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Archive for December, 2010

Give the Gift of the Earth This Year with Eco Express

Posted in Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , on December 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Looking for a gift for someone who has it all but doesn’t want to contribute to a landfill or environmental waste? Get them something consumable or earth-friendly from Eco-Express, a gift store that specializes in environmentally friendly gifts.

Their website says that Eco-Express creates natural and organic gifts that are unique, memorable and high quality. They provide beautiful gifts that let you support the environment with a wide assortment of earth friendly gourmet, fruit, spa and rain forest green gifts and baskets.

 

Some of their gifts  include:

Bamboo pens

Secret Garden-Flower Garden Kit

Go Green Kit-Shopping bags and more

For eco-friendly baby gifts click here.

For home and garden gifts click here.

For healthy water bottles click here.

For business gifts click here.

Benefits of using EcoExpress:

  • Demonstrates your company’s commitment to the environment
  • Ease of mind because you know unique, quality gifts will be delivered that reflect your company’s image and values
  • Quick, easy and convenient
  • Stand out from the crowd, especially during the holidays by sending gifts no one else will receive – from EcoExpress!

Services provided by Eco-Express:

  • Automatically send gifts to clients and employees for birthdays and special occasions
  • Custom design gift items to fit your company’s personality
  • Imprint company logo on gift items
  • Include business items such as cards, brochure, mugs, etc.
  • Present a professional image to clients, potential clients, and employees
  • Take the hassle out of gift giving by leaving it to the experts – EcoExpress!
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Looking to Learn More About Outdoor Adventure Gear? Check Out REI’s Expert Advice

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

There are a lot of different places you can get active outdoor gear. I like Amazon. com for the wide selection of items you can get from all over the country. But you can’t touch or test gear sold on Amazon, you can only read other people’s reviews. Sometimes that’s enough. Other times I want to go into a store and see and get a feel for items I buy such as camping gear, tools, GPS systems and bicycle equipment. And it’s helpful to have a seasoned expert tell me about the gear right then and there to help me make better decisions about the tools and equipment I buy to keep me active. At REI, they now added  videos and articles for shoppers to review basic information about active outdoor gear.

Dubbed REI Active Advice, the REI website has a page which links to how to videos, articles and more.  And they have a new REI Expert advice for families to help parents learn ways to incorporate outdoor activities into family time.

Check Out REI Expert Advice for Families

Watch an REI Expert Video

REI experts give you helpful tips, techniques and ideas to show you how to have great outdoor adventures and which gear you’ll need.  Some of the current videos include:

Video: How to Transport Your Boat by CarHow to Transport Your Boat by Car

Articles By REI Experts

REI and guess share expert advice on how to choose and maintain outdoor gear as well as how to  have fun and stay safe on your next outdoor adventure.  Current topics include:

How to Choose Wool Clothing

REI Expert Gear Checklist

REI’s website lets you print out a gear checklist to help you keep track of the details for your next adventure, including:

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Winter Fun in Will County Forest Preserves

Posted in Fitness, Health and Wellness, Nature and Stress, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve. Photo by Sue Shekut

For my birthday in November, my boyfriend took me to a lovely gentle hike at Goodenow Grove near the  Plum Creek Forest Preserve in Crete township. Now that the first snow has fallen, it’s a great time to bundle up yourself and your kids if you have kids) and head to Plum Creek for a cold hike or a sledding adventure!  Plus Creek has a fantastic nature preserve complete with stuffed owls, live snakes and a project area for kids to learn about nature and make artwork. The Plum Creek Nature Center is part of Will County Forest Preserves and it looks like Will County has spent their conservation budget well. The trail is well maintained, the sledding hill is large and wide enough for many people to spend the day sledding on and the nature center guides are knowledgeable and friendly. Check out more about the nature center here.

Goodenow Grove has about four miles of hiking trails that crisscross the preserve. The Trail of Thoughts is  a 0.5-mile paved loop, leads around a pond filled with a cattail marsh to a wildlife observation deck.. The Pine Grove Trail, a 1-mile loop with a natural surface, provides you with a scenic overlook from the highest point in the preserve. For info on the Goodenew Grove Nature Preserve or Plum Creek Nature Center link here.

