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INSIDE /issuePAGE 003 COVER
table ofcontents.
/five. skin care /thirtteen. diet culture /twentyone. herbalism /twentynine. plant based wellness /thirtyseven. movement /fortyfive. intuitive wellness
skin care.
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/five.
skin care. Cleansing propely, moisturizing, and sunscreen are the most important componenets of a skincare routine.
SKIN CARE CHAT WITH YURI // @THEDEWIEST Who are you + what do you do? My name is Yuri. I’m a newly licensed aesthetician in Indiana. I’m also a full time content creator which is really nice because I’m able to determine the amount of abundance that is coming to me at all times. I’m a really chill laid back person. I don’t really do a lot. You know, I go to the gym. I eat food. Simple. What inspired your wellness journey? My wellness journey started when I was 17. I was watching a lot of Freelee the Banana Girl on YouTube. I just saw her and at the time, I just had this desire to be leaner, fitter and thinner. So I just ate like 30 banana smoothies trying this high fat thing. But as time went on, I started to really find my balance as a vegan. Then I had to stop my vegan journey because of my insulin. With having pcos and endometriosis, I had to start incorporating sardines in my diet. It was stressful in the beginning constantly having all these symptoms, and I was like, how is this supposed to help? Why isn’t it going away! Now I feel a lot better. More like homeostasis, a little bit more harmonized with myself. Now I’m just sort of finding a balance as I have developed both of those conditions, seeing what works best for me, and not focusing on what other people are eating— focused on what truly works for me the best. I’m taking my time. You know, lifting weights, trying to build muscle. I’m really chill now with my wellness journey. I used to have so much desire to control all of it but now I just let it be.
skin care. So I was like, just go to school for it. Now I’m licensed and I’m really happy with that decision. People who experience acne often ask “what do you do?”. Doing the basics: cleansing, moisturizing and wearing sunscreen and you should be fine.I feel like the knowledge that I gained when I went to esthetics school will hopefully help me help others. Most important components of a skin care routine? Cleansing properly and thoroughly in my opinion is one of the most important things. Making sure you restore the moisture barrier after you’re done cleansing. So cleansing, moisturizing, and sunscreen: those are like the top three that everybody needs to do no matter your skin type. And I think a lot of people will skip the last two. People know they need to wash their face but they don’t moisturize their skin and wear sunscreen. Specifically in the black community, it’s very predominant for us to have skin cancer and be completely unaware of it. So I’m always preaching to my family, here I got this new sunscreen try it or this brand sent me this, try it! Find one that you like. Continue to buy it every single time. Buy multiple bottles if you go through it. But the biggest ones are those three. Making sure you have a nice cleanser that isn’t stripping your skin. Making sure you have a moisturizer that makes your skin feel balanced. And then a sunscreen that you want to use every single day.
What inspired you to become a licensed esthetician? It was my Jordan year so I decided to just do it. I recently quit my job that I hated and just dove head first into content creating. I was just like, you know what, I’m just gonna do it. I like skincare. I talk about it. I yell at my friends about 007
SKIN CARE CHAT WITH YURI // @THEDEWIEST Do you think there is enough representation in the skin care industry? If yes, why so? If not, what are some steps that can be taken to change this? I think things are slowly, progressively getting better. Meaning a lot of brands are starting to listen to content creators and their consumers about what they want. People want inclusivity. They want representation for all people. And transparency. I think brands are starting to learn more than ever. But with all the progress being made we’re still lacking in the beauty community space with representation for black people. It just doesn’t feel genuine. I feel like in 2020 when people and brands decided to speak out about George Floyd and support Black Lives Matter— I was getting contacted by so many brands then I would scroll through their page and they had no black people on their Instagram. They’re like, “we would love to repost this image. we would love to work with you.” And it’s great that you realize your mistakes but now, I see a year later the black support is gone. They’re not including black influencers or collaborating with the community that you desperately wanted to support. I would like to see more transparency, and genuineness behind it. But I know it’s all marketing at the end of the day. And they’re all a business and they’re trying to make money.
they’re providing information and if they’re knowledgeable. That’s a really good free place to start. Trained professionals in skin care are going to be able to assist you and I think social media is a really good way to learn about skin care. That was where I started. Send me a DM. I’m willing to answer any questions. First thing most people want is nice glowing skin— whatever nice skin looks like to you. It doesn’t have to be clear. It can be having less breakouts or more balance in your skin care. One thing you can do is just start. And that’s with everything. You have to start somewhere. That’s how I felt with Instagram. I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just sharing how this sunscreen made me look blue. I felt like I needed to tell people about it so they don’t buy it. And I feel like that’s been my main goal is to be a resource for black people.
