From the Editor
Healthy Aging for April
by Gayle Uchida, Manager of Member Services/Operations
Hi Villagers!
We want to usher in springtime with the hope that you will enjoy it and the rest of the year in good health. April is Healthy Aging month for the Village. We're linking with the National Health Observance calendar to celebrate National Public Health Week, April 4-10, and World Health Day on April 7.
To stay in step with good health, we invite all of you to attend a FREE lecture series sponsored by our neighbors at CPMC, the Institute for Health and Healing. They are having a Mini Medical School in Integrative Medicine focused on The Healing Power of Food. You can find details in our section on Calendar of Events, or to register, click here:
http://www.cpmc.org/services/ihh/hhc/minimed/index.html#Info%20&%20Registration
You can also call to RSVP at 415-600-2120.
Enjoy April--fingers crossed we've said goodbye to the rain!
Best, Gayle Uchida, Editor and Publisher
From the Acting Executive Director
by Janis Brewer, Acting Executive Director
Dear San Francisco Villagers:
Thank you all for your kind words of welcome to San Francisco Village. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all over the next few months during Christabel’s absence. My primary goals are to ensure you continue to receive the most from your Village membership and to shepherd the programs and plans that are already in place. And of course I will try to do all this with the professionalism and compassion that you’ve come to expect from Christabel. I’ve got big shoes to fill!
As you may know I am not new to the Village Movement having recently been a temporary Executive Director at Ashby Village in Berkeley. I am strong believer in the Village concept and feel privileged to now assist San Francisco Village as it grows and prospers. From what I can see so far this Village is vibrant and caring; and a community that cares and works together to support one another will always succeed!
Please know that I will try to attend as many member functions as time allows so that I can spend some quality time getting to know you. In the meantime, my door is always open to you. I am very interested in your thoughts about how to make the Village better and welcome your ideas. Please do call (415-387-1375 ext.1) or email me at janis@sfvillage.org
We hope you enjoy this newsletter issue on Healthy Aging!
With warm regards,
Janis
Take a Hike!
by Marsha Robertson, San Francisco Village Volunteer
Irish-born VERA FIELDS lived in the north of England with her parents through her teenage years, and her attractive accent is still present after a lifetime of subsequent adventures in Vancouver, Montreal, Jamaica and San Francisco, where she settled in the 1960s.
Married for many years to prominent artist Curtis Fields (who died in 2008 at the age of 87), Vera is the mother of two grown children, Greg and Antony, the grandmother of 3 and the great-grandmother of 1. For many years she supervised the family’s investments in local apartment buildings in Pacific Heights, which they remodeled and/or managed. Now living in the duplex she owns in Cow Hollow, Vera learned about SF Village by attending a program at the Jewish Community Center and was eager to learn more about the organization's mission to support local seniors who want to stay in their own homes as they age.
”I had read an article about the Beacon Hill program in Boston and thought that it sounded very good,” she says. Vera joined SF Village in February of 2010 and has since participated in numerous social events including Sarah Goldman’s play readings and several outings with the Lunch Bunch. She enjoys the new friends she is making, particularly those who share her interest in fine arts. In fact, Vera is in the process of gathering and centralizing the many paintings of her prolific husband, who was represented at a gallery downtown. As her son prepares a website to showcase his art, Vera also hopes to have an opportunity to host a gathering for SF Members that will introduce others to her husband’s body of work.
Interested in meeting fellow hikers, Vera recommends the many beautiful hikes to and from Marin’s Mt Tam, even though those steep climbs and descents can be tough on the knees! Also high on her list are the local trails in the Presidio and the scenic walk along Crissy Field. Here's a link to Presidio trail maps: http://www.presidio.gov/experiences/trails/
Vera will be hosting the next Lunch Bunch, tentatively scheduled for May 9 at The Presidio Social Club. Check with the SF Village office for more details!
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First Quarter 2011--Service Requests from Villagers
by Gayle Uchida, Manager of Member Services/Operations
With this column, we are launching a new quarterly report of services requested by our Villagers. We aim to keep you informed about the many services available to our members. We also want to invite your input for services we might add as well as for service providers you may recommend as positive additions to our nearly 100 approved Village providers.
