By Bailey Little and Angela McLinton

BOONE – Alchemy Center for Healing Therapies is on a mission to provide integrated healthcare and acknowledge the process of self-correction it its patients. The center offers a multitude of classes and practices derived from Eastern philosophies. 

“Alchemy has been in Boone for a little over three years, in its present form. But it was built on about 11 years of other adventures that just morphed into the present state of Alchemy,” said Eli Peltz, owner of Alchemy. “People come in knowing that ‘oh, something good might happen here.’”

Peltz practices manual medicine which has been used for centuries to address structural and energetic imbalances of the body. He helps his patients to explore different methods to help them redistribute tension, restore motion and empower their body to use its own healing mechanisms. 

The Alchemy team emphasizes self-healing, saying they are merely guides to help people discover their own body and what will make them feel better. 

“I think it’s our side of the fence to learn the language that the western model uses to better build that bridge and meet halfway,” Peltz explained. “So the type of work I practice was practiced by Hippocrates but has largely remained unused by western medicine. And I think there’s definitely way more acceptance than 20 years ago. More papers are being written about acupuncture and cancer, fasca, visceral work.”

Tom Eddins, who practices acupuncture and Chinese therapeutic vitality exercises, said he’s always been interested in Eastern philosophies and holistic ways of looking at the world. He wanted to bring that to people and integrate that with health care, describing wellness as “feeling your best,” and works toward that by conducting procedures that are least invasive as possible. 

“I practice what is called ‘visceral manipulation,’ started by a French osteopath, and I’ve been following his teachings for a while now,” Eddins said. “It gives me a real insight as to how to approach each session in that moment with each individual person.” 

Eddins believes strongly in the idea of self-aware healthcare. He strives to “put the pen back” in the hands of his clients and help them find the tools they need to listen to their own guidance.

The classes offered at Alchemy allow clients to explore and assess themselves and their bodies more freely, all while having the expertise of practitioners. Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong and mindfulness meditation (as well as anxiety and depression counseling) are all offered to reach as many members of the community as possible. Alchemy also teaches people how much medicine surrounds them, as clients walk around the property and make medicine from plants.

Alchemy provides free services to Appalachian State students. De-Stress Fest, which is held each semester before final exams, gives students the opportunity to experience free massages from practitioners at Alchemy. Peltz, accompanied by a massage therapists, was at Plemmons Student Union on Nov. 13. Despite his busy schedule, Peltz gives massages to students because he can tell when they lie down on the table how wired and exhausted they are. 

Noah Cameron, a senior and yoga instructor at the SRC, expressed his gratitude for Alchemy. “They worked on my back and shoulders. As an instructor, as a student, especially carrying a lot of stress throughout the body, having the opportunity to let them help take some of that stress off and relieve some of that tightness or tension was really valuable,” Cameron said. 

Eddins believed that Alchemy would thrive in a town like Boone. “I think people are very open. And when they’re looking for help they’re especially open,” he said. “I feel like on the whole, Boone is very diverse and surprisingly who you think might be more closed off aren’t, or people who you think would be more open sometimes aren’t.”

Because of word-of-mouth advertising from loyal clients, continuing education and skill level of its practitioners, Alchemy has been able to have more internal permissions like heartburn, insomnia and mental health conditions, beyond typical physical afflictions. Eddins noted he had patients with migraines, and digestive and gynecological issues. 

“Rural care is a problem in America,” Peltz said on the scarcity of healthcare accessibility. “Maybe not in Boone particularly. There are a lot of people that come to Boone from like an hour away, some of our clients come as far as two hours to see us.”

This dedication to betterment in his clients is one of Peltz’s goals for his business.

“We really want to empower people to be their own doctor, basically. And you know yourself best and if you don’t, we can teach you how to get to know yourself better,” Peltz said. “We can continue to nudge [clients] toward this place where their body is healthy and doing all the work for them versus some ‘magic pill.’”

Sources: 

Eli Peltz: Myotherapist (manual medicine). Owner of Alchemy. (828) 406-7060.

Tom Eddins: Acupuncturist. Practitioner at Alchemy. 

Noah Cameron: Senior at App State, employee at the SRC. (336) 465-0917. cameronnf@appstate.edu
https://alchemyboone.com/: alchemyboone@outlook.com

By Bailey Little and Angela McLinton

Infographic:

Ocean Sand
Infogram

Emotional support animals can provide relief, but what are their limits and ramifications?

