MADAME XHALES

As summer dissolves into autumn and temperatures dip, there’s no healthier sip than wellness in a cup. The history of tea dates back to ancient China, with records of tea sipping spanning back as early as the third century, in a medical document scripted by Hua Tuo, a Chinese physician. Many of our early foremothers, with no formal education in medicine, were prolific healers who performed the duties of doctors using curative herbal brews.

Had my great-great grandmother Mary Louisa Stepp Burnette Hayden been born in 1958 instead of 1858, her legacy could have very well been that of a physician, pharmacist, or president of her own holistic nutrition company.

Her skills as an herbalist and natural healer, combined with her extensive knowledge of common mountain plants of western North Carolina—golden seal, black cohosh, crushed ragweed, ginger, and garlic—enabled her to look after the health of entire families. Plants and plant extracts were used to treat every type of ailment, from indigestion to colds to flu.

In later years, Mary Louisa practiced her craft from a small cottage. Barely less than five feet tall, she was known as a “fierce force to reckon with,” clothed in her flowing aproned-dress, waist-length hair protectively twisted into a bun as she boiled leaves, herbs, and ingredients of Mother Nature into tea potions in a cast iron cauldron.

So powerful are the healing properties of tea that tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water, according to the Tea Association of the USA. The world’s top tea producing countries include China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Argentina, Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malawi, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Myanmar, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Nepal.

Rooibos tea, a favorite of mine, is consumed by South Africans around the clock as a breakfast drink, luncheon beverage, or nighttime cocktail. Caffeine-free rooibos tea offers vast health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties.

Another favorite is karkade, a refreshing red tea first introduced to me in Cairo, Egypt in 1993. Karkade boasts many medicinal properties, including regulation of blood pressure and a high C content.

Africans have been consuming tea concoctions for ages for remedial benefits. Kenya has become the top tea-exporting nation around the globe for black tea, rich in antioxidants, thought to improve heart and gut health and lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.

For centuries, antioxidant-rich green tea has been a dominant refreshment throughout Asia and has gained popularity worldwide.

AT INTERNATIONAL TEA SITES

By Regina Lynch-Hudson | Photography by Courtland C. Bivens III

For centuries, antioxidant-rich green tea has been a dominant refreshment throughout Asia and has gained popularity worldwide. Admittedly, the only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house. Yet, thanks to worldwide excursions and tea-making demonstrations across the globe, I’ve found myself using my kitchen to concoct a medley of organic tea recipes that would make great-great-grandmother Mary Louisa proud.

Babington’s Tea Room: Rome, Italy After hiking Rome’s Spanish Steps, it was time to refuel at Babington's Tea Room, a traditional English tea shop established in 1893. Located at the foot

of the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna, the famed shop offers a vast array of teas carefully curated from all corners of the earth. There I devoured Babington’s red rhubarb, a blend of black Darjeeling tea enriched with hibiscus and rhubarb.

The Art of the Deal: Marrakesh, Morocco

Tea is the libation used to seal deals in Morocco. When hubby traded me in for 420 camels, 2 castles, 100 Arabian horses, 2 suits of Saladin armour, and 5 swords made of Moorish steel, local Berber villager Aziz and I toasted over mint tea, Morocco’s national drink. After the transaction was consummated, hubby forewarned Aziz that he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

Hokokuji Temple: Kamakura, Japan

At the legendary Hokokuji Temple, renowned for its bamboo forest containing over 2000 moso trees and Japanese tea house, I sipped therapeutic green tea at dusk amid a calming cascade of magnificent bamboo stalks.

Great-great-granddaughter of museum-recognized mountain medicine woman and herbalist Mary Louisa Stepp, veteran publicist Regina Lynch-Hudson exhales at healing sites and explores wellness experiences, including spas, meditative sanctuaries, healthy eateries, soul-reviving resorts, and nature reserves. Wellness is a lifestyle for the world-trekking 64-year-old, formerly licensed esthetician, pescatarian, water aerobics afficionado, and shade-tree-seeker. Contact MadameXhales: thewritepublicist@earthlink.net

SANTIA ON STACKING HER DECK

By Kaye-Ann Sadler

Many of you may be wondering, “Who is Santia Deck?” Well, more than 800,000 people tune in to her page regularly on social media and know what all the hype is about.

