CrossRoadsNews, January 21, 2017 - Section B

12th Annual Health & Wellness Expo Jan. 28, 2017 • Noon - 5 p.m.

Copyright © 2017 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

January 21, 2017

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Spotlight on Vitality

Join us at the Mall at Stonecrest Main Stage Lower Level near Sears

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CrossRoadsNews

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Wellness Expo

January 21, 2017

African Americans are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Participants can get moving on their 2017 health and fitness goals on Jan. 28 at the 12th annual expo that takes place noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.

2346 Candler Road Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007

www.CrossRoadsNews.com editor@CrossRoadsNews.com The Health & Wellness Special Section is a publication of CrossRoadsNews, Atlanta’s award-winning weekly newspaper.

Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker Graphics Editor Curtis Parker Reporter Jennifer Ffrench Parker Editorial Intern Rosie Manins Copy Editor Brenda Yarbrough Multimedia Editor Sharif Williams CrossRoadsNews is published every Saturday by CrossRoadsNews, Inc. We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings.

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12th annual event offers help with goals The new year is here, offering all of us the opportunity to turn over a new leaf, make a new start or just try something different in our quest for a healthy and happy life.

Atop most people’s list is the desire to lose weight and be active, and health experts agree that those are attainable goals if we start with small steps and remember that if we fall down, we get up and try again.

In DeKalb and nationally, African Americans are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

On Jan. 28, as it has for the past 12 years, the annual CrossRoadsNews Health and Wellness Expo has gathered health care providers and county resources in one place to

offer information, demos and ideas to help us take better care of our health this year or to encourage us to start.

The expo, staged with the sponsorship of Children’s Healthcare at Hughes Spalding and in partnership with DeKalb 100 Black Women, takes place noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.

Exhibitors include DeKalb Medical; Oakhurst Medical Centers; Atlanta Gastroenterology; Georgia Piedmont Technical College; NeXX Water Inc.; PNC Bank; Clear Caption; and DeKalb County Board of Health, Clerk of Superior Court, Sheriff, Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Department Watershed Management. They will have lots of information about how you can

stay active, healthy and safe in 2017.

Exercise motivator Rae Rae Clark will kick off the expo with movement routines.

Door-to-Door Fitness will demonstrate easy steps to wellness, and a host of performers – the Lou Walker Dancers, the Hip Hop Nanas, and the incomparable Beulah Boys – will show how easy it is to keep moving with dance.

Life Chef Asata Reid will demonstrate how easy and tasty it is to add more vegetables to your diet. There will be health screenings, last-minute sign-ups for the Healthcare Marketplace and lots of encouragement to help you have a healthy new year.

The mall is at I-20 and Turner Hill Road in Stonecrest.

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12th Annual Health & Wellness Expo Grand Prize Entry Form Visit at least 15 of these exhibitors* at the Mall at Stonecrest and enter to win a Spectacular Gift Basket, compliments of the Mall at Stonecrest. Drawing takes place at 4:45 p.m on Jan. 28, 2017 at the Main Stage in front of Sears on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.

_____ 100 Black Women

_____ DeKalb Clerk of Superior Court - Debra DeBerry

_____ Georgia Piedmont Technical College

_____ Arabia Mountain Alliance

_____ DeK. Comm. Larry Johnson Let’s Move! DeKalb

_____ Lou Walker Senior Center

_____ Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates

_____ DeKalb Convention & Visitor’s Bureau

_____ NeXX Water Inc.

_____ Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

_____ DeKalb Department of Watershed Management

_____ Oakhurst Medical Centers Inc.

_____ Clear Captions _____ CrossRoadsNews _____ DeKalb Board of Health

_____ DeKalb Medical _____ DeKalb Sheriff’s Office - Jeffrey Mann _____ DeKalb Solicitor General’s Office – Donna Coleman-Stribling

_____ PNC Bank _____ Stoneview Injury & Wellness

Name ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City _____________________________________________ Email_______________________________________________________________________ Home phone _________________________________________________ Cell ___________________________________________________________

* Eligible entries must be validated by at least 15 exhibitors and must include your complete name, address, email address and telephone number. Employees and immediate family members of CrossRoadsNews and the Mall at Stonecrest are not eligible to win. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. You MUST be present to win.

CrossRoadsNews

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Wellness Expo

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More than 20 exhibitors will showcase their goods and services.

