Wouldn’t you like that handsome devil on our cover to spot you at the gym? Or anywhere, for that matter. Well, January is the time to restart (or start?) your exercise journey after all our holiday indulgences, or just focus on fitness in whatever way you prefer. Outword has you covered with our first edition of 2025, our annual Health & Body Issue, which is chock full of articles aimed at helping you discover a new you in the new year.

Lisa Thew discusses her 20 years teaching self-defense on page 6, Kristian Borofka reminds us of the importance of mindfulness and proper breathing techniques on page 9, and Dr. Darrick Lawson shares the benefits of red-light therapy and its potential healing power on page 12.

Elsewhere, Board Members Jerry Mitchell and Robert Charles invite you to join the NorCal AIDS Cycle for 2025 in their article Pedaling Toward Change on page 13, and Olivia Garcia offers a touching tribute to her father, Dr. Francisco Garcia on page 8.

Also in this Issue, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) details the late, great Jimmy Carter’s allyship in providing housing for the unhoused. (Be sure you don’t miss our photo essay documenting President Carter’s funeral services in D.C. and Plains, GA. Our star photographer, Chris Allan, traveled across the country and battled freezing cold to bring us her fabulous photos, which were too late for this edition but will be featured in Outword’s second January Issue.)

It wouldn’t be Outword without a heads up on fun things to see and do in and around Sacramento, courtesy of Matthew Burlingame’s essential Out & About column on page 17. Finally, Arts Editor Chris Narloch reviews four new, big screen movies, spotlights two blockbuster musicals coming to our area, and reports on the first book by famed Spanish filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar.

Welcome to the start of Outword’s 30th year providing information and entertainment to Northern California’s queer community. Now, go out and thrive in 2025.