Will County Forest Preserve Winter Activities

Ice Skating
There are ice skating ponds at both Goodenow Grove and Monee Reservoir open to the public when conditions allow. Ice thickness is checked daily and conditions are posted on the website.

Sledding
There is a 40-foot high sledding hill at Goodenow Grove. Bring their own plastic sleds (no runners allowed), or rent a tube  at Plum Creek Nature Center. (Nature center is located within Goodenow Grove. Tube rental requires a driver’s license or state ID and $1.00/day/tube fee. after sledding you can warm up inside the Nature Center by the fireplace and enjoy a variety of nature-related exhibits. Goodenow Grove sled hill conditions are posted on the website.

As of 2010 a new new sledding hill is open at Butcher Road in the Forked Creek Greenway in Wilmington. This natural hill is not monitored for sledding conditions.

Snowshoeing
Enjoy snowshoeing  the winter trails in the Monee Reservoir’s 2.5-mile trail. You can bring your own or rent snowshoes at the Monee Reservoir concessions building. Then warm up by a wood-burning stove after your trek.

Cross-Country Skiing
Bring your cross country skills to Monee Reservoir, Goodenow Grove, and many other preserves to enjoy the quiet of nature in the winter and burn a lot of calories tredging along the trails..

Our Fall Hike Pics November, 2010 of Goodenew Grove and Plum Creek Nature Center

Plum Creek Nature Center. Photo by Sue Shekut

Trails at the Goodenew Grove Nature Preserve are well mapped and well marked.

Hiking Trails at Goodenow Grove. Photo by Sue Shekut

It’s difficult to get a perspective of how high the sledding hill is from the photo. But is’ a decent sized hill, high and wide enough for sledding.

View of the Sledding Hill from the Top at Goodenow Grove. Photo by Sue Shekut

The Hiking/Snowshoeing Path Sneaks Around a creek

Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve. Photo by Sue Shekut

The nature center at Plum Creek is top notch!

Inside Plum Creek Nature Center. Photo by Sue Shekut

Snakes are one of the many animals kids can meet at the Plum Creek Nature Center. The Guide holds a gentle snake and let me pet it. Kids can too!

Plum Creek Nature Guide Showing off gentle snake. Photo by Sue Shekut

You know a forest preserve is a place to see and be seen when the rap community deems it a good place to shoot a video!

A Young Rap Artist Shooting a video on Goodenow Grove sledding hill! Photo by Sue Shekut

My boyfriend and I prefer to let our shadows leave our mark, instead of littering or damaging nature preserve property on our hike.

Goodenow Grove Forest Presrve in the Shadows! Photo by Sue Shekut

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Self Care Tips for Muscle Pain

Posted in Health and Wellness, Massage Therapy, tagged , on December 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

By Sue Shekut, Owner, Working Well Massage, Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Wellness Coach, ACSM Personal Trainer

Lately laboring long hours over my books and computers along with my regular workload has made me feel like some of my massage clients: I’ve had s sore neck, aching back and painful shoulders.  So I do what I tell my clients and everyone else to do when they have this kind of pain and intense amount of computer or book work. Follow these easy tips to help you reduce your muscle pain.  I’ve been doing them all the past few weeks and it’s getting me through final exams!

1. Since I don’t have much time for table massage as often as I need massage, I’ve been stopping by Whole Foods Gold Coast and Lincoln Park to get chair massages at the WWM massage stations. Check out hours and info here.

 

WWM Chair Station at Whole Foods Gold Coast, 30 W Huron. Image by Sue Shekut.

 

 

2. At night I’ve been using Herbal Muscle Heat balm to help reduce muscle pain and relax my tight muscle knots. I posted about this balm before and it really works. Check out my post here.

 

Herbal Muscle Heating Balm

 

3. When I get home from work or take a study break, I use the Miracle Ball Method to self massage my low back and shoulder trigger points. Link here for more info.

 

4. When I work too long on the computer, I get really sore upper back and neck muscles. For those days, I grab a cold pack from the freezer and wrap it around my neck and shoulders. It helps reduce inflammation and also acts as a mild analgesic (pain reliever). Read more about when to use heat or ice here.

5. I also find that soaking in a hot tub with Epsom salts helps relax my sore muscles, but using an ice pack first helps keep me from increasing inflammation in sore muscles.

6. Lastly, get some rest! Taking time off from the computer or from the desk helps your body relax and rejuvenate.

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