or impossible, the task is.

That’s when the most amazing things happen.

Who benefits by telling us all is lost—that we should just accept that we can’t ever sink the basket? That we can never elect someone smart enough to pass a 7th grade civics or history exam. That it’s okay if a bank writes faulty mortgages, fakes signatures, cheats investors and takes our homes. That those same institutions can hold the economy hostage, take tax funds and write themselves obscene bonuses in their paychecks.

Who benefits by saying organics aren’t practical; that they’ll outlaw the sale of natural foods, confiscate raw milk and almonds, and copyright seeds? That it’s necessary to treat living animals as material inventory, and ignore their suffering and sell contaminated food.

Who benefits by telling us we need more oil; that solar doesn’t work; that everything in the Gulf is perfectly fine? Who tells us a car can never get better than 20 mpg; that a Prius might fail or explode?

We’ve felt 4 feet tall for generations, and beginning sometime in the past year or so, we’ve begun a miraculous transformation. Small family farms are prospering, solar is picking up steam, and nonpolluting cars are hitting the streets.

In the Middle East, tyrants are chased from their fortresses. And in the United States, the 99 percent of us are taking hold of the ball. Those who have benefitted from our belief that living better, with integrity and dignity was impossible, are retreating into the statehouses, banks, newsrooms, offices, trading floors and estates. The bright light of truth burns.

The world is changing, led by a younger group of activists who never knew that it was difficult to sink a half-court toss when you’re only 4 feet tall.

contents

4 newsbriefs

8 healthbriefs

8 10 globalbriefs 13 greenliving 23 consciouseating

10 25 fitbody 27 calendar 28 classifieds

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.

13 SHOP SMART

by Linda Sechrist

15 ECONOMICS OF

HAPPINESS: THE NEW ECONOMY

Changing the Rules to Benefit America’s People

by John de Graaf and Linda Sechrist

30 resourceguide

19 OCCUPY

advertising & submissions

by Judi Burton

25

how to advertise To advertise with Natural Awakenings or request a media kit, please contact us at 803-233-3693 or email ColaPublisher@NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for ads: the 10th of the month.

Editorial submissions Email articles, news items and ideas to ColaPublisher@ NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for editorial: the 10th of the month. calendar submissions Submit Calendar Events at HealthyLivingColumbia. com/submit_calendar.htm or email to ColaCalendar@ NaturalAwakeningsMag.com. Deadline for calendar: the 10th of the month prior to publication. 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 803-233-3693. For franchising opportunities, call 239-530-1377 or visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

13

Keep Dollars Working in Local Communities

15

COLUMBIA

21 WHAT DO I

21

NEED TO KNOW

About Getting My Mercury Fillings Removed

by Dr. Gregory J. Wych

23 EATING OUT? EAT GREEN Eco-Friendly Restaurants Serve Up Sustainability

by Sandra Murphy

25 OUR WORST

23

FITNESS HABITS

Six Roadblocks to Sidestep

by Tosca Reno

www.healthylivingcolumbia.com HealthyLivingColumbia.com

November 2011

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newsbriefs Brookgreen Gardens’ Holiday Exhibits

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tarting Friday, Nov. 25, and ending Sunday, Jan. 1, Brookgreen Gardens will be showing Signs of the Season in Flora and Fauna in the Noble Gallery. Evergreen trees, wreaths and plaques decorated with assorted natural materials, along with vintage carousel animal figures add beauty to this exhibit. Signs of the Season in Art and History will also be on display in the Jennewein Gallery. Christmas trees, art and furnishings will reflect the holiday celebrations at Brookgreen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These exhibits are free with garden admission.

Brookgreen Gardens is on Ocean Highway south of Murrells Inlet. For more info, call 843-235-6000 or visit Brookgreen.org.

stress disorder (PTSD) and began a long journey of healing.

Being a wholistic doctor, he attempted a natural approach and with counseling, writing, travel and soul recovery, has succeeded in his endeavors. On 11/11/11, Veterans Day, he will release his latest book, The War After the War, a Warrior’s Journey Home.

Fisher has authored two other books, Angels in Vietnam and Not Welcome Home, and is a national speaker for Soldier’s Heart, a welcome home initiative for healing the effects of war. His lectures share the methodologies that work for healing veterans, their families and communities strained with the horrors of war.

Unity Church of Myrtle Beach hosts the celebration for the new book, and Fisher will speak on healing our nation and its veterans on this all-important day of remembrance.

The event will also have music, devotion, honor and an opportunity to acquire an autographed first edition copy on Friday evening, Nov. 11, 6:30 and 8:30 pm, at 1270 Surfside Industrial Pk Dr, Surfside Beach. The event is free to the public, and refreshments will be served.

For more info about John Wesley Fisher, visit JohnWesleyFisher.com and see ad, page 11. For info and directions to Unity Church Myrtle Beach, visit UnityMyrtleBeach.com.

See ad, page 10.

Pow Wow with the Waccamaw Indian People

The War After the War, a Warrior’s Journey Home

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r. John Wesley Fisher was drafted into the US Army in 1967 at the age of 20. He never considered volunteer military service, but followed orders and was sent to Vietnam in 1968, the bloodiest year of the conflict. One year later, he returned home stripped of his own identity, appalled and angry from a war the public was not supporting. Within a nonappreciative society, he spent more than 20 years camouflaging his feelings about the war and his sacrifice until his nephew deployed over to the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

At that point, Fisher was unable to hide his feelings any longer. He realized the symptoms of his post-traumatic

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he Waccamaw Tribe’s 19th Annual Arts Festival & Pow Wow (Pauwau) will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, and Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Tribal Grounds at 591 Bluewater Rd in Aynor.

Join the local native tribe for drumming, dance, authentic costumes, Indian arts and history education. The gates will open at 10 am on both days.

Cost is $5. There will be two grand entry ceremonies on Saturday, at 1 pm and 6 pm.

Sunday there will be one at 2 pm.

For more info, visit WaccamawIndians.us/tribal-events/.

Fall at Springbank Retreat for Eco Spirituality and the Arts

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hange and rebirth is the theme for workshops during November at Springbank Retreat. Located on 80 acres in a quiet, rural setting near Kingstree, Springbank is a place of meditation and healing among ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss, a blackwater swamp, and flowering camellias.

Marcy Walsh and Pam Noble will lead the workshop Spirit Quest for Elders: Claiming Heart Wisdom of Conscious Aging. Make transitions in the aging process more conscious, more healing, and more open to new birth through a gentle questing experience among the magnolias and live oak, using the teachings of nature, ceremony, solitude, daytime wandering, storytelling, and council in seeking clarity for sacred journeys. Walsh is a facilitator for labyrinths and is a spiritual director and hiking guide. Noble is a retired psychotherapist who focuses on creating healing experiences in the natural world. She is the founder of Woman Quest and Numina, a mentoring program for women.

Sandra Smith, co-founder and director of Holy Ground, a feminist retreat center in Asheville, NC, will lead Unfurling Our Spiritual Lives. Participants will reflect on how they might deepen their hearts’ capacity to receive and give love using the enneagram personality system as a map to their inner landscape.

Miriam MacGillis will present Making the Change.

TransitionUS.org presentations cover peak oil, climate change, and the mechanics of transition, along with the subtler subject of the inner transition that individuals need to go through to restore a harmonious relationship with the planet. MacGillis is the founder of Genesis Farm.

Pam Smith will present Advent Blessings in a program that leads up to Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ.

Participants will look at the Hebrew prophets and Biblical passages in the New Testament to consider the blessedness of their lives, the presence of Emmanuel (which means God with us) in an ongoing way, and the impact of the coming of Christ on humanity and the entire world. Smith is the author of 10 books and articles on biblical, ethical and ecologi-

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

cal themes. She has a PhD in systematic theology with a specialization in environmental ethics.

On the Way Home: Deepening a Sense of Ecological Belonging will be presented by Dan Shelton. Participants will look at the concept of “ecological belonging.”

They will rekindle a relationship with nature that is deeply meaningful and ecologically sustainable, inviting them to become compassionate beings of Earth. Shelton has an EdD in ecopsychology. He facilitates the educational program Project NatureConnect and has more than 20 years’ experience in helping to deepen a sense of ecological belonging.

For more info, contact Springbank Retreat for EcoSpirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd, Kingstree, or 800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org. Program fees include lodging and meals. See ad, page 22.

Mark Brophy Joins Columbia Tai Chi

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ark Brophy of SC Qigong will be joining Wes Adams of Columbia Tai Chi in January, adding monthly qigong workshops, taught by Brophy, to the regular full Tai chi schedule led by Adams.

Both Tai chi and qigong are ancient forms of exercise and meditation, originating in China, that offer tremendous health and healing benefits. Widely practiced to this day in China, they are considered the most popular form of regular exercise in the world, and can be performed twice daily by people of all ages and all capabilities. Both qigong and Tai chi involve flowing series of postures meant to be completed in perfect form, combined with meditative breathing techniques. While there are differences between the two, qigong and Tai chi both offer a powerful discipline of twicedaily physical exercise and stress reduction. Most common diseases thought to be “lifestyle diseases” have the potential to be eliminated through proper diet, exercise and stress reduction.

Columbia Tai Chi is located at 2910 Rosewood Dr, Columbia. For more info, call 803-873-2100 or visit ColumbiaTaiChiCenter.com. See ad, page 26.

Don’t forget to love

yourself. ~Soren Kierkegaard

November 2011

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Natural Awakenings Publishers Gather at Annual Conference

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atural Awakenings publishers from throughout the nation came together from Oct. 2 to 5 for the annual publishers’ conference, held this year at the Omega Institute, near Rhinebeck, NY. Nearly 50 publishers attended the event, which began with remarks from Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. (NAPC) founder and CEO Sharon Bruckman.“We’re here to support each other, sharing our hearts and energy to lift our magazines and communities to a higher level,” Bruckman said. Topics covered included using editorial and online coupons to support the growth of wholistic, green businesses; the Natural Awakenings web store that is launching in November; and the Natural Awakenings Network card, a nationwide health services and green products discount network being implemented in cities around the United States

Natural Awakenings magazines are part of a nationwide franchise, each locally owned and operated. Launched by Bruckman in 1994 with a single magazine in Naples, FL, the magazine has grown to become one of the largest free, local healthy lifestyle publications in the world, and currently serves more than 3.5 million readers in 86 cities across the United States and Puerto Rico.

For more info on the Natural Awakenings, visit HealthyLivingColumbia.com. For more info about owning a franchise, visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

Conservation Voters Honors Green Leadership

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ore than 400 people, including Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers and Attorney General Alan Wilson and 40 state senators and representatives attended the third annual Green Tie Award ™ Luncheon hosted by Conservation Voters of South Carolina (CVSC). The luncheon honored conservation leadership in the General Assembly and in the conservation community. Legislative honorees included Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw) and Reps. Mike

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Pitts (R-Laurens) and Robert Brown (D-Charleston).

