St. George Health & Wellness Magazine May/June 2021

FITNESS | NUTRITION | CULTURE | HEALTH | ACTIVE AGING | MIND/BODY | ECONOMICS | FAMILY

Serving the

GreaterGood See Page 16

INSIDE: Wade’s Walkabout: Finding Meaning and Healing in the Outdoors / 40 Business and Estate Checkups: Vital to Your Overall Well-Being / 50 MAY/JUNE 2021 Almost Thirty Years of Heartburn...Gone! / 62 SaintGeorgeWellness.com

ROBOTICASSISTED KNEE REPLACEMENT

ST. GEORGE SURGICAL CENTER

St. George Surgical Center is at the forefront of robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery in Southern Utah. Thanks to advances in surgical technology, you can enjoy a faster, more comfortable recovery.

LESS RISK. FASTER RECOVERY.

DON’T PUT OFF HAVING A PROCEDURE THAT COULD IMPROVE YOUR LIFE. Call to reserve your seat at Lunch with the Doc to learn firsthand how this procedure can help you.

With our new CORI Robotic-Assisted Knee Replacement System, you’ll experience: Reduced time under anesthesia Fewer complications after surgery A quicker and more comfortable recovery

11:30 a.m. at Magleby’s Restaurant: March 26 or April 23

Call to RSVP your lunch at 435-705-7039 Gregory J Hicken, MD trained at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota which has consistently been ranked in the top 3 centers for orthopedic surgery for the last 20 years. He has been using computer navigation and robotics for the past 20 years to increase the accuracy and safety of joint replacement surgery. He pioneered new methods of pain control and moved a majority of his joint replacement procedures to outpatient surgery centers without compromising quality of care or comfort.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 COMING SOON: Robotic Assisted Anterior Hip Replacement

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sghw | TWA EB LL EL NO EF SCSO N T E N T S Health and Fitness

Featured Story

MAY/JUNE 2021

Serving the Greater Good – Greater Zion Team Supports Locals and Visitors Alike.16

On The Cover: Hikers in Red Cliffs Recreation Area. Photo courtesy of Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office.

Community and Culture

Letter from the Editor................................................ 7 Mayoral Message........................................................... 8 Trailblazer Nation: Letter from the President................................. 10 Rocky Vista University: Letter from the Dean.......................................... 12 Dixie Technical College: Letter from the President................................. 15 How to Help a Loved One Transition to Senior Living.............................. 22 Tell the Story................................................................ 25

Festival of the Americas......................................... 30 Meet Toshi: DSU’s Youngest 2021 Graduate......................................................... 46

Mind and Body Intracept: New Treatment for Debilitating Low Back Pain................ 20 Your Go-To Trail............................................... 21 Who Knew? Dis-Ease Is Not in Your DNA................................................... 24 What Have You Done for Your Toothbrush Lately?............................. 28 Palliative Care: Healthcare’s Missing Link................................................... 32 Business and Estate Checkups: Vital to Your Overall Well-Being............ 50 Dr. Steven Larsen: Desert Pain Specialists’ Newest Physician..................... 55 Success is Stamina: To Win Means to Keep Playing................................ 58 Urinary Incontinence in Women................. 60 Almost Thirty Years of Heartburn...

Gone!.................................................................. 62 A Small Decision That Changed My Life.............................................................. 66

Come Unto Me Invites Hope and Healing.............................. 36

Nutrition

Spring Break.......................................... 38 InsideOut Dad: Supporting Children of Incarcerated Fathers....................... 47 Atkin Cowboy Code; It’s for Everyone... 52 Enduring, Healthy, and Stable Marriage Relationships...................... 56 Take the Relationship Challenge........... 64

Three Easy Ways to Improve Your Health...................................................... 18 Dining Guide...................................................... 26 Restaurant Journeys: Cappeletti’s..................... 27 Summer Salads..................................................... 35 The Health Benefits of Vegetarianism........... 44

Wade’s Walkabout: Finding Meaning and Healing in the Outdoors............... 40 Beyond Swimsuit Season....................... 42 Freedom from Depression: My Path to Happy.............................. 48

Relationships and Family

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of St. George Health & Wellness Magazine, its owners, or its staff.

The way way we we talk talk about about sexual sexual violence violence matters. used to to foster foster a a culture culture of of The matters. Our Our words words can can be be used safety, respect, and before it happens.

Oror to to show support for safety, and equality equality that thatstops stopssexual sexualviolence violence before it happens show support survivors, shutdown and practive to practice healthy for survivors, shutdownharmful harmfulmisconceptions, misconceptions, promote promote consent, and healthy communication with with children.

Our voices matter now now moremore thanthan ever.ever.

How How will you voice to communication children.

Our voices matter will use you your use yours help sexual assault, assault,harassment, harassment,and andrape? rape?

DOVE Center is our local resource for those help end sexual DOVE Center is our local resource for those who who experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault. can Please help. Please havehave experienced domestic abuse and sexual assault.

DOVEDOVE can help. reach reach out. out.

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St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | January/February 2015 5

s ghw | MWEEELTLONUERS SS T A F F

Brendan Dalley Editor

W. Jared DuPree, PhD, MBA Executive Editor

Brigit Atkin Author, Mind and Body

Erin Del Toro Author, Mind and Body

Matt Eschler, PhD, LMFT Author, Relationships and Family

Tiffany Gust, MS, CISSN Author, Health and Fitness

Lyman Hafen Author, Community and Culture

Marianne Hamilton Author, Health and Fitness

Richard Harder Author, Mind and Body

Mark Wade Author, Outdoor Adventure

Bentley Murdock Author, Nutrition

Chad Olson, MS, LMFT Author, Relationships and Family

For information on advertising or other inquiries, visit our website at www.saintgeorgewellness.com, email stgeorgewellnessmagazine@gmail.com or call us at 435-319-0273.

The publisher is not responsible for the accuracy of the articles in St. George Health & Wellness Magazine. The information contained within has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Neither the publisher nor any other party assumes liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on this material. Appropriate professional advice should be sought before making decisions. Outside of our staff authors, articles written by providers or professionals are invited authors and represent the opinions of that particular individual, business, group or organization. If an article is a paid advertisement, we will place the word “Advertisement” or “Advertorial” to identify it as such. ©Copyright 2021.

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sghw | FWR EO LML TNHEES ESD I T O R About fifteen years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about caring for my mental health. At the time, I worked for an organization that held very high expectations for those who worked for it, and their lofty performance goals often seemed unattainable. I felt like I had to be on my “A-game” day in and day out. It was pretty stressful. Luckily, I had a manager that recognized the pressures from the corporate office and decided it was in our best interest (there were only eight of us in our office) to take some team mental health retreats every now and then.

One particular day in early June, our manager decided we needed to get out of the office and spend some time in Zion National Park. The agenda for the day was to go on a short hike to Upper Emerald Pools, have lunch, relax, unwind, and recharge our batteries. The hike itself was just over three miles in length and moderate in activity level, taking about three hours to complete (round trip).

We arrived at the park midmorning when the cool canyon air was being replaced by the midday heat waves. Feeling a little impatient while the others in my group laughed and talked with each other, went to the restroom, and visited the gift shop, I decided to head on up the trail before it got too hot, determining to meet up with the rest of my co-workers at the top (plus I needed some alone time to think). I strapped on my Camelback, threw in my peanut butter sandwich and some granola bars, and headed up the trail.

In what seemed like record time, I made it to the upper pools.

Feeling overheated, I discarded my hiking boots and soaked my feet in cool water. It wasn’t long before my foot therapy was interrupted by a loud-talking tourist. Normally, I would get up and leave, but what she was saying made me stop and think. She talked about the deer at the beginning of the hike, the squirrels and lizards darting across the trail, and the various lookout areas where one could stop and take in the breathtaking beauty of the canyon itself.

That’s when it hit me: I was so focused on getting to my destination that I had forgotten to enjoy the journey. I had missed all the things that are important to healthy mental and emotional well-being. I wasn’t slowing down. I wasn’t enjoying the scenery. I wasn’t appreciating the little things that make this world we live in and the journey we are on so amazing.

Good health is so important. Getting healthy and staying healthy should be high on everyone’s priority list. As you take some time to slow down and enjoy this issue of our magazine, ask yourself how the information you are reading can help you improve your mental, emotional, and physical health.

Then take time to get outside and breathe in the fresh air. Stop and look around you, listen to the sound of the breeze and the birds chirping, smell the wild honeysuckle and fresh flowers on Main Street, smile at strangers, and remember the journey is more important than the destination.

Brendan Dalley Editor

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 7

M AYO R A L M E S S A G E

Look at the red rocks of Snow Canyon State Park. Then glance to the north, where the majestic Pine Valley mountains rest. Take a short climb onto the sugarloaf at Pioneer Park, and gaze out over the thriving city below.

We are surrounded by natural beauty.

I am blessed to call St. George, Utah, home and delighted when others from around the country—and often, around the world—take precious time from their lives to visit. Southern Utah is a special place, not only because of the eye-popping grandeur that seems to be everywhere but also because of the people who live here and their friendly nature.

For those of you in town for the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Pro Championship triathlon on May 1, I’d like to open my arms and welcome you to St. George. Thank you for adding excitement and contributing to the economic vitality of our city.

IRONMAN and St. George are perfect for each other. We pride ourselves in being an active community, we enjoy approximately 300 days of sunshine each year, and we are known throughout the region for our enthusiastic volunteers. But I think it is more than that. IRONMAN competitors are known for their hard work, sacrifice, and determination—traits that characterized the early pioneers who settled St. George in 1862. The result of their toil is a sense of accomplishment that runs deep.

We have been fortunate to host IRONMAN races since 2010. We are especially thrilled to have it back in our town after the pandemic-riddled 2020. It has been a trying time, but I am proud of the way our town has responded in the face of adversity.

We wish all IRONMAN competitors luck and hope you enjoy your visit. To our residents, let’s renew that welcoming spirit and bask in the wonderful days to come.

Mayor, City of St. George

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- WE’VE MOVED! Come visit us at our new location! George Health & Wellness Magazine | March/April 617 East Riverside Drive, Suite 101, St. George, UT 84790 | (435)St.628-4507 | www.STGEC.com St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June2020 2021 419

begin to to gearannounce up for the Fall 2021 thrilled to I As amwethrilled that as semester, part ofI am a landmark share that the vast majority of all Dixie State University classes be partnership, Dixie State University and the Greaterwill Zion held face to face at that time.

We have heard our students loud and Convention & Tourism Office have entered into a strategic clear as they’ve expressed their desire to return to participating in marketing agreement that will result in Greater Zion receiving the active learning experiences that are possible through in-person more than $2 million in annual marketing exposure and instruction.

Trailblazer Stadium being renamed Greater Zion Stadium.

Dixie State continues to follow local, state, and national health departments’ guidance as well as health and hygiene best practices The 20-year, $10 million agreement maximizes revenue to ensure we can offer a safe and meaningful learning environment. generated by visitors—not Washington County taxpayers—to Thanks to this commitment, a number of our classes were held fully on create a superior experience for both visitors and residents. campus this spring with great success. We look forward to continuing The partnership is truly a win-win-win situation for everyone; it to embrace our “active learning. active life.” approach to education promotes the area nationally, builds the community, and fuels and offer ideal in-person learning. economic growth by bringing more people to our gorgeous In another demonstration of active learning, Dixie State is now corner the of the world.Utah community a more comprehensive array offering southern of health careeffort, services than ever before, to our partnership Asoral part of this the Tourism Officethanks will establish a visitor with the University of Utah School of Dentistry. center at the stadium and information kiosks at other key This spring, we renovated the DSU Public Dental Hygiene Clinic, locations on campus to showcase visitor activities to all those which has offered oral health care education and dental hygiene who attend events on the Dixie State campus. Additionally, services for more than twenty years, and added the University of Dixie State will better be able to tell prospective students Utah School of Dentistry’s full dental clinic. The clinics, located in the what an amazing full ofonabundant recreational Russell C. Taylor Healthbackyard Sciences Center the Dixie State campus, opportunities they will have when they attend DSU. provide students with hands-on learning experiences while offering discounted dental care to underserved populations. By working with The timing of this partnership couldn’t be more perfect, local organizations such as Root for Kids, the Doctor’s Volunteer Clinic, as it will assist Dixie State during our transition to NCAA and Workforce Services, our students reach vulnerable populations Division I status through opportunities to expand athletic such as the elderly, blind, and TAM Medicaid-eligible residents. facilities. The university plans on adding state-of-the-art press boxes and comfortable event space to the existing westside grandstands, which will help attract more athletic, and community events. As a member of the 10 entertainment, www.saintgeorgewellness.com

PracticingAthletic under the supervision Western Conference of licensed faculty and professionals, starting this July, Dixie State students extensive education will takereceive on competitors based and training and demonstrate everywhere from Washington, competency in clinical services prior to California, Arizona, and New serving the community. Brette Barney, Mexico to Illinois, Missouri, and an alumna of Dixie State’s Dental Texas. This will give Greater Zion Hygiene program, has shared that she access to audiences it would treats each patient with confidence, otherwise leave unreached. thanks to how well the DSU Public Dental Hygiene clinic prepared her for Plus, partnering with Greater her career.

Brette also shared about Zionunique is a natural fit of for treating Dixie her experience Statemost University.

Tourism those in need ofThe her help.

One Office’s vision to “Inspire Greater. particular patient, a twelve-year-old boy who wasGreater. in severe pain due to Experience Live Greater.”

Richard “Biff” Williams having decay in almost everyState’s tooth, “active had a profound impact on her aligns perfectly with Dixie learning. active President of life.” training.

This patient and others motivated her to further volunteer approach to education. Both philosophies takeState advantage of the Dixie University her skills and time to those in destination the community. beautiful, world-renowned we live in by encouraging Whether you are looking to receive dental services or train for the students, visitors, and residents alike to learn by exploring. dental hygiene career of your dreams, learn more about the great Here at the University, we recognize that valuable learning work being done in Dixie State University’s Public Dental Hygiene experiences take place inside and outside of the classroom. By Clinic and Program at health.dixie.edu/dental-hygiene. taking advantage of learning experiences available Greater Zion, we By embracing active experiences andinworking together to all can grow academically, actively, and holistically. help protect the health of our community, we will continue to make every day a great day to be a Trailblazer.

This unique, trailblazing partnership certainly will enhance our community for years to come. I can’t wait to see you at upcoming games, concerts, and community events in Greater Zion Stadium!

Dixie Home Rehab offers skilled home health services and is the only company in Southern Utah that specializes in therapy-driven care for orthopedic patients. We are the area’s highestrated rehab service and employ the most experienced staff in the region.

Phone: 435-628-8347 Dixie Palliative bridges the gap between

home health and hospice. We work closely with patients’ physicians to coordinate optimal and ongoing treatment for serious, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses.

Phone: 435-673-2051

Dixie Hospice provides complete and

uninterrupted home health care for as long as the patient requires.

Signs that hospice may be needed:

Weight Loss, Terminal Illness, Rapid Physical and/or Functional Decline & Disease Progression, Increased Visits to the ER, Hospital or Doctor, Increased Dependence for ADLs (at least 2), Progression of Cognitive Impairment, Progression Pressure Ulcers in Spite of Optimal Care, Recurrent UTIs & Other Infections, Recurrent Falls

Phone: 435-627-2724

Personalized care, education, and solutions for patients, family members, and caregivers all within the comfort of your home.

Our services are 100% paid by Medicare or insurance.

No out-of-pocket expenses, ever!

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Coming soon to Mesquite!

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ROCKY VISTA UNIVERSITY MESSAGE

Spring has finally arrived! We are now in the season

when the trees and plants begin to blossom, the sun is

shining majestically on our beautiful red mountains, and the days get a little longer. It is a wonderful time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, the clean, fresh air, and the beautiful nature that surrounds us.

Spring is also the season of renewal, so it is the

perfect time to reevaluate your health-related goals, reinforce good habits, and optimize a healthy lifestyle.

In the current world, people are taking the initiative to become more conscious about their health and improve

their diet. There are many new diets which have come

out over the past several decades, with vegetarianism the most common in today’s society.

In this issue, Abby Trihn, a third-year medical student at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine,

informs readers about vegetarianism and the health benefits this lifestyle can provide.

We are honored to be part of this community and look forward to serving the residents of southern Utah. To learn more

about us, please visit our website at www.rvu.edu.

To your health,

David J. Park, DO, FAAFP, FACOFP

Vice President and Dean of the Southern Utah Campus

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dixietech.edu

dixie

technical college

We

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practice what we teach

Dixie Tech is twenty years old! We’re celebrating twenty years of applied, hands-on learning, twenty years of industry driven curriculum, and twenty years of career ready graduates!

It’s impossible to think about these twenty years without thinking a lot about work. When I was growing up, my parents’ solution to any ill or problem was work. It was at the top of a list of values that had been handed down for generations. To them, work was the key to real health and wellness!

Perhaps that has something to do with the reason that I love my work so much. I have the wonderful opportunity to engage each day with the workers, the do-ers, the innovators, the people who make things happen, the people preparing for jobs in careers that our community could not function without.

There is an energy at Dixie Tech. It’s difficult to put it into words, but it certainly is something that can be felt. I’m not sure where it comes from...The students? The instructors? The staff?

Dixie Tech students are in a league of their own. For the most part, they know why they chose a technical college and why they chose their field of study. They like to work with their minds and their hands. They have a “let me at it” mindset. They are serious about becoming competent in their skill sets so they can launch a solid career and begin to make a difference in their corner of the world.

Our instructors are industry experts from the fields in which they now teach. They loved the work that they did in industry and came to teach at the college to give back and to prepare another generation to have the same satisfaction that they’ve experienced.

The staff at Dixie Tech is the glue that holds everything together. They work diligently to help a potential student find the right program and remove as many barriers as they possibly can, then continue to support them through to completion and into job placement. They know that doing work that you love is critical to quality of life, and they want every student to find the perfect fit.

A very wise man, David McKay, once said: “Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, and the love of work is success.” This statement embodies what I see every single day in every classroom and lab at Dixie Tech. It’s what generates the energy. It is what has enabled the College to grow and expand and to celebrate twenty years of filling this very important mission.

You may be reading this and nodding your head because you’ve realized the success that comes from loving your work.

Congratulations! Or you may have a gnawing feeling deep inside that’s telling you it’s time to wake up and get engaged in a career that will give you a real sense of success. If the latter is where you find yourself, come see us at Dixie Tech, and get yourself on a path toward a satisfying, meaningful career doing work that you love. Do it for your health!

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 15

g n i v r Se e th

GreaterGood

Greater Zion Team Supports Locals and Visitors Alike Let’s face it: It’s been a while since anyone thought about vacation planning. And those of us who’ve lived in southern Utah for any amount of time may assume we already know the best places to explore.

A quick visit to the Greater Zion Convention & Tourism Office will likely upend that mindset.

What benefits might locals derive from an organization mainly focused on bringing “outsiders” into the area? There are plenty, as it turns out. Just ask Sara Otto, Greater Zion’s marketing manager.

“As the world’s opening up again, you’ll have visitors staying with you, and you’ll be looking for ways to entertain them,” Otto noted.

“We see lots of local residents coming in, picking up trail maps, restaurant guides, and other materials. Locals may not know that we have thirteen golf courses, or 600 miles of trails across the county. It can be eye-opening to be a tourist in your own backyard.”

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By Marianne Hamilton

Formerly known as Visit St. George (and technically the Washington County Tourism Office), the group was rebranded as Greater Zion in 2019 to leverage the worldwide cachet enjoyed by Zion National Park. Additionally, the organization sought to promote tourism opportunities county-wide.

“Visit St. George didn’t really serve Ivins, Springdale, and the other communities,” Otto said. “So the Greater Zion brand was created to represent all of the communities in the county. Obviously, we’re capitalizing on everyone’s familiarity with Zion National Park. But we’re also saying, ‘Hey, there are lots of things to see and do beyond the park you know.’”

At the Greater Zion Visitors Center, located on Main Street in downtown St. George, Utah, it’s possible to find kayak rentals on Quail Creek Reservoir, canyoneering classes in Snow Canyon State Park, or e-bike rentals virtually everywhere in the county. The Greater Zion staff can offer guidance on a multitude of minutiae, from the

best pet-friendly hotels and trails to how to navigate Zion National Park’s new shuttle ticketing process. Otto says she and her colleagues provide such counsel based on first-hand experience.

“We’d be remiss if we just sat at our desks all day, looking at photos of local attractions and then making suggestions,” she acknowledged.

“The people we hire always have their ears to the ground for new opportunities, and we try to experience everything first-hand. We’re really the vehicle for taking these attractions out to the greater population…so there’s value in us knowing about them.”

Beyond their role as the first point of contact for tourists and local residents, the Greater Zion team expends considerable energy— and dollars—in a broad range of programs aimed at promoting Washington County as a desirable destination for work and play. On a local level, that takes the form of capital investments (derived from transient room taxes flowing in from hotels and short-term rentals) in trails, such as the “missing link” segment connecting Sullivan Park and SunRiver; venue development, such as Snake Hollow Bike Park; athletic events, including the Huntsman World Senior Games and the IRONMAN 70.3 North American and World Championships; and many other projects. A grant program also funds marketing efforts for local events and activities as well as capital projects aimed at developing recreational venues and facilities.

All of these efforts depend on a steady influx of visitors, which isn’t always perceived by local residents as a positive. But, Otto advised, those tourists’ visits result in a direct benefit to every household in Washington County.

“As much as we may get cranky about traffic on the weekends or not being able to get into a restaurant, we want people to come and stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants, and shop in our stores because those businesses are all supported by tourists. Tourism provides significant tax benefits to local residents: Every household’s tax burden is eased by over $1,200 each year because of the contributions of tourism to our local economy,” Otto said.

Even in a year sent off the economic rails by COVID, Greater Zion managed to generate impressive financial stats, Otto added.

As tourism all but ground to a standstill from March and into May of 2020, her team retooled its messaging, encouraging sports

teams, convention and meeting planners, and travelers to “Find Your Space”—and safety—in Utah’s great outdoors. As a result, the 2020 Presidents Day Weekend alone saw an estimated economic impact of $31 million, exclusive of Parade of Homes visitors (who contributed still more dollars to the local economy). And despite ongoing restrictions on international travel, which typically accounts for a significant portion of Greater Zion’s visitation, record tourismdriven revenues have been posted in Washington County since last August, adding to the area’s economic sustainability.

“Sure, it’s inconvenient at times,” Otto said. “Are we seeing more traffic? Yes! Are there road closures for events? Yes! But instead of cursing these changes, we encourage everyone to be a part of them, and embrace what’s going on. There are so many ways to get involved; do the Parade of Homes, watch a softball tournament, become a volunteer. And plan your day accordingly.

“People are drawn to this area because of the spirit of this community and the boundless outdoor recreational opportunities,” Otto finished.

“We hope Greater Zion residents will continue to welcome visitors to our area while enjoying and exploring all of those recreational opportunities for themselves. Discover something new to love about living In Washington County.”

Visit the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office at 20 N. Main St., Suite 105, St. George, UT, 84770, www.greaterzion.com, or (435) 634-5747.

About the Author Marianne L. Hamilton is a veteran journalist and marketing writer whose work appears in regional and national publications. When not race walking, hiking, or teaching water aerobics, she is Board Chair of Art Around the Corner and the Special Events Manager for DOCUTAH. She and her husband, Doug, are also co-administrators of the St. George Wine Club and race directors for the Huntsman World Senior Games and National Senior Games. Marianne was crowned Ms. Senior Italy Universe 2019–2020 and the Senior Pageants Group’s 2020–2021 Senior Games Ambassador. She is a proud breast cancer survivor.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 17

Three Easy Ways to Improve Your Health

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook

If you had healthy eating habits as your New Year’s resolution and things have gone by the wayside, don’t worry! It’s always a great time to reset and re-engage your goals by discovering new ways to incorporate healthy food options in your diet.

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“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to eating right, and the best solution is to find something that works for you,” said Lorna DunnCrabb, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Intermountain Healthcare’s St. George Regional Hospital. “Everyone is different, with different tastes, bodies, and goals. We encourage people to try a number of techniques and foods to discover the best way to create their own healthy eating habits.”

Eat a variety of nutritious foods every day 1. Eat more produce to add flavor and color to your meal and get more vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. You can do this by:

• Eating the rainbow. Try fruits and vegetables of varied colors.

• Trying a new fruit or veggie each week. Start a grocery-store challenge—a fun way to involve children—where you buy produce you’ve never tried before.

• Using a food service or co-op where produce is selected and delivered to you.

2. Try the My Plate method. Fill half the plate with fruit and vegetables, and divide the remaining half between a carbohydrate and a protein.

This is an easy way to eat nutritiously while dining out or at home.

3. Add a bag of frozen fruits or veggies to your favorite take-out meal.

This also can be a cost-effective way to stretch the meal.

Plan meals each week 1. Keep it simple. Identify a few of your favorite, easy, go-to recipes, and build on or customize them to add variety. Make a list and shop for the ingredients you’ll need.

2. Try a meal-planning app. Apps like Mealime contain recipes that can be tailored to preference or need (gluten-free, for example). Users select the recipe they’d like to try, and the ingredients automatically transfer to a cart for easy online shopping.

3. K eep a few staples on hand (beans, rice, and frozen veggies) that can be used to round out a meal. Have some chicken in the fridge? Add rice and frozen veggies to make a rice bowl.

Learn skills to create tasty meals 1. Take a cooking class. There are a number of online options to choose from.

2. Watch free how-to videos, including how to make vinaigrette, cut pineapple, or roast vegetables, used in the Intermountain Weigh to Health Nutrition Program.

3. Try healthy swaps. Use applesauce in place of canola oil or Greek yogurt instead of oil or sour cream with potatoes or in banana bread.

Try adding cooked cauliflower to boiled potatoes before mashing them.

Remember, nobody’s perfect. The key to creating healthy habits is to keep trying until you find what you like.

“Be vulnerable in your efforts,” DunnCrabb said. “You don’t have to make a perfect plated dish to post on Instagram or serve at a five-star restaurant. It’s not going to be perfect—but it will be good.”

More National Nutrition Month tips from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics can be found at eatright.org.

For more information, go to www.intermountainhealthcare.org.

Lorna DunnCrabb completed her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Science at San Jose State University with her internship at Santa Clara County Medical Center. Lorna received her master’s degree in public health from American Public University. Lorna has worked as a clinical nutrition manager for sixteen years; the past four and a half years were with Intermountain Healthcare.

DISCOVER YOUR HEALTHIEST SELF WITH US! No matter what your age or fitness level is, the St. George LiVe Well Center has a program to help you live the healthiest life possible. Our services focus on improving health and wellness through: • Physical Activity • Good Nutrition

• Better Sleep • Managing Stress

We also focus on helping athletes, at every level, perform at their best with sports medicine specialists and our sports performance labs, now including golf fitness programs.

Come discover for yourself why we are able to help so many get well, stay well, and live well!

Call or email to find out how we can help.

435-251-3793 | dx-wellness@imail.org

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 19

Intracept:

By Alexa Morgan, St. George News

Southwest Spine & Pain Center is pleased to announce they are now offering Intracept, a new procedure designed to provide relief to people living with persistent, debilitating low back pain.

“It’s certainly exciting for us and a great alternative for patients,” said Dr. Derek Frieden, a pain management specialist at Southwest Spine & Pain. “With the clinical data we Dr. Derek Frieden have and how minimally invasive the procedure is, we feel like it’s a great option for a lot of our patients that have ongoing low back pain.”

Intracept is indicated for patients over age eighteen whose low back pain is chronic (persisting for at least six months) and vertebrogenic, meaning it originates from the bones in the spine. These individuals typically experience pain while standing or sitting for long durations and limited mobility that interferes with everyday activities.

This type of pain was previously thought to originate within the spinal discs, Frieden said, but recent studies have shown it actually stems from vertebral end plates and is transmitted via the basivertebral nerve.

The causes are uncertain beyond normal wear and tear on the spine. In some cases, it may be genetic. Patients whose low back pain hasn’t responded to conservative care or interventional pain relief methods like injections are prime candidates for Intracept. The procedure is covered by Medicare and most private insurance.

Prior to Intracept, Frieden said the best option for patients suffering from discogenic low back pain that didn’t respond to treatment was spinal fusion. While not always effective, it was the only alternative available.

Intracept is performed at a surgery center or hospital. The procedure typically lasts about thirty minutes, and the patient returns home the same day.

Intracept is a relatively painless treatment, Frieden said. During the procedure, the physician makes a small incision to insert a probe

For more information about the Intracept procedure or to make an appointment, please call Southwest Spine & Pain at 435-656-2424 or visit our website at www.southwestspineandpain.com.

20 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

New Treatment for Debilitating Low Back Pain into the vertebral body. The probe uses radiofrequency ablation to create a heat lesion on the bundle of nerve tissue within, effectively blocking pain signals from transmitting to the spinal cord. These nerves are unlike others in the body in that they don’t grow back, which enables Intracept to deliver long-term results.

“If we ablate those nerves, we can provide greater than 75 percent pain relief for up to and beyond five years,” he said.

In clinical trials, patients maintained a 65 percent reduction in pain and a 61 percent reduction in disability at the five-year mark.

Only a handful of medical professionals nationwide are certified to perform the Intracept procedure.

Southwest Spine & Pain is currently in the process of identifying eligible patients who will benefit from Intracept. Frieden said he looks forward to offering lasting pain relief to both local patients and those who come from as far away as Las Vegas or Page, Arizona.

Frieden underwent fellowship training in interventional pain management at Harvard Medical Center. He has lived and practiced in the southern and central regions of Utah for the past fifteen years and previously served as the director of spine and pain medicine at the former Dixie Regional Medical Center. In addition to being a clinical research investigator, he specializes in the evaluation and treatment of spinal conditions and multiple pain disorders utilizing the latest technology, including image-guided minimally invasive procedures like Intracept.

Southwest Spine & Pain operates fifteen health centers throughout Utah. They provide acute and chronic pain management services including injections, epidurals, radiofrequency ablations, nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, and regenerative medicine, along with physical therapy and rehabilitation. All physicians have completed fellowship training and board certification in the treatment of acute and chronic pain.

About the Author Alexa Morgan works as a reporter for St. George News/ STGnews.com and has more than a decade of experience in news and magazine writing.

She is committed to keeping the community informed with journalism of the highest quality standard. Originally from Southern California, she now proudly makes her home beneath the big red mountain in Ivins.

Your

By Jay Bartlett

Go-To Trail

There’s this trail…

There’s this trail that is just the best! It rides flowy with just the right amount of technical to keep it interesting, and it’s always a joy ride. Where is this trail? Sorry, I can’t tell you. You will just have to find it for yourself.

I’m sure most mountain bikers know this trail well. They have probably ridden it hundreds of times. In fact, you may have just ridden it, or maybe you’re going to ride it tomorrow after work.

Still want to know the name of this great, all-around happymaking trail? You already know it because it’s yours! The reason you’d have to find it for yourself is that it’s your go-to trail! You know the one—the one that you can always count on when you need your mountain bike fix.

A go-to trail can be anything it needs to be, really. Most are probably close to home so that you can sneak in a quick ride when time permits or close to work for a lunchtime or post-work rally on some beautiful, flowy, twisty singletrack. (Shouldn’t there be a law that allows free time to ride your bike? Just sayin’.)

Go-to trails can be easy and ridden just for fun—because it’s Saturday afternoon and the chores that absolutely had to be done are done, and you’re a little burned out anyway, but a nice ride would put you right. There’s nothing wrong with that, although some go-tos are there to get the maximum out of your effort. Let’s say you’re training for an event or a multi-ride-day vacation. Your go-to might be a

tough climb followed by enough tricky rock sections to get the old heart and legs pumping hard. A go-to can be any type of trail, and there are no rules that say you can’t have several go-tos, depending on your needs at the time.

Go-tos don’t necessarily have to be close by, though. Sometimes, when life gets to be a little too much or you’re About the Author caught in the doldrums, a distant trail Mountain bike veteran, can be just the reset your brain requires. amateur filmmaker, and lover There is a sweet, twenty-mile loop in of long rides, Jay Bartlett has the Mag Seven trail system in Moab been riding trails in Southern (a fair drive from St. George) that gets Utah for over thirty years.

Jay has over a decade of me longing for it pretty much yearly. It’s experience as a bike mechanic a loop that not only works me in that at St. George’s oldest bike shop, splendid way that leaves me tired, very Bicycles Unlimited. satisfied, and feeling accomplished but is so overwhelmingly beautiful that my brain (and attitude) has no choice but to relax. No doubt, if I ever move to Moab, this trail will become a more frequent go-to!

There’s this trail. You know the one. The one that makes you work and makes you sweat. It’s the one that makes you smile. It’s right over there. You’ve ridden it maybe hundreds of times. You know its corners, its climbs, its drops like the back of your hand, but still you’re stoked to do it again. And even if you’re not that stoked at the start, you’re always glad you did it at the end. It’s your go-to, and it’s probably high time you gave it another visit!

Let’s Ride!

WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT CYCLING! WE COMMUTE, CYCLOCROSS, TOUR, RACE, MOUNTAIN, ROAD & TANDEM RIDE Sales • Service • Rentals • Clothing • Accessories

90 South 100 East St. George UT 84770 435-673-4492 BicyclesUnlimited.com

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 21

How to Help a Loved One Transition to Senior Living What Is the Difference between Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care?

By Emily Havens, Executive Community Relations Director, Ovation Sienna Hills

About the Author Emily Havens is the Executive Community Relations Director for Ovation Sienna Hills. Prior to developing her marketing career, Emily spent three years at The Spectrum and Daily News as a local journalist. Emily has garnered several awards from the Associated Press, Utah Press Association, and Nevada Press Association. In addition to her contributions to journalism and the digital marketing world, Emily is also a local nonprofit chapter president.

Helping parents transition out of their home and into a senior living community can be an overwhelming, stressful process for adult children. Having a plan in place and understanding keystone differences between the various types of senior living communities in your area will help make the process smoother and take the guesswork out of the decision.

While the process looks different for each individual and for every family, understanding the basics is always the first step when beginning the journey to finding your loved one’s future residence.

Do your research.

Knowing the different commu­ nities, visiting their websites, and taking tours of their properties is a great place to start. Familiarize yourself with the standards each company holds for its staff, especially its clinical team.

Do they have a nurse on site 24/7? What are their staffing ratios? How do they handle wandering risks for patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease? What are their COVID-19 policies and procedures?

Evaluate how your loved one is doing.

One of the best ways to determine how your loved one is doing while living on their own is to drop in unexpectedly.

See with your own eyes how they are doing on their own without any assistance. Is there anything out of place?

Are there signs they aren’t keeping up with cleaning, maintenance, and laundry? Are they dressed, clean, and groomed? Are they taking their medication? Be sure their basic needs are being met.

Understanding if they are safe in their home is also an important part of this process. Have they fallen recently?

Are there maintenance issues in the home that haven’t been addressed and are posing a safety issue to your loved one?

Often, folks who have large homes will start spending all of their time only downstairs to avoid using the stairs and to limit their walking. This is a strong sign they are ready to downsize and move into a senior living community.

22 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

Determine your loved one’s needs.

It’s important to understand the different types of senior living to determine where your loved one will be best suited to be a resident.

• Independent Living: Those living in these types of communities are fully independent, though many communities offer payment options that include amenities, some added safety measures, and meals.This type of living is generally for folks who can ambulate well and are active and healthy.

• Assisted Living: Folks who reside in Assisted Living generally need help with activities of daily living, such as walking, getting out of bed, getting dressed, and taking their medication. Assisted living residents’ needs can range from no additional care (maybe they just like the peace of mind) to needing help with all activities of daily living.

• Memory Care: Memory Care residents are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia and need help with all or most of their activities of daily living. These residents are typically folks who have apparent behavioral changes and symptoms of memory loss and who need to be continuously supervised and cared for.

Part of the process of determining which type of living is best for your loved one is to have an evaluation by their physician. Additionally, at communities like Ovation Sienna Hills, the director of health services and the nursing department will carry out a wellness evaluation to determine a specific care plan that matches their needs.

If you would like to talk with a representative from Ovation Sienna Hills about the type of senior living best suited for your loved one, please call (435) 429-0000, go to their website at www.ovationbyavamere.com, or visit their community on the corner of Washington Parkway and Telegraph Street at 154 N. Red Stone Road in Washington, Utah, 84780.

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Experience resort-style senior living in a place like no other. Ovation Sienna Hills is all about your freedom.

Come home to a world-class community with beautiful features, and start living your Ovation.

Our month-to-month rental opportunity does not require a large buy-in on your part, meaning you have control over your finances you worked hard to secure.

Visit us today!

1525 East Ovation Place Washington, UT 84780

OvationSiennaHills.com

Call (435) 429-0000 to learn more.

Take Exit 13 - On the corner of Washington Parkway and Telegraph Street St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 23

Who Knew?

Dis-Ease Is Not in Your DNA

By Bentley Murdock

Way too many of us have become entirely deceived by the believable story that somehow our disease symptoms are all part of our delicate strands of unique and irreversible DNA.

However... here’s a news flash: Disease symptoms are not genetic, and they are not hereditary. The aspects which most definitely do get passed down from generation to generation are all of the daily behaviors, quirks, habits, meal-plans, snacking addictions, emotional eating routines, cultural holiday celebrations, and culinary rituals. These have all culminated over time to collectively define the very lives (and deaths) of all those who have gone before us.

And many of us are painfully and ironically unaware of the obvious patterns and cycles of familial culture continuity.

To put it bluntly, if you’d rather not be confined by any of the undesirable physical outcomes of your progenitors, you’re not alone. Know this: The power resides entirely in your own mind and hands to change the physical health experiences and quality-oflongevity outcomes for the finite future of your tangible body. #FoodForThought =:o)

Here are a few tried and true approaches to more than distance yourself from the most common disease symptoms that plague millions of Americans today. You don’t have to become a statistic by default of ignorance.

All it takes is a daily dance I like to call “Less o’ this! More o’ that!”

Diabetes, Blood Sugar, Insulin, and Pancreas Malfunction Issues Less: Refined sugars, artificial and synthetic sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, zero calorie sweeteners, Splenda, Sweet ‘n Low, “sugar-free” chemical sweeteners, “diet” soda, preservatives and additives, refined grains, animal products, saturated fat, refined carbs and starches, processed sweets and meats, eggs, and dairy products.

24 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

More: Whole plant foods, whole plantsourced sweeteners, whole fruit sugars, honey, maple syrup, figs, dates, prunes, dark berries, citrus, spices, water-dense fruits and melons, tropical fruits, dark greens, fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

Cancers, Tumors, Growths, Melanomas, and Lesions Less: Carcinogens, artificial and synthetic colorings and ingredients, additives, dyes, preservatives, petroleum chemicals, MSG (monosodium glutamate), GMOs (genetically modified organisms), perfumes (parfum), chemical fragrances, free radicals, toxic chemicals, phthalates, nitrates, nitrites, chlorohydrates, and EMF (electromagnetic field) radiation.

More: Adaptogenic herbs, nutrient-dense whole plant foods, herbal remedies, cleanse and detox, water-dense fruits and veggies, dark berries and greens, organic home and bathroom products, essential oil fragrances, organic detergents, safe chemicals, and natural cleansers.

Inflammation, Arthritis, OsteoArthritis, and Joint Pain Less: Saturated fat, LDL cholesterol, dairy products, hydrogenated oil, eggs, joint stress, joint damage, pH imbalance, processed meats, and all other animal products.

More: HDL cholesterol, healthy fats, plant foods, plant-sourced protein, stretching, cardio, blood flow, water-dense fruits and melons, dark berries, fiber (flax meal), roughage (celery, About the Author

corn, etc.), whole grains, H2O, and apple cider vinegar for pH balance.

Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Brain Disorders, and Mental Dysfunction Less: Tuna fish, seafood, artificial coloring and dyes, aluminum powder, cheese and dairy products, heavy metals, fish, fish oil, shellfish, petroleum-based chemicals, tin foil, aluminum foil, toxic chemicals, toxic fumes, artificial fragrances, LDL cholesterol, saturated fat, hydrogenated oil, processed meats, and all animal bi-products.

More: HDL cholesterol, healthy fats, plant sourced fats, nuts and seeds, whole grains, dark berries, fiber, roughage, fruits and veggies, whole plant-sourced foods, cardio, circulation, blood flow, deep breathing, exercise, physical recreation, and essential oil fragrances.

Heart-Attack, Stroke, High Blood Pressure, and Hypertension Less: Saturated fat, LDL cholesterol, animal products and bi-products, cheese, eggs and dairy products, processed foods, refined foods, artificial and synthetic sweeteners, hydrogenated oil, inactivity, chronic fearful worry, negative stress perception, and sedentary lifestyle behaviors.

More: HDL cholesterol, healthy plantsourced fats, H2O, whole plant foods, plant-sourced protein, dark berries, dark greens, exercise, deep breathing, stretching, cardio activity, high-intensity interval training, resistance training, and a thrillingly passionate pursuit of what truly brings you deeply fulfilling and perpetual joy. =:o)

Bentley Murdock is a wholistic lifestyle wellness specialist and #1 best-selling author. His primary areas of focus are disease symptom reversal, disease prevention, and sustainable wholistic healing methods. As Director of Wellness with Alive & Well HealthCARE, he leads local and remote clients (on personal, familial, and corporate levels) to take full ownership and responsibility for the future healing and wellness they desire. For more info, call 866-396-8742 or email Aloha@HealisticVitality.com.

Tell the Story

By Della Lowe

As 2021 brings more opportunities to engage socially, DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival™ is thrilled to be back on track for 2021 with an expanded festival. In November, the Festival will expand to 100+ films to include all submissions accepted in 2020 plus those being considered from 2021. We think of St. George, Utah, as the Patron Saint of Documentary. The City has certainly given DOCUTAH a great home.

The Festival provides a pure format—documentary only—combined with an intimate, global, and exciting experience. The question becomes, “How have documentary films evolved from those of past decades?”

DOCUTAH is always on the cutting-edge, accepting films that use many techniques. To the purist, some of the films may seem not to fit into the strict category of documentary, but they do. Phil Tuckett, Director of DOCUTAH and Associate Professor of Digital Film, explains how and why. “There is a school of thought, a traditional view, that documentaries have to be regimented—very straightforward and linear,” said Tuckett. “But you can take advantage of all the new technology. To me, it’s a beautiful thing to see somebody take a standard form and then vamp on that, do something interesting.”

As an example of a film in this year’s festival that uses filmic techniques to tell a documentary story, Phil mentioned the film Alexandre, the Fool.

The film was shot by a French-Canadian filmmaker, Pedro Pires, who met a man who was and is schizophrenic.

“Pires decided that he was going to make a scripted film about this guy’s story but realized nothing he could invent was as good as what this mentally ill person had told him,” Tuckett explained. “So, he took that man and made him the actor in his own story. You can tell that it’s obviously a reimagined version of the story, but it has the actual person in it and is powerful.”

Tuckett noted that this does not mean it is okay to falsify a story by shooting something that never really happened. That is not a documentary, and it is not effective. To make a point, if making a visual and a musical animation, why not bring all the elements together?

Another film which breaks the mold is 4 Little Girls: Moving Portraits of the Civil Rights Movement. Through beautifully choreographed performance art and the use of historical footage, this film deepens the audiences’ understanding of the American Civil Rights Movement by using the universal languages of photography, song, and dance to depict stories from the era.

“The simple way to say it is, if you’re a filmmaker, you don’t have to put the appellation scripted or documentary filmmaker. You’re a filmmaker using the tools at your disposal to tell your story. If you break the rules in an effective way, that’s the kind of film that we would welcome at DOCUTAH anytime,” Phil noted.

And that’s it; that’s what DOCUTAH goes for. It’s the best stories that were told in whatever method they’re told. The Festival runs from November 1–6, 2021, at the Megaplex Pineview Theaters, St. George, Utah.

About the Author Della Lowe is a former Emmy Award winning ABCNews producer. She is currently the marketing director for DOCUTAH as well as a freelance writer for regional and national publications.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 25

Dining Guide St. George

Angelica’s Mexican Grill

101 E. St. George Blvd., St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-4399 Mexican | Vegetarian and Vegan Options | Family Friendly | $ Mon.–Thurs., 11:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Closed Sun. Located Downtown on St. George Boulevard, Angelica’s Mexican Grill serves fresh, made from scratch authentic Mexican food. The flavor driven and nationally recognized menu provides everything and more that you would expect from a Mexican restaurant, including street tacos, Mulitas, Tortas, Sweet Carnitas, Machaca, and their famous salsa bar. Vegan and Vegetarian dishes are always available. Seating is available inside and also outside on the spacious patio. Catering & To-Go ordering available.

Benja’s Thai and Sushi

2 W. St. George Blvd. #12, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-9538 Thai | Sushi | $$ Mon.–Sat., 11:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.; Sun., 1:00 p.m.–8:00p.m.

Hungry for sushi? Hungry for Thai curries? Benja’s Thai and Sushi, in the heart of downtown at Ancestor Square, will satisfy your craving with fresh sushi, curries, noodles and a great beer and wine menu. Stop in with business colleagues, friends, a date or the whole family, and be sure to come hungry – in addition to curries, noodles and sushi, Benja’s salads, soups and sticky mango rice are not to be missed.

