Healthy Options

Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall
Technical assistance: Joel Mann & Amy Browne

Brown Tail Moth presence in Maine this year, and how to try to prevent the spread of this hazardous and destructive invasive species, whose caterpillars give off tiny toxic hairs that can cause great harm to human health.

Key Discussion Points:

1 What are the health ramifications of exposure to Brown Tail Moth caterpillar hairs?
2 How can we prevent exposure to their toxic hairs?
3 What measures can you take between December and early April to mitigate webs in trees?
4 What is the best way to dispose of the webs after you clip them?
5 What protective clothing should you wear when dealing with the webs, moths or caterpillars of Brown Tail Moth?
6 Is it OK to eat food from a garden that is exposed to hairs of the Brown Tail Moth caterpillars?
7 Will eradicating the moths- which is the actual adult stage of the Brown Tail Moth- be enough to affect their numbers?
8 Why should you not use bug zappers or other kinds of light traps to deal with Brown Tail Moths when they are in their adult stage, or any time?
9 Why is it best to turn the lights off at night, until morning (especially from 9 pm to midnight), from late June through August/September?

Guest:
Tom Schmeelk, forest entomologist with the Maine Forest Service, who is charged with managing the state’s response to the Brown Tail Moth problem.

Websites of Interest:
Maine Forest Service- Brown Tail Moth info:

Maine Forest Service website- Brown Tail Moth FAQs:

Brown Tail Moth Frequently Asked Questions, PDF
Brown Tail Moth presentation- Tom Schmeelk, Belfast Library 3/25/21:

2021 Brown Tail Moth Winter Web Survey map

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall

1 What are some new strategies being used globally to treat trauma?
2 How does our nervous system respond to stress?
3 What is the difference between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system?
4 What is a simple technique we can try right now to relax our nervous system?
5 What are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and why are they so vital to recognize and address?
6 What is the Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning (SEE Learning™) program and how does it help K-12 students with learning resiliency skills based on trauma-informed care?

Guest: Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, is a trauma therapist, co-founder and Director of Innovation of the Trauma Resource Institute, and key developer of the Community and Trauma Resiliency Models. She is the author of “Building Resiliency to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models®”, and the host of the new podcast, “Resiliency Within”.

Websites of Interest:

The Trauma Resource Institute (TRI) is a nonprofit organization devoted to cultivating trauma-informed and resiliency-focused individuals and communities throughout the world.

“Resiliency Within” podcast

“Resiliency Within” Facebook page

ACES Connection: resources & education about ACES, Adverse Childhood Experiences

Social, Emotional, and Ethical (SEE) Learning program
seelearning.emory.edu
compassion.emory.edu/see-learning/index.html

Previous HEALTHY OPTIONS programs on the work of the Trauma Resource Institute:
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2017/10/healthy-options-10417/
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2014/09/healthy-options-932014/
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2010/12/healthy-options-12110/
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2009/9/healthy-options-90209/

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall

Host Rhonda Feiman explores the intersection of healing and music, with singer and energetic healer Amy Robbins Wilson.

Rebroadcast from 5/6/2020

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall

Healthy Options host Rhonda Feiman shares techniques that have been used for centuries to help people stay healthy and resilient. Experience easily learned movements and breathing techniques that can enhance the health of our nervous systems, and calm our minds- skills especially useful for these stressful times.

Key Discussion Points:

How can simple breathing techniques enhance our health and well-being?
What is Qi Gong? What is WuJi?
Why is movement such an important technique to calm our nervous system?
What do we mean when we speak of meridians?
What is a body scan? How can we practice this for ourselves and why is this beneficial?
Presenter: Rhonda Feiman, L.Ac., is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition and the host of Healthy Options on WERU radio.

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall
Technical assistance: Joel Mann & Amy Browne

Current scientific thinking about Covid-19 and a review of basic strategies to keep us (ourselves, our families, and our communities) healthy during these challenging times.

-What is the proper way to wash your hands.
-What is the proper way to wear a mask?
-What should we look for before we return to a healthcare practitioner’s office? What questions should you ask about procedures and how the visit will be conducted?
-What are the ethical considerations In terms of how we as a society keep each other healthy?
-How do we reconcile ideas of our personal freedom, and our responsibilities as good citizens working towards the good of the community- and what does that mean in respect to ethical behavior?
-What is “herd immunity” and why is it so dangerous, & not a good idea, to “just let nature take it’s course”?
-What is the difference between COVID-19 and influenza?

