Positively Well Seminar Info

Seminar Info: Living Well.....Not Just Longer!

Lark Lands and River Huston present an evening of information and humor that tackles the array of debilitating effects of living with HIV, and gives information and hope for living well, not just longer. Lark starts off the evening and will speak for an hour and one-half (including Q&A). River ends the night with a 3/4 to one-hour performance/lecture.

Lark Lands will discuss approaches to eliminating the HIV-associated symptoms and drug side effects that have made far too many people needlessly miserable. The goal of this presentation is to give all the latest information on ways to eliminate symptoms-including fatigue, diarrhea and gas, neuropathy, body changes (fat loss and fat gain), high blood fats, insulin resistance, loss of sex drive, mental effects, and others (as time allows)-and return overall wellness to people living with HIV. A major emphasis of the presentation will be teaching participants ways that they can have their cake and eat it, too: be able to benefit from the antiretroviral drugs and maintain adherence to them so that they continue to work long-term without developing life-debilitating symptoms. Included will be information on countering mitochondrial toxicity and oxidative stress, supporting the liver, and other key components of a total wellness approach that can help lessen or prevent symptoms, protect against body damage, slow disease progression, and lessen the risk of infections with nutrients, hormone replacement therapy, dietary practices, and exercise, combined, where appropriate, with the best available antiretroviral and other medications.

River Huston uses humor to heal and deal with all the challenges people infected and affected with HIV face on a regular basis. River takes you through some of her more harrowing experiences and illuminates ways to cope with cranky doctors, long clinic waits, rare diseases, triple combination nightmares, sex, dating, death, disclosure, and financial ruin. She also discusses ways to find peace with yourself through forgiveness and the art of banishing your inner critic. River inspires you to love your body despite any changes you might have endured and find your inner Goddess regardless of gender. If you have just experienced a bad day or a bad decade this lecture will give you the tools to move forward and enjoy your life and have a good laugh as well.

Bios:

Lark Lands is an internationally respected treatment expert, a contributing writer for CATIE, The Positive Side, POZ Magazine, the www.AIDSmeds.com website, the Boston Buyers Club, and the Houston Buyers Club, and a long-time treatment activist, journalist, and educator. A former think tank scientist and the long-time Science Editor of POZ Magazine, she was a pioneer in bringing attention to the need for a total integrated approach to HIV disease. She believes that we should teach people how to live well with HIV, not just longer, by combining the most effective pharmaceutical treatments with supportive hormonal, nutritional and complementary therapies. Her articles have been widely printed and reprinted in AIDS newsletters and websites, and described by AIDS journalists as "one of the most valuable guides to developing strategies for survival of AIDS in print to date." She is a frequent speaker at international, national, state, and local AIDS conferences, and has presented keynote or plenary addresses to many of the largest AIDS conferences in North America.

River Huston is a performer, speaker and activist. She travels throughout the United States speaking on issues related to HIV/AIDS, sexuality, self-esteem, alcohol abuse and body image. River has been a regular contributor to POZ magazine for the last seven years and is the founder of the Women's Wellness Fund, a resource for women seeking information about alternative as well as conventional treatments for HIV infection. For the past decade River has been involved with the development of female-controlled methods of prevention working with The Global Campaign for the Development of Microbicides as well as The International Community of Women Living with HIV. River graduated from Hunter College with a degree in Music and Health Education in 1990. In 1995 she was honored with a Doctorate of Humanities from Albright College. She is the author of two books of poetry, Jesus Never Lived Here and The Bones of Susan and is the Poet Laureate of Bucks County. River was awarded the Dorthea Lange/ Paul Taylor award for A Positive Life: Portraits of Women Living with HIV and is the creator of Goddess: A New Guide to Feminine Wisdom. She is currently performing her one-woman show Sex, Cellulite and Shopping: One Girl's Guide to Living and Dying in theaters nationwide.