Welcome,

I want to take the time to thank you for visiting Black Girls Bend Inc’s website. I have always known that I wanted to start a nonprofit aimed to help young girls. What I did not know was that it would focus on Yoga and Meditation. I did not know that I would want to help girls build foundational blocks for maintaining physical and mental health and wellness.

My personal struggles finding the best ways to cope with stress and anxiety has played a huge part in me starting this nonprofit. Using food as a coping mechanism is something that I still find myself doing. Food has a way of comforting us in moments of despair, while also being something that we use to celebrate happy occasions. What I have learned is that physical activity can have the same positive effects on your mood, with better consequences for the body. In moments of anguish, I now find myself turning to my mat as an alternative.

Yoga came into my life at a time where I was trying to figure out who I was after becoming a new mom and wife. I was on a spiritual journey with a lot of questions that I felt needed answers. What I discovered was that I desired an outlet. Hot Yoga class is where I found this outlet. I would dread going to the class early in the morning. All I would think about is how I could be sleeping, but I knew that during those 90 minutes my only focus would be balancing and breathing. I was able to escape my thoughts, my worries, my problems in that hour and a half class. It truly brought me peace, some days it may have been my only moment of peace.

When the pandemic started, I was no longer able to go to in-person classes. This pushed me to start practicing yoga in-home along with meditation. My practice intensified, it was more than just the postures but my understanding of my body and mindset that was changing. I wondered how I would have reacted in stressful situations if I had used these tools when I was going through various situations in my young adulthood. I realized that growing up yoga and meditation was something that I had not been introduced to.

In Yoga class, I was always the only black girl. When I started practicing at home using YouTube, a basic search never generated videos from Black yoga instructors. Looking for black yoga influencers on Facebook and Instagram was a difficult task. This was concerning to me, because as we all know representation matters. Yoga and Meditation are for everyone, and I want Black Girls Bend Inc. to be a platform that showcases black women using these tools for mental and physical wellness to inspire and motivate the next generation and future generations.

President & Founder

Black Girls Bend Inc.