.www.groundedjoywellness.org One of Desert Health’s primary goals is to encourage readers to be their own health advocates. This includes “knowing your numbers,” which has never been easier with today’s health-tracking devices, such as smart watches and Ouro rings. Adding to those options is the emerging category of smart scales. Bathroom scales measuring weight have been household staples for more than a century. But today’s smart scales go far beyond, tracking body composition, hydration levels, bone density, muscle mass, heart and vascular insights and more. The data is synced with your smartphone, maintains trends and can be sent to your health care provider. I was excited to get one, but quickly became overwhelmed by the large selection and factors to consider. Using AI to research and organize all the specifications further overwhelmed me, so I thought I’d share what I learned as a starting point. How they work (basically). Smart scales use a technology called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) that estimates body composition by sending a low-level electrical current through the body. Electrical resistance through body tissue is measured: muscle and water conduct electricity easily, so they offer low resistance, while fat resists electricity, showing high resistance. The scale’s processor uses the resistance data coupled with your weight, and sometimes your height, age and sex, to calculate body composition metrics such as body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, hydration levels, etc. Originally, BIA devices were large and primarily used in clinical or research settings, as in the DEXA scan your doctor may have ordered for bone density. While at-home BIA technology continues to evolve, it remains an estimation tool, not a diagnostic device, and clinical methods like DEXA scans remain the gold standard for diagnosis. What they can do. As BIA and supporting technologies evolve, advanced features also include heart-pumping efficiency, hypertension risk, glycemic regulation, cellular vitality, inflammation levels, nervous system tracking and more. Newer entrants into the growing market even include behavioral health coaching, personalized wellness insights and gender-focused platforms. Price point. I found that smart scales range in price from $26 to $600 (a big difference), so questions to ask yourself include: • What metrics are important to me? Do I want to simply track weight and body mass index (BMI) or do I want a full health lab for the home? • Will it be for a single or multiple users? •Do I want the software to integrate with an existing health platform (i.e. Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, etc.)? www.DesertHealthNews.com May/June 2026 Continued on page 18 Natural Options The Valley's Leading Resource for Health and Wellness 7 Ground through life’s transitions. Reset your nervous system. Reclaim your joy. Redesign your life. Christy Curtis 949.303.8256 christycurtiswellness@gmail.com groundedjoywellness.org MINDFUL WELLBEING COACH Mindful Wellbeing Coaching Speaking Engagements Curated Retreats + Workshops Last week, I stood in my kitchen preparing curry chicken and vegetable soup. I had discovered a new recipe and had been craving it all day. The vegetables were chopped with care, broth simmering softly, sunlight stretching across the counter. But while cooking, I answered a phone call. Replied to an email. Scrolled briefly through the internet. When I finally sat down to eat, I took one bite and immediately knew something was missing. The curry. The spice that gives the dish its warmth, depth and character. Yet what was truly missing was not seasoning — it was presence. In our culture of productivity and performance, distraction has become habitual. We eat while scrolling. We listen while preparing our response. We move quickly from one obligation to the next, rarely inhabiting the moment in which we are in, and like my soup, something essential gets left out. Presence, the deliberate act of paying attention with intention, restores richness to our lives. Neuroscience supports what contemplative traditions have long taught: when we bring awareness to the present moment, the nervous system shifts from sympathetic activation, our fight-or-flight response into parasympathetic regulation, the state of rest and repair. Cortisol lowers. Heart rate steadies. Digestion improves. The body reallocates energy from defense toward restoration. This is not abstract philosophy; it is measurable physiology. Mindful eating offers a clear example. When we slow down enough to taste our food, notice texture and recognize natural hunger and fullness cues, we enhance vagal tone and digestive efficiency.² Research shows that intentional breathing increases heart rate variability, a marker strongly associated with resilience, emotional regulation and longevity.³ By interrupting automatic patterns, we strengthen the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for thoughtful decision-making rather than reactive impulses.3 The practice is elegantly simple. I call it the “AAA” of mindful living: Awareness, Attention and Attitude. Awareness notices what is happening. Attention chooses where to focus. Attitude brings curiosity instead of criticism. Together, they create a pause. And within that pause lies choice. Presence is not about perfection; it is about participation. It transforms an ordinary meal into nourishment. A conversation into connection. A breath into renewal. In the desert, we appreciate stillness and open space, yet even here, life can accelerate. The invitation is not to withdraw from ambition, but to inhabit it fully and intentionally. You can begin with one simple question: How is my breath? Notice the rhythm. Is it shallow or steady? Where do you feel it in your body? This gentle inquiry anchors the wandering mind and initiates a new neural pathway, one that favors regulation over reaction. Over time, this practice builds clarity, steadiness and a more grounded baseline of well-being. Just as curry transforms soup, presence transforms life. The missing ingredient is not external. It is available in every breath. Christy Curtis is the founder of Grounded Joy Wellness and offers private mindfulnessbased health and life coaching, corporate and educational speaking engagements, refined movement experiences and curated holistic retreats. She can be reached at christycurtiswellness@gmail.com. www.groundedjoywellness.org. References: 1) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/food-body-love/202412/the-vagus-nerve-glp-1s-and-food-noise; 2) Chaitanya, S., Datta, A., Bhandari, B., & Sharma, V. K. (2022). Effect of resonance breathing on heart rate variability and cognitive functions in young adults: A randomized controlled study. Cureus, 14(2), e22187. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.22187; 3) Tang, Y.-Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916 Presence: The Missing Ingredient By Christy Curtis Smart scales like Withings (pictured here) are creating personal health labs for the home. www.hfhcv.org Smart Scales Bring Health Home Where to start when considering one By Lauren Del Sarto
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