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Every morning I read my purpose statement and remind myself what I am meant to do.

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We cannot deny the inextricable link between life and breath. Yet most of us aren't breathing right and others barely have the right to breath. As most of us are unconscious in life, we are also unconscious in breath. We rarely think about the very thing that keeps us alive.

The pandemic has awakened within me a dedication to Radical Self Care practices, as well as the intention to share knowledge with my BIPOC community. The flood light on the injustice around access to breath has never shined brighter-from police brutality to environmental hazards causing asthma and overcrowded detention centers/prisons-breathing while Black is a radical act in itself. Here's to a revolution of breathing into awareness, accountability, healing, vulnerability, education, equity and action.

As babies, we naturally engage in a fully circulating and connected rhythm but as we grow older it shifts, becoming more rapid and shallow due to our trauma, environment, habits, posture and sedentary lifestyle. This weakens our respiratory muscles, creates tension in our body, and undermines our health and overall wellbeing. Our breathing is further impaired by stress, rage, fear and other intense emotions.

Imagine trying to cope with COVID, find stability and stay alive while being completely aware that you are a hunted human-murdered by "authorities" in public; essential but uncelebrated; forced to labor in unsafe conditions for unlivable wages; caged without cause; coping with stolen lands and lives; pushed into unwarranted and forced hysterectomies; used for target practice and racist entertainment without repercussion or accountability; characterized and vilified as harmful, one-dimensional characters in the media (from the news to blockbuster movies).

BIPOC are in a constant state of unconscious emotional terror, living in a space of fight-or-flight in this global culture of white supremacist, corporatized, capiltalist, patriarchal ideologies.

The degradation of our very personhood is instrumental in the continued universal accepted genocide of our people. Enduring modern day public lynchings aka police brutality trauma-porn to shift the white perspective into agreement that, yes, we are human. Celebrated as pride and nationalism, racism is built into the fabric, fascination, and foundation of our society and therefore deeply rooted in the colonized minds of all of us, in the spectrum of melanation.

Black breath. So easily ceased and continually silenced. Angry. Heartbroken. Traumatized. Dehumanized. Countless times I've found myself paralyzed with fear, feeling powerless, distracted, and unable to breathe. I had to find a way to turn off terror, tune into flow and prioritize mental health. Self care for the BIPOC community is critical.

THE REASONS WHY BREATHWORK IS RADICAL SELF-CARE FOR BIPOC

So many of us believe that wellness is unattainable or quite simply just not for us. Marketing will have us believe that it's some whitewashed fantasy for bendy girls with a leg tucked behind her ear in sponsored designer yoga clothes or bros in mala beads doing headstands with tropical backdrops. Yet, that couldn't be further from the truth. Wellbeing is for all-especially for BIPOC-if we want to heal the centuries of spiritual, physical, and psychological abuse, trauma, violence, and neglect. We are human and deserve to explore and be exposed to all the paths to better health.

I had dabbled in meditation, but questioned if I was doing it right. Read: Reasons to Choose Breathwork Over Meditation. I experienced breathwork for the first time last October at our Humble Bloom Field Trip and felt transformed. It was one of the most profoundly heart- and mind-opening experiences. But in my bootstrapped entrepreneurial life it was temporarily shelved like many other things-going to bed early, balanced eating, less drinking, releasing myself from nonreciprocal relationships with friends, family, and lovers-the list goes on.

While in quarantine, I went inward to find peace and regulate the psychological effects of the uncertainty. Enter my search for ways to survive a pandemic as a first-generation Carribean American Black woman with no financial safety net alone in Brooklyn with the Black Lives Matter movement, abortion, healthcare, labor, immigrant, LGBTQ+, differently-abled rights among numerous other battles all top-of-mind and teetering precariously with my sanity.

When Frequency co-founder and friend Vivian Rosenthal asked me to co-host weekly sessions in late March, I was a bit skeptical of the efficacy and impact of a Zoom call. I had started to dig into a daily meditation practice, but still needed help getting out of my head and into acceptance.