Medicine can be found in many forms in all shapes and sizes, including that of man’s best friend and beyond. Emotional support animals are becoming increasingly common as a coping mechanism or solution for emotional and mental disorders, differing from service animals who are primarily used for people with physical disabilities and trained to do specific tasks (for example, a seeing-eye dog). However, finding housing that acknowledges ESAs as legitimate can be difficult and the required paperwork can be lengthy and intrusive, including at institutions such as Appalachian State. 

According to App State’s code of conduct per the animal policy, those seeking approval must provide the Office of Disability Resources with appropriate documentation on or before the housing application deadline. Necessary documentation includes: verification of a disability, the determination of any conflicting disabilities in the immediate vicinity where the animal will be housed, and verification of all vaccinations and the health of the animal, including all the necessary licensing. 

“I am incredibly anxious and between my anxiety and PTSD triggers, I needed something other than medication to help calm me down and relax me. My ESA is my saving grace,” said Hannah Blissett, a senior sociology major. 

Blissett recalled difficulties with registering her ESA with ODR. “They were apprehensive of my actual ‘need’ for an emotional support animal. I think it was completely out of line as they are not mental health professionals and it took my mental health professional multiple emails, letters and phone conversations to allow me to have my animal,” Blissett said.

By Bailey Little and Angela McLinton

WEST JEFFERSON — The High Country has access to medicinal practices that go beyond mainstream treatments in a hospital or over-the-counter medications. An example of this expansion of resources can be found at Hands of Light and Fire Reiki, located in downtown West Jefferson. 

Reiki, translated from “universal life force,” manipulates bodily energy to replenish the recipient, with the practitioner acting as a conduit. Charla Rae Armitage, the owner of the Hands of Light and Fire, said reiki is Japanese healing energy and is an energetic modality for relaxation, healing, pain and stress management. 

Armitage offers a variety of sessions for clients to choose from to best suit their individual needs. These include reiki, the Biomat or a combination of both. 

As stated on Armitage’s website, “The Richway Fuji Bio Inc. Amethyst BioMat is a high-tech treatment system that emits far infrared rays and negative ions.” The energy emitted by the BioMat helps stimulate circulation and the immune system, while also helping to relax the muscles.

“Basically I am functioning like a set of jumper cables; I’m recharging your batteries,” Armitage said. “I am allowing a flow from the universe, from the source of ‘ki’ through my hands to your body.”

Pamela, who has been a client of Armitage for a decade, shared her experience with reiki and how it has helped her body combat arthritis, shingles and cold sores.

“I actually had [a cold sore] coming and I also had a reiki session planned. I did not tell her about it or anything, she just did her normal session which is from head to toe,” Pamela recalled about the initial session. 

Pamela shared that her cold sores never progressed further after her regularly scheduled sessions, which include a combination of a table session and remote reiki. 

In a reiki session, the patient is fully clothed and relaxes in a chair or massage table. The treatment consists of the practitioner floating their hands lightly above certain areas where they pause while energy flows through them to the recipient. 

“Reiki is gentle, noninvasive and powerful,” Armitage said. 

Kathleen Rightsell, a psychology major at App State, is learning reiki after receiving healing sessions from a friend. 

“The beautiful thing about reiki is that the energy will flow wherever the person needs it the most,” Rightsell said. “I would recommend reiki to everyone especially people who have issues with relaxing because it does help you to relax and some people fall asleep from it. I have noticed this particularly with animals.” 

Armitage featured an article on her website detailing how reiki is especially beneficial to senior citizens. Reiki helps loosen muscle tension, stimulate circulation and soothe the nervous system. Sessions can help with arthritis, as well as permanent damage due to injuries and surgeries. Seniors respond well to the increase in motion and experience a decrease in stiff joints and improved coordination, which helps reduce the risk of falls. Armitage notes that a handful of seniors claim they feel no benefit, but their family members and caretakers notice improvements in the patient’s physical appearance and mood. 

Rightsell believes reiki needs more recognition from within the medical field. 

“My reiki teacher was a nurse and in the medical field and then became a certified healing touch practitioner… and reiki is similar from what I understand,” Rightsell said. “My teacher did say that reiki is not advised instead of seeking medical help but sometimes can improve wellness and illness issues. Everyone has a different response to energy work.”

Currently, over 800 hospitals in the country offer reiki training as a means to accelerate healing processes and alleviate pain. 

Rightsell currently has her Reiki Level One certification and will soon take Reiki Level Two training in order to pursue distance healing. Reiki certification has three levels, each consisting of an eight-hour class. 

