September has always felt like more than another page on the calendar. It feels like the beginning of a new season, officially, mentally, physically and emotionally.

Here in North Texas, September may not bring fall temperatures right away, but somehow we know change is coming. The rhythm shifts. The days grow shorter, schedules fill up and summer's more relaxed pace gives way to renewed focus. Friday night football lights up high school stadiums across the Metroplex, and by month's end, the State Fair of Texas opens at Fair Park. For me, those two traditions are inextricably tied to fall in Texas.

September also makes me think about the other seasons of our lives. Some arrive predictably. Others show up without invitation. There are seasons of growth and rest, beginnings and endings, abundance and uncertainty. Some we eagerly welcome, while others require us to find our footing as we go.

Our Instruction Manual reminds us that change is part of God's design. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Isaiah 43:19 offers another reminder I particularly love: "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

Maybe the challenge is not avoiding change, but learning to remain centered while moving through it.

That brings me to this month's theme, inner balance.

Balance can sound like one more thing we're supposed to achieve, but I am beginning to see it differently. It doesn't necessarily mean everything in life gets equal time or that everything around us is calm. Sometimes balance is simply being able to find our center when life isn't cooperating.

I experienced that firsthand recently when I had the opportunity to try a revolutionary new breast imaging technology that has come to North Texas. QT Imaging uses three-dimensional transmission ultrasound imaging without radiation or breast compression. As a two-time cancer survivor, anything that advances our ability to look at breast health differently gets my attention.

What surprised me almost as much as the technology was what happened during the scan itself. As I lay still while the imaging was completed, I naturally settled into breathwork and meditation. I focused on my breathing, quieted my thoughts and became deeply relaxed. Here I was undergoing sophisticated medical imaging while using two of the simplest wellness tools available to us, my own breath and the ability to become still.

There was something wonderfully full-circle about that.

It reminded me that innovation and inner wellness don't have to exist in separate worlds. We can embrace new technology while also drawing on practices that have helped people center themselves for centuries. Sometimes Wellness Made Easy really can be that simple.

You'll read more in this issue about this new breast imaging technology and the North Texas team bringing it to our community. You'll also find thoughtful perspectives on creating inner balance, including Erin Kincaid's article on "decentering" and how the people, responsibilities and circumstances in our lives can sometimes occupy too much of our emotional space.

As September ushers us toward another fall, perhaps this is a good time to consider what season we are entering personally. What needs more of our attention? What needs less? What might God be asking us to release, begin or simply experience differently?

Then, of course, there is the State Fair. I'll see you there.

As always, we hope you find much in this issue to help you along your journey to living a healthy life on a healthy planet.

Blessings until next month,

Bernice Butler