By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
CHINA GROVE ó Mind, body, spirit, voice. It takes the whole person to sing and rejoice.
This quote by Helen Kemp serves as the theme for a women’s health fair slated for Saturday, May 16, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 326 N. Main St., China Grove.
The event will take place from 1 to 5 p.m.
The fair has been in the planning stages for some six months, according to Lisa Wallace, parish nurse.
“Whenever we established our health cabinet, we were discussing plans and outreach for the next year,” Wallace says.
One of those plans for outreach included a women’s health fair.
“We wanted to be sure we integrated a holistic approach to the health fair,” Wallace says. “We wanted to include education that would target mind, body, spirit and voice. All of the speakers will touch on those elements.”
Free screenings will be offered for blood pressure, blood sugar and bone density testings, with cholesterol screening for a small fee.
Speakers for the day include:
– Celia Whitler, a singer, speaker and author from Franklin, Tenn., who has appeared in concert at St. Mark’s.
– Crystal Harris, a family nurse practitioner and BSN program chair with Cabarrus College of Health Sciences in Concord.
– The Rev. Carol Yeager, Air Force Reserve chaplain and pastor of Luther’s Lutheran Church in Richfield.
– Anne Waters, yoga and fitness instructor and owner of Blue Ewe Yoga Studio in Spencer.
Organizers intentionally invited female speakers, Wallace says. “We wanted women speaking to women.”
Whitler appears all over the country, leading retreats for youth and women. She’s a songwriter and the married mom of two sons.
Whitler and Libby Staton, the church’s cantor, have been friends for many years.
Not only is Yeager a pastor, mom and chaplain, she’s the wife of St. Mark’s pastor, the Rev. Greg Yeager. She’s also a Zumba instructor at the South Rowan YMCA.
“She hits it all, she really does,” Wallace says. “She has a very unique ministry. She cares about women as the whole person. She lives it, she doesn’t just preach it.”
Staton takes yoga classes with Waters three days a week.
“I know what a difference yoga has made for me,” Staton says. “Physically, it’s made a difference, and I think I’m a calmer person.”
Waters has led several community yoga classes, stressing correct breathing, basic poses and the health benefits of yoga.
Yoga can lead to better circulation, lower blood pressure, better balance and overall improved relaxation, Waters says.
Women’s lives are all about balance, Wallace says. “Women have so much stuff ó so many balls to juggle, so many hats to wear. We need balance.
“If women don’t make their whole health a priority, they can’t serve others.”
“It’s a hard lesson to learn,” Staton says, “but I think we all have to learn it.”
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For more information about the women’s health fair, call Lisa Wallace at 704-857-2092.