Whitman on Wellness: Poetry and Prose for a Healthy Life

Long before today's modern use of the term wellness, Walt Whitman, widely considered to be one of America's greatest poets, extolled the virtues of self-care and the mind–body connection. In a series of thirteen newspaper installments, written in 1858 for The New York Atlas under the pseudonym Mose Velsor — unearthed more than 150 years later by a University of Houston graduate student — Whitman adopted the role of advice columnist. Velsor dispensed tips on "manly" health issues, including ...