Ringing in the New Year with fabulous meeting topics!

January 2013 marks 4 years -- four years! -- for our chapter. Happy birthday to us!

We are celebrating with a steamy topic this month: "Intimacy." 

Our friends in the Northern Virginia chapter gave us the idea, and we're excited to welcome a speaker from the Old Town Alexandria store Lotus Blooms to help us talk about strategies for keeping the spark alive, even when there are children in your bed!

We'll also discuss how to have good communication and will hear about non-toxic products and accessories for the boudoir. Please join us on January 17. While children are always welcome, you might possibly want to leave them home for this one! ;-)

And a preview of what's to come for the rest of the first half of this year:
February kicks off our Vice or Nice? Series with a presentation about the pros and cons of chocolate.

In March, we'll learn the A-Z of female hormones for the childbearing years and beyond. And if yours are out of whack, maybe our "Detox!" meeting in April will help you get your groove back.

We are looking into speakers for our May meeting on birth control options to explore what effects different mainstream methods might have on our bodies -- especially those of us with sensitivities and compromised systems -- and will also explore Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness.

In June, we will have an early evening potluck/family playdate and celebrate the summer solstice.

A season of gratitude

What a delightful end-of-the-year we had! Just before Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a motherblessing for Michelle and Sylvia and a belated celebration to welcome Amy's baby, who came too early for our fall motherblessing. Too early even for the midwife!

Congratulations to Sylvia on the birth of her little boy, and est wishes to Michelle as she awaits her new bundle.

Later in the month, we welcomed winter with an Advent Garden and Solstice Celebration followed a few days later by a cozy social meeting where we sipped warm beverages, caught up on each other's lives, and enjoyed a toy swap.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our group this year, our third year as a chapter. We will sorely miss co-leader Sanchia, whose family has moved out of the area. We will also miss the regular fellowship of publicity manager Lisa, who has moved further west. We thank Sanchia for her leadership and we thank Lisa for her years of public relations work.

Our chapter still enjoys four leaders, but there is always room for more, and it is the participation of members that makes our group such a wonderful resource. We hope to see you in 2013!

 

Holistic on a Budget!

Interested in eating nutritious whole foods, or using safer cleaning or personal care products, but not sure how to do it and stay within budget? Or want to discuss how can we keep our spending habits more in line with our values?  



Being healthy and green doesn't have to break the bank! Join us on November 15 as we share tips and tricks to save money. This is a member-led discussion with handouts. We expect to share lots of great ideas at our meeting to add to our resources! Feel free to bring catalogs, link lists, directories...





Topics will include (but are not limited to)

·         Food

·         Clothing

·         Babies/Kids/Toys

·         Personal and Household Cleaning Products

·         Leisure/Entertainment

·         Healthcare

·         Education

As always, this meeting is open to members and first-time visitors (with children always welcome!), 7-9 p.m, the third Thursday (November 15) at AUMC, 716 S. Glebe Rd. Arlington, VA 22204

Learning to breathe!

What a wonderful meeting we had in October! Amy Arnold of VitalSelf showed us many different ways to breathe and the benefits of different breathing exercises. It was powerful

Here are a few shots from the evening, including after-meeting parking lot nursing with one of our two newest additions! So exciting to see the mamas on the other side birth (in this case, two amazing homebirth stories!) Congrats to our new mamas, and thanks to Amy Arnold for a wonderful meeting!

Breathe easy in October

Do you hold your breath when you are upset?
Start to breathe harder when anxious?
Want to use breathing techniques for health and wellness?

At this month's meeting we will be discussing breathing and gentle movement techniques to best support moving your body's "chi" (energy life force) to help you feel your best.

Learn about and experience the different types of breathing, i.e., shallow, belly, 3-part, fire, and the benefits of each. Also hear about some of the breathing and gentle movement techniques that can help calm, center and energize. Please dress comfortably in order to try out some of the techniques.

Our speaker will be Amy Arnold of VitalSelf. Amy is a Health, Nutrition & Life Coach, Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, and Quantum Touch Practitioner.

See you 7-9 on Thursday at 716 S. Glebe in Arlington!

Birthday inspiration!

What a wonderful discussion we had about birthdays! Thanks to all who came out for our September "Holistic Birthday Celebrations" discussion, especially the first-time visitors. And super special thanks to co-leader Michelle R. for coming up with such a great handout!

Michelle had a bunch of great ideas for how to approach each category on her handout -- from beginner to hard-core! We fell all over the spectrum!

Members can access the full handout on our chapter Yahoo group. Others can request a copy by emailing HolisticMomsArlAlex (at) gmail (dot) com.

Suggestions for creating a holistic birthday celebration

• Make people the center of the celebration (and consider meaningful rituals)
• Eliminate or minimize the role of gifts
• Recycle and avoid consumerism
• Consider alternatives to party favors
• Organize holistic activities
• Provide healthy food

And some great resources are out there, including:

“Birthdays Without Pressure” – A Project of the University of Minnesota’s Dept. of Family Social Science
www.cehd.umn.edu/fsos/projects/birthdays

FILM: “Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood”

Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC) www.commercialfreechildhood.org

Green Party Goods www.greenpartygoods.com


It was also helpful to revisit ideas for Holistic Halloween from our Moms Night Out back in 2009. Check out our suggestions!

Happy, Holistic Birthday Celebrations

What food do you serve at birthday celebrations? Is it a time to throw nutrition to the wind and revel in delectable sweets, or is it important to be consistent in food values and to share those with others. Can you do both?

How about gifts? Do you accept them, ask people not to bring them, ask for them to be homemade or used? What about giving gifts?

What about party favors and themes? Who decides? Where do you get your supplies? How big of a shindig do you throw? Who gets invited? Do you do several celebrations? How do you involve your kids, let them direct, or make decisions for them?

What rituals and traditions do you cherish from childhood? What ones make you cringe? How do you create meaningful and joyful celebrations?

Join us on September 20 as we discuss all this and more at our evening meeting.