Who is Wellness For?

Growing up in Australia, Fariha Roisin-a Bangladeshi Muslim-struggled to fit in. In her attempts to assimilate, she distanced herself from her South Asian heritage and identity. Years later, living in the United States, she realized that the customs, practices, and even food of her native culture that had once made her different-everything from ashwagandha to prayer-were now being homogenized and marketed for good health, often at a premium by white people to white people.

An acclaimed writer and poet, Fariha's latest book Who Is Wellness For? explores the way in which the progressive health industry has appropriated and commodified global healing traditions. She reveals how wellness culture has become a luxury good built on the wisdom of Black, brown, and Indigenous people while both ignoring and excluding them.

Examining wellness practices from meditation to the physiology of trauma, Fariha explores the fraught relationship between the self-care industrial complex and its importance. She argues that if we truly want to be well, we must be invested in everyone's well-being and shift toward nurturance culture. We must confront the imbalance in health and healing and carve a path towards self-care that is inclusionary for all.

Join Fariha in a conversation exploring the commodification and appropriation of wellness through the lens of social justice and providing resources to help anyone participate in self-care regardless of race, identity, socioeconomic status, or able-bodiedness.

Free, suggested donation of $10.