April is Physical Wellness Month!
Spring is a wonderful time to check in on yourself, your family, and your friends. In April we celebrate many things and Physical Wellness is one of them. In observance of Physical Wellness Month we encourage you to motivate, educate, and inspire those around you to make small but significant changes in their lives ~ implement some new good habits. This can be done in a direct or indirect way. Let’s start with a couple of ideas.
During this month you and your loved ones may have celebrations ~ Birthdays, Good Friday, Easter, Passover, Birthdays, Earth Day, even Arbor Day!
Be the one who brings a few dishes to the party that are clean, and health-focused. Use the “dirty dozen” or “clean 15” list to shop! As much as possible purchase organic when going for the dirty dozen. Display these dishes with a simple tent card that lists the ingredients. Do a little research and include some of the health benefits of each ingredient. This is a subtle way of educating and you may even learn something yourself. Make it fun with a quick illustration or scribble ~ think of how easy and silly a carrot or beet is to draw! You may even include a QR code that links to the dirty dozen or clean 15 or print it and leave a stack near your dish for guest to take. Make them small so they fit in a wallet for ongoing healthy choices.
This April, start a Month long Health & Wellness Challenge. You can do this with your own family, extended family, cousins, friends, co-workers – you decide! And create your own challenge or follow one you find in a book or online. Make it simple, easy and fun. Set times for daily check-ins, days for group gatherings, and an end of the month celebration. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how this can strengthen relationships while instilling lasting healthy habits.
The best part is you will enjoy reaping the benefits of your authentic and loving approach to this challenge. Along with some new energy ~ physical, mental, and even spiritual! We hope you thoroughly enjoy the Spring that April has to bring!
Book A Craniosacral Appointment
Dr. Mercuro is Offering Craniosacral Osteopathy to Members & Non-Members starting in April!
Dr. Mercuro has found working with her patient’s cranial mechanism has a very important clinical impact. Sometimes, she see patients in her practice who have exhausted all conventional and integrative avenues on their health journey and sometimes she sees patients who are overall well but are just trying to optimize their health.
Regardless of where on the health continuum the person is, traditional osteopathic treatment, including cranial osteopathy, is beneficial. Why? Because it enlists the patient’s own natural self-healing mechanisms, it is as powerful as nature itself. Dr. Mercuro likes to say that as a functional medicine doctor, one of the most important things that she does is to HEAR the patient’s story. Listen to everything that they have experienced leading up to that moment. As an osteopathic doctor, she also FEELS that patient’s story in their tissue.
What is observed and treated during Cranial Osteopathic treatment?
- The motility of the brain and spinal cord
- The fluctuation of the cerebral spinal fluid
- Mobility of the membranes in the head (the dura)
- Mobility of the cranial bones
- Mobility of the sacrum in the pelvis
These motions are felt by the osteopathic doctor and the “osteopathic lesion” describes when there is an abnormality in any of these areas. Then, working with the motion present, the osteopathic doctor reduces or eliminates any tensions and restores proper balance and alignment of the body.
What causes abnormal movement of the cranium & all the components?
Life as you can imagine can lead to abnormal patterns of movement. It is not just trauma to the head but small or large traumas, acute or chronic events and insults anywhere in the body can set up a pattern of compensation that can lead to abnormal motion. The abnormal motion impairs the individual’s ability to express the healing mechanism that is within all of us.
Often people seek out osteopathy due to an area of pain or a specific ailment. During a cranial osteopathic treatment, the osteopath may place hands on seemingly unrelated areas of the body. This is because sometimes the origin of the problem is not the area of the symptoms. The analogy is when a cat’s tail is pulled, the noise indicating a problem comes from the cat’s mouth.
The connectivity of all the anatomical body compartments including the bones, fascia, connective tissue, nerves, vascular and lymphatic systems can allow for symptoms to manifest relative to that body’s response to whatever insult created the osteopathic lesion.
What does Osteopathy in the Cranial Field treat?
There is a place for cranial osteopathic treatment in every patient. The normalization or balancing of these movements can affect the health of the entire body – from the function of the cells of the body to the organ systems and the interconnection of the mind, body and spirit. Because it works on facilitating the healing response and we are all in a constant state of wear, tear and repair there is a role for osteopathic treatment to maintain health in addition to treating symptoms and conditions.
