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Under the direction of DeLaney Toups, L.M.P., a holistic Massage Therapist
and organic gardening expert, Belle Reve has begun to operate an Organic
Garden, called Mission Utopia, located on Rampart Street in the Bywater,
about two and one-half blocks from Belle Reve. The land was given to Belle
Reve to operate through Parkway Partners, an organization
that offers gardening opportunities around the city for both beautification
and crop production. The Organic Garden, when functioning in full capacity,
will be a comprehensive project with the following goals.
- A community-wide forum for
alternative/complimentary healing programs
- A supplemental, self-grown
food source.
The concept of Mission
Utopia is that good nutrition, positive attitude, and proper care of one’s
body and soul have a large impact on how a person feels on a daily basis.
Some concepts explored by Mission Utopia are the effects of proper
nutrition; the need for daily exercise; the effects of stress on a body;
the effects of any medications taken regularly; how to use stress-reducing
tactics; and the importance of positive self-attitude. Mission Utopia also
explores yoga, meditation, herbal remedies, alternative medicines,
spiritual exercises, tai chi, chi quoing, massage therapy, and acupressure
and the effects these practices have on health. Mission Utopia will be
extending these concepts to HIV-positive persons, while also opening forums
to the community at large. (For more information on Alternative Healing,
please visit the Alternative Health Search, Fact Sheet:
HIV/AIDS and Alternative Therapies, or NIH's National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.)
While Mission Utopia is
at the ground stages, we need volunteers to work the garden, as well as
donations from the community of gardening tools and supplies or money to
purchase such items.
For the community at
large, the program will offer weekly classes and monthly seminars for the
price of a suggested donation. Health-minded members of the community may
participate in seminars on subjects such as “True Nourishment—Are You
Fooling or Fueling Your Body?” “Detoxification Therapies,” “Chinese
Herbology,” “The Role of Vitamins and Minerals: Health or Hype?”
“Physiognomy,” “Understanding Healing Arts,” “The Immune System,” “Food
Energetics,” “Organ System Rejuvenation,” and other topics.
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