Hundreds of people gathered at the Sloan Convention Center on Saturday morning to learn about health and wellness.
The annual Health and Wellness Expo aimed to educate the public and included health screenings, vendors, demonstrations and performances.
Ashley White, an instructor at Hot Yoga Bowling Green, was at a booth for the studio giving demonstrations of yoga poses and promoting classes.
“I love whenever you’re there, you’re in the moment,” she said.
The room used for hot yoga is warm, which allows muscles to stretch more and regulate the body better, White said.
She said the expo allows the community to see what hot yoga is like and meet the instructors.
Sherry Suggs, a registered nurse and staff development educator for The Medical Center, taught people how to perform CPR using dummies.
“The most important thing is when they figure out somebody’s collapsed, they call 911,” Suggs said.
That way, they know help is on the way while they perform CPR, she said.
A group from The Medical Center was demonstrating hands-only CPR, which involves pushing down hard and fast in the center of the chest with both hands on top of each other, Suggs said.
“A lot of people in the community would never start CPR if they thought they had to breathe into someone’s mouth,” she said.
Through education and media reports, people have learned that isn’t the only way to perform CPR, she said.
“I think there’s a lot more awareness about how important it is,” Suggs said.
Amy Bratton, a registered nurse at The Medical Center, handed out cards about the risk factors and signs of a stroke, which include slurred speech, facial droop and arm numbness.
“A lot of times people don’t really know that they’re doing that, so you need to educate the people around them too,” Bratton said.
She said events like the expo are important.
“It educates people because they gather so much information,” Bratton said.
