Wholistic Health Alliance launches Youth Brigade

Wholistic Health Alliance (WHA) recently launched its Youth brigade, with the vision to put Youth at the center of the health dialogue. The Youth Brigade (YB) aims to involve the Youth in starting and engaging in conversations around health. It is targeted toward youth in the age group of 13-19, with the belief that healthy habits should be inculcated young. A healthy childhood and youth ensures a healthier and productive life. This platform will provide an opportunity for our Youth to meet, have a conversation in their own ‘lingo’ within their own ‘tribe’, inspire and support one another, hopefully entrenching them soundly on a healthier life  through education, interaction and role modelling. Participating and contributing in non-profit activities allows them to give back to their community as well. So this initiative is a win-win for the Youth on many fronts.

The YB will meet once in a month, in person or virtually, in a non-academic stress free environment, typically at one of the member’s home. One pre-designated YB member will talk about their health journey, health challenges/successes in the form of a presentation or workshop, or just lead an interactive session of meditation/yoga or similar activities.

YB was launched with a workshop on July 23^rd. Youth Brigade member Ilina Shah conducted a healthy cooking workshop, highlighting the importance of fresh, home-made, nutritious food and demonstrating how cooking can be a lot of fun. She showed how can make delicious favorite foods such as pizza, brownies, etc. and still ace on nutrition and health. She made Spelt flour Pizza, Zucchini Brown rice Almond flour crust Pizza, Black Bean Brownies and Chocolate Avocado Pudding, which were very much liked and appreciated. The Youth (and their mothers who need the best crossbow) engaged enthusiastically in this hands-on workshop and later enjoyed the feast they prepared.

The event was well attended and received great reviews. Here are a few:

Aneesha Karody: One of the best cooking workshops! Loved it!! Thanks Pratibha and llina!!

Reshma Katwa: What a wonderful morning with Pratibha Shah and Ilina Shah. Thank you so much for introducing black bean brownie, zucchini based pizza with unlimited veggies and avocado pudding. Way to eat healthy food! Great program for youth, learn to eat and live healthy.

Sudha Subbaraman: Awesome workshop by our Ilina! Each of the foods she prepared was delicious and so wholesome and healthy. And teaching and involving the kiddos was the icing on the cake! Thanks so much, Way to go, Pratibha and Ilina! 

WHA has been flooded with requests for a repeat of this workshop and we have decided to announce one soon. The second WHA YB event will be held on August 13^th, featuring Anish Sundaram, whose presentation is titled From 198 to 118 to 145, The Down and Up Journey.

Here are the profiles of few YB members:

Ilina Shah is a 19 year old, Statistics and Political Science double major at UMass Amherst. Beyond academics, her interests include Kathak (Indian Classical Dance), painting, music, and writing. She also loves to cook, and has been an avid baker/cook since elementary school. In particular, Ilina tries to incorporate healthy ingredients into her recipes to create wholesome and delicious dishes. 

My name is Anish Sundaram and I am 14 years old. About a year ago I lost over 70 pounds and have recently gained back over 20. I enjoy playing basketball and tennis: I even made my school tennis team last year. I have a passion for weightlifting and love seeing my lifts go up and my body get more muscular. I look forward to sharing my view on health and fitness. 

I am Aarzu Miharia, a rising sophomore at Winchester high School. I love music, reading, math and science, and aspire to go onto the medical field. I recently attended a summer camp at Harvard Medical School and cannot stop thinking about the advancements of medical technology for the most complicated machinery human body. For me, healthy eating should be a way of life for everyone, my mom still reminds me how I always asked if a food was healthy even when I was just 5. I look forward to being part of the Wholistic Health Alliance Youth Brigade.

To learn more about WHA and/or to join the YB program, email us at wholistichealthalliance.group@gmail.com. Put Youth at the center of the health and wellness. They might surprise you by not only changing their lifestyle choices, but may influence yours as well. Peer to Peer, Youth to Youth!!

About Wholistic Health Alliance:

Wholistic Health Alliance is a nationally launched non-profit organization dedicated to building healthy communities. WHA aims to bring together complementary/holistic medicine practitioners, fostering collaborations, building stronger networks, and enabling a more intimate relationship between practitioners and the community. We currently operate in the states of Massachusetts New York, California and Maine, with more Chapters in the pipeline.    

To learn more about us, to volunteer/support us, contact us at: wholistichealthalliance.group@gmail.com

You can learn more about us at: www.wholistichealthalliance.org.

Like us at: https://www.facebook.com/WholisticHealthAlliance or follow us on Twitter (@WhaGroup)

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