In April we launched a virtual weekly collective breathwork class that has helped me dig into areas I didn't know needed attention as a Black woman: melding breath and activism, activating creativity, thoughtfulness and self love with whole body awareness; resetting, restoring and reviving much needed energies to get me through this especially traumatic time, all while in a brave intersectional community.

In addition to the growing, loving community we've cultivated, here are several reasons why breathwork is Radical Self Care for BIPOC.

Breath Is Our Birthright

Breathing is a radical act. Exercise the freedom to own your breath. Recharge and reset from the constant exhaustion of being othered and pushing for equality through protest and perseverance of simply being.

Power To Heal Your Lineage

This fight for respect, dignity and value as an equal human is centuries' old. We, as BIPOC, have a history of violence against us. Now is the time to give yourself permission to address and release oppressed and suppressed emotions. Look into painful places and begin acknowledging ancestral trauma so that new growth can begin with you.

Focus On Transforming Fear Through Being and Breathing While Black

Many of us operate from a place of fear most of the time. Whether it's being underemployed or at a job where you cannot be your full self, breathwork helps to calm anxiety and fear during uncertain times. Challenge yourself to confront your fears rather than ignore them. Sit with anger and other emotions. Understand where they are rooted so you can work through it.

Breath Heals. Love and Listen to Your Body

We as a culture should embrace this opportunity to slow down, go inward, unlearn, release, and reset in order to reconnect and grow. Listening is an undervalued trait. We are always fighting to be heard, but have you stopped to listen to what your body is saying. Is tension living in your neck, shoulders, or lower back? Breathwork can move stagnant energies. The health benefits include physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Shed Untrue Toxic Narratives to Find Self Love

Constant bombardment from the media, family. etc., about yourself and your capabilities. We are our own harshest critics-filling ourselves with doubt and self hate. Breathwork helps you let go to make space for supportive frequencies that elevate.

Refill Your Reservoir So You Can Be Awake, Aware and Activated

Many are numb to witnessing the state-sanctioned genocide of our people, or repeatedly go through the stages of grief cycling through anger, despair, sadness. Rest is required for revolution, but also just for you to show up authentically.

Self Care Is Rooted In Community Care

A big part of healing is showing up for the community. Step away from ego and into awareness. Move from childlike ego-centered living into recognition, acceptance and power of your role in society. Resource yourself in order to feel resourced for others. Prioritize your wellbeing so you can show up for the community. Examine how you show up each day for yourself, extend it to others, and incorporate everyday practices to shape a sustainable future for our collective family. Breathe in brave community understanding that the goal of self care is to empower.

Find Community Across Intersectionality While Healing In Collective

Much of our societal problems are due to intentionally constructed divisions to maintain imbalances of power. Most people stay within their circles of sameness and are fearful of others. During a breathwork session, space is held for me to deprogram and discover, while feeling connected to conscious and vulnerable humans who value commitment to care. Comfort is complacency, challenge yourself to live in slight discomfort.

The Path To Sustained Justice Is Through Breath Equity

This isn't a moment, it's a movement. We are currently in a fight for a breath, in many ways. We are disproportionately affected by polluted air, burning land, police brutality, racial profiling, undrinkable water, pre-existing conditions, racist healthcare, food and housing systems and now COVID-the list just seems to go on and on. In order to endure and grow to wholeness we must remember to breathe.

Family, I challenge you to cultivate a practice of focusing on the most essential thing in life-the breath. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply, daily, for yourself and every weekend in collective at Frequency for a breathwork class that fosters courageous community connection and allows for a collective release, retune and reset.

Every Saturday at noon, we find comfort through shedding baggage, belief and boundaries together with humans joining in from East to West Coast, the Caribbean islands and the E.U. I look forward to feeling vulnerable and alive with strangers who have become holders of psychological safety through a screen. The benefits of breathwork have been immeasurable during the pandemic. I've felt much of how I operate and approach each day shift. I'm much more aware of what triggers my stress and I can take steps to prevent or mitigate it.

