Health is a unity and harmony within the mind, body and spirit which is unique to each person, and is as defined by that person. The level of wellness or health is, in part, determined by the ability to deal with and defend against stress. Health is determined by physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, spiritual, and developmental stage variables. .

Women need 'All That' workshop, too

I'VE SPOKEN TO hundreds of groups over the years, from older people with a hearing loss ("What's she saying?") to college students who aren't really awake. But I've never given a talk to middle school kids. Could there be anything more terrifying?

I'd been invited to give the keynote address to 250 girls last Saturday at the third annual "She's All That" conference at Iron Horse Middle School. The Soroptimists International San Ramon Valley did an incredible job of hosting and herding these bright and eager attendees through a daylong series of workshops specifically designed for preteen girls. During the course of the day, which began around 9:30 a.m. and ended at 3:00 p.m., the girls took classes of their choice, with breaks for healthy snacks and lunch, music and conversation, and the raffling off of girl gifts -- yoga videos, hair care products, hot chocolate mugs, and so on.

Britney, sick kids need your hair

There's a charity called Locks of Love that accepts donations of hair, 10 inches or longer. They make it into wigs for children who have no hair. Some are cancer patients who lost their hair to treatments but most have alopecia areata, an incurable disease in which the immune system attacks the hair follicles.

Michael Jordan remains happily bald by choice. It's hard to be happy if you're a fourth-grader with no hair and an abundance of cruel classmates.

Beverly Latvala, a St. Simons Island accountant, recently made a donation of hair.

"I cut my hair my freshman year in college and never grew it out again until I grew it out for Locks of Love," she said. "It was a good thing to do. It was an easy thing to do."

For all the ease of growing hair, it takes longer when you get older, said Latvala, who had to let hers grow three years.