The co-founder of Wellness Village NH on takes on the new year
Nancy Doherty is the co-founder of Wellness Village NH (660 Mast Road, Manchester, wellnessvillagenh.com, 935-9556) along with her two daughters, Allison Morgan and Morgan Doherty. Nancy is also a Reiki Master and is the founder of Be Self-Centered, which is her reiki practice. Wellness Village offers a myriad of services such as therapeutic massage, reiki, chiropractic care, doula services, education, countless workshops, support groups and a variety of therapies.
Why do you think people start to think about their health and wellness in January?
Well, we’re trained to by this point, right? It’s the new year, new leaf; there’s all this terminology around it. It’s a time to think, we have some space to think, honestly, some space to maybe create.
What sorts of services do you all offer?
We have a full gamut of services. We have classes and workshops and we have Reiki, massage, we have biomagnetism, we have doula services, we have classes that include nutrition. A doula is a person who is there to support the birthing person, so the doula services include a birth doula, postpartum doula, who will be there after the baby comes and helping the family make the transition with the new little one. Other services are the education aspect, so newborn care, lactation classes, birth classes, that kind of support.
How important is nutrition to someone’s health and wellness?
It’s right up there but what we consume in our bodies is the core of it all, so nutrition, what we’re consuming as far as hydration, sleep … those are all foundational. Our bodies can’t operate without correct fuel but there’s a lot of ways to approach that. There’s not one way to support health in that way.
If someone is looking to become healthier, what are some simple tips that they can follow to start on that path?
I think from my perspective, it’s about following their own intuition. If they’re feeling pulled to move their body, then they’re going to want to start their exploration there. If they’re feeling pulled to clean up the way their stomach is feeling, how their gut is feeling, that would be the place to start. Try to find ways to sample those opportunities. If you want to get into nutrition, find a workshop. That is a low-risk way to explore what those people are talking about and see if it resonates.
How important is sleep to overall health and wellness?
It’s really important. It’s super important. I’m not sure that we can even overstate how important it is. But you know, that all being said, I think we all know that and it’s just really hard to get that right. There’s a lot of reasons for it.
Are there any workshops coming up in January that you’d like to talk about?
In January, for instance, we have a reiki share at the end of the month, which is a super opportunity to experience reiki if you haven’t had a chance to do that… .
Do you want to talk about the different support groups?
Getting together with people going through the same things that you’re going through at the same time is really important. Right now we’re running prenatal support groups. Prenatal and postpartum support groups. Those are people coming together at a really specific time in life and they’re there to support each other. It’s amazing. We have hopes and plans for other supporters coming down the line. … We do have some nutrition coming up and other workshops. …
Are there any other services here that you’d like to mention or talk about that I haven’t asked you?
We are also a milk depot. So we accept breast milk donations here once a donor has been screened through Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast. We’re really proud of that. It literally saves the lives of newborns, premature newborns. It’s a really important, beautiful gift that these women are giving.
Holistic Prep for Birth (one-day class)
When: Saturday, Jan. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Wellness Village NH, 660 Mast Road, Manchester
More: wellnessvillagenh.com, 935-9556
—Zachary Lewis
Featured image: Left to right: Morgan Doherty, Allison Morgan, and Nancy Doherty.
