Smile Lifestyle Magazine

Presents: “Smile Magazine” with Ms.Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo

Shaping the Future Through Dialogue

Date: 26th-05-2025

Redefining: “Dialogue Has the Power to Shape a New Age”

OWUSUAA’S SMILE – HEALTH+ ORIGINAL SERIES;

EXCLUSIVE FEATURE | FALLING INTO ANXIETY

Through the Lens of Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo: Exploring the Profound Connection Between Spiritual Depths and Emotional Relatability

A Special Edition Coming Monday, 26th May 2025

Nana Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo

In This Issue:

• The Reality of Anxiety in Ghana’s Streets
• Why Tramadol Is a Symptom, Not the Cause
• Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo on Compassionate Leadership
• The Lotus Sutra and the Spirit of Resilience
• A Call for Policy Rooted in Humanity

From the Editor

Ghana’s citizens—especially youth, vendors, and informal workers—are silently falling into anxiety. What looks like laziness or deviance is often a deep, spiritual exhaustion. In this edition, Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo helps us unpack what’s truly going on behind the scenes: a fragmented government, economic hardship, and the need for emotional relatability.

Feature Article Preview

“The roots submerged in the depths of a muddy pond are capable of producing the pure lotus flower.”
— The Lotus Sutra

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo doesn’t just speak from theory—she listens from experience. As a coach, entrepreneur, and founder of Hair Senta, she encounters people on the edge daily. Her approach? Compassion before criticism. Connection before control.

Through this lens, we explore how Ghana must pivot toward leadership that connects, heals, and uplifts—before our youth are lost to anxiety and addiction.

In Her Own Words

“We need a government that sincerely connects with its people—one rooted in wisdom, courage, and compassion.”
— Nana Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo

Call to Action

• Share this newsletter to raise awareness.
• Advocate for mental health support in your community.
• Follow Nana Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo’s journey and be part of the shift.

[Scan the QR Code to Read the Full Feature on May 26th]
Stay tuned. Join the conversation. Be the change.

Article Title: Falling Into Anxiety;

“Through the Lens of Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo: Exploring the Profound Connection Between Spiritual Depth and Emotional Relatability“

The Hidden Cost of a Fragmented System

Ghana’s political system has, over time, grown increasingly distant from the needs of its citizens. Once rooted in the goal of alleviating suffering, governance today often feels like an exercise in detachment. For countless Ghanaians—street vendors, market women, and informal workers—this means living each day on the edge.

With rising economic hardship and insufficient public support, anxiety is no longer just a mental health issue; it is a national condition. One tragic symptom is the growing misuse of tramadol, particularly among the youth, who are not morally lost—but systematically abandoned.

QUOTE PULLOUT

“The roots submerged in the depths of a muddy pond are capable of producing the pure lotus flower.”
— The Lotus Sutra.

This powerful image reminds us that within every person-even in the depths of poverty, fear, and anxiety-exists the potential for dignity, purpose, and renewal. As taught in the Lotus Sutra, all human beings possess the innate capacity for Buddhahood: a life state of wisdom, courage, compassion, and vitality. In this spirit, ordinary citizens are not powerless- they are protagonists of change. But they need the support of a government that recognises and nurtures this potential through sincere policy and structural reform.

Lotus-Flower emerging from a muddy pond

Ms. Gyimah-Addo not only leads in boardrooms and business seminars—she also works daily in Hair Senta, a salon where she connects deeply with people from all walks of life. With her team, she brings beauty into the hearts of her customers. Through years of listening and serving, she’s come to understand that what people need most is compassion, not blame, not prejudice, but presence.

This same principle must guide our national response to the anxiety epidemic. When young people turn to substances like tramadol, it is often not out of rebellion, but out of despair. We need proactive social structures that respond before people fall—systems rooted in empathy and designed to uplift.

To truly address anxiety in Ghana, we must move beyond punishment and pathology. We must restore the spiritual and emotional connection between the government and its people. Only then can we produce the kind of leadership—and the kind of society—that allows even the most submerged roots to blossom into lotus flowers.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo: Compassion in Action

Entrepreneur. Author. Coach. Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo has dedicated her life to meaningful connection, whether through her business coaching or her work at Hair Senta, where she engages clients and community daily. She reminds us that true leadership is rooted in compassion, not blame, not bureaucracy.

As she observes, “We must build social structures that respond before young people fall into anxiety traps—not after they overdose or drop out of society.”

