September Meeting Recap: Navigating Vaccination Decisions

Our September meeting on "Navigating Vaccination Decisions" with Barbara Loe Fisher was full of information and resources on this confusing subject. Barbara gave an overview of childhood vaccination requirements and discussed how parents might increase their understanding of potential adverse effects of vaccinations as well as potential effects of contracting diseases. Members and visitors asked a number of thoughtful questions, and Barbara provided thoughtful responses. Thank you Barbara for providing our group with a huge amount of valuable information!

September Meeting Announcement: Navigating Vaccination Decisions

On Tuesday, September 7, the DC Chapter of the Holistic Moms Network will welcome Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-Founder and President of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), who will speak on the topic of “Navigating Vaccination Decisions”.

The NVIC is a national, non-profit educational organization founded in 1982. The oldest and largest consumer organization advocating the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections in the mass vaccination system, NVIC is responsible for launching the vaccine safety and informed consent movement in America in the early 1980's. The NVIC is dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and to defending the informed consent ethic. As an independent clearinghouse for information on diseases and vaccines, NVIC does not promote the use of vaccines and does not advise against the use of vaccines. NVIC supports the availability of all preventive health care options, including vaccination, and the right of consumers to make educated, voluntary health care choices.

Barbara Loe Fisher is co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). She is the co-author of DPT: A Shot in the Dark (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985; Warner 1986; Avery 1991); author of The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines (NVIC 1997) and Vaccines, Autism & Chronic Inflammation: The New Epidemic (2008). During the early 1980's, she helped launch a grassroots movement to bring the issue of vaccine safety to public attention. She served on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (1988-1991); the Institute of Medicine Vaccine Safety Forum (1995-1998) where she has helped to coordinate five public workshops on vaccine safety issues; the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (1999-2003); the Vaccine Policy Analysis Collaborative (2002-2005) and is a member of the Consumer’s United for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Cochrane Collaboration – U.S. She has represented health care consumers at many scientific conferences, government meetings and legislative hearings and is a featured speaker at health care conferences in the U.S., Canada and Europe. As NVIC's public spokesperson, she has contributed to numerous newspaper and magazine articles about vaccine safety and appears on national radio and television programs discussing vaccines and diseases and advocating informed consent to vaccination.

Our “Navigating Vaccination Decisions” meeting with Barbara Loe Fisher will take place on Tuesday, September 7 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. There is street parking in Cleveland Park, and the library is also metro accessible through the Cleveland Park/Red Line stop.

August Meeting Recap: Ice Cream Social

We had a terrific social in August, with many, many varieties of ice cream to try. The ice cream made from coconut milk seemed to be the favorite. We also had a terrific discussion on holistic first aid, and shared tips and ideas with each other.

Thank you to all the members and attendees who brought such tasty treats!

August Meeting Announcement: Ice Cream Social & Holistic First Aid Discussion

On Tuesday, August 3, the DC Chapter of the Holistic Moms Network is holding an ice cream social! Please bring a pint of your favorite type of ice cream, especially non-dairy varieties. There are many varieties of ice cream available now – made from rice, almonds, soy, coconut, hemp and others – and we’ll try to sample as many as we can while discussing holistic first aid. Please also bring a bowl and spoon for sampling! This is a great way to beat the heat, socialize together, and talk about many household items that can be used for first aid purposes. We hope to see you there!

Our social will take place on Tuesday, August 3 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. There is street parking in Cleveland Park, and the library is also metro accessible through the Cleveland Park/Red Line stop.

July Meeting Recap: Mindful Eating

In July, Monica Silvestro spoke to us about Mindful Eating, which we learned incorporates many things, especially connecting with the food you eat. Monica spoke about the importance of eating without distractions such as books, magazines, and TV, and of chewing our food slowly and many times before swallowing. After she spoke, we all practiced eating one grape and one cookie mindfully, and then discussed the experience. Many of us noted that we were satisfied with only one cookie! Thank you Monica for a great evening!

July Meeting Announcement: Mindful Eating

On Tuesday, July 20, we will welcome Monica Silvestro, Certified Holistic Health Counselor, who will speak on "Mindful Eating".

Mindful eating addresses the following eating habits many of us develop after having children:
-Eating our meals quickly and barely tasting the food because we need to
attend to our children or get things done around the house or the office.
-Snacking or eating meals on the go because we're trying to fit everything into our family's busy lives.
-Eating when we're not hungry, or eating more than we really need in a meal.

Through a step-by-step interactive process, Monica will teach us how to eat more mindfully and reconnect with our food.

Our Mindful Eating meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 20 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Cleveland Park Public Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008. There is street parking in Cleveland Park, and the library is also metro accessible through the Cleveland Park/Red Line stop.

**Please note that our July meeting is not on our usual first Tuesday, due to a scheduling conflict; we will be back to meeting on the first Tuesday of each month in August.**

June Meeting Recap: Ayurveda for the Family

On June 1, Anne Thiel, Certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant, spoke to our chapter about incorporating Ayurvedic health and lifestyle principles into our lives to improve the health of our families. She discussed the characteristics of the three doshas that comprise Ayurveda, and taught us how we can determine which doshas are dominant in ourselves and our children. From there, she discussed certain foods and activities that are better for certain doshas, all of which help us to bring our bodies into balance. Thank you Anne for a wonderful presentation and for getting us started down a path to understanding Ayurveda!

Anne provided us with terrific handouts, which will be available to members on our Yahoo Groups list.

We hope to see you next month for "Mindful Eating"!