December 2010 meeting: Adrenal Fatigue

December 13, 2010
Dr. Leila Kirdani, Western New York's only physician board certified in anti-aging, regenerative and functional medicine, spoke about adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is the result of chronic stress and heavy metal poisoning and can lead to problems such as low energy, muscle aches and pains, weight gain, and irritability. In her fascinating and infirmative talk, Dr. Kirdani discussed symptoms, causes, and treatment for this under-diagnosed condition.

Congratulations to member Amy, who won the drawing for a gift card for Lori's Natural Foods!

November 2010 meeting: Children of Now

November 8, 2010

In these changing times, with the children who are here -- "Indigo," "Crystal," "Star," "Sun," or "Diamond" -- what is our role as parents? What do all these children have in common? They are bringing great light and love as well as many challenges. They may be energetically sensitive, have sensorial differences, or dietary sensitivities. They may be behaviorally challenging and/or aware beyond their years. Lynne Kliman and Kim Corpus led a talk on how they are stretching us and leading us on an accelerated path of learning as their parents and teachers.

Congratulations to member Laura, who won the drawing for a gift card for Lori's Natural Foods!

October 2010 meeting: Nourishing Our Children

October 11, 2010
Laura Villanti, Certified Healing Food Specialist, CHFS; and Rochester NY Chapter Leader, Weston A. Price Foundation; shared timeless principles for supporting learning, behavior, and health through optimum nutrition. Her eye-opening and inspiring presentation included: dietary principles to guide parents during preconception and pregnancy, as well how to nourish rather than merely feed their children; the foundational nutritional principles Weston A. Price discovered during his extensive travels and research; the dangers of modern processed foods; information about water and fluoride, traditional fats and oils, milk, soy, vital nutrients, and healthy meal preparation. You can see Sally Fallon's presentation at the HMN national conference with the same important information.

Congratulations to HMN member Karen, the winner of the Lori's Natural Foods gift card!

September 2010 meeting: Composting 101

September 13, 2010
We learned the ins and outs of composting from Master Gardener, Carol Erb. She brought hands-on examples and answered our many questions about this environmentally friendly way of giving our gardens a boost.

August 2010 Meeting: Recipe Swap

August 9, 2010
We talked about ways to make life easier and still feed our families healthy food. We shared recipes that have gotten us through busy times, are always a hit with the kids, that we've used when we have to make a meal with only the food you have on hand, etc. We also shared ideas for easy, healthy snacks. Lots of great sharing among mamas!

July 2010 potluck!

July 23, 2010
Water balloons, face painting, games, food, and community! We had great fun on a lovely evening at Brighton Town Park.

July 2010 meeting: Group Discussion

July 12, 2010
We tapped into the wealth of knowledge and support of other Holistic Moms and discussed many topics, from cloth diapers to PCOS to water filters and more. It was great to have face-to-face discussions on such varied subjects!

June 2010 meeting: Bringing Sexy Back

June 14, 2010
In this mini interactive workshop, AliciaMarie Nassar M.S., LMFT and Melissa Spooner M.S., LMFT of Rising Lotus Therapy explored the challenges women face while negotiating different roles in their lives (e.g. mother, lover, spouse, partner, etc.). Together we explored and shared tips with one another on maintaining one's own sense of "sexiness" amidst a world of diapers, play groups, and breastfeeding.

May 2010 meeting: First Aid with Essential Oils

May 10, 2010
Amy Jane Stewart of Organica Jane shared her vast knowledge on how to use essential oils for our families' first aid needs. Afterward we had great fun making our own blends to take home, including bug spray, lotions, discreet inhalers, aloe gels, home cleaners!

April 2010 meeting

April 12, 2010: Importance of Bees and Honey PLUS tasting!
We enjoyed a honey tasting with local beekeeper Rich Riedman. He discussed the importance of bees, buying local honey, health and beauty benefits, and how we can help the bees.

The Ontario-Finger Lakes Beekeepers Association offers a free introductory course in beekeeping.

Rich recommended the film The Last Beekeeper, which follows the lives of three commercial beekeepers (from South Carolina, Montana, and Washington) over the course of a year as they struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder.

A member recommended the children's book The Bee Man, by Laurie Krebs.

We saluted Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli for her leadership over the past year and a half. Thank you, Gabrielle!

Welcome New HMN Co-Leaders, Melanie and Jean!

HMN Rochester is so excited to have long-time members Melanie Ryan and Jean Lockwood taking over the chapter as Co-Leaders.

They're very excited about their new roles and about continuing to bring educational, fun, holistic meeting topics to the members.

Jean is a mom of three and Melanie is a mom of one.

In the photo from left to right are our new Co-leaders Melanie Ryan, Jean Lockwood, and HMN Member Yvonne.

Thank you Gabrielle for your 1.5 years as a HMN Leader!

Thank you Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli for your 1.5 years as the leader of HMN Rochester chapter!

Your commitment and dedication to the chapter allowed it to continue serving many families and helping them make more informed decisions.

Good luck with your new venture as the Founder and CEO of the Global Network of Expressive Arts Facilitators

March 2010 Meeting

March 8, 2010: EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique
Tom Porpiglia, LMHC of Life Script Counseling explained EFT and gave three demonstrations of this unique technique and all three recipients experienced a positive result.

EFT is sometimes called acupressure for the emotions, wherein meridian points are stimulated by tapping on them with fingertips. Properly done, this frequently reduces the therapeutic process from months or years down to hours or minutes. And, since emotional stress can contribute to pain, disease and physical ailments, EFT provides astonishing physical relief.

Tom works with a variety of ages who are experiencing a variety of symptoms. He does do a lot of work with veterans.

Tom Porpiglia, MS, LMHC, D.CEP, EFT-ADV, VV
500 Helendale Road, Suite 110
Rochester, NY 14609
585-704-0376

----Congrats to HMN Member Therese for winning the $25 gift card to Lori's Natural Foods! ----

February 2010 meeting

February 8, 2010: Maya Abdominal Massage
Erin McCollough, LMT, RYT of CNY Healing Arts Wellness Center and Spa explained how this unique massage technique is an external, non-invasive manipulation using massage to reposition reproductive organs and improve blood flow to digestive organs. It has been documented to improve issues around fertility, endometriosis, menses, ovarian cysts, and much more!

She brought in a short, but wonderful video giving the history of this massage from Belize.

---Congrats to HMN Sasha for winning the $25 Lori's gift card! ----

January 2010 Meeting

January 11, 2010: Non-Violent Communication and Discipline: Parenting through Conflict, Lightening the Load

left, speaker Karen Moses and right, member Mary

Moms and dads attended this meeting with Karen Moses, Early Childhood Educator of Best Beginnings who has over 15 years experience. Karen explained what Non-Violent Communication was and how to use it when conflict arrives. Everyone learned something new at this interactive meeting!

Congrats to member Cindi for winning the $25 Lori's Natural Foods gift card!

Here are a few books Karen suggested to learn more:

Raising Children Compassionately: Parenting the Non-Violent Communication Way by Marshall Rosenberg

Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey

Don't Get So Upset! Helping Children Manage Their Feelings By Understanding Your Own by Tamar Jacobson