“Reiki has improved my life significantly and helped me with anxiety and helped me to relax more. Since I have gotten Reiki One certified I do it myself every day also,” Rightsell revealed. “It is a big part of my spirituality and I would recommend it to anyone who feels called to it.”

Sources:

• Charla Rae, owner of Hands of Light and Fire Reiki and practitioner of reiki. In-person interview 10/16 at her practice. Contact: charlarae@wjreiki.com, (336) 977-2178
• Kathleen Rightsell, App State psychology major, earning their reiki certifications. Phone interview 10/16. Contact: rightsellkr@appstate.edu, (336) 419-6057
• Pamela, client of Charla Rae who offered testimony. In-person interview 10/16 at her practice. No contact info available. 
• Bailey (strictly a source only due to first-hand experience, not featured in article. Arrived at the interview at the end of another client’s session and was able to hear a testimony from that client. Also had an hour long combination table session with Charla Rae on 10/16)
• https://www.uclahealth.org/rehab/workfiles/urban%20zen/research%20articles/reiki_really_works-a_groundbreaking_scientific_study.pdf
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4147026/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5871310/
• http://www.wjreiki.com

Bailey Little

Education

Appalachian State University (Class of 2019) – 

Major: B.S. Communication/Journalism, Minor: General Business

• Participated in Trailhead Academy Leadership Camp (Summer 2017)
• Recognized on Dean’s List (Fall 2017, Fall 2018)
• Member of Gamma Beta Phi National Honor Society (Fall 2019- present)

Wilkes Community College (Class of 2017) –A.A. Degree

• Served as a Student Ambassador
• Completed a variety of classes which enhanced learning experience
• Completed Microsoft Office Certification (2017)

Related Experience

• Editorial Intern at Mountain Times Publications  May- Aug. 2019

Worked under the direction of the editor of the Watauga Democrat and filed press releases, wrote several articles for local publications such as:  the Watauga Democrat, Mountain Timesnewspapers and articles for Autumn Times magazine and All About Women magazine. 

Work Experience

• Ingles Markets: August 2014- Present
• Positions held: Part time Cashier, Part time Bookkeeper

-Learned valuable customer service skills necessary for working with the public and have served as an asset to management as a Bookkeeper by ensuring all sales reports are documented, deposits are made, etc. 

Volunteer Experience

• Western Youth Network Festival of Trees- Dec. 2018
• Appalachian State University Homecoming Blood Drive Super Volunteer- Oct. 2018 and Oct. 2019
• Playhouse BuildFest (A STEAM opportunity for local children)- April 2019

^Link to actual document with appropriate formatting

By Bailey Little and Angela McLinton

As a college town, Boone offers many opportunities for students and younger people to volunteer within the community, but also has programs geared toward older participants to make a difference in the community.

Appalachian Senior Programs is a parent organization sponsored by Appalachian State University that serves Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties. The Appalachian Senior Companion Program and Appalachian Foster Grandparent Program are housed within the organization. The FGP and SCP were established in 1980 and 1988, respectively. 

Debbie Wellborn, who serves as the SCP director and has been involved with the programs since 1988, said that some seniors prefer working with children while some prefer to work with their peers. 

“We are thrilled and honored that we can offer seniors either or and they can make that decision,” Wellborn said about the flexibility the programs offer volunteers. “The senior companions serve as their hands, feet and eyes. Routine tasks such as helping them read the labels at the grocery store or helping those who are blind get around safely are all typical tasks of those who volunteer.”

Both programs help provide reassurance to caregivers of their older loved ones, as well as working parents who are unable to spend as much time doing homework with their children, that those they care for are being taken care of and their basic needs are met. 

In 2003, the sponsor of the programs shifted from New River Mental Health to the university. The university’s Department of Sociology is the campus liaison to the two programs. Dr. Ed Folts and Dr. Amy Page are involved with the grants.

“The requirements of a sponsor are that it be a nonprofit corporation, which we supply for them all of the accounting, all of the accountability, and the administrative work that’s involved,” said Folts, professor and executive director of Appalachian Senior Programs. 

Folts explained how foster grandparents serve in school systems, the head start program and other places. They work with young people who have been identified as being at risk of not making their grade level learning goals. The volunteers are supervised usually by the classroom teacher.

Senior companions work with other seniors who are more advanced in age or have specific conditions that do not require any nursing background. Overall, they strive to be a companion and provide conversation and interaction, as well as basic needs services that allow them to stay in their own home. Senior companions offer many services, but most important among them are respite for caregivers, Folts asserted. 

