By Dr. Stacia Alexander, LPC-S

Students at Westpark Elementary had the chance to school their teachers earlier this spring. That’s when Westpark’s Blue Zones Project student ambassadors held their own cooking demonstration—educating faculty and staff about the benefits of scratch cooking and serving up easy-to-make pancakes from wholesome ingredients.

Blue Zones Project Fort Worth started 2017 off with a bang with a significant “first” in January. Paschal High School was recognized as the first Blue Zones Project Approved™ high school in Fort Worth during a school-wide celebration on January 20.

First, let’s establish where the word, Moai® (pronounced “mo-eye”) came from and what it means. The word "Moai" comes from Okinawa, Japan, and translates to "meeting for a common purpose." In Okinawa, neighbors use Moais as a support system to help those in need. Based on this tradition, Moais provide social interaction and support that are just as important to a person’s overall well-being as the benefits of walking or eating healthy. Blue Zones Project® offers two different Moai programs: walking and potluck, where groups of 5-8 people walk or potluck over a period of 10 weeks.

Second, let’s define magic: Beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from everyday life.

Today was our first Moai of 2016 and it really was a magical experience. At the end of 2015, we decided to start each monthly Moai meet-up with a physical or healthy activity before we dig into a scrumptious potluck lunch. We started with a sweaty yoga class at 9:30am at The Yoga Project, and then met at Angela’s house for food and conversation. Our food theme for January was “wheat-free” because this month’s host recently discovered she had a strong intolerance to wheat.