and alternative therapies will be demonstrating their methods and teaching Bermudians about a more natural way to tackle stress, eating disorders, aches and pains.

The expo will take place from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and is sponsored by the Institute for Child and Family Health. Holistic hypnotherapist Kuni Frith said: "This is the first time that I know of that so many have gathered under one roof to promote holistic health and alternative therapies.'' She added: "It came about as a result of the US, Canada, UK, and the Far East using these therapies to help balance depression, violence, addictions, and stress. And they are embracing these types of therapies because they have proven to be successful.

"I feel that Bermuda would do very well in making the community aware of the well-trained holistic practitioners available on the Island.'' Ms Frith also said the expo was an excellent opportunity for people to educate themselves and have first-hand experience with some of these unusual therapies -- such as air candling which was thousands of years old and safely extracted excess wax built up from the ears and also cleared sinus passages.

And people who swam and dived a lot would find this very helpful, too, Ms Frith continued.

"Each booth will be demonstrating and handing out information about their therapy and the public can feel free to ask questions and become aware and explore the wide range of therapies available.

"We often place a great deal of emphasis on the maintenance and appearance of the physical body but what good is it without the mental well-being and balance of the body, mind, and spirit?''.

Ms Frith also said it was important to have this expo in Bermuda because similar expos are being held all over the world and "there is no reason why Bermuda can not participate in a holistic expo.'' She added: "It is actually educating Bermudians to become more hands-on with their own health and developing prevention methods against certain mental, physical, and spiritual imbalances in the body.

"We are hoping that Bermudians will come out and take full advantage of all of this knowledge under one roof and do further reading and inquiring about an alternative method that may be helpful in balancing their own lifestyle.'' The Institute for Child and Family Health will sponsor this event and the head of the association Sheelagh Cooper said that part of the mandate of the institute related to public education about wellness in general and about the various approaches to promoting wellness.

"We believe strongly in the body, mind, spirit connection and we recognise our inter-connectedness on all of these levels,'' Mrs. Cooper said. She added: "There are many approaches to mental and physical health that are non-traditional and yet worth exploring. Many of these will be represented at the event on Sunday. The Institute does not specifically endorse or utilise all of the practices that will be on display but we certainly support the very real possibility that many of these approaches can and do help people.'' Mrs. Cooper added the more we understood about psychology, physiology, biochemistry and biogenetics, the more we appreciated how our minds affected our bodies.

"It is within that context that many of these often referred to as `new-age' remedies arise. Ironically, most of what we know of as `new age' is based on very old remedies and practices that were lost with the advent of modern medicine.'' Admission to the expo is $5 adults, children under 12 free. Proceeds go to the Institute of Child and Family Health.

TIA CHI -- Dorran Dowling who will instruct at the Holistic Expo on the benefits of Tia Chi.