“[Older people] usually seek help from family members, but the family members get burned out really quickly,” Folts said. “So what senior companions do is they go in and they essentially provide those services that a caregiver would, with some limitations, and give the caregivers some time off.” 

Folts said volunteers need only to be a low-income elderly person. Once accepted and background-checked, doctors certify that they are physically capable of volunteering. 

“I don’t imagine too many people will talk about $2 an hour as a major benefit of doing this. Mostly it’s getting rewards of serving other people,” Folts said of the mutually beneficial relationship between volunteers and recipients. 

There are 155 volunteers in the organization, as of last year’s data. 

“They’re always trying to recruit new volunteers,” Folts suggested. “In this age group, illness and death is a reality, so we always need new faces.” 

Following Folts’ retirement, Page will become executive director. Although Folts will no longer be employed at App State, the two plan on remaining in contact and continuing to collaborate. 

“I’ve always had the belief that education and academia are great and they provide pieces of information for us and research is absolutely necessary, but if we can’t apply any of that in tangible ways to elevate people’s daily lives, then for me it’s pointless,” Page said. 

According to Page, providing transportation to medical appointments for the older members of the community is even more important considering how rural the five counties are because people tend to live further away from one another. 

“We’re also seeing that even in the existing population that we have who is aging, people seem less concerned about ‘what can I do to give back’? It’s a very different sort of generational philosophy,” Page said.

Sources: 

• Dr. Ed Folts, executive director of Appalachian Senior programs, sociology professor. In-person interview 9/27 in his office. Contact: foltswe@appstate.edu
• Dr. Amy Page, successor to Folts, sociology professor. In-person interview 10/2 in her office. Contact: pagead@appstate.edu
• Debbie Wellborn, program director for the Senior Companion Program. In-person interview 10/4 in her office. Contact: appalachianseniorprogams@gmail.com
• https://aseniorprograms.wixsite.com/website/who-we-are
• Data sheet provided by Dr. Folts for the last fiscal year

Oof, I struggle with editing video not gonna lie. But I tried! For some reason it only ended up being 1 second long not sure why??? but all of my clips are in it.

What is it like to co-own and operate a business in your 70s? Listen to an account from 71-year-old Gerald Abreu about his business in downtown West Jefferson, NC.

My obsession with writing developed pretty early in my life, I was still in elementary school. Reflecting on my journey with journalism so far, I believe one of the things I love most about it is how multi-faceted it is.

Whenever people ask me what my major is and I respond with “journalism,” they instantly think I just want to write for a newspaper. Yes, I think that is respectable and I love newspapers. However, I still don’t think the general public realizes how much you can do with a journalism degree. Others think I just want to be in broadcast, although I think that would be really cool, I’ve decided that route just isn’t for me.

Staying informed is extremely important to me whether it has to do with world events, the latest gossip about public figures (Is the Duchess Kate always pregnant or is it just me?) or health trends.

There is also so much that goes into it aside from just knowing how to write for an audience. There are ethics, AP style, and so many other things I did not know about coming in as a journalism major (yes I was overwhelmed at first).

However, I would not change a thing and despite the occasional breakdown, I am happy to be joining this field.

Action shots during a friendly game of “keep away” on the lawn in front of Walker Hall.

Alas! Ebony catches the ball by the grace of her fingertips!

Disclaimer: I tried to upload the video we shot with the mobile kit of me and the file I exported couldn’t be uploaded onto this blog, sad day. It is linked below and is an accurate representation of Angela and I failing miserably at trying to handle technology but we had fun and did learn a little about using the kit. However, we did have issues with the mic and couldn’t get it to work for some reason.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpGetflAuppT2dsUy1OMmxGVlpaTXpCbUFxN0Q3U1VfMUdZ

Digital journalism is more about how the news is distributed via the internet to audiences through the use of websites, etc. to view new stories. It is a newer form of journalism in comparison with traditional news media such as print or broadcast.

Mobile journalism is an even more advanced of digital journalism. It is more about how the content is created because it has to do with the process the journalist goes through and the means by how they acquire the media (photographs, audio and video).

The mobile kits we use in class allow us to be mobile journalists because we can always capture content which we could include in stories we create and there are a lot of different assets we could use from the media we shoot on our mobile kits. The use of Apple Products is key in capturing mobile media and the different technology devices the company continue to create in terms of IOS systems is the face of mobile journalism.

-BL