Chad Johnson discusses bringing the body into balance, misconceptions about acupuncture and cultivating joy.
New and established dance studios and classes help locals stay fit and feel great
Despite pandemic setbacks, Asheville still offers a wide range of adult dance classes that get feet tapping and spirits soaring. Here’s a look at some new studios and classes on offer, as well as why local instructors and students find dance so fulfilling.
Health checkup: The foundation of healthy ecosystems
Author Laura Lengnick discusses our individual and collective health, healthy ecosystems and the power of silence.
Health checkup: Misconceptions about sex therapy
Jenny Shealy, a local sex therapist, discusses the importance of understanding pleasure, misconceptions about sex therapy and the joys of connecting with nature.
Health checkup: Making time for exercise
Fabrice Julien, an assistant professor of health and wellness at UNC Asheville, discusses making time for physical activities and the benefits of exercise on a person’s mental health.
Sunrise Recovery opens drop-in center
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the organization saw 14,000 peer interactions. In 2022, its peer interactions more than doubled to 33,000.
Health checkup: Offering spiritual guidance to student athletes
Kelsey Davis, director of Blue Ridge Service Corps and Campus Missioner at Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina – Asheville, discusses her role of providing collegiate athletes spiritual guidance and the challenges athletes face.
Health checkup: Patience and access
Joe Wilkerson, founder of Body-Integrated Psychotherapy, discusses his efforts to serve the community and the problem of the wellness-as-commodity model.
Health checkup: More than self-defense
Tony Morris, the owner of Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts, discusses misconceptions about martial arts, as well as the physical and mental benefits of the form.
WNC explores psychedelic mushrooms for mental health
People who use mushrooms for depression or anxiety often have a clinical history of using pharmaceutical antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication. But for several reasons — undesired side effects, acclimation to the dosage or the drugs simply not working — they find those medications wanting.
Health checkup: Working with and for the community
Ameena Batada, co-director of the University of North Carolina – Asheville – UNC – Gillings Master of Public Health program, discusses community support, her work to address health inequities and the power of friendship.
Demystifying yoga with local teachers
Different yoga studios, styles and teachers can each offer completely different takes on the practice, each suited for different wellness needs. Xpress set out to explore some of the varieties of yoga available in the area and spoke to a number of local teachers about their yoga journeys.
Q&A: Local disability rights advocate receives recognition for her community work
If it wasn’t for Kerri Eaker’s son, Dakota Kirkland, she would never have received the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award for her disability rights advocacy work. In fact, as Eaker noted in her Nov. 2 acceptance speech, “Dakota has always proudly stated that he made his mama’s career.”
Health checkup: Loneliness and connection
Alan Muskrat, founder of No Taste Like Home, discusses the ways loneliness fuels addictions, the importance of community and seeking peace within one’s own body.
Health checkup: An integrative approach to medicine
Sara Mills, owner of Acupuncture Center of Asheville, discusses the importance of combining Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
Health checkup: Taking advantage of city offerings
Wayne Simmons, operations manager for Asheville Parks & Recreation, speaks about health and wellness programs that the city offers, the benefits of physical activity and his favorite ways to stray in shape.
Dr. William Hathaway marks one year at MAHEC
Hathaway spoke to Xpress about having an impact on the community’s health care, how the opioid epidemic affected him as a cardiologist and his excitement over becoming a grandparent.
Awkward conversation: How to talk to your kids about online pornography
No parent wants to talk about pornography with their child. No child wants to talk about porn with their parents. These are facts.
Yet John Van Arnam of Black Mountain has taken the Sisyphean task of making sure these conversations occur. Children’s mental and physical health depend on it, he says.
Wellness roundup: Detention center distributes hygiene products upon release
People who leave the Buncombe County Detention Facility now receive care kits containing toiletries and personal items upon their departure. The kits include a comb, HotHands hand warmers, sanitizing wipes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, sunscreen and lip balm, and come in a reusable bag. The kit also includes contact information for food pantries and health […]
Year in Review: Health was more than metrics in 2022
Discussions about health and wellness have been dominated by COVID-19 for nearly three years, and that’s certainly been reflected in the media landscape nationwide. In Asheville, however, the effects of COVID-19 on physical health and mental health are just one story to be told.
Q&A: Justin Shytle on harm reduction, naloxone and recovery
Justin Shytle moved to Asheville when he was 7 years old and remembers a childhood attending Bele Chere and skating around the former Vance Monument. But at 14, their childhood came to an abrupt end when they discovered their father dead from an overdose. The experience “opened the door for my IV drug use and […]