February meeting to discuss "Allergy Elimination"

Food, chemical and environmental allergies or sensitivities can have a variety of effects on the body -- physical, emotional, mental, behavioral.

Chronic conditions and disease can often be linked to a sensitivity that can be addressed without medication through "allergy elimination."

On February 17, Dr. Venus Seleme of Seleme Chiropractic Wellness Center will describe this healing modality.
Her talk will describe how to "deactivate" allergens and open up energy meridians to heal the body and mind.

For more information on allergy elimination, see
http://www.naet.com/
http://www.drellencutler.com/pages/thebiosetsystem/
and Dr. Seleme's site, http://www.drseleme.com/

If you or your children seem to have any sensitivities -- be it to certain foods, additives, fragrances, pollen -- or any other chronic conditions you can't seem to fix, consider coming to hear this talk. This modality stopped one chapter leader from turning beet red if she had even a sip of wine, and it rid her of seasonal (spring) allergies she'd treated with a variety of medications for years.

Dr. Seleme plans to focus on addressing the following with regard to food allergies:
Where do food allergies begin?
Genetics vs. Environments
Is something you are eating passing through your breastmilk?
Differences between true allergies and allergy sensitivities
Different test for allergies (RAST, IGG, Skin prick) vs. muscle testing. What do they tell us?
What is muscle testing?
How we use the concepts of Applied Kinesiology with allergy treatment
The most common allergens and all the components of these specific foods
Protein reaction symptom vs. sugar/preservative symptom
Cross reactivity within food groups, ie grasses and the wheat family
How NAET works with a demonstration.

Making our own beauty products: MNO

What a fun Moms Night Out! Thanks to Natalie for organizing and to Amy Fromm of Interlaken Soak Company for teaching us about ingredients to watch out for in our beauty and cleansing products and about healthy alternatives. We had a lively, interactive discussion and went home with custom-made body oil and a cute sampler of Amy's "Muskoka Bliss" Soothing Balm.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and to St. Elmo's Coffee Pub for hosting!

Members: look forward to our MNO on Reiki on February 8 at Food Matters!

"Special Diets" talk sheds light on diets and community

If anyone attending our January meeting had ever felt alone in his or her quest to eat well on a restricted diet, that isolation was put to rest last Thursday night. In a room packed full of folks working hard to figure out the healthiest diets for them and for their children, Cheryl Harris of Harris Whole Health described her own health journey and outlined several reasons to avoid certain foods.

Cheryl discussed about the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) in addition to a more general talk about why people have problems with gluten, dairy and other foods and how to get tested. In this interactive talk, Cheryl combined research, personal experience and clinical wisdom.

Thank you to Cheryl for taking the time to share this information with us, for bringing so many wonderful books, and for donating a free gluten-free living class!

We also wish to thank the following businesses for their donations of door prizes:

Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against the Grain for a copy of her new book, Gluten Free Throughout the Year

Nancy Tringali Piho, author of My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus, for a copy of her book

Mary Rand Hess, author of The Day I Met the Nuts for a copy of this children’s book (about discovering and living with food allergies)

Choices by Shawn restaurant for a $25 gift certificate (including many gluten-free choices)

Monica Corrado of Simply Being Well for a bean and grain chart and two essential oil misters.

Jessica Haney, founder and co-leader of the chapter, for a copy of Healthier Without Wheat by Dr. Stephen Wangen

And a special thanks also to all the people who brought yummy snacks to this meeting:
Marybeth, Sylvia (those delicious GF brownies!), Leigha, and Christy (homemade red sauerkraut!)

Arlington/Alexandria Chapter turns two!

Happy Birthday to our chapter! We are two years old!

The Arlington/Alexandria Chapter of Holistic Moms Network was launched January 22, 2009. Thank you to all the attendees of our January 2011 meeting for commemorating this anniversary. Pictured here is founder and co-leader Jessica Haney holding her lovely gift of tulips with co-leader Leigha S.(holding the delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free cake she made!) and new co-leader (in process) Mary H.

Thank you all for your service, thanks to the many volunteers who have kept the chapter going, and thanks to Michelle D., who just completed her year as co-leader.

January meeting 1/20: Special Diets

• Why do people go gluten-free or dairy-free?
• What is the latest research on food allergies and sensitivities?
• How do you know you or your children might have food sensitivities?
• What is celiac disease vs. gluten intolerance? Casein intolerance vs. lactose intolerance?
• How can conditions like ADD/ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and sensory processing disorders be influenced by the food we eat?

On January 20, Cheryl Harris of Harris Whole Health will address these questions and in an interactive talk. Come learn about the whys behind special diets of all kinds and some of the hows, including the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet.

Holistic Moms Network Arlington/Alexandria Meeting

Special Diets: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and more

Thursday, January 20

7-9 p.m.

716 S. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22204 in AUMC church*

Meetings are open to members and first-time visitors to our chapter. Children are always welcome to attend

*HMN is not affiliated with any church, but our host church does accept donations of items for its food pantry.

December 16 mtg CANCELED due to snow

Tonight's meeting is canceled due to the weather. We will reschedule a homeopathy meeting for 2011. Stay warm and dry!

December meetings - daytime now at AUMC 12/9, evening on homeopathy 12/16

We are doing one more trial daytime meeting on Thursday, December 9, 10 a.m. to noon. We'd hoped to meet at an Alexandria library, but there was a scheduling mix-up, so we'll be in Arlington at our regular evening location, AUMC, 716 S. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 22204.

We can discuss whatever is on people's minds. Some folks might want to revisit the November meeting's discussion of "holistic holidays" or talk about craft night and ways to include beauty in our evolving holiday rituals.

Daytime meetings will continue only with volunteer support/coordination. Let us know if you're interested!

The evening meeting this month is "Homeopathy 101" with Dr. Christopher Johnson of Thrive Naturopathic on December 16, 7-9 p.m. at our regular location of AUMC. Hope to see you there!