Any advice for someone who wants to start a skincare routine but does not know where to start? If you can afford to see a dermatologist or an aesthetician do that. And if you can’t, follow a good dermatologist on Instagram if
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diet culture.
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/thirtteen.
diet culture. Diet culture is a system of beliefs that really values physical appearance and thinness over actual well being and health.
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BREAKING UP WITH DIET CULTURE WITH NINA MONTAGNE Nina is a health coach and holistic nutritionist. She is also a writer but mostly, she creates content on YouTube and Instagram on health and wellness mostly centered around pleasure. She speaks a lot about diet culture, intuitive eating, and taking care of yourself in a way that feels true and good to you. Nina’s radical self care journey began over a decade ago due to her ongoing battle with debilitating IBS. However, it wasn’t until about a year or two ago when she truly discovered what self care really means through intuitive eating. Simply put, intuitive eating is the thorough process of making peace with all foods (see more on intuitive eating on page 15). The principles she learned through intuitive eating reshaped her perspective on food, thus extending to other areas of her life. As a result, Nina arrived at a place where she felt extremely grounded in her being. Before we begin with Nina’s tips, let’s first clarify exactly what diet culture is. Diet culture is a system of beliefs that really values physical appearance and thinness over actual well being and health. It also demonizes some ways of eating and worships other ways of eating. And it really equates weight loss with attaining a higher status in society. Ultimately having a very negative effect on the wellbeing of most of society.
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BREAKING UP WITH DIET CULTURE WITH NINA MONTAGNE Forgive yourself. It’s very easy to get angry at yourself. If you’ve been really steeped in diet culture, you may feel like you’ve wasted so much time worrying about what to eat. But I think there’s also a place for forgiveness and realizing that, again, this is a multi billion industry. And they’re just doing what they do best. And it has nothing to do with you. I think most of us have been affected by diet culture in one way or another. So instead of being annoyed at yourself, place that anger and place that annoyance elsewhere, directed to diet culture potentially. Be gentle with yourself. I think for me, one of the first things that I had to do was just mute and unfollow a lot of people on Instagram and on YouTube. A lot of them weren’t just openly contributing to diet culture but the things that they would talk about were the things that would just trigger me in one way or another. So I had to mute them. And that was so beneficial for me. I also started following people that didn’t look like me, different body types, and different shapes. We have this tendency to follow those who we want to look like. And then suddenly, your feed just looks like this impossible goal. And this can be really depressing. And the thing is, it’s not real. It’s not reality. Sometimes it has nothing to do with food. It’s just that they’re triggering something that makes you feel smaller or sad. There is no need to dissect everything. All you have to do is unfollow them. Anything or anyone that makes you feel that you need to change some part of yourself— mute or unfollow them. Find joy in food again. I never want to make it sound like it’s easy because it isn’t easy. But if you can go back to the foods that you had as a child that your caretakers made for you. Those are always really nice ways to start integrating food and finding pleasure in food. They can bring up some really nice emotions and memories. And also making food part of a social context— having friends over, cooking for your friends, trying new restaurants. Those are all lovely ways to remind yourself that food is more than just micronutrients and the macronutrients. There’s so much pleasure in it. There’s creativity. There’s bonding experiences. If you’re really steeped in diet culture and you’ve been dieting forever, potentially the first time that you go out to eat with your friends, it’s not going to feel lovely. It’s going to feel stressful. I think there is this real aversion to feeling anything other than good. But I think that what is very normal from this process is feeling very uncomfortable at the start because you’re doing everything that you’ve been told not to do.
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Face your fear foods. I had so many food fears. So many things that I never kept in the kitchen. So many things that I didn’t allow myself to have. And keeping those things readily available in my kitchen was at first super stressful but now it’s just very normal. The thing with dieting is that it creates this false sense of scarcity. Because you feel that there is no food available to you, your body thinks it’s in a famine and wants to protect you. So what it does is it makes you just think about food constantly. And that’s how you start binge eating after like three days of eating healthy or three days of doing exactly what you were told to do. For a long time, I was always scared of having granola in the pantry or having ice cream. Because I just had this sense that I was going to eat it all. That was only because I had created the scarcity that I could have this ice cream only today. And then on Monday I’ll start the diet. So, I would just eat the whole thing. Again, this is a very slow process. I started with one food. My first food was granola. And I’m telling you that for I think four weeks I ate granola almost for every meal, which was very uncomfortable. But every time I craved it, I had it. And now I have three boxes of granola. They’re just there and I have it when I want it but there’s not that anxiety around it anymore. There’s not the sense that I have to eat it because it’ll be gone tomorrow. Nina highly recommends starting with the above mentioned actions but also continuing to further doing your own research about diet culture and intuitive eating. The book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch really served as a guide for Nina during this process of ditching diet culture. Additionally— for her, understanding that diet culture is truly a feminist issue really fueled her fire because it was something bigger than just herself. Sit down for a minute and think about all of the ways in which diet culture has affected you. This just may inspire your journey to breaking up with diet culture.