A New Vision for Ghana:

We need leadership that listens. We need policies designed for people—not just profit. We need a society that sees anxiety not as deviance, but as a cry for connection.

Let us return to the spiritual and cultural wisdom that all people have value—and all can rise, if given the chance.

ADVERTISMENT

https://www.instagram.com/hairsenta?igsh=MXAzOThhNGZ0Nm15dQ==

Instagram Caption Format:

Hair Senta – Where Beauty Meets Attention
#HairSentaGlow #GhanaHair #LuxuryExtensions

From Ghana to the World — the best Human Hair Extensions you’ll ever wear!
Natural, luxurious, and 100% YOU!

Call/WhatsApp:
(+233) 0544354455 / 0248629769
Visit us: www.hairsenta.com
Location: 24 Jungle Avenue, Accra, Ghana

Slay with Hair Senta
[Wig emoji] [Sparkles] [Globe] [Shopping bags] [Heart]
#ShopNow #HairGoals #HairSenta

[CALL TO ACTION]

Join the Movement Toward Compassionate Governance:

• Speak up for mental health and social equity.
• Support local entrepreneurs and community-based initiatives.
• Advocate for policy reform that centres people, not power.

Follow Ms. Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo and others leading the charge for a more just and spiritually grounded Ghana.

[Subscribe to Our Newsletter] | [Contact Us] | [Share This Issue]

Falling Into Anxiety

Through the Lens of Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo: Exploring the Profound Connection Between Spiritual Depth and Emotional Relatability:

Anxiety is often seen as a clinical issue—a mental health challenge to be managed or medicated. But in the context of modern Ghanaian life, it is far more than that. It is a spiritual condition, a cry of the soul burdened by economic hardship, systemic neglect, and social fragmentation.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo, a distinguished coach, entrepreneur, and author of Direction, offers a unique lens into this crisis. Her reflections challenge us to go deeper—to understand anxiety not just as a psychological disorder, but as a mirror of a nation’s fractured spirit. For Gyimah-Addo, emotional struggles like anxiety stem not only from individual experiences, but from a wider societal disconnect: a government out of touch with its people, a culture increasingly driven by self-interest, and a loss of collective compassion.

In the crowded markets of Accra, in the exhausted eyes of street vendors and displaced youth, we witness the symptoms of this societal anxiety. And behind the growing misuse of drugs like tramadol lies not just addiction, but the desperate attempt to dull a pain that is both spiritual and economic.

This essay explores these interwoven dimensions—how spiritual depth and emotional relatability offer a framework not only to understand anxiety, but to address it with empathy, policy, and purpose.

When Survival Overrules Integrity: Kumar’s Story

In the heart of Accra’s market streets, Kumar—a trader known for her small stand of honey and turmeric—faced an impossible decision. With rent due and sales dwindling, the stress became unbearable. Her natural products, once a symbol of purity and wellness, could no longer sustain her. Faced with eviction, Kumar chose what many in her position feel forced to do: she diluted her honey with sugar and added yellow colouring to her turmeric.

It wasn’t greed—it was anxiety turned into desperation.

This is the hidden face of economic anxiety: not just in mental strain, but in the quiet moral compromises made under pressure. Kumar didn’t want to deceive her customers. But in a system that offers no cushion, no support, and no second chances, she, like many others, felt she had none either.

This experience encapsulates the urgent call behind Falling Into Anxiety: when spiritual depth and emotional relatability are ignored in national policy, citizens don’t just suffer silently—they adapt in ways that hurt everyone. A compassionate system would have offered Kumar support before her integrity became collateral damage.

A Conversation Between Two Powerful Voices: Berla Mundi and Nana Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo

Introduction

In a time where truth, empathy, and leadership feel rare, it’s vital to hear from voices who not only witness the crisis, but live among it. In this exclusive dialogue, we bring together two of Ghana’s most thoughtful women leaders:

Berla Mundi—Award-winning broadcaster, media personality, and social advocate known for amplifying issues affecting youth and women in Ghana. Through her media platforms, Berla has sparked critical national conversations on mental health, gender equality, and responsible leadership.

Nana Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo—Entrepreneur, life coach, and author of Direction, Owusuaa is a tireless advocate for compassionate leadership. As the founder of Hair Senta and a mentor to many, she has become a voice of spiritual wisdom and practical support for Ghanaians facing anxiety, poverty, and systemic neglect.