Recommendations are always welcome; just call the office at 415-387-1375 or drop us an email at info@sfvillage.org.
Village Service Requests Report
Over the first three months of this year, the majority of requests the office received largely fell into into three categories:
** Computer Assistance. This was by far the most frequent request and Villagers got help from our generous and knowledgeable volunteers as well as from Village-approved service providers.
**Home Safety. This was the next most popular request, and we are happy to report that Villagers who asked received a home safety evaluation, which usually resulted in the installation of grab bars. Villagers reported satisfaction with the work done and its cost effectiveness.
**Transportation. Villagers traveled around the City, to and from appointments and events, either using our public transit system or our approved transportation service providers at a reasonable cost.
What Do You Do for Healthy Living?
by Gayle Geary, Board President
Rather than researching a lot of articles and websites to write this article, I decided to ask my friends what they do for healthy living. Here are sixteen wonderful, unique and individual practices and beliefs.
- Eating kale, carrots, and lots of vegetables, fruits and salad, drinking water and walking. These are healthy things to me. Hamstring and other stretches help to maintain flexibility. Practicing Qi Gong raises and directs energy. Seeing the ocean and being aware of the world creates a healthy balance between conventional, boundaried life and vastness.
- I make sure I am loving to a whole lot of people, and I open my heart so I feel their great love in return--and I kiss and hug a lot. I look at the sun and sky and my garden and marvel at the beauty of the natural world, and what a privilege it is to observe this harmony. I cook and eat delicious food, and make sure I begin each day with a perfect cup of tea.
- Exercise. FRUIT! Nothing says healthy to me more than that. Fresh air--a walk on Crissy Field does wonders. When I am taking care of myself, I am needing and drinking a lot of water!
- Daily Meditation Practice. Plenty of sleep. Choosing to be present and grounded
- Healthy living is being mindful and honoring that which nourishes my body, mind, and spirit. When I support myself I can then support others and contribute to the well being of my community.
- Daily Yoga practice (at home); work out at the JCC doing weights twice a week and combined with aerobic work 4 times a week; conscious of what foods I put in my body.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away and a hug is good too.
- Eating healthy. Exercising healthy. Mind healthy e.g. positive thoughts about myself, loved ones including family and friends reverberating outward.
- Healthy living means keeping my life balanced with work that is meaningful to me, connecting with family and friends on a deep level, staying in the present, maintaining a positive outlook and enjoyment through each.
- Quiet time (meditation) every day--it helps put things into a more calm, accepting perspective. Yoga or other forms of stretching -- it helps my body feel limber (I like the word "supple") and strong. Eating fresh, non-processed foods--eating chemicals just doesn't seem like a good idea!
- Healthy living means I am doing everything within my control to be kind to my body and to help it stay strong, nourished and healthy. It also means I work daily with my mental outlook: to be optimistic, not judgmental, and engaged with other people.
- Walk to exercise. Walk to reduce pollution. Walk to get somewhere you want to go.
- I try to eat healthy foods, avoiding excess salt, fat, and all artificial sweeteners and the like--although I am a sucker for chocolate. I try to exercise regularly--but often fail. But my most religious practice is in the care of my skin. Immediately after my morning shower, I put a sun-blocking moisturizer on my face and moisturize my body with a perfume-free product. I wear a hat when the sun is strong and use sun block if my body will be exposed as it may be in the summer (but not in San Francisco!). I use only products recommended by the dermatologist and see him regularly to have small whatevers removed.
- Rest, exercise, nurturing the soul, contributing to a greater good, eating food that is good (healthy and tasty, but not to be obsessed. Eat what you love in a reasonable quantity even if it's not healthy). And.......love and having a close social life.
- Healthy living is taking charge of the areas over which I have some control: attitude, lifestyle, food, exercise, my spiritual practice and enjoying loving time with family and friends. Contributing to my community through Grandmothers' Circle. It is feeling vibrant, vital, centered, joyful, energetic and positive. It's a feeling of being connected.
