I always like to pass along information on what my fellow Halcyon Health practitioners are doing, so here’s an update for you all.

Melissa Melnitzer, our physician who specializes in psychotherapy, has started a new blog called Oprah and Beyond. She was inspired by both O Magazine and Oprah’s announced departure from television, and wanted to have a place to post light and fun reflections with a bit of a pop culture twist, complementing the concept she has developed with her 15 minute beginnings blog.

Tiina Veer, our yoga instructor and fellow RMT, will be continuing to teach her Yoga for Round Bodies class in the new year. She is likely going to offer it as a weekly class starting in January. All the details will be available on Halcyon’s website in the new year.

Tiina and Melissa will also be doing a one day self-care retreat on Saturday, January 30th. This workshop involves both reflective writing and guided relaxation and helps you work towards personal well-being for 2010! All the details are available here.

And finally, Halcyon now has a variety of yoga classes available to you, including Iyengar and Restorative.

Hope you all enjoy your New Year’s holiday plans and hope to see you in 2010!

Two of my coworkers at Halcyon Health are putting on a Physician’s Wellness Retreat. I wanted to share the information with my own clients, as some of you work in health care, and some of you might be interested in offering such a workshop for your own organization. Please see below for the email I received from Tiina Veer, which I have published here with her permission.

Hello,
I’d like to inform you of a one-day Physician’s Wellness Retreat that I am delighted to be participating in, on Saturday, October 24th at beautiful Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, in Cambridge, Ontario. The retreat includes the main theme workshop, “15-minute beginnings,” an approach to self-care and the brainchild of my colleague here at Halcyon, Dr. Melissa Melnitzer. Melissa, myself and Dr. Heidi Walk will be presenting the morning and afternoon break-out sessions: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Heidi Walk), Deep Restoration (Tiina Veer), Relief through Writing (Melissa Melnitzer).

This new and innovative offering is supported by the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), in response to the mounting evidence of high stress levels among physicians, and the overwhelming positive response to a 15-minute beginnings pilot project with physicians across the province in April 2009. The hope for this project is to gain wider support and be offered within other health care provider communities eventually, as well.

If you are a physician, I invite you to join us for a relaxing and informative day of experiential learning and sumptuous lunch in a beautiful and relaxed environment. A wellness retreat for you–for your own self-care–that offers “…a dedicated day to begin to experience new ideas and practices that you can choose from to take back into your daily life and work. This takes place in a country spa resort setting so that if you wish you can round out your stay with spa treatments, local walks,” an extended stay, or as you like. See the attached brochure for details on workshop and break-outs. Approved for CME’s. Please pass along to your colleagues and networks. With enough interest, these retreats may become regular offerings.

If you are not a physician, I have cast a wide net with this email in the hopes that some of you will consider championing this with me by disseminating this email and attachment to physicians you may know, or within hospital/community health or related networks you are associated with.

I will be sending a shorter version of this out to my broader email list, as well… apologies if you receive this twice!

Thank you very much for your help spreading this exciting news,
Tiina

Note that versions of this workshop/retreat can be offered within a variety of contexts, please contact us if you are interested in discussing the possibility of offering this work within your organization.

Contact information for both Melissa and Tiina is available on Halcyon Health’s website.

This is a class being offered by one of the other practitioners in my office. Thought some of you might be interested.

Melissa Melnitzer, MD CCFP, is facilitating an ongoing OHIP-covered Therapeutic Writing Group on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 8:45pm. The purpose is to provide a healing environment for participants to express themselves through writing and to partake in the writing of other group members. This shared creativity can offer personal growth opportunities as an adjunct to individual therapy. This is not a writing skills development forum.

There will be a maximum of 8 participants at any time. Participants must have an individual therapist. For participants who are not existing clients of Dr. Melnitzer, an intake session will be arranged to ensure adequate support is already in place, and that the group is appropriate for individual needs. Note that Dr. Melnitzer is not currently accepting new clients for individual therapy.

