Two years ago, Souls Ground Café owner, Chef Audrey Peeples (aka Chef Audy), was rushed to the ER with congestive heart failure. She was air-lifted to Spectrum Health Butterworth in Grand Rapids where they detected a tear in her aorta, she immediately underwent emergency bypass surgery. Now, two years later, that moment in her life has led to a partnership with Corewell Health’s ‘Center For Better Health and Wellness’ in Benton Harbor. This partnership seeks to teach the many forms of holistic health available to the community and offer options and classes to learn about natural healing. The kickoff event on Thursday December 8 at 5:30 pm is a dream come true for Chef Audy.
“When I initially opened this café, I wanted it to be a place that educated people through healthy food and holistic options for healing. One day a couple of regular customers that work for The Center for Better Health, and knew about my heart experience, brought Dr. Willie Lawrence in for lunch. He is an Interventional Cardiologist and the Medical Director for Health Equity for Corewell Health. They brought him in to meet me and hear my story. He and I bonded over our mutual belief in the holistic ways the body can heal and wanting to connect the community with all the natural health care options available,” explains Chef Audy. “He and I came up with the idea of us partnering and offering holistic classes here at the café. It’s great to be on the ground level of this initiative.”
Chef Audy and Dr. Lawrence, a Harvard educated cardiologist who moved to Benton Harbor in summer of 2021 and was the American Heart Association’s National Physician of the Year in 2011, have tapped all the holistic practitioners they know in the area for this initial informational event. This event will introduce the community to the classes and programs that will be offered to teach healing, holistic approaches to healing, prevention, and ways to live a healthier life.
The instructors in attendance will include Dr. Lawrence talking about heart health, Chef Audy who will teach about cooking with healing foods and Cindy L Goodson who will teach through workshops and retreats about nutrition and fibroid healing.
There will be a naturopathy practitioner, which is a system of treating disease that avoids drugs and surgery and emphasizes the use of natural agents and physical means and a medicinal masseuse, who specializes in acupuncture, reiki and reflexology. They will also offer therapeutic art, yoga and meditation.
If it sounds like a lot. It is. But that is because there are so many natural and holistic ways to take care of and heal the body that the general public doesn’t always have information on or access too. That is the point of this event, to help people understand all the options available when it comes to health and healing, and maybe discover new ones.
“We want to offer this to everyone who feels overwhelmed, who wants to be around like-minded people and those who want to learn new techniques and ways to manage their health. It is really needed right now. There are so many things we ingest, whether it’s coming from processed food, the air we breathe, things happening in our lives or our community,” explains Chef Audy. “We can sometimes take in a lot of unhealthy energy and that can translate to things like stress and sleeplessness or overindulgence, then it effects our physical health. These classes and workshops will offer techniques to clear that energy and create a safe landing place to address what is affecting you spiritually, mentally or physically so you can manage it in a healthy and holistic way.
To learn more, visit this informational event on Thursday December 8 from 5:30 to 7:30 at Souls Ground Café located at 234 Territorial Rd, Benton Harbor, MI 49022 in the Benton Harbor Arts District. Also visit the café Facebook page for updates.
By Julee Laurent
MOTM Contributor
