Fabulous Anniversary Party!

What a wonderful celebration of our first year as a chapter we had! It was wonderful to see so many families connecting with other families and with practitioners and businesses. And what a treat to see the kids enjoying the music of Groovy Nate, who was kind enough to donate a set of original and traditional music for us.

Thank you Groovy Nate, our host site AUMC, and to all the donors who submitted terrific prizes, some of which were given away, others raffled off, and others "sold" on silent auction with proceeds benefiting our chapter.

We also greatly appreciate our members for their support and the many volunteers who worked day and night to pull off this amazing evening. It was truly a group effort! We had so many wonderful homemade foods to complement the food donations and also gave out a comprehensive list of CSA shares available now, put together by chapter members. That database will be up on the chapter Yahoo group site soon and will be available at our February 18 meeting as well (though some shares will fill before that).

Thank you again to everyone who attended, to our donors, and also to our sponsors for their support of us in our first year: BirthCare and Women's Health, The Chiropractic Associates, Fairlington Dental, and National Integrated Health Associates.

What a year it has been!

Storytime!

On January 20, we had a fun storytime at Hooray For Books in Old Town Alexandria. We read a wonderful array of eco-themed books, including books about gardening, eating healthy food, and being kind to the earth. What a great afternoon!

Thanks to Hooray For Books for donating this storytime and to Laurie C. for setting up the event.

Upcoming Events with revised dates

There are a couple of great events coming up in addition to our monthly meetings - dates revised to reflect snow challenges!

Hope to see you there!

Events Open to the Public

Thursday, January 28, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
Cooking class with Monica Corrado of Simply Being Well
"The Secrets to Making Nutrient-Dense Stock"
Location is Alexandria near Duke St. & Quaker Lane
Discount for HMN members. Go to Monica's site to register.

Monday, February 1, 7:30 p.m.
Film screening and discussion of Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood
Arlington Unitarian Universalist Church, 4444 Arlington Blvd., Arlington, VA 22204 (corner of George Mason Drive and Rt. 50/Arlington Blvd.) Co-sponsored by the Family and Home Network and Arlington Unitarian Cooperative Preschool
Go to http://consumingkids.bravenewtheaters.com/screening/show/13679-arlington to RSVP or or via email to: film (at) familyandhome (dot) org

Saturday, February 27, 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
Cooking class with Monica Corrado of Simply Being Well
"Condiments + 2 - Ketchup, Mustard, Mayo, Pickles, & Salsa" (Eat your probiotics!)
Location is Alexandria - Del Ray near Russell & Braddock
HMN members get a discount. Go to Monica's site to register.

Saturday, March 6, 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon - RESCHEDULED from February 6 due to snow
Cooking class with Monica Corrado of Simply Being Well
"Soaking Beans and Grains for Optimum Digestion" (new techniques!)
Location is Alexandria - Del Ray near Russell & Braddock
HMN members get a discount. Go to Monica's site to register.

Events for HMN Arlington/Alexandria Chapter Members (see Evites for info)

Tuesday, February 9 - Postponed due to snow
Moms Night Out
Jewelry-making with Trish Thackston

Saturday, February 27 - (RESCHEDULED FROM FEB. 13 due to snow/lack of parking)
Eco Home Assessment Demonstration with Bobby Crogs

Anniversary Party Set for January 21!

Holistic Moms Network Arlington/Alexandria is turning one year old!

Please join us for our First Anniversary Party on Thursday, January 21, 2010, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

We will be meeting in the 2nd floor Fellowship Hall of our regular location at 716 S. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22206. Thank you to AUMC for donating the use of their space to us.

The party will include refreshments, door prizes and a special musical performance by children's performer, Groovy Nate around 7:30 p.m. - suitable for all ages! Get the kids a good nap and bring the whole family along. The more the merrier!

We are accepting donations of food or drink as well as donations to be given away as door prizes or part of a small silent auction. Gift certificates, eco-friendly products, classes, consultations are all welcome as are on-site donations like neck and shoulder or hand massages or other demonstrations.

Businesses interested in making a donation to our anniversary party may email holisticmomsarlalex (at) gmail (dot) com. Non-perishable donations must be received by January 15. Arrangements can be made to pick up larger items and food donations.

Practitioners and green-minded business owners -- parents or not! -- are welcome to attend the party. We will have an information table for brochures, business cards, discount coupons, etc., but we ask that you please take extras with you when you leave since we don't have room to display information at every meeting.

HMN does have a strict non-solicitation policy, so no selling of goods or services is allowed. Businesses interested in sponsoring our chapter (includes being thanked at every meeting and your logo on our website and blog) may contact the national organization at info (at) holisticmoms (dot) org.

Hope to see you on January 21!

Clarifying our Values: Inspiring December Meeting

Life coaches Carolyn Semedo and Suzanne Couming-Caldwell presented a wonderful meeting in December. The title was "Creating Balance in Family Life," but the focus of the interactive workshop was on helping us clarify our values. Once we can identify what is important to us, it becomes clearer to see how to eliminate areas of stress and to live in alignment with what we truly value.

The "Clarifying Values" worksheet and a list of resources (including books) from Carolyn and Suzanne are up on the chapter member Yahoo group under Files in the "Notes from Meetings" folder. Several attendees at the workshop noted that working through the values worksheet with their life partners would be beneficial for their relationship. Older children could also benefit from a discussion about the values held by the family -- and how those mesh with values of individual members of the family.

Thank you to our wonderful speakers and to all of the members and visitors who participated in this lively event!

Holiday discounts for members!

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.

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.