Health & Wellness
Posted inHealth & Wellness

Health & Wellness 2026

Outrunning leukemia: Celebrate Life 5K founder talks cancer, remission, and fitness
Avatar photoAvatar photo by Caleb Wiseblood and Bulbul Rajagopal

Fatigue and achiness were the first signs that something was wrong. Initially, international triathlete Siri Lindley just thought it was her age after a lifetime of pushing her body. But doctors discovered it was acute myeloid leukemia. For our annual Health and Wellness issue, Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood talks with Lindley about her cancer journey, […]

Posted inSpecial Issues

Celebrate Life 5K co-founder and cancer survivor retraces steps from near-terminal diagnosis to remission

Avatar photo by Caleb Wiseblood

No amount of medals or trophies could stack up against 12-time international triathlon winner Siri Lindley’s greatest victory: overcoming acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The average five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with AML is 29 percent, according to WebMD. The odds doctors gave Lindley after her diagnosis six years ago were much less, she said. […]

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Family Counseling and Trauma Healing Center combines ketamine-assisted psychotherapy with EMDR to speed up recovery

by Emma Montalbano

Learn more To read more about eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, visit the EMDR international association’s website at emdria.org.  For more information on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, head to ketamineresearchfoundation.org. Psychology Today’s website offers search function for local therapists—including EMDR and ketamine-assisted therapies—at psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/ca. Some patients experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or other mental health […]

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Central Coast Floats in SLO offers flotation therapy to naturally alleviate anxiety, depression, and chronic pain

Avatar photo by Libbey Hanson

Float on For more information about Central Coast Floats in San Luis Obispo, visit centralcoastfloats.com. Central Coast Floats is located at 4472 Broad St. Entering a white pod, I stepped into a foot of water. Blue and purple hues glowed, and crystal bowl-like music filled the enclosure as I sat down and nearly floated above […]

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Health & Wellness 2025

In our annual issue, we talk ketamine-assisted and rapid-eye movement therapies and float pods
by Sun Staff

For this year’s issue of Health and Wellness, our writers delve into a deep state of relaxation, which can help set the stage for healing from trauma, anxiety, and more. That relaxation, called the theta state, can be achieved in a psychotherapist’s office or in a specialized pool of water and Epsom salt. Staff Writer […]

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Health & Wellness 2024

Music therapy as medicine and the benefits of being around horses
by Adrian Vincent Rosas and Taylor O'Connor

For this year’s issue of Health and Wellness, we decided to focus on therapy—not traditional therapy, though. We explored a couple of outside-the-box approaches. Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas from the Sun’s sister paper, New Times, chatted with a certified music practitioner about how she uses her tunes to help individuals going through difficult medical […]

Posted inSpecial Issues

Healing through horsemanship

Central Coast nonprofits offer equine therapy as a way to work through trauma and mental illness and to manage disabilities
by Taylor O'Connor

More than a ride Visit heroeshorses.org, call (805) 868-7634 or email info@heroeshorses.org for more information about Healing Horses Through Horsemanship. Visit syvtherapeuticriding.org, call (805) 350-2280, or email info@syvtherapeuticriding.org for more information about the Santa Ynez Therapeutic Riding Program. Keenan Hartig struggled with substance abuse and lost his employment a month and a half before finding […]

Posted inSpecial Issues

Music as medicine

Local violinist Brynn Albanese brings healing, hope, and more as a certified music practitioner
by Adrian Vincent Rosas

Want to help? Visit ecologistics.org to help support the nonprofit that funds Brynn Albanese’s efforts to bring the healing power of music to the Central Coast. For more information on future events or to contact Albanese for her services, visit brynnalbanese.com. The calming sound of a violin string being played echoes in the room as […]

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Health & Wellness 2023

by Sun Staff

Health and Wellness isn’t just about exercise and diets, it’s also about accessing medical health care and knowing how to protect your body. But not everyone knows how to obtain preventative care, and youth don’t necessarily graduate from high school with the information they need to understand sex or the proper ways to safeguard themselves. […]

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Health & Wellness 2022

by Sun Staff

Every January, we bring you stories about health and wellness, and this year’s no different—plus, we’re leaving COVID-19 out of it! In this year’s issue, Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor speaks with a local esthetician about holistic skin care and how food, stress, and more can impact whether you glow, while Staff Writer Malea Martin from […]

Posted inSpecial Issues

Health & Wellness 2021

by Sun Staff

It’s near impossible to talk about public health right now, without discussing COVID-19, so for our annual Health and Wellness issue, Staff Writer Malea Martin writes about flu cases being lower than usual, and local public health experts say that COVID-19 precautions have helped. Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash speaks with a nutritionist about COVID-19 weight […]

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