Now, I have several natural avenues to aid in continual self assessment and recalibration. Together, we can find calm in chaos. Sanctuary in stillness. Rebirth in breath.

This is a guest blog written by Solonje Burnett, a community leader, humanist, and co-founder at Humble Bloom, where she advocates for underrepresented people in the cannabis industry and beyond. Follow her on instagram at @solonjeburnett, and sign up for class EVERY Saturday at 12PM EST / 9AM PST. Use the code RSC at checkout for a discount.
Blog photos by Amanda Wallace, @mandacwallace

Give the gift of wellbeing to yourself, educators, and students: Photos feature Space BTWN travel yoga kits of which all proceeds go to Mindful Schools, whose mission is to empower educators to spark change from the inside out by cultivating awareness, resilience, and compassionate action. They provide educators with immediate tools for self-care to share mindfulness with vulnerable students. Use the code SOLONJE for 20% off.

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Reasons Breathwork Is Radical Self Care For BIPOC

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When Black breath is taken, the act of breathing itself becomes a form of radical resistance. By guest blogger Solonje Burnett.

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Over the past few years, the phrase "self-care" has been repeated so often as to become meaningless. Co-opted from a radical queer, Black feminist idea, it's now a diluted slogan found in many a white influencer's Instagram caption: a conveniently malleable phrase used to justify any action performed to make oneself feel better in a given moment. Throwing a glittery bath bomb into your tub? "Self-care!" Bingeing an entire season of Vanderpump Rules in one weekend? "Self-care!" Eating an entire tube of cookie dough while standing in front of the fridge staring into the abyss? "Self-care!"

But in the midst of a pandemic, extended quarantine, and mass protests against police brutality, it seems like an important time to revisit the original meaning and practice of self-care, which activist Audre Lorde framed as a revolutionary political act for Black women. For her and other Black women, self-care did not mean indulgence, but rather self-preservation.

Explains podcaster Maya Fleming, "Self-care is so important for Black people, especially right now, because we're leading a massive movement that's putting us at risk and draining us emotionally and physically. We're giving so much and it's important that we find ways to replenish, or the movement dies."

Whether one is marching for hours, having draining conversations with family members, or dealing with elevated levels of stress or insomnia, it is vitally important to be mindful of one's energy and mental health. These six podcasts provide resources and guidance that listeners can use to stay grounded and keep moving forward during unprecedented times.

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist, created Therapy for Black Girls as a digital space where Black women can discuss mental health issues and therapy without stigma (the website also helps users connect with local therapists). Her weekly podcast has been downloaded over 2.5 million times since its launch in 2017, speaking to the need for compassionate discussions around an array of topics including the impact of racial trauma, being introverted, life after divorce, healing after an abortion, and dealing with a fear of rejection. Though Dr. Bradford notes at the top of every episode that her podcast is not a substitute for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional, she still provides invaluable insight and knowledge to all listeners.

Listen: " Managing Loneliness," a conversation in which Bradford and Dr. Marisa G. Franco break down three different types of loneliness and how to overcome them.

In this podcast with funding by the Poetry Foundation and produced by American Public Media, U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith invites listeners to view the world through the lens of poetry. Smith is a gifted narrator, her voice capable of conveying both deep ache and soaring joy as she contextualizes and then reads a hand-selected poem. The Slowdown lives up to its name, offering a reason to pause and center oneself. The poems Smith chooses, however, provide not so much an escape from our current problems, but rather a meditation on them, allowing listeners to contemplate the beauty of language without disengaging from the realities of our world.

Listen: " supply and demand" by Evie Shockley, " American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin ['You don't seem to want it, but you wanted it']" by Terrance Hayes, " A Small Needful Fact" by Ross Gay.

Hosted by Lauren Ash, Black Girl in Om features soothing and informative conversations with yogis, clean beauty experts, vegan chefs, authors, activists, and other figures whose work focuses on healthy living and wellness. Through her interviews, affirmations, and shared meditations, Ash intentionally creates space "for Black women to breathe easy," putting an emphasis on self-care and self-love. As one might expect from a yoga and meditation instructor, Ash's voice is mellifluous and calming, and matched with her thoughtful conversations, she's the ideal guide for listeners who want to embark on a healing journey.