INQUIRIES:
Contact Melissa directly at (416) 533-0172 or melissa498@yahoo.ca

Every year I see multiple people for slip and fall injuries. Usually the person was simply walking down the street and hit a patch of ice, and that was it! Very frustrating, and unfortunately a hazard of living here.

Sometimes a slip and fall is pretty much unavoidable, but there are things you can do to lower your risk. Here’s a list of some of them:

• Give yourself extra time when going anywhere, so you don’t have to rush.
• Be aware of road conditions ahead of you, and take small steps as you walk.
• Use handrails on stairs if possible.
• Wear proper footwear. Get something with good traction designed for winter wear. That last part is important – some shoes get MORE slippery in the winter, due to how the cold affects them. You can always change into your nice shoes when you get to your office or school.
• If it’s particularly icy, get some sort of ice grips. Yak Trax are popular and inexpensive, and just slip on over whatever your regular boots are. You can buy them at MEC, and likely other sporting goods/outdoor gear stores.
• Salt or sand your own sidewalks. If you go to a place of business that has a slippery sidewalk, let them know. Sometimes they even have some salt or sand sitting beside their door for spreading if needed. If you take a few seconds to do this, you might just prevent someone else from getting injured.
• Don’t do anything that obstructs your vision, as this increases the likelihood that you’ll hit a patch of ice. Take off dark sunglasses in overcast conditions, don’t carry big objects in front of you, and make sure whatever hat and scarf you have doesn’t cover your eyes.

Good luck and keep safe!

While I do see a lot of people for injury rehabilitation or for specific conditions, one of the biggest reasons people come to see me is for stress-related issues.

Stress can manifest itself in the body in all sorts of ways, and in fact does have an effect on all of your body’s systems. Often the first thing people will notice is a certain area of their body feels tense and sore — shoulders and neck are common, but everyone holds their stress in a different area of the body. High levels of stress, and especially chronic (long-term) stress, is linked to a number of conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, ulcers, and depression and anxiety.

I certainly recommend massage therapy as one way to tackle stress-related symptoms. However, even with regular massages, most still need some tips and techniques to help them cope with the stresses they experience in their lives. With that in mind, here are a few stress busting tips for you all.

• Find something you like to do that allows you an outlet for some of your stress and frustrations. For some people, that is a physical activity like yoga, pilates, running or aikido. For others, it is something artistic, such as painting or writing. The main thing is it should be something you really enjoy and that improves your mood.
• At work, set yourself a schedule each day, including what tasks are essential to complete and which ones you can work on if you have extra time. Seeing the list and checking things off as you finish them can really help keep you focused and motivated, and keep stress levels lower.
• Also at work, be sure to delegate as needed! There is nothing wrong with asking for help with a task that you cannot complete on your own.
• Take breaks while you are working on something, especially if you find the task or subject matter stressful. A short walk to grab a coffee or a glass of water can help clear your mind and give you some needed energy. If you find it hard to remember to take breaks, try to set an alarm of some sort to remind you, or, team up with a coworker so you can remind each other.
• Always make time for yourself. We all tend to have busy schedules and forget to take care of ourselves at times. Make sure you give yourself a little time each day to do something fun and stress relieving — a hot bath, coffee with a friend, or even just watching a favorite DVD!
• Eat well. The tendency is to eat a lot of junk food when we are feeling stressed or sad. While a treat every so often is a great idea, eating like that daily will not provide your body with the nutrition it needs to help you cope. No time to cook? Try doing the prep work for meals on your less busy days, and just reheat as needed.
• Try breathing and stretching exercises. Both will help keep your stress levels lower. A great writeup on the importance of breathing is available here, and a simple stretching and breathing exercise you can do is available here. (both files courtesy Massage Therapy Practice).

Hopefully that list gives you a few ways to deal with stress. If you have any questions, or would like to book a massage, please don’t hesitate to contact me.