Magleby’s

1450 Hilton Dr., St George, UT 84770 | 435-652-9600 American / Dine-In | Catering | $$ Mon.–Sat., 7:00 a.m.–9:00p.m.; Closed Sun. With over thirty years of catering experience, we guarantee to make your next event magical! Everything we do we do with love, and you won’t find another catering company with as many homemade recipes or fully customized options. If you’re looking for a culinary experience creatively tailored to fit your event, we’re at your service.

Red Fort Cuisine of India

148 S. 1470 E., St. George, UT 84790 | 435-574-4050 Indian | Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free Options | Healthy | $$ Mon.–Thurs., 11:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 12:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Closed Sun. Located in the shopping and dining hub just north of St. George Boulevard, Red Fort Indian Cuisine is the only authentic Indian restaurant in St. George. The flavors are unique and harmonious, and many of their menu items are vegan, vegetarian or gluten free. Stop by and experience the delicious flavors of authentic East India. The elegant and inviting atmosphere paired with their kind and friendly staff, is sure to provide for a relaxing, enjoyable dining experience.

The Painted Pony

2 W. St. George Blvd. #22, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-634-1700 Steakhouse | Seafood | Contemporary | Healthy | $$$$ Lunch: Mon.–Sat., 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; Dinner: 4:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Sun., 4:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

In the heart of Ancestor Square, the Painted Pony delights with an upscale menu, full beer and wine list, cocktails and exceptional service. Prepare for a sensory experience with complex flavors, top-notch presentation and a beautiful atmosphere. Evening ambiance complete with soft lighting, fresh flowers and patio dining. Locally sourced, organic, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options are available for every palate.

Cappeletti’s

36 E. Tabernacle, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-986-4119 Italian | Steak | Seafood | Contemporary | $$ Lunch: Tues.–Sat.,11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; Dinner: 5:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

Centrally located in historic downtown near Town Square, Cappeletti’s is a favorite for casual business lunches, friend and family gatherings, and romantic evening dining. Authentic Italian pastas like gnocchi bolognese or cannelloni will comfort and satisfy, but if you’re not in the mood for pasta, the fresh fish of the day, tender Black Angus flat iron steaks, market fresh meats, and poultry are all prepared daily and presented beautifully. In this quaint and cozy family owned and operated restaurant, plan to settle in for warm, friendly Italian cuisine with an Argentinian flair, and leave satiated in body and soul.

Katering Koncepts, Inc. – Full Service Catering & Event Rentals

1495 S. Black Ridge Dr., Suite A210, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-574-0059 Menus include buffet options, breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, and gourmet lunch boxes.

Call Katering Koncepts when it just has to be Perfect! We will customize any menu just for your event. Serving the St. George and surrounding Southern Utah areas. Katering Koncepts sets a new standard in private, corporate and wedding events. We have a full line of rentals including tables, chairs, linens, formal dishware, decorations, dance floors, tents, serving dishes and many other items to help make your event a success. Call us or visit our website at www.kateringkoncepts.com for a complete list.

Pizza/Pasta Factory

Pasta Factory: 2 W. St. George Blvd. #8, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-674-3753 Pizza Factory: 2 W. St. George Blvd. #8, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-1234 Pizza Factory Express: 1930 W. Sunset Blvd., St. George, UT 84770 | 435-634-1234 Pizza Factory Pineview: 2376 E. Red Cliffs Dr., St. George, UT 84790 | 435-688-2656 Pizza | Pasta | Dine-In | Take-Out | Delivery | Salad Bar | $$ Mon.—Sat at 11:00 a.m.

The Pasta Factory, with its year-round, climate controlled outdoor patio dining wows with custom-made pasta, soups, sandwiches and salads. The Pizza Factory offers three locations with the best and freshest salad bar in town; homemade soups, sandwiches, famous bread twists and Southern Utah’s favorite pizza combinations.

Twenty-Five Main Café

25 Main Street, St. George, UT 84770 | 435-628-7110 Cafe | Coffee Shop | Gourmet cupcakes | $ Mon.–Thurs., 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; Fri.–Sat., 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

Visitors step from the streets of St. George to an atmosphere reminiscent of a Soho cafe when they stop by this counter-style downtown gem for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Delectable salads, panini sandwiches done to perfection, and pasta are the featured menu items, but most diners frequent the café for its cupcakes. Twenty-Five Main is perfect for a business lunch or breakfast, a get-together with friends or a quiet spot to relax in the evening before absorbing the downtown art-walk in St. George.

26 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

we eventually placed them on the menu,” explained Lorena. The empanadas were served with two sauces: a sweet chile sauce and a chimichurri sauce that I found especially delicious.

Although the holiday weekend made for an extremely busy restaurant, our food arrived in a timely manner and piping hot.

With one glance, we could see the chef ’s attention to detail in the presentation of each entree; it was a beautiful sight.

RESTAURANT JOURNEYS:

CAPPELETTI’S

By Diane Del Toro

Walking into Cappeletti’s restaurant for the first time, I knew right away that it wouldn’t be my last. As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, located at 36 E. Tabernacle in St. George, Utah, the decor of antique pictures, bright colors, and art created a unique atmosphere that was both eclectic and traditional. But it was the menu of authentic Italian cuisine with an Argentinian flare that made it clear the small restaurant packed a big punch in distinguishing itself from other local restaurants.

Both Andres and Lorena have been cooking since childhood, cultivating a love for homemade pastas and unique sauces over the years. “Andres has been cooking homemade pasta since he was twelve years old,” said Lorena. “ And I’ve been making gnocchis since I was eight.”

Not surprisingly, Andres and Lorena have now advanced their generational cooking traditions; their son Facundo cooks alongside his father, runs the kitchen, and is in charge of the daily specials that are the favorites of local diners.

Cappeletti’s is owned by husband and wife team Andres and Lorena Cappeletti and has been in business since the summer of 2010. The influences of Andres’s Italian and Argentinian upbringing are made manifest in Cappeletti’s distinct mix of flavors and seasonings. And while most of the menu items are strictly Italian, several have obvious Argentinian origins: empanadas, chimichurri sauce, and flat iron steak, one of the most popular menu items at Cappeletti’s.

Our party of four ordered two appetizers, Hazelnut Crusted Prawns and Empanadas, and four entrees, Sea Bass, Black Angus Flat Iron Steak, Gnocchi Bolognese, and Chicken Gorgonzola.

My favorite was the Sea Bass.

The fish, sitting atop of a bed of pasta, was delicately seasoned, fresh, flakey, and cooked to perfection. The homemade pasta, served with creamy leek, mushroom, and tarragon sauce, complemented the bass while still letting it be the star of the show.

The gorgonzola chicken was another “home-run” entree: penne pasta smothered in a light gorgonzola cheese sauce with just a hint of wine that satisfied the taste buds without being overwhelming. The chicken was tender and the mushrooms were flavorful and fresh.

As for the gnocchi bolognese, it too received a high rating from our group. The gnocchi, made daily by the restaurant, was fresh and pillowy--the obvious standout of the dish. While very traditional, the bolognese sauce was perfectly seasoned and rich with great flavor in every

bite, every time. This entree is a must-order for anyone visiting Cappeletti’s who would like a tried and true Italian dish that will not disappoint.

Lastly, the Black Angus flat iron steak reflected the Argentinian flair spoken of by both Andres and Lorena. With a slightly charred edge, it arrived at our table medium-rare, tender, well-seasoned, and packed with flavor. The steak was just as tender as a fillet and was served with a light cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and vegetables—truly a dish that showed Andres’s attention to the details of cook time and seasoning.

Utterly sated, we nearly passed up the opportunity for desert.

With a little prodding from Lorena, we ordered a creme brulee to share, and I’m so glad we did.

It was creamy and smooth with a thicker-than-normal brulee topping. The presentation was beautiful: topped with fresh, ripe strawberries and blueberries that added the perfect amount of “tart” to contrast with the sweetness of the brulee.

Everything we ate was fresh and delicious. The servers were friendly and attentive, even on that particularly busy night.

Lorena was warm and thoughtful as she came around to check on us.

The overall experience made for a wonderful evening for me and my companions. I will definitely be visiting Cappeletti’s again.

The appetizers arrived at our table without delay and were piping hot. While we enjoyed the prawns, our favorite was the empanadas. The crust was flaky and light; the beef filling with finely diced peppers and onion was seasoned to perfection. “So many people asked for the empanadas, St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 27

What Have You Done for Your Toothbrush Lately?

By SGHW Magazine Staff and Paris Family Dental Your toothbrush takes care of your mouth in so many ways. It keeps your teeth, gums, and tongue clean and accesses hard-to-reach areas in your mouth to remove food particles and plaque. It reduces your risk for gum disease, cavities, and tooth loss. It keeps your body healthy, your breath fresh, and your smile bright and confident.

Your toothbrush does a lot for you, but what do you do for it?

Clean your toothbrush!

Rinsing your toothbrush under the tap after you finish brushing does not get rid of the bacteria and germs you just scrubbed off your teeth. The most convenient way for you to clean your toothbrush is to pop it into a glass of mouthwash you keep by the sink. Mouthwash contains alcohol and/or antiseptic agents that not only kill germs but also prevent bacteria from growing. There are other ways to clean your toothbrush that require a little more effort on your part. Hold the bristle end of the toothbrush in boiling water for a few seconds or run it through the dishwasher on the hot cycle (without detergent, of course). No matter what you choose to do, cleaning your toothbrush regularly is one of the best ways you can take care of it.

Store your toothbrush correctly.

Because you are trying to keep your toothbrush as germ-free as possible, do not store it on the countertop near the toilet. Every time the toilet is flushed, germs and bacteria become airborne and land on surfaces throughout the bathroom—including the surface of your toothbrush. Also, do not store your toothbrush in an airtight container (such as a travel toothbrush carrier) because germs flourish in moist areas. Instead, store your toothbrush bristle-end up where it can air out: a closed bathroom drawer or a medicine cabinet. And put the lid of the toilet down when flushing to reduce the risk of germs spreading throughout your bathroom.

Get rid of that old toothbrush.

Are you brushing with a toothbrush that has bristles that are worn down, bent, yellowed, or frayed? When your toothbrush looks this sorry, it is time to get a replacement; a worn and old toothbrush simply cannot clean your teeth properly. You’ll love the feel of the stiff, clean bristles against your teeth, and your teeth will get a proper cleaning.

Ask us for a toothbrush recommendation.

Your dentist is anxious to help you keep your mouth clean and healthy. If you have questions about which toothbrush to use, ask about it at your next dental appointment or call the office and speak with the office staff. Your oral health care provider will gladly answer any of your questions regarding your teeth, your toothbrush, and your brushing routine. If you take care of your toothbrush, it will take care of you.

28 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

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Festival of the Americas

Presented by Kayenta Arts Foundation Celebrating the early cultures of the Americas through music, dance, fine art, and unique costumes.

The Kayenta Arts Foundation (KAF) is honored to present the premiere Festival of the Americas May 28–30, 2021. This first annual event is a multi-cultural outdoor festival that showcases the cultures of the first peoples of the Americas. The festival will celebrate the depth and beauty of early American cultures through workshops and family-friendly activities that feature music, dance, fine art, unique customs and costumes, drum circles, and more!

Much of the festival will focus on the native Americans of the southwest United States and takes place in the outdoor setting of Kayenta Art Village and the Center for the Arts at Kayenta, once the ancestral home of the Paiute, with surroundings that showcase the stunning natural beauty of our area. No other festival of this nature is currently available in Utah.

President of the KAF Board of Directors Rob Goodman explained, “The event will facilitate collaboration between diverse cultural groups in our region. We plan on more than forty artisans to present their work and engage with visitors about the connection of their own work to their cultural heritage. To achieve this, we will create a celebratory community hub for the understanding and appreciation of the history and cultural fabric of our shared ancient American story and the land we occupy.”

This three-day festival will feature an array of cultural arts forms and customs (painting, pottery, weaving, silversmithing, storytelling, dance, drumming, and flute). In addition, the weekend event will feature powwow style activities such as drumming circles, friendship dances, active storytelling, and other workshops and demonstrations.

“KAF is committed to offering visitors and residents of all ages an outdoor arts festival program that provides a safe, healthy experience for people of all ages. This event will draw together distinct tribal communities for the greater good of preserving and sharing these ancient cultures with local residents and visitors to the region,” said Goodman.

Event Details

Date: May 28–30, 2021 | Time: 10:00am–6:00pm | Cost: FREE to $30.00 More Information: https://www.kayentaarts.com/festival-of-the-americas/

30 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 31

Palliative Care Healthcare’s Missing Link

By Logan Winterton, RN, BSN Palliative care is healthcare’s latest buzzword, but the term remains poorly defined to the general public. Most people associate it with end-of-life care, like hospice, but it covers a much broader spectrum of services. Palliative care focuses on improving overall quality of life for any person struggling with a chronic disease and addresses the needs of the patient, regardless of prognosis.

Navigating the healthcare system has become increasingly more complicated. It is not uncommon for people to see a primary care physician and also specialist physicians for specific conditions or procedures. This causes many patients to feel overwhelmed and unsure of options.

About the Author Logan Winterton received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southern Utah University and has worked in a variety of settings, primarily intensive care. Three years ago, she made the shift to home health and hospice and assisted in starting Dixie Palliative Care. She finds deep satisfaction in making a personal connection with those she cares for and hopes to empower her clients through education to make positive changes in their lives.

32 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

According to the CDC, six out of ten adult Americans are living with a chronic disease, and 40 percent have two or more chronic illnesses. In response to this alarming trend, palliative care was developed to provide support for this underserved population.

Recently, Dr. Amy S. Kelley and Dr. R. Sean Morrison conducted a study that called attention to the positive outcomes of palliative care versus hospice care. The doctors noted that palliative care provided much-needed support for both patients, their loved ones, and their medical clinicians, and they concluded that “persons receiving palliative care in community settings have had longer survival than communitydwelling persons with the same diagnosis who are not receiving palliative care (NEJM, November 26, 2015).”

Generally, a palliative care team is composed of a nurse practitioner, nurse navigator, and social worker. Depending on the health setting, ancillary team members may also be available. They work with each patient’s existing care team to coordinate care between physicians, provide education to the patient and family, and establish goals of care.

It is vital that each patient and their family are engaged in their care and well informed about decisions made regarding their health.

Community palliative care is provided in the patient’s home to reduce visits to a clinic or lab. The benefits of having monthly in-home visits from a nurse practitioner and nurse navigator are numerous. It provides an opportunity to be proactive in care and avoid unnecessary complications, like emergency room visits or hospitalizations.

Conditions that qualify someone to receive palliative care include Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, kidney failure, Parkinson’s disease, and many more.

Physical and psychological symptoms are addressed, including pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, depression, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping.

Dixie Palliative Care is a licensed palliative care program that provides monthly in-home nurse practitioner visits as well as routine nursing care and social work support. They will not make you feel like another number being rushed through the system. Dixie Palliative Care understands the value of building a relationship with each client and their family to deliver real, meaningful care. When patients understand their diagnosis and are involved in their care, there are better outcomes.

Please reach out to Dixie Home Rehab, Palliative, and Hospice at (435) 673-2051 for a free consultation or with further questions. Additionally, this phone number provides 24/7 nursing support. Let Dixie Palliative Care help improve your quality of life so you have more time to spend with your loved ones.