Santia’s love for sports began when she played tennis at four years old. Then, at the age of seven, she began running. She landed a full scholarship at Texas A&M University – Kingsville as a track and field sprinter. Growing up in a house with three brothers—one of which is her twin— she played football with them and was seemingly good at it, but her mom put a stop to it after she took a hit to the chest. However, her natural athletic abilities sparked her interest in sports post-college.

I was extremely curious to know: Why football?! After all, football isn’t a sport that is typically promoted for female athletes. Santia went viral playing flag football and began training for the 2020 US Olympic rugby team until she, unfortunately, suffered an injury. Playing rugby helped her pivot to tackle football, which landed her a deal with the Women’s Football League Association, making her the first woman to sign a multimillion-dollar football contract. If this isn’t a testament for embracing the unknown and walking your own path, I don’t know what is!

With this amazing accomplishment, Santia is even more determined to continue breaking records and smashing through the glass ceiling by decreasing the pay gap for women in sports. Additionally, she wants to show little girls that they can do anything they want to do. Young girls stop playing sports by the age of 14 at a rate 1.5 times higher than boys, according to a report by Gatorade. Santia wants to be the motivation they need to keep going and show them that it will translate to success later down the road. Playing sports is beneficial in many aspects besides winning and the physical aesthetic advantages. It teaches work ethic, team building, and how to overcome obstacles, just to name a few things.

Santia has overcome her fair share of obstacles and is still at it. In January 2022, she suffered yet another injury, this time to her ACL. She’s currently going through the healing process, so she tries not to engage in any physical activity, which is extremely difficult for her. This young wom-

Santia Deck

an has been going practically non-stop all her life! To put things into perspective, this is her first summer not playing sports since she was four years old. However, being injured is forcing her to not only rest but to discover other pleasures in life besides footwork and ladder drills.

We chatted a bit about self-care, and Santia admitted that she needs to work on finding more balance. She understands the importance, but when you’re thirty years old and building an empire, I can imagine how that could take a backseat. She did promise to become intentional about taking time for herself regularly, whether at a spa or a cabin, to prevent burnout. Sitting still has also stimulated her spiritually. She talks freely about being a child of God and drawing closer to Him in times like this. Along with her spirituality, Santia is enjoying building memories, traveling, and tapping into other opportunities that came about because of her athletic skills and notoriety.

What initially started out as her being a brand ambassador for another sneaker brand blossomed into having a shoe line named Tronus. Yes, you read that right! Santia has her own sneaker line. She was approached by a rep for the brand she was representing, and the rest is history. Although she never considered starting a shoe line, she is a bonified sneakerhead, so it’s only right. Her mom, who also doubles as her manager, stepped in to conduct market research, analytics, and most of the business processes.

Santia admitted that she doubted herself at first— after all, she was about to be the first woman (yet again) to pull this off— but her mom did what moms do. Her mom told her that she was walking the right path and reassured her that she could do it. From there, Santia left it in God’s hands. The Tronus shoe line has been extremely well received so far and is available for purchase in Champs Sports and The Athlete’s Foot retail stores, as well as online.

And she’s not finished yet. There’s so much more to come in the future for this hungry, determined, ambitious young woman. Besides the book she is writing and social media masterclass she’s preparing to offer, Santia hopes to settle down one day. She would like to get married, have kids, and truly enjoy the fruits of her labor. Until then, she’s enjoying the many routes life has her running, both on and off the field.

PHOTOGRAPHER: HOWELL DESIGN STUDIOS

MAKEUP: SHARRI BURKE

GOLD DRESS: FASHION NOVA

RED WORKOUT OUTFIT: GET IT IN

TAN WORKOUT OUTFIT: LULULEMON