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Bali is a tropical, exotic location. Few words can describe it but special and unique do it best. For those of you not fortunate to have traveled there yourself, at least not yet, your familiarity with Bali may have come from a book or movie. Let me give you a more personal experience of Bali through the eyes of a gifted photographer, and you will see Bali in a whole new way.

First of all, let’s get our bearings in relation to geography. Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Unless you are familiar with Indonesia, that description was not helpful. Let’s try again. Bali is an island situated north of Australia and south of Japan. Bali is the most famous of Indonesia's 17,000 islands and has been a tourist favorite for decades.

What if there was a Hall of Fame for healthcare professionals? Who would make the line up? Who would you choose? 

Your doctor should be the first person to come to mind. He or she is the most important figure in your health and wellness experience. 

I certainly choose my doctor. In fact, I can look back at two of my former doctors and would have to vote for them to be first ballot Hall of Famers for the care they gave me. I’m no easy patient, but they all have hung in there with me as I went through a series of very serious health issues. With each of them I tried to do my own analysis and diagnosis, all without the necessary know how. We may not recognize or acknowledge it, but doctors are special people.

We’d all like to be healthy. That would be ideal. But the reality is that with life comes ailments and as we age, frailty is often the companion.

While we might not escape minor illnesses, and nagging pain, we can live healthier lives if we practice good housekeeping skills. Today we know more than we did even a decade ago about health and wellness. And to their credit, some people are living healthier lives through better diet, exercise and other methods of weight control. 

When was the last time you and your honey danced? I must admit, I’ve been the stick-in-the-mud when it comes to me and my wife. She always asks me to take her out dancing, but I decline and really, I feel bad about it. 

I’ve always been shy or reluctant to get out on the dance floor. This dates back to my teen years when dancing was absolutely necessary to win over that cutie you had your eyes on. But I always found other ways to entice the ladies; wit and charm worked for me. I wasn’t a bad dancer, but I was no James Brown and I surely wouldn’t have won a Soul Train dance contest either!

Summer is winding down and the days will get shorter, cooler and darker. But don’t let this mean your workouts will get shorter, less frequent and less intense. Instead use the change in seasons to revamp your workout and increase your positive self-talk.

How do you keep yourself going to the gym when it gets colder outside? Working out with a friend or buddy is a fantastic way to make sure you get to the gym (they keep you accountable and call you on it when you slack off) and make sure you have more fun. Fun you say? At the gym? Yes, absolutely. 

If an African safari is on your bucket list, sit back and over the next 12 months, go on safari vicariously with us! We started off with Hippos in Africa - Vicariously and now want to share the fabulous Victoria Falls with you.

Victoria Falls is shared by the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. My sister and her husband went to Zambia specifically to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World. To say the falls are SO BIG would sound like a statement one would make to a toddler, but how do you describe something this massive and breathtaking? 

I was moved by a piece I saw on PBS this past Sunday. It was titled, Cafeteria Man. The film chronicled the work of Tony Geraci, who was then the food service director for Baltimore City Public Schools. 

Have you seen it? If not, and you want to be enlightened by a inspirational bit of cinema that will change your view of school feeding programs and what our children are fed, then you want to see this. 

For us in Milwaukee, it has a familiar face – Will Allen, the founder of Growing Power. After many years of trying to educate people here, Allen has found some traction. He has almost single-handedly taken on the issue of urban farming, winning over some of his biggest doubters. I know, I was one of them. I didn’t think that people would or could change their eating habits. 

It’s wonderful when you witness a plan coming together.

There isn’t a day that passes that I am not totally overjoyed that Brain Brawn & Body is alive and doing well. 

More importantly, it is doing what we envisioned when we launched the website – it is changing lives. Those are not my words, others have told us so. We wanted to see men take control of their health. We believed that if men knew how to live healthier they would, in turn, lead their families to live healthier lives. 

And so far, the prognosis is good. 

I was recently diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). It, like most other illnesses we seem to be contracting these days, comes with outcomes that even the best doctors describe as “unpredictable”. They are uncertain, it seems, why I had this first bout, except to say that given my chronic heart disease it’s not unexpected that I might suffer from Atrial Fibrillation. 

Okay, but they can’t say why with any certainty why the attack occurred when it did or as it did. My heart, they say, is fine. No real damage evident despite three heart attacks. The arteries are not what they should be, I get that, but my heart, according to the doctors is pumping just fine. 

I remember as a young boy I used to ride in the car with my brother and for some reason I would ask him about car accidents. He always avoided the conversation or forbade me from going too far with the subject. I recall him saying, “If you don’t talk about it, it won’t happen.” 

I was young; he was my big brother, so I believed him. Don’t mention it and we’ll always be safe in his car. Sounded reasonable to a seven year old.

I don’t typically find myself giving relationship advice. But an article I read for Brain Brawn & Body (Fight Fairly and Keep the Peace in Your Relationship) led me to think about my own relationship and how my wife and I get along. We do pretty well and I think we can provide others with a beacon to help them through a difficult stretch they may be facing. 

With the help of the article and the recommendations it presents, I offer these observations.

It may seem obvious: a healthy relationship could mean a healthier you. That’s right, two people getting along better could mean that you, the individual, will fare better in many ways.

Spring always makes me think of France, and specifically Monet’s beautiful garden at Giverny. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Paris twice and take a day trip to Giverny both times. One visit was in the month of May and the second was in June. The gardens were glorious both times.

