A Healthy Idyllwild

A Healthy Idyllwild: Handwashing
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Handwashing

During Women’s History month we recognize women’s role in disease prevention through innovation and influencing practices that are more important than ever today.We often think a simple action like frequent handwashing is petty when it comes to preventing disease and staying healthy. We couldn’t be more wrong.Simple hand hygiene is the single most important factor…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Values clarification
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Values clarification

Voltaire once said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”Perhaps, this is a good time to think about our values and about the process known as values clarification.First, what do we mean when we talk of values? There is some general agreement in academic circles regarding the definition of the…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Cervical Cancer Awareness month
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Cervical Cancer Awareness month

January is Cervical Cancer Awareness month.First take-home fact: Most cases of cervical cancer and related deaths occur in women who have not been adequately screened or treated.Second take-home fact: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer.Last take home fact: Prevention is possible.Remember the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a…

A Healthy Idyllwild: What does tolerance of others mean to you?
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A Healthy Idyllwild: What does tolerance of others mean to you?

I have been continuing to think about healthy relationships. Not only relationships with those who are our intimates but also our community and societal relationships. I am convinced, without a doubt, that healthy relationships at all levels, in their very essence, benefit each one of us in every way — physically, emotionally, cognitively, practically and…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Domestic Violence Awareness Month

It’s October. The air is a bit cooler and the breezes are fresh. We trying to stay COVID-free, are either taking or avoiding taking our flu shots, and perhaps, deciding about the pneumonia vaccine. Maybe we are even thinking about the health awareness topics for October.October is that month annually when our health awareness topics…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Effective communication
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Effective communication

We are continuing our exploration of effective communication by looking deeper into the effect of contempt in personal and social relationships along with a few ideas about how to escape the habit of contempt for others.Last month, the focus was on John Gottman’s research on contempt as an avenue to destructive negativity in relationships (See…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Effective communication
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Effective communication

Carrying on our focus on effective communication. What supports it and what undermines it? In 1994, John Gottman, Ph.D., published a small book titled, “Why Marriages Succeed or Fail…and How You Can Make Yours Last.” In it, he shared years of scientifically based research on married couples and challenged some long-held ideas of mental health…

A Healthy Idyllwild: Celebrating shades of gray
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A Healthy Idyllwild: Celebrating shades of gray

Nothing in this article is meant to be medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider. “Once you label me, you negate me,” Soren Kierkegaard  Got your attention? This month we focus on effects of our unhealthy penchant for either/or thinking. Either/or thinking can be defined as “… the tendency to think in terms of polar…

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month
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June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month

Nothing in this article is meant to be medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider. Dementia, a set of symptoms, is the umbrella term for disabling effects on thinking, remembering, reasoning, emotions and behavior. Dementias are caused by damaged brain cells, not a normal part of aging.  There are several different types of dementia. Alzheimer’s…