In her comments to attendees, CVSC Executive Director Ann Timberlake stated: “Our goal is to have the healthiest environment and economy in the nation. Businesses in South Carolina depend upon natural resources, because almost a fourth of our jobs are in farming, forestry, tourism and recreation.”

CVSC Board Chair Dr. Harry Shealy, a biology professor at University of South Carolina Aiken, noted: “The decisions we make now will not only impact the outdoors, but our public health. We need to balance economic development with ensuring clean air, clean water, and healthy, sustainable communities. A clean environment is the best way to attract the right kinds of businesses to South Carolina.”

In addition to honoring conservation leadership, the Green Tie Award luncheon gives business leaders an opportunity to talk with their elected leaders about the value of promoting both conservation and economic opportunity, while enjoying a gourmet “Certified SC Grown” menu at the historic 701 Whaley Building.

For more info, contact Ann Timberlake at 803-799-0716 or visit cvsc.org.

Circulation Day the Free Yard Sale at Unity

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o money is paid, and no money accepted; Circulation Day at Unity of Columbia Nov. 12 is the annual gift to the community. Unity is grateful for items received (not large items or furniture please) to achieve the goals of Circulation Day. In essence, this yard sale concept has evolved to become a process for free pickup of items—a gratis yard sale to serve the community.

This provides families with items such as clothes, household items, books and even electronics. Come and bring usable items that you no longer want, or take something, or both.

No money is involved; no vendors are allowed, and leftover items are donated to charity. Donating items in these difficult economic times gives many of us an opportunity to help provide where needed. The spiritual principle modeled is “life is a giving process.” We can’t make any sense out of life, or realize the free flow of good in our experience until we see ourselves as givers.

Donate household items by dropping them off between 5 and 7:30 pm on Thursday (10th) and Friday (11th) to Unity of Columbia at 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia.

For more info, contact Charles Eason at meason226@ yahoo.com or call 803-786-7995 or 803-736-5766. See ad, page 10.

turn your passion into a business... own a Natural Awakenings magazine!

As a Natural Awakenings publisher, you can enjoy learning about healthy and joyous living while working from your home and earn a good income doing something you love!

Your magazine will help thousands of readers to make positive changes in their lives, while promoting local practitioners and providers of natural, Earthfriendly lifestyles. You will be creating a healthier community while building your own financial security.

No publishing experience is necessary. You’ll work for yourself but not by yourself. We offer a complete training and support system that allows you to successfully publish your own magazine.

Be part of a dynamic franchised publishing network that is helping to transform the way we live and care for ourselves. Now available in Spanish as well.

To determine if owning a Natural Awakenings is right for you and your target community, call us for a free consultation at 239-530-1377.

For information about how to publish Natural Awakenings in your community, call

239-530-1377

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Phenomenal Monthly Circulation Growth Since 1994. Now with 3.6 Million Monthly Readers in: • Birmingham, AL* • Huntsville, AL • Mobile/Baldwin, AL • Little Rock/ Hot Springs, AR • Phoenix, AZ • Tucson, AZ • East Bay Area, CA • Los Angeles, CA • San Diego, CA • Santa Barbara/ Ventura, CA • Denver/Boulder, CO • Hartford, CT • Fairfield County, CT • New Haven/ Middlesex, CT • Daytona/Volusia/ Flagler, FL • NW FL Emerald Coast • Ft. Lauderdale, FL • Jacksonville/ St. Augustine, FL • Melbourne/ Vero Beach, FL • Miami & Florida Keys • Naples/Ft. Myers, FL • North Central FL* • Orlando, FL • Palm Beach, FL • Peace River, FL • Sarasota, FL • Tallahassee, FL • Tampa/ St. Petersburg, FL • Florida’s Treasure Coast • Atlanta, GA • Augusta, GA • Chicago North Shore, IL • Indianapolis, IN • Lexington, KY* • Louisville-Metro, KY • Lafayette, LA • New Orleans, LA • Middlesex Co., MA • Ann Arbor, MI • Grand Rapids, MI • East Michigan • Lansing, MI • Wayne County, MI

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Asheville, NC Charlotte, NC Raleigh/Durham/ Chapel Hill, NC Monmouth/ Ocean, NJ North NJ North Central NJ Somerset/Middlesex Counties, NJ South NJ Santa Fe/ Albuquerque, NM* Las Vegas, NV Long Island, NY Manhattan, NY Rockland/ Orange Counties, NY Westchester/ Putnam Co’s., NY Cincinnati, OH* Oklahoma City, OK Tulsa, OK* Portland, OR Bucks/Montgomery Counties, PA Harrisburg, PA Lehigh Valley, PA Northeastern PA* Rhode Island Charleston, SC Columbia, SC* Grand Strand, SC Greenville, SC Chattanooga, TN Knoxville, TN Memphis, TN Nashville, TN Austin, TX Dallas, TX Houston, TX North Texas San Antonio, TX Tyler/Longview, TX Richmond, VA Southwestern VA* Seattle, WA Madison, WI Milwaukee, WI Puerto Rico

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• Low Investment • Work at Home • Great Support Team • Marketing Tools • Meaningful November 2011 New Career 7

healthbriefs

Taking Steps Against Diabetes

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ovember is National Diabetes Awareness Month, a reminder that by taking the necessary steps, many Americans can prevent incurring the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 79 million of us have prediabetes and may develop diabetes later in life. New research suggests that inactivity, along with an overly refined diet, impairs the body’s control of blood sugar levels and may play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

“We now have evidence that physical activity is an important part of the daily maintenance of glucose levels,” advises John Thyfault, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, whose new study monitored the activity levels and diets of healthy and moderately active young adults. He concluded that “even in the short term, reducing daily activity and ceasing regular exercise causes acute changes in the body associated with diabetes, which can occur before weight gain and the development of obesity.”

The CDC reports that 25 percent of Americans have inactive lifestyles, taking fewer than 5,000 steps a day, instead of a recommended 10,000 steps. Seventyfive percent do not meet the weekly exercise recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate activity, combined with a muscle-strengthening activity twice a week.

While regular exercise is crucial in preventing the disease, so is diet. Research led by scientist Patrice Carter, at the University of Leicester, in England, has found that cutting down on high-fat, high-sugar foods and refined grains while eating more green leafy vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Her study, published online in the British Medical Journal, states that an extra serving of green leafy vegetables a day can reduce the risk of diabetes by 14 percent.

Dish Up Some Pecan Pie

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ho doesn’t relish a slice of pecan pie for Thanksgiving dessert? New research from Loma Linda University (LLU) demonstrates that naturally occurring antioxidants in pecans may help contribute to heart health and disease prevention. Earlier LLU research showed that a pecan-enriched diet lowered levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) by 16.5 percent. Both studies were published in the Journal of Nutrition.

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Columbia Edition

The New Coconut Oil

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ost older studies who gave coconut oil a bad rap involved partially hydrogenated oil loaded with trans-fatty acids. But the unrefined virgin coconut oil now available in many health food stores is not chemically treated and is trans-fat free. Marisa Moore, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a nonprofit organization of nutritionists, explains that the main saturated fat in virgin coconut oil is lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid that can help increase levels of HDL (good cholesterol).

Shop for Gifts in Pleasant Surroundings

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ecent research underscores what common sense tells us, that moods, emotions and feelings influence the quality of people’s decisions. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research confirms that when shoppers are in a positive mood, they make quicker and more consistent judgments than unhappy consumers.

The study’s authors manipulated participants’ moods by showing them pictures of likable objects (puppies) or unpleasant images (diseased feet) or asking them to recall pleasant or unpleasant events from the past. Next, the participants viewed individual pictures of a common object they might consider buying. Finally, they chose from a random list of evaluative adjectives, both positive and negative.

Individuals in a positive state of mind not only responded more quickly to the adjectives, they also responded more consistently. For example, if they reported liking an object, they were less likely to respond later that they disliked it.

“These results have implications for how we navigate our world,” the researchers reported. “The decisions we make about liking or disliking objects around us are fundamental to which things we approach and which things we avoid.”

The bottom line for retailers: Being aware of and avoiding factors that can induce negative moods—such as abrasive salespeople and unwelcoming shopping environments—can help ring up more sales.

Home Is Where the Healthy Meal Is

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ne of the joys of heading home for the holidays is the anticipation of gathering around the table with loved ones and enjoying delicious foods. But we do well to indulge in the home-cooked meal experience on non-holidays, as well. Foods prepared away from home, including fast food eaten at home and store-prepared food eaten away from home, tend to fuel an increase in total calorie intake. Conversely, eating at home is linked with healthier choices.

According to research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, both the eating location and food source significantly impact the daily calorie intake of school-age children and may be linked to rising rates of childhood obesity. The study found that the percentage of calories eaten away from home increased from 23.4 to 33.9 percent from 1977 to 2006.

A new study from McGill University, based on data from 160 women, further suggests that a home-cooked meal can prompt people to make healthier and more nutritional food choices. The women in the study tended to reach more for the greens, rather than high-calorie desserts.

Reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the researchers suggest that when we eat at home, emotionally rewarding factors like contentedness may help override our wired-in preference for high-fat, sugary foods. The findings point to factors that may encourage healthy eating such as interpersonal communication, home design and atmospheric cues, including pleasing music, dining landscape and kitchen equipment; all have all been found to induce positive emotions.

See the Good

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eeling happy in an increasingly troubled world can be challenging, but according to a new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, we can evoke more consistent feelings of happiness by holding a positive, nostalgic view of the past and banishing negative thoughts and regrets.

San Francisco State University researchers that studied the happiness status of 750 volunteers point out that although we may not be able to change our personality, we can alter our view of a time in our life and thus create happiness. They concluded that savoring happy memories and reframing painful past experiences into positive ones is an effective way to increase overall life satisfaction.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth. ~Muhammad Ali

Happier and Healthier at Work

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UK study from the University of Exeter confirms good news: Employees who have a say in the design and layout of their workspace are happier and healthier. But that’s not all—they also become up to 32 percent more productive.

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

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

November is Native American Heritage Month NativeAmericanHeritageMonth.gov lists celebrations.

Reef Requiem

World’s Coral in Dire Peril The world’s coral reefs are dying. It doesn’t take a trained eye to see the draining of color that results when the corals, stressed by heat due to global warming, expel the algae they rely upon for food that also provides their signature hues. It’s a death knell as well for reef fish.

