A year ago we this month we opened the door to Complete Wellness, and to a world of possibility, creativity, community, and diversity in paths to well-being.

Every business grows and learns in its first year, and as we take a minute to look back, we have to say--we’re kind of in love with the things we’ve learned and the beauty that continues to grow in this space.

Stacy Ford is an athletic trainer, massage therapist, and co-owner of Complete Wellness. She explains it this way:

“Most people think about business as sales. Make the connection and close the deal. We give people options. We don't sell. Let me tell you about ‘Mary.’ She had found Tracy and had come in for her first session. She was clearly upset and I was talking with her until Tracy was finished with her current client. She was coming up on the one year of losing her father and she had just lost her dog, her fur-baby. We chatted, we cried (together), we hugged. I know, not for everyone, but what she needed that day. She had her appointment with Tracy, ended up seeing me at another date, has since spent time in the salt room and taken a few classes/workshops. She CHOSE her own healing. She CHOSE to spend time in Complete Wellness with people who care about her. We are not psycho-therapists, but we are all compassionate and caring individuals who offer options to heal inside and out.”

This idea of compassionate individuals coming together in a community that welcomes all with a diversity of healing experiences comes up again and again when people talk about Complete Wellness.

Cindy Bertsch is an artist and intuitive energy worker. In addition to offering WrenStone Reiki at Complete Wellness, she also regularly leads meditations and workshops. “I've learned how beautiful it is to be a part of a community where we all come together to offer our experiences, talents and support to those looking to expand their awareness and heal themselves naturally,” she says.

And the feeling extends beyond our practitioners. “I love that CW offers so many healing modalities and that the practitioners are so supportive of each other and the community,” says Terri, a frequent visitor to Complete Wellness. “I have met so many wonderful healers and teachers and have had the opportunity to experience some amazing therapies and classes. Happy Anniversary and can't wait to see what the next year will bring!”

This month we’re all about celebrating, and we hope you’ll join us! You can check out all of the fun and exciting events we’ve got planned for our Anniversary Gala here. Thank you for being part of our community--we love what you’ve helped us create, and can’t wait to see what unfolds as we grow together in our second year!

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Body. Mind. Spirit. When it comes to wellness, you can’t have one without the other two.

Holistic health is based on the idea that human beings are not just their bodies, or a collection of symptoms, but an integrated whole with the innate ability to heal when given half a chance. And at Complete Wellness, that is so our jam.

We’ve built this space to be a hub for holistic healing modalities to support the whole person in well-being and connection to self, source, and others. Here’s what we believe:

• It’s all connected: The physical, mental, and emotional/spiritual are woven together in each person, so whatever you do to nourish one will have a positive impact on the whole.
• You are your own healer: You have everything you need to be well already; the job of holistic healers is to clear blockages to your body and mind doing what they’re made to do: flourish in joy and wholeness.
• Wellness is a lifestyle: True wellness flows from a life where the health of the mind, body, and spirit is nourished on a consistent basis. Holistic healing isn’t a quick fix or a one and done deal--it’s part of a way of life that views self-care as essential rather than a luxury.
• We’re all in this together: Community is essential to wellness. We grow together, inspire each other, share ideas, and come together to remind each other that everything and everyone is connected.

This month, we’ll be focusing on the different aspects of holistic healing we facilitate at Complete Wellness. Here’s what’s coming up:

This week: Bodywork! How does massage, reflexology, and other body work support your overall wellness?

Second week of August: Energy work! This week we’ll focus on Reiki, sound healing, meditation, and other modalities that support your wholeness and well-being.

Third week of August: Movement! This week is all about the health-supporting goodness of movement like yoga and sacred dance.

Fourth week of August: Expand your Mind! Whether it’s trying something new like painting or journaling, learning about important topics like skincare, sharing ideas and getting inspired by movie screenings or workshops, this week we’ll focus on the ways our well-being grows when we expand our horizons.

Stay tuned for tips, fun facts, and inspiration--and don’t forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.

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Complete Wellness. It’s an idea we like so much that we chose it for our name, and this month, our #chronicwellness focus is on our favorite theme: One place… many avenues to well-being.

Reflexology. Massage therapy. Yoga. Reiki. Salt Therapy. JourneyDance. Workshops and community events. Myofascial Release. Singing Bowl Healing...yes, we gather them all under one roof, and that makes for a pretty amazing experience. This month, we’re going to be putting a spotlight on some of the people and practices that make Complete Wellness so special, but in the meantime, here are a few thoughts we’d like to share about our services:

• They are offered by unique individuals. Each of our practitioners has her own expertise, style, and approach to her craft. Part of the diversity of experience we offer comes from the gathering of individuals with their own gifts, but a common goal of offering them to empower others to be well. Interested in yoga? It’s offered by Brenda, Deb, and Ann Marie. Massage therapy? Stacy and Brenda bring this healing modality to Complete Wellness. Reiki is offered by Tracy and Cindy; Marissa, Cindy, and others lead workshops. Reflexology is available from Tracy and Cheryl. Whatever your interest, personality, or preference, there is something--and someone--to suit you.
  
