Catherine Attias, Medicine Woman

     “I didn’t realize I wanted to heal people until after I had my triplets” Catherine Attias, acupuncturist and holistic healer says.

           

         After realizing that she would be responsible for the physical, mental and emotional health of her children, as well as taking them to a pediatrician keen on natural methods, she immediately knew it was her calling. Despite growing up in Panama, where she claims natural remedies were the norm, she didn’t realize her passion for holistic methods until later in life, 47 to be exact.

           

            Now, 10 years into her practice, she says she is still stunned by the power of acupuncture and herbal medicines. “It’s always a delightful surprise how people heal unexpectedly. They come in for something like back pain and then find that they are also sleeping, digesting and feeling better” Attias says.

           

            Currently Attias works at The Trauma Resolution Center, a holistic trauma center helping victims with physical ailments that are linked to trauma, and has her own practice where she has found much success helping women with fertility issues get pregnant. She says that many of her clients were actually recommended by a western method fertility doctor by the name of George Attia at the UM center for endocrinology. 

           

            “It’s really difficult because in today's society women have high powered jobs that are really stressful” Attias says. She feels that conventional doctors don’t take such things into account. They tend to treat symptoms instead of the root problem.

           

             “It’s hard to get pregnant when under a lot of stress because the reproductive system shuts down on account of the chemicals the brain is making the body produce” Attias says.

           

            She believes it can be a matter of a few lifestyle changes; exercises, eating habits or simply taking time for relaxation that are key components in eastern/holistic philosophies of healing.

           

            Attias loves the simplicity of natural healing that can at times be more successful than conventional methods. The simplicity could also explain why many people are on the fence about the effectiveness of acupuncture, despite being practiced for roughly over 2500 years.

           

            “It’s always pleasant because one doesn't have to believe in acupuncture for it to work” Attias says, smiling.

           

            She recalls a former patient she treated at the trauma center, a non believer, who had been the victim of a vicious attack. “For two or three weeks she couldn't sleep more than five minutes without jolting awake because of the memory of the trauma” Attias says, who then rid her of this after only one session. The women reported back that she still does not have trouble sleeping through the night.

           

            Although acupuncturist is her primary title, she enjoys learning and practicing other natural methods of healing. She recently went to Panama to study with a curandera or shaman healer. She learned from this woman, who had the gift of botany, how to use tropical plants native to Panama for healing purposes.

           

            “The curandera taught me that one must connect and talk with the plants, ask the plants to do the healing for you, unlike traditional Chinese herbs” Attias says.

           

            She learned how to mix certain species of plants for teas and cleansing baths (used to cleanse negative energy as well as heal certain ailments) and currently is finding ways to incorporate these teachings in her overall treatments.

           

            What are Attias’ future plans? Attias says, without pause, “Open a foundation with many healing modalities under one roof as well as provide education. It will have a sliding scale where people who are more affluent pay more and people with little money pay less, so that everyone can receive quality health care.”

Photo: Debbie Attias

Dangerous Downtown; Discouraging Student Cyclists

Downtown Miami; Office execs speed walk with cell phones in tow, restaurant employees hustle 

as their “slow hour” is usually before closing, electronic store owners lean on long glass tables as 

salsa blasts with hopes of luring in tourists. Not your typical college town, downtown Miami is a financial 

district with no student housing and limited neighboring residencies. Therefore the schools located 

within are considered “commuter” schools.

A popular method of commuting to campus is by bicycle. It’s free and has the added benefits of a cardio workout. Downtown, however, is made up of narrow one-way streets that make riding through a serious hazard. While the city can’t reconfigure the roads they can take action. 

“The current signs have had little impact. It would be better if they blocked the lanes with cones or stand alone sticks to protect riders.” Jonathan Sauceda, New World School of the Arts student and cyclist says. Sauceda is referring to the traffic signs that hail a picture of a bicycle and can be found every few blocks in downtown, making people aware of the “sharrows” or roads meant for car and bicycle use. This being the city’s current effort to make Miami more bike friendly. 

Alessandro Perez, manager of The Scoot Skate and Bike shop thinks “there are fewer accidents, car drivers are forced to learn to share the road,” in response to the impact of the signage and sharrows. The city, however, can do more in the form of Public Service Announcements, “They need TV commercials, public forums or anything to let people know how to bike safely”, he says.

While the city has to take more initiative, some people feel that the cyclists, especially college age, could make themselves better equipped with safety gear and city rules. “It’s the personal responsibility of the student to learn how to ride bike along with traffic and obey traffic laws as well” Vanessa Rodriguez, bike patrol ambassador for downtown Miami says. 

Rodriguez has observed students riding on the opposite side of the street and other acts that disregard common sense law. Rodriguez thinks that if police officers wrote more citations to cyclists for breaking traffic laws it would greatly reduce future accident. 

Perez made it clear that young cyclists are partly to blame when he answered "People from the ages of 16-25, almost none" to how many young people were actually buying helmets or protective gear when purchasing a bicycle.

Cycling in Miami is increasing in popularity, as is evident by many local bike centered events, such as races to bar Wood Tavern or Miami’s Critical Mass. The city has been responding to this trend by creating bike lanes around Wynwood, Midtown and the design district but downtown, home to Miami Dade College and New World School of the Arts, seems to be a lesser priority. 

“I encounter like one accident every day riding to and from school”, Sauceda says “It’s ridiculous”. 

Miami does have a plan in motion, thanks to Street Plans, but it’s estimated to take at least another 16 years to complete. Hopefully with some more cost efficient actions, such as citations and P.S.A.’s, downtown can make moves now to keep its students safe. What does Perez want for the future? “Nicer people, share the road man.”

-Sarah Attias

M.C.I. Churning out Sustainably Sound Chefs

With an organic garden in full bloom and a state of the art energy efficient facility, one can deduce that the Miami Dade Culinary Institute is serious about sustainability. Using produce from local farms such as Paradise and Verde gardens in homestead the director, Chef John Richards, is teaching his students the importance of local food sourcing and composting to sustain future generations.

           

Representatives of these and various local farms come and give “colloquiums” as Richards titles it. “They engage the faculty and students to talk about what’s important to us, like how we buy, make, and dispose of food properly and how it impacts our environment and the world”.

           

The school also has an organic garden that first year students tend to. Charles David Countin, academic adviser for M.C.I. says that “First year students must learn to keep an organic garden in the middle of this urban environment.”

This being real world experience for what our future generation of chefs will face with higher demand for produce and less growing space.

“I feel they teach us a lot about how different foods are produced and how local produce can be fresher due to proximity”, says production three (equivalent to a second year) student Daniel Hernandez. Hernandez says he will definitely consider using more local produce upon graduation as it is “healthier and good for the environment”.

           

 Despite the effort M.C.I. is making to practice and preach sustainability, there is the current issue of cost that keeps them from being 100 percent sustainable. Local foods can be more expensive due to the likelihood that the farms are fair trade, abiding by state wage and hourly laws, as well as organic, free of inexpensive/toxic pesticides.

           

Richards has plans to continue making his school more sustainable despite expense issues. He is currently seeking to become part of the National Restaurant Association of Chicago’s Sustainability Committee.

 Richards wants to become one of the leaders that will figure out what a fully sustainable institution should look like and how that can be incorporated in colleges and even high schools. “There isn’t a book, we’re pioneering that. My mission is for everyone in this school to be a part of that journey”.

-Sarah Attias