V. Lowry Snow Matthew J. Ence Jeff R. Miles

Curtis M Jensen Cameron M. Morby Sean J. Romney

Lewis P. Reece Jonathan P. Wentz Devon J. Herrmann

J. Gregory Hardman Devin Snow Victoria Carlton

S o u t h e r n U ta h ’s P r e m i e r B u s i n e s s a n d E s tat e P l a n n i n g L aw F i r m Business Law and Disputes

Real Estate and Construction Law

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Commercial Transactions

Litigation, Mediation, and Appeals

Estate and Tax Planning

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St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 33

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H E A LT H

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FINANCIAL

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MIND & BODY

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F A M I LY

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C U LT U R E

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WELLNESS

St. George’s Genuine Oriental Rug Store Flying Carpet is a direct importer of genuine, high quality, one-of-a-kind Oriental rugs - handmade by Turkish villagers.

Kilims • Pottery • Handmade Mosaic Lamps and Turkish Gifts

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34 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

Our team is fully licensed and certified by the Auto Glass Safety Council and uses the top of the line adhesives for a safe windshield replacement.

Receive a lifetime of free rock chip repairs with any windwhield replacement.

SALADS

By SGHW Staff Summer is a great time to make the most of all the amazing produce the season has to offer. Hot summer days call for all-in-one meals that don’t require cooking, are high in fiber and nutrients, and satisfy even the pickiest eaters. Get creative! Set up a salad bar from which guests can choose their favorites or show off your garden greens by arranging them on a platter.

Either way, you can’t lose.

Start with deep green, leafy vegetables (put that iceberg lettuce back in the fridge). Dark greens are full of flavor and nutrients.Try mixing two or three greens together for a flavorful—and healthy— foundation to your meal. pinach S Romaine lettuce Arugula Kale Red or deep green leaf lettuce

Add interest and flavor by tossing on some color.

Chopped, grape, cherry, or sun-dried tomatoes Sliced cucumbers (with or without the peel) Sliced mushrooms Diced, chopped, or grated carrots Green, red, orange, or yellow bell peppers Avocado, diced or sliced Pickled beets Sliced radishes Peas Diced Celery Olives Broccoli Cauliflower Roasted corn kernels Alfalfa or bean sprouts Diced or sliced red onion

Choose a protein, but avoid anything fried.

Opt for a healthier approach. damame E Quinoa Kidney, black, or garbanzo beans Grilled or rotisserie chicken Turkey Grilled, sliced steak Taco-seasoned ground turkey or beef Tuna or salmon Hard-boiled eggs Tofu Cottage Cheese Shredded cheese of any kind Feta or goat cheese No salad is complete without fruit! aspberries R Blueberries Strawberries Raisins Dried cranberries Chopped apples Pears Grapes Fresh pineapple chunks or tidbits Pomegranate seeds Mandarine oranges Sprinkle on the crunch. ater chestnuts W Julienne jicama Sunflower seeds Pumpkin seeds Walnuts Pecans Sliced or slivered almonds Serve with your favorite vinaigrette dressing and a side of whole grain bread.

Delicious!

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 35

Come Unto Me Invites Hope and Healing

By Diane Del Toro One afternoon shortly after the death of my eighty-nine-year-old mother-in-law, I drove up the long incline to Spilsbury Mortuary and parked my car in the nearly empty parking lot. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I slipped quietly through the front door and found a seat in the nearly empty foyer. Voices from the office echoed in the hallway. The rustle of clothing and muffled footsteps signaled the presence of someone walking nearby. A cell phone rang out from somewhere in the building. Yet around me, there was a sacred peacefulness that could not be disturbed.

I was there to view the beautiful and thought-provoking sculpture Come unto Me which embodied everything I was feeling at the time.

Created by Silver Reef artist Jerry Anderson, the sculpture portrays the spiritual journey from mortality to immortality and shows an elderly woman’s body passing through the veil and changing back to her symbolic prime as she returns to the arms of Jesus Christ. In the midst of my grief, the statue brought me healing, consolation, and peace.

I was surprised to see that I was not alone in the foyer. Another mourner, traveling through St. George from Texas, was there seeking comfort. “I walked in and saw those arms outstretched, and I knew I was going to make it through,” she whispered. “I feel like He is not only hugging my daughter but also hugging me.”

Come Unto Me was commissioned by mortuary owner Ted Spilsbury in 1999. Anderson, acting on his desire to magnify his talent in a spiritual environment, took a full year to complete all three sections of the statuary; last December marked the twentieth anniversary of its unveiling. He describes the statue as an inspired creation. “I thought about my eighty-year-old mother and how it saddened me to see her losing her dignity to old age,” he said. “I thought about her being young and beautiful; I began to pray for God to help me create an inspiring piece of work that would be unique in concept and would express strong feelings, show sincerity in the execution of its form, and mostly have the presence to give people who would see it a feeling of hope, peace, and...a belief in the eternal life.”

36 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

Spilsbury, emphasized that Come Unto Me is the family’s gift to the community they love. Spilsbury’s father, LeGrande, purchased the mortuary eighty years ago, and since that time, the Spilsbury family has served the southern Utah community during its most tender moments. “Many times I heard (my father) say, ‘Remember Ted, serve from your heart. Each family deserves our very best effort day and night,’” he recalled. “My father...buried a newborn son, a nine-year-old daughter, Susan, as well as a son, Peter Jon. He knew and understood the heart wrenching sorrow the families he served felt. I have felt those same deep feelings. My dad’s philosophy still lives on. It is the reason we strive to offer the best service to those families we serve. It is our nature.”

Spilsbury estimates that thousands of people have come through the mortuary’s doors to view the statue and to find hope in its message. He leaves the lights on at night so that people can experience the statue at any time; he and his staff sometimes find handprints and tiny fingerprints on the glass doors and windows in the morning when they arrive at work. “The statue is a presence,” he said. “It touches the hearts of all who view it.”

Although grieving is a highly individual experience, and there is no right or wrong way to grieve, Spilsbury invites everyone to view the inspired work of art residing in the foyer of Spilsbury mortuary and hopes it will help the community and visitors to southern Utah find patience and peace in their own healing process.

Visit our free world-class outdoor sculpture galleries.

www.artaroundthecorner.org St. George, UT

435-243-7244

Ask about sales/leasing options!

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 37

On what for me was the first day of spring this year, I drove my father out on the winter range. Dad turns eighty-nine in May, and he can still tell a story and relate history as compellingly as ever. But he’s not able to do much physically any more. His knees, which have been replaced a couple of times, are pretty well shot. He walks with a cane and hasn’t swung a leg over a horse for many years.

We drove up Bluff Street in his well-seasoned GMC Duramax diesel pickup and followed old Highway 91 through Santa Clara and on up to Ivins and out across the Shivwits Reservation and up and over Utah Hill. The route always takes me back to the Mays of my youth when, after I turned twelve, Dad began bringing me on the spring cattle drive.

In addition to the fact that I got to spend a week on horseback, what made those Mays so magical was getting out of school to do it. I guess you could say those cattle drives were my spring break. All my friends were sitting at their desks at Woodward Junior High while I was sitting in a saddle on the vast and wondrous Beaver Dam Slope.

At Castle Cliff, we turned off old 91 and hit the dirt road that breaks west toward the Beaver Dam Wash. When I was a kid, we called it the roller coaster road, and Dad would take those dips and ridges at top speed in the rattling old cattle truck with our horses standing splaylegged in the back trying to keep their balance. This spring on that same road, Dad’s pickup fairly floated across that country. The dips and ridges have been built up and shaved off, and the pickup’s modern suspension mostly took all the fun out of it.

We drove deep into the Joshua tree forest, across the desolate landscape we knew would soon turn green after the recent storm. Dad was humming a tune. I could tell it was good for him to be in the

country where he’d spent most of his adult life, to be in the place where he had become as much a part of the story as the rocky ridges and the creosote flats and the dramatic draws and ravines that cut down toward the cottonwood-lined wash at the bottom of the canyon.

We crossed the wash at the place where my dad got stuck once when I was very small. I wasn’t there, but I was standing in the doorway at our house in St. George when he arrived home late that night covered in mud from his boots to his eyes. He’d left the truck right there where it was stranded in the wash, and when they went back out the next day with equipment to pull it out, a flash flood had filled the cab with mud up to the windows. The story spread virally through St. George that day…through the actual, rather than virtual, social media of the time.

I pushed the button for four-wheel drive as we climbed back out the other side of the wash. The rocky road is extremely steep there, with sharp switchbacks, and I remembered how Dad used to orchestrate the gear shift of the old cattle truck and work it like a wizard, the truck racks bulging with cattle and one missed gear meaning total annihilation of the truck and all its inhabitants.

Dad was dexterous at driving that amazing old truck. He seemed to be at one with it, just like he was with his horses. Somehow, what he thought, they did. The mystery was in how the message was

Spring Break

By Lyman Hafen

38 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

Midmorning, we arrived at a tank that feeds a large circular water trough made of silvery steel. A flat glimmering sheet of water lapped at the lip of the trough, and two dozen cows with slick, sprightly little calves hung around in the nearby creosote. My brother was already there. His handsome white flatbed GMC with a silver gooseneck trailer hitched to it was parked outside the fenced enclosure. He, his wife, and a young man from St. George who had hired on for the day were saddled and ready to make a sweep out across the range to bring in a few dozen more cows and calves to be “worked” the next day.

transferred through his hands and feet to the transmission of the truck or to the nerve center of the horse. I was always in awe at how he did it, and from the time I was twelve, I sought to be like him, hoping someday I would possess the same gifts.

Up along the west side of the Beaver Dam gorge we headed northwesterly across the blackbrush desert. On this day, rather than continuing north toward the Lower and Upper Wells where I gathered with Dad and the old cowboys in those long ago Mays, we cut to the west and drove past Snow Spring and on through what Dad declared was the thickest stand of Joshua trees in that whole country—on toward the Tule Desert.

“

I remembered how Dad used to orchestrate the gear shift of the old cattle truck and work it like a wizard, the truck racks bulging with cattle and one missed gear meaning total annihilation of the truck and all its inhabitants.

My objective for the day had been to bring Dad out for a ride in the truck, to check the range after the recent storm, and see how the cattle were doing. My plan was to be a chauffeur and good company for my father. But Dad and my brother had something else in mind.

What I thought was going to be therapy for Dad was actually an intervention for me. They all knew what I’d been dealing with at work since last spring, all the complications of navigating an organization of more than forty people through a pandemic. I’d been chained to my desk for months.

My horse was saddled and waiting. Fortunately, I’d put on boots that morning rather than the Nike sneakers I’d set out. I was wearing Wranglers, and I had on a baseball cap. All I had to do was step out of the truck, adjust the length of the stirrups, step up and into the saddle, and we were off. Three hours and six or eight miles later, a different me came into water behind a nice herd of cattle.

As Dad and I drove back to St. George later that afternoon, we talked about the seven generations of our family who have ridden those desert ranges at the foot of Clover Mountain. We talked about what hard work it must have been for them…the long, dry, grueling days with few comforts and little financial reward at the end of it all.

Driving along, I smiled as I looked over at my dad. His eyes were glazed with memory and longing as he gazed out across that immense, desolate, yet achingly beautiful landscape. I looked out across it too and felt a warm wave of appreciation roll over me. I felt grateful it was still there. Grateful my father is still here. And grateful they were both there when I really needed them.

About the Author Lyman is the author of a dozen books intent on connecting landscape and story in the American Southwest. He is executive director of the Zion National Park Forever Project, and is past president of the national Public Lands Alliance.

He’s been writing and publishing for more than 35 years, with several hundred magazine articles in publications ranging from Western Horseman to Northern Lights, and was the founding editor of St. George Magazine in 1983.

He’s been recognized on several occasions with literary awards from the Utah Arts Council, and won the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He lives in Santa Clara, Utah, with his wife Debbie, and together they have 6 children and 15 grandchildren.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 39

“

Why Walkabout?

An important part of my youth was spent in the country of New Zealand among people of many cultures and countries. Originally settled by other peoples, including the Maori, Europeans began to actively find their way to New Zealand after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (1647) and British Captain James Cook (1769) also discovered these islands. In 1770, Cook ventured west 1,100 nautical miles and with maps from earlier Dutch explorers was the first to stand on Australia’s east coast.

About the Author Mark Wade is active in hiking, writing, photography, and videography. He works as a tourism marketing consultant, for which he has won numerous awards.

He is a weekly guest on the KSL Outdoors radio show.

Mark is the former Director of Tourism for southwestern Utah and has served on the board of directors for various tourism associations.

New Zealand seemed to be a gathering place for many people from the islands of the Pacific and from Australia.

It was in New Zealand that I learned of the Australian aboriginal term walkabout, which, for me, came to mean going outside for personal exploration. The term walkabout was more widely introduced to America as a commonly used term in the popular Australian movie Crocodile Dundee. “Mick’s gone walkabout” was the statement of the hotel doorman as he referred to actor Paul Hogan’s character going out to explore America.

Full Circle to America When I returned from New Zealand, my family settled in the state of Utah. and it is here that I have slowly discovered that these two locations share the common trait of world-class scenic diversity. I’ve subsequently spent over forty-five years going walkabout in Utah. These treks of exploration have led me to discover that the outdoors can be a great place for introspection and self-discovery.

Story of Healing: Axe Handle in the Alcove.

A few years ago, during a particularly difficult economic down-turn in America’s economy, I was one of 350 people to be laid-off from a St. George-based company. The morning that I was informed of my termination of employment, I left my office, climbed in my car, and began to drive. Somehow, I found myself northbound on I-15.

Near the Leeds exit, I determined to go to the community of Silver Reef as I continued to contemplate what was a devastating change in the financial future of myself, my wife, and my young family.

My choice for going to Silver Reef was based on the prospect that I knew I could find an out of the way place to walk and be alone with my thoughts. I parked my vehicle near the edge of the rock reef, for which the area is named, and wandered west. Crossing a small stream I wound my way through desert foliage toward a box canyon. My distressed thoughts of “what is next” consumed me for a while, but my contemplations were somewhat preempted as I began to find my way up the side of the canyon. I picked my way up a steep slope through boulders and native brush, climbing higher until I reached an upper ledge where the terrain opened up into a less arduous slope. Massive eroded sandstone formations greeted my foreground view, and the backdrop was the snow dusted Pine Valley Mountain.

Distressing thoughts began to return until I noticed a cavity of rock, half filled with sand, that was approximately ten feet long and four feet high. However, the object that most drew my attention was an axe handle that was protruding from the sand. Morbid thoughts immediately filled my brain, but curiosity led me closer. I tugged on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

Wade’s Walkabout Finding Meaning and Healing in the Outdoors

By Mark Wade

40 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

With the assistance of a flat rock, I began to excavate the sand, but the axe continued to imitate the sword Excalibur. Finally, I removed enough sand to get the handle to rotate forward and back, yet I could tell that something was holding it back. This reinforced my morbid suspicions, but with more effort, I discovered that the strap of an old bag was hooked over the blade.

