BIPOC communities and other historically oppressed and ignored communities have suffered under racist and patriarchal systems of oppression since the founding of our country. And they have been fighting against these systems for just as long.
This fight against and within a racist society is taking a toll on our community leaders. Chronic stress and generational trauma are harming our physical and mental health and our ability to show up every day, as fully human. Burnout and fatigue, and subsequently its health and life impact, are disproportionately experienced by those who identify as BIPOC.
Bearing witness to trauma within a community involves a profound collective experience. It requires individuals to acknowledge and empathize with the pain of others, which can be both a burden and a shared responsibility. This process often reveals the depth of trauma and its impact on communal bonds, exposing the underlying issues that affect everyone. To this end, we call all elders, healers, guides, mentors, artists, and community culture bearers and witnesses to the sacred process of rest that is our birthright. Please join us for our upcoming virtual workshop:
Bearing Witness to the Wounded Healer: Pathways to Well-being and Rest
Saturday, Oct. 19, 1-4 p.m.
RSVP by Oct. 14. Space is limited to 50 participants. If registration is full and you’d like to be added to our waitlist, please email root@nexuscp.org.
In our time together, we will explore the healer’s journey by combining storytelling and somatic practices to create a powerful healing dynamic in our group. Storytelling allows individuals to articulate and share personal narratives, offering a way to process and externalize their experiences. This verbal expression can bring clarity and validation, helping participants make sense of their trauma or struggles. When alternated with somatic practices — such as body awareness exercises, breath work, or movement — participants can connect their emotional and physical experiences, fostering a holistic sense of healing. Somatic practices help ground and integrate the emotions revealed through storytelling, releasing stored tension and promoting relaxation. Together, these approaches facilitate a comprehensive healing process by addressing the mind and body. The shared experience of storytelling and somatic work in a group setting also strengthens communal bonds, creating a supportive environment where individuals can heal together and build a collective sense of resilience.
Reclaiming Our Own Time (ROOT) is part of an ever-growing movement to provide resources, support, and spaces for rest and restoration for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color movement leaders. ROOT calls for us to reclaim our humanity and return to our ancestral roots through the practice of rest and restoration. In this space, we lift up our elders, healers, guides, mentors, artists, and community culture bearers who have been holding our communities through joy, grief, and passing ancestral practices intergenerationally. We believe we must honor our healers by curating spaces where we can center rest and shared practices can emerge.
As part of our commitment to learn from and engage with our community healers, we are offering a series of engagements, including a listening session, two virtual workshops, and a three-day, in-person convening. This series will craft distinct spaces tailored to our healers in different ways.
- Sept. 26: A community listening session to help shape and inform this series.
- Oct. 19: “Bearing Witness to the Wounded Healer: Pathways to Well-being and Rest,” a virtual workshop for those who are tending to others in the community.
- Dec. 4: “Reclaiming Our Own Time in an Anti-Rest System: Addressing Burnout for Medical Providers.” A virtual workshop for healers working in any capacity within large systems.
- Feb. 27 – March 1, 2025: A three-day, in-person convening designed for all healers, wherever they find themselves on the healer’s journey.
