It’s hard to keep track of all the amazing events coming up in the next few weeks! Here is a snapshot. Let me know what I should add! Thursday, October 18 Holistic Moms Network Arlington/Alexandria chapter presents: “Breathing Techniques” Learn about different breathing techniques and how they can contribute to health and wellness from VitalSelf…
D.C. Metro
Dishing on diapers on TV
A few weeks ago, Robin Shirley, organizer of the amazing Take Back Your Health Conference, pointed out to me that Liz Crenshaw of NBC4’s Consumer Watch needed a group of local moms for a piece. I wrote the producer who told me Liz was doing a story on the cost of diapers. I hoped to…
Rockin’ Orioles! Tweet! Tweet!
It isn’t every day that I have the chance to give my kids the kind of memorable experience we had last week at the Baltimore Orioles game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since my son hadn’t ever been to a professional sporting event before, I’m not sure he fully appreciated just how special this event was….
Gluten-Free Expo returns to D.C.! + Giveaway
The Celiac Disease Program at Children’s National Medical Center is all about getting and keeping kids healthy and is hosting the second-annual DC Gluten-Free Expo this afternoon and evening at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1201 K Street NW from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. If I’d eliminated gluten from my diet as a child, my…
What’s to like about a c-section?
Welcome to the June 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Embracing Your Birth Experience This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about at least one part of their birth experience that they can hold up and…
What makes me feel like a parent
The first time I’d heard of a “touch truck” event was in a With the Kids article in the Washington Post Weekend section. Herndon Truck Days sounded like a blast! And the article also inspired me a year later to pitch an article about the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s Children’s Music Festival. It was published and…
Yoga festival season gets underway
Yoga festivals might seem counterintuitive for those seeking a peaceful, quiet practice, but they are great opportunities to try different styles and experience a sense of community. There’s something special about doing sun salutations in a group of two hundred people from around the country; it’s as though you all agree, which somehow makes lofty…
I don’t have a village
Welcome to the May 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting With or Without Extended Family This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how relatives help or hinder their parenting. Please read to the end to…
Investigating Ayurveda + a giveaway
Last spring, my sister-in-law advised me that the best thing I could do for my health would be to give myself a daily oil massage and to have a consistent schedule of sleeping and waking. And that would include a midday nap. Right. According to her, yoga instructor Charlotte Clews, when she advised me last…
Holistic health conference addresses body, mind, and planet
If the organizers of this weekend’s Take Back Your Health conference could have any say in the health care debate, food would probably be listed as a medicine. Well, healthy, local, nutrient-dense food, that is. And the means to detoxify from all the chemicals in our air, water, and earth. After the success of last…
Back on the mat: $5 class special at Radiance!
When my friend and neighbor asked if I would watch her son so that she could take advantage of a $5 yoga deal, I said, “How about I offer up my babysitter instead and go with you?” I’ve been meaning to get to Old Town Alexandria’s Radiance Yoga for a while, but it’s just a…
Mediocre would be good enough
No one has to convince me not to try to be perfect. Okay, I do have perfectionist tendencies in some areas, but when I read about mothers having epiphanies that they don’t need to keep the house spotless, I feel like I am living on some other planet. One with lots of spots. My floors…
The pull of escape, the pull of retreat
This time of year is always good for smacking me around. Even on a sunny day like today, when the quince and camellia are blooming and you swear it can’t be January it’s so warm, winter is in my bones. And my mom’s too. Right around this time in 1995, while I was doing my…
Now is the time for now
The instant I read the words, I regretted picking up my BlackBerry that one last time before going to bed. A well-meaning relative of mine had read my recent post about my health and my leaky gut problem and told me: “This is not the time to volunteer for things.” She intended to point out…
Mother’s Self-Renewal workshop begins
When a two-hour workshop that requires almost an hour of driving leaves you feeling recharged like you had a nap, I’d say it lives up to its “self-renewal” title! Today was the first meeting of a “Monthly Mother’s Self-Renewal Group” based on Renee Trudeau’s book, The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. We centered, we talked, we…
Support wetlands in schools!
Campbell Elementary School in south Arlington is hoping to remedy a swampy (and sometimes icy) problem in its playground and turn the area into a wetlands learning lab. The school is a county-wide program that utilizes a hands-on curriculum called Expeditionary Learning. The wetlands learning lab will give students lots of opportunities to observe wildlife…
Staying healthy this winter (with a giveaway!)
For me, food is medicine. If health is a priority, take out foods that don’t work for your body — because of allergies, because they rev you up (like caffeine or sugar), because they draw you down (like alcohol) or because they add to inflammation (like sugar and a lot of the Standard American Diet)…
Mindful holiday prep
Hop on over to TheDCMoms.com to see my Green post today on making thoughtful plans as you head into holiday hosting. Let’s see if I can take my own advice this time.
Raw Milk Mommies rock!
What a great turnout at yesterday’s rally to protest restrictions on the sale of raw milk. Here are some photos from the reporter mom perspective! For full coverage, check out my article at The Washington Times Communities Family Today Also visit Kimberly Hartke’s blog post about the rally. Or check out all this great coverage!…
“Raw Milk Mommies” to demonstrate at FDA
Moms do not appreciate the government telling them how to feed their children and restricting their access to what they feel is a healthful food. On November 1, 2011, mothers from around the country will protest outside the Food and Drug Administration building in Silver Spring, Maryland to protest the FDA’s restriction on the purchase…