Kitsap County residents invited to attend weekly meetings.

Next time you’re feeling creative — or stressed — consider calling health practitioner and 25-year Kitsap County resident Tami Close.

Close, along with friends Niobe Weaver and Kayla Wentworth, recently started “Creative Juices,” a support and information group designed to give stressed individuals advice on how to settle down.

The group meets once a week, usually at Monica’s Waterfront Bakery & Café in Silverdale, and brainstorms how to combat the stresses of the daily grind.

“Primarily, we teach others how to de-stress and relax,” Close said. “How can we help people? That’s what we’re all about.”

While fuel and food prices rise to unprecedented heights, the real estate market skids and other stress-inducers pop up daily, Close said she believes everybody can benefit from a group like Creative Juices.

“We’ve all benefited from ways to de-stress and relax,” she said. “You appreciate coming together as a group.”

Close, a health and wellness coach and author of “Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss,” started the group with Weaver and Wentworth about five weeks ago.

“I truly believe… You see so much stress in the body,” Close said. “We wanted to be able to offer others in Kitsap County help.

I needed to be part of a group that says, ‘here’s an idea, here’s who to call.’

Absorbed in the day-to-day affairs of life, many people, Close said, simply don’t have the luxury of sharing and hearing the opinions of others.

“(Sometimes) you feel isolated, like a party of one,” she said. “You don’t get the benefit of being with a group of people to get that creative flow going.”

And that’s why Creative Juices can be so helpful, she added.

“This is actually brainstorming ways (to de-stress) and sharing thoughts and ideas,” Close said. “It’s no holds barred.”

Pens, whiteboards, a spacious environment and the team of creative brains make Creative Juices what it is: an informal, care-free group aimed at helping people better their lives.

“You get to connect,” Close said. “I think we’re all about connecting.”

The group generally meets once a week in the morning, Close said, and Bremerton, Silverdale and all other Kitsap County residents are encouraged to join.

For more information on Creative Juices, contact Close at (360) 710-4698.