My youngest son, Ryan, is involved in high school athletics. I often joke about how many people it takes to maintain my child. Aside from the usual dentist and pediatrician for physicals and well care, our “Ryan team” boasts multiple coaches, an osteopath that practices Osteopathic Manipulation Therapy to handle the bumps, strains and sprains, a knee brace specialist, nutritionist, integrative doctor, personal trainer, and our latest addition for overall muscle health, a massage therapist.

He isn’t the only one in the family who has a team of health resources we rely on. I personally have two main doctors for my overall health care and a host of other resources for supporting therapies and products.  In our feature article, Build Your Own Wellness Dream Team, Dr. Andrew Weil, renowned as the father of integrative medicine movement in the U.S. says, “If I’m in a car accident, don’t take 
me to an herbalist. If I have bacterial pneumonia, give me antibiotics. But when it comes to maximizing the body’s natural healing potential, a
mix of conventional and alternative procedures seems like the only answer.”

To kick off the New Year, in this issue we have included resources for you to build your own wellness team. Our community is blessed with an array of wellness professionals to help you with your personal health goals. Get to know some of them listed in our team roster. You will find a wealth of expertise and guidance by calling on our advertisers. And looking ahead, you can meet many of them at the Healthy Living Expo that will be held on March 29th so be sure and mark your calendar.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Natural Awakening’s magazine. This amazing project began in Naples, FL with our first publication. It was the vision of Sharon Bruckman, our CEO, who is featured on our cover. Thanks to all of you, our readers, advertisers and distributors, we are able to bring cutting-edge information effecting positive change in people’s lives. I am grateful to be part of this community. May the year 2014 bring you health and happiness.

Happy New Year!

Kris Urquhart, Publisher