A little-known Lily fact is that I used to be somewhat Soundcloud famous. It was a formative period of time, one that led to some of my closest friendships and a years-long flirtation with living in Europe. After starting this newsletter, interviewing my ultimate music idol, and simply outgrowing a good amount of angst, the arc felt complete. It was time to move on.
In this week’s newsletter, we’re hearing from Yasi Salek, a Los Angeles-based music journalist and host of Bandsplain, a music podcast exploring cult bands and artists. Yasi is, it turns out, a major Health Gossip fan, and also runs a fabulous Substack of her own, where she’s sampled the music tastes of guests like Alexis Page and Petra Cortright.
Her approach to health mirrors much of this newsletter’s ethos, prioritizing simplicity over optimization. “I’m most interested in leaving room for delight,” she writes. In spending time with loved ones, “even if they insist on keeping their living room lit like the hostage-breaking room at Guantanamo.”
Read on to hear more about her daily routines and journey from leading a party girl lifestyle to weightlifting, raw milk, and going to bed by 10pm.
#101: Yasi Salek
Taurus/Aries/Taurus
Los Angeles, CA
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
My ideas of health have changed a lot over time, but right now, I would say health means cultivating balance, authenticity, and alignment with your highest Self. More granularly, the aspect of health I’m trying to work on now is regulating my nervous system.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
My current lifestyle is pretty chaotic, but in a natural way. I’ve tried to fight that a lot in the past, but the truth is it’s just how I function best. I’m never going to be the person with the completely organized office/car/closet or a neat and exacting schedule and that is fine.
Some days I work nine hours straight, and some days I work in short, intense bursts, and some days I can’t work at all. I have to be a bit vigilant about honoring those days, because I tend towards workaholism. I try to move every day, be outside some part of every day, and eat often and well. It's important for me to connect with my friends and family every day, even if it's just texting or FaceTiming. I’m most interested in leaving room for delight, rather than planning or optimizing. Less rigid scheduling, more magic.
My favorite day of the week is Saturday. Usually, my best friend Sara and I go to a great hot yoga class and then just meander around for hours, picking up some Beverly Hills Juice Club or popping into a shop or two, or just walking and talking and laughing.
What I thought was “health” for most of my twenties and into my thirties was actually just perfectionism and an eating disorder.
How do you start and end your days?
I wake up naturally around 6:30am and leave my dog, Joey, in bed while I get up and do some jumping and stuff on my deck for lymph movement. I bought a vibration plate (because of you, Lily!), but it’s still in the box. A trait I don’t like about myself and am trying to work on is that I have far more libido for purchasing things than actually using them.
I put on my workout clothes and make a series of beverages: hot water with lemon and ginger, then water with creatine and L-glutamine powder, then a glass of orange juice with BodyBio ReMineralize. Some days I do morning pages while I drink them; some days I don’t. I do Transcendental Meditation but have been out of practice for a few months (I’ll get back to it). Then I walk my dog while listening to music. I’m trying to take more walks without listening to anything, but anxiety pops up (“do NOT be alone with your thoughts”), and I've been giving in to it. When I get back, I make coffee with milk and lots of sugar, always hot. Some days I lift weights, some days I go to hot yoga, some days, especially if I’m on deadline, I just go straight to my desk. I often smoke half a skinny cig when I get back from working out with my leftover coffee. For breakfast, I have either a smoothie with fruit and goat protein powder or a yogurt and chia pudding bowl with fruit, nuts, and seeds.
In the evenings, I walk my dog, make dinner (most weeks I make a huge pot of oxtail stew on Sunday and eat that a few times during the week with sourdough bread and butter), and watch something. The lamps in my living room and bedroom are all amber light, which helps me wind down and is also a vibe. I need to get a chicken lamp; they seem sick.
My phone stays plugged in upstairs and never comes to bed. I usually read for about 30 minutes with my Celluma Nova red light device perched atop my head (sexy) and then go to sleep by 9:30 or 10pm.
Can you recall a moment when you became more aware of your health, or your relationship to it changed?
What I thought was “health” for most of my twenties and into my thirties was actually just perfectionism and an eating disorder masquerading as health. I was ping-ponging between that and completely destroying myself with partying and bad relationships (who amongst us). When I finally started therapy in my early 30s, I very, very slowly started to like myself more and, accordingly, started to take the idea of taking real care of myself more seriously.
Since I was young, I’ve always worked out (I did sports in high school), but it was when I first started lifting weights at my wonderful former gym, The WellRock in Altadena, that I sort of entered a new stage of understanding what my body was capable of and how it could feel. What it meant to be strong, what it meant to pursue a goal just for yourself. The owners cultivated a real community and also planted the idea of building strength in order to open up possibilities in your life, now and well into the future, which has really stuck with me.
Perhaps the most recent next level of health consciousness was unlocked for me after I lost my house in the fires last year (tiny violin) and was able to see that even in my last iteration of “health,” I had eventually done what I always do: succumb to perfectionism (in this case, doggedly “counting macros” and completely isolating myself from fun in pursuit of better sleep scores or whatever).
