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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Choosing Hope: A Reading with Robin Gaby Fisher

Written by Kaitlin Roig DeBellis with Robin Gaby Fisher, Choosing Hope: Moving Forward from Life’s Darkest Hours is a first grade teacher’s written witness to the tragic 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is a gripping firsthand testament to the power of good over the power of destruction and an inspirational story of one brave young teacher’s courage, heroism, faith and resilience in the face of great adversity. Come to Yoga Central on Sunday, November 8 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. to listen to a free reading by the book’s coauthor.

Featured in People Magazine, Choosing Hope celebrates everyone who makes the choice to pass along their hope and positivity to young ones—parents, mentors and especially teachers. Ultimately, it is an uplifting story of love and hope.

Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis explains, “Although now I have witnessed the worst of mankind, instead of feeling bitter or regretful I have chosen to embrace gratitude. I believe in the power of kindness, the influence of educators and mentors, faith and God, and most of all I believe in humanity. Bad things happen to all of us, things that test us and impact us and change us, but it is not those moments that define us. It is how we choose to react to them that does.”

Robin Gaby Fisher is a New York Times bestselling author of eight nonfiction books. She is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the recipient of a shared Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News.

Location: Yoga Central, 953 Route 202 N, Branchburg. For more information, call 908-707-0759 or visit YogaCentralNJ.com.

News Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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