January Meeting (January 13, 2014): Giving, Getting, and Giving Back

Introducing for the first time ever – HMN of Rochester’s White Elephant Swap! Bring an item from home that you may not use; or have no use for (new or preloved), wrap and re-gift it to another member…Draw a number from a basket, once your number is called, chose a gift from the pile. Once all the gifts are selected, feel free to trade with another. But, the fun doesn’t stop there!

In addition to giving up something old and gaining something new, we are collecting items to help support Safe Journey. Safe Journey is a non-residential resource and support center located in Fairport, NY, that serves women rebuilding their lives after domestic abuse and violence. Safe Journey provides safety planning, individual counseling, community resource coordination, resettlement support, lifeskills training, community and teen violence/abuse prevention education, and more.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. ~Lao Tzu

December Meeting (December 9, 2013): Holiday De-Stress Event with a Night of Yoga and Pilates with Meghan Cameron

Join us for a night to relax with yoga and Pilates before the busy Holiday season begins. Bring a yoga mat or towel and enjoy some fun! Bring a holiday snack to share if you wish. The yoga/Pilates session will start at 7:00 p.m.

Meghan Cameron is a Pilates teacher and owner of Hana Pilates & Bodyworks located in the Village Gate in Rochester, NY. Meghan has been practicing Pilates for the last 13 years and has been teaching Pilates for 9 years. She is certified on all apparatus from Body Tonic, NYC 2005 and a 3rd Generation (lineage from Joe Pilates).

"Fitness is the first pre-requisite to happiness." ~ Joe Pilates

November Meeting (November 11, 2013): Alleviate Hormone Imbalance – The Natural Solution with Libby Louer!

Struggling to lose those last 10 lbs? Frustrated by how thin, greasy or fragile your hair has become? Wondering why you have the skin of a teenager (not in a good way) or an old lady? Sick of not having a sex drive? These are all symptoms of hormonal imbalances in the body.

Libby will help you to identify where your hormones might be out of balance and how to start fixing them, through simple diet, nutrient and lifestyle changes.

A Certified Holistic Health Coach and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Libby has received specialized training in hormone balancing from Dr. Sara Gottfried, author of The Hormone Cure.

"If women ran the world we wouldn’t have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days." ~ Robin Williams

October Meeting (October 14, 2013): Open House "Meet & Greet" for Holistic Living Month and Group Discussion - Living Holistically on a Budget

Come and join us for our Annual Open House “Meet & Greet” - where you will learn practical and innovative ideas on how to make holistic living possible while on a budget!

Share something you know, learn something new on saving money! Bring your money saving tips for grocery shopping “organically”, chemical-free cleaning in your home and all natural time tested treatments for common ailments and much more.

“Let food be they medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~Hippocrates

September Meeting (September 9, 2013): Protecting Yourself from Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)

Sources of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) include many common items in our every day lives such as cell phones, WiFi, cordless phones, radiation (such as Fukushima), TVs, X-rays, and microwaves? Please join us as our own HMN member, Judy Turk, talks about EMFs, simple tips to lower our EMF risks, and how to strengthen our bodies to reduce the effects of these more negative forms of energy.


Judy Turk and her husband own a small business called Your Environmental Health Consultants where they teach people how things in their environment affect their health including EMFs and chemicals used around the home and how to make the changes that will help detox their homes and bodies. Judy has a degree in education from SUNY Brockport, is a Level 2 Reiki practitioner, and has many years of experience as a teacher and a stay-at-home mom. She has extensively researched many holistic health topics including supplements, energy medicine, and environmental medicine.

August Meeting (August 12, 2013): SEX AFTER KIDS: Recipes for Rekindling Romance!

How do you find the time and energy for romance once you have had kids? Love expert Elizabeth Benner offers sound advice for moms and dads on how to rekindle the love with your mate for a lifetime of emotional and sexual fulfillment. She will introduce you to skills needed to maintain a healthy marriage so partners can avoid the pitfalls of parenthood.

Elizabeth Benner, an old fashioned homemaker who serves as a Fairy Godmother Love Mentor, K.G.F.E. (Knowledge Gained From Experience). She has a part-time coaching practice which teaches on the The Womanly Arts and the Queenscode.

Be prepared for fun and interaction! You will go home with fun-filled experiments and recipes so that you can fall in love with your partner all over again!

"There's nothing better than good sex. But bad sex? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is better than bad sex." ~ Billy Joel

July Meeting (July 8, 2013): Group Discussion - All-Natural Summer Remedies for the Skin and Soul!

Bring a cup filled with your favorite beverage (warm or cold), pull up a chair and be prepared to share your best summer tonics! Whether it is a homemade bug repellent, the best sunscreen to use, creative low-cost ideas to entertain the kids, safety ideas for safe play, summertime meals, or a refreshing Popsicle recipe, etc….we want to learn from you!

Whatever the ailment be, sunburn or boredom, how does your family make this spectacular season safe and memorable? Let’s share our best remedies to make summer time a FUN time!

“Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

June Meeting (June 10, 2013): The Essentials of Essential Oils: How to Use them Safely with Children

Mindy MacLaren, nationally certified Aromatherapist and HMN member, owner of Sweet and Woodsy Aromatherapy, and mother of twin girls, specializes in the safe use of essential oils with kids of all ages. She will join us in June to discuss how to support your family’s health with aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils for their therapeutic benefits to natural health. Essential oils can be used for everything from an insect sting to relieving cold symptoms to reducing stress (and more). Aromatherapy fits in easily with a holistic lifestyle. Best of all, by using essential oils with our family, we can enhance their health and well-being while we avoid exposing them to harmful commercial products. While essential oils are a great natural option for use with kids, there are specific safety guidelines that should be followed. Some advice found on the Internet is erroneous, and even dangerous.

Mindy looks forward to answering your questions and plans to help you make a product to bring home for the nominal fee of $5 which will help cover the costs of her products being used.

May Meeting (May 13, 2013): Naturopathic Medicine

Dr. Laura Sleggs, ND is an expert in natural medicine. She did her post-graduate medical school at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine after receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Science at the University at Buffalo.

She would like to introduce you to a new model of healthcare that will pave the way for a healthier and more fulfilling life. Naturopathic medicine is the combination of modern medicine with the principles of naturopathy. The practice of “Naturopathy” began in 1900’s which was a mixture of “Nature Cure” (the use of water, air, diet and herbs which originated in Europe in the nineteenth century) and other natural healing methods such as herbal medicine, nutrition, chinese medicine, spinal manipulation and homeopathy.

Be sure to join us in May to learn more from Dr. Sleggs about the many health benefits of homeopathy and natural medicine.

April Meeting (April 8, 2013): Beyond Organics and Recycling: Greening Your Home for Improved Health

Rochester’s own, Adriana Lozada will be discussing – Beyond Organics and Recycling: Greenpoofing Your Home for Improved Health.

As our lives become more sedentary, we spend about 90% of our time indoors. Our long Rochester winters certainly don't help! Adriana will be focusing on how your home environment affects your health and how simple adjustments to daily habits can make a BIG difference.

Adriana will be addressing the following:

• Taking a close look at our enclosed homes (VOCs, Radon, asthma triggers, combustion pollutants)

• Lessening the toxins that are already in our homes, and minimizing the amount of new ones that come in

• Simple steps for improving indoor air quality

• Special considerations for children

• Choosing better cleaning products

• Looking at the water we use

• Helpful resources

Awesome Offer for May from Holistic Moms Network

Join or renew your existing Holistic Moms Network membership and as a special bonus, you can sign up for a one-year subscription to Organic Gardening magazine at no additional charge! Plus, you'll save $10 off of your regular annual membership - a total savings of more than $20 for a full year of amazing benefits!

Visit our website to sign up and be sure to check off your Special Bonus Subscription to Organic Gardening magazine.

Questions? Contact us at membership@holisticmoms.org

March Meeting (March 11, 2013) Group Discussion - "Bring a Mug"

Bring a mug and have hot chocolate or tea. We will have "get to know you" discussion questions to draw out of a basket for attendees to discuss. This is a great opportunity for our members to get to know one another and build our community and for visitors/non-members to learn more about our organization.

February Meeting (February 11, 2013): Homeopathy for Pediatrics and Women's Health Issues

Dr. Gregory Peechatt, Rochester’s own well-known local Homeopathic Doctor will be speaking on “Homeopathy for Pediatric and Women’s Health Issues Primary Care”. Please join us to learn to be on the spot “dr. moms” or “dr. dads” while understanding the most common Women’s Health Issues of today.

The most frequently used Homeopathic medicines will be demonstrated for many pediatric illnesses which are readily available at Wegman's, Lori's, Abundance or other heath food stores and some pharmacies.

January Meeting (January 14, 2013): Easy Learning Through Integrations with Dr. Kam Kettering

Come join us to learn from Dr. Kam Kettering about Integrations - creating balance and harmony in the brain and body, which allows learning to happen with ease. To be maximally proficient at anything it is necessary to use both sides of the brain or (whole brained). Integrations work on getting people to be whole brained so learning becomes easy. Anecdotal feedback from those experiencing this integration is that the person often senses a greater and smoother flow of memory and thought in contrast to the sometimes uneven spurts which preceded the integration.

Dr. Kam Kettering is one of the world's foremost authorities on Integrated Health Systems, Circles of Life, and the technology of Geotran. He has devoted 23 of his 26 years of clinical experience studying and researching Geotran and its connection to health and successful living. Dr. Kettering serves as director of research and development for the International Success Institute in Sedona, Arizona. He is the co-developer of Integrated Health Solutions along with Dorothy Espiau. Dr. Kettering lectures and teaches Integrated Health Systems to health care practitioners throughout the United States and Canada as well as trains students and clients in the language of Geotran and Circles of Life. He is the Co-President of Life Solutions Institute along with his wife Patricia, and the director of the Kettering Chiropractic Center in Lancaster, P.A. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association, and listed in "Who's Who Among Chiropractors. Dr. Kettering's website iswww.lifesolutionsinstitute.com