THE STRUGGLE IN
SEEKING WELLNESS BY DEMARRA D. WEST
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is selfpreservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
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-Audre Lorde
any people don’t know that the U.S. wellness movement started as early as the 1950s, with prominent thought-leaders, such as historian Michel Foucault, author of “The History of Sexuality,” helping shape how we think about wellness today. The term is actually indigenous, with original roots to Ayurvedic medicine which was started more than 3,000 years ago. The holistic medicinal model is based on the belief that health and wellness
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April 2021
depend on a delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. In November 1979, Dan Rather said wellness was “a phrase you don’t hear everyday” during a “60 Minutes” segment— and it changed everything. Now, more than forty years later, wellness is the way we encapsulate all things related to our wellbeing. From company wellness programs, to wellness classes, to wellness supplements, to wellness treks, there is no limit on the supply and demand of the wellness industry. In fact, the Global Wellness Institute estimated the value of the wellness industry to be $4.5 trillion dollars in 2018. And although wellness possibilities are endless with this dollar amount in mind, women have always struggled with prioritizing their well-being; which is why
the famous quote from Audre Lorde’s book, “A Burst of Light,” felt like a perfect way to begin this piece. When Lorde says self-care is an act of political warfare, what she is really saying is that the lived experience associated with being a woman, Black, LGBTQ+, etc. makes selfcare an absolute must for our survival and liberation. Lorde’s ideas about self-care were picked up by many in queer, feminist and activist circles. Caring for yourself became a way of preserving yourself in a world that was hostile to your identity, your community and your way of life.
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