Berla Mundi:
“All that you said has happened to many of us. And now I understand why, as a country, we’re stuck in prejudice, blaming our citizens who turn to tramadol and suicide. We act as though they are the problem, but the truth is that our systems are. Government policies and reforms are so oppressive, and there’s no reasonable protection for those who fall into despair. Tramadol becomes their escape—and often, their final act.

Ms. Owusuaa, you have boldly identified this truth and are making it known to the nation. Can you tell us more about what inspired this advocacy?”

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
“Thank you, Berla—and thank you for using your platform to highlight the emotional reality many choose to ignore. What inspired me? Honestly, it was what I witnessed every day. In my coaching sessions, in the salon, in markets—I saw people not just struggling financially, but emotionally breaking.

What we call ‘indiscipline’ or ‘laziness’ in young people is often untreated trauma. Many of them feel unseen by the system. They feel spiritually and emotionally abandoned. So, they look for quick relief—whether through tramadol, alcohol, or withdrawal. These are not moral failings. These are survival responses in a society that gives no room to breathe.

The issue isn’t tramadol. The issue is a lack of emotional infrastructure and spiritual connection between leadership and the people.”

Berla Mundi:
“That puts things in perspective. In this issue, we explore the hidden face of anxiety, especially how it plays out in our streets, markets, and homes. What would you say is the first step toward breaking this cycle?”

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
“We need leadership that listens. Compassionate policies. And we must return to the spiritual truth that everyone matters. As the Lotus Sutra says, ‘The roots submerged in the muddy pond are capable of producing the pure lotus flower.’

Anxiety, pain, and poverty don’t define a person—they reveal where help is needed. Our government must act before desperation becomes danger. It starts with empathy. It starts with treating every citizen as someone worthy of dignity, not discipline.”

Berla Mundi:
“You’ve spoken with such conviction about the spiritual dimension of anxiety. But how do we translate that into something practical, especially for our youth, who feel so far from hope? What role does faith or inner strength play when the outer world feels so unstable?”

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
“Faith is not just a ritual—it’s resilience. The Lotus Sutra teaches that within each person is an unshakable core, a ‘life-state of Buddhahood,’ if you will. But that light needs conditions to shine, that chanting Nam-Myoho-Renhe-Kyo. You cannot tell a drowning person to swim harder if you refuse to throw a rope.

We must create structures that believe in people before they fall. That means accessible mental health care, mentorship in schools, vocational opportunities, and most importantly, leaders who walk with humility and compassion. When youth are seen, they rise.”

Berla Mundi:
“That’s powerful. And it makes me think about how easy it is to place blame without understanding. We’ve built a culture where mistakes are punished more than they’re understood. What shift do you believe we need most urgently—in mindset and policy?”

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
“We need to replace punishment with presence. Instead of asking ‘What’s wrong with you?’ we must begin asking, ‘What happened to you?’

Our policies must shift from control to care. Social protections, mental health support, safe work environments—these are not luxuries. They are the building blocks of peace. And peace is what makes productivity possible. If we do not centre compassion in governance, we will keep losing our future to fear.”

Berla Mundi:
“Thank you, Ms. Owusuaa. I think this conversation has revealed something profound: that national healing doesn’t begin with massive budgets—it begins with moral courage. With the decision to see people fully.”

A Joint Call to Action

Berla Mundi & Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:

“To every reader, leader, and changemaker:

Let us build a Ghana where compassion is policy.
Let us stop treating anxiety as a weakness and start recognising it as a signal.
Let us uplift our youth, not when they’ve fallen, but so they don’t fall.

This is not just a social crisis.
This is a spiritual opportunity.

The lotus will bloom—if we tend to the roots.”

FALLING INTO ANXIETY

Through the Lens of Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo: Exploring the Profound Connection Between Spiritual Depth and Emotional Relatability

Berla Mundi:
Nana Owusuaa, thank you for sharing so much. I keep thinking about what you said—how anxiety isn’t always visible, how it seeps into everyday survival. That reminds me of a woman I met recently in the market. Her name was Kumar.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
Kumar? Please, tell me more.

Berla Mundi:
She sells honey and turmeric at her small stall—pure products, carefully made. But with rent due and sales almost gone, she was breaking. She confided in a friend that she planned to add sugar to the honey… and artificial yellow dye to the turmeric. Not to cheat—but to survive. She said, “If I don’t sell today, I’ll have nowhere to sleep tomorrow.”

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo (pauses):
That is the exact kind of moment we overlook in policy. It’s not about criminality. It’s not even about greed. It’s anxiety in its rawest form—survival overruling integrity.

