Play video
Video Reports
Your Alternatives
Keri Brenner can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.
LIVING COLUMNS
-
Embrace wellness
Enlarge Image
The Olympian
Enlarge Image
The OlympianSome people fantasize about having unlimited credit and time to spend at a candy store, a kitchen gadgets place, a bookstore, a clothing boutique or a plant shop.
I am one of those people. Bring it on.
But if you told me I could spend the next few months in infinite communion with any of 14 acupuncturists, chiropractors, tai chi and yoga teachers, massage therapists or other spirit-lifting folks gathered in one serene place, I truly would be in bliss.
As it turns out, The Heart of Wellness center in Tumwater offers at least the opportunity for that vision.
The brainchild of licensed acupuncturist Fred Klemmer and chiropractor Jessica Peters, the center is celebrating its first year in operation with a series of free mini-classes and an open house from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 4. In addition, the first session of any regularly scheduled class will be free during October.
"We want to thank our community for one year in business by inviting people to our 'Free Your Heart@Heart of Wellness' event," Klemmer said.
The center is in the former OBee Credit Union building, a site that Klemmer, a Sufi practitioner, says he feels is a "sacred spot" where teachers and health practitioners can focus what they call "heart-based healing."
All of the practitioners meet twice a month as a team to integrate their various disciplines and to reinforce that core vision.
"We try to hold people's hearts in deep mercy and offer something beyond what is generally available," Klemmer said. "There is deeper possibility for healing in all these traditions, and that's what we're trying to do."
Heart of Wellness is one of many renewal and well-being options in South Sound this fall. Just to name two that have sprouted on Olympia's west side:
The Strong Center, a personal training and fitness facility started by David Ross, former trainer and nutrition specialist at The Valley Athletic Club in Tumwater. Ross, a panelist in The Olympian's 2007 series "The Obesity Epidemic," offers a range of services from weight-loss coaching to personal training, yoga and flexibility training, and injury rehab.
"I want to offer fitness and yoga to people w ho aren't already built like a pretzel and to be able to make yoga accessible to them," Ross said.
The Dance Direction, a longtime Olympia dance school that took on a new look since being purchased in June by area residents Debbi Boyd and Jan Henry.
One of Dance Direction's new dance classes is Zumba, a Latin-inspired fitness routine that is finding fans around the country.
"It is our intent to take dance in the Olympia area to its highest levels," Boyd and Henry say on their Web site.
I don't know about you, but I already feel better just knowing there are all these fun, relaxing and energizing things out there to experience and enjoy.
Maybe someday I'll be able to do them all - and let's throw in the part about unlimited credit and infinite time to spend.
Bring it on.
Keri Brenner writes for The Olympian. She is a licensed acupuncturist in Oregon, has a master's degree in Oriental medicine and acupuncture from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland and is the author of "Sleep Disorders: An Alternative Guide." She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.
