There is a big diversity gap in the wellness world. If you attend a yoga class in places like New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles, you will see mostly white faces. Wellness conferences and events often have a high-ticket entry price and offer products and services that only a few can afford.
The diversity issues aren’t limited to the audience: the makeup of the elite wellness expert pool is also homogeneous. Other than a couple of large players (Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, JJ Smith), there are almost no top-level wellness experts of multi-cultural background appealing to and attracting new audiences. Despite the plethora of diverse talent in wellness, the industry has not yet fully tapped into it and elevated these voices, to the detriment of all of those seeking to become or stay healthy and happy in mind and soul.
As a black woman of Latinx background and wellness expert, it is my mission to inspire the communities I belong to, to embrace the wellness practices that had such a positive impact in my own healing process and life as a whole. My goal is to bridge the gap between the world of wellness and brown and black communities in the USA by reminding these communities of the history behind common wellness practices.
On today’s today’s video blog I explore the “radical” idea of how we can together enrich, diversify and create equity in the world of wellness. Please have a listen.
While long term solutions would require mayor changes in public health policies, socio economic development and access to both education and healthy food options, we cannot sit idle waiting for politicians to do the right thing and laws to change. Much can be done today, to get people of all colors and creed excited about #ReclaimingWellness. We know, for example that while some wellness practices can only be afforded by the wealthy, many more are easily accessible and available to all.
The fact is that many of the wellness practices we embrace as “mainstream” today were originally developed, used and disseminated by people of color around the world. From meditation (Nepal, North Africa, India) and herbal medicine (Africa, Asia, South America) to Yoga (India) and other holistic mind/body practices (Africa’s ubuntu, Amazonian’s spiritual medicine) there are plenty of life-changing wellness practices that are part of our ancestry, our DNA and it’s time we reclaim and reincorporate them for our benefit and the benefit of our community as a whole.
By #ReclaimingWellness people of color can learn to love these healthy lifestyle practices while getting an easy-to-follow, no-nonsense blueprint to incorporating them into their daily routine.
It is my hope that other wellness experts, regardless of the color of their skin, become allies in the quest to diversify the world of wellness. It is a crucial opportunity to affect growth and increase our impact while enriching the lives of many.