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Raising the awareness of one's current state of health is the first step in taking ownership of well-being. Awareness by itself, though, does not create health. It requires strategies, tools and proven techniquest to inspire, motivate and support sustained behaviour change. Our 1-hour workshops offer all of the above. The following list outlines some of our most popular workshops: Ten Ways to Eat Your Way to Health It's easier to move individual stones than a whole mountain. Introducing small changes one step at a time will add up to improved long-range health. Presented here are easy-to-implement tips and how-to’s for a successful shape-up program. Topics include: Introducing more water, quick and safe weight loss tricks; boosting metabolism, adding fiber and vegetables; reaching the 5-10 a day goal, limiting saturated fat and sodium, and replacing or eliminating processed meats. Brain Foods and Stress Busters Specific food combinations can enhance or reduce brain power and stress levels. Learn how various foods affect your brain and how to put them to proper use. The first half-hour emphasizes how to eat to sharpen brain power: nutrients required by the brain – carbohydrates, B vitamins, amino acids, definition and review of neurotransmitters; Tryptophan vs. dopamine, meal planning, antioxidants, stimulants, supplements – effects on cognition. The second half hour’s focus is about eating to reduce stress: physiological reactions to stress; effects on digestion, foods that stress vs. support the endocrine & nervous systems. Eating Out Can be Healthy No time for healthy eating? Think again! Lack of time can be an obstacle to good health. With a little knowledge and creativity nutritious meals for the whole family can be prepared with little effort. Topics include: essential nutrients; processed vs. natural foods; choosing nutrient dense foods; planning weekly menus; brown bagging it; healthier fast food choices; healthy cooking techniques & time saving tips; shopping & stocking; and last-minute meals. Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain Vacations, cottage weekends, wedding receptions, seasonal holidays and social events always seem to interfere with the best eating intentions. Learn how to enjoy these events without 'blowing your diet'. This workshop explores: celebratory eating – smart restaurant choices; party and buffet eating – the numbers; alcohol; healthy menus for parties; healthy snacks; company’s coming – healthy dinners everyone will enjoy. Heart Health Nutrition Heart disease is the number one killer in North America accounting for 43% of all deaths. Sadly, 50% die from the first heart attack. Unfortunately, most are not aware of their condition until a heart attack occurs. It is believed that we can reduce our risk of heart disease by taking a preventative approach, but what does that mean? Presented in this workshop is: a review of the major risk factors; dietary fat – saturated vs. unsaturated; trans fats, essential fatty acids; cholesterol; natural blood thinners; general and specific dietary recommendations for prevention; blood tests – what do they reveal?; how exercise helps weight management; the heart healthy diet. What is in Your Cupboards? Learn practical tips and techniques for grocery shopping, stocking, cooking, and storing natural foods. Introduce new foods to yourself and your family in a fun fashion. Workshop topics fall into three categories of discussion: Shopping - processed vs. natural foods; introducing new foods to your family; understanding food labels; areas to avoid in the grocery store. Stocking - foods to stock up on; how, where, and how long to store natural foods. Cooking - healthy cooking techniques; sneaking and substituting healthier ingredients into your favourite recipes; cutting fat and cholesterol from your cooking; making wholesome meals quickly and conveniently. Walking Can Save Your Life Your body was meant to walk and now is the time to step out the door and start walking. Whatever your fitness level, walking is within your reach; you just need to take that first step. The benefits of walking are plentiful and of such significance that you can't lose by investing a bit of time each day in a walking activity. By creating daily habits of movement, you will discover a new world of possibilities and … a new you! On a mission to get everyone walking, Linda speaks to groups and businesses advocating health and active living. In fact, she is living proof that walking can, quite frankly, save your life! The Heart of the Matter (women's heart health) Women, by nature, are caregivers not caretakers. The toll that this has taken on women manifests in their cardiovascular mortality rate - women are more likely to die from a heart attack than men. When women recognize that they are "heart of the matter", they begin to acknowledge that it is okay to be care receivers & to take time away for themselves; that they can become the role models of healthy behaviours and advocates of life-long learning. And in doing so, they recognize that the health benefits for themselves and those they influence can be measureably impactful. Learn practical ways in which you can reduce your risk of heart disease and begin the journey that focuses on the "heart of the matter…YOU". Stress & Tension Tamers Everyone’s perception of stress is different – what motivates one person might be terrifying to the next. And, in a similar manner, everyone responds differently to the wide-array of coping strategies that are available. So, having a variety of tools and techniques available in your personal “stress management toolbox” becomes very important when life throws you a curve ball. This interactive workshop explores the warning signs of stress overload and offers practical strategies to help you “tame” the tension. Sneaking Exercise into a Busy Day Exercise would be easier to do if we didn’t live in a society that has engineered physical activity out of our daily lives! So, what’s your excuse? “I’m tired”; “I don’t have time”; “it’s my metabolism”…None of these stand up! But don't dispair for there are "sneaky" ways of creating daily habits of movement. Instead of finding excuses NOT to exercise, find reasons and opportunities TO exercise. Each step is in the right direction of health, weight control and well-being. This workshop explores the common excuses and helps you find simple ways to sneak exercise into your already jam-packed life. Meditation & You This interactive workshop will uncover the body-mind-spirit benefits of integrating meditation into your daily life. Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Once viewed as solely a spiritual practice, enlightened workplaces have started to value this practice as an important relaxation, refocusing and stress management tool. Introducing … Naturopathic Medicine “Body, heal thyself.” Naturopathic medicine can best be described as “whole person” care. With their first four years of training the same as allopathic medical doctors, naturopathic doctors continue their studies in natural healing, nutrition, botanical medicine, counselling and bodywork. Treating the root cause and not just the symptoms is a differentiating model of care for the N.D. community. In this workshop, you will be introduced to: illness prevention through natural therapies; integration of scientific knowledge and with traditional healing; principles of naturopathic medicine; modalities that comprise whole person approaches to diagnosis and treatment (e.g., physical medicine, homeopathy, botanical medicine, acupuncture, clinical nutrition and diet, hydrotherapy and lifestyle counseling). Sleeping for Optimal Health If you have trouble sleeping, you're not alone. As many as one in three Canadians suffer from insomnia. Sleep deprivation is an unrecognized cause of many problems, such as accidents, illness, and poor job performance. Find out how your sleep habits are affecting you, and how to get a good night's sleep. Managing Money: Investing in the Future This is a soup-to-nuts workshop that overviews a wide-variety of investment options. Intended to demystify savings options, this worshop explores the world of RRSPs, RESPs, TFSAs, the stock market and other ways to save and invest money as a means to protect your future. My Workplace and Me (creating spirit-filled workplaces) Spirituality in the workplace is still a foreign concept in many organizations. Wellness and Human Resources professionals may shift uncomfortably in their chairs when asked about the "spirit" aspect of body-mind-spirit practices in their workplace. Yet, enlightened companies and leaders understand that employee well-being does not stop at physical, emotional and intellectual support. In this workshop, you will explore the dimensions and language of spirituality within an organizational setting, as well as the bottom-line benefits of an integrated, holistic approach to body-mind-spirit. Discover new ideas that you can take back to your own workplace, with examples of programs and practices embraced by enlightened workplaces. The Climb of your Life The unexpected occurs; that curve ball. It may be a health issue, a divorce or a challenging teenager that interrupts our perception of how we expect our life to unfold. So what do we do? The human condition provides us with several responses from surrender to resiliance. The pathway from survival to a state of "thrivival" is completely up to you. Discover what it takes to move from the state of "why me" to "now what".
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