Wellness as a Form of Social Activism
With the start of a new year, presidential administration, and semester at The New School, self-care may be on the high or low (or nonexistent) end of your priorities list. And as good New School community-members, we critique the dangerous capitalistic lure that is the diet and exercise industry, which in 2012 alone boasted an estimated worth of $20 billion. While replacing words like “diet” with “self-care” may have docked dollars from the owners of Splenda, Americans are still engrossed in spending big on health foods, high-end activewear, and gym memberships/classes—all while sharing our own participation in the Wellness World on social media. Of course we should be skeptical. Wellness as a virtue is problematic, as Eugene Lang College faculty member Mark Greif points out in this essay from The Chronicle of Higher Education and in his newest book Against Everything. On the other hand, Eugene Lang College Professor of History Natalia Petrzela (who is currently writing a book about the history of fitness culture in the post-war United States) alleges that while wellness comes with baggage, self-care and exercise have benefits — especially to alleviate the stress of living in New York City, dealing with rigorous college/internship/work schedules, and for preparing the body for the act of physical protest. The New School has a range of resources to help everyone feel well—whatever that means for you, your mind and your body.
Spring 2017 Classes for Credit
We’d only find titles like these at The New School!
- Music and Mind (closed)
- Intuitive Dance As Moving Meditation
- Sculpting An American Self: Fitness Culture in the U.S., Past and Present
- Lucid Body Technique Movement Acting
- Peace to the Poets: Using Spoken Word and Music To Change The World and Yourself
- Body as Metaphor: The Psychology of Wearing Technology, Technology as a Tool for Psychology
- Empowerment and Body Consciousness
- Fashion and the Body
- Economies of the Self
- Developmental Psychology
Student Health Services
The staff at Student Health Services offers weekly and monthly wellness programs, including: free and confidential HIV testing; acupressure, essential oils and herbal teas; counseling groups; acupuncture, and more.
The New School Food Pantry
New to campus, The New School Food Pantry aims to help ease the financial burdens of studying and living in New York City.
This semester, a Food Studies student, Morgan Nightingale, who is also an ICC trained chef, will host food demos at the food pantry every Friday that the pantry is open (excluding Spring break). Whether you’re using the pantry or not, you’re welcome to come by, watch, try the recipe, and ask Chef Morgan cooking questions. Additionally she will be making a PDF doc of all the recipes shared, which will be posted on the Food Pantry site once completed.
The New School Athletics and Recreation
Gnarls the Narwhal isn’t just for show. The New School’s sports teams include basketball, soccer, tennis and cross country, and they encompass New School students from all schools and program-levels (undergraduate, graduate, and PhD). They also offer daily fitness classes, including Barre Burn, Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Body Sculpting, Boot Camp, Zumba, and Cardio Pilates.
Meditative Listening and Watching
The New School Student Health Services staff has compiled a SoundCloud of guided meditation exercises. You can also access years’ worth of incredible speakers—including bell hooks, Laverne Cox, DeRay Mckesson, and more—on The New School’s YouTube channel to feed your hungry mind with words from the pros. Student Health Services has resources on a range of topics, including: anti-depression, drug and alcohol abuse, cooking and nutrition, body positivity, money management, healthy sleep, stress management, and more here. You can email them any question, any time at wellness@newschool.edu.
New Card Cash + Spots Near Campus with Student Discounts
Find out everything you need to know about New Card Cash here. We also recommend Garden of Eden, a grocery store on 14th Street and 5th Avenue, which offers a 10% student discount on all purchases and offers a whopping 50% off their hot/cold bar after 8 PM. While on the pricer side, our neighbors at HU Kitchen offer a 10% student discount on all purchases and you can use your New Card Cash there. If you’re low on funds, in a hurry, and in need of a nutrient-dense food option, we recommend their house-made Crack Bar, which costs less than $4 with your student discount and will keep you full through that Foucault class.
Unpacking Wellness
You can watch Eugene Lang College Professor Natalia Petrzela unpack wellness and its historical link to activism in this conversation on The New School’s Facebook Page with CTZNWELL founder Kerri Kelly. Additionally, Natalia frequently debates the politics and history of wellness—she contributes to Well+Good Magazine (check out this article “Why Wellness Has Always Played An Important Role In Activism) and Refinery 29. You can read more of her work online, and we highly recommend the podcast she co-hosts, Past Present Podcast, as another form of brain “exercise.”
Additionally, Natalia also hosts EXERCISE YOUR POWER, a mind-body workout that’s free for The New School community. The class will run until the end of January.
Here’s a map detailing all gender restrooms and their locations on campus.
Here’s some additional resources from our amazing staff at Student Health Services:
