Healthy lifestyles are the focus of holistic health fair

Are you ready to take control of your health? Or do you just want help making those small changes in your daily life that will add up to big improvements in your daily function?

For answers and healthy living tips, visit the Fourth Annual Fox Valley Holistic Health Celebration Sunday, Sept. 30, in the parking lot of Soup to Nuts Alternative Grocery, 716 W. State St., Geneva.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features more than 60 exhibitors. Admission is free.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet and learn about holistic health perspectives from a variety of local practitioners — ranging from holistic physicians, to bodyworkers of many different modalities, to suppliers of organic and holistic products for healthier living.

Visitors can take advantage of free and discounted services on acupuncture, yoga, Thai massage, detox foot baths, foot readings and more.

In addition, there will be children’s activities with raffle prizes and giveaways throughout the day. Free totebags loaded with samples and coupons will be given to the first 500 visitors.

“It’s more of a celebration than a health fair,” said event founder and licensed massage therapist J.R. Carmany, co-owner of Soup to Nuts.

Many people come to Soup to Nuts seeking information and referrals for alternative therapies, she noted.

“The Holistic Health Celebration is yet another way to educate the community about healthy alternatives and preventive medicine,” Carmany said.

There is so much information on holistic health that it can become overwhelming, she added. A goal of the Holistic Health Celebration is to connect people with practitioners so that they can talk one-on-one and learn more about their options.

“There is nothing like the Fox Valley Holistic Health Celebration in our area,” said Pamela O’Brien, owner and director of Greenleaf Yoga in Geneva, who will have a booth at the event.

An instructor for more than 15 years, O’Brien will provide information on the therapeutic effects of yoga to counteract stress, to deal with physical pain, and to help heal emotion-related issues such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

“Over the years, I have observed people’s attitudes change dramatically toward complementary and alternative health care. I think what has caused the shift is dissatisfaction with the old allopathic model, which is outdated and not responsive to people’s needs and demands,” O’Brien said.

“Many people are dismayed at rising health care and insurance costs,” Carmany said.

“Taking a proactive, preventive stance empowers people to become educated about their own health. Medical doctors spend an average of less than 15 minutes with each patient, but you live with yourself 24/7.”

Although pharmaceutical medicine has gained dominance over the last 50 years, Carmany said “there are thousands of years of documented use of herbs and alternative therapies that are as effective today as they were for our ancestors.

“There is a growing trend to embrace preventive care — from the food we eat, to the activities and therapies we choose to do to maintain our health.”

Attitudes toward eco-living have shifted within the last 10 years, said Dianne Peterson, owner of Our Children, Our Earth, a Batavia-based business that focuses on ecologically-friendly products.

She has noticed that more people are becoming aware of environmental and health concerns about plastics, for example. Our Children, Our Earth promotes “sustainable everyday solutions to replace disposables, plastics, and other practices unhealthy to us and our environment,” Peterson said.

Peterson will have a booth at the event featuring a selection of eco-toys, reusable shopping totes and food containers and other household products such as stainless steel straws. She hopes to help people create solutions.

“My goal is to give you something that works for life,” Peterson said.

She aims to show people a way of living that’s healthier for them, and healthier for the environment. “It can actually improve your life.”

In addition, the Holistic Health Celebration will feature a few interesting exhibitors, Carmany said, such as Holistic Moms Network of the Western Suburbs; Nature’s Essence Green Cleaning, LLC; Dentistry for the Health Conscious; a free Reiki clinic; Geneva’s Care Addiction Treatment Program; toe reading, an Asian technique of reading the body by interpreting the development of the toes; and Think Beyond The Pink, a foundation for holistic perspectives and options on cancer treatment cofounded by a breast cancer survivor.

FVHHC “brings together a lot of like-minded folks,” Peterson said. “Right there you can get a lot of information about things that interest you. You come for one little gem and you go home with a treasure chest.”

For information, call Soup to Nuts at (630) 232-6646, visit www.souptonutsgeneva.com or find Fox Valley Holistic Health Celebration on Facebook, www.facebook.com/FoxValleyHolisticHealthCelebration.

If you go

What: Fourth annual Fox Valley Holistic Health Celebration, featuring more than 60 local exhibitors and practitioners with a focus on healthy alternat

ives and preventive medicine

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30

Where: Parking lot of Soup To Nuts Alternative Grocery, 716 W. State St., Geneva

Admission: Free

Details: (630) 232-6646 or <a href="http://www.souptonutsgeneva.com">www.souptonutsgeneva.com</a>