Relaxing Holidays

Ok, so the Christmas carols have been playing in the malls since Halloween and the decorations and trees have been around since a day after that so you should be used to the heightened energy around. But now it's December...the holiday season has "officially" arrived! (According to my calendar at least...)

So is it possible to stay relaxed this season? Absolutely! Here's how...

#1. Breathe. Taking a few deep breaths will help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest instead of fight or flight) and it can help decrease the levels of cortisol - a stress hormone - in your body.

#2. Get organized ahead of time. Figure out who and what you want to buy. Figure out what you want to bake and serve for entertaining and the ingredients you need.

#3. Make a list. Just like Santa he needs to know what gift goes to who - follow the example of this age old fella' and make your list too.

#4. Plan your outing. To save time and wasteful back and forth traveling plot your route and the stores you need to visit along the way. Bring your list of who you're buying for in each store. Bring your black cloth bags to the grocery store so you can grab your baking supplies on the way home.

#5. Don't be in a rush. Give yourself plenty of time. Put some nice holiday music on (Elvis's Christmas is my favourite) and enjoy the journey! :)

Enjoy the holiday season!
Lee Anne and The Healing Oasis team

David Suzuki...Remember The Big Picture

I had the pleasure of attending the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors annual convention Nov 13-15 in Toronto. Furthermore, it was an honour to have David Suzuki kick off the weekend with a powerful presentation, which was open to the public.

David was passionate and eloquent as he described our earth and how humans are the species that have had the most impact on the planet. Some scientists say it’s too late and we have irreversibly damaged our home. However, David says to them “shut up and get out of the way,” it is never too late to make a change. And it’s important to remember the big picture – we should all have the same goal – to live in a healthy place. Governments need to listen to what Canadians truly want.

What kind of Canada do you want to live in? What do you want Barrie to be like in 25 – 30 years? Would you like to be able to drink from Lake Simcoe? Would you like to not worry about the air we breathe when we are standing within sight of highway 400? Would you like to know that your food is free from chemicals? Would you like to be sure that your health problems are not caused by environmental pollution, chemicals or even the houses we live in?

We can all agree that we want a beautiful, clean, healthy place to live, work and raise our children. If we all agree on that, then we have a common goal we can work towards.

The take home message for me?
There are small, simple things I can do at home and at our wellness centre to start making an impact on our environment and people’s health. Also, it is up to us to let our governments know that where we live and how clean it is matters to us and it should matter to them and their families as well.

I would like to encourage a discussion on our environment and our health. Please post a comment and become a follower of our blog to continue this conversation. Together, change will make a difference.

Yours in health,

Whitney Young, ND

Paying Thanks Forward

Thanksgiving is the tradition of giving thanks for what one has and the bounty of the past year. At The Healing Oasis we have many things to be thankful for; of which, our wonderful clients who continue to be dedicated to their own well-being, are who we celebrated and gave thanks for this October.

In celebration, we offered a gift of purple tulip bulbs to each of our clients as a token of our gratitude. And in the spirit of paying thanks forward, we also gave each client a thank you card which they could give to someone in their life to express their gratitude to and give them the gift of health.

We really enjoyed the feedback and the kind words from those we did see in October and we look forward to seeing you all during the winter months. If we didn't see you we hope you all enjoyed and gave thanks for the beautiful colours Mother Earth provided, we hope you all enjoyed a bountiful feast with friends and loved ones, and we wish you all the best of health throughout the year.

Sincerely,
Lee Anne and The Healing Oasis Team :)

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the
highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Healing and Hope

The Healing Oasis team joined forces with the Winners Walk for Hope on September 27th to raise funds and awareness for Ovarian Cancer. It never ceases to amaze me at how powerful a group can be when they come together for a united cause. Thankfully Mother Nature held out on the rain and it turned out to be a beautiful morning. As we walked the 5 kilometers along Barrie's waterfront we shared great conversation and many laughs. I was delighted my Mom and Anna's husband joined us and it made it that much more memorable for all of us.

As part of our client's health and wellness team we felt it was an important cause to support because of the nature of the dis-ease. The symptoms are very elusive and can be overlooked very easily. We've come together as one of your regular wellness providers and have made it part of our knowledge so that we can help educate our clients, with the hope of making detection that much easier. Prevention is key - just like with all of our "wellness" therapies we want to treat you when you're well and help keep you that way, instead of starting treatment when you're acute and in desperate need.

Help us help you! Ask us questions! We have over 13 different specialties among our team and we work together to provide you with the best possible care. Together health, healing, and happiness can be achieved.

Yours in wellness,
Lee Anne and THO Team

4 Weeks to Wellness
*SPECIAL* series

Join us for our first of 4 Wellness Walks on Sunday September 13th 2009 and join our team to help raise funds and awareness in Barrie for Ovarian Cancer.