Listen: " Affirming words-and our affirming new sister circle for you," released April 17, in which Ash leads a breathing meditation, "a calming moment within what may be a storm for many of us right now."

Maya Fleming's podcast, Gentler: Practical Self-Care, explores concrete ways that listeners, particularly those who have recently graduated college, can tackle personal development, side hustles, and adulthood. Fleming focuses frequently on the intersection between self-care and personal finances, and offers practical advice on how young people can work toward financial literacy and spend money in a way that aligns with their values. She also shares journaling prompts and a guide to financial self-care on her accompanying blog.

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Six Podcasts That Reveal the Actual Meaning of Self-Care

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The phrase that's become ubiquitous and almost meaningless on social media has radical roots-and in a time of unrest and uncertainty, it's more important than ever.

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There's a wise saying often told by Dominicans in regards to medicinal plants: "Hay plantas que curan y plantas que matan" (There are plants that heal and plants that kill). It's a saying that has resonated with many folks this year, including Latinas who have found themselves changing the way they look at wellness and incorporating plant medicine, remedio caseros (homemade remedies), and healing modalities of their ancestors to protect themselves from the physical and emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a time when it's more important than ever for Latinx folks to reclaim their health, many like Juliet Diaz, Afro-Dominican twins Dr. Miguelina Rodriguez and Dr. Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon, Yadira Garcia, Yaquí Rodriguez, and Cindy Rodriguez are leaning into ancestral wisdom while democratizing healthcare for a community that is chronically underserved by mainstream medicine.

Here, six Latinas share their journeys to decolonizing and reclaiming their wellness during an immensely difficult year. Their supplemental remedies and ancestral practices don't just combat the effects of COVID-19 - but all the tolls this year has taken on us mentally and emotionally.

When the pandemic hit the states, Juliet Diaz, an Indigenous Taína, Cuban-American activist, Seer, curandera (healer), and author, found herself calling up her abuelitas in Cuba for remedio caseros to keep her immune system strong. They recommended an amarillo de la gloria de la mañana, also known as yellow morning glory. That's how Diaz found herself constantly making remedies and teas this year using all the ingredients her Taíno ancestors from Cuba used, including anise, garlic, red onions, aloe vera, and guanabana (soursop) leaves.

But this is far from the first year Diaz has found herself tapping into ancestral knowledge and medicine. She published her second book this past October, Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom, and Magic of 200 Plants, after decades of recognizing her own special connection to plants. "I wanted to bring back awareness and the sacredness of plants and the spirit of each plant being...[It's] my way of decolonizing plants in witchcraft," she says. "It's meant to reclaim the true roots of the crafts, practices, medicine, and wisdom that has been white washed, appropriated, and taken from BIPOC."

Diaz comes from a long line of curanderos and Brujas on both sides of her parent's lineage. Now, a bohuit (healer) of her tribe Higuayaga, Diaz says she recognized her sacred gifts from a very young age and began learning about the ancestral practices of her family through her mom when she was three years old. If she got sick, her mother would go and gather plants and herbs to make a remedy. She taught Diaz how to pick plants and also taught her the significance of eggs, which are often used in limpezas to ward off negative energy.

"When I make those remedios, I don't just see my hands - I see the hands of my ancestors working through me."

"Colonization forced us into learning [our colonizers'] religion. It was just another form of slavery. Another way of brainwashing our minds to worship something other than ourselves," Diaz says. "This year, we recognized that magic that we all have. We recognized that we carry that connection to our ancestors. When I make those remedios, I don't just see my hands - I see the hands of my ancestors working through me."

