INSPIRE. EDUCATE. EMPOWER. SUPPORT.

It's easy to put our health and wellness on the back burner due to work deadlines, traffic, family obligations and other stressors. Research has shown self-care can help increase happiness

 by up to 71% when we manage our stress and maintain a healthy lifestyle. In fact, self-care helps manage stress and promotes happiness. Whether you challenge yourself to a new yoga pose or try a different spa treatment, make a small change and impact your health in positive ways.

5 Wellness Tips

Taking small steps to improve your personal wellness will lead to healthy habits in your lifestyle. In fact, wellness changes don't don't have to be life changing, even though  the long-term results will be. You can improve your overall health by:

1. Increasing your water intake.
2. Adding more fruits and veggies to your meals.
3. Monitoring your sleep and making adjustments for better sleep habits
4. Joining a yoga, walking, or aerobics class.
5. Learning to meditate.

Add excitement by planning the unexpected. Surprise your significant other with a date night with only a few clues as to the destination. None of it needs to be expensive or elaborate, but making an effort to make the evening fun, spontaneous and memorable will be worthwhile. Maybe it's a note clipped to a single flower saying you'll pick her up at 7 PM and to wear sandals. It ends up with a picnic on the beach; or it could be a text to him that you're in the mood for takeout, be ready in an hour - a three-hour road trip later and you're at the nearest drive-in theater eating hot wings under the stars. 

The simple things mean so much more than elaborate gifts. A wrapped mint slipped into a pocket with an encouraging message on the day of big presentation sends waves of support and love when it's needed most. Sharing our successes with those we love is another way of enhancing the romance. Toast each other's success and bask in the glow.  

Celebrate Romance founder, Eileen Buchheim, created Romance Awareness Month to encourage couples to improve their relationships through romance all year long.

Black Business Month is celebrated in August — it’s a time to acknowledge and appreciate black-owned businesses across the nation and all that they represent in the country’s continual striving for diversity and equality. Denise Moore, CEO of the Black Business Alliance in Peoria, Illinois, has this to say about the importance of Black Business month: “Black Business Month is exciting because it gives us an opportunity to focus on a community that is far too often underrepresented when it comes to access to capital and opportunities to build wealth.”

When we celebrate the contribution of black business owners and entrepreneurs, it pays homage to them and their legacies, especially since celebrating this month recognizes the importance of black-owned businesses when it comes to contributing to the nation’s economy as well. Approximately 10% of all American businesses are black-owned, and if we look at what statistics say about minority-owned businesses, about 30% of these would belong to black business owners. The primary sectors in which black-owned businesses operate include health care, social work, repair and maintenance, beauty salons, restaurants, and more. Black businesses across the country are booming and on the rise, with Washington D.C. having the highest ratio of black-owned businesses, a whopping 28%.