The term “wellness” is a nebulous one — encompassing everything from your rest practices and exercise regimen to stress management and eating habits. This broad scope has led to a large wellness industry, full of companies and brands selling products responding to concerns about our mental and physical health.
But what the companies sell is often a Band-Aid to greater structural and collective issues that make us feel unwell.
Host Anita Rao talks with journalist Rina Raphael, the author of “The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop and the Promise of Self-Care,” about how the wellness industry came to be and the marketing tactics behind it.
And Kim Young, a licensed clinical social worker also known as the Dope Black Social Worker, joins to discuss incorporating our wellness into our work life.
Special thank you to Dr. Della Mosley, David Young Oh, Liza Kindred and Dr. Ellen Vora for their contributions to this episode.
What is “wellness”?
“It's all the ways we want to physically, mentally, even spiritually feel better. That could be nutrition, it could be sleep or stress management. But there is no one exact way to be well.”
-Rina Raphael @rrrins
“It can be hard to separate out true wellness from the wellness industrial complex … Real wellness is a loving, interconnected way of being with the world around us.”
-Liza Kindred @liza_k
“I know we are on the right track with wellness when our cups are so abundantly full that we work towards bringing wellness into the lives of others.”
-David Young Oh
Please note: This episode originally aired February 24, 2023.
Update: You can now sign up for a Substack newsletter from Rina Raphael called “Well To Do”
