Healthy Eating and Natural Healing on the Danforth
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February 4, 2009, 4:38 am
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Living Healthily, Naturally, and Happily on the Danforth
The Big Carrot and Healing on the Danforth are two keys to healthy living
By: Dayna Danson
Forty-nine-year-old Mia Murphy has lived on the Danforth since 1980, and could list thousands of reasons why she loves living there with her nine-year-old daughter. Her favourite thing about the Danforth, however, “would have to be the surplus of fantastic stores such as The Big Carrot,” she says. The natural food market (seen below), is located at 348 Danforth Avenue, and specializes in organically grown, GMO-free and environmentally safe products. It also offers a range of services including cooking classes, free nutritional store tours and free weekly lectures on health and the environment, and dozens of other events.
The Big Carrot
The Big Carrot
Mia Murphy stresses that her favourite thing about the big carrot is the members and staff, who are “extremely helpful and well-informed.” The greatest strength of The Big Carrot is the accumulated knowledge and experience of its members and staff, whose broad based, co-operative approach to research has evolved through twenty five years of searching for nature’s finest. A vital element to their continued success is their commitment to education; they believe in sharing knowledge and experience with their customers and providing them with the tools they need to make informed, healthy choices.
The Big Carrot Juice Bar
The Danforth is also home to The Big Carrot Juice Bar, Toronto’s first organic juice bar located across from the Big Carrot natural food market. They offer fresh, organic juices, nutritious boosts, refreshing smoothies, as well as a wide variety of organic, and fair trade coffees and teas. The juice bar is also helping the Danforth community as well as the environment by installing a solar water heater. The system reduces water heating energy consumption by 50% annually (by even more during the summer peak demand season), which off-sets approximately 1.79 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
Natural Healing
To complement The Big Carrot, the Danforth is littered with dozens of natural health clinics. Healing on the Danforth, for example, is a holistic centre offering a number of complementary alternative therapies including but not limited to Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Trigenics, and more. Healing on the Danforth encourages spiritual, emotional and physical healing by guiding individuals towards greater awareness of their own body in a peaceful, nurturing, compassionate and safe environment. The clinic is located on 1397 Danforth Ave., and has been open since 2000.
Reflexology
Danforth resident David Markus frequently attends Healing on the Danforth for Reflexology sessions, which he says are “the most relaxing and enjoyable thing on earth.” The ancient healing art of Reflexology believes that the feet are a microcosm of the whole body. By stimulating the nerve endings in the feet a neurochemical impulse is sent to every organ, gland, and system in the body. David markus relies on Reflexology to release deep stress and body tensions, regulate sleep patterns and manage his arthritis. Susan Dekker and Katherine Downey are in charge of Reflexology at Healing on the Danforth
Shiatsu Massage
Jessica Steene, a resident of the Danforth’s Riverdale neighbourhood attends Healing on the Danforth for Shiatsu Therapy. Shiatsu Therapy is a Japanese physical therapy, which literally translates as “finger pressure”. The technique primarily involves the application of gentle pressure using the thumbs, palms and elbows along energy channels in the body. Shiatsu Therapy has evolved from Chinese healing practices which promote the body’s own healing ability, and is an excellent way to maintain or improve health. Regular treatments can help keep someone in peak physical condition (such as Steene), or can help relieve many symptoms of discomfort for those with physical ailments. Timothy Phillips, Healing on the Danforth’s founder, provides Shiatsu Therapy treatments at Healing on the Danforth.
The Danforth residents and businesses are doing their part to help the environment while living an organic, healthy lifestyle. What are you doing to help your body live the best life it can? What are some natural health centres in your area; where do you shop for your organic groceries? If you haven’t already caught onto the ‘green/healthy living’ movement, and are interested in joining in, here are some links and sources to get you started:
And, just for fun, here is a Star Wars parody called “Store Wars:” it was made to alert people about the serious problems of producing and eating fods that were made using dangerous synthetic chemicals. This video should reinforce your need to shop organically!
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