12th Annual Health & Wellness Expo Program Jan. 28, 2017 • Noon to 5 p.m. • The Main Stage in front of Sears Lower Level, The Mall at Stonecrest

Noon

Warm up with Rae Rae “Exercise Motivator” Clark

12:45 p.m.

Door-to-Door Fitness Demo

1:p.m.

Antonio “The Chozen 1” Hinton

1:15 p.m.

Nicole Lee, 100 Black Women of DeKalb

1:30 p.m.

Lou Walker Senior Center Tai Chi Group

2 p.m.

Healthy Food Demo with Life Chef Asata Reid

2:30 p.m.

The Hip Hop Nanas

2:45 p.m.

Ballroom Dancers Ken Wilson & Diane Gilliard

3: p.m.

Lou Walker Dance Troupe

3:15 p.m.

Conservatory of Dance

3:30 p.m.

Grace Dance Group

4 p.m.

The Beulah Boys

4:30 p.m.

Crowd Line Dancing

4:45

Grand Prize Drawing

5 p.m.

Expo Ends

Antonio “The Chozen 1” Hinton Rae Rae Clark

Ken Wilson & Diane Gilliard

Chef Asata

Conservatory of Dance & Fine Arts

Lou Walker Senior Center Tai Chi Group

Lou Walker Dance Troupe

The Hip Hop Nanas

The Beulah Boys

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CrossRoadsNews

January 21, 2017

“We really want to instill in people the importance of prevention and staying healthy.”

Free blood pressure checks and last-minute ACA enrollment

By Rosie Manins

Expo-goers can get free health screenings for hypertension and last-minute help enrolling in the Healthcare Marketplace at the 12th annual Health & Wellness Expo on Jan. 28 at the Mall at Stonecrest.

Stone Mountain-based Oakhurst Medical Centers nurses will offer blood pressure checks and their trained navigators will help uninsured adults enroll for health care coverage. Jan. 31 is the deadline for open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

DeKalb Medical will offer blood pressure screenings and other basic health checks. Dr. Carmen Echols, a DeKalb Medical primary care physician, will field questions from 1 to 3 p.m. She specializes in diabetes and hypertenCarmen Echols sion management and will answer queries about those issues as well as other general health concerns.

The expo takes place noon to 5 p.m. on the mall’s lower level.

Beth Jansa, DeKalb Medical community outreach manager, said a team of volunteers will be checking expo-goers’ blood pressure at the DeKalb Medical booth.

“In that five-hour time span, we are usually able to accommodate 30 to 40 people,” she said.

In the many years DeKalb Medical has been conducting free public blood pressure checks, staff members have identified several extreme cases, including one woman at last year’s Seniors/Baby Boomer Expo.

“Every once in a while we determine that someone probably needs to go to the

DeKalb Medical will offer a fitness prize wheel to encourage physical activity and a sugar shocker station that provides visual evidence of the amount of sugar in many common drinks.

emergency room to be looked at because they could be at risk of having a heart attack or stroke,” Jansa said. “It’s a reminder for people to spend some time taking care of themselves.”

Common causes of high blood pressure include obesity, an unbalanced diet, lack of exercise and lack of sleep.

Jansa and other volunteers will be strongly encouraging people to find primary care physicians they can go to regularly for services such as flu shots and blood and cholesterol checks. They will have physician booklets

available listing doctors in the area.

Visitors to the DeKalb Medical booth also can compete for prizes at its fitness prize wheel and stop by a sugar shocker station.

People who spin the fitness wheel will be rewarded with small prizes for completing easy exercises they can repeat at home.

“We really want to instill in people the importance of prevention and staying healthy,” Jansa said. “They are all easy exercises – things like jumping jacks and hula hoping – that people of any age can do during a commercial break while watching

television.”

At the sugar shocker station, people can learn how much sugar is in common drinks and physically measure it out in teaspoons.

Every 4 grams of sugar equates to 1 teaspoon, and many popular drinks contain at least 6 teaspoons of sugar per serving.

“Measuring it out like that really drives it home,” Jansa said. “We are not preaching you shouldn’t have any of those sugary drinks – it’s just about choices and having greater recognition of what’s in our food and drink.”

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January 21, 2017

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With equipment sized just for them, they can soar to recovery.

choa.org/hughesspalding

©2017 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding is owned by the Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority and managed by HSOC Inc., an affiliate of Children’s.

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If not controlled, high blood pressure can lead to heart and kidney disease, stroke and blindness.

