Wellness Women of Color You Should Follow
/By Catherine Okafor
I love learning about wellness and consider myself to be a wellness junkie. I’ll admit that I’m not an expert at self-care and fall off the wellness wagon here and there. But, at least I’m being fully honest about it. When I’m feeling a bit lazy and tired, I turn to social media and browse through my self-care pro’s pages. I guess that also counts as practicing self-care. Right? Yes! They have also inspired me to facilitate self-care workshops for women of color at Community Well.
Below, I have included a short listing of my favorite women of color in the wellness world that you too, should follow. They are the ones that I turn to for inspiration, guidance on new wellness products and more!
Lauren Ash, Founder of Black Girl in Om
Lauren is a Chicago based yoga teacher and wellness educator. In 2014, she launched her passion project, Black Girl In Om. Ever since its launch, BGIO has been a hit in the people of color wellness world and beyond. There space exists to create a “space for women of color to breathe easy.” With a creative team of creative superstars, the BGIO team continues to encourage their readers to make themselves their #1 priority by practicing self-care. BGIO offers a range of offerings that includes: yoga classes, a food pop-up, a self –care Sunday series, a podcast and more. If you’re ever in the Chicago area, check out Lauren and her yoga classes and events. If you’re like me and not in the Midwest, check them out on their social media pages and blog.
Chelsea of Chelsea Loves Yoga
Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts brings in the wellness joy from down south in the ATL. Chelsea first caught my attention when she began offering a yoga-literature and art camp for teenaged-girls that’s hosted at her alma mater, Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. This was something that I’ve never seen done before and was instantly attracted to her work. So many teens have no outlet to express themselves and practice self-care. Chelsea and her team makes sure to take care of that while also encouraging people to learn and practice yoga. I’m not a yogi but have been inspired by Chelsea to dabble in various yoga classes in my community. I’m sure she’ll have you trying out the different yoga poses in your personal space too. Check her out and follow her on Instagram.
Francheska Medina of Hey Fran Hey
Wellness guru turned YouTube star, Hey Fran Hey has been in the wellness and social media world since 2011. My sister told me about her YouTube channel as she offered tutorials on how to take care of your natural hair. As her platform grew, she began to offer more content online and offline. She was recently in Oakland hosting a wellness retreat along with two wellness practioners, Yeradmi Gomes and Maryam Hasnaa. It was a day long retreat designed to help women of color focus on taking care of themselves. I was so sad to miss the retreat but still continue to follow Fran. She also co-hosts two podcasts, The FriendZone and Insecuritea. Both are amazing and you should definitely listen! The FriendZone has me giggling and snapping my fingers my entire commute to and from work.
What wellness women do you follow on social media? I’m always on the lookout for new folks to follow. Shout them out in the comment section below!
Catherine Okafor is currently leading monthly Writing for Self Care Workshops. For more information click HERE.