#20: Asher Penn
"When I am considering others, everything else falls into place."
Asher is an artist, filmmaker (his most recent release, Physician Heal Thyself, paints a beautiful portrait of the trauma specialist Gabor Maté) and the founder of Sex Magazine.
At a glance…
Location: Vancouver
Big 3: Virgo/Gemini/Aries
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
I get physical symptoms when I am particularly stressed out, distracted, etc. They die down when I'm “on the beam” or moving slower. It feels healthy to be able to notice these things and adjust accordingly.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
Ascetic-lite.
How do you start and end your days?
Morning: prayer, walk dog, breakfast, 1 liter of water, journal, meditation.
Evening: shower, journal, meditation, prayer.
What’s your relationship to self-healing?
I don't believe that the word “self” has much business near the word “healing.” Self is the problem, healing comes from the freedom of self. This doesn't mean putting my own wellbeing on the back-burner; it's the opposite. We create pain for others through self-neglect. When I am considering others, everything else falls into place.
Was there a specific moment in life that made you change your approach to health, or become more conscious generally?
About four years into my sobriety, a lot of things weren’t going that great. I was struggling with a documentary I’d been working on for way too long and had this horrible depression despite doing all the stuff to counter it. Somehow around this time, I ended up adopting a one-year-old Anatolian shepherd named Sampson. And it’s a huge cliche, but I see that as a turning point. Just getting up early to walk him no matter how I felt, and then taking breaks no matter what I was doing throughout the day, changed a lot. It’s been one and a half years and I could never imagine going back.
Where do you look to for information and guidance?
Twelve-step recovery, fiction, movies.
When do you feel the most at home in your body? The most nourished?
Walking Sampson in Pacific Spirit Park. He goes nuts out there, and it's nice to watch. For a walk in the woods it is unusually flat. If I go in early in the morning, I can bring a coffee. I usually go with a friend or family member.
Fuck, marry, kill: three health trends of your choice.
Fuck: cold dip, marry: magnesium biglycinate, kill: trauma-informed therapy.
You have $300 to spend at a health foods store of your choice. Where do you go and what do you buy?
Not a health foods store, but there's a great grocery store my girlfriend introduced me to in our neighborhood called Famous Foods. They say they are the oldest organic grocery in Vancouver. They use a lot of Comic Sans typography and bag their own bulk. I like to buy lots of organic produce (more than I need), lactose-free yogurt, water kefir, lots of dark chocolate, nuts and trail mixes. There's also a place near my parents called Top Ten Produce that has one of the best sound systems I've heard in my life. They play great music. I love going there.
What’s your palette like? What meals do you find yourself returning to?
I like to be repetitive, so most things that I like I return to often, and honestly a lot of favorite meals are brown, beige, or yellow. I've perfected a banana pancake recipe (1 banana, 2 eggs) that I'm proud of. Recently, my girlfriend and I found a recipe for tinned fish pasta that has become a staple for us.
What do you think is the most pressing health issue of our time?
Divesting from harm reduction, investing in abstinence-based treatment centers.
What advice would you give to your past self?
You don't need to study photo, double major in film/graphic design instead and don't give up acting. Also, you're an alcoholic. Go to a meeting.
What advice would you give to the person reading this?
Buy the latest issue of Sex. Subscribe to Health Gossip.
Note: this Q&A was originally published via Mailchimp. Read the full issue here.
