On the evening of Friday, March 4, 2022, members of the Storm King School community gathered on Zoom to share ideas about ‘Whole Person Health’– a topic suggested when alumni were surveyed about conversations of interest. The discussion was facilitated by several community members as part of the Spring 2022 Alumni Conversation Series.

Lisa Veyka ’83 kicked off the conversation with a focus on self-care in light of two years of pandemic living.  She demonstrated simple techniques to alleviate stress and address common areas of soreness in the body using a tennis ball and a sock. For neck pain, she demonstrated slowly rolling the ball from behind the ear and down over the shoulder. Using a mat and a tennis ball while sitting, she demonstrated rolling the foot gently over the ball. She also stood up and placed two tennis balls in a sock between herself and a wall, and moved gently to loosen and “destress” back muscles.  Lisa, a massage therapist for more than 15 years, now works as a Cyber Security Analyst which requires sitting at a computer.  She said that she sets an alarm to remind herself to get up and move.

Former faculty member Emily Boronkay, currently a homeopathic health consultant and nutrition advisor in Nevada, described homeopathy as an FDA-recognized form of medicine which is entirely safe and has been shown to be effective in clinical trials. She said that everything has a vibration signature, and matching the vibrational signature of symptoms to a homeopathic remedy reminds the body that it knows how to heal itself.  “It’s great for moms with kids who don’t have to be concerned with side effects or other negative reactions, yet can address colds, ear aches, irritability and more,” she noted.  As an example, Arnica Montana, derived from a flower, is a commonly known remedy used for trauma, bruising and swelling.

Jodie Gerson ’91, a doctoral candidate and licensed therapist, advocated taking even just two minutes a day for a mental health break and spoke about mindfulness techniques. “I prefer 20 minutes a day,” Jodie said, “but everyone can make two minutes available.”  She used the metaphor of a car needing care to run: oil changes, maintenance services, and topping up with gas or an electric plug help ensure optimal function.  She also spoke about using superhero metaphors for affirmation and encouragement. 

While traditional/allopathic medicine and holistic/alternative medicine seem to be distinctly separate approaches, SKS freshman Daniel Z. ’25 commented that in Hong Kong it is common to see a Western doctor next door to a Chinese medicine doctor (the latter being primarily focused on prevention).  He explained that there are floors in hospitals for traditional Chinese medicine so that both approaches might be available to hospitalized patients. Jodie lives in Hawaii where native healing centers with steam, herbs, and other healing techniques are an important part of whole person health for indigenous Hawaiians.

Further conversation included healthy vs. inflammatory foods; maintaining a healthy weight; participants’ experiences with herbal remedies; helping posture and keeping centered by sitting on a yoga ball; and having “fidgety stuff” on your desk (according to a 2005 study, kids who are allowed to fidget during class learn more quickly than those who are not). 

During the Zoom, as participants’ pets came onto the screens, conversation turned to their benefits.  When Jonathan Lamb became Head of School, he said that he welcomed well-behaved dogs in the offices and classrooms at SKS.  Jonathan Fox-Goldberg ’10 reminisced about all the dogs on campus when he was at SKS and added “When my mom passed away, my dogs got me through. To me, it’s not a coincidence that Dog is God spelled backwards.”  

“And we can sing,” said Emily. “Singing for three minutes has been shown to relieve pain.”  

Lisa commented that sometimes we put taking care of ourselves last on our list. Talking together on this Alumni Conversation Series topic was a great reminder to make time for ourselves and for our whole person health. 

Jon Fox-Goldberg commented afterwards “It was a great presentation and good to see some familiar faces. Put on your favorite music and sing!”