Author: Holly Aaron

Welcome to a relaxing oasis experience with Aspire Holistic Health and Wellness, LLC, a holistic health practice, in Northwest Arkansas including Massage Therapy (relaxing Swedish, deep tissue, prenatal, hot stone, rain drop therapy), Reflexology, Cranial-Sacral Therapy, Healing Touch, and Health Coaching.

Holly Aaron, BA, MMT, HTP, provides an ambiance conducive to relaxation from the moment you walk into her space with water features, tropical plants, a large open room with natural light, and gentle music. She’s a Master Massage Therapist and has been licensed in Arkansas and Nationally Certified with the NCBTMB for 24 years.

2025 Prices

60 Minute Session:  $98

75 Minute Session: $123

90 Minute Session: $147

Other Session Types Available:

Reflexology

Cranial Sacral

Healing Touch

Prenatal Massage

Hot Stone Massage

Raindrop Massage

Health Coaching

$35 Extra Charge for Hot Stone and Raindrop

Other Services Available:

Ionic Foot Detox: $55

Light Therapy: $55 for 20-30 min

Red and Blue Light Massager for face and muscles

To schedule an appointment, please text at 479-283-6507 or email at haaron919@gmail.com.

A photo taken in Colorado while training for Kilimanjaro.

Chicken soup, the age old recovery method from colds, flus, and tummy issues.

This lovely potion is generally made with chicken, celery, carrots, onions, garlic, salt and pepper.  Often is is combined with a starch, rice or noodles, creating chicken noodle soup or chicken and rice.  Chicken soup has typically been used to assist someone with getting out of bed and getting “back on their feet”.

When trying to answer the question of “Why chicken?”, we can look at the energetics of the animal.  The chicken is spry, running or taking short flights all day, to get to her next meal, whereas the cow is a lumbering creature, usually not in a big hurry. When considering the energetic purpose, it is important to choose a chicken which was allowed to run around freely, pecking for food all day, rather than a white chicken that lived its life in the confines of a metal cage, unable to even turn around.

Celery contains vitamin C which is known for its immune boosting effects.  It also contains coumarins which enhance the performance of certain white blood cells, allowing them to seek and destroy the unwanted invading pathogen that caused the illness. As this soup is for your health and to strengthen your immune system, it is important to choose organic, so that you are not adding unwanted toxins and chemicals. Look up the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15”, to assist in deciding which foods should be purchased as organic. Carrots are a great source of carotenoids, the precursor to Vitamin A. which has long been known for its benefits to vision, but also supports the immune system.

Onions contain Vitamin C, quercetin and flavonoids, which work synergistically to kill pathogenic bacteria, a perfect addition to our soup. Garlic contains a sulfur compound called allicin which serves as an antibiotic, killing bacteria, fungi and viruses. Garlic also contains Vitamin C.  An important note is to finely chop or mash the onion and garlic and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes prior to cooking. allowing their health promoting compounds to become heat stable.

Celtic sea salt, not table salt, contains magnesium, sodium and 60 trace minerals which serve to balance the electrolytes in the body and keep it hydrated. There is a nice article about the difference between table salt and real salt, Celtic sea salt or himalayan salt @ http://draxe.com/10-benefits-celtic-sea-salt-himalayan-salt/ (copy and paste into your search bar). Pepper, both black and cayenne help support the immune system.  Black pepper contains piperin, a phytonutrient that has an antibiotic effect for many bacteria.  Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin, a phytonutrient that breaks up mucus in the sinuses and lungs.  It also contains beta-carotene, the precursor to Vitamin A, which supports the immune system.

The health benefits and nutritional information for these foods was found in “The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide For The Healthiest Way Of Eating” by George Mateljan.

A chicken soup recipe:
4-5 chicken thighs (humanely raised)
one onion (finely chopped)
three cloves of garlic (mashed)
four stalks of celery (chopped) (organic)
four carrots (whole or chopped)
1/2 stick of butter (organic)
1/2-1 tsp Celtic sea salt (more or less to taste preference)
sprinkle of pepper, black or cayenne or both (to taste preference, start slow and add more)
Enough filtered water to cover ingredients, more if you plan to add rice, noodles or quinoa

Chop onions and mash garlic, set aside.  Place thawed chicken in pan, add carrots, celery, water, salt and begin heating at a medium to high heat.  Add onions and garlic after they have set for 5-10 minutes. Bring to boil and turn heat down.  Let simmer for 40 minutes.  Sprinkle pepper in lightly, stir and taste.  You can add more salt if needed. There is no subtraction, so start slow and gradually add until you achieve your taste preference.  Pull chicken out with a slotted spoon or tongs, shred with a fork, remove the bone and add shredded chicken to the broth.

You may add noodles, rice or quinoa once the water is boiling.  White rice and quinoa take 20 minutes to cook, Brown rice takes around 40 minutes.  Noodles take around 8-10 minutes, longer if you like them very soft.  Gluten free noodles can be substituted if you are sensitive to gluten, as most are, according to Dr. David Perlmutter in “The Grain Brain”.