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BREAKING UP WITH DIET CULTURE WITH NINA MONTAGNE
on intuitive eating.
on relationship with food.
Intuitive eating is basically making peace with all foods. Essentially, there are ten principles that assist you with reaching a place where you are able to trust yourself with what you eat. I think it’s often talked about in a way where you try it one day and see how you feel. But it is a very thorough process. It is a very hard process. It can be a very emotional process. It can also be a very long process. A lot of the times what is informing us are ideas that have been steeped and ingrained in our brain since we were children. I think children are the true intuitive eaters. Through decades of diets and dieting, ads and fat burners and your mom complaining about her weight and your friend complaining about the way that they look— all of that informs the way you eat today. I think sometimes we see a lot of diluted versions of intuitive eating. And this can create a lot of harm because it once again makes others feel as if they can’t do it and that the problem is them. Or they can’t do it because they’re addicted to food. Or they would never just crave a piece of toast with avocado in the morning. And that’s because there’s just so much to undo, and so much to reframe and shift. I highly recommend reading the book Intuitive Eating. I think it was one of the most helpful things for me.
Before you can start thinking about eating healthy and adding nutrient dense foods into your life, you need to sort out your relationship with food. I see a lot of people potentially eating the right things or whatever that means— eating a lot of salads and a lot of green juices and whatever is conventionally healthy and they have a terrible relationship with food. And they feel stressed out all the time. And that’s when they’re not in tune with their bodies. on joy Pleasure. I think that’s the missing part of a lot of the wellness that I see or the dieting that I see is— where’s the pleasure of it? Where’s the joy of it? So you’re eating this salad but do you like that salad? Do you like preparing that salad? That is 100% gonna affect how you digest that food. It’s gonna affect how you feel about yourself. It’s going to affect how you interact with the world around you. We’re just so obsessed with macronutrients and micronutrients. We’ve lost all the joy.
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herbalism.
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/twentyone.
herbalism. For me it’s about integrating both— science and intuitive + spiritual work.
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HERBALISM + HOLISTC HEALTH WITH BRIANNA Brianna is an herbalist based in NYC + owner of Moss Medicine, an herbal shop with the mission to provide you with the knowledge and tools to reclaim your health and take your well-being back into your own hands! Through her herbalism, holistic health, + spiritual journey, Brianna began to be more grounded within herself, while inspiring others to do the same. What inspired your wellness + herbalism journey? I remember my wellness journey starting in 2012 very distinctly. This year was super transformative for me, because all the years before that I was blindly eating and blindly consuming anything. But for that year, particularly, I just remember going on my first spiritual awakening journey and it was pretty impactful. I realized that I was depressed, in college, and I was going through a lot. How I felt had a lot to do with what I was consuming, what I was surrounded by, the stuff I was saying. It all was a combination. So, I started reading more books about everything. I remember [reading] the Power of now— it really impacted me. So, I would go over to Strand bookstore, which is like a pretty big and well known bookstore here in New York City. And I would spend hours in the books just trying to find something. So I was seeking [knowledge] for sure. It wasn’t like I just decided to be healthy. I was trying to figure out what was what for me. You know? I was raised Catholic. I was in the church Sunday school every Sunday. For me, it never resonated. And so I was also trying to find spiritually what made me feel something. So it was a holistic effort. I tapped into a lot of other people that were on similar paths. And I realized that I had to start changing my diet. So I started to do that. And I started with food, which has been a huge part of my healing. It’s everything. And it’s carried its way through and it’s still everything. I kind of went cold turkey, because like I said, I was seeking. So I knew that I wanted to do this. So I went cold turkey vegan, which wasn’t the best thing for me. I was going back and forth for a few years. And then a few years went by, and my family was like, “What are you doing? What’s going on?” And I didn’t care because I was on my own path. I lost a ton of friends. I was pretty much alone. And I went even further into depression as well, just because that’s part of it. Then as the years went on, I started to become stronger within myself and within my diet, and then I started to discover things like supplements and superfoods as they began to kind of come into play at that time. And so I started to tap into that. And then there were a few times where I did a lot of fasts. And there was a woman. She made herbal detoxes, capsules, and parasite cleanses. I did a metal detox. And so I would do this from time to time, like every few months. And that was kind of my intro to herbs, other than my family and my grandmother. I’m Trini on my mom’s side. And my half brother is Jamaican and Trini. So I was raised with his grandmother as well who’s Jamaican. So, they’d come back home with bush tea and all this stuff. And I was like, that’s just how it is. You know? You just go in the kitchen, make something when you’re sick. And so I had that intro, but like really Western herbs kind of started with her and then things grew from there. I took an herbalism course in college, which was super random. They only offered it for that year. And it kind of aligned and I was super into the class— like heavy. I would talk to the teacher after class and I still have all my notes. I was so interested but even after that, it still took me years of dropping the pieces and picking them back up and dropping them again on all aspects— even on my spiritual path, it took me a long time to be exactly who I am now— like freaking since 2012. You know? Just recently I started to really take my spirituality very seriously and my health more seriously, like within the last five years. You know? That’s just how it is. We kind of learn the hard way.