Free For Sparkle Members in April
Spring Cleaning: 10-Day Detox May 9
Led by Kate Swords, Functional Nutritionist
Join us for a 10-day guided metabolic detox program. Spring is a time of change – a natural transition between the cold wet winter and hot humid summer. It brings new growth and regeneration, making it a great time to refresh the body and mind. A spring metabolic detox can help us shed the toxins (and weight) we have accumulated over the long, slower winter.
Why Consider a Sparkle Detox?
- Help jumpstart habit change
- An opportunity to improve chronic symptoms
- Spark weight loss
- Work on reducing your toxic burden
- Support and be supported by like-minded people
The Details:
- Two 60-minute Zoom meetings – Tuesday May 9 & Thursday May 18 at 6 pm est
- Cost: $209 **Sparkle Health members save 15%**
● Included: 10-day Detox kit, instruction, food plan, emails, group support
We will contact you upon registration for payment and to arrange distribution of the supplements.
**We also have some great options here at Sparkle to enhance your metabolic detox such as infrared sauna and massage therapy.**
Join Sparkle Health for a “Spring Cleaning” this May!
Next Functionally Fit Coming May 16
Dr. Elisa Mercuro, DO is Board Certified in Obesity Medicine!
She & her team are here to guide & support you as you become Functionally Fit.
Check out our website to learn more about our Functionally Fit Program which combines functional medicine with evidence-based weight loss tools.
Space is limited so register today!
Understanding Biological Age: May 31
Understanding Biological Age: In-House Testing & Zoom Hybrid
Zoom Meeting: May 31, 6-7PM EST
Cost: $299
Dr. Elisa Mercuro, DO, is pleased to offer a unique new learning experience. This hybrid event will start with a visit to Sparkle Health where you take a BioAge testing by TruDiagnostics. At that time, you will also receive a copy of Dr. Hyman’s book, “Young Forever” to read before our on-line discussion. Results of your test results will be emailed to you when available.
From there, you are encouraged to read the book and we will have a Zoom session to discuss the BioAge results in general and interventions to improve biological age. We will also use and discuss relevant information from “Young Forever” which you can apply to your specific results.
Cost of the event includes the testing and book. Upon registering, Sparkle Health will contact you to set up a time to visit for your BioAge test.
What is a BioAge Test?
A BioAge test gives you a measure of your biological age vs your chronological age as well as your telomere length.
Why Measure Age?
Aging is cellular loss of function. In longevity research, we track molecular markers that have been correlated with that aging process. While your chronological age will always progress at a fixed rate, biological age can show a summary of how a person’s lifestyle choices and behaviors are affecting their body.
We don’t all age in the same way, at the same rate.
Special Days In April
April 2 Nature Day | Palm Sunday | World Autism Awareness Day
April 3 National Find a Rainbow Day | National Inspiring Joy Day
April 4 International Carrot Day | National Vitamin C Day
April 5 National Self Care Day | National Walking Day | Passover (starts at sundown)
April 7 Good Friday | Walk to Work Day
April 9 Easter
April 10 National Siblings Day
April 11 National Pet Day
April 14 International Kids Yoga Day | National Gardening Day
April 15 National ASL Day
April 16 Good Deeds Day
April 18 Adult Autism Awareness Day | National Exercise Day
April 21 National Tea Day | World Creativity & Innovation Day
April 22 Earth Day
April 23 National Picnic Day
April 26 Get Organized Day
April 27 Take Daughters & Sons to Work Day
April 28 Arbor Day | Global Pay It Forward Day
April 29 International Dance Day
Weekly Observances
April 1 to 7: Be Kind to Spiders Week
April 2 to 8: Holy Week
April 3 to 9: National Public Health Week
April 4 to 8: National Wildlife Week
April 14 to 23: National Dance Week
April 23 to 29: National Library Week
Monthly Observances
Canine Fitness
Celebrate Diversity
Counseling Awareness
Move More Month
National Garden
National Poetry
National Stress Awareness
National Volunteer
Sexual Assault Awareness
Testicular Cancer Awareness
