As the young mother participants of the Healthy Start Program waited for the St. Louis American Foundation and The Centene Corporation’s Healthy Happy Hour to get started, their children relished in the playtime.
They danced to the music and played catch with the stress balls included in the gift bag that each of the guests received.
By the end of the night, there would be a serious role reversal.
The mothers (and one father) and other guests who attended were taking full advantage of The Space. They occupied every inch of the intimate venue to take part in the yoga activities with MC Rebekah Bennett and later to slide with Alicia “Sunshine” Williams.
Some of the children continued to do their own thing, but many of them took a spot right next to their mothers on the floor as they stretched and slid to work up a serious sweat.
The same bag that children secretly rummaged through as their mothers listened to the brief words of introduction read “Your baby’s health begins with you.”
The young women were probably too engaged to realize something very important. By being open to sampling the healthy meal prepared by Diversity Gallery, listening to the words of Dr. Consuelo Wilkins and Healthy Start’s Gwen Stubblefield, and getting active through the movement exercises they were taking the first steps towards making that statement a personal reality.
“As mothers we take the burden of everyone else and we often neglect ourselves,” Wilkins said.
“But you must find time for yourself, because you have to be healthy in order to support yourself and your family.”
In what has now become the m.o. of the Healthy Happy Hour, the words were brief and the lessons to leading a healthy lifestyle were presented through action.
The awkward positions of the participants made it clear that they were new to yoga. But with the influence and encouragement of Bennett, they listened to her words and their bodies as they welcomed the life lessons that she managed to ease in as she transitioned them into the different poses and breathing techniques.
“In breathing, you inhale what you need and you exhale what you don’t. Imagine if we applied this to our everyday lives,” Bennett said.
“Each inhale is a new opportunity – you take in new opportunities. And when you exhale, you let it go. Say, ‘Thank you’ with each inhalation and ‘bless you’ with each exhalation.”
The words echoed in the acoustics of the Space as if each breath were a conversation.
Their bodies now loose, the floor was turned over to Sunshine for back-to-back (a few times over) slides. Then the learning experience continued on their plates. A delicious serving of Asian chicken salad, and shrimp and grits from Diversity Gallery & Culture capped off the night.
“By coming here tonight, you are demonstrating a powerful and compelling choice – the choice of life,” Bennett said. “This is the choice you want to teach your children.”
The next Healthy Happy Hour will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 at the Moline Acres Community Hall (2454 Chambers Rd.). Healthy Happy Hours are free and open to the public.