Brujas of Brooklyn: Dr. Miguelina Rodriguez and Dr. Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon

Afro-Dominican twins Dr. Miguelina Rodriguez and Dr. Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon, known as the Brujas of Brooklyn, were raised in La 21 Division, also referred to Dominican Vodou, which is a syncretic religion rooted in African and Indigenous practices and rituals. The sisters - who have also dabbled with South Asian practices like Hinduism, chantra, and sacred sexuality - have found that a lot of the practices and rituals they do interconnect with health and wellness. Because of that, they are huge advocates of womb health and often discuss the importance of balancing menstrual cycles, using yoni eggs, and the significance of detoxing.

"We are spirits having a human experience. What that means is this body that we have is a vessel and it's temporary," Rodriguez-Solomon explains. "Our spirits have lived before in our past lives and they will continue in our future lives, but in this incarnation our bodies are the vessel that carries the spirit. If your body is not in optimal shape, then there are a lot of spiritual faiths that will say the spirit can't really manifest and incarnate at a higher frequency."

With their outlook on body wellness, the sisters have found themselves preparing a lot of the remedies passed down from their mother and their grandmothers this year - not necessarily as a means of fighting or preventing the virus, but in an effort to strengthen their immune systems and balance their overall health. One of them is what they like to call "Dirty D's famous Anti-flu/Immune Boosting Tea," which is a red-onion based tea that's very popular within the Dominican community.

Rodriguez-Solomon believes this year has been part of a much greater spiritual awakening that has called on us to look at our health. "We're seeing a resurgence of the witch and bruja identity because there's a divine feminine awakening with the sign Aquarius coming to the earth itself in a Zodiac sign for 2000 years," she says. "People are getting separated, people are getting married, quitting their jobs, and creating their own businesses because the divine feminine awakening is calling us to do that. We are being called to live a more holistic life."

Yaqui Rodriguez, a reiki healer, spiritual practitioner, and founder of Wave of Healing (an organization she created to guide and support those on the journey to reclaiming their inner peace, personal power, ancestral wisdom, and connection to the earth) felt spiritually intuitive from a very young age but ignored it for years. It wasn't until 2017 that she really started to feel spiritually grounded. After receiving a certification in reiki, Rodriguez later discovered that curanderas and healers ran in her lineage, including her abuelo, who has practiced folk medicine in the Dominican Republic for years.

"The folk medicine my Abuelo does is called ensalmos. It's healing from the campos (countryside) in the Dominican Republic," says Rodriguez, who eventually started to dabble in ancestral healing practices, enrolled in ancestral medicine courses, and applied to be a practitioner.

Rodriguez describes the work she does in ancestral lineage healing as a way to restore ancestral veneration, communication, and elevation that was severed mostly when colonization spread; she believes doing so can help intergenerational patterns of family dysfunction. She has also found herself tapping deeper into ancestral practices this year after contracting COVID in March. Rodriguez made herself plenty of teas from herbs like Japanese Knotweed, which is known to allegedly combat symptoms of respiratory discomfort and inflammation. She did a lot of herbal baths and smudging, and prepared herself limpezas using a bark that's especially popular in the Dominican Republic called ruda. She journaled, she meditated, and she made sure to connect with her Dominican ancestors consistently, asking for guidance and wisdom as she fought the virus physically and mentally.

"If you look back in our cultures, we didn't have traditional forms of therapy. The therapy was to go see the curandera (the medicine woman). I'm seeing people returning to those old ways and seeing the value in it," she says. "What keeps a lot of POC from seeking spiritual work is the stigma that's still associated with it. Our colonizers colonized our spirituality. They outcast anyone that practiced anything that was earth-honoring or healed people."

In 2017, after having gotten laid off from a startup, journalist Cindy Rodriguez embarked on a solo road trip that took her to nature landscapes and parks across the country. It was during this road trip that she realized the spiritual significance of being in nature. This led to the launch of Reclama, a spiritual hiking and journaling community for women in the New York and New Jersey area. "A barrier I noticed in the community is the idea that you only see white people in the woods. You only see white people hiking or in nature, and I wanted to change that," she says. "I wanted people to see that we can occupy space unapologetically and not just as a woman of color but as a woman of color connecting to spirit. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to teach these women some of the things my family has taught me about nature and spirituality"

When COVID first hit the states, Rodriguez had to pause the hikes. From March to July, she would only do full and new moon Instagram Lives and also sent out newsletters to her dedicated followers. By July, the hikes were back on but organized with much smaller groups and stricter restrictions that followed CDC and government guidelines. In many ways, the hikes have helped her get through this challenging year, along with her regular baños, limpezas, and daily journaling. She has also been making ancestral teas - many that have been passed down in her family.