In the spring months including May, you will find the garden blooming with amazing flowers. Beautifully arranged are daffodils, tulips, poppies, cherry and crabapple trees, wallflowers and pansies, fritillaries, irises and so many more. 

She came to town for two days, providing a story so rich, yet, so full of pain that those of us who heard her story were left feeling as if we had to join her in this fight against this dreaded disease. 

 Sylvia Mackey, wife of NFL Hall of Famer, John Mackey, is a whirlwind. She travels from coast to coast sounding the alarm on dementia. Anyone in her path will be swept up and moved to act by what she has to say. I know I was. 

 I learned many things in the two days I was fortunate to spend with Sylvia. The most shocking may have been that there is no cure for dementia. Sad. One would think that in this day and age of advanced medical discovery, where there seems to be a pill for everything, that there would be something available that could snap a person back from that dark, cold place their minds have ventured into.

For the past few days I’ve taken my nephew Isaiah to school. He’s a senior at an area high school. Nothing extraordinary about that except I’ve noticed the astounding number of kids carrying backpacks. 

Backpacks and more backpacks, that’s all you see in the mornings. At his school you’d be hard pressed to find a kid who isn’t carrying one on his or her way into the building. But it doesn’t stop with high school kids…just blocks away is an elementary school and to see the little boys and girls lugging and laboring with what appears to be the weight of the world over their shoulders and on their backs got me to thinking. 

I started running in high school. As kids we always chased each other, but running in a straight line was new to me. I lived out in the country on a long, hilly road. Once I started to run on my own, my normal route was to run to the highway and back – 1 mile out and 1 mile back. To get there, I had to go up a little hill, then go up a really big hill to complete the first ½ mile. It was always a challenge but one that I enjoyed. Now when I run races and see a hill coming, my adrenaline surges. I’m so excited to charge that hill because I’ve been doing it all my life!

The race landscape has changed over the years. There are many 5K runs, some 2 mile fun runs and walks and this year I heard of my first quarter marathon. Whatever your preferred distance, realize that you can run any distance you want. Really you can! The healthy human body is so amazing and is limited only by our mental attitude. We like to ask newbie runners if they can run a mile. Usually they respond yes. Then we tell them that if you can run 1 mile, you can run 3. Then, if you can run 3, you can run 5. If you can run 5, you can run 10. If you can run 10, you can run a half-marathon – 13.1 miles. So, if you can run 1 mile, you can run a half!

I lost a childhood friend today. He was the first of our crew to pass away. At 6:00am my phone buzzed with a text message from another of my old friends, Kevin. The message was short…”Mike passed.” 

What a tough way to wake up.

I had been waiting for a call like that for some time. About a month ago I got the news that Mike was sick; really sick. I called him and he said to me with all the courage I remember him having all his life, “My body isn’t doing so well. They sent me home because there wasn’t anything they could do for me…”

His faith was strong even if the doctors had given up. He felt he had done his part to ready himself for whatever was to come. The conversation was difficult for me, but for Mike it was, as he said, “…what it is.” He seemed to have no regrets except that maybe he had cheated his wife and kids by checking out so soon. 

I wanted to share a health story with you about autism.

By: Karen Stokes

In 2000, my 3 year old son, Elijah was diagnosed with autism. In retrospect, I guess I realized something was wrong because after he met the typical milestones for a child, at 2 years old he lost his vocabulary, he lost his interest in playing with his brother and other children and he seemed to be living in a world of his own.

Where do we go from here?

Young people today face many challenges, especially ones with Autism. According to Autism Speaks, autism affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 are boys. These numbers are growing. Autism is a cognitive disorder that impairs social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and also can bring about repetitive behaviors. As of now, there is no cure, but there are outlets and information that parents and caregivers can utilize. 

I am fortunate to serve both as the editor and publisher of Brain Brawn & Body. I have learned so much since launching this website. In much the same way as I spent two decades prepping for my radio show, reading and researching topics on a regular basis, I have found myself doing that type of prep work for Brain Brawn & Body. 

It has been a rewarding experience. This past year has been a whirlwind of activity for the website. We have done workshops and forums, health fairs and seminars, but mostly the enrichment has come from the monthly publishing of articles that enlighten our readers about health and wellness issues. 

Lately, it seems I’ve been on both sides of the issue – the bearer of good and bad news as well as the recipient of both. I can tell you, it’s not easy delivering bad news. At the same time I find it difficult to be the recipient of good news from people because it seems that right behind the good news they have for me, they share a sad story with me. 

I feel for them and it makes rejoicing in the good news I’ve just received quite difficult.

The conflict of delivering good news and/or bad news first came to mind because of the number of my friends and acquaintances who have been met with some misfortune recently. In some of those situations their anguish has been compounded by multiple incidents. 

My sister, the world traveler and scuba diver, shared one of her favorite dive trips so I could share it with you. On the other side of the world in between China and Australia lies Indonesia. The Republic of Indonesia is an archipelago containing more than 13,000 islands. On the way to their scuba diving trip in Wakatobi, they first stopped on the island of Bali. 

Their experience in Bali was a very spiritual and peaceful one. They stayed in the southern part of the island called South Kuta because it was near the airport. Dubbed the Detroit of Indonesia , it was crowded, dirty and didn’t make them feel safe.