Our Donation to Heifer International

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that this month Red Cricket is donating 5% of its proceeds to Heifer International to buy an animal for a family in need this holiday season. We were just taking a look at the numbers today and WE HAVE ALREADY MADE OUR GOAL!! Thanks to everyone who has visited Red Cricket this December!

With the money we have raised, we will be purchasing a goat and perhaps another entire animal from Heifer! Why a goat, you ask? Here's why:

"Goats Are Great for Families =  The gift of a dairy goat represents a lasting, meaningful way for you to help a little boy or girl on the other side of the world. Goats can thrive in extreme climates and on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day - a ton of milk a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Families learn to use goat manure to fertilize gardens. Goats often have two or three kids a year making it easy for Heifer recipients to pass on the gift of a goat to another family in need. This great investment allows our partners to lift themselves out of poverty by starting small dairies that earn money for food, health care and education."

Why Heifer? If you are unfamiliar with Heifer International, I strongly encourage you to learn more about this revolutionary charity! The basis of their mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth, but they do so in wonderful ways that not only give families a helping hand, but teaches them how to use those animals for the betterment of the entire community. With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer projects help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. In exchange for their gift, families agree to give one of it's animal's offspring to another family in need to create an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

If you would like to learn more about Heifer International, visit their website here: http://www.heifer.org/

Zumba for health

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give a big heads up to my lovely patients and peeps about a great FREE opportunity to escape winter and inject a little summer into your life!

A really fantastic organization, OUT in the backyard, is sponsoring a weekly free zumba class at Powderhorn park.  It's at 6:30 in the community building every Monday night.  It is sooo much fun!  The instructor, Bernice Arias, is the most amazing ever!  The choreography and the music is fantasic and she is so much fun.  Her excitement and love of dance is very contagious!

One symptom that I see very often in the clinic is low back pain.  In some cases, it is stored stress.  These patients feel better with movement, and worse when they rest.  Exercise and yoga really makes a big difference in their pain levels.  When I went to my first zumba class, I remember shaking my booty and hips in ways that I usually never do, and it felt really good!  It felt so good to loosen up my lower torso, and the music is so fun and upbeat that I felt my stress literally melting off of my body.  This class would be a perfect class for patients under stress, but especially those who have low back pain.

If you know me well, you probably know that I am not much of a winter gal.  Even as a child I suffered from seasonal affective disorder.  This class and Bernice's teaching has been a vital part of keeping myself happy and sane this winter.  If you think you would like to give it a try, I would encourage you to do so.  You don't need to know how to dance, you just need to be ready to shake your booty!

So, there you have it... a free opportunity to meet people in our lovely community, dance and feel like you're in Puerto Rico for an hour.  Try it out, you'll be so happy you did!

Yours in health!

Joi

PS.  Out in the Backyard is a group that helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ) to counter isolation by connecting to each other and community resources.  If you would like more information about OUT in the backyard look here.   http://www.outinthebackyard.org/  We are all so lucky to have them be a part of our community!