Since 2004, Holistic Holiday at Sea vegan cruise has welcomed more than 15,000 guests with opportunities that meet each person wherever they are on their journey to health. Often described as a life-changing conference, vacation, and wellness retreat all-in-one, Holistic Holiday at Sea combines classes from plant-based leaders; fitness and mindfulness workshops…
On August 13 at 9 p.m., Douglas Allen, owner of Harmony and Fusion, is hosting an evening labyrinth walk at the business’ Greer location. This walk is dedicated to helping individuals release fear, pain, anxiety and unresolved emotional trauma while expressing gratitude and appreciation.
The Upstate is blessed to have a variety of businesses and practitioners that are dedicated to helping prevent cancer as well as working to improve the quality of life of cancer victims. In our own backyard, Dr. Connie Casebolt of Wellness by Design, in Greenville, incorporates into her integrative medicine practice modalities that improve quality of life and support the immune system. These include saunas, various supplements and some specialty IV’s, notably Vitamin C and ozone. And, as you will note in almost all discussions of cancer prevention, making dietary changes—getting rid of all inflammatory foods—is essential.
The MBSR program at Greenville Center for Mindfulness is an 8-week program that meets for two hours per week. One day is given over to a retreat that usually includes a walking meditation. In a walking meditation, participants are encouraged to be mindful of the way their bodies feel, from the rhythm of their breath to the sensation of their feet touching the ground. The program is recommended for people with stress due to work, relationships, or health-related issues.
My fascination with the ability of our mind to change our health began when my mother’s diagnosed metastasized breast cancer disappeared, a fact the medical world could not explain. Since then, my own prognosis related to a smashed ankle from a Beth Israel teaching hospital physician with the Harvard Medical School, stating that I would always walk with a limp and never play tennis again, has been completely overturned.
See How You’re Dooing
by Robynne Chutkan
A good bowel movement is the ultimate detox, eliminating toxins, unwanted bacteria, cells that have outlived their usefulness and other waste that has to go. Stools provide an index of health, so turn around and take a look at them for feedback for improving digestive and overall health. One key way to assess a stool is by its color. Use the following guide:
We all face times beyond our control when life doesn’t follow our designs and we’re asked to work with life and not fight, curse or hide from it. When insisting on our way, we can get so tangled in our will that we can’t find or feel the wind of Spirit. During these times—when we fear there is no meaning and it seems there’s nothing holding us up—our will can puff, snap and flap about in a desperate attempt to fill what looms as an empty life.
Being past their working years, grandparents are often more accepting and peaceful themselves, which can be inspiring for younger generations, adds Salem. For Moon, it’s vital to be mindful of the image of aging that’s projected; “I try to model that old age isn’t tragic, and show the joy in this stage of life,” she says.
To this day, my spiritual life is found inside the heart of the wild. I do not fear it, I court it. When I am away, I anticipate my return, needing to touch stone, rock, water, the trunks of trees, the sway of grasses, the barbs of a feather, the fur left behind by a shedding bison.
Meditation master Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, in Halifax, Canada, teaches an online course, The Art of Mindful Running. He points out that running, or doing any physical activity, in a meditative state can deepen, train and enhance the mind. “Within 20 to 30 minutes, you have an opportunity to work with your mind. Instead of just spacing out or trying to get exercise, you can actually say, ‘I am going to be present, I am going to relate to my breathing and my movement a little bit,’” says Mipham. “This is healthy both for the mind and the body.”
