About Helen & Well Hell

I’ve always struggled with straddling the line between archetypes.

Growing up, I was both the heavy eyeliner-ed/side banged/studded belt clad emo who chopped all her hair off to look disturbingly like Pete Wentz and captain of the cheerleading squad.

In college I was an *artiste* who double majored in BFA in dance performance and choreography/BA psychology and a sorority girl who never missed a party.

In my twenties I was a professional modern/jazz dancer and fitness buff, pilates instructor, and integrative health coach.

Now, at 31, I’m both the founder of Women’s Health Magazine Fit Tech Award winning body neutral online pilates studio Helen Phelan Studio and UI/UX product designer. I may not be able to drive a car or do mental math in front of a crowd without a mild anxiety attack but I can speak French and tell where you’re compensating in your gait pattern just from looking at you!

I’ve always been equally as passionate about art, design, mindfulness, and psychology as I am about fashion, pictures of people’s weddings, and chick lit. I’ve historically played down different aspects of myself in different circumstances because it’s never really felt okay to be both of those things at the same time. It’s almost like society considers the things that interest women trivial or something!

When I first got into fitness it was in a moment of all or nothing, punitive workouts, earning food, and skipping dessert. I felt like shit. Yet the dance and wellness industries praised this rigidity as virtuous “discipline”. Creating Helen Phelan Studio was an act of rebellion against diet culture but also to prove to myself that it is possible to enjoy athleticism and rigor and body kindness at the same time.

This newsletter is a similar project, where I can rant about things I hate about the wellness industry, share products I’m loving, articles/books that made me think (or turn off my brain in a good way!) and new recipes I’ve succeeded (or more likely, failed) at, as well as explore my experience as a fledgling designer (and person who has changed careers 3 times by 31!).

Here, wellness is sweat, kale and consistency and it’s ALSO Netflix, therapy, and snoozing your alarm. We read Carl Jung and Sally Rooney. We listen to Taylor Swift and NPR. We enjoy Selling Sunset and French cinema. It’s a safe space to be more than one thing, because we all contain multitudes. As I was alleged to have shouted in a bar in New Orleans at my bachelorette party: “I AM A WOMAN OF NUANCE”.

Why subscribe?

Well Hell is a play on how hypocritical the wellness industry is sometimes (and also my name) where I dive into how to make sense of an industry that seems to care more about the beauty myth and capitalism than your actual well-being, plus honest product reviews, and reading recommendations, and early event access.

Subscribe to get full access to my newsletters and website, plus, each month, I gift a free year long membership to my on demand pilates studio to a random reader to help make wellness more accessible.

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Subscribe to WELL HELL

A bimonthly for people who love/hate wellness, pop culture, art, design, and psychology. (I also gift one free year of membership to my online pilates studio to a random reader, every month).

People

I'm a Brooklyn based pilates instructor and founder of pilates platform Helen Phelan Studio, a digital movement home for body neutral athletic pilates workouts.