Meet at The Healing Oasis for 10 am sharp and we will embark on our 5 k walk and enjoy the beautiful scenery of downtown Barrie by the lake. Join us afterwards to learn more about our cause and why we are walking, and also learn how to help prevent and become aware of some of the signs of ovarian cancer.

Join our Oasis Team and walk with us on September 27th along with many others in Barrie. Take your health into your own hands and become empowered and aware!

Bring your friends and family and lets walk to wellness!
The Healing Oasis Team :)

Sunday September 13 2009 - 10am
Sunday September 20 2009 - 10am
Sunday September 27 2009 - "Winners Walk for Hope" in Barrie
Sunday October 4 2009 - 10am

Beauty - inside and out

Does beauty come from the inside out or is it all just an external fixation? When it comes to being beautiful in others peoples' eyes I've had a few people tell me that the ability to portray self-confidence goes a long way in someone finding you attractive. For some of us who have "hang ups" about ourselves displaying self confidence may not come as easy as we would like. Wearing makeup and clothes that make us feel more sexy and attractive are tools that help us "be" more self confident within our own skin even if we don't feel that way.

Laser Hair Removal is another tool that can help us feel more comfortable with ourselves and allow the inner beauty to shine through more easily. Our society today has little, if any, tolerance for hair growth. This applies to both men and women. If women walk around each day hiding our face because we have hair on our upper lip or cheek, we can miss out on so many possible positive interactions. Or if men always wear a collared shirt or shave our back because of a lot of hair it can detract from the self confidence and beauty we could be feeling and exuding.

At The Healing Oasis we strive to offer therapeutic services that promote peace, healing and success within each individual - which is why I decided to offer Laser Hair Removal as an added service. If we can help someone gain self confidence and enable them to "feel" beautiful when they look at themselves in the mirror what a beautiful thing. If we can help someone walk out the door with their head help up high because they've stopped being held back by their image hang-ups we are helping beauty shine through. The more people who feel beautiful and walk with purpose and happiness the more beautiful our world is.

If you know someone who has expressed their concern over their "hair" hang-ups direct them to our office for more information and help in expressing their full selves.

Yours in health and wellness,
Lee Anne

Healthy Living

Our first "4 weeks to wellness" just had it's second meeting and I'm pleased to see that it has been met with dedication and excitement. (Although I think the healthy "snacks" drizzled in chocolate definitely helped bring them back!)

Our first day was absolutely beautiful with the sun shining brightly and the temperature in the balmy double digits. It made the 5K route we did along Barrie's Kempenfelt Drive feel like it was a piece of cake! And I was duly impressed with everyone who showed up in the not-so-balmy 7 degrees this morning!

When it comes to making the decision to live a healthier lifestyle we are faced with little challenges all the time that test our dedication to the goal we've ultimately set for ourselves. For me the biggest challenge is coming home at night after work and not going directly to the fridge or cupboard. I have to consciously ask myself as I'm reaching for that snack "Am I actually hungry?" and "Will eating this bring me closer to or farther away from my goal?" I would probably be correct in assuming everyone who came out this morning asked themselves a similar question..."Do I want to go this morning?" "Do I feel like going outside in the cold?" "Can't I just stay home and curl up on the couch?" Frequently choosing the options that will bring us one step closer to our goals add up to a healthier lifestyle, a more conscientious approach to enjoying life to the fullest, and the satisfaction of knowing that anything can be done if you put your mind to it!

Here's to the dedicated people who walked with us this morning and all of the "See you in 2 weeks I heard when you all left!


Yours in health and wellness,
Lee Anne and The Healing Oasis Team

...And here is the recipe you all asked for! :)

This recipe was taken from iRun magazine, January 2009 edition, iRun.ca
Go-Go Bars Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
2 tsp butter or margarine
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2 tsp grated orange peel
1 lb chocolate wafers for melting
1 tsp orange extract (optional)

1. Toast oats sesame seeds and wheat germ.
2. In a large bowl, combine apricots, raisins, coconut, almonds, dry milk, wheat germ, sesame seeds and oats.
3. Over low heat, combine corn syrup and sugar and bring to just a boil. Remove from heat and add butter, peanut butter, orange peel (and extract if using). Stir until well mixed.
4. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Spread mixture on a large cookie sheet with raised edges and let cool at room temperature or in the fridge.
6. Melt and drizzle chocolate over cooled bars. Cut and enjoy!

Breathe into it

I was massaging a particularly tight gluteal muscle on one of my clients the other day and he was talking animatedly like he always does and I was listening to him while maintaining my pressure on this one spot. The tissue was taught and absolutely did not want to release. After a bit he stopped talking and kind of laughed and said, " I'm fighting it...I can feel myself tensing up". I told him I could feel the same thing. I suggested he take a deep breath and focus on the area and breathe into it (the muscle) and see what happens. We both took a nice big breath in, focused our attention on the muscle underneath my (elbow at the time) and as our attention and intention went to the muscle it "let go". Instead of forcing my way through the muscle I simply and gently stayed there with my intention for it to release. Instead of fighting me and holding his breath and bracing against the pain and discomfort my client embraced his body and what he was feeling. He provided it the oxygen and circulation it needed and the love and attention for it to dissipate effortlessly.

