Be Well - Women 4 Wellness Fair debuts today

PABLO — Today, in an effort to raise awareness about significant women’s health issues, the first Women 4 Wellness health fair begins. It is free to the public, and more than 100 exhibitors will be on hand to provide testing and informational health lectures at the Joe McDonald Health and Fitness Center on the Salish Kootenai College campus.

Several specialists within the county will offer their expertise to women throughout the day from 10 a.m. through 7:30 p.m.

Kathie Maiers and Eleanor Vizcarra, co-coordinators for the day’s events, said this year the SKC Prevention Task Force and the Office of Women’s Health have made this event open to women of all ages, and that it is a large-scale attempt to educate and empower women.

“We moved mountains to make this happen,” Vizcarra said, adding that a panel of 30 women, and subsequent committees, helped decide which women’s issues to address at the clinic.

Several on-site tests, including blood pressure testing, feet, back, glucose osteoporosis, HIV, STD, STI, vision and dental tests and evaluations will be provided today. Vouchers for other free tests will be handed out as well.

“There’s huge support from all the businesses here,” Maiers said, adding that the fair sprouted from a grant.

More than 14 speakers, including doctors from St. Luke and St. Joseph hospitals, and health specialists from Kalispell to Missoula will provide information and services at the clinic.

“Without everyone’s participation this couldn’t happen,” Vizcarra said.

Not only is physical health a component to a woman’s overall well-being, but a sense of personal wholeness is also vital. There are several professional women within the county who have made it their life’s mission to help women achieve this.

One of the speakers at the health fair is Dr. Katie Carter, a licensed naturopathic physician in Polson. She will speak in the Arlee Charlo building at 4 p.m. Carter focuses on preventative, holistic measures when diagnosing and correcting health issues.

Too frequently women are written prescriptions when their illnesses can most often be treated in a more natural way, she said. For instance, the types of food consumed play a major role in preventing diseases, along with exercise.

“Try to get everything locally,” she said, adding that this allows consumers to be certain that the meat is from animals that were active and grass fed.

Carter refers many of her patients to oncologists, and said there is “a lot of give and take” between her and the different health specialists in the medical community.

Exercise, diet and healthy ways of coping with stress are among the chief things women can do to take care of themselves and prevent illnesses. Stress reduction is important to a person’s overall health. There are many modes to achieve this, Carter said.

Sylvia Robert, of Arlee, has been practicing yoga for 30 years. She teaches several schools of study, including hatha which focuses on physical movement, affecting the body, mind and spirit. Other yoga focuses on breath, meditation and chanting.

“Breath is at the bottom of all disharmony,” Robert said, and for this reason her favorite practice is kundalini. She also practices and teaches and Jin Shin Jyitsu, which also focuses on a natural harmony by listening to pulse depths, rhythms and qualities.

Philippa Crawford, of Arlee, has found the Emotional Freedom Technique to work for her. She helps clients release stress and achieve a clarity of mind by teaching them to find “peace within the daily grind.”

“Sometimes we get into this hampster wheel,” she said, “and this helps shift that. Women don’t nurture themselves enough.”

Crawford said that EFT honors where a person is at during any moment of the day, and provides them with choices. This form of “psychological acupuncture” helps shift the chemicals in the body, it is quick and can be self-applied.

“We all gravitate toward different modes,” Crawford said of the ways in which women find peace a fast-paced world.

While it is important for women to stay personally grounded in themselves, physical confidence can be achieved from exercise, while also affecting other aspects of a woman’s happiness and inner strength.

Melinda Leas owns the Pilates Plus studio in Polson. Mat classes, fitness evaluations, initial and ongoing fitness programs, therapeutic massage and weight management consultations are offered at the studio.

Barb Gannon has been attending Leas’ pilates classes more than two times a week for the past few months, and said she has noticed a significant difference in her health.

“It’s helped my lower back, and it’s helped with my balance,” Gannon said.

Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that increases mobility and flexibility while strengthening a person’s core and improving posture.

“A lot of people use pilates as a way to get back to fitness,” Leas said.

While pilates seeks to strengthen the physical core of a body, counselors can also help aid in a woman’s emotional stability.

Licensed professional counselor for more than 30 years, Karen McMullen of Polson, knows what most women need to achieve a sound emotional well-being, and she said every woman needs release. That release varies from woman to woman and comes in different forms. Women must find a balance in their lives and take time for themselves, she said.

“We live in an emotionally illiterate society,” she said. “You don’t want to get into neutral. The more we feel, the more alive we feel.”

McMullen said that too often people cork-up their emotions, when they should be expressing them.

“Everyone’s an individual,” she said, adding that a sense of community and a support network is vital to a woman’s emotional health. “Women often exhaust themselves. When you feel solid in yourself you have so much more to give.”

There are several things women can do to recoup after a draining day or personal situation. Massage therapist Kelley Brown has been helping women unwind for more than 15 years at Heart View Center in Arlee.

“Massage helps people mentally and emotionally,” she said, “it releases stress.”

For many people who see Brown, that hour of muscle manipulation is all they take for themselves each week, she said.

“It should be part of your overall health routine,” Brown said, noting that massage therapy increases circulation and can decrease injuries and speed-up recovery times.

In addition to massage therapy, Brown is also a Reiki practitioner, which she said is another way to heal the body, mind and spirit.

“We are all connected energetically,” she said, and Reiki allows this energy to be transferred for the betterment of the body.

The women within this story are passionate about helping others. Similar experts will bring their professional knowledge and experience to the free health fair today. Childcare will be offered at the event, and women of all ages are encouraged to attend.