#72: Kate Riley
"She told me she had never met someone as committed to living out the actual ethos of punk rock."
I truthfully didn’t know anything about writer Kate Riley until
, former Health Gossip guest and generally tapped-in woman, suggested she come on. The pitch: she’s “an advanced yogini with sick tattoos,” the author of a brilliant new novel, Ruth, and Molly’s best friend (the two have known each other since 2002). Suffice it to say, I was sold.Read on to hear more about Kate’s day to day, from her recent fascial discoveries to her “fascistic” oral hygiene routine (hint: may or may not involve goat milk and a WaterPik).
Health Gossip #72: Kate Riley
Aries/Aries/Aries
“North Internet”
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
I think in the coming decade we’re going to feel a deep, tidal pull to return to ancient definitions of health and wellness. For me this looks like learning about my ancestors (medieval people) who believed that sickness was punishment from God and that healing was only possible through repentance and consumption of mummy powder.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
A death doula you’ve definitely heard of once took me aside after a bachelorette weekend in Cornwall-on-Hudson — this was before new-media types made multigenerational gynocentric retreats a thing, but that weekend ended up being like a healing, trauma-informed sequel to Panic Room that really evolved the conversation around female networking spaces — anyway, not my story to tell, but she told me she had never met someone as committed to living out the actual ethos of punk rock.
How do you start and end your days?
First thing: wake up in the most ethereal somatic landscape, courtesy a genius service soft-launched last month by a very big name in bedding (hint: it rhymes with Schmästens) that uses your Prenuvo scan results to determine the unique combination of pillows required to access your RightAngle, which in turn allows your body to flush out cortisol so it doesn’t build up in your fasciae. (Totally late to the game and just learned about fasciae. Obsessed.) Honestly I have tried a million of these services and this is the only one that did anything — halved my laudanum dose.
Take off my mouth tape and sing the chorus of “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine.
Let the horses out.
I try to do my flight of vitamins and adaptogens on an empty stomach, so at this point in the morning I’ll slam whatever the wizards at my techno-biotic compounder have prescribed for the day. There’s one particular pill — maybe my tin supplement? — that requires I eat one full baked yam an hour before I take it. So if it’s a tin day I’ll do that.