  
• They all work together. All of the modalities and offerings at Complete Wellness complement each other because they are all based in a common approach to wellness as something that
  • Is built into us as human beings.
  • Is made up of the interconnection of  mind, body, and spirit.
  • ​We can all reclaim given the right conditions.

 

• ​​You don’t have to pick one. There are many paths to wellness, and they’re all good! Go where your mind-body-spirit leads you, and you’ll always be right.

 

• You are what makes them Complete. Complete Wellness is, at its heart, a community. Your presence, your energy, and your commitment to wellness help create this community and make it the vibrant force for love and healing that it is.
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So whether you shimmy your way through a JourneyDance, meditate, share your soul, get your Chakras aligned, get your kinks and knots worked out, learn about crystals or Rumi or skin care or journaling, relax in the Salt Room, or do any of the other happiness-inducing things available at Complete Wellness, we invite you to jump into it with us wholeheartedly this month. Stay tuned for tips, fun facts, and inspiration from our practitioners--and don’t forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.

“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”--Hippocrates

How many of us think of food as medicine? How many of us think of medicine as something icky and unpleasant to be ingested as quickly as possible?

The irony here is that food really is meant to be our medicine, but so often we settle for an icky and unpleasant version of it that brings us harm instead of benefit. Oh, it may taste good--but the effect on our physical, mental, and emotional health is where the real ickiness and unpleasantness comes in: processed foods, foods laden with preservatives and refined sugar, lead to a host of issues ranging from sluggishness, poor digestion, brain fog, headaches, and, perhaps most significantly, inflammation, which lies at the root of so many debilitating conditions. 

The icing on the metaphysical cake is that, in order to deal with the dis-ease brought on by not choosing to relate to food as medicine, we have to….take medicine.

This blog is not meant to disparage the legitimate usage or possible value of pharmaceutical medicines. It is meant to say that if we pay attention to the food we eat as our primary source of ingested medicine, we will very likely need less of the pharmaceutical kind.

And so this April, as we wait for Spring to finally make her presence known, we’re turning our #chronicwellness focus to one area that can give most of us a whole new lease on life--not just survival, but life--vibrant, healthy, full of vitality and energy, purposeful and capable of fulfilling purpose. 

​We’ll be chatting with you this month about all things nutrition: whole foods, kicking the sugar habit, fruits, veggies, hydration… We’re looking to share quick tidbits, little bites of inspiration, recipes, and practical advice that will help us all rethink our relationship to food, and we’re looking for you to join in the conversation!

We invite you to join us in saying yes to food as medicine for a healthy and vibrant life! Stay tuned for tips, fun facts, and inspiration--and don’t forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”--Anne Lamott
Cell phones. Tablets. Laptops. Desktops. Fitbits. Echo. Alexa. Siri. The astounding array of electronics by which we stay synced to our vast network of connections and entertainment and knowledge and consumables grows daily, and daily grows more... personal. It’s almost as if humans have reached into the Ethernet, and the Ethernet has reached back, offering us the immediate gratification we seek in a smooth and unflappable (female) voice.

And it’s fun. And informative. And helpful. The only thing it isn’t is real. Real happens when out feet touch the ground, and our hand touches our dog’s wet nose. Real happens when our arms embrace a friend, and when our lips kiss a loved one. Real happens when we go down a road because it has a cool looking tree despite the repeated announcement of “Recalculating.” Real is when we sit down at a table for a home-cooked meal instead of scarfing down microwaved hot pockets over the kitchen sink.

The conveniences of life are wonderful, as long as we remember that they are conveniences, and not life itself.

This week, we invite you to revel in the Real and unplug. We may just find out one of modern life's best paradoxes: the more we disconnect, the more we connect. Stay tuned for tips & inspiration--and don't forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.

Connections. They’re the unseen threads that link us to everyone and everything around us--our families, our friends, animals, nature, people we don’t even know, our source, and our very selves. How we nurture these relationships can make all the difference to living a happy and fulfilling life.

Here are a few thoughts about making the most of the connections in our lives:

• There are many different kinds of connections, and they are important for everyone--even introverts. “We, as humans, are not meant to be solitary creatures. This goes for my fabulous introverted friends also. For connection is not only to other people,” says Reiki and reflexology teacher and practitioner Tracy McGovern. Tracy relies on the different connections in her life for support and a way to keep centered. “When I’m feeling off it is the question I ask myself. Where do I need to connect?” she says. “If I’m feeling scattered and anxious I need to connect with nature. A hike in the woods or a walk on the beach. Connection to the natural world. If I’m feeling sad or melancholy that is balanced by friends and family. Connection to other people. Sometimes all I need is music. Connection to memory, or to the particular frequency/vibrations. If I’m feeling anything at all and I can spend some time with my dog….forget about it….everything is better.”
  