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HERBALISM + HOLISTC HEALTH WITH BRIANNA I love that you mentioned that your journey was a wholesome, holistic journey. It’s not just one thing. I think a lot of people don’t realize that. It’s several pieces to the puzzle. It’s mental health, spirituality, food— it’s just so many things that go into it. And I’m glad you mentioned that. Thank you! People like to put others on pedestals, I noticed. It’s like a celebrity kind of mentality. And it’s like, No, I don’t want to ever be put on a pedestal. You know? I don’t want to be glorified. I think that it’s really important to keep everything super grounded and realize that you can do this too. But it’s also a lot of work. You’ve got to be dedicated, and it’s not easy. It’s never-ending work. What inspired you to create your herbal medicine shop + what is the sole purpose/mission of your work? I wasn’t really expecting to launch products so soon. I was honestly just flowing with it. The entire process has been a huge flow. While I was practicing herbalism, I started to share more on Instagram with my friends and family and it was received really well. Naturally, I am a teacher. So I really like talking and I am really expressive. And so, the more I shared, the more people wanted from me— in terms of products. So, then I decided that I’m going to release products. As a creative (and I’m sure you understand), I’m very particular about what I put my name on— it has to really look the part. So, I went full throttle. And that really surprised me. Especially being super small business energy and funding it all by myself. It felt right. It made sense to me. From there is where I began to start the path with Moss Medicine— figuring it out, what I wanted it to look like, etc. And I’m still figuring it out. The real mission of Moss Medicine is to really remind people that they’re their own healers. I want people to understand: it’s not me, it’s you. I’m giving you the tools but I really want people to realize that you have the power to make the change within yourself to heal yourself and to really have the life that you want. We touched on it a bit but can you speak a little on your spiritual journey, healing from ancestral trauma, and how your spiritual practice has contributed to internal growth? My spiritual journey started through immense pain and dark times. It was a lot of figuring out and discovering and relearning and unlearning, and unpacking and crying and letting go and growing. There’s definitely been a lot of transformation throughout the years. My journey has actually become my lifestyle at this point. I feel that as Black people, so many limitations have been placed upon us. But we still celebrate [our lives] and make something out of nothing. That’s how hip hop was born. A lot of good things have come from creating magic as a result of trauma. Connecting my ancestors’ herbalism was like a byproduct of that fully. I’m currently taking an ancestral veneration course through the lens of a black woman and the first few lessons dealt with a lot of ancestral work. And this opened my eyes even more.
