The Importance of Black Wellness Influencers Cannot Be Overstated

glamour.com:

do cater to Black women have served as a source of refuge and learning for Black women like me, who seek out their knowledge in lieu of or sometimes in conjunction with working with their personal mental health professionals.

I think a lot of times when black women go into spaces where they don’t see themselves, we don’t fully release, we don’t fully breathe.Yet, despite their impact, the journey to finding these influencers isn't as simple as a quick Google search.

These influencers often don’t appear prominently on mainstream wellness platforms, don’t have multi-million dollar sponsorships, and are not given the same attention by the media.

The lack of visual representation of Black women in wellness had previously discouraged me—and others—from fully exploring what it meant to be well and the various ways that it could be achieved.“I was surrounded by all-white everything during my first several years of practicing yoga,” says , the founder of . “I became a yoga instructor and started BGIO because I wanted Black women to know that yoga is for us, that wellness is our birthright, that self-care, self-love, and self-empowerment are things that we do.”This content can also be viewed on the site it from.“I think a lot of times when black women go into spaces where they don’t see themselves, we don’t fully release, we don’t fully breathe,” says , BGIO’s artistic director and founder of , a community that uses wellness to empower black sexual-assault survivors. “In order to really practice mindfulness and be in a space where you can prioritize your healing and prioritize your self-care, it’s important that you feel seen; it’s important that you feel celebrated and heard.