Health checkup: Wellness with compassion

Posted on by Xpress Contributor
Allé K

Allé K (he/ him),  a queer, anti-fat bias trainer and transmasculine yoga teacher, shares his favorite mental health hacks and thoughts on approaching wellness with compassion.

What are some techniques you use for maintaining your mental health?

My favorite mental health hack is not turning on my phone for at least an hour when I wake up in the morning. I love to take some time to draw a tarot card (from a yoga deck), journal, meditate and go within. Sometimes that looks like coloring, gentle movement and reading. I love walking outside midday for my mental health as well. I try to meditate three times a day to clear my mind.

What is your favorite way to approach your own physical health?

I approach my physical health from a place of compassion. I like to move my body a couple times a week; walking in the woods of Asheville, yoga classes on Zoom and teaching in my private virtual studio. I also enjoy lifting weights now that I’m on testosterone!

What is one book, podcast, documentary or article related to mental or physical health that you’d recommend, and why?

I’d recommend bell hooks’ All About Love: New Visions  for a beautiful book that will inspire you to open your heart, which is great for your spiritual health and well-being. I’d also recommend  Jacoby Ballard‘s A Queer Dharma:Yoga and Meditations for Liberation on queering yoga and meditation. Lastly, A Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation by Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rad Owens and Jasmine Syedullah, which talks about American Buddhism from a racial and queer justice lens.

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