Opportunities in Healthcare

Bett Martinez • There are great opportunities in health care if we can put “care” back in. I keep talking this up to any Silicon Valley VC I meet...unfortunately, (to my mind) they seem to be seeing opportunities only in tech sectors, like IT, social media.

My sense is that healthcare is needing much more "face-to-face". In today's terms, it would be "coaching", navigating.

But I remember the time when basic needs were met by Grandmothers! They had all kinds of remedies, both tangible and emotional, at their beck and call, and not until those were exhausted would they send family members forth to doctors and /or emergency rooms. There was rarely an error in their form of triage.

An American doctor proposed some time ago that this art be developed as a training.
Can say more, but only if interest is sparked.

Bett Martinez, M.Ed.
Broker / Consultant
Bay Area

Meaningful Aging: Expand your Experience!

September 25 to October 1st, the International Active Aging Council will be promoting Active Aging Week. 
Throughout this week, a great number of parks, recreational centers, retirement communities and dance halls will be offered opportunities to engage in exercise and other healthy activities for an active life. 
Organizations which participate in Active Aging Week create events which are fun, educational and free. 
(More information can be found here)


One of the local organizations in the Bay Area which will be part of Active Aging week is the Possible Society, a non-profit focusing on wellness, wellbeing and preventive health, health
promotion, and lifestyle change based on Expressive Arts and the
teaching and practice of traditional mind-body exercise systems, such as
Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong.

You can learn more about the events The Possible Society will be organizing from the group's website, or through Facebook. 

Anna Halprin Dance

Recently found an amazing video about Anna Halprin, a famous post-modern dance choreographer.
It features not only her dances, but also the philosophy behind the movement. 

The Wellness Benefits of Meditation

The Huffington Post reports a scientific study which credibly demonstrates the many benefits of meditation. In the course of three month, meditators had improved vision, cognition, and psychological well-being. Even more impressively, the meditation led to anti-aging benefits, with resistance to aging at the cellular level.

The scientists emphasize that meditation does not lead directly to cellular health and longevity. Instead, the practice appears to give people an increased sense of meaning and purpose in life, which in turn leads to an increased sense of control over their lives and to less negative emotion. This cascade of emotional and psychological changes is what regulates the levels of telomerase, the anti-aging enzyme.

It's well known that stress -- and distress -- lead to poor health, including a decline of telomerase and its healing properties. What hasn't been known -- and what these studies are beginning to document -- is the exact order of psychological and physiological events in this chain and, what's more, that this chain of events can be reversed.

According to Wray Herbert, the author of this piece, "Positivity appears to be the link between meditative practice and a variety of health benefits."