  
  
• Connections can change over time--new ones are formed, established ones shift, spent ones fade--it takes thought and work to navigate the changes. “Relationships can change, in the blink of an eye or over a long period of time.  All relationships have ups and downs and require conscious thought and effort to keep them going,” says myofascial release practitioner Lisa Franklin. “Now is a good time to look at the relationships you have and determine which ones no longer serve you.  Is it time to finish the relationship?  Is it time to invest some time and energy into it to change it?  Is it time celebrate the relationship?”
  
  
  
• Our relationship with animals can be especially healing and rewarding. Yoga instructor Deb Zobel has found this to be true in her own life. “As I was snuggling with my cats and dog, I observed them intently,” she said. “I looked at each of them, seeing just how amazing they are, each with their distinctive and beautiful fur, their eyes that can see right through to your soul, each being as unique as you and me.  I also noticed how slowly and peacefully they were breathing, some of the cats purring in the bliss of relaxation while in contact with their human.  They were content just to be with me. I then contemplated how I felt.   The warmth of their bodies, their soft fur as well as the vibration of the purring made me feel relaxed, content and at peace.  And love.  It was a vivid example of the harmonious relationship we have with our animal friends.  We, on one hand, know on a cognitive level what they need – food, shelter, vet care, and yes attention and love.  But the animals seem to have a deeper understanding of what love is, and nurture that every chance they get.  They cultivate a true relationship with us whether by their funny antics or child-like naughtiness, but most amazingly, by their desire to just be with us.  Animals seem to have an innate sense of our need to feel a physical and emotional bond to another living being and they fulfill that need most graciously.  We are truly connected at the most profound level.”
  
  
  
• Our connection with our own self is one of the most essential and rewarding relationships we can have, but also often one of the least recognized. “Even when we are alone, we are not connected to ourselves,” says Tracy. “In fact we are often not even aware of our own true self. As much as we can’t escape ourselves, this is frequently the most neglected connection we have. And the hardest, and most rewarding, work you’ll ever do.”

 

• With attention and care, we can build up the connections that nourish us. “Each person's individual task is to pay attention. To actually learn on purpose which connection shifts you from where you are to a higher place,” explains Tracy. “People. Source. Sounds. Scents. Nature. Animals or pets. Self. Do you know which connections move you from the dark places toward the light?”

This week we invite you to join us in saying yes to nurturing the connections in your life, whatever they may be for you! Stay tuned for tips, fun facts, and inspiration--and don’t forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.

t’s your passport to foreign lands. It’s a doorway to imagination. It’s a teacher of languages, and a caster of spells. It’s an escape, an accomplice, a confidant. It’s a friend.

A good book is all of these things, and more.

“Each book is a treasure, waiting to be uncovered,” says myofascial release practitioner Lisa Franklin.  “What secrets does it reveal, what new piece of information does it hold, where will it take me?”

Lisa’s been an avid reader since the age of four. “I’ve read a wide variety of things, one summer I spent reading the bible and the entire World Book Encyclopedia (that dates me, doesn’t it?).  I’ve read matchbooks, pamphlets, booklets, comic books, War and Peace, the Greek tragedies, romance novels, self-help, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, lots of insurance course books and so much more!”

For Lisa, reading isn’t just an intellectual exercise--it’s a complete sensory experience. “I love the smell of books, the feel of the paper, the weight in my hands, the endless possibilities they represent.”

In addition to the sheer enjoyment, there are many other benefits to reading, Lisa explains. “Did you know reading regularly improves focus and attention?  It aids in relaxation, creates stronger analytical skills, helps with writing skills, improves memory retention, expands vocabulary and provides so much enjoyment.  Children who are read to at a young age are generally better students when they get to school because you’ve already set them on the path.”

Massage therapist and athletic trainer Stacy Ford enjoys reading for relaxation, but stresses that for people to reap the benefits of reading, they need to do it on their terms, finding a genre and method that works best for them so that it’s about enjoyment, not pressure.

“I am one of those people who doesn’t comprehend well when reading,” she says. “I do better with the learning styles of kinesthetic (hands-on) or visual (seeing something being done) or auditory (being told how things happen.) Which makes sense that I am an athletic trainer and massage therapist. I learn by touch and manipulating the body to reduce pain and assist in healing. For me to enjoy reading, the subject has to be either an engaging or fascinating topic, or a fictional story I can follow easily.”
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Audiobooks complement traditional books for Reiki and reflexology practitioner and teacher Tracy McGovern, who always has one in her queue to transform boring or stressful activities into chances to get lost in a story. According to Tracy, audiobooks are “an unbelievably enjoyable and complete cure to zenless driving” and can even “bring joy to dirty dishes, unfolded laundry and messy spaces.”

A friend who brings knowledge, stress relief, improved vocabulary, comfort, entertainment, AND joy to dirty dishes? Yes, please!

This week we invite you to join us in saying yes to reading, however it works for you! Stay tuned for tips, fun facts, and inspiration--and don’t forget to share your own stories, ideas, and tips with us by tagging us at #chronicwellness and #cwquakertown.