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Natural Awakenings Westchester / Putnam / Dutchess New York

Publisher's Letter for January 2022

Dec 31, 2021 06:09PM ● By Marilee Burrell

Change Is Good

Welcome to our 2022 Natural Living Directory. We hope you enjoy this special annual edition and keep it handy all year as a guide to the many wellness and natural-living resources available in this area. 

Health will undoubtedly continue to be a major focus throughout 2022 as the pandemic lingers. Keeping our bodies and immune systems in tip-top shape is important now. Eating well, exercising, getting good sleep, and maintaining good mental health—making time for the things that bring us joy, including meaningful relationships—are all good strategies.

So this edition of Natural Awakenings is especially timely. It brings together information about local wellness practitioners and resources, both in our expanded practitioner-profile section and in our directory listings. We hope you enjoy getting to know the people on these pages—who are our neighbors, after all.

Every year Dana and I get excited about putting together the January magazine because it showcases the talents and specialties of so many wellness experts in our area. We never cease to be amazed by the number of practitioners and providers available to assist in our healing journeys or help us maintain optimum health. We hope you keep and refer to the directory throughout the year—but of course if you lose your copy, you can read it online at WakeUpNaturally.com.

And now for some big news! Dana and I are excited to announce that we’re looking for the next person to publish this magazine—someone to pass the baton to. We have loved owning and publishing this magazine for the past 15 years, but we’ll both be on to new adventures soon, and we’re looking forward to starting new chapters in our lives. 

It was 2007 when I met Dana and we bought the Westchester/Putnam franchise together, launching a 15-year business endeavor and friendship. She quickly became my ideal business partner. I tell people we’re attached at the hip—but by telephone, since she lives in New York and I still live in Connecticut. I had been publishing the Fairfield County edition of Natural Awakenings with two other women, Lisa Jacoby and Mary Karnis. When they moved on and we sold the Connecticut magazine, I went full-time with Dana. In 2013, Dana and I added Dutchess County to our franchise agreement. That was an especially fun year, as we got to explore the towns in Dutchess, introducing business owners to the magazine and setting up distribution sites. In the beginning, not many of them had even heard of Natural Awakenings. Now, more often than not, we hear “Oh, I love that magazine!”

I like new experiences, exploring new places and meeting new people. That’s why I jumped into Natural Awakenings with both feet. I first discovered the magazine in 2004, when it was published primarily in Florida; my intention then was to make it as popular in the Northeast as it was in the South. Now, in 2022, Natural Awakenings is a household name, with many editions being published throughout the Northeast and more than 50 editions in total published across the United States. Mission accomplished. 

So who will be the next publisher of this magazine? The ideal owner will be steeped in natural wellness, an entrepreneur who has the time and desire to commit to a new full-time career—not a part-time job—and who has roots in Westchester, Dutchess or Putnam. If you’re seriously interested in exploring this opportunity, please visit WakeUpNaturally.com/franchise to start the prequalification process. 

Until then, Dana and I will happily continue to publish and grow the magazine. 

Here’s to a new year full of possibilities,
Marilee