Thriving In Radical Black Wellness

Building and forging safe and welcoming Black spaces in wellness to address the effects of mental health, body representation, and safety further carves a place for individuals to be seen and heard by the community. One can quickly recognize the importance of said spaces with the longstanding health disparities and injustices that have disproportionately affected Black bodies. Hence, this encouragement and push for these ideas of wellness and self-care. With this encouragement, one can invest in physical and mental health within these cultivated environments and be further empowered to escape the discriminatory and exclusionary spaces that have devalued their experiences and perspectives. This new realm of Black health and wellness provokes the desire to strengthen self-value to build resilience and will against the repeated injuries inflicted by systemic racism. Here, these following Black businesses move toward this goal by not merely skimming the surface of these deeply rooted injustices, but emphasizing rest, healing, stress reduction, and, above all, listening and learning about your body. 

Founded in 2019 by Maryam Ajayi, Dive in Well was the response to the unprecedented increase in mental illness, substance abuse, and deaths resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Small groups of business professionals and clinicians invested thousands of hours creating a truly one-of-a-kind recovery resource to develop a radical change in the wellness space. By providing a list of the best treatment providers, mental health resources and creating awareness surrounding suicide prevention and overdose, Dive in Well counters the racial and social injustices that destroy Black lives and minds. 

The Black Online Wellness Support offers many resources from The Loveland Foundation, which provides financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking therapy, HealHaus that puts healing into motion through a variety of online yoga, meditation, and sound bath classes, and the LGBTQ Psychotherapists of Color that provides a directory of California and online-based LGBTQ therapists of color. Through these accessible guides and resources, the organization re-envisions the future of Black wellness and re-centers Black voices. Such an extensive list proves Dive in Well’s mission - no one is left behind, and all are welcome to be well!

Last but not least, the Black Girl in OM! Established in 2014, this coalition aspires to elevate the journey of inner work to achieve its overall mission to influence a movement and cultivate a culture that needs and wants to see Black women in their entirety. Historically, Black communities and Black women experience significant health disparities and intergenerational trauma that often hinders and stifles healing. By intentionally making this space for this collective kinfolk, from transgender, queer, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals, one can identify the importance of the dialogue and conversations to affirm, advocate, support, and encourage this transformation of Black consciousness. Through free meditations, private classes, and networking with Black women and individuals alike, Black Girl in OM works tirelessly to rewrite the narrative of what well-being looks like for ourselves and our communities, therefore, empowering their audience to invite the possibilities and vibrance of healing to catalyze a unique journey towards wholeness from today and beyond! 

The Black community remains more than worthy of discovering and experiencing the peaks and highs of true wellness that thrive in its fullness. These online businesses, Dive in Well, Bifties Gifts, and Black Girl in OM, continue to work extensively to offer these visions of radical Black wellness and embrace the true epitome of healing and complete living through their accessible resources and services. Yet, this pursuit of happiness remains to be the decision of the individual to seek this lifestyle of good health that one so rightfully deserves!