Reefs have always grappled with destructive fishing practices, sediment and nutrient runoff, coral mining, tourism and coastal development. Scientists say the bleaching process is now accelerating. The World Resources Institute reports that nearly three-quarters of all ocean reefs are at risk of extreme degradation, on top of the 20 percent already lost or damaged beyond repair. Oceanographers think that all reefs will be at risk by 2050 because of increasingly acidified seas, the result of increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Coral reefs, covering less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, harbor 25 percent of the ocean’s biodiversity and are home to more than 4,000 species of fish. In developing countries, reefs account for nearly 25 percent of all fishing areas, feeding millions of people.

Scientists stress that it is more important than ever to control manmade factors such as overfishing and pollution to aid in corals’ survival.

Sources: The New York Times and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Toxic Redux

Global Warming Releases Imprisoned Poisons During the industrial boom of the last half of the 20th century, thousands of manmade chemicals were created. Used in consumer products, pest control and crop production, they have also proved deadly, causing and contributing to cancers, birth defects and other health crises.

Once the connection was scientifically proven, the international community restricted or banned the use of 12 pollutants, including DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), at the 2001 Stockholm Convention on POPs, or persistent organic pollutants (Tinyurl.com/3sa2v47). This group of the world’s most toxic compounds takes decades to degrade, gradually accumulating in the fatty tissues of humans and wildlife.

Initially, climatic forces helped to limit the reach and impact of the chemicals in places like the Arctic, where POPs trapped in snow, soil and oceans were capped by sea ice, and atmospheric levels of the toxic substances monitored by Canada and Norway have steadily declined during the past decade.

Scientists at the Canadian environmental agency, Environment Canada, think that global warming is reversing the downward trend. They found that as the planet warms, sea ice and snow continue to melt and the pollutants, called legacy POPs, are being released back into the atmosphere with potential worldwide effects.

Once airborne, POPs can ride wind and ocean currents to as far as Latin America and Africa. It also undermines international treaties regarding human exposure to high-risk toxins.

Source: SolveClimateNews.com.

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Banking Freedom

Loan Alternatives Emerging Worldwide Borrowing from a bank has traditionally been a slow, bureaucratic process, often off-limits to people outside the wage-and-salary mainstream, whether they’re starting a business or getting back on their feet. Over the centuries, groups of people have organized various styles of societal credit arrangements to address these shortcomings. Today’s credit union, a co-operative, community-based banking model, still thrives.

In the past 30 years, the rise of microcredit has been providing small loans to people around the world that have no access to traditional banks or could not meet banking industry requirements. More recently, the combination of microfinance and online social networking has resulted in a new phenomenon: peer-to-peer lending, or social lending.

Today, more than a dozen websites connect borrowers and lenders without using banks as middlemen. The economic advantage of such peer-to-peer lending extends to attractive interest rates for borrowers; often half that of Visa or MasterCard. LendingClub.com has surpassed $1 billion in such loans.

“Interest rates turn a charitable relationship into a business relationship,” notes Matt Flannery, who founded the online micro-lender Kiva.org in 2005. “That empowers the poor by making them business partners.” Kiva lenders don’t earn interest on their loans, but the underlying micro-lenders that administer the loans in their countries do.

Sources: Ode magazine, MainStreet.com.

Fairer Trade

B Corps Aim to Right the System Traditional business models have recently experienced many manmade traumas, including the housing/banking industry collapse, world recession, nuclear pollution in Japan, the BP Gulf oil spill and the Massey Energy Company coal mining deaths in West Virginia.

The conventional response is that smarter regulation is needed to prevent such crises in the future, but a growing number of business analysts say the problems go deeper, and a new kind of corporate legal structure is needed that requires companies to operate for the good of society, not just for their shareholders. These new entities, called B Corporations (the B is for benefit), are growing in number, having been adopted so far in Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont and Virginia.

According to B Lab, the nonprofit behind the concept, “Our vision is simple, yet ambitious: to create a new sector of the economy that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. It will be comprised of a new type of corporation—the B Corporation—that meets rigorous and independent standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.”

Jay Coen Gilbert, a B Lab co-founder, says, “We can’t have a new economy unless we have a new type of corporation. Corporate law actually works against sustainability.”

Its certification effort helps consumers identify truly responsible companies. It also works with private equity investors to help them make better-informed investment decisions. Ultimately, it is pushing for new laws to “redefine fiduciary duty and hold companies accountable to create a material positive impact on society and the environment, as measured by an independent, transparent, third-party standard.”

Source: GreenBiz.com.

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

November 2011

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Natural Awakenings e-zine is now available in your inbox

globalbriefs Community Currency Private Mints on the Upswing

A local currency movement is again emerging as a way to focus business capital, especially consumer spending, on community economies.

BerkShares illustrate the phenomenon. First issued in 2006 in the southern Berkshires region of Massachusetts, more than 2 million of these paper notes are currently in circulation. One hundred BerkShares can be purchased for $95 at one of five local banks and exchanged at participating merchants with the same purchasing value as US dollars.

The program provides consumers an incentive to keep the notes active and shop and dine locally in the 400 neighborhood businesses that accept them. “At the moment, we’re a very sophisticated ‘buy local’ program,” says Susan Witt, co-founder and administrator of BerkShares, Inc., “but the potential to move to an independent currency is built in.”

Networking is key. Some local currency success stories include New York’s Ithaca Hours, North Carolina’s Plenty and Wisconsin’s Madison Hours, but others have not survived, despite sometimes extensive marketing support.

BerkShares continue to represent a relatively small part of the region’s local economy. Witt says: “In the short term, it’s about educating people about local economies. In the long term, it’s transforming the institution of money. We’re not there yet. But everyone knows what BerkShares are.”

Source: Adapted from E/The Environmental Magazine.

For your free e-subscription to the Columbia Edition, visit HealthyLivingColumbia.com, to the Grand Strand Edition, visit GrandStrandHealthyLiving.com.

Choose your planet-friendly version: • In print on recycled paper with soy-based ink • E-zine on your computer

12

Columbia Edition

sOccket to Me

A Powerful Plaything Two Harvard undergraduate students, Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews, have come up with a way to harness the kinetic energy of a moving soccer ball and store it as electric current in a battery inside the ball. The invention, called sOccket, collects enough energy in 15 minutes of play to power a typical LED lamp for three hours. The device sports its own power outlet to retrieve the juice inside.

Today’s sOccket is designed to last for a year or longer; researchers are studying its larger potential.

Source: CleanTechnica.com.

Honor World Kindness Day on November 13

greenliving

T R SHOP SMA Make the Connection

Keep Dollars Working in Local Communities

by Linda Sechrist

T

oday, Americans can tap into one of the best bargains around by voting to support our local and regional economies. By shifting our shopping to locally owned and operated retailers and service providers, we help create and retain area jobs, support community commerce and build valuable relationships and social connections within our community. With every local purchase, we leave the store enriched, having deepened both community social capital and genuine wealth.

Imagine the joy of knowing that your purchase contributes to the dentist supplying braces for the local grocer’s kids, the local insurance agent’s mortgage payment, the local banker’s roof repair and the local roofer’s dinner—all of them friends and neighbors. The list of benefits—from shoring up local home values to ensuring access to local produce—keeps expanding as your dollars continue to circulate within

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

the community.

Yet, finding a fuller range of locally made items at locally owned stores will continue to be challenging until shoppers demand it. One way to begin aligning purchases with your values is by patronizing stores that offer socially responsible and fair trade items.

Shaktari Belew, author of Honoring All Life: A Practical Guide to Exploring a New Reality, explains how purchasing goods and services can actually create local community wealth for all if they are specifically designed for that outcome. “When items are designed to be created and sold locally, everyone involved benefits, from the suppliers that obtain the raw materials through those that manufacture, sell and buy

Join the online Natural Awakenings national directory, filled with natural-living business listings from around the country.

REGISTER for your FREE business listing. It’s easy.

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November 2011

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the finished item. Even the environment benefits.”

Belew encourages our learning as much as possible about purchases.

“Once people are aware of the two vital concepts of localization and design, they will be better able to scrutinize purchases,” advises this designer and wholesystems thinker who focuses on resilient community design. As a Transition US.org workshop leader and one of the primary designers of the Community Engagement Process for Unified Field Corporation’s whole-systems/ quadruple bottom line financial model, this Oregon resident tries to follow her own advice. “The Cradle to Cradle C2C certification helps,” she says.

The C2C program is an eco-label authorized by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, co-founded in 1995

by William McDonough, the author of Cradle to Cradle. The certification process assesses a product’s safety to humans and the environment, plus its potential for future life cycles.

The program focuses on using safe materials that can be disassembled and recycled for another purpose or composted as biological nutrients. To date, hundreds of items, from building materials, bedding and linens, baby care and hair care products to personal and household cleaning products, have been C2C certified.

If you plan to ship gifts long distances this gift-giving season, why not use the first C2C-certified consumer product—a US Postal Service packing box? It exemplifies how a complex good design makes a product people and planet friendly. All 60 of the product’s boxes, decals and labels, involving 1,400 component materials, had to be certified, but the benefits are big: reduced costs for handling waste and disposing of hazardous materials; plus, the receiver may easily recycle the item with a free conscience.

“Imagine a closed-loop market system in which any number of items made from finite resources such as glass, paper, steel, plastic and cloth are designed to be reused in a near-endless cycle,” says Belew. “Imagine a world of goods designed for easy repair and 14

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Advertisement

Killing You?

maintenance, rather than obsolescence.”

Belew, the designer of Will’s Bills, a form of complementary currency, also recommends buying items that have long-term reusability specific to our needs.

“My daughter loves a particular curry sauce, which comes in a little glass jar with a screw-top lid,” she relates. Rather than recycle the jars, the family reuses them for storing small things at home. “They’re also the perfect size for single servings,” she says.

Sometimes, just a simple shift in perspective can change an item from trash to treasure.

Linda Sechrist is an editor of Natural Awakenings community magazines.

Economics of Happiness:

The New Economy

Changing the Rules to Benefit America’s People

by John de Graaf and Linda Sechrist

Most Americans are facing their most significant economic challenges in generations. From the hardships of unemployment to the perils of mounting debt, worry about the health of a national economy that depends on consumerism and market success dominates our conversation. But have we asked what the economy is really for?

S

ince the Second World War, we have been assured that more economic growth is good for us. But is it? By any measure, the US economy, in its pursuit of constant growth, is in dire need of critical life support. Too many people have lost jobs, homes, scholarships and retirement savings, along with peace of mind, in the face of complex uncertainties. Those individuals who have jobs are earning less in real income than in 2001, even though they spend more hours working and commuting than previous generations.

We’ve had enough of the official mantra: Work more, enjoy less, pollute more, eat toxic foods and suffer illnesses, all for the sake of increasing the gross domestic product. Why not learn ways to work less and enjoy it more; spend more time with our

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

friends and families; consume, pollute, destroy and owe less; and live better, longer and more meaningfully? To do all this, we need fresh solutions that engage America’s people in redefining goals for the economy (what we want from it) as opposed to the economy’s goals (what it demands from us).

