Tucson has an amazing amount of resources for those interested in health and healing.
First and foremost, we actually have affordable acupuncture! Tucson Community Acupuncture is this really awesome clinic that offers treatment on a sliding scale ($15-35) so you can actually afford to go as often as you need to! I couldn’t even begin to list all of the times I’ve ended up there for all kinds of things, and they’ve always been really helpful.
Sometimes, though, you just need some body work. I always go to Jason Pederson. He doesn’t exactly do relaxing massage, because he works primarily with athletes and people with serious injuries. I’ve been going to him since December and started with a need for weekly treatments and now barely have go to in at all. Postural Restoration Institute stuff is pretty amazing and they don’t have practitioners everywhere but Jason’s a great local one.
Tucson has a bajillion yoga schools, and Providence is really close to my house. Plus they have free yoga the 1st of each month!
If you really need some R+R, there is a retreat center called the Desert Renewal Center. I went to a teacher’s retreat there once and it was very restful and nourishing.
If you’re interested in herbal medicine, boy do we have some great resources in town. I was lucky enough to study with Pam Hyde-Nakai at the Sonoran Herbal Institute, and though she no longer does the complete course I attended, I believe she still offers classes on occasion.
Another great local herbalist, teacher and author is Charlie Kane of the Tucson Clinic of Botanical Medicine. He has an April through August program that takes place primarily on weekends with some weekday evening lectures. I have not taken his course, but I have sought out his help as an herbalist on two occasions and it was immensely useful.
And if you want to buy your own herbs, check out the Tucson Herb Store. Lots of beautiful homemade salves, in addition to dry herbs, teas, tinctures, soaps and more. You can also get dried herbs at Aqua Vita, Whole Foods (with limited variety) and New Life. Heck, we even have Desert Rose for homeopathic remedies at 2550 E Fort Lowell Rd!
Or grow your own herbs and plants! Tucson’s the place to do it. We’re talking year-round gardening. The Botanical Gardens have these great free classes, the Cooperative Extension can answer questions, Native Seeds/Search sells desert-acclimated seed varieties and Mesquite Valley Growers is the biggest most amazing nursery I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. Community gardens abound. Tucson Organic Gardeners also have helpful meetings and speakers monthly. Heck, we even have a local Permaculture Guild. And if you’re more interested in harvesting local foods, check out the Desert Harvesters. And don’t get me started on all the amazing hiking in town. Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Gates Pass, Tumamoc Hill, Madera, … too much to list. Plus the award-winning Desert Museum where you can see all KINDS of critters in their natural habitats. We’re lucky to get out of town visitors so we have an excuse to keep going there…
Next up: Tucson’s best advocacy groups, cool stuff nearby, and miscellaneous things about Tucson that rock but didn’t fit neatly into any of these categories.
