I had the pleasure of being part of two events last week and I would like recognize the
others who participated with me and contributed to these events. Saturday was a
wonderful event held at Urban Oasis hosted by Lynda Honing (Massage Therapist and
Reiki Master – thank you Lynda!) to celebrate International Women’s Day where our
Light Up Members group led by Adera Angelucci (Business and Marketing Coach) met
with other local women in business to celebrate not just our achievements, but being
ourselves just as we are. As Adera explains, “We live in a world that often tells us to be
more, do more, and say more.” This event was all about pausing to simply honour each
other’s presence and businesses and to celebrate us all being enough! We then all had
our professional portrait photos taken by Anita Alberto Photography (thank you Anita!)
including a few other of our members including Christianne Zurowski (Emotional
Intelligence Coach) and Emily Verde (Financial Planner). Ending the evening with a
dance party DJ’d by Spencer Honing (Xesense) wrapped up our evening in a fun and
celebratory way.

​I was recently invited to speak and attend a gala event held by Sabrina Huff Photography. The FIERCE AND FABULOUS OVER 50 GALA was an extremely inspiring event where I met the amazing women over 50, ranging from 50 – almost 80, who had had their photo sessions. This is not a regular photo shoot and the portraits and their personal experiences went way beyond a regular photography session. These women were really touched in the heart and they were moved out of their fear based shells and distracting emotions with more confidence, body awareness, joy and self love. Sabrina is a lovely soul who brings out your light even for the shiest most meek person and shows their inner and outer beauty. The videos and testimonials from each of Sabrina’s regular clients at the end of the evening were beyond touching and I felt immense joy at seeing the happiness they received through each of their journeys with her photoshoot.

Floating, also known as sensory deprivation, has become very popular lately as it has been proven to be extremely helpful to those suffering from pain, insomnia, migraines, misalignment,
and many other various ailments that arise due to the ones already mentioned. Floating allows you to block out environmental stimulus while becoming weightless.This allows the body to completely “let go”.With 800-1000 lbs of Epsom salts in each tank, this magnesium rich solution forces the muscles to relax allowing bones to realign, reducing pain and pressure within the body and allowing the body to enter into a deep restorative state.The restoration from a 90 min float is equivalent to a 3-hour nap, and during this time, the body can then heal and restore.

Awareness is simply being in the moment and experiencing whatever is happening in that moment, without judgement and accepting things as they are. How easy or difficult this may be will be different for everybody. Practicing self awareness is most effective when you are alone and without any devices to distract you.You might start by simply noticing your breathing periodically throughout the day; taking a walk in a forest and absorbing the nature around you (also called forest bathing); journaling about your thoughts and feelings as a private way to express them. If you find that this is too difficult or causing more stress, you may need to seek some support for more mindful-based exercises such as somatic yoga, working with a counsellor/coach or floating, which is an excellent way to reach a deep state of relaxation so your mind and body can be in more balance with each other. If you would like more information on how to achieve more awareness, contact Lehla at [email protected].

Dry Salt Therapy is a therapeutic and healing treatment used to treat and improve a variety of symptoms including asthma, allergies, flus, eczema, psoriasis, and most inflammatory diseases/conditions. Salt is known to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties and therefore very healing and immune boosting.The magnesium content in the salt helps to relax muscles and your mind improving sleep and digestion. Lastly, the added bonus of this treatment has been shown to improve skin quality and appearance and therefore healthy skin aging. Salt therapy is a safe and natural treatment with no harmful side effects. Everyone can benefit including children, the elderly, auto immune compromised, athletes for better performance or especially those suffering with respiratory diseases and skin conditions.

Chances are there is dysbiosis present which means the flora is imbalanced. The ratio of “friendly” versus “unfriendly” bacteria is off and usually there is too much “unfriendly” in the small intestine where they shouldn’t be. We all have numerous strains of bacteria residing in our gut and a healthy gut has about 20% unfriendly bacteria and 80% friendly bacteria.When the “unfriendly” become higher in numbers, the beneficial bugs weaken. The stomach valve (ileocecal valve)
also weakens and the unbeneficial bacteria can climb up into the small intestine. This is also known as SIBO or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Uncomfortable symptoms can then present themselves such as gas, indigestion and an acidic environment that can attract other unhealthy pathogens. Conditions such as IBS, GERD and food sensitivities can then develop causing many other health problems. Depending on the severity of your condition, you can start by starving the unfriendly pathogens from their favorite food, SUGAR. A holistic nutritionist can prepare a specific program to help you repair your leaky gut.

Repetitive stress exposure can wreak havoc on our hard-working adrenal glands, causing us to have lower resilience towards stress. The adrenal glands are normally prepared to handle both positive and short term negative stress but when acute stress turns into a chronic form, this can lead to burnout and if left unmanaged, eventually other health problems. Burnout can include extreme fatigue, over or under active thyroid and inability to perform regular daily tasks. This can lead to utter exhaustion that leaves you feeling bedraggled, exhausted, nervous energy causing poor sleep and digestive issues. Doing some mind/body work can help you manage your stress and give you more energy and resilience to any new stress. This can be as simple as deep breathing exercises and gentle physical exercise to start (walking, yoga). If you feel this isn’t enough or you are having trouble initiating action, reach out to a health coach or counsellor who can help. 

EMFs, Electro Magnetic Frequencies are positively charged ions that we are exposed to from all types of electromagnetic pollution including electricity, blue tooth signals and WiFi. This pollution disrupts the body’s nervous system and can cause an array of problems including insomnia, restlessness, anxiety and fatigue.We can reduce our exposure by turning off WiFi when not in use, using airplane mode or turning off the phone while you sleep and avoiding overuse of wireless technology and electronic equipment when possible. Negative ions (healthy) offset the positively charged ions (unhealthy) produced from EMFs and these are found naturally in nature.Walking in forests (forest bathing), along the beach (near the ocean) or standing in front of a waterfall all offset the EMF pollution. The natural elements in genuine Himalayan salt lamps also contain these healthy negative ions and can clean the air in a room and send a negative charge to neutralize the EMF pollution. Be sure to choose an authentic salt product for effective results.