Content about Health

“There is something fundamentally spiritual about dirt under your fingernails,” says landscape designer and inspirational speaker Terry Hershey.  To help islanders deepen their awareness of gardening as spiritual practice, the Vashon Episcopal Church is offering a free workshop, led by Terry Hershey, entitled, “Soul Gardening: Creating Sanctuary in Our Lives for Rest and Renewal.”  The workshop will be held on Saturday, October 1, 1:00-4:00, in Bennett Hall (the lower level of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, across the street from the Vashon Commun

Many people are changing their garden practices when they learn that some pesticides can be very harmful to their pets who spend so much time playing in their landscape.

Pesticides can run off into streams, evaporate or drift into the air, and drain into our groundwater where they can cause harm to us and wildlife. The direct risk to our health from our use of pesticides in our landscape may sometimes be minimized by proper use, and if we do not spend a lot of time in our landscape.

It would be nearly impossible to live in America today and not know that there is a woman running for the position of President. Indeed, with a campaign slogan that focuses your attention entirely upon her sex (I’m with HER), how could you miss it?

Right now, we are facing a serious threat to our safety and freedom. As is so often the case, this threat is coming from good people, well-intentioned people who seek only to protect society.  But good intentions aren’t enough.

When you go to the doctor, you may take the right to informed consent for granted. The doctor makes a recommendation, which usually includes information about the risks and benefits of that recommendation. You may choose to follow that recommendation, ask more questions or decide to do more research before making a decision. Perhaps you choose to seek a second opinion. In the end, you may refuse the doctor’s recommendation. These are all your rights under informed consent.

There has been a lot of talk lately about “going green” and reducing your ecological footprint. Many environmentalists suggest switching to compact florescent lights, taking shorter showers, and driving a hybrid car. While these things do help, the environmental benefits of these actions pale in comparison to the good done by going vegan—eliminating your consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products—the single best thing you can do to protect our environment and reduce pollution.

In Washington State, certain vaccines are required prior to enrollment at any school or childcare, public or private. Washington State also provides three exemptions: medical, religious and personal/philosophical. House Bill (HB) 2009 seeks to eliminate the personal/philosophical exemption.

Why should you care? Because informed consent protects us all.

For our early fall event, Shape Up Vashon is offering guided walks, runs and a bike event from Sept 18-Oct 19.

Free and open to everyone. Just meet at the times and places noted. Some walks and runs are on uneven trails. Bring water and consider walking sticks or poles. Check www.shapeupvashon.org additional activities, changes, or weather postponements.

We live in a time-stressed culture. “Faster and better” are spoken so frequently as a pair that we’ve come to view them as synonyms. Faster might be nice for internet connections, but it causes problems when applied to human beings. Fast food is not better food. Quick naps are not better sleep. Ten minute medical appointments are not better health care. Sound bites are not better conversation.

Asthma is at record levels in the United States, near epidemic in some ethnic and income groups. And while experts are at a loss to name a cause, two things are agreed upon: asthma kills (3,404 deaths U.S. deaths attributed to asthma in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) and drugs are a far less than perfect solution (just read the precautions on the label for asthma drugs).

Vashon Youth & Family Services announces today that it is consolidating its Mental Health and Chemical Dependency treatment programs into a single Mental Health program. The agency will close the Outpatient Addiction and Recover Services (OARS) program. Instead it will provide support and education for Islanders struggling with addiction and recovery issues through its Mental Health counseling staff and identify referral sources for those who must seek more intensive levels of treatment in facilities off-Island.

When the media discusses autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is usually in terms of disabled children. But children have this odd habit of growing up into adults. The population of adults with ASD is quite large and growing larger every year. So, what does it mean to be an adult with ASD? And what are the likely impacts upon our overall society?