January 21, 2017

H ealth & W e

DASH your way to a healthier you in 2017 with a sensible

By Jennifer Ffrench Parker

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a common and dangerous condition that disproportionately affects African Americans for a range of hereditary, cultural and lifestyle reasons.

National data suggest that about 33 percent of U.S. adults have hypertension and another 31 percent have pre-hypertension, meaning that without intervention and lifestyle changes, they too will have high blood pressure.

Among African Americans, more than 40 percent of men and women are afflicted with hypertension, and high blood pressure also develops earlier in life and is usually more severe.

The risk factors of hypertension include increased age, excessive weight, a family history of high blood pressure, having diabetes, inactivity, a diet high in salt and fat, low intake of potassium, and smoking. African Americans rank high on those risk factors.

High blood pressure, which has no warning signs or symptoms, is often called the silent killer because many people do not know they have it.

The only way to know if you have it is to measure your blood pressure.

A high reading – 140/90 mmHg or more – means the pressure of the blood in your blood vessels is higher than it should be.

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries, which carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body.

It normally rises and falls throughout the day. But if it stays high for a long time, it makes your heart work too hard, hardens the walls of your arteries, and can cause your brain to hemorrhage or your kidneys to function poorly or not at all.

If not controlled, high blood pressure can lead to heart and kidney disease, stroke and blindness.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says the DASH – Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension – eating plan is the best way to prevent and control high blood pressure.

The heart-healthy way to eat, developed in 2010, is rich in lower-calorie foods, such as fruits and vegetables, which easily support weight loss.

The institute recommends these steps to prevent or lower high blood pressure: n Follow a healthy eating plan like DASH, which includes foods that are lower in sodium. n Maintain a healthy weight. n Be active, even moderately, for at least two hours and 30 minutes per week. n Avoid alcoholic beverages, and if you must, imbibe in moderation. n If you have high blood pressure, take your medication as prescribed by your doctor.

The DASH eating plan requires no special foods and has no hard-to-follow recipes.

It is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, poultry, beans, seeds and nuts.

It is lower in saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol and rich in nutrients – potassium, magnesium, calcium, protein, and fiber – associated with lowering blood pressure.

High blood pressure disproportionately affects African Americans – more than 40 percent of men and women are afflicted, and the only way to know if you blood pressure. Consistently follow your treatment plan if you are diagnosed with hypertension.

Know your number Blood pressure readings have two numbers. The top number, or systolic blood pressure, represents the force of blood through your blood vessels during your heartbeat. n 119 or below is the normal systolic blood pressure. n 120-139 is pre-hypertension. n 140 and greater is high blood pressure for people younger than 60. n 150 is high blood pressure for people ages 60 and over.

The bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure, represents the force of blood through your blood vessels between heartbeats, while your heart is resting. n 79 or below is normal diastolic blood pressure. n 80-89 is pre-hypertension. n 90 and greater is high blood pressure.

Systolic blood pressure tends to rise as you get older. Diastolic blood pressure may decrease as you get older.

It contains less sodium, sweets, added sugars, beverages containing sugar, fats, and red meats, which are all part of the typical American diet.

The DASH eating plan simply calls for

a certain number of daily servings from various food groups based on the number of calories you are allowed each day.

Calorie intake depends on your age and your activity level.

Intervention and lifestyle changes are needed to preven hypertension from developing high blood pressure. Kno

Follow these tips:

n Choose and prepare foods with less sodium

and salt.

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ellness E xpo e eating plan to prevent and control high blood pressure The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan requires no special foods and no hard-to-follow recipes.

Help treatment plan work Follow these steps to make your Blood Pressure Treatment Plan work: n Check your blood pressure as often as recommended by your doctor. n Follow your treatment plan consistently. Let your doctor know right away if you have problems with part of the plan. Your doctor may refer you to other health care professionals who can help. n See your doctor as often as requested. Bring your blood pressure records to show your doctor how well the plan is working. n Ask your doctor or pharmacist for information about medication side effects. Know when to call your doctor if there is a problem.

Choose and prepare foods with less sodium, and don’t bring the salt shaker to the table. Gradually add more servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet.

have it is to measure your

Find an exercise routine or fun activity like dancing and get moving. Be physically active – walking and swimming will help you shed pounds. Two to five hours of activity a week is the goal.

nt adults with preow your number.

n Don’t bring the salt shaker to the table. Instead, table. n Read food labels to check the amount of try herbs, spices, lemon juice, vinegar, wine, and n Avoid or reduce processed foods, which sodium and select foods that contain 5 per-

salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the are laden with sodium.

cent or less of the Daily Value of sodium.