I excavated further and removed an old pair of Levis Strauss pants, a wool blanket, a rusted coffee can, and the duffel. The blanket and pants were riddled with holes, and I cast them aside to search the contents of the bag. Within, I found a small pocket-size New Testament book and

Photos courtesy of Bob Grove a map. I’d like to say it was a treasure map, but it was simply a highway map dated 1954. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

It appeared to me that someone had been using this alcove, which was perfectly protected from rain, as a base from which to explore the area and perhaps to prospect for silver. This person’s situation seemed far more tenuous than mine: meager supplies, sleeping in a sandy alcove, and apparently in need of much more in their life. Did this person find what they needed? Why didn’t he or she return for their gear? Did they die somewhere nearby? I knew that all of these questions would likely never be answered, but perhaps my exploration had enabled me to acquire some personal insights.

I gathered up the axe and gear and found a less steep route back to my vehicle. This whole experience had the effect of taking my mind away from the loss of my job, if only for a few hours. My walkabout in the southern Utah back country lent some healing to my soul and perhaps cleared my mind for the journey ahead.

The axe still resides in my garden shed, and it reminds me that, despite my own challenges, there are others for whom life is more difficult. Perhaps we all have times when we can find a new path, not look back, and just start walking.

In coming issues, we'll explore together, through stories and images, some of the lesser known places in southwest Utah, places where personal meaning and healing are found.

Follow Mark's outdoor escapades...

www.RoadTrippinWithBobAndMark.com Also on Facebook and Instagram

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 41

Beyond Swimsuit Season

42 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

By Erin Del Toro, Licensed Clinical Hypnotherapist Oh boy, it’s here: the time of year where the intensity of the southern Utah sun reminds us to switch our winter gear out for tee shirts, tank tops, shorts, and swimsuits. For many of us, it’s the ultimate reminder to lose a few pounds, and that’s almost always a big can of worms.

If you have worked to lose weight time and time again in the past and have not yet been successful in keeping it off, you may feel that there’s no hope for you or maybe that you haven’t tried the right meal plan or exercise program. You may even research the latest diets, scan social media fitness influencers, or ask your thin friends their secrets.

This may seem difficult to believe, but decades of clinical trials show that tailored diets and exercise programs usually yield only short term results. The ketogenic diet is the most recent diet program to take a serious place in the spotlight. But despite bestselling books and the excitement created by social media influencers, clinical trials show that the keto diet manifests no superiority over other calorie-reducing diet plans. In addition, long-term studies show that the keto diet is no more successful at keeping the weight off than other programs.

It’s likely that the answer to your weight problem will not be solved by mere restriction. If you have never had a diet plan work for you long term, you’ve probably been looking at weight loss the wrong way.

Most weight loss regiments rely on “discipline” as the solution for sticking to a program. The problem with “discipline” is that it suggests that there is something you truly want but must put in great effort to avoid. With this in mind, we can be disciplined for a period of time, but at some point, when we want a piece of cake, whether we feel we have earned it or not, we will eat it.

If we ate the cake because we lost discipline, we feel shame, and either slowly or quickly, we let the diet go to avoid the negative feelings. If we ate the cake as a reward, the brain can become confused about our ultimate intentions, and it may ask for more sweet rewards in the future, leading to diet breakdown.

Willpower is essential to achieving any goal, but in the game of losing weight, there’s a much more effective place to put your willpower than “discipline.” In the 1903 classic book, As a Man Thinketh, James Allen was so right when he wrote, “A change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts.”

So what is the difference between people who do not generally overeat and those who do? The first group does not eat to fill an emotional void or stifle painful feelings. The second group does.

Overeating and compulsive eating nearly always hold their roots in emotion and past experience.

For success in losing weight and becoming healthier, you’ll need to shift your focus from wanting to look or be a certain way to understanding nutrition and exercise, why it is that you overeat, and what you need for your emotional healing.

Emotions can get the better of us in a variety of ways when it comes to weight issues. We eat to avoid stress, because we aren’t receiving enough love, or because of past traumas, failed relationships, or childhood fears. We all come to the table with a variety of emotional issues, but food is devoured as the most common universal bandaid. And then when the weight piles on, we eat because of that, too.

Because old or current emotions drive our overeating so heavily and with all of the specified weight loss plans out there, there is really only one plan for losing weight for life, and it’s found in these three steps:

About the Author Erin Del Toro is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist for True North Mind Management. She is passionate about combining eastern and western medicine, changing the effects of trauma, and helping others unlock the power of their true potential. When she’s not reading and learning about the mind, she enjoys spending time with her daughters, training for ninja warrior competitions, and staying active in the great outdoors of Southern Utah.

1) Emotions. Locate the emotional reason (or reasons) you’re overeating, address them, and heal them.

To find the root issues holding you back, you may want to try some mindfulness meditations, do some research on common reasons for emotional eating, and gift yourself honest self-reflection.

Is this easier said than done? A qualified therapist can do wonders to help you unpack and deal with your weight-loss baggage, or a clinical hypnotherapist like myself can help you to locate and heal the problem in a deep meditative state.

2) Nutrition & Exercise. Learn about nutrition and exercise and envision your future habits. If you have never delved into the world of nutrition, caloric intake, healthy fats, and sugar levels, you might benefit from visiting a registered dietician who can help tailor a plan specifically to you. If you don’t have the funds on hand to pay for professional help, there are plenty of great dieticians with helpful content on social media and YouTube.

3) Life Practice. Put your learning into life practice. Be diligent but patient, and continue to nurture yourself emotionally. Keep going, push past any failures, and focus on your successes.

Healthy weight loss does not happen all at once, but it’s the kind of weight loss that lasts for life.

The journey of health isn’t always the easiest to begin, but a year from now, you’ll be glad you took your first step today.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 43

Vegetarianism The Health Benefits of

By Abby Trinh, Rocky Vista University Student Over the past two decades, recognition and awareness of vegetarianism have exploded; cast your eyes over most restaurant menus to see the evidence. People choose vegetarianism for various reasons, including personal, ethical, religious and environmental motivations. A typical vegetarian diet removes meat, poultry, and seafood. However, there are various subtypes of vegetarianism, each differing slightly in its exclusions.

About the Author Abby Trinh is currently completing her medical training at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in southern Utah. As an aspiring physician, she places a high value on serving others, especially those in disadvantaged communities. Outside of her academic studies, Abby enjoys writing, cooking, hiking, and most of all, exploring new places to learn more about other cultures around the world

No matter the category, numerous studies examining vegetarianism’s impact on health link such diets to multiple benefits in adults. These studies indicate that vegetarian diets improve health: vegetarians take in more vital nutrients within particular food groups than non-vegetarians. Here are some of the key benefits of choosing this lifestyle:

Promotes weight loss. Vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than non-vegetarians. In fact, an analysis of twelve studies found vegetarian and, in particular, vegan diets had beneficial effects on weight reduction. Vegetarian diets aid weight loss by centering on nutrient-dense, low-calorie foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy. Vegan diets go further by excluding all animal products, thereby eliminating calorie-rich foods such as cheese.

Lower blood cholesterol levels. Compared to omnivores, multiple studies find vegetarians tend to have lower blood levels of total cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Saturated fats, a form of unhealthy fats that can increase “bad” LDL blood levels, are typically lower in vegetarian diets. Furthermore, vegetarian diets often provide a high intake of many beneficial phytochemicals (bioactive plant nutrient chemicals). Certain phytochemicals found in plant foods can substantially affect cholesterol levels by reducing intestinal cholesterol absorption or inhibiting cholesterol biosynthesis.

Improved blood sugar control. As mentioned above, a vegetarian diet can promote weight loss. Weight reduction increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin and improves blood sugar (glycemic) control in patients with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Such improved blood sugar regulation leads to diabetic patients requiring fewer glucose-lowering medications. Furthermore, higher consumption of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts has been linked to a lower risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes as well as better glycemic control.

Lower blood pressure levels. Vegetarian diets are generally high in fruits and vegetables, rich sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants enhance the effective action of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator that relaxes the blood vessels’ inner muscles, increasing blood flow, lowering blood pressure, and improving heart health.

Decreased risk of colon cancer. Consuming red meat, particularly processed meat, is linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Foods containing dietary fiber, on the other hand, are linked to a reduced risk. Vegetarian dietary patterns could be logically associated with lower colorectal cancer risks due to their absence of meat content and prevalence of high-fiber foods.

Clearly, a varied, balanced vegetarian diet provides opportunities for enjoying a wide variety of healthy foods and critical nutrients. Most importantly, it can benefit health by preventing diseases such as obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and colon cancer.

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St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 45

Meet Toshi –

DSU’s Youngest 2021 Graduate

By Aubrey Gurney, Dixie State University Student This May, Dixie State University will celebrate its graduates at the 110th Commencement Ceremony held in Greater Zion Stadium.

One of these graduates is Toshi Mowery, DSU’s youngest student to be honored this year. Toshi is a sixteen-year-old senior at Snow Canyon High School and will be successfully moving on to a bright future with an associate degree from DSU. “Toshi is gifted with exceptional mathematical ability,” said Jesse Hicks, assistant professor of mathematics at DSU and Toshi’s favorite professor. “For two semesters now, we have been able to have many fruitful and engaging mathematical discussions in my office. Beyond his exceptional abilities in mathematics and computer science, Toshi is affable, curious, and highly creative.”

When he’s not talking about math theories with Professor Hicks, Toshi can be found programming games with his friends, reading a book—he is currently reading Gamma, a book on variables and constants in algebra—or working on his other passion, improving education.

While he was in school, Toshi watched some of his friends fall behind while others were ahead of the pack. He realized that neither group had adequate resources for a good education.

“I just felt like a lot of the resources in schools were geared to the average student,” Toshi said. “If you are above or below average, there aren’t as many resources.”

46 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

To help start the process of improving education, Toshi took his knowledge of computer science to his internship at SchoolRewards.me, a program that helps incentivize kindness in the classroom.

There, he helped program an app that encourages positive behavior through a point-based system. Each student is given an ID card, and when they do something good, their teacher can scan the card to add points that can then be used to get prizes.

“I am excited to see how it improves students’ lives,” Toshi said.

About the Author Aubrey Gurney is currently a student at Dixie State University. She is majoring in media studies with an emphasis in public relations and aspires to utilize her public relations skills to help others after she graduates this May. Originally from Heber City, Utah, Aubrey has grown to love the St. George weather and can usually be found climbing around the red rocks with her dog, Beans.

After he graduates from DSU, Toshi will head to the University of Utah in the fall where he will major in math or computer science.

He enjoys both, so he might choose to double major. Toshi ultimately plans to obtain his doctorate and one day hopes to start his own business building tech to help improve education.

Like Toshi, Dixie State’s 110th graduating class is filled with remarkable students. Each one has a dream and will blaze their own trail, but all will leave DSU well equipped and ready to make a difference in the world.

For more information about Dixie State University, visit www.dixie.edu.

InsideOut Dad:

Supporting Children of Incarcerated Fathers

By Kelly Kendall The sound of slamming metal doors with automatic locks is deafening. It is a sound to which I will never get accustomed, no matter how many times I enter the jail to facilitate InsideOut Dad® classes. It is not only loud, it echoes through the concrete hallways like nothing I have ever heard outside of a jail. The sound is emphasized by the reality of what it means to incarcerated dads who will enter the classroom from their cell block.

Teaching incarcerated fathers about the importance of engaging with their children has been one of the most exhilarating, rewarding, and exhausting experiences in my life. It has given me a weighty epiphany that no matter our situations or life circumstances, we all have similar hopes and dreams, worries and concerns about our children. It is rarely so profound and raw as with incarcerated fathers who are not able to see, interact with, hug, provide for, or protect their children.

According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, 2.8 million children in the U.S. have a parent in prison, and many more minors have experienced a father or mother in jail. The initiative states: “Research results show that when a parent is incarcerated, the lives of their children are disrupted by separation from parents, severance from siblings, and displacement to different caregivers.”

Other statistics are dismaying. The instances of abuse, neglect, poverty, and violence all increase substantially for children whose parents are incarcerated, and a National Institute of Corrections study noted that “parental arrest and confinement lead to stress, trauma, stigmatization, and separation problems for their children.”

With these statistics in mind, InsideOut Dad has been implemented locally at Purgatory Correctional Facility, Kane County Jail, Iron County Jail, and Beaver County Correctional Facility. It is also being facilitated in more than twenty-five state Departments of Corrections facilities and countless Federal Bureau of Prison locations. The program is focused on the “basics,” including what it means to be a man and father. The key to developing good fathers is to first develop good men, which must come before focusing on fathering skills.

InsideOut Dad is the nation’s only evidence-based fatherhood program developed specifically for incarcerated fathers. It connects

inmate fathers to their families, helping to improve behavior while still incarcerated and to break the cycle of recidivism by developing profathering attitudes, knowledge, and skills along with strategies to prepare fathers for release. Incarcerated fathers get the tools they need to become more involved, responsible, and committed in the lives of their children, providing increased motivation for them to get out and stay out.

Interestingly, the annual cost of incarceration per inmate is $25,000–$40,000, depending on the state. However, the cost for materials for a prison or jail to take one incarcerated father through the InsideOut Dad program is as little as $60 per father. And it is making a difference.

There are two goals with fatherhood education for incarcerated fathers: connecting them with their children and reducing recidivism. When a father engages with his children and really takes on the role of being a dad, he provides for them and protects them. He finds—and holds—a job that will put a roof over his children’s heads and food on the table.

Doing this keeps him busy and makes him more likely to stay away from the type of activities that will land him back in jail. Over time, his paradigm shifts from being selfish to selfless.

There are few things in life that really matter, and those things really matter.

When they are taken away, we tend to want them even more, and sometimes, we even begin to crave them. At the end of the day, one of the most important things conveyed to the incarcerated father is simply hope: hope for a brighter future and hope for the opportunity to be a dad to his children.

About the Author Kelly Kendall is the CEO of Practice Partners, LLC. He teaches in the DSU School of Business & Communications as adjunct faculty. He is passionate about helping empower fathers to be great dads in the lives of their children, including teaching fatherhood education classes at Purgatory Correctional Facility and in the local communities. He loves to travel, bike, hike, and write.

He also loves humanitarian service and spending time with his family.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 47

Freedom from Depression: My Path to Happy After dealing with depression for thirty+ years, I finally feel free and happy! For many years, I didn’t think this would be possible. In the beginning of 2020, I found TMS and my hope for freedom from depression blossomed into my reality. Here’s my story.

Since my teenage years, depression has always been a struggle for me. I had friends, and I was liked by many, but that never changed how I felt inside. I felt sad. I could be in a room full of people and feel entirely alone. I sought help through medications and therapy for many years but to no avail.

At age twenty-four, married with two children, I found drugs. I thought I had found the answer: self-medication. I no longer had to feel. Everything that hurt inside was numb. At first, I felt so comfortable with the social aspect of using. The people I associated with “got me.” They were my people; they understood and accepted me. Gradually, I started to use drugs alone. Eventually, I started to isolate and compromise every moral or value I had. Things that were never acceptable to me before were now acceptable.

At age thirty-two, my marriage was over, and my two children were living with my parents. Then came a downhill slide deeper into my addiction. The drugs were no longer doing the trick. I started to isolate more and explore harder drugs. I rarely communicated with my family or children.

By age forty-one, I’d had enough. I was either going to die from my addiction or get clean. Both of these options terrified me, but I had to try. I put myself in treatment.

