The Great Exhale

Black women need rest. The microaggressions Black women uniquely face can cost them their livelihoods and even their lives. Research proves it. - The number of Black women and girls committing suicide has skyrocketed in 20 years. - More than 88% of Black women have experienced burnout. - About two-thirds of Black women feel emotionally unsafe at work. - Black women are also more likely to deal with chronic stress and stress-related health issues. Check out my latest Sweet July article about the growing number of Black women taking extended hiatuses or sabbaticals from work. Thank you to Empress Varnado , Lisa Hurley , Sherita Gaskins-Tillett MD FACOG , and Ariel Belgrave Harris for sharing their stories and the important work they do in this space.

Happy Friday & happy weekend! Reposting this video because you could always use a breath break. Take care of yourself this weekend. ☀️🧘🏽♀️

My sista Lisa Hurley, thank you for inspiring this post as I had forgotten that May 21st is Word Meditation Day, a practice that is observed by the diverse people that we serve in our psychotherapy private practice. As we celebrate World Meditation Day on May 21st, it’s important to recognize the ancient roots of meditation across various Indigenous practices across the world. Ancient Roots of Meditation in random, not chronological order. 1. Native American Traditions: Vision quests and sweat lodge ceremonies involve fasting, solitude, and prayer for spiritual insight. 2. Australian Aboriginal Practices: Dreamtime practices connect with the land and ancestors through storytelling, rituals, and meditative states. 3. African Traditional Practices: Trance states, rhythmic chanting, drumming, and dance are used for healing and spiritual communication. 4. Shamanic Practices: Across many cultures, shamanic traditions use drumming, chanting, and sacred plants to enter meditative states for healing and divination. 5. Ancient India: Meditation practices documented in the Vedas around 1500 BCE form the foundation of Hinduism. Techniques such as dhyana (meditative concentration) and vipassana (insight meditation) were developed in Buddhism to achieve enlightenment and liberation from suffering. 5. Ancient China: Daoist meditation practices emphasize balance, harmony, and longevity through techniques like breathing exercises and visualization. Cultural appreciation is always better than appropriation Mental Health Benefits of Meditation: 1. Stress Reduction: Promotes relaxation and lowers stress hormones. 2. Anxiety Relief: Reduces anxiety by fostering calmness and non-judgmental awareness. 3. Improved Emotional Health: Enhances emotional well-being and positivity. 4. Enhanced Concentration: Improves focus and attention. 5. Better Self-Awareness: Encourages self-reflection and personal growth. 6. Increased Emotional Resilience: Strengthens ability to manage and recover from distress. 7. Improved Sleep: Enhances sleep quality and reduces insomnia. 8. Pain Management: Reduces pain perception and aids in coping with chronic pain. Celebrating World Meditation Day allows us to honor these diverse traditions and appreciate the transformative power of meditation in our lives regardless of our cultural differences. What did we miss? Please feel free to add, we don’t claim to know everything and together, you and us sharing knowledge, we can learn, unlearn and heal together!

It’s World Meditation Day. Pause for a moment, take a breath, and embrace serenity. This affirmation can help: 🙏🏾🧘🏾♀️ I am vibrating at the frequency of peace. 🙏🏾🧘🏾♀️ I am vibrating at the frequency of peace. 🙏🏾🧘🏾♀️ I am vibrating at the frequency of peace. Namaste 🙏🏾 ☮️ #TheGreatExhale #WorldMeditationDay #HappyHappyThoughts 💨💨💨💨💨💨💨💨💨 😎🤎 Hi, I’m Lisa, and I provide Black women with a soft, safe virtual space where they can finally take their cape off, take a breath—and rest. I’m the Founder of The Great Exhale, a private membership community designed for Black women to relax, lay their burdens down…and exhale. If that sounds like something you’re ready for, join The Great Exhale community today! 🙌🏾😊🤎💨 (Link is in the comments.)

IT’S NOT EVERYDAY ‘STRONG’ 💪🏾A common theme that I notice, especially when Black women publicly share instances of workplace trauma, is the immediate remark about our ‘strength’. Including self-proclaimed ‘allies’ who then tag us in their own posts or privately send us DMs, lauding us for our ‘strength’. ‼️As Black women, we have often had to be ‘strong’ out of NECESSITY, not out of choice… …in experiencing systemic issues that we didn’t create, designed to DROWN US - and which shouldn’t exist in the first place. ❌The “Strong Black Woman” archetype is a harmful single story told about Black women that elevates aspects of ‘strength’, ‘perseverance’ and ‘survival’ and minimises our emotional wellbeing, tenderness, and humanity. ✋🏾Our hands are pushed into the ‘water’ when: 🌊All of a sudden, the organisation decides to appoint the Black woman as the ‘workhorse’, asking her to do additional job roles of multiple people that she was not originally hired for 🌊A Black woman speaks up in a work meeting against inequitable treatment and everyone else is silent - but the ‘allies’ speak with us AFTER the meeting and say, “wow - that was SO STRONG of you to do that” 🌊A Black woman has documented all of her requests for support, which are ignored, but observes her white counterparts get all the support they need at work And MANY MORE. As my sister Dr. Muna Abdi MA, PhD, FHEA rightly states, “Instead of praising people for being ‘resilient’, change the systems that are making them vulnerable”. #WorkplaceTrauma #Misogynoir #BlackWomenAtWork #SystemicChange

I asked for guidance about what to post today, and I was led to this affirmation of mine from almost a year ago: I am choosing to vibrate higher I am choosing to vibrate higher I am choosing to vibrate higher 🙏🏾💚🩵💚🙏🏾 Happy Monday, folks. #TheGreatExhale

Very excited to chat it up with my sister from another mister Yinka Ewuola today! We'll be talking about Mindset, Money, and Sisterhood. Join us in Yinka's audio room today, Tuesday April 23 at 12:30 eastern and 5:30 UK time. Link to join is in the comments. See you soon! 😊