Foods – baked goods, certain cereals, soy sauce, and some antacids – with 20 percent or more Daily Value of sodium are considered high.

Years of habit are hard to break, so make the change gradually and give your palate the chance to adjust.

Start with these tips n Add a serving of vegetables at lunch one day and dinner the next, and add fruit at one meal or as a snack. n Increase your use of fat-free and low-fat milk products to three servings a day. n If you usually eat large portions of meats, cut back over a couple of days, by half or a third at each meal. n Limit lean meats to 6 ounces a day – 3 ounces a meal, which is about the size of a deck of cards. n Include two or more vegetarian-style, or meatless, meals each week. n Increase servings of vegetables, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, and cooked dry beans. n Try casseroles and stir-fry dishes, which have less meat and more vegetables, grains, and dry beans. n For snacks and desserts, use fruits or other foods – unsalted rice cakes, nuts or seeds; raisins; graham crackers; fat-free, low-fat, or frozen yogurt; popcorn with no salt or butter added; or raw vegetables – that are low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, and calories. n Use fresh, frozen, or low-sodium canned vegetables and fruits. n Be physically active – walking and swimming will help you shed pounds. Two to five hours of activity a week is the goal. Start with a 15-minute walk and gradually increase the amount of time you are active. Even short periods of at least 10 minutes each are beneficial. n Quit smoking. Tobacco smoke can make blood pressure rise. It can directly damage your heart and blood vessels. Talk to your doctor about ways to quit.

For more information, visit http://www. nhlbi.nih.gov. For delicious heart-healthy recipes, visit https://healthyeating.nhlbi. nih.gov.

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About 40 percent of African Americans have high blood pressure – yet 14 percent of adults 60 and older don’t know they have it.

Fight heart disease with Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans.

Every year, nearly one of every three deaths in the United States is from cardiovascular disease.

Protect yourself and fight heart disease with the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7.

Regular physical activity can lower blood pressure, keep body weight under control and help lower “bad” cholesterol as well as build strength and stamina.

Get active You don’t have to join a gym or run in a 5K. Start small by incorporating physical activity into your daily routine more and more.

Along with gaining strength and stamina, regular physical activity can lower blood pressure, keep body weight under control and lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

Regular physical activity also is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, reduced depression, improved bone density, and improved sleep quality for adults.

It’s easy to start. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park at the farthest end of the parking lot or use your lunch break to take a quick walk.

For a healthy heart, aim for at least 2½ hours of moderate physical activity weekly.

Control cholesterol Cholesterol, a waxy substance in the bloodstream and in the cells of our body, plays an important role in keeping us healthy.

There are two types of cholesterol – the “good” kind, HDL, and the “bad” kind, LDL. High levels of bad cholesterol can clog your arteries, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Good cholesterol cleans out the bad cholesterol from the arteries.

Build good cholesterol with regular physical activity, limit saturated fat by reducing red meats, choosing low-fat dairy, healthier fats such as olive and certain vegetable oils, and

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avoiding trans fats. For some people, diet and lifestyle changes alone aren’t enough. Your doctor may prescribe cholesterol-lowering medication to keep your cholesterol levels in check.

and cholesterol. Follow the DASH eating plan that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy choices.

Look for heart-healthy foods stamped with the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check mark.

have high blood pressure – yet about 14 percent of adults 60 years and older don’t even know they have it. That’s because high blood pressure, “the silent killer,” has no symptoms. Keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range starts with eating a hearthealthy diet. Other important factors are

Eat better Eating the right foods can help you con- Manage blood pressure trol your weight, blood pressure, blood sugar About 40 percent of African Americans Please see SIMPLE 7, next page

Georgia's Drought Isn't Over Outdoor watering is not allowed between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day.

Choose efficient appliances with the EPA WaterSense label.

Fix leaks inside and outside the home.

Department of Watershed Management www.dekalbwatershed.com

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Going smoke-free can help reduce risk of heart disease and stroke, but also cancer and chronic lung disease.

Lifestyle changes may help lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke

File

The DASH eating plan includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other healthy choices. Eating right, controlling your weight, exercising and taking prescribed medication can minimize the impact of diabetes.