Berla Mundi:
And yet, people would look at her and judge. “She’s dishonest,” they’d say. But they won’t ask what pushed her there.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
This is why we need policies designed with compassion, not control. Kumar is not the enemy. She’s the evidence. Of a system that punishes vulnerability. A government connected to its people would have caught her before she fell into that moral corner.

Berla Mundi:
Exactly. Her story broke me, and it’s shaping how I understand what you mean by “emotional relatability.” If our leaders can’t relate to Kumar’s fear, they cannot serve this nation’s heart.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
And that’s why we must speak up—not in blame, but in truth. Every Kumar in our markets, every young person with tramadol in their pocket… they need to be seen. Not as broken, but as burdened. And we must respond with presence, not punishment.

Berla Mundi (softly):
Thank you, Nana. Thank you for reminding us what leadership means.

Owusuaa Gyimah-Addo:
And thank you, Berla, for creating space for this dialogue. May this be the start of many.

Our Shared Humanity. SGI.

https://www.instagram.com/goba_kente?igsh=d2Vwd2E2M2VtcTZq

https://www.instagram.com/laurenhautecouture?igsh=MWxzNXN1Ym5nZ3o3Mg==

https://www.instagram.com/ankara.africa?igsh=ZDJmN216Z2ZhbWFm

https://www.instagram.com/officeandcobysa?igsh=dmxucTZ2a2t1eDBn

Meet Nana Aba Anamoah — the epitome of brilliance and elegance.
As one of Ghana’s most influential media personalities and a champion for women’s empowerment, Nana Aba exudes confidence, class, and intellect. It’s no surprise she chooses Office + Co Inspired by SA, a premium Ghanaian ready-to-wear brand, known for its cutting-edge corporate fashion designed for ambitious and upwardly mobile women.

From boardrooms to business brunches, let your style speak volumes.
Shop Nana Aba’s look and more at www.officeandcobysa.com.gh
We ship worldwide.

https://www.instagram.com/the_shedollemporium?igsh=OXR1M2d0cGF5NHMw

https://www.instagram.com/oh_my_hairr?igsh=MThqbDNneDZzcTF3cw==

https://www.instagram.com/mamiohmyhair?igsh=MXFhcmRmNGFxNHBzMg==

Classic But Different ✨
Meet Maame Gyamfua — Serwaa Amihere’s younger sister!

She’s a Mother, an Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of
@oh_my_hairr, @officeandcobysa & officeandcobysa.com

From weddings to vacays ✈️, she’s your go-to for that flawless, casual glam look!
She brings you premium quality fashion that fits every vibe!

Want that top-tier style?
Head to Mamiohmyhair — a proudly Ghanaian brand built by two sisters with serious fashion flair
and a deep love for everyday luxury.

Trust Mami. Wear Confidence.
#OhMyHairr #OfficeAndCo #MaameGyamfua

https://www.instagram.com/oh_my_hairr?igsh=MThqbDNneDZzcTF3cw==

https://www.instagram.com/serwaaamihere?igsh=N216N3hzeTE3eHho

Meet Serwaa Amihere — Ghana’s beloved Broadcast Journalist turned visionary entrepreneur!

A proud daughter of the land, Serwaa never betrayed her nation. With a voice grounded in truth and clarity, she delivered facts based on reality, earning the trust of millions. Now, she’s bringing that same integrity to entrepreneurship — where information meets innovation.

This is still journalism – in an extraordinary way!

From informing the nation to empowering lives daily, Serwaa is behind remarkable brands like:

• @oh_my_hairr – Haircare essentials for your crown
• @officeandcobysa – Ghana’s go-to for classy workwear
• Tongo – Premium dish & washing soaps
• Sankofa Spices – Authentic Ghanaian taste
• Flora Organic Diapers – For babies, with love
• @serwaaamiherefoundation – Uplifting lives, one soul at a time

Visit: www.officeandcobysa.com.gh

Serwaa Amihere is not just informing Ghana —
She’s connecting Ghana to the world!

#ProudlyGhanaian #WomenInBusiness #SerwaaAmihere #EntrepreneurshipWithIntegrity

Follow & Support her journey!
You deserve greatness
She delivers it.

Let’s go, Ghana!
One voice, many impacts!

Media. Beauty. Essentials. Hope.
She’s got it all.

Serwaa Amihere – A force to reckon with!
From the news desk to your daily needs!
Shine on, Queen!
Ghana to the world!

✨❤️