"Just knowing I'm drinking the same tea from the same land where my family's history is so ingrained is an affirming connection to the land there."

"What soothes my soul is drinking te hierba luisa (lemongrass tea), that's grown on my grandparents land. I remember my Abuela Fela making me this tea whenever I had trouble sleeping. It helps me breathe life into anything I do. Just knowing I'm drinking the same tea from the same land where my family's history is so ingrained is an affirming connection to the land there," Rodriguez says. "Peruvians worship the land, like many other Indigenous groups. It always goes back to connecting with and taking care of Pachamama (a goddess revered by the Indigenous people of the Andes, also known as the earth mother)."

For Yadira Garcia, chef and founder of Happy Healthy Latina - a community-based business (CBB) and movement for POCs that currently exists as an open-air culinary school - ancestral knowledge and wisdom is something she joyfully finds in food. The food activist works in educational institutions to get fresh food to communities while also fighting for food justice and equity, which disproportionally affects Black and brown communities. She partners with specific community-based organizations, local elected officials, and nonprofits to create paid youth apprenticeships, educational programs, and free-to-low cost classes.

Once COVID hit, Garcia realized how dire the emergency food situation was - and her work took on an entirely new focus "Many people lost their jobs, and many people lost access not just to income but to their ability to purchase fresh food," she says. "As a community chef, I felt very called to serve during this." From March to December, Garcia partnered with the Fortune Society - an organization that houses formerly incarcerated people with the mission to help them thrive as positive and contributing members of society - to provide meals for those struggling with food insecurity.

Personally, Garcia has been leaning on her great-great-grandmother's remedios, including one recipe that includes guanabana leaves, fresh ginger root, and turmeric. As she taps into her ancestral recipes, she feels a powerful awakening happening in her community. "You can see it erupting like a volcano on various fronts that we're finding each other. Our people are finding each other, and even though our stories were hidden, it's like a seed," Garcia says. "It just comes back up through time. You can bury it, but it's going to keep trying to resurface. It's going to keep trying to come back."

Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources for COVID-19.

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Latinas Are Leaning on Ancestral Knowledge To Reclaim Wellness In 2020

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"We are being called to live a more holistic life."

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Coloring elaborate images with fine tip markers, slow and thoughtful creativity

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Coloring elaborate images with fine tip markers, slow and thoughtful creativity

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Self-care is a term de jour, but what does it really mean? It's frequently conceptualized as taking care of one's emotional, physical, and mental health. While a more wholistic approach is growing, self-care is still frequently operationalized simplistically, as bubble baths, nature walks, and other such activities. Self-care is popularly framed as personal.

However, in important ways, it is political, too. As such, self-care requires radical transformation with respect to our socialization.

Self-Care and Liberation

For those who are members of marginalized groups, self-care is wrapped up in our liberation. The early stages of liberation require conscientization, an active awakening resulting from questioning the status quo. This process of decolonizing our minds includes examining who loses when we practice self-care. It requires recognizing who's served by our consistent prioritization of other's needs over our own, and how and why this dynamic is perpetuated. This process can be complicated when acts of self-denial and extreme self-reliance by marginalized groups are socially rewarded.

The U.S. values of rugged individualism and the Protestant work ethic reward us for ignoring our self-care instincts. The myth of meritocracy suggests that this is the key to success. As a result, sleepless nights, endless cups of coffee, and general self-abnegation are seen as reasonable steps toward becoming a respectable and successful human being.

