WOMEN ON WELLNESS
is a place where you can discover the wellness rituals of women just like you.
Aley Arion
Writer + Content Creator
Los Angeles, CA
What is your definition of wellness?
For me, the key meaning of wellness is to be well! Well-being is easily my top priority when it comes to my overall wellness because it holistically includes my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness. It’s all about how I feel about myself and how that reflects how I treat others too! Wholeness is definitely key when it comes to my overall wellness.
What’s the most important part of your wellness routine?
The most important part of my wellness routine is definitely centered in the time that I spend with God. Prayer, meditation, listening to music that uplifts my spirits all play a role in my wellness because if my spiritual walk is lacking, everything else just kind of crumbles along with it! Gotta put God first in all ways!
When did you first decide to try CBD?
Funny enough, I feel like CBD found me! I get products sent to me pretty often from brands and one in particular was kind enough to let me try some of their CBD products to aid with sleep and stress. I’ve always been kind of hesitant to try out CBD, mostly because I wasn’t ever educated on it and what I did know about it were just views that I accumulated over time from other’s perspectives without forming my own opinion. But all that changed when I tried my first CBD tinctures, and that’s when everything changed! I was like, “Wait, this is what I’ve been missing out on this whole time?!?” The calm that I was able to experience with the tincture was like nothing I had ever experienced before and as someone who struggles with anxiety, it’s been a great aid (not cure) to my anxious moments. Now, that’s rolled over into my openness to try CBD in the form of face oils with Dazey and even hair care products! CBD is like a long-lost friend!
What are your favorite beauty or skincare products?
Imania Beauty is a Black-woman-owned haircare business that I have fallen deeply in love with! They have a mission to incorporate herbal healing into the Black hair care practice with their CBD-infused elixir oil and it’s honestly changed my life! I’ve been using it for about 4 months now and I am constantly amazed by the growth that my hair has seen in that short period of time. It’s just beautiful to see a Black-owned business taking up space not only in the beauty world but in the booming CBD industry as well. Especially since it’s typically been a space where Black folks have been disproportionally marginalized, criminalized, and excluded from participating in its financial benefits. So we love to see that change right before our eyes!
15 MINUTE PLAYLIST
Brown Sugar by D’Angelo
Sandstorm by Meraba ft. JID
John Redcorn by SiR
All to Me by Giveon
Guilty by Sevyn Streeter
Who is your wellness mentor? What do you love about them?
Writer and content creator, Alex Elle is definitely my online wellness mentor. I’ve gotten to interview her for an article when her new book, After the Rain, came out and it really felt like a full-circle moment for me. Back in 2013 when I first discovered her Tumblr, I was so amazed and inspired by her transparency and vulnerability through storytelling. As a writer and Black woman, it’s deeply and intrinsically informed how I write and share my experiences both personally and with my online community. She’s definitely my North star when it comes to wellness.
How have you been staying positive during the COVID pandemic?
I would honestly say that this has been tricky for me. When I first sat in the reality of what COVID meant to the end of one normal and the start of new normal, it was hard to deal. I was laid off from my job due to COVID, I decided not to move back home because I didn’t want to put my family in harm’s way, and the isolation caused me to experience a sense of loneliness that I had never known before. The only saving grace was knowing that although this was an individual experience, we were all still experiencing this shift on a global and collective level.
Still, I had to fight for my peace of mind, and what has helped me get there is by realizing that all of this is temporary. Fingers-crossed, the extreme lockdowns and quarantine that we had this time last year was the worst that it’ll be and if we all continue to take care of ourselves and each other, we can get to an adjusted, but livable and communal experience again. So just keeping the “end goal” in mind and staying COVID-connected with friends and family had really been what’s gotten me through in the most positive manner possible.
What have you discovered during quarantine?
Two things I would say that I discovered and rediscovered are matcha lattes and Tumblr! I was always a heavy coffee drinker until I realized that it didn’t really metabolize in my body that well, so I was searching for an alternative and matcha was the way! Now, I can’t go without mine in the morning to start my day.
With Tumblr, I realized I needed a space outside of Twitter and Instagram to find inspiration. A lot of ideas and concepts are just regurgitated on those platforms and there’s just always been something pure about Tumblr. It has given me the creative spark that I’ve needed so badly: no likes, no numbers, just vibes!
Let’s connect!
