As I write this editorial, our beautiful, warm autumn weather continues. Today was extremely windy with hundreds of leaves blowing off the trees, swirling in the air and on the ground. I watched as gusts of wind sent bunches of them tumbling and dancing down the street and the sidewalk. As I walked from place to place my feet crunched them gently under my soles. Back to the earth they are going. Back to rejuvenate and regenerate the soil for next spring. And the cycle continues year after year, season after season—Mother Nature doing what she does best!

Autumn is my favourite time. I like walking in the crisp, cool air, feeling it brush across my cheeks and forehead, inhaling it deep into my lungs. Last week I enjoyed the full moon, beaming brightly in the clear night sky, lighting my path as if it were daylight, and millions of stars, like satellites of the moon, twinkling and blinking all around her. I felt I was in a magical storybook tale.

These autumn walks give me time to reflect on the many blessings I feel about my work as publisher and editor of WHOLifE. I am always impressed with the number of people who contact me with articles. Thank you. I also get numerous comments from our readers saying they find the articles and ads extremely educational and interesting. We are definitely reaching lots of folks interested in wholistic health and well-being and our readership seems to be growing substantially both inside and outside our province.

In this issue we are featuring another "first" for Saskatchewan—Dr. Marilyn Sthamann of Regina is our province's first veterinarian to practice homeopathy for animals. In her article (p. 16), she explains how she became fascinated with the increasing public interest in complementary practices and wanted to be able to advise her clients on all options for their pet's care. So she made a decision to study homeopathy and in 1999 enrolled in the first Canadian Veterinary Homeopathy course held in Guelph, Ontario. She is definitely breaking ground here for her colleagues to follow and with the positive results she is getting with her clients' pets, she says she is very excited about the future.

Essential for animals' health is the need for a proper diet. Brenda Hagel, a dog breeder and long-time advocate of wholistic care and nutrition, explains in You and Your Pet's Nutrition (p. 12), the importance for pet owners to know their choices. She emphasizes the need for them to educate themselves about the many products available, in order to choose wisely for the specific needs of their companion animals. She provides a number of excellent suggestions to get you started, as well as a list of references you may wish to use.

Our regular writer, Paulette Millis, has diverted from her usual format in order to provide you with important information about Foods To Help Lower Cholesterol (p. 8). The list is diverse and includes foods rich in fibre that are vital in maintaining our body's health. To top it off, she has included some more delicious and nutritious recipes!

After you have learned about nutrition, you may be interested in knowing how to keep your body in shape with The Benefits of Mitzvah (p. 14) by Carla-marie Powers. Although this technique has three main components, she focuses on the exercises, which she says are beneficial to everyone and that once you have learned them, they can be done right at your kitchen sink or down your hallway. Kateri Hellman Pino describes the benefits of several other complementary therapies in her article, Introducing The Healing Co-operative of Saskatoon (p. 26). As a writer and co-op member, Pino describes the process that lead to the creation of this new non-profit venture and how the members see it contributing to the overall health care of the community.

Physical, mental and emotional problems? Inside we have two articles—Loretta Mohl's Thought Field Therapy(tm) (p. 24) and Emotional Transformation (p. 11) by Carole Collins—which offer new tools that may lead to improved mental, physical and emotional health and well-being. In addition, homeopathic practitioner, Rouhieh Tabibzadegan, offers ideas on how to deal with stress using homeopathy (p. 7)and Catherine Fenwick, in Ask Cathy (p. 23), shares her 10 tips for parenting with humour.

Until next time, may we all enjoy the annual festive season and may we count our blessings, one and all!

Namaste!
(I honour the Spirit in you!)