Now it's your turn ... write to us at info@sfvillage.org to tell us what you do to live a healthy life. We'll include your ideas in next month's newsletter.
 Guest Contributor
B's Beef: Fooling Mother Nature
by B. E. K. Hancock, San Francisco Village Member
I confess: well into my middle years I remained in total denial of the aging process. It helped that I didn't have my children until my forties and that I jogged, skied and did my downward facing dog with the best of them. Although we are told that it's not nice to fool Mother Nature, in my fifties I even had "some work done", not so much because of vanity than to align the face looking back at me out of the mirror with what I felt.
So when a not so sweet young thing at the Five and Dime's check out asked me if I wanted my senior discount... I was SHOCKED AND DISMAYED to put it mildly. I stormed out of the store, red faced and fighting back tears and leaving over $100 of un-bought merchandise on the counter.
It took a couple of "think drinks" -- in my case that would be coffee -- at Starbucks to calm me down. Turns out that the store's senior discount feature didn't kick in at 65 as I'd thought but at 55. Still, for the next couple of months I avoided the place I would normally visit at least two or three times a week. Finally, after the slow, painful process of acceptance, I made peace with encroaching seniority. I also had a little heart to heart with the store manager.
"If you really want to make your graying clientele happy," I suggested, "have a big sign at every cash register offering the senior discount. Then instruct your check out people, when asked for it, to look dubious and ask for ID. Now, that would make my day -- along with legions of my peers."
The one area I found I couldn't micromanage is the mail. I remember the first time I received membership material from the AARP. It was like finding a snake in my mailbox! After I'd finally digested the fact that I qualified, I did sign up and carried my card in my wallet -- although it took me several years to actually use it.
Next, I started receiving brochures about cruises: nice, glossy spreads with lots of gorgeous white haired couples dancing the tango or playing shuffle board and shooting grinning natives with their digital cameras in various exotic ports of call.
Then I started getting ads for hearing aids and catalogs filled with gorgeous white haired people using walkers, denture cleaning gizmos, foot soaking gadgets, bunion correcting foot braces and (shudder) depends.
The final blow came just before last Christmas: I received not one but several brochures suggesting it might be time for me to pick a burial plot. And last but not least, two that offered a major discount on cremation. Advertisers: have you no shame?!
Of course I've learned to accept the march of time albeit with a somewhat dyspeptic sense of humor. However, I am bound and determined to make the best of every day, eat slow food, walk the dog, imbibe enough antioxidants to keep me in good spirits but still able to walk a straight line and continue to keep Mother Nature in the dark about my advancing years.
April fools, Mom!
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SF Village Events and Activities
We want you to attend any and all of these and please bring a friend. We are looking for members to host Lunch Bunch events or start up groups such as knitting, bridge, etc. Any ideas or topics you have for events and activities are always welcomed.
You can easily register to attend any event by clicking on the link listing for that event. You'll need to be registered on the SF Village website in order to register for any calendar events - CREATE AN ACCOUNT HERE if you haven't already. Of course, you can also still call the office at 415-387-1375 or email us at: info@sfvillage.org.
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SF Village Programs
Date:
Friday, May 18 > 9:30 am - 11:00 pm
Event:
Description:
Yoga 101 for Beginners hosted by Aurele Carlat
Cost for SF Village members is $7 per class
Contact Aurele directly at 415-425-5086 or email at aurelecarlat@gmail.com
Location:
120 St. Germain Avenue near Twin Peaks
Date:
Saturday, May 19 > 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Event:
Description:
Led by our staff and our community partner, Home Instead Senior Care, the training includes a discussion of issues facing seniors, myths and facts about aging, active listening techniques, identifying hazards in the home, and more.
Location:
Presidio Branch Library, 3150 Sacramento Street
Date:
Thursday, May 24 > 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Event:
Description:
Yoga for Levels 1-2 (some experience required)
hosted by Aurele Carlat
Cost for SF Village members is $7 per class
Contact Aurele directly at 415-425-5086 or email: aurelecarlat@gmail.com
Location:
120 St. Germain Avenue near Twin Peaks
Date:
Thursday, May 24 > 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Event:
Description:
New Class: Chair Yoga for Beginners.
