The Wholistic Health Alliance (WHA) held it’s very first all holistic symposium on Gut Health on May 21st 2016, at the Dwarkamai Temple in North Billerica, MA. Leading holistic experts representing 7 holistic modalities shared guidelines for promotion of gut health, prevention and non-pharmaceutical solutions for common gut issues.

The Symposium started with a multidisciplinary panel of 5 experts - Suraja Menon Roychowdhury represented Acupuncture, Pratibha Shah shared Ayurvedic expertise, Sneh Jaisingh gave important information about changing Nutrition messages and more, Nancy Carlson the Reiki Master spoke about the role of energy healing in gut health and overall health, and Beth Marik talked about Pranayama and other aspects of Yogic practices to resolve as well as support gut health. The panel was moderated by Jean Popovich, who covered important gut health related topics in 4 rounds of questions. The experts gave away key self-care techniques and self-help tips. This was followed by Q&A session with attendees. A healthy nutritious meal was provided.

The afternoon session was designed to be experiential and immersion style. Sneh Jaisingh opened the workshops with her nutrition demo on fermented foods and anti-inflammatory foods for gut health. Her session was titled ‘Happy Gut = Happy You’. Attendees got to sample homemade kombucha. This was followed by a very interesting workshop on essential oils presented by Michelle Neuner and Louise Lussier. They talked about how effective Essential Oils can be in providing quick relief in common gut issues. Everyone got to smell and even apply common essential oils for gut health such as Fennel oil, Ginger oil, Peppermint oil, etc.  This session was titled 'Tame Your Tummy Improve Your Health'. Yoga Expert Maureen St Croix then led the attendees to various Yogic postures and Pranayamas for gut health in her session called ‘Finding your Fire’. The afternoon session closed with Heartfulness Meditation led by Prakash Manden.

Michelle Neuner and Louise Lussier were our vendors representing DoTerra Essential Oils. A big thanks to them. WHA would also like to thank all the volunteers as well as attendees for making this effort a big success. And this event could not have been possible without our great patrons and supporters, Shri Dwarkamai Sai Temple, Billerica.

Few comments that were shared with WHA about the event:

Dr Ashok Bhargava:

‘Was there - enjoyed every bit of the Symposium . Learnt about alternate modalities for health care . It was a pleasure to meet all the experts - all were well informed and extremely knowledgable. I courage everyone look WHA up in future.’

Sudha Subbaraman:

‘Attended a very nice, informative symposium on how to maintain Gut health, which is such a vital channel to overall wellness. Many of the symptoms or ailments we face can actually be deep-rooted in the gut. It is nice to see how different modalities, Ayurveda, Nutrition, Acupuncture, Energy healing, and Yoga practice/meditation can bring balance to the gut. Thanks for presenting this.’

Susan Ganley:

‘A great symposium that was very well received. Everyone did a wonderful job sharing simple, but vital, information about the root of all good health. It only makes sense to start where it all starts... in the digestive track. It is in the sharing of good health successes that we will all see greater success in our healthcare system. My sincere appreciation to Pratibha Shah, the founder of WHA.’

Wholistic Health Alliance is a nationally launched 501(c)3 (pending approval) non-profit organization, founded by leading Ayurveda expert Pratibha Shah, BAMS, Master in Ayurveda, MPH, with the vision of providing a platform for holistic health practitioners to come together under one umbrella, fostering collaborations, building stronger networks, and enabling greater synergy with the community. WHA aims to help build healthier communities through education and information dissemination about self-care, healthy diet and lifestyle, simple tools for primary prevention, and holistic solutions to health and wellness.

Please feel free to support WHA by volunteering and/or providing a donation, so that we can scale our community offerings, which include free talks, workshops, educational articles, and free clinics (tba).

You can find our contact info and more details here: www.wholistichealthalliance.org

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