Have you ever found yourself wondering why wellness and living a healthy life can feel like they’re unattainable or expensive? If you’re nodding your head in agreement, it’s not just you; mainstream wellness has made us believe that expensive gym memberships, Pilates classes, subscription-based green juice, and meal prep services are what you need in order to be well.
As a Black wellness expert, I am here to tell you - that is the furthest thing from the truth. Wellness should be nothing else if not sustainable and accessible. While there are many benefits to each service that I just named, they are luxuries that not everyone can afford. Additionally, as Black people, there are systemic barriers that impact our access to fitness, nutrition, and adequate mental health services.
While I am in agreement that the start of the new year is an aligned time to develop healthy habits, they don’t need to cost you. There are many free lifestyle changes that we can freely access and allow for us to focus on an aspect of wellness that we often overlook - financial wellness.
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Juicing At Home
Don’t feel pressured to join the trendy subscription service. Grab a juicer and your favorite fruits and veggies, and start experimenting with your different recipes! This option is not only cost-effective, but it allows you to create juices based on your varying needs. My favorite at-home juice is a DIY recipe for this smoothie from Jamba Juice. Give it a try if you’re a peach and ginger lover.
YouTube Pilates
Take it from someone who has attended an in-person class as well as online, Pilates Body Raven is out here doing the Lord’s work y’all. Raven Ross is offering free Pilates workouts on YouTube. Free! The certified Pilates trainer, fitness instructor, and movement fanatic has always had a passion for learning new methods of movement in order to strengthen, lengthen, and balance the body. Grab a mat and pull up YouTube so Raven can show you how it’s done.
Running Outdoors
Cardio doesn’t have to happen inside of a gym. Heading to your local park or taking a jog or walk around your neighborhood can be just as fulfilling. You can also consider a run club to find like-minded people who are passionate about outdoor activities and workouts so that you can find friends who will keep you motivated and are just as excited as you are to get that heart rate going.
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Affordable Therapy Resources
With resources like Better Help, Open Path Psychotherapy Services, and Talkspace, the financial barrier to accessing therapy is not as severe as it used to be. Often, one of the many things that we can tell ourselves about why therapy isn’t for us is that it costs too much. With various affordable therapy resources, you are able to begin your mental health journey.
Following Wellness Communities Online
There are endless benefits to following online wellness communities like brands such as Therapy for Black Girls, The Loveland Foundation, Transparent Black Girl, A Safe Space Mentor Group, and more. The first has endless free resources and access to a host of offerings and practitioners that you can learn from. The internet does not have to be a negative experience; allow yourself to use the apps on your phone as tools for knowledge.
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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