Learn the basics of yoga using chairs and other supportive props.
4 Thursdays (May 3, May 10, May 17, May 24)
Location:
Date:
Friday, May 25 > 9:30 am - 11:00 pm
Event:
Description:
Yoga 101 for Beginners hosted by Aurele Carlat
Cost for SF Village members is $7 per class
Contact Aurele directly at 415-425-5086 or email at aurelecarlat@gmail.com
Location:
120 St. Germain Avenue near Twin Peaks
Date:
Thursday, May 31 > 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Event:
Description:
Yoga for Levels 1-2 (some experience required)
hosted by Aurele Carlat
Cost for SF Village members is $7 per class
Contact Aurele directly at 415-425-5086 or email: aurelecarlat@gmail.com
Location:
120 St. Germain Avenue near Twin Peaks
Date:
Wednesday, June 13 > 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Event:
Description:
We will read Beth Henley's "Am I Blue" from our collection of plays (Plays in One Act edited by Daniel Halpern).
Location:
home of Tom Benet, 2637 Union Street (between Divisadero and Broderick)
View all Calendar Events
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Roberta E. Neustadter Mini Medical School in Integrative Medicine
The Healing Power of Food
From Biochemistry to Ancient Wisdom
The Institute for Health & Healing announces its 14th annual Roberta E. Neustadter Mini Medical School in Integrative Medicine, a free public lecture series on Thursday April 14, 21, & 28 in San Francisco and on Thursday May 5 in Marin from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Be inspired and learn from physicians, nutrition experts and educators. This unique community education program is made possible through the generous support of Roberta E. Neustadter.
Lectures
Thurs April 14 (SF)
6:30 - 7:00 pm Introduction by William B. Stewart, MD Co-founder and Medical Director, Institute for Health & Healing
7:00 - 8:30 pm Panel: An Integrative Approach to Nutrition Moderator: Erin Allday, Health Reporter, SF Chronicle Institute for Health & Healing Panelists: Michael Cantwell, MD, MPH, Integrative Physician Molly Roberts, MD, MS, Integrative Physician Helen Ye, MS, LAc, Chinese Medicine Practitioner
Thurs April 21 (SF)
6:30 - 7:30 pm A New Paradigm in Nutritional Health Lisa Portera-Perry, DC, Doctor of Chiropractic and Functional Medicine Educator
7:30 - 8:30 pm Eating for Health: Balancing Food and Supplements Ed Bauman, MEd, PhD, Founder and Executive Director, Bauman College
Thurs April 28 (SF)
6:30 - 7:30 pm Feelings and Food: What Are You Hungry For? Christina Cowger, MA, MFT, Psychotherapist and Medical Educator
7:30 - 8:30 pm Therapeutic Cooking Sitarani Brian, Chef and Culinary Program Director, Bauman College
Info & Registration
San Francisco: Mini Medical School will be held on Thursday April 14, 21 and 28 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (3200 California Street) from 6:30-8:30pm. There is no cost, but pre-registration is required. Street parking is available or you can park for a fee at the JCC or UCSF Laurel Heights Campus. Please arrive early - doors open at 6pm.
Marin: Mini Medical School will be held on Thursday May 5 at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center (200 N. San Pedro Road) from 6:30-8:30pm. There is no cost, but pre-registration is required. Parking is available.
CEUs
Nursing contact hours are available though you must attend all four evenings. Please be sure to register online in advance and email Kamala Tully at ihhminimed@sutterhealth.org. Non-CPMC employees pay $50 for CEUs. Payment in cash or check will be collected the first evening.
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Activities of Interest
Date:
Wednesday, June 6 >
Event:
Description:
The one-hour guided journey held at noon on the first Wednesday of each month. RSVP @ 415-561-5418 or presidio@presidiotrust.gov
Location:
Meet outside the Presidio Officer's Club
View all Calendar Events
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