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Decolonize Your Wellness Routine



Modern wellness is built on the ideology that with dogged pursuit of self-care we can all live our best lives ever. All you have to do is jump onto your Peleton; eat all of the probiotics; and acai bowls and in due time you’ll be richer, thinner, and more popular on Instagram. The movement has captured our culture not just by the hearts, but by our wallets, too. Wellness is currently a multi-billion dollar industry that traverses several categories from fitness and healthcare to beauty and spirituality. In 2017, Forbe’s even dubbed wellness the new ‘luxury’ for retailers since consumers were redirecting their spending to products that increase their sense of well-being. 


All of this is pivotal for a society that is overwhelmingly burnt out, fat, sick and nearly dead. However, it’s hard not to be alarmed by the lack of diversity within the wellness sphere. Despite the fact that all healing practices originate from indigenous and ethnic medicine-ways and that self-care as a movement began during the 1960s civil right’s era to remedy the fact that blacks had limited access to proper healthcare, very few brands and practitioners actually cater their products and services towards multi-cultural market segments. Which begs one to wonder, how can we facilitate more spaces for people of color to practice wellness in a way that honors their traditional cultural practices and rituals ? I’ve come up with a few ideas of my own.


 

Spiritual Health

 The state of the world plus all of our own personal baggage can to feel unbearably heavy at times. It’s important to honor our emotions and unpack the root causes of our traumas and shortcomings. Thankfully, talk therapy is becoming more prevalent in communities of color. Nonetheless, I’ve found it incredibly helpful to employ different healing modalities and rituals in order to acknowledge my divinity within and channel ancestral support. As ethereal as it sounds our body, mind, spirit connection is real and your spirit may need an extra assist to clear unwanted energies. This can be as easy Marie Kondo’ing your space or visiting an energy healer when your feel ‘blah’. You may also want to consider connecting with a trusted spiritual medium or root-worker who may be able to help guide you through some of your re-occurring patterns. With patience and consistency you will unearth a lighter, more grounded you. 



What's Your Flavor?

Somehow, somewhere we’ve all decided that diets are one size fits all; that green goddess smoothies are Queen; Vegan diets are in; and carbs are the out. Well, to be honest, I prefer Collards and Callaloo to Kale any day of the week; I try to stay away from consuming anything cold during the first few hours of the day; and have a lovingly healthy relationship with carbs. At the beginning of 2018 I challenged myself to only cook from my favorite African cookbook so that I could gauge how my body reacted to foods/spices that were more familiar to my ancestral lineage. I strongly suggest everyone try intuitive eating and rediscovering foods + flavors that may be more relevant to your native tongue. The key here is to listen to your body, above all. Which, of course takes some practice but, feels so good once you get into the habit. Below are a few of my favorites to get you started with meal planning this week:

 

Nourish

I’m unsure of when we all got so obsessed with cleanses and detoxing but lest we forget that our bodies work really hard to function optimally. Perhaps, one of the reasons we’re all so stressed out is because we forget to replenish and refresh our systems after working them so hard. The nourishing herbs in this blend prepared as an herbal infusion act as a blood builder; and help your body adjust to environmental stressors. and are strong enough to replace your supplements and vitamins as they pack a hefty of A and C vitamins to support your immune health.


Adrenal Nourishing Tonic

Ingredients:

3 tsp. Nettles

2 tsp. Red Clover

2 tsp holy basil

2 tsp Peppermint

2 tsp rose hips

1 tsp dried orange peel


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