This fallacy has a damaging impact on all of us, but particularly on those of us who hold marginalized and subjugated identities. Engaging in this cycle of abuse seems most necessary for those who are already deemed subhuman and less worthy, based on the identities held. Seemingly, the only way to attain success in this framing is through maintaining the status quo and being complicit in one's own oppression, while believing that if you aren't successful it's your fault. This framing of the keys to success ignores the experiences of those who live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. It ignores the systematic and systemic oppression that contributes to the marginalization and powerlessness of these individuals. These truths are ignored in favor of a narrative that feeds oppression, capitalism, and patriarchy and reframes trauma responses as cultural grit and resiliency. This narrative shames those who engage in activities that support self-preservation.

Decolonized, Radical Self-Care

So, what does self-care really mean? More specifically, what does it mean for those with multiple subjugated identities? It means engaging in decolonized and radical self-care. It means interrogating our deeply engrained patterns and beliefs. It means challenging respectability politics and our role in systems that perpetuate capitalism and materialism. It means understanding how double-consciousness (required for survival) operates to make us hypersensitive to the thoughts and desires of others.

Decolonized radical self-care means unpacking our personal, generational, and historical trauma and the ways our people have survived by seeking proximity to a mythical norm reflective of cultural imperialism and patriarchy. Radical self-care requires a process of redefining one's goals, one's values, and, ultimately, one's self for oneself. It means disrupting the cycle of socialization. It involves knowing what's truly in our best interest and not what we've been socialized to believe is in our best interest-but is actually the oppressors' best interest.

New Visions of Self-Care

Through this revealing and unpacking, self-care can then be operationalized in a liberatory fashion based on one's unique social location. What does liberatory self-care look like? It may look like saying "no" more often or "yes" more often. It may look like being less neurotic about how we wear our hair or clothes. It may look like confronting stereotype threat and engaging in behaviors that may result in being labeled an "angry black woman." It requires intentional interrogation of cultural scripts, such as the "strong black woman." It may look like doing what really scares us: being our most authentic selves in a world that, if it even sees us, views us as distasteful and unpalatable. It may look like being more connected to our indigenous selves.

Self-care is especially risky for some of us. Knowing that our liberation isn't found in adjusting to an unjust society, we recognize self-care can't be realized just through bubble baths. Self-care, fully realized, comes through radical and political liberatory action.
Dr. Jalana Harris is a Licensed Psychotherapist, Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified Life Coach, and consultant based in New York city. She is a full-time lecturer at Columbia University's School of Social Work and operates a private practice in NYC, providing therapy and coaching to individuals, couples, and families.

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Self-Care A-Z - The Politics of Self-Care: Toward Radical Decolonization

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For those who are members of marginalized groups, self-care is wrapped up in our liberation. Knowing that our liberation isn't found in adjusting to an unjust society, we recognize self-care can't be realized just through bubble baths.

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Walking, Weekly Therapy, Spending time with my family 

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Walking, Weekly Therapy, Spending time with my family 

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Spending time with my best girlfriends. 

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Spending time with my best girlfriends. 

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I have been spending time with the people that fill me with love and joy.

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Say no to free work! If I offer my time it will be because I choose to.

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Say no to free work! If I offer my time it will be because I choose to.

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https://open.spotify.com/track/3lGMtkONrZdJ8kTCg6KIFf?si=VVGInupBT-u4GK1in8ahww

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I listen to a podcast that reads my horoscope for the day and that is a good way for me to start my day.

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" I've put up with too much, too long and now I'm just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less" -Sandra Cisneros

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I am working with a fitness coach twice a week.  

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I am working with a fitness coach twice a week.  

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I have started coloring again. Into my Golden Girls coloring book.

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I have started coloring again. Into my Golden Girls coloring book.

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Currently drove out to Newport beach to work outside but also plan on taking myself out to dinner after our sabbatical.

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Reminder to be grateful, there's nothing/no one else like you

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Reminder to be grateful, there's nothing/no one else like you

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Working with an executive coach and developing the discipline to journal, listening to music.

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Working with an executive coach and developing the discipline to journal, listening to music.

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More often than not, I do things to make others happy. I am working on not exchanging my joy for theirs. I am not trying to take away their joy, just trying to protect my own joy.