Growing up as a trained dancer, Laura learned many of the skills that she implements both in her medical practice, and her own existence. The training, discipline, and commitment from her early years of dancing taught her about endurance, consistency, and very simply, just getting up and moving! As an adult, she likes to do physical activities that add to the zeitgeist of her own personal wellness. You can’t be a dancing machine if you don’t maintain your moving parts. Laura keeps her machine working in peak condition by utilizing dance, yoga, proper nutrition, or anything else that promotes adventures in a Healthy Lifestyle!

Over the past 12 years, Laura has served several Medical Mission trips, primarily in Central America, South America, and Africa. On these mission trips, she obviously finds many differences as opposed to practicing medical care in Metro Atlanta. Availability of medicines, expertise and education of medical care, and facility conditions are all obvious differences between Africa and Atlanta. But surprisingly, she finds that many of the same foundational principles can apply to both scenarios. And in the same vein, the failure to embrace these principles can keep people in both locations from improving and maintaining their health.

For instance, Laura finds herself amazed at how attainable most physical goals really are! She is also amazed at the fact that most people feel that their respectable physical goals are too far out of reach to even really try! But Laura sees excuses and distractions as nothing but paper barriers. She believes we are much more empowered than we think we are. It’s as simple as “Do Something!” You may not be able to overhaul your entire diet in a day, but you can make a better choice today than you made yesterday. And tomorrow, you can make a better choice than you did today. And before you know it, you are closing in on goals you once thought were unfeasible. Better living is simply a product of one small decision at a time.

Laura’s life advice? Discover new places you haven’t been before. Be more invested in breaking bread with friends, at new places, than stuffing your face while staring at the same old walls. It’s not what we eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas that cripples us, it’s what we eat between New Years and Thanksgiving that causes us the most setbacks in our eating habits. Every day, Laura wants to be the spark that galvanizes her patients to change their lives forever. After she completed PA school, she personally had a lot of weight to lose. Her journey is proof that nothing is out of reach if you start making small changes every day. Come experience the spark at Southeastern Primary!