For readers of Hope in the Dark and Natural Causes--The myth of wellness is a lie. And until we learn to confront and dismantle its toxic systems, we can’t ever be well. Better, stronger, healthier, whole--we’re an America obsessed with self-seeking and self-perfection. We've bought into the idea that with enough intention, dedication, and green smoothies, “wellness” is ours for the taking. But despite a $650 billion industry and infinite good vibes, we don’t feel good. We aren’t happy or healthy. We’re isolated, unwell, and inequitable--and the myth of wellness is making it worse. In American Detox, yoga activist, wellness disruptor, and CTZNWELL founder Kerri Kelly sounds a wake-up call. We don’t need more green juices and self-care fads--we need to divest from the separation and scarcity that fuel the modern wellness movement and hold us back from making truly positive change for self and society. In the single-minded pursuit of feeling good, we fail to ask: is all this self-focus really making the world a better place? How does the stuff we consume in the name of “wellness” hurt communities and the planet? Whom do we harm when we divorce wellness practices from their cultural origins, and who’s left out? To build wellness models designed for everyone, we need to dismantle a culture rooted in exclusivity, individualism, consumerism, and white supremacy. We need to resist, disrupt, and dream better futures of what being well can really mean--and do the inner work necessary to unlearn the harmful messages that we’ve internalized about what “healthy” looks like, who gets to be well, and why wellness is not a solo pursuit. Each chapter includes personal reflections and prompts for collective action to help readers reimagine wellness, understand positionality and privilege, and become agents for whole wellness on a society-level scale.
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