I moved in with my parents for four months, and it was one of the best, most nourishing times of my life. I was shoved into letting go of my white-knuckled grip on the protein gram Olympics and time spent in Zone 2 or whatever the fuck, and just did whatever I felt like I wanted or needed to do on any given day. I ate my mom's food, I walked for hours every day listening to music, I watched network sitcoms you never dreamed were possible, and I was really reminded of how incredibly important in-person connection and joy are. We laughed so much, and I'm so grateful for that time I got to spend with them, even if they insist on keeping their living room lit like the hostage-breaking room at Guantanamo.
I'm sure there will be yet another layer of health opened up for me in the future, hopefully a few more times before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Stagnation is death.
What’s your relationship to self-healing?
I’ve started to realize that God is always telling me what I need, and if I don’t listen, the volume is just cranked up. For example, recently I was pushing myself super hard with work and travel, and while I was in the midst of it, I…stubbed my toe super hard on my cousin’s coffee table? Like so hard that I sprained my toe? Even though this was a pretty clear message to slow down, of course, I did not; I threw on my weighted vest for a walk a day or two later and then…tweaked my lower back. God was like, “Listen, bitch...” When I’m being less bullheaded (Taurus), I can pick up on much more subtle cues as to what I need in any given moment, because they are always there. Most often, it’s rest and cessation, but sometimes it's a burger and/or a dirty martini at 5pm with a friend.
An alternate version of this kind of communication from God is that recently I was in another work sprint for about a month (though this time I did prioritize rest and sleep and simply cut out all socializing, something’s always gotta give). At the end of it, I visited one of my health practitioners, and she told me I had lost 10 lbs. I know, I know, Should we throw a party? Should we call Bella Hadid? But the actual takeaway for me was that at least a thousand times in the past (and not that long past tbh), I’d entertained the classic thought, “If I just lose 10 pounds, my life will be SO MUCH better,” and the truth is I did lose 10 pounds and literally did not even notice. My life did not change at all because, for the most part, all that stuff (thinness, money, followers, fame) is fake as hell and means absolutely nothing. All that matters is my own subjective experience and my connection to Self, and I get to control that through the way I live my life.
I occasionally mix one of those onion soup packets into a container of Greek yogurt and eat it with potato chips for dinner. To me, this is heaven.
Do you have a spiritual practice?
Walking outside is a spiritual practice for me. I also pray every day.
Do you work with any practitioners on a regular basis?
I’ve gone to the same Jungian therapist almost every week for thirteen years. I have a peptide woman I work with in LA and an astrologer who I check in with a few times a year. For skin, I go to Dr. Gaspard in Pasadena, Jennifer Garace, aka the Beverly Hills Skincare Muse, whenever I can get in, and I just started getting facials from the incredible Reilley Lorene. I recently got into flower essences via Alexis Page by way of Amanda Fortini, and I love them.
Transcendental Meditation is important to me even if I’m not always in active practice. I like TBM, and I got a lot out of my time in 12 Step that I still apply to my everyday life.
When do you feel the most nourished?
When I don't feel rushed and I am fully in my body; after I swim in the ocean; when I'm with people I feel the most myself around.
How do you reset?
A good hot yoga class, cooking an elaborate and time-consuming soup, or a long walk with a friend.
Do you have a favorite meal?
In my fridge I always have a lot of dairy: Greek yogurt, labneh, milk, grass-fed butter, kefir, cheese, as well as a large container of fresh squeezed orange juice, bottles of Gerolsteiner sparkling mineral water, pomegranate juice, bone broth, lemons, limes, and mandarins, kiwis, lots of full-sized carrots (I eat them whole and call this “going Bugs Bunny mode”), mushrooms, sauerkraut, pickles, olives, capers, miso, and like four different mustards. I keep oxtail, ground beef, and wild-caught shrimp, plus frozen blueberries and cherries, stocked in the freezer, and sourdough and rice in the pantry. I go through a ton of raw honey from the beekeeper at my local farmer’s market. Oh, and dates! I consume a lot of dates (Middle Eastern). I eat some Straus’ ice cream every night (right now I'm into the chocolate and the mint chip).
I have so many favorite meals. I operate on an 80/20 eating basis: 80% clean, 20% party.
I love a really good cheeseburger with fries and a Coke. The crab cakes from Houston’s. My mom's Baghali Polo. A great BLT. Twice yearly, a Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell. I also occasionally mix one of those onion soup packets into a container of Greek yogurt and eat it with potato chips for dinner. To me, this is heaven.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
You don't have to be anything other than who you are.
What advice would you give to the person reading this?
Follow what lights you up and it will lead you where you need to go.
What would you like to see or create more of in the world?
Joy and laughter.
Related reading:
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"I operate on an 80/20 eating basis: 80% clean, 20% party."
adore
Wonderful. And Yasi's fridge is the stuff of dreams.