An Economy Based on Quality of Life

Although an economy based on a high quality of life that makes people happy may sound revolutionary, Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, enshrined the pursuit of happiness as a human right when he drafted our Declaration of Independence. Jefferson emphasized that America’s government was “to secure the greatest degree of happiness possible for the general mass of those associated under it.” Likewise, the Con-

stitution of the United States declares that government is to promote, among other things, the general welfare of the people.

Americans are able to achieve a better life, as we’ve proved many times in the past, benefiting mightily as a result of forward steps ranging from democracy, women’s suffrage and civil rights to inventive technological leadership. Although history shows that this has been accomplished primarily by changing national policies, any new economy delivering improved well-being is first brought about largely by active citizens that choose to invest more time in building a nation that reflects increasingly enlightened values.

Everyone’s quality of life—from today’s parents to future generations of great-grandchildren—depends upon individuals collectively working to build a new economy based on the concept of genuine wealth. In his award-winning book, Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth, ecological economist Mark Anielski explains this new and practical approach grounded in what people value most, which he states is: “Love, meaningful relationships, happiness, joy, freedom, sufficiency, justice and peace”—qualities of life far more vital than blind economic growth and material possessions.

Preferred Measure of Progress

To determine whether our economy promotes the greatest good or the happiness of the American people, we need to understand what makes us happy and how economic policies enhance or thwart our pursuit of happiness; we also need a better instrument of economic measurement than the gross domestic product (GDP).

The GDP counts remedial and defensive expenditures for pollution, accidents, war, crime and sickness as positives, rather than deducting these costs. GDP also discounts the value of contributions such as natural resources and ecosystem services, improvement in quality of life, unpaid domestic work, volunteer work, good

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good governance and material wellbeing.

In 2004, the first annual International Conference on Gross National Happiness was held in Bhutan. Hundreds of government representatives, scholars and other thought leaders from more than 40 nations gathered to explore the possibility of making GNH the true indicator of a country’s health and quality of life. As of 2011, a non-binding resolution by the United Nations General Assembly urges that countries now measure their health and happiness, as well as wealth. Sixty-six countries backed it.

Measuring Americans’ Life Satisfaction

health and social connection.

Anielski, in concert with economic experts such as Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economy, Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, recommends that economic policies aim to boost societal welfare, rather than GDP. All agree that a new indicator of well-being, such as the US Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), could be used to more accurately measure economic progress.

The Science of Happiness

A respected “science of happiness,” pioneered by University of Illinois positive psychologist Edward Diener, PhD, dubbed Dr. Happiness, and other researchers, has existed for more than a decade. The study of what makes people happy and life fulfilling repeatedly demonstrates that the economic route to happiness does not consist of 16

Columbia Edition

endlessly widening the superhighway of accumulation. Rather, it resides in a host of personal values that are closer to our hearts, as illustrated by the Himalayan nation of Bhutan (population: about 700,000).

For many years, Bhutan has measured its general well-being—as the people themselves subjectively report it—using a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index. Its government bases policy decisions on how they might effect the kind of happiness associated with contentment, family, community, spirituality, education, compatibility with nature and good physical health.

After years of primary research, the Bhutanese have identified nine domains for assessing happiness: psychological well-being, physical health, time use (work-life balance), community vitality and social connection, education, cultural preservation and diversity, environmental sustainability,

Seattle, WA, the first US city to implement a measurement of life satisfaction, is parlaying Bhutan’s indicators— psychological well-being, physical health, work/time balance, education and capacity building, cultural vitality and access to arts and culture, environmental quality and access to nature, apt governance and material wellbeing—as part of its own Sustainable Seattle Happiness Initiative. Spearheaded by Sustainable Seattle Executive Director Laura Musikanski and her team with encouragement by City Council President Richard Conlin, it may become America’s first GNH city.

Initial survey results, intended to spark conversations that matter, will be discussed at future town meetings in Seattle neighborhoods and used to recommend policies for consideration by the city council. Repeating the survey every couple of years will reveal progress.

Interest in a similar Happiness Initiative is growing in cities and towns from coast to coast, such as Napa, CA; Bowling Green, KY; Duluth, MN; Santa Fe and Roswell, NM; Bellevue, NE; Portland, OR; and Eau Claire, WI. Some 100 colleges and universities also are beginning to apply the Happiness Initiative survey.

How to Become Happier

To improve our own well-being within any economy, we need to attend to our security, social connections and the way we balance our time. Choosing

Tools to Navigate the New Economy New Economics Foundation: The Great Transition NewEconomics.org Browse NewEconomics.org/sites/ neweconomics.org/files/Great_ Transition_0.pdf.

This independent think-and-do-tank inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being.

The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth GenuineWealth.net Author Mark Anielski maps how to measure genuine wealth and create flourishing economies grounded in people’s well-being.

Transition United States: Transition Towns TransitionUS.org Participants in this vibrant, grassroots movement seek to build community resilience in the face of challenges such as high oil prices, climate change and economic crises.

Sustainable Seattle: The Happiness Initiative SustainableSeattle.org Founders provide tools to comprehensively assess well-being, involve citizens and inspire people, organizations and policymakers to take action.

World Café: Real Conversations for a Better World TheWorldCafe.org This application of powerful social technology helps engage people in conversations that matter, offering an effective antidote to society’s fast-paced fragmentation and lack of connection.

Living Economies Forum: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth LivingEconomiesForum.org “The old economy of greed and domination is dying. A new economy of life and partnership is struggling to be born. The outcome is ours to choose.” ~ Author David Korten

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

to live with less stuff and lighter debt supports a better life with less income but more time, lower stress and better health. As individuals, we can: n Focus more on matters of family and community and on building trust. n Devote less attention to maximizing incomes and more attention to acts of generosity. n Ask our employers for more time off instead of higher pay.

In our local communities, we can find ways to design more relationshipfriendly places such as farmers’ markets, where shoppers tend to engage in many more conversations than in supermarket aisles (Worldwatch Institute). In cities, we can call for public and private spaces that facilitate social connection, instead of discouraging it via urban sprawl.

Ecological economist Dave Batker, co-author of What’s the Economy for Anyway? (film clip at Tinyurl. com/3tc9dlk), believes that moving forward requires greater citizen involvement in the shaping of democracy, laws and our collective future.

By ditching pundits and talking with neighbors, city by city and town by town, citizens throughout the United States are moving to do this using newly learned techniques such as those offered by Open Space Technology, World Café, Transition Towns, Sustainable Cities, The Cloud Institute

for Sustainability Education, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences’ Worldview Literacy Project.

In St. Petersburg, FL, Oklahoma City, OK, and other places, citizens are cultivating a stronger sense of community with real discussions about local issues and economic goals. They aim to arrive at a clear-eyed view of what citizens really want from the economy.

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of Florida Studies’ 36th annual conference, at Hillsborough Community College (Tinyurl.com/3avntte). Kleitsch remarks, “I show up, pay attention and listen for opportunities where my connections with policy makers, educators, nonprofits and community activists can help convene people in meaningful conversations that can make a difference in building a resilient community.”

In Oklahoma City, Sustainable OKC, a volunteer organization working towards community sustainability at the crossroads of business, environment and social justice, frequently partners with the city’s Office of Sustainability, the CommonWealth Urban Farms project and the Oklahoma Food Cooperative (Sustainableokc.org). The grassroots organization advocates shopping locally and sustainably.

Jennifer Alig, Sustainable OKC president, is consistently delighted by the growing number of residents that don’t just attend events such as movie screenings of The Economics of Happiness, but also show up to plant food to feed the hungry and join Commonwealth Urban Farms work parties to feed neighborhoods using the products of thriving urban farms on vacant city lots. Alig notes, “After events, we sometimes use Open Space Technology to talk about topics that people are passionate about and willing to invest their time in.”

The kind of society that makes for health, happiness, true prosperity and sustainability is one with strong local economies and flourishing communities that includes many activities provided by local nonprofits. It’s one characterized by: n Local small businesses and banking n Farmers’ markets and urban gardens n Urban designs that favor shared walks instead of isolated commutes n Public spaces for social interaction n Circumstances in which buyers know sellers n Businesspeople who sponsor and volunteer for local activities n Salary differences that are not vast n Citizens building a better world together

The people you meet in Natural Awakenings stand ready to take this journey with you.

Be a part of our special

Health & Wellness January edition

Contact us at: Annette Briggs 803-309-2101 bbriggs2@sc.rr.com 18

Columbia Edition

We intuitively know what is required to create such a society, starting in our own community. What we need is the determination to make sure the economy serves us; rules that benefit all of the people; a commitment to widespread quality of life, social justice and sustainability; and the political will to make good change happen.

John de Graaf, media and outreach director for the Happiness Initiative, speaks nationally on overwork and overconsumption in America. He recently co-authored What’s the Economy for, Anyway? – Why It’s Time to Stop Chasing Growth and Start Pursuing Happiness, with David Batker.

He is also co-author of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. Fifteen of his documentaries have aired on PBS. Linda Sechrist writes and edits for Natural Awakenings.

by Judi Burton

I

t began with the financial district at Wall Street: a call to action, using civil disobedience and demonstrations.

The mission was to protest the lack of accountability for fraud and economic crimes that contributed to the economic crash, and to rally against the huge and growing disparity between the obscene wealth of the very few and the despair of the other 99 percent of the American population. The traditional media call it a rag-tag group of modern hippies trying to initiate a class war to attack the rich, when many see the war as having begun long ago by the rich, who have been winning. The disparity in wealth and income between a few extremely rich and the rest of the population is at its greatest since before the Great Depression.

Columbia is a part of that movement.

A small group of diverse individuals in Columbia gathered and discussed the organization of Occupy Columbia to plan for the Day of Action. Travis Bland, a 23-year-old University of South Carolina history major graduate, was one of the first organizers, having met a group at a potluck dinner discussing the Occupy Wall Street movement. From within that very American tradition of a dish-to-pass party, Occupy Columbia sprouted. A day later, Brandon Moody created the Occupy Columbia Facebook page to promote the idea to the public. About

100 people showed up on Oct. 9 at Finlay Park for an informational meeting. During the meeting, several committees were put together and put in charge of specific duties, such as food, safety, sanitation, photography, PR, legal, and even a street team in charge of passing out flyers. Social media has played a major role in getting the message out, since corporate-controlled media has done much to diminish and denigrate the movement.

