We live in a world that is moving at a fast pace. It is not always easy to catch up with that pace and maintain a lifestyle that meets those requirements. Stress is here to stay, whether it is for an ordinary person or a health worker. Stress is proving to be one of the health hazards and has spread its tentacles to people from all walks of life and all strata of society. It becomes alarming when even health workers are affected by stress because they are the ones who are supposed to take care of the patients, isn’t it? How do we deal with it when even health workers are combating stress? Dr. Uzo Nwankpa (DNP, MSN-PH, RN), an educator, facilitator, healer, public health nurse, performer, and researcher, has come up with a unique method of healing using music and movement.
Uzo’s Story: Giving Hope and Resilience
Everyone is on the lookout for some tools and techniques to help them combat stress, and that includes the current generation of healthcare workers, too. Dr Uzo shares her life with the readers and tells them the reason why she ended up combining the old practices of healing with art. Uzo is a first-generation immigrant, and she says that she believed in not only bridging the gap between Africans and the globe but also decolonizing her patterns to become a global citizen. She mentions how homesick she was when she moved to the West from Nigeria and longed for the presence of her family. She battled anxiety, depression, stress, and weight gain, which led to an unhealthy existence.
Change happened when Dr Uzo decided to take life into her hands and make changes in a way that helped her accept herself and reconnect with herself. She turned to the cultural practices of her Igbo heritage and found joy in dance and music. She leaned towards her culture and started to spend time eating her traditional food and enjoying the ancestral beats of her dance and music. These became her medicine, and she slowly started to feel at home in the foreign land. She shared her personal experiences with her close friends, and she realized the power of music and dance when it came to bringing people together and helping them to heal.
It was in 2010 that she developed the Uzo Method after conducting educational and interactive workshops, performances, and seminars. Dr Uzo’s approach to blending music and movement for healing and well-being encouraged her to move towards building a RICHER Model. It had a better extensive and expansive way that encouraged people to use their artistic expressions for healing and wellness. The RICHER Model is known to promote perinatal mental health using dance, music, mindfulness, and social support. The key components of well-being are looked at with a holistic mindset and are designed not only for healthcare workers but also for individuals looking to combat stress.
Wellness Promoters LLC
Wellness Promoters LLC started in 2021 and reached out to a bigger and wider audience. It has encouraged billions of healthcare workers, current and future, to use music and movement as a medicine to deal with burnout and stress. The organization remains focused on her African tradition, decolonizing patterns, following conventional healing methods, and integrating art, communal care, and health.
Her mission and her vision are both inspiring, and they help others find homes in foreign countries. She effectively does that using dance, music, and storytelling. The structured process of well-being, emotional, physical, social, spiritual, and community programs has made Dr Uzo a name to reckon with among healthcare workers and individuals as well when it comes to meeting the pace of life head-on without any stress.
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