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(such as high blood pressure), maintaining a weight loss of 3 percent-5 percent of body exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight can produce clinically meaningful weight, limiting salt and alcohol, and taking results. Greater weight loss can produce even greater results on blood pressure, cholesterol medication prescribed by your doctor. levels, and blood sugar.

Maintain a healthy weight Overweight and obesity are risk factors Reduce blood sugar Diabetes is a risk factor for cardiovasfor cardiovascular disease. In the U.S., 69 percent of adults are either overweight or cular disease. Heart disease death rates obese. Higher body mass index, BMI, is as- among adults with diabetes are two to four sociated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes, times higher than adults without diabetes. and obesity is a strong predictor of sleep dis- You can minimize the impact of diabetes ordered breathing. For overweight or obese on your body – and even prevent or delay adults with other cardiovascular risk factors the onset of diabetes – by eating right, conSIMPLE 7,

from previous page

trolling your weight, exercising and taking medication prescribed your doctor. In some cases, lifestyle changes result in less need for medication.

Stop smoking It’s time to kick the habit. Going smokefree can help reduce risk of heart disease and stroke, but also cancer and chronic lung disease. The payoff is almost immediate. Quit smoking and you’ll lower your excess risk of developing heart disease and stroke within only a few years.

For more information, visit www.heart. org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving.

What is BMI?

Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight of adult men and women.

If your BMI is ...

You are ...

Below 18.5 ..................... Underweight 18.5-24.9 ....................... Normal 25-29.9 ......................... Overweight 30 and above ................ Obese Calculate your BMI at www.nhlbi.nih. gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/ bmicalc.htm.

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“Dancing is all about movement. It is great exercise. It’s easy on the joints, and most of all, it’s fun.”

Lou Walker Dance Troupe

Hip Hop Nanas

Conservatory of Dance

Performers to teach, wow and entertain expo audience Tai Chi practitioners from the Lou Walker Senior Center will showcase the ancient Chinese martial art.

Door-to-Door Fitness

The 2017 Health and Wellness Expo stage will come alive with dances, miming, fitness and health food demonstrations, and lots more dancing.

Jennifer Parker, CrossRoadsNews editor and publisher, said there can’t ever be too much dancing at a health and wellness expo.

“Dancing is all about movement,” she said. “It is great exercise. It’s easy on the joints, and most of all, it’s fun.”

The expo takes place noon to 5 p.m. on the lower level of the Mall at Stonecrest.

All performances and demonstrations take place at the main stage located near Sears.

Exercise motivator Rae Rae Clark will kick off the health and wellness celebration at noon.

Door-to-Door Fitness Master Trainer Elfreda Smith and her crew will demonstrate some easy exercise routines at 12:45 p.m., and at 1:30 p.m., the Lou Walker Senior Center tai chi practitioners will showcase the

The crowdpleasing Beulah Boys will light up the stage with their signature line dance moves.

Decatur-based Grace Dance Group joins the lineup with Detroit-style ballroom dancing.

ancient noncompetitive Chinese martial art known for both its defense techniques and stress-relieving health benefits.

Performers include Hip Hop Nanas at

2:30 p.m., ballroom dancers Ken Wilson and Diane Gilliard at 2:45 p.m., Lou Walker Dance Troupe at 3 p.m., and expo favorite the Beulah Boys at 4 p.m.

This year, Decatur-based Grace Dance Group has joined the lineup with its Detroitstyle ballroom dancing. It will be onstage at 3:30 p.m. Jaye Taylor, owner of the 7-year-old School of Grace where the troupe is based, said their style of ballroom dancing is very different from what most think ballroom dancing should be.

“The audience will be wowed,” she said.

Mime extraordinaire Antonio “the Chozen 1” Hinton will mesmerize the audience with his emotional performance at 1 p.m., and the award-winning Conservatory of Dance will showcase modern dance at 3:15 p.m.

After their lively performance, the Beulah Boys, who always bring the house down, will lure the audience onto their feet to step with them.

The Mall at Stonecrest is at Turner Hill Road and I-20. For more information, call 404-284-1888.

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“This year, let us focus inward and strengthen ourselves at our core level. … the world needs us to show up and make a difference.”

New year, new view: Resolve to focus on mindset, attitude

By Asata Reid

One in three Americans makes some sort of resolution toward self-improvement every January. But a week into the new year, about 75 percent of those people are still on track.