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It’s so interesting because I learned herbalism through the Western lens— the American way, which is great. It’s very much like school. Very structured. It’s from a very scientific perspective. But I started to think about how my ancestors were my ancestors practicing and handling medicine and herbalism. How are the root workers and medicine women in Africa doing this? And I found that there were no measurements or anything like that. It was all very intuitive and spiritual. As I tap in more with my ancestors, I like to formulate my practice through that lens and not have such strict rigid protocols— focusing on more intuitive work and formulating from the root. If you think about it, Western herbalism happened through colonization. Colonists went over to Africa approaching the medicine women, drained them of information and brought it back over to America. That’s what Western herbalism is and they put a medical lens on it. These are all things [herbalism + plant medicine] that our ancestors were doing. For me it’s about integrating both— science and intuitive + spiritual work. Any tips/recommendations for those who want to start their herbal journey? (i.e. how to get started, herbs to begin with, etc.) I think a really good thing to start with is reading, picking up a book and understanding what it is that you’re getting into and doing thorough research. A lot of people like to dive completely into it and start with all of these extensive herbs. I think it is really important to start with one herb. Something that is soothing. Something that is simple. Something that is easy. And something that you can navigate. I also think it’s important to track your progress and experience. Keep a journal and note the small changes you feel in your body. Consistency is also super important— both with journaling and with the herbs. And give yourself time with that particular herb. Give yourself time to see how you feel and experience change within your body. Keep repeating this cycle with different herbs as you see fit (working with one herb at a time). And then by a year or so, you’ll have a good amount of herbs built up that you’ve actually worked with and experienced. It’s so important to just take your time. Invest your time. I realized recently that people are rushing. I’m rushing. Everybody’s rushing. Why are we rushing? Just take your time. Speaking with an herbalist is also important. I do believe that you can get this information through extensive research but a lot of people are not going to do the research on their own. And that’s okay if you are working with an herbalist. It’s really important to empower people. A lot of people have their own jobs and careers so they may not have the time to do extensive research. So, reaching out and speaking with an herbalist who has this information readily available is really important.
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Brianna, photographed by Carolyne Loree
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plantbased wellness.
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/twentynine.
plantbased wellness. I just don’t really believe in identifying with your diet choice to the point where you want to prove others wrong. Just live your truth. Live who you are.
JEFFREY BOADI ON PLANT BASED WELLNESS After watching “What the Health” in 2017, Jeffrey instantly went vegan overnight. He’d been exposed to so many things about the food industry and its politics that left him with a very easy decision to make; he didn’t want to be involved with such organisations. Plant-based living has shown Jeffrey a wealth of benefits for body, mind and spirit. Through his platform, he outlines these benefits in a non-judgemental, friendly fashion - originating from personal experience, delving into scientific studies and learning from pioneers in the plant based wellness space. Was there a particular event or experience that inspired your plant based wellness journey? So it was interesting because it was something that came completely out of the blue. I watched the “What The Health” documentary which was recommended to me at the time. I was really a heavy meat eater. My fitness and training mindset was always, I need meat for protein and milk for calcium— all the stuff that we were told when we were growing up. “What The Health” completely shifted my mindset and understanding of food. I was blown away! From that moment forward, it was almost like a light switch had come on. My partner and I decided to go vegan, essentially, overnight. It’s been a really interesting journey. I’m still learning about new foods and ways to optimize my diet and health. In what ways do you think your plant based lifestyle has improved your mind, body, and spirit? I’m more conscious of things. The main thing with me switching my diet was awareness of where food comes from. I’m always going to be a work in progress. I’ve got my own flaws and things that I need to work on in certain areas but I do think that making this dietary shift in many ways gave me clarity of thought and a different mindset. I’m always asking questions and always inquisitive about my food, which leads me to ask questions on other things in my life. Physically, I absolutely felt lighter. I felt more energy, clarity of thought, like I was eating the way I was intended to eat. And the sleep was amazing as well! Spiritually I began appreciating the symbiotic relationship that we have with other life forms on this planet and not thinking that as humans we own everything around us. I stopped thinking we as humans can just do whatever we want and eat what we want. It has given me such appreciation of nature, essentially.