 

Knives and Cutting Boards

For a functional kitchen and easy food preparation, one must have a good knife or several.  I have used many knives since beginning my journey into creative cooking.  I have tried the inexpensive knives from the big box stores and the very expensive knife kits from the internet.  I have a beautiful set of stainless knives which I never use, because they simply don’t cut well.  Years ago, my mother gave me a single knife made by Rada.  I used it and it cut wonderfully.  When it was time to wash it, I threw it in the dishwasher and the handle pitted and turned an ugly gray.  Since it was no longer pretty, I decided to use it as a utility knife and it served it’s purpose very well. My mother, of course, was disappointed in my choice of use of the knife.

Many years later, I found Rada knife sets at The Huntsville Pantry, in Huntsville, Arkansas.  I bought a couple of single knives and a sharpener.  These became my mainstay knives.  They keep their edge much longer than a usual knife, which is fantastic since I am often in a hurry and don’t have time to sharpen my knife prior to each use.  I hand wash them to keep them from tarnishing.  Of all of my knives from grandparents, birthday presents and trips, these are the knives that I go to every time.  I also found a cheese knife that makes cheese cutting a breeze and a potato peeler that maintains its sharpness.  I have bought sets for several of my friends and sisters with a selfish purpose in mind,  if I were to prepare food in their kitchen, I would have a good knife to use.

I also recommend a wooden cutting board, well several really.  A small one that is designated for cutting fruit only.  A medium or large one that can be used for cutting other vegetables.  The reason behind multiple is that if an onion or pepper has been cut on your cutting board, the oils and juices will permeate the wood and then if you cut a piece of fruit on the same board, your fruit will taste of the onion or the pepper.  This principle is the same for meat. You want to make sure that the board that you use to cut meat is not used to cut anything that you will eat raw.  When you are cutting potatoes or lots of vegetables or preparing a meal for many people, you may want a larger board, but the large board is cumbersome for everyday use.  I don’t recommend glass because it will dull your knives.  I don’t recommend plastic as your knife will cut it and you may add plastic to your food.  Also, after the first use it will host bacteria in the cracks formed by the knives.  Wood on the other hand, will not dull the knives as glass does and the wood comes from a tree which has been fighting bacteria and insects all its life and will continue to do so during its life as your cutting board. 9-21-14

As the days shorten and the crickets chirp, I gladly announce that I will be graduating from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition as a Health Coach on September 10, 2014.  While this chapter of my life is closing, many new chapters will be opening.

For years, I have been reading and studying about alternative treatments, natural remedies and nutrition – just for fun. I have this plethora of random nutrition facts that I love to share and have been more generous with this knowledge than my family and friends care to hear.  My daughter used to say “Mom, stop reading!”, because every time I learned something enlightening, there would be a change in our household.    After realizing that the health care system consists of some of the unhealthiest people – physically, emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to become a health coach to assist people with taking charge of their own health and wellness instead of allowing the medical system to simply manage their sickness.  There is a quote – “No one cares about your health the way you should.”  Think about this – Doctors are busy – they have about 5 minutes per patient – how could they possibly care about your health the way it needs to be cared for?  We have one body to care for and one body to get us from infant to 100 years old.  Yes, replacements can happen, but they are never as good as the original.  “Love your neighbor as your self”, a paraphrase from Jesus Christ.  So many people hear the “love your neighbor “ part, but neglect the “ as your self” part.  We first have to love our selves before we can truly care for anyone else.  “Your health is your greatest wealth” a quote from Virgil.    To truly love your self, you must provide the care for your body, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually, so it can get us to age 100 with joy and grace. 

How do we do this?

We receive so many massages for how to feel terrible about ourselves and that we need to spend more money on things we don’t need, to make us feel better, but purchases don’t create lasting joy or happiness.

In health coaching – we focus on balance and choices.  Each choice we make leads us to better health or away from it.

In a free health consultation, clients will discuss positive changes that they would like to see in their lives.  We then work together, step by step, to accomplish the positive changes such as – having more energy, feeling great about who they are and the way they look, fitting into clothes they never thought they could, stopping smoking, enjoying their last 20 years, finishing a warrior dash or mud run and the list goes on and on.  We look at the four main areas of life – career, exercise, spirituality and relationships.  If these are out of balance- it creates a drain on their life energy, leaving them unfulfilled.  Most of us try to fill this drain by what we put in our mouths – whether it be a donut, a bag of chips, a cigarette, a 5 dollar coffee drink or an alcoholic beverage – or several.

The problem is that these never fix the energetic drain.  With health coaching, the client is able to discover the real cause of the problem and find healthy solutions to take care of it.

In Health coaching, we also look at the diet and transition, in a step by step fashion, from the sugary, processed junk foods, fast foods and diet foods to real food and clean water.  Real food grows in the ground, on a vine, on a tree or was raised in humane conditions on pasture.   These are the foods that heal.  Hippocrates said “Let thy food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food”. I don’t believe in using restriction or starvation diets, because every deprivation is followed by a binge.  One of the biggest predictors of weight gain is whether you have been on a diet within the past two years.  In health coaching, we look at the nutritional content of foods, so that you know which foods you can get the most nutrients for the calories, so you can actually eat without gaining weight.

If you are motivated to take charge of your health and take care of #1, contact me at 479-283-6507 to schedule your free health consultation!