And so I started thinking about how we move about in our everyday lives. We plow through this task and that chore just to get things done! We race from this errand to that location without even knowing how we got there. And we forcefully shove and honk and scream and scoff when things don't go our way, don't happen fast enough, or don't meet our expectations. What a stressful approach to take when things might be easier if we would just stop and breathe into it.

If you can't change something there's no use getting stressed about it because that just adds to the problem. Instead, I've learned to ask myself, "What can I do next time to avoid this situation?", or "How can I make this easier on myself the next time this happens?" This helps me feel more in control of myself and I stop "reacting" and start actively living in the moment. And I must admit, it's much easier to get through life's little bumps if you can remember to breathe, let go of the expectations, stop fighting your way through life and just let it flow!

Yours in health,
Lee Anne :)

Barrie Skate Day

Enjoying the city of Barrie - the place I've called home for the past 11 years - isn't something I've done much of...until recently. The Healing Oasis wellness center and Cafe of Life Family Chiropractic Studio joined forces and hands and held our first Skate Day at the Holly Community Center.

To call it beautiful would only be skimming the surface of such a wonderful facility that we are privileged to have access to. It was only an hour but we made some great new friends, shared some wonderful laughs, and for me (and most of the other adults I'm sure) laced on a pair of skates for the first time in many, many years.

Having grown up in the North, being on ice was a natural part of my childhood; from figure skating and hockey to drilling holes in it to catch some fish. And when I took those first few tentative steps on the ice I was immediately taken back to those carefree days when life was easy (although I didn't know it at the time!). I watched the young children squealing with delight at trying something new and the sense of freedom on their faces as they glided easily across the surface, and I saw the joy and contentment in their parents' faces as they pushed the little ones around and I thought, "what a wonderful opportunity to share some peaceful, easy feeling moments with some great friends". So here's to the "easy" life and knowing that it can come at any time in any circumstance - it's just "seeing" it that is key.

We hope to see you at our next Skate Day.

Yours in health and wellness,

Lee Anne

4 Weeks to Wellness

Have you noticed there are more of us outside these days now that the white stuff is gone? Would it help you get out there and stay motivated if you had someone to get out there with and hold you accountable to your own health goals?
Sundays in May, Join us - The Healing Oasis Team - for a supportive and inspirational experience to help you kick start , switch up, or add to your wellness routine.

Each Sunday we'll meet at The Healing Oasis at 10am sharp for a brief information session, a light healthy snack, and a beautiful brisk walk in downtown Barrie. We'll finish up by 11:30am each morning.

Session Schedule

May 3 - Stretching 101 with Jayme.
Learn the basics of why stretching is so good for you and how to add it into your every day living.

May 10 - Naturopathic Nutrition with Whitney.
Learn some key elements to support a health promoting diet - what to include, what to stay away from, and some healthy snack ideas.

May 24 - The Head Game with Peter.
Before battling food, cravings, fitness... learn how to win before you take action, learn to Master Your Mind, empower our body and ensure success.

May 31 - Stress Reduction with Anna.
Learn how to take a moment to listen to your mind, spirit, and body to help prevent and reduce stress with a guided meditation.

Everyone is welcome! Bring your family, your friends, someone who will make the commitment with you to support each other.

Call The Healing Oasis NOW at (705) 722 - 1004 to reserve your spot.
The Healing Oasis...where your journey to wellness begins!

Healing of all Types

Welcome to The Healing Oasis's Blog! This blog is dedicated to those people looking for health and healing from a caring wellness focused support team. Our intention is to help inform you on who we are and what we're all about. We aim to provide information on the various types of healing we offer and hopefully inspire and enlighten you as well.

Our mission at The Healing Oasis is to provide exceptional health and wellness care that supports and promotes peace, healing and success within each individual path, in the safety and tranquility one requires for personal growth.

We understand that individual healing happens on many levels at different times which is why we are pleased to offer physical healing with our various massage therapy techniques, internal healing with our Naturopathic medicine and reflexology, and spiritual and emotional healing with our expert counseling and hypnotherapy sessions, as well as with our Reiki treatments.

Who are we? We are a team of like minded individuals who love what we do and excel in each practice and modality. Our desire is to reach out into the community and offer healing to as many people as we can, one individual at a time.

Lee Anne Widawski, Owner, RMT, Reiki Master
Jayme Henderson, RMT, specializing in sports massage
Anna Nicol, British RN, reflexologist, aromatherapist, and Reiki Master
Whitney Young, Naturopathic Doctor
Peter Wolf, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Counselor

Stay tuned for insights and inspirations, past and upcoming events, and information on how we can help in your health and wellness. Help share the gift of health and send our blog to those you care about.

Yours in health,
The Healing Oasis Team