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JEFFREY BOADI ON PLANT BASED WELLNESS What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you once believed about living a plant based lifestyle that you now think are absurd? I think the biggest misconception was the protein. I remember it was mentioned to me, by someone, that they could never do that, “ Where am I going to get my protein?” he said to me. It’s been drummed into us at such a young age that you need animal protein if you’re an athlete or if you’re someone who’s trying to build muscle. And there’s no other source that can do that for you. So I initially couldn’t get that out of my head, “Will I be able to get enough protein without eating meat?” Then I actually got into the nitty gritty of it and I realized how ridiculous that is and how pervasive it is. It’s been glamorized by the meat industry and big food companies. They want to sell you their products. They want to make you believe that you need meat to survive, essentially, when that’s far from the case. Meat and masculinity are quite pervasive in society. Almost as if you need to eat meat to be a “real man” but in reality when I shifted to a plant based diet I became more confident in who I was. Defeating the “Oh, you’re vegan, you’re weird”, mentality around guys and plant based culture. Protein and masculinity were probably the ones that I felt at the time would really hinder any progress that I would have made. But when you go to the other side, you actually realize how ridiculous they are. What was your inspiration behind your latest meme (which was hilarious + very true— hahhaa)? It’s funny, because I actually saw someone on Twitter mention, “There’s so many videos on YouTube about people who are ex vegans.” The reality is that making a video like this is very lucrative and gets eyeballs on it straight away. People are just waiting almost for someone to come out and put another nail in the vegan diets coffin. Videos like that, people jump on. You know, there’s one thing about the plant based diet or the vegan diet that people believe being vegan equals health right off the back. But no, you can eat a really poor vegan diet just as you can eat a poor omnivorous diet. It’s super exciting for some people to see that kind of stuff. We have this almost negativity bias where people kind of want to see negative information. But the reality is that there are so many people who are thriving on a vegan diet and have done so for ten, twenty, thirty years. You know? A lot of people want to hear about the negativity or what’s wrong with the vegan diet. But when it comes down to the positive, how people can thrive, and athletes can perform at high levels, for some reason, it just doesn’t really get much airtime. It’s interesting to see that there’s always people trying to shoot the vegan diet down but there’s never any praise when it goes really well. I just don’t really believe in identifying with your diet choice to the point where you want to prove others wrong. Just live your truth. Live who you are. Whoever will gravitate to you will gravitate to you. Whomever won’t, that’s fine. Everyone’s not going to be for you. I’m not going to be able to convince every single person on this planet that a plant based diet is for them.
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What inspires you to share educational and informative content with your online community? I think the most important thing is that I want to add value to people who come to my page. I don’t want to come across as this guy who makes it all about me. The word influencer, there’s something about it, which I just find strange. But I think ultimately, what it comes down to is, with the influence you have are you impacting people in a positive way? I’m looking to encourage people to eat more whole foods, add more color on their plate, and learn to take their health care more seriously in terms of what they put on their plate. Thats what im trying to accomplish.I didn’t have access to this information growing up. It never clicked in my mind to find this information. I never knew how important food was, as it relates to our health. Now I’m a bit of a nerd. I’m always reading scientific papers, finding out about new supplements, or foods that can reduce risk of certain diseases. I like to share that. And particularly with our black community because I believe one of the biggest barriers against black health is education. Other factors as well as socioeconomics which is a huge one, in terms of people having access to certain foods and having the financial capabilities to actually buy healthy foods. While others do have the finances, they may not be educated on how to build a healthy meal. Understanding what nutrients you’re getting into your body, what those nutrients actually do for your health, your immune system, brain health, etc. So that’s my bread and butter, sharing information with my community. Do you have any tips for those who’d like to start a plant based/vegan journey but don’t know where to start? Realize that it’s not going to be an overnight thing. For the vast majority of people, it’s going to be a very slow process. I think so many people, whether it’s a plant based diet or animal based diet, try to do everything straight away and want to get everything perfect after a week. And that’s never really going to work. You need to give yourself grace. Give yourself time. Don’t feel like you have to get things perfect right off the back. Learning new foods combinations and reimagining thoughts around certain foods. I would just say get a handful of recipes under your belt, literally two or three vegan recipes from the internet under your belt. Perfect those easy ones— like oatmeal and smoothies/ smoothie bowls are really easy. Add in some pastas, pesto recipes, lentil bolognese, really simple recipes. Get those under your belt. That’ll give you the confidence to start to expand out and look at some of the more complex recipes. Utilize what recipes you already know. Remix them a little bit and try a few new ingredients with your existing knowledge. Do some research as well. I know everyone doesn’t like to read a scientific paper but read blogs, articles you trust, stuff that’s really easy for you to understand. Slowly push forward to a more plant based lifestyle and I think that’s the best way to start for sure.
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movement.
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/thirtyseven.
movement. I think somehow my dance practice has helped me to realize how important play for creativity, improvisation and trust are.
