A lush garden with a hammock, trees, flowering plants, and a glimpse of a house wall.

You Are Worthy Of Rest

Who We Are

Black Women Rest is a grassroots wellness nonprofit curating intentional, restorative spaces centering collective rest for Black women. Through community-centered gatherings, holistic wellness practices, and shared learning experiences, we support Black women in resting deeply, reconnecting to their bodies, and caring for themselves in sustainable ways.

Our work integrates education, reflection, and embodied practices rooted in cultural affirmation and collective care. We create spaces where Black women can learn together, unlearn harmful narratives around productivity and strength, and build practical tools for rest and well-being.

We exist in response to the chronic stress, burnout, and health inequities Black women disproportionately face. At Black Women Rest, we believe rest is not something you earn, but a life-sustaining practice and a pathway to wellness, sustainability, and liberation for ourselves and future generations.

Our Programs

Well-Rested & Well-Informed Conversation Series
A monthly virtual educational wellness conversation designed to deepen understanding of rest and whole-body wellbeing through expert-led conversations, interactive learning, and community dialogue. Each session explores themes such as nervous system health, stress recovery, and ancestral rest practices while offering reflection prompts, take-home tools, and practical strategies that help participants integrate rest into their daily lives.

Steeped in Wellness in Partnership with Bedrock Coffee + Tea
Held quarterly, this herbal wellness series offers hands-on learning in tea blending, herbal crafting, and everyday herbal usage. Participants learn how to grow, blend, and use simple herbs while exploring tea blending, tincture making, and holistic approaches to everyday wellness rooted in ancestral knowledge and accessibility.

Collective Unwinds
Held monthly, these community-led gatherings are designed as skill-sharing opportunities where collective members with expertise in wellness, crafts, body movement, and other areas of interest lead sessions to share their knowledge with the collective. Offered both virtually and in person, Collective Unwinds create space for joy, education, conversation, and reflection while strengthening community connection and providing practical tools that participants can integrate into their daily lives for rest, balance, and self-care.

Breathwork & Black Women Narratives
Offered three times yearly, this 10-week healing program weaves breathwork, storytelling, and embodied reflection to help women explore how stress, generational expectations, and lived experiences manifest in the body. Weekly sessions are facilitated by a licensed mental health therapist or guest wellness practitioner and include a book club component focused on Black Girls Breathing: Heal from Trauma, Combat Chronic Stress, and Find Your Freedom by Jasmine Marie. Participants engage with the text, guided breathwork, journaling, and narrative processing to release tension, improve emotional regulation, and reconnect with themselves in a culturally grounded, trauma-informed space, creating a supportive environment to reflect, learn, and grow collectively.

Booked & Unbusy Literacy Program
We create traveling literacy hubs at community centers, schools, festivals, public parks, and neighborhoods, featuring curated books on Black authors, wellness, mental health, and empowerment. Books can be taken home or added to our mobile collection. Our Lending Library lets community members borrow from a rotating selection, keeping books in circulation to support learning, storytelling, and intergenerational literacy.

Rested Rituals Mindful Fasting & Guided Journaling
A quarterly virtual journey designed to support participants in slowing down, resetting, and reconnecting with themselves through intentional practice and community care. Rooted in mindfulness, guided journaling, and gentle fasting, the program includes daily journal prompts and affirmations, a printable workbook, a community group chat for shared reflection and accountability, and three live Zoom circles held over the seven days to ground the experience, build connection, and honor rest and renewal.

The Pause Practice in Collaboration with Be Well Black Girl Initiative
A weekly virtual meditation and grounding space held every Wednesday, The Pause Practice offers guided breathwork, gentle mindfulness exercises, and intentional moments of pause to support nervous system regulation and emotional grounding. These accessible sessions provide participants with midweek clarity, presence, and a sense of collective calm, helping participants slow down, reset, and reconnect with themselves in a supportive virtual community.

Mindfulness Moments
Offered once a month at public libraries, Mindfulness Moments provides an in-person space for meditation, gentle yoga, and body movement designed to support nervous system regulation and emotional balance. These sessions combine mindfulness practices with accessible movement, creating opportunities for participants to cultivate presence, calm, and self-care while connecting with their local community.

Resting In Grief in Collaboration with Ashley & Co.
Offered quarterly, this virtual community-based series provides a tender, affirming space for participants to explore grief in its personal, collective, ancestral, and ongoing forms. Through guided reflection, somatic grounding, and shared storytelling, participants learn to navigate grief gently while receiving support, resources, and practices that honor emotional healing and rest.

Overnight Rest Experiences
Hosted two to three times per year, these immersive overnight retreats offer deep rest through guided mindfulness, restorative practices, nourishing meals, reflection circles, and spacious time to unplug from daily demands. Designed to foster rejuvenation and sisterhood, each experience provides a transformative environment for slowing down, reconnecting, and being held in collective care.