All of the protests are strictly nonviolent protests. A letter written by the group was sent to the Columbia Police Department stating the purpose of

The Wall Street protest, called Occupy Wall Street, has grown to a worldwide one, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings that sought to depose tyrants and inhumane governments to right the wrongs of their society. In South Carolina, protesters join more than 1,800 cities across the world that answered the call to meet in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement on Oct. 15, Global Day of Action. Occupy

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the march, and a portion of the letter reads:

Occupy Columbia would like to invite you to participate with us and not against us. We are school teachers, we are students, we are the elderly, we are children, we are shopkeepers, we are police officers, and we are nearly every person you see in the grocery store or walking down the street. We are your friends, and we are strangers.

We are all races, and we are all creeds.

We are the middle class, and we are the poor. We stand united for the principles of democracy that we hold so dear, so that every voice can be heard. We are the 99%.

As of this writing, Occupy Columbia, to be held on state property downtown, expects about 200 people to show up, with more joining in as the movement continues and spreads. The occupiers do not have a set date of dispersal, and many will camp or sleep out overnight on the lawn. The intent is peaceful resistance, demonstrations and lawful expression; and if they are told they cannot camp, they have promised to obey peacefully, hoping to work with the police to find a suitable area to camp for the overnight demonstration activities.

While the larger Occupy Wall Street movement attendees nationwide express a broad spectrum of economic ideas, the major point of view is that wealthy corporations and the richest 1 percent are controlling the government and the democracy, which we as Americans cherish, through lobbying and campaign contributions. The rest of the population—the common working people—are suffering as the economy falters, and the flow of cash disappears into the vaults and coffers of a few.

“I was attracted to the movement because I felt close to what they were promoting,” Bland said. “It feels like 20

Columbia Edition

our social system cannot survive anymore when corporate money has more value than the voice of the people. We want to change the culture in which money equals representation and re-enfranchise people that have been disfranchised. It’s setting forth a new model for government and giving people back a voice. We are collectively taking a stand. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself who does our government work for, corpora-

tions or the people it has been sworn to protect?” Cammie Kennedy, a 31-year-old originally from Kansas, is one of the individuals who was first to join Occupy Columbia. “I do feel the government is not acting on behalf of the bottom 99 percent,” she said. “We are losing jobs and paying more for health care, while the rich are just getting richer. The average employee got an average 2.1 percent wage increase this last year, and the average CEO got a wage increase of 27 percent. That’s a huge gap! Why are teachers and union workers being asked to sacrifice so much and the top earners are not being asked to sacrifice anything?”

The State Legislature is not in session now and won’t be back until January, but the Occupiers are hopeful that they can drum up enough publicity to get their voices heard. In addition to Columbia, all of the other larger SC cities and communities are participating. “We hope that you will take the time out to come by the Statehouse and stand in solidarity with us and the 99 percent across the world that wish to have a voice again,” Bland said.

To find an Occupy movement close to you, visit OccupyTogether.org. To learn more about Occupy Columbia, search for it on Facebook or visit OccupyColumbiaSC.org. The 1 percent control much of the mainstream media, but social media and the Internet can still reach the people. Reach out with your message.

Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

by Dr. Gregory J. Wych

E

verybody should worry about possible mercury exposure that can result from the way most dentists just grind out old mercury fillings. Much of the time, a new amalgam filling goes back in place of the old one. The dental establishment claims that mercury fillings are a stable material that emits little or no mercury, but then turns around and blames the mercury–free dentists for “unnecessarily exposing patients to excess mercury” when removing amalgams electively. Well, which is it? Stable, or mercury emitting?

We know beyond any doubt that amalgam emits mercury. Cutting the amalgam with a dental bur produces very small particles with vastly increased surface area, and vastly increased potential for subjecting the people present to mercury exposure. In fact, in a recently published experiment, volunteers with no amalgam fillings swallowed capsules of milled amalgam particles and, sure enough, their blood mercury levels increased! These authors concluded that “the GI uptake of mercury from amalgam particles is of quantitative importance.”

Less well studied than mercury vapor is the problem of amalgam particulates. Taking out fillings with a high-speed dental bur generates a cloud of particles, at least 65 percent of which are one micron or less in size. These are fully respirable and get deep into the lungs, where the microscopic particles are broken down and the mercury is systemically absorbed within a few days. This mercury exposure can be as much as a hundred times greater than that from the vapor! Stories abound concerning patients having adverse reactions—getting sick—following removal of mercury fillings.

Rubber Dam or No Rubber Dam? Some dentists hate rubber dams, while the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) member dentists can’t live without them. Reduced exposure amalgam removal can be done either way, but the rubber dam will help contain the majority of the debris of amal-

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

gam grinding, among its many other benefits. Studies have shown that the use of a rubber dam eliminates the spike in plasma mercury one day after amalgam removal, as well as the spike in urine mercury 10 days afterward—evidence of its protective benefit. Of course, both amalgam removal groups, dam or no dam, showed 50 to 75 percent reduction in mercury levels a year later!

Chunk or Grind?

The IAOMT recommends that the mercury fillings be removed in big chunks, and not by just grinding them out.

Removal slowly with big chunks greatly reduces the amount of mercury that can be breathed in by the patient, dentist and assistant. Asking your dentist about his or her technique for removal of mercury fillings is the only way to know if he or she follows the IAOMT guidelines.

Many wholistic practitioners recommend removing only two or three fillings at a time to reduce mercury exposure. If the fillings are all in the same portion of the mouth, and will all get “numb” at the same time, then removing those fillings seem to be the best idea. Any more than removing a few fillings at a time increases the risk of mercury toxicity for the patient.

Supplement or Not? Some patients want to know if they should take any medication or supplements prior or during amalgam removal.

While the IAOMT makes no suggestion either way, many alternative medicine physicians support the idea of vitamin C supplementation prior to amalgam removal, and detoxification immediately after amalgam removal. A typical detoxification program might include charcoal the day of and after the removal, followed by organ detoxification such as: • Liver and gall bladder cleanse: dandelion root, cinnamon bark, liquorice, juniper berries, cardamom, bearberry leaf, cloves, ginger, milk thistle, Oregon

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Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts

Healing Self/Healing Earth Fall & Spring Sabbaticals (1-, 2-, & 3-months) Sept. 11-Dec. 7, 2011 • Feb. 1-May 2 & Sept. 12-Dec. 5, 2012

Sabbatical participants can enjoy programs/retreats at no extra charge.

Enjoy 80 acres of quiet beauty in a creative, nourishing atmosphere.

Fall Retreats Spirit Quest for Elders: Conscious Aging w/ Marcy Walsh & Pam Noble, Nov. 3-6

Unfurling Our Spiritual Lives w/ Sandra Smith, Nov. 15-16

Making the Change

w/ Miriam MacGillis, Nov. 18-20

On the Way Home: Ecological Belonging w/ Dan Shelton, Nov. 28

Register by calling 800-671-0361 or e-mail Springbank@earthlink.net

1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree, SC 29556

l

www.SpringbankRetreat.org

grape root, Swedish bitters and colloidal silver. Freshly squeezed organic orange juice precedes the cleanse each morning; • Kidney cleanse (preceded by fresh organic lemon juice): corn silk, bearberry leaf, dandelion, horsetail, burdock root, goldenrod, juniper berries and colloidal silver; • Blood cleanse: red clover, chapparal, garlic, burdock root, gotu kola, cayenne, echinacea, cat’s claw, ginkgo biloba, horsetail, poke root and colloidal silver; • Brain tonic: ginkgo biloba, gotu kola, calamus root, rosemary, kola nut, cayenne and colloidal silver.

All these herbs help to cleanse the systems of the body while aiding the healing process. These cleansing tonics should ideally be taken in rotation throughout the year to cleanse the body of pollutants as well as poisons such as mercury. The courses last two to four weeks. Talking to your alternative medicine physician is the best way to decide the best course of treatment for yourself. Again, the IAOMT makes no suggestions concerning supplementation.

There is little doubt that safe removal of mercury filings can improve your health, as long as certain guidelines are followed. Ask your dentist, or look for dentists committed to the IAOMT guidelines for help.

For more info, contact Gregory J. Wych, DDS, 7505 St. Andrews Rd, Irmo, 803-781-1600, GregoryWych.com. See ad, page 14.

ecotip Green Greetings

The Medium Is the Message with Holiday Cards Even with the advent of email, texting, smart phones and animated web greetings, the traditional paper holiday greeting card, wishing recipients a “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah” or simply “Happy Holidays,” still holds a place in our hearts as a way to send, receive, display and even file forever a treasured memento. RawPeople.com reports that 300,000 trees are consumed each year in the making of some 2 billion holiday cards, but appealing alternatives are coming to the rescue.

Purchasing cards made of recycled paper is the easiest way to save some lumber. Look for a local card retailer that is big on labels signifying use of 100 percent recycled content, post-consumer waste and vegetable inks. More unusual options include tree-free paper made from sugarcane and plantable cards with embedded seeds.

Nonprofit and conservation-oriented organizations can fill in the gaps. CardsThatGive.com (Tinyurl.com/3arz7ms) works with scores of them and offers online visitors a legend of icons that explains the environmental and charitable benefits of each one.

The Sierra Club (Tinyurl.com/3wven48), America’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, offers holiday designs printed in the United States with soy-based inks on recycled paper. The Greenpeace Natural Collection (Tinyurl.com/4xwabus) also offers eco-friendly cards.

To reduce a card’s carbon footprint to the bare minimum, with the only transport required that expended by the post office to deliver it, make it yourself. One option is to take old received cards, creatively paint over the original addressee’s name and reuse it. No envelope? Just write on the back of the clean front panel and cut it off to create a holiday postcard.

Sites such as CraftStylish.com (Tinyurl.com/dng4z5) offer attractive suggestions for making original greeting cards from recycled materials. All that’s needed are a few household items like paper bags, pencil, pen, ruler, tape, glue and crayons; professional art supplies are not required. Fun stamping dies can be fashioned from a potato. Even sewing skills can come into play to craft one-of-a-kind cards that will be warmly received and cherished for years to come.

Source: Adapted from GreenPromise.com.

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Columbia Edition

consciouseating

Eating Out? EAT GREEN Eco-Friendly Restaurants Serve Up Sustainability

by Sandra Murphy

E

ating green isn’t limited to salads.

It means that sustainable thinking goes into a meal at every stage, from the use of local ingredients and energy savings to recycling and composting waste. Delicious food, served thoughtfully, is the goal of today’s environmentally conscious restaurant.

Look first to local mom-and-pop eateries that are doing it right, but there are some chains worth considering, as well.

With more than 25 million cups of wake-up java sold each day, coffee shops have a perfect opportunity to start a good day by example.

California-based Green Café Network consults with owners and baristas to reduce the environmental impact of

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

member shops. Efficient equipment, biodegradable cups and renewable products for flooring and tables make the coffee house experience more sustainable, especially when buyers select shade-grown, organic, free-trade beans.

Starbucks Corporation has taken it all a step further by designing a pre-certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) prototype store. It features recycled floor tiles, reduced lighting and lower water usage and air conditioning set three degrees higher than usual.

Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes offers fresh-tossed salads, made-fromscratch soups and hot or cold desserts in their 120 restaurants, where vegan,

vegetarian and gluten-free items are offered daily. Reclaimed recyclables come back as takeout containers, towels and napkins. Materials sent out for recycling include glass, paper, aluminum and cardboard. Even garbage is given a new role as part of a chainwide composting program. Tankless water heaters are in, while traditional systems are out, and cleaning products are all Green Seal certified.

At Chipotle Mexican Grill, “It’s not just a burrito, it’s a foil-wrapped, handcrafted, local farm-supporting, food culture-changing cylinder of deliciousness,” states the company’s website. In 2010, Chipotle served about 5 million pounds of local farm produce through its 1,000 mostly North American stores. The company-wide 2011 goal is 10 million pounds.

Inside those burritos, 40 percent of the beans are certified organic, resulting in 140,000 fewer pounds of pesticide added to the soil. The romaine lettuce, bell peppers, jalapeño, red onions, oregano and tomatoes come from family-owned farms.

November 2011

23

• Vegan • Raw • Organic • Juices • Smoothies • Delicious Entrees & Salads!

• Gluten Free

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24

Columbia Edition

California patrons also enjoy locally grown lemons and avocados.

Chipotle produce typically travels no more than 300 miles to its distribution centers. Short travel time means less fuel burned and fewer greenhouse gases plus fresher, more nutritious food on the plate than what less eco-conscious restaurants provide.

“The environment is the basis of our business; we try to be green in everything,” explains Mike Vroman, a store manager in the St. Louis area. So, for example, “most of the beef we serve in this area is either from Missouri or Kansas.

Even our uniforms are 100 percent organic cotton.”

Because restaurants draw their highest levels of electricity when community demand peaks, Chipotle installed solar panels on 75 of its Texas restaurants, while a wind turbine provides electricity at the Gurnee, IL site, reducing midday drain on the grid. The Gurnee site is the first restaurant ever to receive the superior Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating.

Is it possible to operate a restaurant without a dishwasher, range, hood or oven? Yes, if bowls, straws, cutlery, chopsticks and cups are made from corn or potato starch.

Freshii meals are created in biodegradable, all-natural, food-safe bags. Custom made, the bags leave a carbon footprint five to seven times smaller than the most energyefficient dishwasher. Everything taken from the store will readily biodegrade or is easy to recycle.

Even store size is a factor. Freshii founder Matthew Corrin notes, “As we grow, our stores are built smaller, to use less materials, to use greener materials, to consume less energy, to take less from this Earth.” Some Freshii stores are super-efficient, encompassing just 150 square feet.

If a burger, fries and shake dinner evokes guilty pleasure, EVOS removes both the guilt and grease, leaving only pleasurable flavor. The restaurant’s trademark Airfries are better for more than just folks’ arteries. “Our potatoes are air-fried at a high temperature,” explains Jackie Macaluso, community ambassador for EVOS, “so we have no used and reused vats of grease to discard.”

Less noticeable eco-bonuses include zero-VOC paint and flooring, made from sustainable, eco-friendly, raw materials like wood flour, linseed oil, rosin, jute fiber and limestone. The company’s Southeast US locations work to raise awareness that even comfort foods can be greener, healthier and still taste good, and to teach children about healthier eating habits.

Of course, there’s usually a Subway Restaurant around the corner. Long committed to serving fresh food fast, the company recently announced its new LEED-certified eco-edition. With 35,000 franchises in 98 countries, small changes add up to big blessings for the Earth.

The most important thing we can do to go green is to eat green every day. It serves up the most bang for the buck in healthy sustainability.

Sandra Murphy is a freelance writer at StLouisFreelanceWriter@mindspring.com.

fitbody

COMING IN DECEMBER

Our Worst Fitness Habits Six Roadblocks to Sidestep

by Tosca Reno

W

e all know that working out is beneficial. But how you work out makes all the difference in staying safe, seeing better results and keeping your body balanced. Here’s how to make sure you aren’t sabotaging a good workout.

1

Bad form. Correct form is your safety net. Once you compromise the way you do a move, you’re no longer getting the greatest benefits from the exercise, and you’re seriously increasing your risk of getting hurt.

Even if it means, for example, lightening up the amount of resistance, follow the correct form for the best results.

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

2

Overtraining. Don’t expect that you are going to dive right in and pound your body into its best shape ever overnight. Not only will this all-or-nothing approach cause burnout, but you also risk injury and will give up on yourself, because this is an unreasonable expectation. Instead, you need to gradually build up your muscles so they get the most effective and efficient workout possible. More doesn’t always mean better, faster results. Remember, rest is good for the body. Take days off between training to repair and rebuild or if you’re training daily, don’t work the same muscle groups back to back.

UPLIFTING HUMANITY Simple ideas to celebrate the holidays and create peace in our hearts.

Read about it in Natural Awakenings’ December edition

For more information about advertising and how you can participate, call

803-233-3693

November 2011

25

Are you ready to change your life for the better?

“I have been studying at the Columbia Tai Chi Center for a little over a year and I love it. I have lost weight, my skin is clear, and I feel good overall. Plus, the friendships I’ve made here are invaluable.”

–De Anna Beasley, Graduate Student, Age 28, Columbia, SC

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Get started to improve your life NOW! Sign up online for your FREE introductory class and get $100 OFF for getting started!

www.ColumbiaTaiChiCenter.com 2910 Rosewood Dr. (803) 873-2100

3

Undertraining. Once you’re dressed and ready to sweat, commit to giving it your all for the next 30 to 60 minutes. Just going through the motions doesn’t do much for the body and makes it easy for boredom to creep in. You owe this time to yourself—you deserve it—so make sure you give it your all.

4

Daydreaming. You can develop a laser-sharp focus by actively involving your mind in every pose, set, rep and step—thinking about how your body moves, how the muscles engage, which muscle or muscles you’re using and correct form. Mindfulness adds up to a better workout and faster results. So forget about the laundry, the kids’ schedules and that afternoon conference call, turn off the TV and stay 100 percent in the moment.

5

Staying with a few exercises you know. Your muscles love being challenged, so if you just stick to the same routine, they’ll eventually adapt and won’t have to work as hard to do the same moves. But if you change the exercises and even the order you do them in, you ensure that muscles don’t get too efficient with any single routine.

Not only is this better for toning, but it also helps your mind stay focused and engaged.

6

Holding your breath. Regular steady breathing has many benefits: Proper inhalations and exhalations can help you power through moves, keep lactic acid (a byproduct that builds up in the muscles during exertion) at bay and help maintain a steady heart rate. A full breath delivers the maximum amount of oxygen to the blood, which in turn delivers more energy to the working muscles.

Tosca Reno is the co-author of Your Best Body Now, excerpted here with permission from Harlequin Books S.A.

26

Columbia Edition

calendarofevents NOTE: All calendar listings must be received by Nov. 10 (for Dec. issue) and adhere to our guidelines. Submit calendar entries and check for calendar guidelines, updates and cancellations online at HealthyLivingColumbia.com. ALWAYS CALL AHEAD BEFORE ATTENDING EVENTS TO AVOID LATE CANCELLATIONS AND CHANGES

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Reiki Clinic w/Margaret Self–10:30am-12:30pm.

Join us as we share Reiki treatments in a group.

Open to all, no training necessary. Great intro to Reiki energy. $10, must preregister. Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Columbia. Info: 803551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) w/Katz Delauney-Leija EFT, CC, MSW−7-8:30pm. The emotional version of acupuncture without the needles. Like acupuncture, it realigns the energy of your body and mind. Energy psychology is about self-empowerment and self-healing. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org.

Green Drinks–5:30-8pm. For all in green building, sales, conservation, recycling, nature & politics to gather for fun & shared enlightenment. Check Facebook: Green Drinks Columbia.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 Reiki Clinic w/Margaret Self–5:30pm-8pm. Join us as we share Reiki treatments in a group. Open to all, no training necessary. Great intro to Reiki energy. $10, must preregister. Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Columbia. Info: 803-551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

NOVEMBER 3-6 Spirit Quest for Elders: Claiming Heart Wisdom of Conscious Aging w/Marcy Walsh & Pam Noble.

WomanQuest to make transitions in the aging process more conscious, more healing, and more open to new birth among the magnolias and live oak trees of the lowlands. Will use the teachings of nature, incorporating ceremony, solitude, daytime wandering, story-telling, and council in seeking clarity for sacred journeys. Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree. $425 fee includes lodging and meals.

800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org.

NOVEMBER 5-6 Heal Yourself with Yoga: Anusara Yoga Therapy w/Stacey Millner-Collins, Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor, RYT-500–1-5pm. (Sat=Upper Body Therapeutics, Sun= Lower Body). Open to all wanting to relieve pain or prevent injury. Focuses on key alignment principles of the upper and lower body to heal yourself with yoga. $75 per day, $130 for full workshop. City Yoga, 2121 College St, Five Points.

Columbia, 803-799-5400, CityYogaSC.com.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 Healing Circle w/Katz-Delauney-Leija–1-3pm.

Practitioners of Quantum Touch meet at Unity of Columbia to offer their services in a safe, loving environment. Quantum Touch is another energy modality that raises energy levels for the body to heal itself using its own natural life force. Donations accepted. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia. Info: 803-530-6199.

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

NOVEMBER 9-10 Reiki Level I, Traditional Usui Reiki System w/Margaret Self, Reiki Master, NHD–1pm-5pm.

Entry-level class combines 4 attunements, instruction, discussion & practice time. Can be used in any situation to promote healing & wellness, on self & others. Manual included. Preregistration reqd. $250 before 10/31, $300 after, Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Cola. 803-551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 Family Cooking–4-6pm. Children ages 5-8 can bring their favorite sous chef (Mom, Dad, Grand parent is ok!) to prepare fun, nutritious meal and snack dishes. Healthy, tasty, and fun we want to help you start your child out on the path to lifelong health. Fun for kids, informational for adults and tasty treats for all. $25/adult and child. Columbia’s Cooking Kitchen, 915 Greene St. Registration, Info: Elaine, 803-576-5666, mclanep@mailbox. sc.edu.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 Healthy Soul Food: Thanksgiving w/Phyllis Allen–2-4pm. A healthy soul food cooking class.

Imara magazine columnist and Registered Dietitian Phyllis Allen leads class on delicious and healthy alternatives for the holidays. Hands on class features old and new holiday favorites with a healthy twist. $30. Columbia’s Cooking Kitchen, 915 Greene St. Registration, Info: Elaine, 803-5765666, mclanep@mailbox.sc.edu.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 Free Yard Sale-Circulation Day-8am-Noon. No money involved, no vendors. Bring usable items that you no longer want (no furniture or large items) or come and take anything you need, or do both.