That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I wanted to live. I wanted to get up in the morning and go to a job. I wanted to cook a meal after a long day and watch television. I needed my children to call and want to see me. I craved “normal.”

Treatment was difficult for me but I knew I had to fight. I wanted to know “happy” so badly, I would do anything to get there. It took about eleven months of intensive therapy and aftercare. I learned how to cope with my feelings and how to be social again. There was hope.

After I completed treatment, I finally started working full time. I was enjoying feeling like I was important and useful. I had a purpose. I had my family back in my life. Most days, I would get off work and climb into bed and watch movies. I still had not found “happy.” Depression was still there, rearing its ugly head.

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In the beginning of 2020, I found TMS. TMS is a medical procedure to treat depression when antidepressant medications fail. When I began TMS, everything I had not yet dealt with came to the surface. For me, it was like ripping the top off pandora’s box. Together with TMS, I participated in weekly therapy to work through the feelings I started having. Daily depression began to lift. One day, I realized it was 8:30 at night, and I had been shopping since leaving work. I was getting out again. The next week, I traveled to spend the weekend with my family.

Did I find “happy?” A full year has passed, and I am working two jobs that I adore. I go out with friends on the weekends. I have rebuilt family connections. I go to bed at night excited for the next day. I will be three years clean this year and depression is gone. I have found my “happy.”

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Take the Dive into TMS. Call Premier TMS today. (435-216-9290) St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 49

Business and Estate Checkups: Vital to Your Overall Well-Being indicated the following reasons for this statistic: they are invincible, death is far from their doorstep, or they have too few assets to warrant the creation of an estate plan. Similar beliefs are found in business, where owners fear they lack time, resources, or ability to implement changes prompted by new opportunities, technology, or regulations.

As individuals, we recognize the importance of maintaining good health through regular physical checkups. Similarly, successful individuals and business owners recognize the importance of regular checkups of their business plans and operations as well as their personal affairs and estates, thereby ensuring they remain strong and healthy with each passing year.

Though most people do not typically consider legal work as part of their individual health and wellness, the regular review of your business plan and operations along with the update and implementation of a comprehensive estate plan are an essential component to your overall well-being.

Recent surveys indicate that nearly 60 percent of Americans do not have an estate plan. Reasons vary, but respondents have

The truth is, such planning and reviews benefit everyone, no matter your age. It is never too early to start thinking about protecting your businesses, family, freedoms, and assets.

• Parents of minor children can designate someone to serve as their son or daughter’s legal guardian when forming a will.

• Protecting your loved ones by providing for their inheritance of your assets when you pass away is also part of a complete estate plan.

• Drafting a health care power of attorney provides you with the option to make medical decisions ahead of time about your care in the event you become incapacitated, allowing you to elect someone you know and trust to make choices for you in alignment with your wishes.

Article submitted by Curtis M Jensen (President) and Christa Hinton (Operations and Marketing Manager) of Snow Jensen & Reece, a regional law firm practicing in the areas of business law, estate and business planning, real estate, and commercial litigation.

They can be reached by calling (435) 215-4960 or by visiting their website at www.snowjensen.com.

50 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

• A living trust helps avoid having your assets go through the costly and oftentimes protracted probate process.

• You can protect your access to government benefits such as Medicaid, which can be compromised if some of your assets are placed in certain types of trusts.

There are many benefits associated with drafting a will and setting up a trust, power of attorney, and other legal documents, no matter what stage of life you are in.

As for protecting your businesses, a competent professional can be essential in drafting and reviewing documents relating to your comprehensive business plan, operations, contracts, leases, financial agreements, and other matters relating to your business. Many business owners fail to recognize the importance of hiring an attorney when setting up a business, entering a new venture, or simply reviewing and updating your existing practices and documents. These actions will help in mitigating or avoiding future headaches and expenses as well as protecting and safeguarding your business from future disputes or unnecessary claims.

Rather than putting it off or waiting until problems arise, schedule your wellness check now with your professional to assure your business and personal affairs are reviewed and satisfactorily updated, thereby bringing you greater peace of mind and contributing to your overall health and wellness.

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Photo courtesy of Maurice Atkin and is used by permission.

ATKIN

COWBOY CODE

By Brigit Atkin My husband, Kelly, comes from a long line of cowboys. Fortunately, they aren’t the “drink all the whiskey, steal the horses, cheat at poker” kind of guys. They’re the “get up before dawn, work until it’s done, pray for rain” kind of fellows.

It’s For E veryone

52 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

I recently came across the “Atkin Cowboy Code.” I wish I knew who authored it because the writer speaks to everyone, especially during these crazy times.

Atkin Cowboy Code • Take responsibility for your actions; don’t blame • Be trustworthy, truthful, a keeper of your word, and honest, even when you think no one is looking. others for the consequences of what you choose to do.

• Always exercise self-control.

• Choose your words carefully. Stay away from those who are looking for trouble.

• Treat others as you want to be treated: fairly and • Show concern for the other fellow. Be the champion of equally. Never look down on anyone. the underdog, the oppressed, and the disadvantaged.

• Respect yourself first. Then you will respect others Help someone, some way, every day. and what is theirs, including their outlook of life.

• Stand up for what you know is right. Don’t follow the • Be happy and joyful. Live your life the very best you crowd just because everyone else is doing it. know how.

• Remember, what you do to others comes back to you, • When you work or are given chores, do all in an be it good or bad. excellent way.

• Be a moral leader. Set an example for others to follow, including always presenting a good appearance.

My husband would add this: Honor your family name. Don’t do anything that would tarnish the legacy left by those who came before you.

Can you imagine what our society would be like if we all endeavored to live by this code? We would feel safe enough to go back to the days when no one locked their doors. A contract would be binding with a simple handshake, and we would be treated with kindness everywhere we went.

None of us are perfect; I know I have lots of room for improvement. Maybe some of these kernels of wisdom can help you and me as we add them into our own personal codes. It’s something to consider. It’s probably time we change our lowdown, no good, spittin’, cussin’, cow-stealing ways anyhow.

About the Author Brigit Atkin–Brigit of Brightworks helps improve the lives of others facing challenges and difficulties.

She is certified in the SimplyALIGN™ method and was trained by founder Carolyn Cooper herself. For more information, visit www. brightworksbybrigit.com.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 53

EAST WEST HEALTH IS NOW ANODYNE OF ST. GEORGE OUR TEAM IS HERE TO HELP THOSE WHO SUFFER FROM CHRONIC PAIN OR CHRONIC ILLNESS. We provide solutions for you to live pain-free, think clearly, and have more energy so you can enjoy life again thanks to our non-surgical, non-opioid solutions.

This name change means we can help move you away from pain and towards wellnes. It also brings us the opportunity to broaden our reach across a number of clinics here in Utah and the Southwest. We can also now offer more pain management solutions and our commitment to our patients and practice remains our highest priority.

We effectively treat and reverse both chronic and acute conditions through enhancing hormones, nutrition, gut health, joint mobility, and brain performance without drugs or surgery.

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING WITH ANY CHRONIC PAIN, CALL TODAY 435-773-7790 mention this ad for a free introductory consultation!

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Dr. Steven Larsen Desert Pain Specialists’ Newest Physician As integral parts of a comprehensive pain management practice, the physicians at Desert Pain Specialists treat patients from head to toe and every joint in between. This statement holds true for Dr. Steven Larsen, a military veteran and Desert Pain’s newest physician. “I tell patients that if they have any problems from their toes to their nose, I can help them,” he said. “I will go to battle for my patients’ needs.”

Larsen brings several years of experience in treating chronic and acute pain to Desert Pain, and he is looking forward to serving the southern Utah community. His broad spectrum of interests include arthritis pain, sports medicine, headaches, minimally invasive spine procedures, and injections for neck and back pain.

Larsen lives in St. George, Utah, with his wife of sixteen years and their three children.

The family moved to southern Utah in January after he was offered a position at Desert Pain, which he believes is one of the best interventional pain management clinics anywhere. Outside of work, he volunteers as a Little League coach. “I’m extremely excited to be engaged in the community,” he said. “We’re excited to live here in this beautiful place, and we have no intention of leaving.”

Growing up in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley in Taylorsville, Utah, Larsen took an early interest in health care, but after completing two years of missionary work for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Korea, he decided to join the Army.

Larsen served combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan along with assignments to Kuwait and South Korea

during six years of active duty. This was followed by four years in the Utah Army National Guard. While working as an interrogator in an impoverished Afghani village, Larsen was struck by the medical needs of the community and began to realize his true calling was in healing.

“I felt a longing to treat them, and it rekindled an earlier aspiration I had of pursuing medicine,” he explained. “I realized I needed to pursue my dream of working with people on their health.”

Larsen enrolled in college classes while finishing his military service, studying at night and online. He ultimately obtained his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and his medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University, where he was the recipient of the Award of Excellence scholarship.

While in medical school, Larsen was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society as well as the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a peernominated recognition for students who excel in compassionate patient care.

Larsen completed his residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in pain management at the University of Utah. Over the course of his medical training, Larsen was involved in many research projects with subjects ranging from the molecular makeup of potential cancer biomarkers to diabetes treatment to spine surgery outcomes.

Larsen interviewed with numerous pain management clinics across the country in search of trustworthy physicians who shared his core principles of putting patients first. As a practice that focuses on providing quality care ahead of business demands and strategic expansion, Desert Pain was the perfect fit. “Simply put, here at Desert Pain, we do the right thing for the patient,” he said.

As a pain management physician, Larsen works diligently to identify the sources of chronic pain and provide appropriate treatment. He strives to empower his patients to take better care of their bodies and recognize the role they play in their own healing, from the way they eat, sleep, and move each day to the bigger picture of how they view themselves and their pain condition. “My treatment goals revolve around the belief that patients have the power within themselves to make positive transformations in their lives,” he said.

Larsen said he aspires to be an ally in healing whom patients can trust with their concerns and needs. He will give them as much time as he would give to a member of his own family if they needed care.

“I hope I help patients smile more often and help them realize that they’re capable of better health,” he said. “I’m very excited to serve this community with all my heart.”

For more information about Desert Pain Specialists or to make an appointment, call (435) 216-7000 or visit www.desertpainspecialists.com.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 55

Enduring, Healthy, and Stable Marriage Relationships

By Richard K. Harder, Contributing Author When I was seventeen years old, my parents divorced. At that time, high school baseball and longboard surfing were my favorite recreational pastimes, which instantly became needed therapy for a now emotionally distraught teenager without parents in an intact marriage relationship.

The divorce of my parents left me and my three siblings confused about our futures and uncertain about such things as post high school education, marriage, and family relationships.

Thanks to a caring father-figure baseball coach, an empathetic high school counselor, and my best friend and scholar/athlete, I was encouraged to further my education by going to college. My older brother joined the military, and my younger sister married soon after high school graduation.

My mother became a single parent, underemployed and nearing financial ruin. Soon thereafter, my father was killed in an auto accident along with another adult and two children who were in the vehicle.

So much for the traditional civil marriage vow and mantra: “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part.”

Some sources indicate that most stable marriage relationships protect children from mental, physical, educational, and emotional problems. Further research on marriage reveals that children who are raised by their married biological parents enjoy better physical, cognitive, and emotional outcomes on average than children who are raised in other circumstances.

Considering this personal family scenario just outlined, one could say that my wife and I are statistical outliers who, like many married couples, have been in a stable, healthy marriage relationship for over fifty years.

Couples in a stable, healthy marriage relationship can expect and enjoy levels of emotional as well as physical and spiritual fulfillment that can be experienced in no other way.

Such healthy marriage relationships also include but are not limited to disagreement, disappointment, unmet expectations, arguments fueled by negative emotion, open expressions of anger, and navigating the complexities related to sexual intimacy. I could go on, but you get the picture.

I am not a marriage counselor (though I have been asked by some if I am) nor am I a relationship therapist. Simply put, I, like so many other committed individuals, decided a long time ago to get married and to stay married despite the inevitable disappointments and pitfalls associated with close loving relationships.

Why? For the benefit of my posterity and to further the quality of life for the one whom I have always loved. There is no magic here, simply a firm commitment to perseverance and hard work in the most important of all relationships.

Here are some practical bottom-line tips for maintaining an enduring, healthy, and stable marriage relationship: • Always put your marriage partner first and never react on negative emotion.

• Seek to understand and respect differences in physical intimacy and always maintain or enhance your spouse’s self-esteem.

About the Author Richard K. Harder is founder and owner of Lead Smart Consulting LLC (formerly Richard Harder & Associates), a management consulting firm that specializes in leadership and organizational development. He is also an adjunct instructor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Dixie State University, St. George, Utah and senior adjunct instructor in the College of Business and Public Management at the University of LaVerne, LaVerne, California. He earned a master’s degree in healthcare management from California State University at Los Angeles and degrees in business and hospitality management from San Francisco State University and the City College of San Francisco respectively. His professional mission is to assist leaders in both domestic and professional settings in their effectiveness at leading highly productive teams as well as improving the quality of life for themselves and others. Richard can be reached by email at richard@ leadsmartconsulting.org.

•N ever go to bed mad at each other.

•A llow deity to prevail in your marriage relationship.

• If you must, argue in private, preferably in a sound-proof room so the children cannot hear you.

• Avoid consumer credit debt. It is the ruin of too many otherwise stable marriages.

• Do something alone together like you did when you were courting each other. It does not have to be expensive.

•B e kind to one another.

Add these relationship tips to what you are already doing so well to stabilize your enduring, healthy, and stable marriage and continue looking forward to celebrating each year’s wedding anniversary.

Be well.

56 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

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St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 57

Success is Stamina To Win Means to Keep Playing

Goal setting turns wanting something into creating a pathway to get there.

However, a lifelong dream can often get stuck at the same point in the process every time you set out to accomplish it.

Thinking of your goals as experiments is key. During this process, we can observe what is working and build from there to bring you one step closer to success. It’s time to create step-by-step goals that will foster a growth mindset rather than one that is fixed.

The stamina needed to continue forward with the learning process will pay off in the long run. By tweaking your goal and moving forward with your experiment, you will feel the confidence needed to stay the course.

By Tiffany K. Gust, MS

Intermountain Healthcare in the Live Well Center at St. George Regional Hospital.

“Focusing on what is working and what isn’t working can bring you closer to what you want to accomplish.”

Using the SMART Goal framework Four Day Rule Implement a new skill four days at will help you become very clear on what you a time.

This is just long enough to begin want to achieve. Clear and reachable goals feeling like the habit is status quo while should be: not so lofty as to become overwhelming.

• Specific (simple, sensible, significant). After four days, you can assess whether the • Measurable (meaningful, motivating). task was attainable or too hard.

In a growth mindset, you believe that your most basic abilities can be developed • Achievable (attainable). into skills that will help you achieve your • Relevant (reasonable, realistic, life goals. A growth mindset fosters a love resourced, results-based). of learning and builds resilience to try • Time bound (time-based, timeagain and again knowing that the word limited, time/cost limited, timely, FAIL is merely an acronym for: time-sensitive).

Once you’ve identified your vision, you can begin to create smart, positively worded goals that will be your compass for guiding your journey each step of the way.

Here’s what to keep in mind: • Speak “As If.” Use phrases such as “I am” and “I will” when writing your goals.

