Black women BEEN telling y'all to go rest. Are you ready to listen?
Consider this your rest reading list 📚
Wednesday Wisdom
“To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that’s political, in its most profound way.” ~ June Jordan
Morning Musings
Earlier this month, I attended the Chicago launch of Tricia Hersey’s (aka The Nap Bishop) latest book, We Will Rest. It was a week after the election and Black women were (are?) TIRED. Tired of carrying the weight. Tired of all the misogynoir. Tired of, well, everything.
So to be in a room full of people—mostly Black women and people of color—and be led by Hersey during a group daydreaming exercise was a much-needed balm for my soul.
Now, not to toot my own horn (but toot toot!), I was an early follower of The Nap Ministry. After learning about Hersey’s work at a leadership development retreat for Black women, I became obsessed. I wrote about the revolutionary act of (gasp!) taking a nap after completing an indoor triathlon (my first and last). I even interviewed Hersey back in 2018 for the now defunct Shine app (even though the pub date says June 9, 2020—lest I remind you what was happening during the summer of 2020 that deemed the article more timely). But I digress…
Watching Hersey’s success has been inspiring, to say the least. And it’s also served as a near daily reminder to sit my Black ass down. Pardon my French. As a Black woman in America, I am accustomed to working twice as hard to get half as much. But thanks to Hersey—as well as watching other Black women leaders basically say, “no, thanks!”—I’m reclaiming rest as my birthright.
I do not need to overexert myself or overextend myself for anything or anybody: a revolutionary statement coming from a Black woman.
As I researched more about rest for my Fortune article about the seven types of rest, I’ve come to this conclusion: Black women been telling y’all to rest. When are you going to finally listen?
In the aforementioned article, I tracked down Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, who literally wrote the book on rest. Five years into her clinical internal medicine practice and caring for two young children, the author of Sacred Rest underwent an extreme case of burnout. Initially, she thought she needed more sleep.
“At that point, there wasn’t a lot of conversation about burnout. The main conversation was about sleep,” she told me. “That was around the time that Arianna Huffington was doing the big sleep revolution. So when I burned out, my initial thought process was based on research that said if I get adequate, high-quality sleep, then I should not feel burned out anymore.”
What surprised me about Dalton-Smith’s book is that it was published back in 2017—years before the latest influx of rest-related offerings. Turns out, Dalton-Smith was on to something. Simply put, Black women aren’t new to this, we’re TRUE to this!
In the years since Sacred Rest, several books by Black women authors have come out urging us to rest, three of which came out this fall alone. And because I believe sharing is caring, check out the following reading list if you need some support and encouragement in adding more rest to your life:
Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Saundra Dalton-Smith
Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
The Nap Ministry's Rest Deck: 50 Practices to Resist Grind Culture by Tricia Hersey
We Will Rest!: The Art of Escape by Tricia Hersey
Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change by Octavia F. Raheem
Rest Is Sacred: Reclaiming Our Brilliance Through the Practice of Stillness by Octavia F. Raheem
Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity by Tracee Stanley
The Rest Revolution: How to Reclaim Your Rhythm and Conquer Burnout When Overworking Has Become the Norm by Amanda Miller Littlejohn
What would you add to the list? Let me know in the comments!
Help a Mama Out!
Thanks so much to everyone who took the survey for Werking Moms Club! There is still time to share your input and I forgot to mention last week that one lucky mama will have the chance to win a $50 Target gift card. The holidays are here…I’m just saying! 💁🏾♀️ If you’re not a mom, feel free to share the survey with the moms in your network. Thank you in advance and I’m excited to build this with you all! 🫶🏾 Giveaway ends Nov. 30.
ICYMI
An exclusive excerpt from my book, Stop Waiting for Perfect, is available at
. In this chapter, I’m sharing my tried-and-true tips for quieting your inner critic and being kinder to yourself.What I’m Reading
*Okay, technically this one is more listening than reading, but it’s a hotline featuring pre-recorded life advice from elementary students. Yes, please!
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Thank you for including The Rest Revolution in your Rest Books roundup, L'Oreal! I'm proud to be "counted in that number" lol. I hope the reporting I did - specifically my interviews with high achieving professional Black women experiencing differing levels of burnout - helps more people feel seen.
Sidebar - I love reading Substacks from working journalists - there's just something about it. Thoughtful, beautifully written, and just so well-done!
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