Membership has its privileges! Holistic Moms members can enjoy a number of fabulous discounts this holiday season. Click here for an overview of some of these great deals. Members should have received specific details and codes in an email from the national organization.
Membership costs $45/year for an individual (or $60/year for a family membership) and is tax-deductible. Approximately half the fee goes to our local chapter to pay for snacks, mailings, supplies, copies, advertising and other administrative costs. The rest goes to support the work of the national organization.
The easiest way to join Holistic Moms is through this online membership form (and secure credit card payment). Membership fees paid by check and a paper form are also possible. There is also a Helping Moms in Need program to which moms who can't afford the fee may apply.
Membership is for one local chapter only. If you're close to more than one chapter and want to join two or three, there is an additional cost of $25/year per additional chapter. You can add an additional membership at the online membership form.
HMN Members are able to participate in all of our meetings and other events, including Moms Nights Out, playdates and outings. Once you join HMN, you'll be added to our local chapter email loop where you can share information and post questions to other chapter members and weigh in on chapter event planning.
You'll also be invited to join the very active national HMN email loop, a fabulous source of information (and anecdotes) on every holistic topic imaginable, with searchable archives. This list is approaching 2000 members (from around the U.S. and Canada). Digests and web only options are available!
If you're interested in membership for the Arlington/Alexandria chapter and have additional questions, please email holisticmomsarlalex (at) gmail (dot) com.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Mindful Eating MNO
In early December, we had a wonderful Moms Night Out on the topic of Mindful Eating, or The Slow-Down Diet.
Holistic health counselor Cameron Rupprecht of Vitality in the City talked to us about how to eat for health, no matter what it is we are eating (which, she has found, often needs to be different diets for different people).
One of the key points was to chew your food! When we fail to adequately chew our food, our brain does not get the signal that we have eaten; we might get hungry again a lot sooner. Additionally, proper digestion starts in the mouth with digestive enzymes breaking down our food. If the work isn't done there, the stomach can't make up all the slack, and some of our food will go through our bodies undigested instead of nourishing us. Be sure to chew each bite at least 20 times (some sources say 40!) before swallowing. It helps to put down your fork in between bites!
Another helpful point among many in Cameron's great presentation is that nighttime is when our bodies detoxify, an important process that cannot occur (or at least not very efficiently) if our body is engaged in active work to digest and process food. Therefore, it's wise not to eat at least three or four hours before you go to bed. If you have to eat after dinner, keep snacks light to something that can be digested easily and quickly (usually more toward the carbohydrate end than the protein end).
There were lots of other great tips shared, and it was educational and enjoyable to learn from each other, too, including sharing how we deal with mealtimes with our kids, manage our own eating needs while nursing, and other challenges unique to moms.
Thanks to Cameron for giving such a great talk and to Natalie for setting up this Moms Night Out!
See an article about sleep by Cameron in our January chapter newsletter, edited by Natalie and available at our monthly meetings and on the chapter member Yahoo group.
Holistic health counselor Cameron Rupprecht of Vitality in the City talked to us about how to eat for health, no matter what it is we are eating (which, she has found, often needs to be different diets for different people).
One of the key points was to chew your food! When we fail to adequately chew our food, our brain does not get the signal that we have eaten; we might get hungry again a lot sooner. Additionally, proper digestion starts in the mouth with digestive enzymes breaking down our food. If the work isn't done there, the stomach can't make up all the slack, and some of our food will go through our bodies undigested instead of nourishing us. Be sure to chew each bite at least 20 times (some sources say 40!) before swallowing. It helps to put down your fork in between bites!
Another helpful point among many in Cameron's great presentation is that nighttime is when our bodies detoxify, an important process that cannot occur (or at least not very efficiently) if our body is engaged in active work to digest and process food. Therefore, it's wise not to eat at least three or four hours before you go to bed. If you have to eat after dinner, keep snacks light to something that can be digested easily and quickly (usually more toward the carbohydrate end than the protein end).
There were lots of other great tips shared, and it was educational and enjoyable to learn from each other, too, including sharing how we deal with mealtimes with our kids, manage our own eating needs while nursing, and other challenges unique to moms.
Thanks to Cameron for giving such a great talk and to Natalie for setting up this Moms Night Out!
See an article about sleep by Cameron in our January chapter newsletter, edited by Natalie and available at our monthly meetings and on the chapter member Yahoo group.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Creating Balance in Family Life -- this week!
Our December meeting on the topic of "Balance in Family Life" will feature Life Coaches Carolyn Semedo and Suzanne Couming Caldwell. These self-employed moms will lead us in interactive exercises that will help us identify our values and use these values for planning and decision-making. Learn how to shame the “shoulds” and to get in touch with what you really want!
Goodbye, “overwhelmed” and “conflicted!” Hello, “empowered” and “integrated!”
Join us on Thursday, December 17 for a powerful session of identifying our values and priorities and setting goals in alignment with them. Slough off that nagging disappointment and frustration to embrace fulfillment in the New Year.
For more information the December meeting speakers, please visit their websites:
Suzanne: http://www.
Carolyn: http://applywithin.com/
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