b'wwDoctors for mental health amid the pandemic:BY TRINA KLEIST Get Social, SafelyNaturopathic EXERCISE!Both mood and mental function improve with physical activity, so get off medicine offers the couch and out of the house. Balance exercises such as tai chi and qi gong buildholistic approach and strengthen connections in the brain (see our story about Homer Nottingham on page 25).TOUCH!It makes you feel your humanity regoryWeisswasserhadplayedand relate to others better, Weisswasser guitar, composed and performedsays. If you have to, go to a physical since he was a kid. So, when thetherapist or body worker.COVID-19pandemichitinearlyThe Majik Band COMBINE SOCIAL & PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES. Dr. Greg Weisswasser andFor example, walk in the woods with a 2020, it was natural for the Grass Valleyfriends play at venues aroundgroup of people. Get outside!resident to turn to music. western Nevada County, offering He and his bandmates hunkered downoriginal compositions in a wide range ofFIND YOUR PASSION.Having a purpose in rock genres. Listen to the Majik Bandslife is very important for mental health, during months of lock-down and isolation,latest album on YouTube and yourWeisswasser says. Take up an art, craft, hobby played a lot, and poured their uncertainty,favorite streaming service. Find stress and fear into an album that expressesthe Majik Bands schedule ator volunteer for a good cause. Choose to do their mixed emotions. MajikBand.com. things that are emotionally productive.Weisswasser is also a naturopathic doctorPERSEVERE.If a new activity is hard, who, with wife Dr. Carolyn Weisswasser,brains, we start to lose brain function. Youkeep working at it; thats how our brains N.D., runs Whitewater Naturopathic can get it back, but it gets harder the oldergrow. Thats especially true for our older Medicine in Grass Valley. While physical you are, just like everything else, he adds.community, but its true for a 20-year-old isolation stops the spread of the deadly After two years, the risk to mental health attoo! Weisswasser says.EAT A BALANCED, MODERATE DIET. novel coronavirus, social isolation has led this point is significant. Worry to a cycle of withdrawal, depression and, Weisswasser offers this advice as weless about your weight and more about the in some people, an even lower interest in enter the third year of the pandemic andnutrition youre getting, he advises. Colorful socializing, Weisswasser says. global uncertainty: fruits and vegetables, plus good oils, minus excessive meat, grains, sugar and alcohol, will I have patients come in, and Im the onlySOCIALIZE!For people who are fullyfortify your brain and soothe your emotions.person who touches them all week. Im thevaccinated and boosted, WeisswasserFACE YOUR FEARS.People are traumatized only person they have a serious conversationencourages finding safe ways to socialize.by this pandemic, and now have the added with, Weisswasser says. Socializing is veryDo something outside, wear a mask, butworry of a war that could expand beyond complex. It takes a lot of brainpower and,still do the social thing. It needs to be aUkraine, Weisswasser concluded. If you like our muscles, when we dont use ourpriority, he advises. Get on with your lives. need help moving forward, get counseling.Learn more about Naturopathic MedicineAmerican Association of Naturopathic PhysiciansAbove: Dr. Gregory Weisswasser, N.D., left, composesNaturopathic.orgmusic and plays in the Majik Band with bandmates BenCalifornia Naturopathic Medicine CommitteeBodine, center, and Eric VandenBrink at venues aroundNaturopathic.ca.govwestern Nevada County, including at the outdoor stage ofWhitewater Naturopathic Medicinethe Golden Era bar in Nevada City. WhitewaterNaturopathic.comRight: Weisswasser celebrates another beautifulday paddleboarding on Scotts Flat Reservoir.'