All left over items donated to charity. Call ahead to check that someone is available to accept the donated items. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-736-5766, UnityColumbiaSC.org.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 Eckankar Worship Service–10am. All are welcome. Eckankar is a non-dogmatic spiritual path that provides tools and teachings to help us understand that we are Soul, here and now. program includes panel discussions and speakers expressing their personal experiences with God’s life force.

Nov topic: Release Fear Through God’s Love.

7 Oaks Park, 200 Leisure Ln. Info: Steve, 803318-1887, ECK-SC.org, Meetup.com/Columbiaspiritual-seekers/.

Laughter Yoga w/Dr. Delores Pluto–12:301:30pm. No experience necessary. Laughter is simulated using simple group games, eye contact and playfulness, turning into real and contagious laughter. The body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter-one gets the same physiological and psychological benefits. Naturally relax, be confident, creative, and happy. Boosts immune system, improves mood, and calms. Donations accepted. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15 Growing the Edible Landscape w/Desmond Layne, PhD–6:30 pm. Grow native fruits in your yard for food, attract wildlife, or for aesthetic reasons. Blueberry, blackberry, pawpaw, persimmon, muscadine. Tree fruit specialist will discuss native edible plants and give tips for selecting and growing. Biology Auditorium, 101 Duckett Hall at The Citadel, Charleston. SC Native Plant Society, Lisa Lord, llord@tnc.org or 843-937-8807x13.

SCNPS.org.

NOVEMBER 15-16 Unfurling Our Spiritual Lives w/Sandra Smith.

Reflect on deepening hearts’ capacity to receive and give love using the Enneagram personality system. Name the limitations to personality that block the path to love and to waking up to all you are. Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree. $225 fee includes lodging and meals. 800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Active Fun and Healthy Cooking for Kids w/ Columbia’s Cooking and Good Bodies–3-5:30pm.

Games that get you moving and cooking to keep you healthy. Engage in relay races and other fun, then cook up tasty healthy recipes. $20. Columbia’s Cooking Kitchen, 915 Greene St. Registration, Info: Elaine, 803-576-5666, mclanep@mailbox. sc.edu.

NOVEMBER 18-20 All Levels Weekend Workshop w/Desiree Rumbaugh, Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor–Fri, 6-8:30pm, Sat, 10-12:30pm & 2:30-5pm, Sun, 9:30-Noon. Four aspects of a spacious mind and an open heart. Internationally renowned Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor. $175; indiv classes: $50 after 11/3. City Yoga, 2121 College St, Five Points, Columbia, 803-799-5400, CityYogaSC.com.

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27

Making the Change w/Miriam MacGillis. Presentations cover peak oil, climate change, and the mechanics of transition, along with the subtler subject of the inner transition that individuals need to go through to restore a harmonious relationship with the planet. Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree. $250 fee includes lodging and meals. 800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19 Peachtree Rock Hike w/Naturalist Wayne Grooms–8:15-Noon. Hike through xeric longleaf pine and swamp tupelo-evergreen shrub bogs to see Raynor’s Blueberry, Sand Myrtle, Blazing Star, Sandhill Rosemary, and Woody Goldenrod.

Bring lunch, water, bug spray, and sunscreen, wear field clothes and hiking boots. Info: The Nature Conservancy, Lisa Lord, llord@tnc.org or 843937-8807x13. SCNPS.org.

Reiki Level II, Traditional Usui Reiki System w/Margaret Self, Reiki Master, NHD–9am-1pm.

Attunement connects student to a higher, more focused vibration of the Reiki energy. Techniques for distance healing. Healing of spiritual/emotional issues taught. Discussion, practice time & manual included. Preregistration req. $300 before 11/9, $350 if paid after. Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Cola. Info: 551-1191, CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

Families Working Together Common Ground Conference–11am-5pm. Schools are underfunded, foreclosure continues. Will discuss and reject the demagoguery that divides. The SC Education Assoc. 421 Zimalcrest Dr Columbia. Amanda Jackson 803-394 4895 or Jacksona03@gmail.com, Tiesthatbindsc.org.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26 Advent Blessings w/Pam Smith–10am-4pm. Will look at the Hebrew prophets and Biblical passages in the New Testament to consider the blessedness of their lives, the presence of Emmanuel (which means God with us) in an ongoing way, and the impact of the coming of Christ on humanity and the whole world. Personal reflection, meditative walks, and artistic and musical expression. Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree. $75 fee. 800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 Men’s Spirituality Group, w/Rod Thomas−9:3010:30am. Bring a friend to the service at 11am and stay for a covered dish lunch afterwards. Unity of Columbia Church, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28 On the Way Home: Deepening a Sense of Ecological Belonging w/Dan Shelton–10am-4pm.

“Ecological Belonging.” Rekindle a relationship with nature that is deeply meaningful and ecologically sustainable, to become compassionate beings of Earth. Springbank Retreat for Eco-Spirituality and the Arts, 1345 Springbank Rd., Kingstree. $75 fee. 800-671-0361 or SpringbankRetreat.org.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 Wild Women Cooking Class–6:15pm. Demonstration class designed for women.. Will review appetizers for the holidays. Bring a bottle of wine to enjoy during class. $35. 1305 Assembly St, Columbia, (Must pre-register) 803-348-5874, LetsCook@earthlink.net.

Drumming Circle–12:30-1:30 pm. New group forming. Bring Drum or use one available. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803 530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org .

lookingforward

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1

The Midlands Celiac Support Group–6:30pm.

All welcome, including spouses & kids. No dues.

Lexington Medical Center, North Tower, Classroom #3 Rebekah Godfrey 803-530-7234, Facebook: Celiac Pal, CentralSCCeliacSupportGroup. club.officelive.com.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25 Kids Building Ginger Bread Houses–10amNoon. For ages 4-12. Great activity after Thanksgiving day. $20/child, 1305 Assembly St, Columbia, (pre-registration required), 803-348-5874, Lets-Cook@earthlink.net.

Special Thanksgiving Classes w/Stacey MillnerCollins, Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor & RYT 500–10:30-Noon. Burn off the Stuffing practice, 4:30-6pm, Post-Shopping Relax and Renew practice. Upbeat morning practice and a gentler, relaxing afternoon class. All levels, bring family & friends. $15 ea class. City Yoga, 2121 College St, Five Points, Columbia. 803-799-5400, CityYogaSC.com.

28

Columbia Edition

Reiki Clinic w/Margaret Self–5:30pm-8pm. Join us as we share Reiki treatments in a group. Open to all, no training necessary. Great intro to Reiki energy. $10, must preregister. Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Columbia. Info: 803-551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6 Reiki Clinic w/Margaret Self–10:30am-12:30pm.

Join us as we share Reiki treatments in a group.

Open to all, no training necessary. Great intro to Reiki energy. $10, must preregister. Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Columbia. Info: 803551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 Reiki Level I, Traditional Usui Reiki System w/Margaret Self, Reiki Master, NHD–9am-5pm.

Entry-level class combines 4 attunements, instruction, discussion & practice time. Can be used in any situation to promote healing & wellness, on self & others. Manual included. Preregistration

reqd. $250 before 11/30, $300 after, Carolina Reiki Institute, 112 Wexwood Ct, Cola. 803-551-1191 or CarolinaReikiInstitute.com.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 Community HU Song–10am. HU (pronounced Hue) is a spiritual sound that connects us with the Holy Spirit (God’s Life Force). It is a love song to God and is very uplifting, especially in a group setting, sung for about 20 min. Refreshments follow.

Free, all are welcome. 7 Oaks Park, 200 Leisure Lane. Info: Steve, 803-318-1887, ECK-SC.org, or Meetup.com/Columbia-spiritual-seekers/.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19 The Midlands Celiac Support Dining Out–6pm.

All welcome, including spouses & kids. No dues.

Dining out: Harpers, Harden St in 5 Pts, Columbia, Rebekah Godfrey 803-530-7234, Facebook: Celiac Pal, CentralSCCeliacSupportGroup.club. officelive.com.

classifieds BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSONS wanted to promote new product. Potential to reach $20,000 per month in 2 years. Training given. 803-7796735 or email windsongusa@yahoo.com.

FOR SALE CURRENTLY PUBLISHING NATURAL AWAKENINGS MAGAZINES – For sale in Birmingham, AL; North Central FL; Lexington, KY; Santa Fe, NM; Cincinnati, OH; Tulsa, OK; Northeast PA; Columbia, SC; Southwest VA. Call for details 239-530-1377.

CLASSES/INSTRUCTION Art Lessons by Beth Akers, MEd. Now enrolling by appointment. Children, Adults, Groups, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced. Award-winning educator w/over 20yrs exp. Bonded. In studio or will come to you. 803-331-6426.

Wanted Reliable delivery person, NE area and Camden. Deliver Natural Awakenings Magazines to list of stores, business, offices. Flexible, during daytime, weekdays, 1-2 days per month. $2.15 per stop, approx 175 stops this route. Email colapublisher@naturalawakeningsmag.com.

ongoingevents Have You Had a Spiritual Experience? Meet in a comfortable and informal setting where all Spiritual points of view are appreciated, non-dogmatic approach. Free, sponsored by Eckankar. Past discussion topics: Past Lives, God Realization, Dreams, Coincidences. an important forum for all who love God who are serious about their Spiritual growth.

Dates and times vary, see contact info for update.

Steve at 803-318-1887, ECK-SC.org, or meetup. com/columbia-spiritual-seekers/.

The “I of the Storm” Class w/Rev Lisa Thorpe−9:30am. This class helps us to calmly and peacefully remember who we really are, and to think, feel, and act accordingly. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-530-6199.

UnityColumbiaSC.org.

Christ Unity Celebration Service w/Rev Lisa Thorpe & guest speakers−11am. Prayer, meditation, song, messages & family. Bookstore open 9-11am, youth programs. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org.

Jubilee! Circle w Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge– 11am. A progressive, inclusive community influenced by Creation Spirituality, ecumenical, feminist, and traditional Christian theologies. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome. 1st Sun-Potluck and guided discussion, 2nd Sun-Celebration Service, 3rd SunFaith on Film, 4th Sun-Celebration Service with Communion, 5th Sun-Celebration Service. Love of

Aikido w/James Patterson–6am. A martial art that truly strives for peace. Strengthen the spirit while exercising the body. Open to the entire human family. $10/month for non-UUCC members. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, 2701 Heyward St, Columbia, 803-319-1438.

Beginner’s Square Dance Class–7-8:30pm.

Have fun learning the basics of Square Dancing, no experience necessary. It’s not about your feet, it’s about where you end up while holding your partner’s hand.Yellow Rock Dance Hall, 2211 Platt Springs Rd, West Columbia. Info: 803-791-9767.

