Black women are the most educated demographic in the country, yet also one of the most stressed and economically laden as of last spring when the group faced record breaking amounts of layoffs. This number has since almost tripled with up to 600,000 being pushed out of the workforce to date, according to Fortune. The weight of this phenomenon has left many retreating to new forms of self care and wellness that center mind and body alignment for overall health improvements to combat chronic stress.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, 51% of Black women over 50 reported that stress impacted their well-being and chronic stress for Black women. That number jumps by eight percent for women under 50 that were part of the study. Traditionally, Black women have kept themselves at the bottom of their to-do list behind partners, children, and work to avoid something not being completed or feeling the need to overcompensate versus delegate. It doesn’t help that systemic discrimination by race, sexism, and other socioeconomic factors are bogging down Black women. If anything, it’s making stress levels worsen.
While a quick workout to blow off some steam can be effective, the intentionality behind somatic stretching helps to slow things down and embrace muscle tension loosening. The purpose of somatic stretching is to help rectify ways that the body has been unhealthily held or positioned over time. For Black women, this can show itself to be a helpful practice by allowing this demographic to take intentional time out of their schedules to come back to themselves–away from their titles— and help release tension that’s being built within the body.
As a byproduct of the aforementioned stress, nervous system dysregulation is another commonality among Black women. When this part of the body is unaligned, it can foster a disconnect between one’s body and their inner-selves by disassociating from what’s truly happening around them versus what’s happening right at home. It’s easy to ignore feelings of fatigue, body aches, and stress when it’s something that you’re used to. For Black women, the default to be in fight-or-flight mode, whether consciously or subconsciously, is more common because of not being able to fully express their emotions or expressing said emotions and being misunderstood. The strong Black woman ideology is being done away with now that Black women are paying more attention to how their mental health is impacting their physical health.
Among the methods chosen among Black women, somatic stretching has grown in popularity as more women seek out group or singular sessions similar to those of yoga. What makes this process unique is how much it incorporates movements that give a reaffirming feeling in real time. Beyond helping to stay flexible and avoid tight muscles, somatic stretching has also been found to be helpful with improving balance, posture, mood, and overall range of motion within the body. For Black women in particular, somatic stretch has been helpful with creating space for the nervous system to realign itself and to restore itself. This process typically happens when the parasympathetic part of the nervous system is at work, and can be activated through muscle relaxation and grounding exercises such as what’s found in somatic stretching.
Simple movements are the true key to somatic stretching. This wellness method is intentionally not as intricate as others to help the focus center on the mind-to-muscle connection. Indirectly, this also can help someone to not overthink the experience. When looking to try somatic stretching, it’s important to not push yourself beyond your limits to hone in on the true feelings of your body more clearly or trying to hit a specific stretch point.
Beyond somatic stretching, there are also somatic workouts that have similar health benefits to stretching. These include Tai chi, Aikido, and somatic pilates which differs in nature from traditional pilates. Breathwork, humming, and singing are also ways that the body can somatically relax, and can even be combined with stretching when appropriate.
For someone looking to try out somatic stretching that may not want to leverage the use of a class, standard poses that are found in workout routines such as bridges, cat-cow, and child’s pose are great stretch methods to get started. Influencers such as Brialle Ringer and Curr’esha Beatty are also great resources to learn from as you try out somatic stretching for yourself, and see if it’s something you want to add to your wellness routine.