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MONROE, CT \u2014 Pursuing a healthy lifestyle could mean proper diet, meditation and exercise; visiting a chiropractor for pain relief, or even taking CBD products when one’s endocannabinoid system is out of whack.<\/p>\n
Joanne Fox, manager of Your CBD Store Monroe, invited two local professionals to participate in a Wellness Fair last Saturday, while celebrating the one-year anniversary of the opening of her location at 574 Monroe Turnpike.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s a fabulous opportunity for community members to support each other,” Fox said. “Our companies are united in treating health and wellness naturally.”<\/p>\n
Fox was joined as a featured speaker by Dr. Jean N. Bassani, RN, DC, of \u200b\u200bConnecticut Back & Wellness Chiropractic, 755 Main St., Suite 1, and Tammy Kershaw, owner of A Wellness Life: Boutique, Fitness and Wellness Studio, 755 Main St., Building 1, Suite A.<\/p>\n
At the event, Fox gave out free samples and goody bags.<\/p>\n
First Selectman Ken Kellogg and Monroe Chamber of Commerce President Ray Giovanni also attended the event, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the anniversary of Your CBD Store Monroe.<\/p>\n
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Other local businesses including 574 Wines and Terra Cafe provided food and wine for the Wellness Fair at Your CBD Store Monroe.<\/p>\n
Bailey Stewart, who owns the building, also attended the Wellness Fair to show his support.<\/p>\n
Debora Cabral, owner of Terra Cafe, 150 Main St., donated a food tray for the event, and 574 Wines, which shares the Monroe Turnpike building with Your CBD Store Monroe, brought a variety of wine, cheese and cookies<\/p>\n
“I love it,” Kershaw said. “I love to collaborate. I think it’s great to support each other.”<\/p>\n
SunMed products<\/strong><\/p>\n Fox explained to guests how Your CBD Store is one of the leaders in the CBD industry. “We’re the largest retailer,” he said of the business, which has more than 600 locations and recently partnered with the Professional Pickleballers Association.<\/p>\n “Our products are 100 percent USDA certified organic,” Fox said.<\/span><\/p>\n “We all have an endocannabinoid system, which regulates our mood, our sleep and our inflammation,” he explained.<\/p>\n Fox said our bodies naturally produce cannabinoids, but sometimes we can become deficient. Hemp-based CBD products are meant to bring bodies back to homeostasis.<\/p>\n Although hemp and marijuana are the same species, marijuana can get users high, while hemp cannot. Hemp has a unique cannabinoid profile with less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-delta-9). However, you must be 18 or older to purchase hemp-based products in Connecticut.<\/p>\n Fox said CBD products are soluble in water, in capsules, tinctures taken with a dropper under the tongue, in topical creams, topical sprays and candies such as gummies.<\/p>\n Among the things people use CBD products for are natural energy, sleep, and beauty. Beauty products include skin moisturizing soaps and bath bombs.<\/p>\n “The topical cream is our number one selling product company-wide,” Fox said.<\/p>\n SunMed, which produces all of the products offered by Your CBD Store, recently launched a line of immune system enhancing products with vitamins A and D. Hydrate, a new product, is packed with electrolytes such as sodium, chloride, magnesium and calcium. , and potassium.<\/p>\n “Hydration is great after a workout at the gym, or when you come in from doing yard work on a hot day like today,” Fox said. “You can squeeze Immune Hydrate into your water to fill your body with all the wonderful things you need.”<\/p>\n Another popular product is TRIM.<\/p>\n In a 90-day clinical trial, Fox said people on a placebo gained, on average, six pounds. Those who took TRIM lost up to nine pounds, three inches from their waists and three BMI points, according to Fox.<\/p>\n Those who took TRIM and added exercise she lost up to 18 pounds, up to six inches off her waist and up to eight points off her BMI, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n In the clinical trial, Fox said those who took TRIM reduced blood sugar, anxiety and inflammation. He mentioned a founding member of Your CBD Store who lost 87 pounds in a year, and an employee who lost 50 pounds in six months taking the product.<\/p>\n Your CBD store also offers pet products.<\/p>\n “Any creature with vertebrae has an endocannabinoid system and it helps them as well,” Fox said. “Pets don’t do well with THC. There is no THC in our products. Our company is about health and wellness, and that goes for animals as well as our people.”