Multi-Level Anusara Style Yoga w/Michele Holliday–7-8pm. Balance mind and body with breathing techniques, yoga and meditation. Increase energy, strength and flexibility. Bring yoga mat. $35/mo. (you don’t have to be a member of Tri-City to take yoga) Info: 803-513-7218 or TriCity 803-939-9309.

Sandhill Farmers Market–2pm-7pm. Fresh local spring vegetables, meat, shrimp, eggs, butter, local milk, goat cheese, honey, plants, baked goods, grits, boiled peanuts, kettle corn, yarn and woolen crafts. Master Gardeners are available to answer questions. Live music. (thru 11/22) Clemson’s Sandhill Research and Ed Ctr, 900 Clemson Rd across from Village at Sandhill, Columbia. 803699-3190, Clemson.edu/sandhill.

Free Beginner’s Intro Tai Chi Class w/Wes Adams–6pm. Tai Chi—a beautiful art people fall in love with, both for the benefits & for the joy. Fitness, health, relaxation, clarity, energy, confidence, peace & balance. Sign up online at ColumbiaTaiChiCenter.com/signup. 2910 Rosewood Dr. Info: Wes, 803-873-2100, or ColumbiaTaiChiCenter.com.

Nia w/Nancy Whitlock−6pm. Nia teaches you to consciously move in gentler ways to bring greater comfort and ease into your life. It revitalizes your mind and body as it uplifts your spirit and emotions.

Moves are adaptable for all ages and fitness levels.

Still Hopes Wellness Center, West Columbia. Info: Nancy 803-779-8077, niacolumbia@gmail.com, nianow.com.

Unity Prayer and Meditation Hour−7-8pm in the Unity SEE Library. Unity of Columbia, 1801 LeGrand Rd, Columbia, 803-530-6199. UnityColumbiaSC.org.

Beginner Hatha Yoga w/Scott–6:30-7:30pm.

Includes yoga postures, breathing & relaxation: accessible to everyone regardless of previous experience or fitness. Free Yoga Class, donations accepted, not req. Yoga Without Walls at Kershaw Library Courtyard or Mtg Rm. 1304 Broad St, Camden. Info & registration: 803-425-1508, YogaWithoutWalls.net.

Drum by the River–7-8:30pm. Bring drums, shakers & an open mind. Amphitheatre, West Cola Riverwalk. Info, directions & rain cancellation, 803 261-3164, moonsloon@gmail.com.

Aikido w/James Patterson–6am. A martial art that truly strives for peace. Strengthen the spirit while exercising the body. Open to the entire human family. $10/month for non UUCC members. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, 2701 Heyward St, Cola. Info: 803 319-1438.

All Local Farmer’s Market–8am-12pm. Producer-only farmers’ market offering fresh, local food straight from South Carolina farmers. 711 Whaley St, Columbia. Info: stateplate@gmail.com,

Aikido w/James Patterson–6am. A martial art that truly strives for peace. Strengthen the spirit while exercising the body. Open to the entire human family. $10/month for non-UUCC members. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, 2701 Heyward St, Columbia. 803-319-1438.

All Local Farmer’s Market–4-8pm. Produceronly farmers’ market offering fresh, local food straight from South Carolina farmers. 711 Whaley St, Columbia. Info: stateplate@gmail.com. Facebook-All local Farmers Market.

Beginner Yoga w/Robin Pawlina, RN, RYT–45:15pm. Enjoy the benefits of greater flexibility, improved posture & methods to deal with stress through ancient tradition of mind-body connection.

About Your Health, 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste J, Cola. Info & registration, Robin, 803-926-0895.

Multi-Level Yoga w/Robin Pawlina, RN, RYT– 5:30-6:45pm. Enjoy the benefits of greater flexibility, improved posture & methods to deal with stress. 6wk sessions $66, drop-ins $15/class. About Your Health, 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Ste J, Cola.

Info & registration, Robin, 803-926-0895.

As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency. ~Caroline Kennedy

HealthyLivingColumbia.com

November 2011

29

communityresourceguide Connecting you to the leaders in natural health care and green living in our community. To find out how you can be included in the Community Resource Guide, email colapublisher@naturalawakeningsmag.com to request a media kit, or visit our website at HealthyLivingColumbia.com.

CHIROPRACTIC SHELLY JONES, DC Chiropractic Wellness Center Inc. 2711 Middleburg Dr, Suite 303 Columbia 803-771-9990 doc@drshellyjones.com DrShellyJones.com

I provide you and your family chiropractic care, health information and wellness resources to support your body’s natural ability to heal, feel better and enjoy living an active lifestyle! Call me to schedule your appointment or discuss how I can bring our on-site chiropractic care and healtheducation services to your business, school or athletic team. See ad, page 24.

DENTISTRY, MERCURY FREE GREGORY J. WYCH, DDS 7505 St. Andrews Rd, Irmo 803-781-1600 GregoryWych.com

Gregory J. Wych, DDS, is the only International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology (IAOMT) member dentist in the Midlands, an organization of dentists concerned with mercury and metal toxicity in dentistry. He offers a range of general, sedation and cosmetic dentistry treatments in a comfortable and inviting environment. From teeth whitening, veneers and dental implants to crowns, bridges and teethstraightening procedures, you can be assured to receive attentive and thorough dental care.

His practice has been “mercury free” for more than 12 years. See ad, page 14.

FITNESS COLUMBIA TAI CHI CENTER

Wesley Adams, Owner/Instructor 2910 Rosewood Dr, Columbia 803-873-2100 ColumbiaTaiChiCenter.com Wes Adams is dedicated to helping people live happier, healthier, more balanced lives by teaching traditional lineage Tai chi. In this day of "cardio Tai chi" workouts and one-day Tai chi instructor certification seminars, there is a strong need for authentic instruction in the complete art of Tai chi. Wes is a certified instructor under the American Center for Chinese Studies, NY. See ad, page 26.

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INTEGRATED HEALING PHOENIX RISING

Katz Delaney-Leija, MSW EFT CC, Psych-K Advanced, Energy Medicine 803-530-6199 kdelauney@sc.rr.com Discover an alternative to conventional therapy that produces lasting results, quickly. Katz Delaney-Leija incorporates her therapy skills, insight, intuition and spiritual guidance to hone in on the issues that block self-healing and success.

Specialties include health issues, stress, trauma, self-worth, sexual issues, service-related PTSD, and relationships. Call for a free assessment.

INTUITIVE READINGS THE SOURCE WITHIN YOU Rev. Julie E. Bradshaw 803-800-9211 TheSourceWithinYou.com

Julie Bradshaw offers intuitive life readings, akashic record readings, and angel and spirit guide readings. She is a Reiki master and certified hypnotherapist who is also certified in Psych-K and NLP. Using various methods of energy psychology, she assists clients in releasing issues as they are identified during a reading. Julie has been studying and working with energy healing for more than 20 years.

LIFE COACH LIFE BY DESIGN COACHING

Lisabeth Saunders Medlock, PhD 1821 Pickens St, Columbia 803-960-1844 lifebydesigncoaching.org My role is to help you to get from where you are now to where you really want to be.

I support you in finding ways to change your life or career path and hold you accountable for working toward your new goals. I specialize in helping people who are in a period of transition, so that you turn life’s challenges into a springboard for new beginnings. Offering reduced rates.

MASSAGE, HEALING ABOUT YOUR HEALTH INC.

Lana Garner, LMT SC #7318 120 Kaminer Way, Suite J, Columbia 803-646-7916 Lana Garner is an experienced massage therapist/body worker who specializes in deep therapeutic work. If you are looking for relief, you will find it on Lana’s table. She uses a variety of techniques including cranio-sacral work and the Left Lemon system.

By appointment only. Call or email lana@ aboutyourhealthsc.com. See ad, page 9.

MINISTRY THE REV. LISA M. THORPE Unity of Columbia 1801 LeGrand Rd Columbia 803-736-5766 UnityColumbia@att.net

Interfaith/non-denominational weddings, wedding renewals at Unity or other venues —holy unions, christenings, house blessings, spiritual counseling, and personal rituals.

See ad, page 10.

NUTRITION SC REDOX

Katharine Stephens ASEA Representative Columbia 803-319-7326 SCRedox.com Experience the excitement with Redox signaling: molecules in a bottle. Through years of research and numerous patents, ASEA has developed a product that can recharge our cells. Redox signaling molecules help to stimulate the body’s antioxidants functions to fight off cellular insufficiencies and restore our cells so that they operate more proficiently. Call today. Try ASEA and replenish your cells!

RESTAURANT - VEGAN/RAW GOOD LIFE CAFÉ

Sharon Wright, Owner/Executive Chef 3681-D Leaphart Rd, West Columbia 803-454-3516 GoodLifeCafe.net facebook.com/GoodLife Café Sharon Wright, also known as “the raw foods lady,” has been preparing natural, delicious and nutritious meals for more than 20 years now. Raw, vegan foods consist of unprocessed plant foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees, which preserves the enzymes and nutrients, thus allowing for better absorption into your body. Stop by Good Life Café and experience what raw food can do for you! See ad, page 24.

SPIRITUAL

THERMOGRAPHY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH INC. 120 Kaminer Way Pkwy, Suite J Columbia 803-798-8687

About Your Health Inc. is a small business whose main focus is health education and health-enhancing services.

These services include, but are not limited to, one-on-one nutritional counseling, Reams pH testing, parasite programs, aqua-chi footbaths, far infrared sauna, weightloss programs, and thermography as featured on the health segment on WIS TV. We offer a full line of hard-to-find natural, organic, whole food nutritional supplements, and some specialty items that include raw foods and natural household items. See ad, page 9.

SPIRITUAL DISCUSSION GROUP

803-318-1887 Contact Steve ECK-SC.org Meetup.com/Columbia-spiritual-seekers

Join us for

Green Drinks When: Tues., Nov. 1 Time: 5:30-8:00 pm Where: Check Facebook for location Info: Jeremy Grant, 803.376.6034x6107 or visit the Facebook Page for Green Drinks Columbia.

Have you had a spiritual experience that you would like to share in a relaxed, non-dogmatic setting? Eckankar hosts open discussions (Meetups), worship services and more at no charge. All are welcome. These are important forums for all who love God and who are serious about their spiritual growth. Topics include understanding past lives, dreams, coincidences, God’s creative life force and more. Call ahead: time and date may vary.

GreenDrinks.org

Join the Wave of Green Business and Be Your Own Boss.

Natural Awakenings Magazine, Columbia Edition,

FOR SALE Receive training, established contracts, existing distribution network and support.

Includes city of Columbia, and surrounding counties: Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Kershaw, Fairfield, Newberry, Calhoun and Orangeburg.

(239)-530-1377 ~ (803) 233-3693 HealthyLivingColumbia.com

November 2011

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