MOMS’ WELLNESS EVENT PROVIDES ADVICE, RELAXATION, AND EARTH-LOVIN’
The premier wellness event of the season kicked off on Thursday, September 18th with ‘Back to School, Back to YOU!’, a moms’ evening of networking and wellness at Chicago’s acclaimed non-toxic day spa, Noktivo, in support of the National Farm to School Network.
k.o. kidz Corp. Founder and CEO, Karen Orlich joined Joy Duginske, Owner of Joy to Wellness health coaching, Candice Wu, MA-Holistic Therapist and Bianka Hardin, Psy.D. and Owner of Centered Therapy Chicago to provide healthy eating (and eco-friendly) advice for school lunches and stress relieving tips and techniques for moms. This team really “walked the talk” in wellness by offering raw, organic juices provided by Earth’s Healing Café, organic wines, healthyfruit/veggie trays, superfood chia shots from The Chia Co., and complimentary spa sessions with Simple Beauty Naturals and massages from Tennille Jones, MELT Massage.
Additionally, this green themed event had zero disposable waste by utilizing reusable, dry-erase nametags from Florida Badges, cloth napkins, garden herb “flower” arrangements, and ‘mag-bag’ goodie bags (magazines repurposed to gift bags) provided by k.o. kidz. Joy Duginske, Certified Health Coach, began the evening’s presentation with some nutrition information from our public schools’ cafeterias. “Fries are considered a vegetable according to published nutrition standards,” stated Joy. “And, the chicken fingers have more than 30 ingredients.” She highlighted an ‘unhealthy’ lunch that many of us feed our kids – peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, organic fruit yogurt squeeze pouch, multi-grain crackers, and pre-packaged trail mix (all packaged in plastic, disposable bags). These supposedly healthy sounding foods can be deceiving with sugar, salt, and preservatives in the top five ingredients. She emphasized the importance of eating whole foods (i.e. unprocessed food that is free from additives or other artificial substances) and reading food labels BEFORE you buy.
Karen Orlich, k.o. kidz, then shared her recommendations on eco-friendly back to school gear must haves for a truly healthy, ‘green’ lunch. “20 million sandwich bags are thrown away every day in the U.S. It’s disgusting!” k.o. kidz researched and tested several reusable snack/sandwich bags and lunch boxes and found three U.S. based, mom owned and operated businesses that are committed to the environment. SnackTAXI, Bento-ware, and Dabbawalla were all highlighted for their exceptional, durable, and creatively designed products and were part of a give-away at the end of the night. Karen also added, “Over 2.5 billion disposable food and drink pouches are consumed every year in the United States.” The high cost and lack of recyclability of these pouches motivated Karen to design and develop a reusable, eco-friendly pouch for on-the-go use which she debuted at the event.
Bianka Hardin, Centered Therapy Chicago, continued the presentation with 7 tips to maintain a sense of calm in your family during a time of change. Bianka began with ‘focus on yourself’ stating, “In order for us to be good parents and make good decisions, we need to take care of ourselves first. So, self-care is not selfish, it is the best thing parents can do for themselves and their families.” She emphasized that self-care is important for the whole family as well. Additional tips included: ‘good enough is good enough’, ‘make regular and open communication a family habit’, ‘start small changes to make improvements’, and ‘get involved in community’. She concluded with ‘get support’ stating, “Anything that can help you feel supported or better cope with stress will have a positive impact on your quality or life.” Candice Wu, Holistic Therapist and Certified Yoga Instructor, closed the event with relaxation techniques and a meditation. “Mothers can be such a central and powerful force in the family, your self-care is essential” stated Candice. “Whenever we use the senses, energy goes outward, so when we bring the senses inward, we create renewed energy and bring healing to our bodies and minds.” She recommended several meditative and mindfulness exercises and/or a restorative yoga class to better cope with the stress of back to school. Ohm to that! *Hey, let’s work together in fighting for a greener planet! Sign up at www.koecolife.com and receive valuable coupons, tips, & product updates. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and twitter for our latest news and events too.
