On a cloudy Sunday afternoon in August, crowds of health and wellness enthusiasts packed the quaint and eclectic shop, Calabar Imports, located at 351 Tompkins Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to attend the Whole Health Living (A Day of Wellness in BedStuy) event. In conjunction with Atim Annette Oton (co-owner/Calabar Imports), event coordinator, Caroline Budhan created an event to help educate the masses on Health and Wellness maintenance and achievement. The day’s event featured gratis Reiki sessions, Nutrition and Fitness consultations, shared literature, raffles, holistic prizes and gourmet vegan cooking.
The event’s goal of the day was to, “Give people a warm safe place to learn more about wellness and to discover themselves,” and based on the crowd’s reaction Ms. Budhan and her holistic cohorts delivered just that. Despite the unbearable heat inside the intimate settings of Calabar Imports, health and wellness advocates, practitioners and Joe Public continued to file into the much needed event in a well-deserved area.
Several attendees entered the event enthusiastic and ready for a new experience and exited enlightened and wanting to learn more of the holistic practices offered. Ms. Budhan stated, “It really puts a smile on my face to share the message of health and wellness, particularly in communities of color.” It appeared that the attending crowd consisted of a kaleidoscope of health aficionados and novices seeking holistic insight.
The floor plan of the program consisted of three areas of expertise: Ms. Budhan (trained Reiki Practitioner and Birth Doula) provided the gratis quarter hour of Reiki sessions to the fortunate patrons who made it behind her healing curtain, Lisa Anakwenze (CEO of Moor Unlimited LLC) provided 20 minute nutrition and holistic health consultations based on setting wellness goals and lifestyle habits. She also conducted a free Zumba demonstration for willing participants. Finally, Author/Teacher, Whitney McNulty shared excerpts from her self-published book of poetry, Awakenings. Her poetry consisted of emotional avenues of awareness that kept the audience engaged throughout her share session. One patron expressed after her reading that the share was very personable.
Rounding out the three hour program was a highly anticipated raffle of holistic goodies and the delicious sips and tastes provided by Clean Meals Brooklyn. Vegan Chefs Sonya Samuel and Brian David prepared cucumber lemonade and zucchini spiral pasta with almond pesto sauce for everyone. Overall the event was successful in spreading health and wellness awareness throughout a community that seems to be craving for knowledge on living a healthier and more productive life through holistic practice, nutritional and physical value and the spiritual healing of art. Ms. Budhan was so overwhelmed with the amount of individuals that came out for Reiki, that she expressed plans to go into communities to create Reiki share events, to explain the benefits and value of the practice.
