The New Ulm WELLness Collective

The New Ulm WELLness Collective welcomes a NEW Massage Therapist!

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 23:57:53 GMT

The New Ulm Wellness Collective would like to welcome Denae Forstner to the Collective!

Denae is a Certified Massage Therapist and has just opened her practice, Raw Therapy, and Wellness, in New Ulm. Denae was born and raised in Grand Forks, ND, and moved to southern Minnesota after college.

Raw Therapy and Wellness is a Therapeutic Massage and Wellness practice specializing in Therapeutic, Prenatal, and Postnatal Massage.

Book online at www.rawtherapyandwellness.com

Welcome, Denae!

Mindful Mamas is back!

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 21:11:00 GMT

Healing.routines@gmail.com

Welcome Meraki LegaCy Counseling Services!

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 20:36:00 GMT

The New Ulm Wellness Collective would like to welcome Bonnie Beranek-Fortwengler of Meraki LegaCy Counseling Services to the Collective! Bonnie is a New Ulm native and her career has … Welcome Meraki LegaCy Counseling Services! Read More »

MRCI Day Services Programming

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 01:13:00 GMT

The Well was so fortunate this summer to receive a grant from New Ulm Area Community Education Lifelong Learning Foundation to host and facilitate wellness programming in collaboration with MRCI Day Services for adults with developmental disabilities living in and around New Ulm.

It was a true joy to be able to spend time with them after the impact of Covid-19 on group home residents who were in almost total isolation and lockdown. We were able to go for nature walks, create healthy snacks, pot plants, practice sensory skills related to stress and anxiety, and most importantly: simply enjoy each other’s company and enjoy peer connection.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for giving us the opportunity and the privilege to do such meaningful work.

“The New Ulm WELLness Collective have been wonderful to work with. Not only have they been flexible, but they have come up with some amazing activities for our clients. From Yoga, to nature hunts the Wellness Collective has been willing to adapt their classes to each clients individual needs. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with them!”
-Traci Windschitl, MRCI

First ReLight Retreat – A Day Full of Light!

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:49:00 GMT

On May 1st, B the Light and the New Ulm Wellness Collective teamed up to connect survivors with each other and with resources for mindfulness and healing. There was laughter, there were tears, but most importantly.. there was CONNECTION for this beautiful group of survivors!

A few highlights:

In our closing, we lit each other’s candles to symbolize the light we all shine on each other, especially through dark times. One part of B the Light’s mission is to connect and offer survivors a chance to seek support, right at home.
It may not be well known, but there are not many support groups specifically for breast cancer in New Ulm and the surrounding area, so we are focused in part of our mission, to bring this needed resource to survivors! Thank you ladies of Power Haus Yoga for setting up and to our donors who make this possible.

Stay tuned for our upcoming retreats:

To find out more, get involved, or register for upcoming retreats, check out bthelightinfo.org!

Letter to Our Donors

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:47:00 GMT

In 2017, a few years into the creation of the New Ulm Wellness Collective, I found myself sitting around a table facilitating a workshop for our Brown County Public Health nurses. As we spit-balled back and forth about the mental health crisis currently facing Brown County, I posed the question: “Are there any ways you see the services and classes we offer at The Well being able to help?” One of the nurses kindly smiled at me and said “Lori, the reality is, the people who need you the most can’t afford you.”

That day set into motion a series of events that colored everything we did moving forward. The reality in our country, especially in rural America, is that health is not a right- it is a luxury. We’ve come a long way regarding community wellness and destigmatizing mental health. That was step one. Step two is: What now? We know that taking care of our mental and emotional health is just as important as taking care of our physical health. But what does that look like in the everyday routines and practices our community has ready access to?

A client who is frequently at The Well wrote us a beautiful affirmation:

“My time at The Well has been life-changing. Circumstances in my life: loss of loved ones, job stress, and worries about our children were taking a great toll on my mental and physical health. I knew I needed to do something. The techniques I have learned at The Well have transformed how I am able to handle stress, pain, and loss in my life. I feel stronger, both physically and mentally, and am extremely grateful for this space.”

She is the tip of the iceberg. Deep down we all know that for every one of her, there are 10 others in our community dealing with similar situations – unable to afford or access providers and coping with life’s struggles in unhealthy or even dangerous ways. I’m willing to bet if you took an inventory of your family, friends, or co-workers, you would be able to name some of those very people for whom an hour of laying on a yoga mat and simply learning how to really breathe could lower their blood pressure, eliminate the need for opioids to deal with chronic pain, or any number of other ailments.

At The Well, I bear witness to the healing that takes place daily. We took seriously our responsibility to answer the expressed health needs we heard coming from our community in our start up years; for that reason, we spent 2019-2020 incorporating as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in order to make it possible to purchase our building, fundraise, apply for grants, and create scholarships and programs that will be available to anyone. We anticipate that the need for our work will only grow because where there is deep need, there is fast growth.

We are on the leading edge, reimagining what the health and wellness field should look like in order to actually work, and empowering individuals to take responsibility for their own wellness by putting the ball back in their court. Our surprising growth in the last five years has shown me our model works: for you, for your families, for your employees. You might say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

I hope you’ll consider joining us, by making a contribution to our Founder’s Drive: Life WELL Lived.

Be Well,
Lori Mathiowetz
Executive Director

Mindful Mamas: Life Skills & Wellness Group

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:44:00 GMT

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on pregnant women and mothers was exacerbated in our rural area as childbirth education classes, community support groups, and classes at the Well were placed on hold, canceled, or shifted to a virtual space. New mothers were faced with difficult decisions regarding their birth experience due to covid policies and procedures. Many new mothers were left isolated in pregnancy and early postpartum due to quarantine efforts.