<\/p>\n Overcoming pain<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Bassani said Connecticut Back & Wellness Chiropractic treats patients with neck and back pain, as well as other types of pain.<\/p>\n “We’re pain-oriented,” he said. “We really want to put you out of pain. We want to do it as soon as possible and then set you free.”<\/p>\n Dr. Bassani said her practice focuses on making sure her patients receive rehabilitation so their problem doesn’t return.<\/p>\n “We’ll recommend exercises and core stabilization,” he said. “We’ll refer you to Tammy (Kershaw), she’s across the street from me. If you need even more rehab, she’s an expert on that.<\/p>\n Connecticut Back & Wellness Chiropractic utilizes myofascial release, spinal manipulation, electrical muscle stem and a traditional musculoskeletal approach to pain.<\/p>\n “What’s special about us is that we also have a spinal decompression machine,” said Dr. Bassani. “WWe are really able to decompress the cervical and lumbar discs. I’ve been in practice for 30 years and we’ve had this machine for 10, so I can see the difference between having this machine and not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He said the machine gives the practice a chance to solve problems before they have to send their patients to surgery.<\/p>\n “Now, we can give them this more conservative treatment and we can decompress the spine, the neck and the lower back, and I have to tell you, it’s magical. It works about 90 percent of the time,” said the Dr. Bassani.<\/p>\n “My goal is always to get the patient in and out in as few visits as possible,” he said. “I want to make it so you can get back to all your activities \u2014 golf and tennis, and picking up your kids \u2014 without a lot of chronic flare-ups and losing time at work.”<\/p>\n In the past 10 to 15 years, the field of chiropractic has changed significantly, according to Dr. Bassani. “Everything is based on research and evidence,” he said. “No one does a treatment based on a philosophy. Don’t use a technique if it’s not researched.”<\/p>\n During a question and answer period, Stewart asked Dr. Bassani did treat arthritis.<\/p>\n “There’s a lot to do for arthritis,” he said, adding that his patients are often deficient in vitamin D and magnesium. He often recommends taking lots of anti-inflammatories, like fish oil.<\/p>\n “People live with things and they don’t have to live with them,” said Dr. Bassani. “They really think, ‘I’m stuck with this.’ I’m old I was a truck driver. I was that. No, everything is manageable. You can get some relief. Maybe if it’s not 100% relief, you can get 80% relief.<\/p>\n A life of well-being<\/strong><\/p>\n Kershaw started A Wellness Life in 2008 and worked at a “big box gym” in Newtown for eight years, before working out of her home when the gym closed.<\/p>\n “I had my whole studio in my house and then I found Dr. Bassani,” Kershaw said of being in the same building at 755 Main St.<\/p>\n “I think the body has to heal itself from the inside out and most of the time it’s not from a drug,” Kershaw said. “Most of the time it can be a doctor, it can be some food adjustments, it can be mindfulness and meditation, it can be some exercise and it can be all of these things.”<\/p>\n Kershaw has been a certified trainer for over 25 years. She is also a licensed hairdresser. His business has a lounge of one chair.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody comes in for different reasons,\u201d he said. “Some people come for anxiety, which has been a lot lately. Over the last three years, I’ve had a lot of people go into fight or flight and they can’t even breathe.”<\/p>\n Teaching people how to breathe with and without a mask during a global pandemic is something Kershaw said he never thought he would do.<\/p>\n \u201cI love personal training,\u201d she said. “I am a certified pilates instructor. I have the pilates machine in my studio.”<\/p>\n Kershaw said he sees many patients from Dr. Bassani with recommendations and gives them tools they can take with them, so they can move on and live a good life, not get sick and need a doctor for surgery.<\/p>\n “It’s about all the things that include how you take care of your body, your mind and your soul,” she said.<\/p>\n Kershaw also offers group fitness classes at her studio. \u201cI wear a lot of hats there,\u201d he said. \u201cI love doing what I do. I’ll do it until the day I die.”<\/p>\n “Tammy is very knowledgeable about the spine,” said Dr. Bassani. “I trust her implicitly when I send her my patents. She is not just a personal trainer. She really has so much additional knowledge about spinal care and spinal rehabilitation that I have full faith and trust that she will treat my patient from wonderful way.”<\/p>\n