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MOVEMENT + DANCE WITH EMILIA ROBINSON Please tell me a little bit about yourself— Who are you? What do you do? (Feel free to be as detailed as you’d like.) My name is Emilia Robinson. I live in a village, just outside of North London with my twin boys who are five. I work as a lecturer in dance and performance practice. I often teach non-trainer dancers too. I freelance as a dance artist alongside that - I do anything from teaching in the community to working on projects as a choreographer. My work has mainly shifted into movement directing, especially with film and interdisciplinary work. So I tend to work with artists who are from other disciplines, whether it’s music, film or design. I’m starting to get to a place where I’m beginning to merge quite a few creative interests into one space, which is very cool. I also love all things home. I love that you can set a whole vibe based on the interior. Also I love cooking and hosting. How did you get into holistic, conscious living?— How/why did your lifestyle change? When you sent this question to me, at first, I was like, Oh my gosh, I don’t even know. There’s a few things I think I’ve always been interested in alongside dance. I’ve always been interested in keeping things more minimal, like creating a calm space, and I had a small bedroom at home growing up, so having an organised space has always been really important for me in adulthood too. So then I started to notice— actually, this is something more than just being a tidy person. This is something about my state of mind and my own well being. So then I was like, oh, okay, interesting. And then I started to think about the organization of physical space in relation to how I’ve learned to organize my body within movement. And then I think, around that time, I realized that there were certain things that were benefiting me, whether it was carrying on dancing, or being really conscious of my space, my time and my energy. I also started really getting into cooking and I switched to a plant based diet. I reassessed all the decisions I had made. I realized all of a sudden, when I was about 21, that I don’t have to do everything the way I was brought up. Or the way everybody around me did it. I don’t have to go and buy this. That was a big part of me exploring plant based cooking. Then when I had the twins, I wasn’t able to go to the studio every day. It just wasn’t logistically possible for me to bring the kids so I wasn’t teaching as much as I was before. I wasn’t booked for as much work because I was on maternity leave. So I then needed to find ways to kind of bridge all this stuff together. I think that’s when I realized movement and dancing for me had gone way past the point of it being a vocation or a career. And I realized it was genuinely part of who I am and the way that I navigate the world. I remember having a conversation with another dancer friend and we were kind of joking, but really quite seriously talking, about how improvisation training literally equipped us for motherhood. So I learnt it’s really a part of who I am and the way I function, the way that I navigate. Also realizing that in order to be a functioning Mom, I need to also look after myself and parent myself. Over the years, things have started to just piece together.
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MOVEMENT + DANCE WITH EMILIA ROBINSON Can you talk to me about your dance practice + describe it in detail for those who may be hearing about it for the first time? So my area of specialism or what I’m trained in is contemporary dance specifically, release based technique, which focuses on the breath, the weight and your relationship to gravity, it is often floor-based. And also I do a lot of improvisation work, which might be with or without music. So I might be using a task or score to initiate the movement. Or it might just be moving freely based on the impulses that come about. And also in more recent years, probably the last seven or eight years, I’ve started to integrate more somatic practice and more body work. So things like Alexander Technique, Body-Mind Centring and Yoga as well with my practice. So they address a much more holistic place or a very corporeal place. So I suppose— what I do generally is integrate a few different things like, body-based anatomical or physical training, with more holistic or even borderline spiritual practices How exactly do you use your dance practice as a language and philosophy for navigating wellness? So my motherhood experience and my movement practice— I think those areas are a lot about being open to play/ creativity, learning how to improvise, learning how to trust (whether that’s others or myself). I think all of these areas are all so aligned with much of what I’ve learned from dance— whether that’s choreographically, in performance or in training. Whether that’s trusting your own body or trusting your own intuition. No one ever wants to make a fool of themselves, right? Well, if we don’t try and we don’t play, we don’t open up possibilities. How do we know what we can do? Then the play part comes in. So I think there’s something around that along with improvisation - it’s kind of this experience of play and intuition all at once. It’s like, oh, try this or that. Oh, let me see how that works. No, that didn’t work. That’s okay. I’ll go back and try again. Let me try this. Without judgement. So it’s like opening up opportunities. I think somehow my dance practice has helped me to realize how important play is for creativity, improvisation and trust. We all perhaps have different access to our own knowledge. We all have some kind of embodied wisdom. And for me, movement has just been my way into that. Everyone, I think, has their own ways and tools. Wisdom, in that sense, when it comes to your own personal experience and your own personal intuition, I don’t think it necessarily has any bounds or any disciplines. You can apply wisdom to whatever it makes sense to— whether that’s the relationship you’re in or how you’re bringing up your kids, to how you’re navigating your life. Whatever it is, you know, I just don’t think it necessarily has a box.
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How can someone get started with this practice? It’s just about giving yourself permission to try different things that work for you. Anything that helps you explore and navigate the body-mind you have. Find ways to move more, any type of movement works. I’ve noticed in people around me that anything, really, is creative and it doesn’t necessarily need to be goal orientated. Whatever I make will come out completely differently from anyone else. And it’s like giving yourself permission to or not to follow a method or any kind of creative process. It’s like learning how and when to use different tools at different stages. I think that’s a brilliant way to try bringing some kind of consciousness into your life. Just simply do one thing at a time.
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intuitive wellness.
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/fortyfive.
intuitive wellness.
