One, Two, Three Inspiring Self-Help Programs, Back to Back (pun intended)

Many of us who are north of age 45 acknowledge (although perhaps reluctantly) signs that what we did or what we neglected to do in our youth are now exacting their toll. Stiff joints, painful posture, and pudgy middles remind us that good health takes deliberate thought and action to maintain flexibility, manage pain, and proper weight.

On Saturday, June 4, beginning at noon, WSBE Rhode Island PBS presents three special self-help programs back-to-back, to introduce innovative yet practical information: Easy Yoga for Arthritis with Peggy Cappy at noon, Stop Back Pain with Vijay Vad, M.D. at 1 p.m., and 3 Steps to Incredible Health with Joel Fuhrman, M.D. at 2:30 p.m. Presentation of these programs is part of WSBE's fundraising and membership drive. Please support the programming you enjoy. Join or renew today!

Easy Yoga for Arthritis with Peggy Cappy is a fabulous anti-stress yoga sequence, presented in her gentle style that everybody can do.

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the US, affecting some 37 million people. In the 1-hour program,  Peggy shows how yoga can relieve stiffness, reduce pain and fatigue, and improve muscle and bone strength.

For more than thirty years, Peggy Cappy has been teaching yoga, meditation, and guided relaxation, helping others create greater comfort and ease in body, mind and spirit. Her studies have taken her to India, the source of yoga, to study with yoga and meditation masters.

It is no secret that chronic back pain is a huge medical issue for individuals who suffer it, for a health care system that suffers with it, and for the economy, which suffers from it through lost productivity (back pain is one of the most common reasons for lost days of work). Chronic pain is a very democratic health issue, affecting men and women, athletes and couch potatoes, laborers and CEOs, rural and urban dwellers, those who do the heavy lifting and those who manage the heavy lifters. A visit to the doctor for back pain is the second most common reason for office visits in the U.S.

Stop Back Pain with Vijay Vad, M.D. will empower chronic back pain sufferers with the medically-proven information and insights that he provides to his patients--the celebrity superstar athletes and regular folks, who are connected by the shared agony of spine dysfunction. Dr. Vad's clinically-proven approach, integrating the best of Western and Ayurvedic medical approaches, has changed the lives of thousands of people, and returned them to full function.

Dr. Vad is an expert in chronic pain, and half of his practice is devoted to chronic back pain issues. He has researched back pain extensively, publishing many articles for peer review on the subject. He continues to develop more effective treatments for back pain with his clinical research, combined with a biotechnology company he founded called Mobiech, and a research foundation called the Vad Foundation which funds innovative research in back pain and arthritis.

3 Steps to Incredible Health! with Joel Fuhrman, M.D. directly addresses the crisis of obesity and chronic disease plaguing America. More than 65% of Americans are overweight or obese - and that number is growing. 3 Steps to Incredible Health! with Joel Fuhrman, M.D. offers a healthy, effective, and scientifically proven plan for shedding weight quickly and reclaiming vitality and good health. Dr. Fuhrman shares his revolutionary program to prevent and reverse disease through nutritional and natural methods. His 3-step plan addresses the power of micronutrients, eliminaing food addictions, and superfoods for health and pleasure. Dr. Fuhrman's plan is not about will power, it about knowledge.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on 36.1, and is carried on Cox cable 08/HD 708, Verizon 08/HD 508, Full Channel 08, Dish 7776, DirecTV 36, Comcast HD 819; Massachusetts subscribers of Comcast standard definition should check local listings for channel designation.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on 36.2; on cable in Rhode Island, it's Cox 808, Verizon 478, and Full Channel 109; in Massachusetts, Comcast carries WSBE Learn on 294 or 312, depending on your location.