#61: Brittany Asch
"I require stillness and quiet. Sitting in grass energizes me more than caffeine."
#61: Brittany Asch
Brittany Asch (@brrch_floral) is a florist and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Her contribution today is incredibly generous (and maybe best read on web). You can explore more of her writing and cross-disciplinary work on Pouring.
Health Gossip with Brittany Asch
Los Angeles, California
Cancer/Aries/Aries
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
I’m still figuring that out — but most prominently, I believe listening to your body and responding accordingly with what it is asking of you gets you closer to it.
Does your body need to sleep 18 hours and that makes no sense to you? Seems strange and unnecessary to a logical mind, but listen. Do you feel the desire to sit with a tree or in the sun? Listen. Do you not want to see that person for some unidentifiable reason beyond a gut feeling or suddenly feel repulsed by a certain smell? Listen.
A longwinded way of saying: listening to the mind of the body. It seems most ailments are born in the mind and stored emotions, aside from genetic predispositions and freak accidents. There is no one-size-fits-all prescription or regimen and I think we tend to run into trouble when we don’t listen to ourselves or lose our ability to hear our instincts and body dialogue. The gut knows all.
Not overcomplicating things is healthy. Pairing back to the basics every now and again is healthy. I also believe health lies in laughter and getting to that place even if it means crying on your way there.
Feeling is healthy. Flow. Breathe. Expression. Movement. Rest. Release. Balance. Safeguarding your heart kingdom, a concept I learned through Chinese medicine, that has helped me make better choices… the connection of mind, body, and spirit (heart) — which we can see in acts of love.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
My current lifestyle is pretty… quiet.
I have been in a somewhat monastic-like state for nearly a year now. I love sleep so much more than parties. I go to bed early most nights, ranging from 8–10 p.m., ideally, with certain exceptions. I actually get kind of giddy when I am brushing my teeth while watching the sunset. I really love to have a long wind-down. I luxuriate in it. I try to bookend my days with pure pleasure so the unknown chaos of the world in between and outside is more manageable.
I stopped taking the Magnesium Calm supplements before bed a month ago, and now I dream again, which is great. I stopped taking all of my supplements around the same time and switched to flower remedies. I wanted to give my system a break from ‘processing,’ and flowers have always looked out for me, so I trust them. It could be placebo, but the Alexis Smart remedies have helped me.
I’ve fine-tuned my social life to nourish the deep relationships I have. I find it to be so much more meaningful than stretching myself too thin in keeping up appearances.
In The Benefactor, by Susan Sontag, she says:
“If only I could explain to you how changed I am since those days! Changed yet still the same, but now I can view my preoccupations with a calm eye…Decidedly, I have become less interesting.”
I’m in my do not disturb era.