Optimal states of health swing on a personal continuum, a gauge of presence and peace in each moment measured not in years, but by alignment with our body’s divine intuition. This power is far greater than any force, an original strength born of light and truth that reaches every cell. 

One simple invitation can engage this wisdom, accessing a realm of guidance toward restorative life choices to spark our most essential immunity. The energetic matrix responsible for these shifts is our foundation for change and for understanding what comes next in the course of healing.  

November’s issue highlights core components of a solid constitution, illuminating the value of adequate nutrition, toxin-free environments, pure water sources and support of the body’s intricate digestive and metabolic systems. Stress reduction remains the common denominator in minimizing destructive patterns and depletion of essential energy reserves.  

Many studies have proven the debilitating and dangerous effects of mental, physical and emotional strain over time and a cumulative need has been rising, spreading warning signs of pain, depression fatigue and burnout in communities everywhere. We all hold a lot—caring deeply and grappling with our individual and shared boundaries, deflecting invasions and protecting all that we hold sacred. 

Personal experience with regular massage, reiki, acupuncture, yoga and other therapeutic modalities planted seeds for both of us in learning how to manage the balancing act of giving and receiving. Authentic expression through postures and mantras of non-judgmental release can be beautiful steps on the way to regaining or preserving resilience and joy.  

We embarked on this publishing adventure to continue exploring and sharing the wealth of wellness benefits available to all. Seventy-two issues of Natural Awakenings Lancaster-Berks later, we are now happily celebrating our sixth-year anniversary and continue in gratitude for the solid, local foundation of knowledge and expertise that surrounds us all. The practitioners and business owners that fill these pages create a dynamic network, an accessible and compassionate human touch and embrace wide enough to help in holding all that we carry together.  

Local efforts reflect years of this worldwide healing movement; the Benson-Henry Institute of Mind Body Medicine at *Massachusetts General Hospital has extensively researched the effects of chronic stress, reporting on resultant mental health, cardiovascular, immune and addiction issues. Their work clearly supports profound options to elicit the relaxation response. The aforementioned holistic approaches, along with deep breathing, meditation, prayer and tai chi, physical activity and social connections, all support reactivation of the parasympathetic nervous system for inducing a calm and balanced state.  

A clear mind and peaceful heart are the ultimate antidotes to distress and disease, and by slowing down, nourishing spirits and raising frequencies, we naturally enhance the art of living well. Daily practices of self-care become devotion in the company of gratitude and a desire to live life on purpose, rising with balance and strength to meet each day. 

~Jacqueline Mast & Kendra Campbell, Co-Publishers

*Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in the early 1800s, is the largest teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School, and its research institute operates the largest hospital-affiliated research program in the country.