Local residents gathered Saturday at the Waynesboro Area YMCA for Your Wellness Connection: A Community Health Expo, a daylong event focused on mind-body wellness, preventive health, and holistic living. The expo brought together more than two dozen local providers, health professionals, and businesses to share tools, demonstrations, and resources designed to support physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
The event featured interactive areas with local holistic practitioners and services, including massage therapy, nutrition counseling, acupuncture, energy work, and life coaching. Guests enjoyed learning about whole-person health approaches and sampling hands-on demos from professionals deeply rooted in the community’s wellness landscape.
Throughout the day, food trucks from Health Forward offered nourishing, locally sourced dishes, giving visitors healthy options while they explored the exposition.
One of the highlights was a lineup of mini breakout sessions hosted in both the YMCA’s Community Room and Front Lounge. More than 30 local practitioners and business owners shared short, inspiring talks on topics ranging from hormone balance and herbal medicine to mindfulness, art therapy, and pelvic health.
Presenters in the Community Room included experts from Nova Alternative Therapy, Burns Valley Herbals & Retreat, Norland Avenue Pharmacy, Virtus Men’s Health, and Karissa J. Kelley Counseling. The morning culminated in a keynote presentation at noon by speaker Laura Aura titled “Do You Trust Yourself?”, offering attendees insights into self-awareness and empowerment.
Afternoon sessions featured talks by Drayer Physical Therapy, FitMinded Living, On the Move Integrative Health, The Center of Balance, Red House Holistic Health, Healing Waters Wellness Center, and Sweet Life Community.
In the Front Lounge, attendees could experience bodywork-focused presentations from practitioners such as Bhakti Spirit Foundation, Structural Elements, Gaia Women’s Physical Therapy, Functional Healing, Pilates on the Mountain, Paradigm Pelvic Health, and others. From acupuncture demonstrations to functional medicine discussions, these sessions invited visitors to explore diverse paths toward healing and wellness.
The event was supported by numerous sponsors, including Red House Holistic Health, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, Soul 2 Soul, Pilates on the Mountain, Middletown Valley Bank, Virtus Health Optimization, GAIA Women’s Physical Therapy & Wellness, The Dapper House Barber Shop, CTV Mobile Diagnostics, Healing Water Wellness Center, Bosko Family Chiropractic, Brandi Wynne Nutrition, Emerging Wellness, Jennifer Yaukey LMT, Paradigm Pelvic Health and Wellness, Strength Endures Fitness, Sweet Life Community, The Center of Balance, and Functional Healing.
Raffles, giveaways, and community connections rounded out the day, making the expo both educational and energizing for those looking to take the next step on their wellness journey.
