You’re Not a Basket Case: Reclaiming Your Mental Wellness with NK

April is Stress Awareness Month, but let’s be honest—many of us have been stress-aware our whole lives. If you’ve been navigating anxiety, people-pleasing, burnout, or just feeling emotionally exhausted... This conversation is for you.

In this episode of Be Well, Sis, I’m joined by NK—storyteller, mental wellness advocate, and host of the podcast Basket Case. We dive into an honest conversation about what it means to care for your mental health in real, practical, and deeply personal ways.

NK shares her journey of navigating anxiety, internalized shame, and self-loathing—and how relocating to Mexico offered her a new way of living, healing, and connecting to emotional well-being. She also unpacks the power of storytelling to dismantle mental health stigma, and how ceremonial healing practices like temazcal helped her come back to her body and spirit.

We explore what it looks like to move beyond surface-level self-care and begin to replenish yourself in ways that are culturally grounded, spiritually aligned, and emotionally honest.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What high-functioning anxiety can feel like and how it shows up
• Why storytelling matters in the fight against mental health stigma
• NK’s decision to move to Mexico to support her mental wellness
• How conflict can actually strengthen relationships and build community care
• Ceremonial healing and the role of practices like temazcal in emotional release
• Why self-awareness and accountability are essential for personal growth
• How to stop performing wellness and start living it—from the inside out

Mentioned in this episode:

• Temazcal ceremony (traditional Indigenous sweat lodge for detox + healing)
• Basket Case Podcast – a space for honest conversations about mental health

About NK:

NK is a writer, speaker, and host of the Basket Case podcast—a mental health storytelling platform that centers the experiences of marginalized communities. Her work helps normalize emotional honesty, encourage personal growth, and challenge the systems that contribute to mental distress.

🎧 Listen to Basket Case: Click here to listen!

📸 Follow NK on IG here!

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Be Well, Sis is hosted by Dr Cassandre Dunbar. The show is edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert.

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