New Ulm moms, and especially the Well, was so lucky to have a unique partnership this summer with the OTD program of University of Mary, ND. Our Doctoral Occupational Therapy student, Jessica Carvatt, conducted her Capstone project with Healing Routines LLC under mentorship of Kinzie Eckstein, OTR/L. She created a Life Skills & Wellness Program for pregnant women and mothers. The program was wildly successful, offered free of charge, and included topics like: Prioritizing Selfcare, Aligning Daily Tasks with Values, Pelvic Floor Health, Supporting the Body (ergonomics for motherhood), Home Management, and Stress Management Techniques.
Throughout this program we collaborated and gained feedback and support from area OBs, nurses, OTs/PTs, and Brown County Public Health nurses. We plan to collaborate more with local resources to gain referrals to the program, invite guest speakers, and offer the program for free to eliminate any financial barriers to participation for all pregnant women and mothers in the area.

Here are some testimonials from the program:

“I am grateful for the Mindful Mamas group that was started at the Well! This group fills a void in our community where mamas can gather, learn, and share. The topics discussed were important and on the forefront of most mamas’ minds! There were tips/take home pointers that have positively impacted my routine and outlook! Mom-ing is tough and it is awesome to be surround by other moms and know you’re not alone! Come for the topics, stay for the community!”
-Leah Fischer of Sleepy Eye

“Having a baby in the winter during Covid was so isolating. Mindful Mamas has been amazing to help me get out, learn something new, celebrate the highs, and work through the lows with other moms. This group of women, at all different places in their motherhood journey, has been so inspiring and helpful as I work towards raising a tiny human and caring for myself in the process.”
-Jenna Schauer of New Ulm.

The Role of Food in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:43:00 GMT

I have repeatedly found myself exhausted from tracking my food. Whether it is counting calories and carbs, or measuring macros and other nutrient levels, I always find myself at some point feeling completely overwhelmed. What would happen if I were to shift my perspective to an ancient way of thinking about food? Can it have the ability to change how I feel about nourishing this body of mine? Maybe you have these questions too…

The basis of Chinese medicine is broken down into different methods of care. The first method of care is simply the things that we would do every day at home. Generally it is passed down through family knowledge. An example of this can be seen by making chicken noodle soup when you don’t feel well. It is a practice that was done for us while growing up which we continue into adulthood, and eventually pass down to our children. At the root of this ancient medicine is using food to nourish and heal our bodies. It’s the first line of defense. If our bodies are not well nourished, we do not have the internal resources to carry out daily functions. This can show up as digestive issues, troubles sleeping, fatigue, weakened immune system, and changes in mood.

One of our biggest allies in using food as our medicine is eating in relationship to the seasons. As one season changes to the next, so do the foods that we have access to. We have lost touch with this due to the ability to ship produce to different climates. Bring to mind the lush variety laid out on a table at the farmers market in the middle of the summer. Everything is vibrant and fresh. That isn’t a spread you would see in the CashWise parking lot mid December! Ideally this would be a time when we would go into our root cellars and make hearty soups, stews, and of course hotdishes. Foods like these tend to take less energy for our body to break down, because they are already cooked through. Having a salad in the middle of the winter goes against nature, and the work of “cooking” it is left to your stomach! So the food that we consider “health food” might not actually be the best choice for that time of year.

I find it extremely fascinating that adjusting our food intake is the first recommendation for any ailment. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, only after making those changes is it appropriate to move to the second method of healing: herbal remedies. Then lastly would be seeing a provider such as an Acupuncturist for treatment of our illness. I find this to be very different from the path that many take. Often when we experience illness we either ignore them or “push through” until it becomes severe and necessitates the immediate care of an outside provider. What if we were to take ownership of our health at the beginning, and become the healers that we seek?

If we follow the path that Traditional Chinese Medicine lays before us, eating foods for the purpose of nourishing our bodies is the perfect place to start. It takes time. However, if we don’t make time for our health, we will be forced to make time for our illness.

Kayla Bartlett is an acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medical provider at The Well. If you would like to dig deeper, she would be honored to support you at any stage of your healing journey: (507) 200-2210 vitality-acu.com .

Have Vespa…Will Travel

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:40:00 GMT

More so than any other time in my life, I have few answers to the world’s problems. Partially that might be the wisdom that comes with age; but, I also think this is a unique time in history when facts are fluid and opinions are powerful harbingers for action. This last year has pretty much been a series of roadblocks and speed bumps that prevent me from getting to the places I want to go in the ways I had planned on getting there. Lately, this has been particularly infuriating for my now deflated ego. My bestie sensed it and knew exactly what my tired soul needed: a late summer ride on her Harley. The sights, smells, changing air temperature, and entire landscape was a cure all for my weariness. I had to have one.

Unfortunately, I can’t even do the Cupid Shuffle without falling down. So the last place for my clumsy ass is behind the handlebars of a powerful machine. Also in high school all my first cars were manual transmission cause I liked to show off to boys that I could drive stick. I had a history, however, for burning out my clutches, which kept Underpass Auto Body in business but really pissed my dad off. So a Harley wasn’t in the cards for me. Instead she helped me score the next best thing: A Vespa!

Now that I’m a professional scooterist, obviously I think everyone should have one. So here are my top 6 reasons why buying a Vespa is really the best decision to make for your mental health:

-Lori Mathiowetz, Executive Director, The Well

Supporting Small Businesses

Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:47:00 GMT

Supporting local business not only supports our local economy, but it literally is providing each of us with an income to support our families while simultaneously creating a positive social … Supporting Small Businesses Read More »