Guest: Dr. Miriam Wahrman is a microbiologist, professor and researcher, and author of the book, “The Hand Book: Surviving in a Germ-Filled World”.

Previous programs with Dr. Miriam Wahrman can be found at these links:

Healthy Options with Dr. Miriam Wahrman 3/4/20

Healthy Options 3/4/20: Interview with Dr. Miryam Wahrman, author of “The Hand Book: Surviving in the Germ-Filled World”

Healthy Options with Dr. Miriam Wahrman 2/6/19
About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall
Engineering assistance: Joel Mann

Rhonda Feiman talks with art educator and creative childhood development expert Bridget Matros, about how creative expression is essential for good health in children and adults- especially during these challenging times.

Why do so many adults deny that they are creative?
How is problem solving a creative activity?
How has our culture reinforced the notion that only certain people are creative?
A reminder and discussion that the solutions we have adapted in response to the pandemic are examples of creativity.
What are some specific games and fun exercises that can help us remember and reown our creative selves?
How can we help nurture our children to be good problem-solvers, and how can we ourselves remember, as adults, to problem-solve?
How have we abdicated our problem-solving skills to our technology such as the Internet, cell phones and computers?

Guest:
Bridget Matros is an artist, musician, and arts educator, currently presenting classes for children and adults at Waterfall Arts in Belfast.

Websites of Interest:
Bridget Matros- Pecha Kucha presentation 4/12/19

Waterfall Arts

“Inktober” (Drawing prompts)

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall

The focus of this program is on the importance of eye health, and how we can practice good hygiene- for our eyes- especially at a time of increased usage of computers, smart phones, and all that demands our visual attention.

How do we maintain good vision?
Are we only considering eye hygiene for using screen devices?
How does eye health relate to body health, overall?
What are specific relaxation techniques we can use to maintain eye health? Do these techniques help us in other ways?
How does stress reduction benefit our eyes and vision?
What is palming and how do we do it?
How often should we blink? How often should we look away from the screen, and for how long?

Guest:
Rosemary Gaddum-Gordon, D.B.O., M.A.
Natural Vision Improvement
207-439-9821

Websites of Interest:

Vision Tips

Video Streaming and Your Eyes

Previous Healthy Options Programs with Rosemary Gaddum-Gordon:

Healthy Options 11/7/18

Healthy Options 9/5/12

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-producer: Petra Hall
Engineering assistance: Joel Mann

Program Topic: Ticks and tick borne illnesses

Rhonda Feiman presents our yearly update with tick & Lyme disease expert Dr. Beatrice Szantyr.

-What are ways to protect ourselves from tick bites?
-What are the signs & symptoms of Lyme disease and other tick borne illness?
-What ticks are we seeing in Maine now? How do I identify what tick it is?
-What are the treatments for Lyme & other illnesses? What is effective, what is ineffective, and why?

Guest:
Dr. Beatrice Szantyr is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a member of the American College of Physicians, and an Internist and Pediatrician, living in Lincoln, Maine. She is an active member of Maine CDC’s Vector Borne Disease Work Group, as well as the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.

Dr. Szantyr is part of the provider-education-working group, to develop and present the full day evidence-based course: The Fundamentals of Lyme Disease. Dr. Szantyr is also the medical advisor for MaineLyme, a non-profit dedicated to decreasing Lyme and related tick diseases in Maine.

May 1st, 2019 Healthy Options Program with Lyme Disease expert Dr. Beatrice Szantyr, about ticks, Lyme disease and tick-borne illness,
Other Healthy Options shows on ticks and tick-borne disease

Websites of Interest:

EPA: Find the Repellent that is Right for You

University of Maine Orono Cooperative Extension Tick Lab

MaineLyme, dedicated to decreasing tick borne diseases in Maine through awareness, education, prevention and advocacy

I have a tick bite — now what?

Lyme Disease Association

Midcoast Lyme Disease Support and Education

Tick Management Handbook prepared by Kirby Stafford, III of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Dog Not Gone – a Maine company selling permethrin treated apparel for people and pets

InsectShield permethrin treated clothing

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

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