This type of mindset leads to great accomplishments with less stress along the way. Pinpointing what you are ready to pursue and learning to change the mindset will help you avoid the pitfall of “all or nothing” thinking, which typically leads to quitting.

58 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

• Set a Time frame. Test out this new habit with a reasonable chunk of time.

“Think of your goal as an experiment and adjust based on what you are learning along the way,” said Tiffany Gust, a certified health and wellness coach and exercise physiologist for

No matter how many “failed” attempts may need to take a step back and conjure some curiosity around other areas of your you’ve made, your dreams are worth life that need to shift in order for your end achieving. Continue experimenting; every time you try, you are learning. It’s what you goal to become attainable.

“If your goal is to work out first thing do with the experiment that counts. Begin in the morning but you struggle day after to build the kind of mindset that spurs you day to get up with the earlier alarm, you on even in the toughest of times, knowing may need to first focus on getting to bed that each effort is fostering your growth, earlier,” explained Gust. “This alone might building your wisdom, and helping you be a process of baby stepping your bedtime become the best version of yourself. It’s back by fifteen-minute intervals, four days all about the progress you are making at a time, until your new normal bedtime that counts. Remember, it takes stamina Order of Operations gives you enough sleep to finally have a to bring about success, so quit quitting on If you’re still struggling to follow fighting chance of waking up at 6:00 a.m.” yourself and believe that you are worth the dreams you have created. through even after breaking it down, you Break It Down If the goal was too hard to complete for four consecutive days, you’re likely to encounter issues in the long run. A growth mindset doesn’t get discouraged at this point. Rather, assess how you can break down this portion of the goal into smaller steps. Your end goal is only attainable if you’re willing and able to follow through on the smaller, day-to-day steps that get you there.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 59

Urinary Incontinence in Women

By Valley Women’s Health Urinary incontinence is a very common problem in female patients, affecting up to 60 percent of the population at some time in their lives. Here at Valley Women’s Health, we have a full line of treatment options that can help to diagnose and correct this issue. Read on to learn more about urinary incontinence and what you can do to help fight it.

“Urinary incontinence” is the medical term for when a person leaks urine or loses bladder control. Often, it’s just referred to as “incontinence.” If you’re experiencing incontinence, take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone.

Approximately thirteen million Americans of all ages share this condition, and it can be caused by many factors.

There are three main types of incontinence, each with different symptoms.

• Stress incontinence. People experiencing stress incontinence leak urine when they laugh, cough, sneeze, or do anything that “stresses” the belly. Stress incontinence is most common in women, especially those who have had a baby.

• Urgency incontinence. People experiencing urgency inconti­ nence feel a strong need to urinate all of a sudden. Often the urge is so strong that they can’t make it to the bathroom in time. “Overactive bladder” is another term for having a sudden, frequent urge to urinate. People with overactive bladder might or might not actually leak urine.

• Mixed incontinence. People experiencing mixed incontinence have symptoms of both stress and urgency incontinence.

If you experience any of these problems, there are treatments that can help, along with changes you can make on your own. Incontinence isn’t an unsolvable problem, and no matter what, you don’t have to “just live with it.”

The first step is bringing it up with your doctor or nurse, who can find out what may be causing the problem. Ask your doctor or nurse if any medications you take could be causing your symptoms, as certain medications can cause incontinence or make it worse.

After diagnosing your incontinence, it’s much easier to start building a path towards a solution. Treatment options differ depending on what type of incontinence you have and whether you are a man or a woman. Treatments can be as simple as taking medicines to help relax the bladder. Surgery may also be recommended to both repair the supporting bladder tissue or improve the flow of urine.

Many people with incontinence can regain their bladder control, or at least reduce the amount of leakage they have. The key is to be vocal about it to your doctor or nurse. If any of the information on this page is relevant to you, feel free to call and make an appointment with any of our board-certified physicians. Speak up, collaborate, and find a solution that works for you!

Phone: 435-628-1662 | Address: 295 S. 1470 E. Suite 200, St. George, UT 84790 Website: www.valleywomenshealth.com

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Almost Thirty Years of Heartburn...Gone!

Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion and Its Costly Effect on Your Health

By Koby Taylor, PharmD, Fusion Pharmacy

62 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

#FusionIsBetterMedicine

A Vicious Cycle

Drug-induced nutrient depletion occurs because drugs, as they are designed to do, either inhibit/block or encourage receptors in the body to help alleviate symptoms of illness. But what also happens is that the body gets confused (so to speak) and will begin to disallow food source nutrients (vitamins and minerals) from being absorbed and utilized. This ultimately weakens the body1 causing more symptoms that are then managed by more medication, causing more nutrient depletions, causing more symptoms to be managed with medications…and so on.

Within three months, my patient started feeling better! As he began to see improvement in his gut symptoms, we were able to decrease his medication frequency. Within another three months and with adjustments to his healthy gut protocol, he was able to rid himself of the daily use of his PPI medication.

Today, he reports that he has, out of habit, slipped a few times with eating processed foods, but he quickly remedies symptoms by sticking with what he had learned during our work together.

Signs of Nutrient Depletion

Recently, I had a consultation with a patient who had been using a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medication twice a day in high doses for over twenty years. PPI medications (i.e., Prilosec, Nexium, Protonix, Prevacid, Aciphex) block the enzymes in the wall of the stomach that produce acid and are commonly used for the treatment of chronic acid reflux disease. This patient had suffered almost three decades of severe bloating, gas, diarrhea, and indigestion with no end in sight. Even with a PPI and other medications, he still continued to have symptoms.

Signs and symptoms of nutrient depletion can come in many forms. Typical symptoms may include but are not limited to fatigue, weight gain or loss, dehydration, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, and diarrhea. Studies have also shown that cognitive and neurological symptoms—depression, slowing of the reflexes, brain fog, anxiety, and confusion—can also be present. All medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter, can cause nutrient depletion. The type of medication, dose, and frequency all play a role in how much nutrient deprivation you could be experiencing. Drugs, such as proton pump inhibitors, have been shown to deplete the body of B12. Low B12 can cause confusion, muscle aches, and weakness.2 It can also severely disrupt gut health.

I have learned that if patients really want a change in their health, they have to be committed to the process, even if it means falling off the routine only to get back on it. Given the length of time he had suffered from this condition, the multiple medications he was taking, and his state of mind towards trying something new, my protocol had to be flexible.

In short, you could take extra vitamins. Your pharmacist or prescriber should know what vitamins you need. However, it’s important to note that if your gut health is poor, you won’t absorb those extra vitamins and minerals.

Focusing on the gut first is vital for a path to wellness.

Case Study: Chronic Heartburn and Depletion

We started my patient’s journey to better health by first supporting his gut function. Over time and as his condition worsened, his body had ceased digesting food properly, leaving him severely deprived of vitamins and minerals. Drug-induced nutrient depletion is so subversive that more often than not, you aren’t even aware of how deprived you are. This is why it is so important to understand what medications can be doing in your body and what steps you can take to help your body support itself.

His protocol required a change in the types of food he was eating.

We eliminated processed foods and sugary drinks and began drinking plenty of water throughout the day. Once a healthier diet was in place, we started to normalize his stomach acid production, supplementing with betaine hydrochloride, which aids in breaking down food. Adding apple cider vinegar to his diet was also tried. In this case, his chronic heartburn was actually due to a lack of stomach acid, which had been suppressed with medications.

We continued with digestive enzymes to further his food breakdown and increase nutrient uptake and added probiotics to support good gut bacteria.

These remedies killed the bad gut bacteria that had been proliferating from his consumption of refined sugar—a root cause to his bloating and gas.

Finally, all of these were combined with a daily fiber routine from both food and supplement sources.

About the Author

Can’t I Just Take Extra Vitamins?

Getting off Medication

Tapering off or completely eliminating medication should always be done under the care of your provider. Inform them of your intention, and update them on your progress.

If you would like more information on drug specific nutrient depletion, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, and for a free Nutrient Depletion Guide, go to my website at https://www.fusionspecialtypharmacy.com/nutrient-depletion/.

References 1. h ttps://www.uspharmacist.com/article/druginduced-nutrient-depletions-whatpharmacists-need-to-know 2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/are-your-medications-causing-nutrientdeficiency

Here is one of my favorite recipes to aid in digestion and gut health: Honey Cinnamon Tea

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons lemon juice Honey, to taste Cinnamon, to taste 1 cup hot water Stir vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon into hot water.

Apple cider vinegar is made by fermenting the sugar from apples.

This turns them into acetic acid, which is a main active ingredient in vinegar and may be responsible for its health benefits.

Koby Taylor, PharmD, is the owner and pharmacist of Fusion Pharmacy. Working as a retail pharmacist early in his career, Koby began to see that pharmacy patients needed to have access to available alternative medications. He realized that pharmacy in its truest form is compounding, and he wanted to be able to provide patients with customized medications. He also desired more personalized interactions with patients in order to truly help their health and wellbeing. To fulfill his passion for improving the health of patients and educating them about compounding, Koby opened the doors of Fusion Pharmacy in 2013. Today, Fusion is nationally accredited with PCAB and NABP. It is licensed in and ships to 27 states. Fusion is proud to have two locations to better serve the southern Utah community. Koby graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in molecular biology in 1995 and from the University of Utah with his Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2000.

St. George Health & Wellness Magazine | May/June 2021 63

By Matt Eschler, PhD, LMFT We are a quarter of the way through 2021. We are still wearing masks, enduring the COVID pandemic, and hearing rumors of another strain of COVID that may take hold and cause us future issues. We are being bombarded with the “politics of a few” who have loud voices, causing fear and even panic. Amidst all of this, the team at Ascend/Integrated Counseling and Wellness are steadily raising the levels of peace and joy by teaching sound relationship principles.

Relationships can provide balance, security, a sense of belonging. A bad relationship, however, can be messy and painful and cause a major loss of security. With everything that is happening in 2021, relationship fitness is a vital key to your mental health and wellness.

As the weather warms up and we move from spring to summer, it seems like the perfect time to issue a challenge: Take a weekend to gauge your strengths or weaknesses in six domains of relationship fitness. Make specific commitments to become whole in these areas. By doing so, you will raise the bar on joy, satisfaction, and peace in your life regardless of what is going on in the world around you.

Take the Relationship Challenge

Evaluating Your Need for Improvement in Six Domains of Relationship Fitness The Six Areas of a Passionate Relationship

Enhance the quality of your time investment. Relationships require a significant time investment. As you assess this area of your relationship, don’t give in to the pressure of adding more to your already busy schedule.

It may require that you stop some pursuits and begin investing more in your romantic relationship, or it may be that you need to celebrate what you are already doing correctly. Whatever the case, the goal is not to add to busy schedules; it is to enhance the quality of investment you give to your relationship.

Create shared purpose together. Being a unique, healthy, differen­ tiated person in a relationship is a natural process involving self awareness. it requires individuals to resist the “not so romantic” process of “becoming one” with their spouse. When two whole people work together for a shared vision of the future, it is truly romantic. Seek the skills and talents that your lover has that compliment you. Be in tune with each other. Compliment and celebrate each other throughout the day.

Be playful. Couples that can find time to play bring a childlike innocence into their lives. Find things you both enjoy and “just do it.” Take the time to invest in play that is both structured and unstructured.

Enjoy creating beauty together. Share a sunset and discuss what moves you. Remember the beautiful things that you experience during the day, and share these moments together in the evening. Find beauty together and enjoy what it brings into your souls. Sharing the beauty you witness brings your spouse into the scene with you.

Create an active balanced life together. Many couples report being on their electronic devices for four hours in the evening. Imagine giving that time back to each other. No matter who you spend time with on your phone, a live person in the room can fill that time in a more rewarding way. Seek to find a life balance that brings you together in a healthy way.

About the Author Matt lives in St. George, Utah, where he and his wife, Chris, are enjoying their life with each other. Since their children have grown up and moved out to pursue their dreams, Matt and Chris travel the world. They want to visit 200 countries before they are done. Matt and Chris are active in their community and enjoy working out, training for marathons, and spending time participating in numerous activities with their adult children. Matt received a PhD in psychology.

He is focused on the arena of resolving personal conflicts and improving interpersonal relationships. In addition to his doctorate degree, Matt has earned a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, studied criminal justice and received a category one license with Peace Officer Standards and Training, and received a degree in the Arts of Business Management. Matt is a professor at Dixie State University and hopes to be part of the positive growth of southern Utah.

Hold on to what is sacred together. Be unified in your pursuit of fidelity, spirituality, and future shared purposes. Discuss often what you hold to be true. Discuss the purpose that governs your shared vision of growth.

Do not decide that you already know each other. We evolve and mature over time. Keep up with each other by dating/courting, counseling together, and sharing family time.

I encourage you to accept my challenge! The investment you make to the strengthening of your relationship within these six domains will not only increase your satisfaction and joy but also will keep your relationship strong during the remainder of the 2021 year.

64 www.saintgeorgewellness.com

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A Small Decision That Changed My Life

By Aeva Dye, Dixie High School Student

Around this time last year, I made a small decision that changed my life.

Almost on impulse, I joined my school mountain biking team. Prior to joining, I’d been only a casual cyclist, so joining the team was a huge step—and it was terrifying. The first few weeks on the team, I certainly regretted my decision.

Now, almost a year later, I couldn’t be more happy that I made that choice.

Reflecting on my progress since last March, I’ve discovered just how much mountain biking and being part of a team has helped me grow, not just as a cyclist, but as an confident, competent teammate and individual.

Most obviously, mountain biking on a team taught me the importance of dedication and hard work. The team only functions properly if each person is willing to commit to it and to help others do the same. Our season ended in October, but as I’ve trained by myself in the off season, I have built some of that essential dedication. Being committed to cycling is difficult; it can be hard on your body and time consuming, and sometimes, you just don’t want to go out. Having something to which I’m 100 percent committed—especially something that lends itself to specific, measurable goals—has paid off. I’ve seen the dedication I’ve built transfer itself to schoolwork, personal pursuits, and relationships.

Cycling has taught me a myriad of transferable skills that have been critical to my development as a teenager and as a person.

Equally important to my journey as a cyclist are the relationship skills that I have built over the past year. Mountain biking is a very social sport, especially while on a close-knit team. This aspect of the sport was intimidating at first, but eventually, I was able to open up and connect myself to the team, and my cycling skills improved because of it. Now, some of my closest friends are from my team. For any high school student looking to build strong and supportive connections, joining a cycling team is the way to go.

Finally, mountain biking has been instrumental in improving my relationship with myself. For all that it is social and close knit, mountain biking is, first and foremost, deeply personal. In order to be the best cyclist you can, you are forced to become aware of and responsive to your own needs. Sometimes, that can look like forcing yourself on a hard ride, even when you don’t want to go. Sometimes it can be making yourself stay in. Whatever the consequences, self awareness is essential to cycling, and that awareness transfers.

A year after joining my school’s mountain biking team, the rewards are evident. When I compare myself to where I was a year ago, I see a stronger person, both physically and otherwise. Cycling has taught me a myriad of transferable skills that have been critical to my development as a teenager and as a person. I’m so grateful for my team, for the resources I have, and especially for that decision I made last March. I don’t know where I’d be without it.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WISDOM TOOTH REMOVAL

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When a wisdom tooth is impacted, it will need to be removed by Dr. Davis.

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It is best to have wisdom teeth removed sooner rather than later.

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