Hello Milwaukee!

We have been blessed with such a beautiful autumn here in southeastern Wisconsin that it’s easy to forget how swiftly the holiday season is approaching.

Holidays are a time to express love and gratitude to those we care about, and that often includes gifting. However, though giving gifts can feel wonderful, it can also create unwanted stress and waste. Here at Natural Awakenings Milwaukee, we want to make the holidays enjoyable with zero downside. Thus, we have curated a robust collection of gifts that you’ll feel good about giving to your loved ones—or even yourself! We are excited to share with you the Natural Awakenings Milwaukee Holiday Gift Guide: a local, sustainable, wellness approach to your holiday shopping. Check it out on page 18.

We also focus on mental health in our November issue, keeping in mind that mental well-being is inseparable from our other components of health—including physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental. Each asset of health is a leg that supports our table of overall well-being—remove one leg and the sturdiness of the whole table is threatened. Similarly, when one component of health is suffering, the whole suffers. I share this concept as a reminder that the content in this issue, though varied, is actually quite linked to our mental wellness.

On that note, check out our Conscious Eating article on page 22. In “Eat Well to Feel Well”, local naturopathic doctor, Sarah Axtell, and local holistic health expert, Pat Molter, share festive recipes with ingredients to support a balanced mood.

In our News Briefs, you will find several upstanding community leaders and providers who offer coaching, therapy and other tools to support our mental health, such as holistic health practitioner, Jack Cincotta (page 7); and Leah Mott, APNP, of Lake Effect Wellness, who is now seeing new clients at INVIVO Wellness (page 8). Additionally, Dr. Aruna Tummala and her integrative team will be hosting an Open House on November 13 at Trinergy Health. There, you can learn more about the myriad tools for mental health that you may not have considered before (page 7). Also, inspired by our September issue which emphasized creativity as a tool for healing, local art education specialist Heather Eiden has developed a workshop at the Milwaukee Art Therapy Collective for kids to stretch their creative minds (page 8). 

Another component of mental health is self-care. When is the last time you invested in yourself with a massage? Not only does this physically lessen tension in the body, research shows that massage and bodywork can have a profound impact on lessening mental tension as well. Infinity Massage and Bodywork and INVIVO Wellness are two local businesses that offer a variety of therapeutic massage options to suit individual needs. 

For the younger members in your circle of loved ones, our Healthy Kids article (page 26) dives into mindfulness as a tool to help teens manage anxiety, build resilience, learn positive coping skills and feel empowered. 

We explore cognitive strategies for keeping our brains sharp in our Healing Ways section on page 16. Since having a healthy outlook on life—and death—is also a factor in mental wellness, check out our digital exclusive, “Dying Well,” which explores four steps to approaching death with presence and perspective. Never forgetting our fur babies, we explore healthy grieving strategies to honor the loss of a pet on page 30. These strategies can be applied to grieving in other ways, too. And finally, having a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing home plays its own part in mental health, so check out “Eco-Decor for the Home” on page 14 for a few ideas.

Wishing you a happy, vibrant and eco-conscious holiday season!

Jordan Peschek, RN-BSN, Publisher