Health and wellness is about more than just physical well being, it’s about mental health too, and that will be a key component of the Community Connections Health and Wellness Fair this Sunday.
“When people think of health and wellness, they think of physical wellness and they’re pretty physically oriented,” said Laura Kanik, the fair’s organizer. “We want to acknowledge that wellness isn’t just about your physical body, it’s about your mental health and emotional health and building that and recognizing those providers in our community who provide services for all different kinds of wellness.”
The Health & Wellness Fair takes place this Sunday, Oct. 21, at the community centre from 12-3 p.m.
The fair is bringing together 40 businesses, government agencies and other organizations that focus on the area of health and wellness. “We are actually maxed out,” said Kanik.
The businesses and organizations involved include yoga studios, massage therapists, dance studios, naturopaths, gyms, day spas, sports clubs and more. Interior Health, the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Ministry of Children and Family Development will be on hand to provide mental health services.
There will also be advisors such as victim services, gambling support, financial advisors and more.
“The idea is that Community Connections is wanting to promote all different kinds of health and wellness,” said Kanik. “We’ve noticed as we’ve been compiling the list that there’s a lot of small businesses in Revelstoke. Some are established and some are pretty new. We want to give them some exposure and make people aware of everything that’s available here.”
Throughout the afternoon instructors from different businesses will be providing free demonstration classes, including yoga, dance and meditation.
“Businesses and instructors can show their style and what they do and people can try things out for free,” said Kanik.
Doug Egan, a project manager at Community Connections, said there will also be a focus on mind and body integration and businesses and activities that deal with both. “Having people understand there’s nutritional things, there’s things you can do to take care of yourself and integrate the whole mental and physical aspect of living in the community, which I think is good,” he said.
There will also be a kids room on hand and the pool will be free for the afternoon. The Last Drop will be selling food and there are door prizes, including a vacation package from Revelstoke Mountain Resort.