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photo by yaminah mayo
Wellness cannot be defined by anyone but yourself and your internal wisdom. It is not one-size-fits-all. It is intuitive, it is everchanging, and it is a practice.
INTUITIVE WELLNESS BY SOPHIE SPENCER A night of wellness for me consists of tea, soft mood lighting, a sketchbook, and a feel-good movie. Most likely Pixar or Studio Ghibli or an uber autumnal, sepia-toned flick. Even more likely than that is the chance it’ll make me cry. In the mornings I prefer journaling, meditation, movement, and water. I’ve recently strayed away from copious amounts of caffeine for anxiety and jitters. Now, I grew up doubting myself. As a young girl in this current world—and in the US specifically—from my first wide-eyed glance at the world, I was taught to question what I know deeply to be true: my likes, my dislikes, my wants and needs, my boundaries, my dreams and aspirations. Young girls are trained to be patriarchal pawns, sacrificing themselves as means to the ends of a collective that is built in fear of their intuitive knowing, in fear of their wonder and curiosity and power. By the age of 12, I was convinced I was fat. My first low-carb diet was when I was 16. I grew up feeling ashamed for my body, these unconscious fearful narratives passed down to me in the way my mother would portion out her spaghetti or how my friends would blot the grease off their pizza. Past body image even, speaking up for yourself is bitchy and confidence is bossy. We must get an education, but we can’t show it or use it. And god forbid we choose an artistic or creative path! We can either dress slutty or prudish, not comfortable (or if we do, it’s sloppy). When young girls are taught to look everywhere BUT within themselves for guidance on how to dress, how to eat, what to like, what to dislike, what feels good, what feels bad—it is no wonder we grow into women who doubt ourselves. Whose heads are so filled with shoulds that we have completely forgotten how to listen to our deepest wants or our bodies’ most dire needs. In the era of social media and the dramatic fixation to image, this dynamic has increased tenfold. Now, we are connected to not only the entirety of the world at our fingertips, but also tied to direct lines to the companies who profit off of this doubt. To the diet programs, to the influencers, to all the flashy shoulds and ideals of wellness culture. The “guilt-free” food products, the “optimal daily routines”, the “what I eat in a day” videos selling the products that got them to the level of perfection and acceptance to which we are told to aspire. For people growing up always looking outside themselves, these seemingly benign sources of consumption offer dangerous comparisons, sparking narratives of “if I’m not eating/working out/acting/producing/ being like this person, who seems to have figured it all out, then I am doing something wrong”. And again: it is not at the fault of the young people, nor is it merely a female-identifying issue. This is global, woven into and out of and past gender norms and structures. As a collective, we are merely interacting with the culture that surrounds us, as people in community are meant to. What isn’t a part of this natural community is the underlying pressure to be anything but your authentic self, including exactly what feels and fits best in your body and mind and life. 047
INTUITIVE WELLNESS CONT’D BY SOPHIE SPENCER The more we are aware of the outside pressures of this system, the more we can take our power back and seek the guidance of our own internal wisdom. We are not meant to be pawns of the systems that work to keep us small, boxed, cold, meek, quiet, doubtful, self-hating. If something (that 6AM f45 class, HIIT workouts, juice cleanses, keto, tight clothing, formal education, the 40 hour work week, drinking to blackout every weekend, drinking at all) feels like it just doesn’t work for you, it probably doesn’t—if you have to make a pro/con list for any sort of yes or no, it is most likely a hell no. And that is OK. That is perfect, actually, because it is authentic. That is the voice inside you, the one repressed and molded and shamed and guilted by those shoulds. That is your intuition, your Self speaking, pleading, urging. Wellness cannot be defined by anyone but yourself and your internal wisdom. It is not one-size-fits-all. It is intuitive, it is ever-changing, and it is a practice. It has no set definition or rulebook, rather it operates on a watery, adaptive, unconditionallyloving basis. It requires loving attention, full acceptance, and so much patience. Even in your most attuned focus, you will not be perfect—society’s training is rigorous, pervasive, and cunning, and wellness is a daily, hourly, by-minute, every-presentmoment practice. What matters is your deep dedication to yourself and to learning the almanac of your inner world, giving yourself grace, and continuing to show up. This is your full permission to say your hell no’s, to honor your hell yes’s, and to choose the wellness path (and general life path!) that feels most authentic to your individual being.
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photo by nina jones
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GRATITUDE. Thank you so much for deciding to read the third issue of fthh wellness magazine. Thank you to those who contributed. We would be nothing without you.
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