Studies also show six months later, only 46 percent – less than half – are still on target.

This year, instead of resolving to “fix” behaviors, habits and activities that are “broken” or “damaged” or “not enough,” let’s focus on our mindset and attitudes.

Your mental dominates the physical, as has been proved time and again by worldclass athletes and new-age gurus, mantras and vision boards, and books and films like “The Secret.”

Yet working on our mental landscape can be hard work, often unguided, and rife with setbacks. So it’s no wonder we focus on building biceps and trimming inches – things we can see and touch – versus taming the wilderness of our thought processes and perceptions. Working on the unseen and intangible real estate upon which our beliefs and motivations are built can lead to a lot of introspection and kick up a lot of emotional dust, so this work isn’t for the faint of heart. However, garnering control over our thoughts and emotions is one sure way to bolster our intentions and set ourselves on the fast track to goal attainment.

Most of us have days that do not differ tremendously from another, much like “Groundhog Day.” We navigate on autopilot through many of our hours and interactions with our attention divided among many stimuli like the talking heads on the news, the apps on our phone, the music on the radio or the ever-present “To Do List,” which is constantly dragging us into the future.

This lack of presence, or absence of nowness, causes remorse for the past and what could have or should have been as well as anxiety and worry over the future and things

Life Chef Asata Reid will demonstrate an easy and tasty recipe at 2 p.m. Jan. 28 on the Main Stage at the Mall at Stonecrest.

that have yet to happen.

Instead of running on autopilot and letting our thoughts drift, we can harness our thoughts and focus that energy and concentration into what’s happening right now – in this present moment, when we are breathing and being and can give ourselves fully to this experience. n What can we do to enhance this very mo-

ment by contributing our thoughts, actions and intentions? n How can we open new doors, create new possibilities and new opportunities by fully engaging with those we interact with and our environment? n What have we been overlooking, passing by and dismissing while running on autopilot?

By simply becoming aware of our thoughts and harnessing their tendency to drift, we reorient ourselves in the captain’s chair of our lives. We are the rein masters even when our thoughts and feelings are chomping at the bit. Thoughts and words have tremendous power to create and shape our reality and our destinations, so when left unchecked we leave that power unchaperoned without intent and clear purpose.

Then we wonder, “How did this happen? This wasn’t what I wanted. I can’t achieve my goal.

Something must be wrong with me.”

There is nothing wrong with you. You have simply left your creative power and ability unchecked without guidelines, intention or purpose. Harnessing this creative power will allow you to direct your will with focus, and the more you do it, the better you get.

Like a sculptor who uses increasingly finer tools to carve the nooks and crannies of a masterpiece, you will begin to hone your thoughts and harness your emotions to design the landscape your life.

We all have an inner critic, but if yours is preventing you from taking action, you have handed your power over to a phantom of your inner fears.

Being courageous is doing something despite the fear, and while your inner critic serves the purpose of keeping you safe, providing discernment and protecting you from harm, if given too much credence and

authority, this inner voice will stifle your dreams, stunt your growth and keep you from taking even the measured risks necessary for expansion and success.

One way to loosen the choke-hold of your inner critic is to listen from a place of compassion. When the fear, anger and criticism arise, hold those thoughts apart from you and with love say, “I hear you. I know you are looking out for me. But I can handle this.” And let it go. That’s it. Let it go.

The critic will continue to criticize (that’s what critics do), but you have acknowledged it and offered appreciation. Now go after your dreams! Rewrite the script that it is running in your head – the script that says, “This always happens” or “I’m never going to …” or “Here we go again.” Stop expecting the same results, and stop speaking the same results into being. It takes time, and practice, but when you think differently, you take different actions and get different results. We all have a script running in our head, but the successful among us also realize they have the power to change the scripts, the setting and even the actors in this play of life.

As a popular Facebook meme says: “If you don’t like where you are, move. You are not a tree.” This can be taken literally or it can be applied in other ways.

This year, let us focus inward and strengthen ourselves at our core level so that we have the resolve, power and focus to impact the outer world, improve our communities and protect what matters most.

Now, more than ever, the world needs us to show up and make a difference.

Life Chef Asata Reid is making the world a healthier place, one plate at a time. She will be demonstrating an easy and tasty recipe on Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. from the Health & Wellness Expo Main Stage at the Mall at Stonecrest.

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