Name: Lauren Ash
Age: 31
Claim to fame: Ms. Ash is the founder of Black Girl in Om, a wellness website focused on women of color, which she started in 2014. She had been living in Chicago for one year and practicing yoga for three when the idea came to her: “I noticed that I rarely, if ever, had a yoga teacher of color, or a black woman at that,” she said. At the encouragement of a friend (who also offered her home as a studio), Ms. Ash started a yoga series. Today, it has evolved from home classes to a national event series, website and podcast.
Closing the wellness gap: According to the National Health Interview Survey, a study developed by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Health Statistics, 17.1 percent of non-Hispanic white people used yoga as compared to 9.3 percent of non-Hispanic black people and 8 percent of Hispanic people. Ms. Ash wants to address the lack of diversity in the wellness industry by aligning herself and Black Girl in Om with organizations committed to diversity. “We’re not representing marginalized folk in our yoga studios,” she said. “So why are you surprised that people who come are this monolith?”
Morning Routine: Ms. Ash begins her mornings with meditation, a relatively new practice in her life, followed by an herbal latte and a walk. She recently moved to Marina del Rey, Calif. from Chicago. “For me to be able to live in a place where I can go outside almost year-round and just sit and bask in the sun and look at the waves,” she said. “That is nourishing me in a way that allows me to continue to give to others.”
Self-Care Practice: Ms. Ash listens to “spiritual-vibey” music, practices a model on building trust by Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, and tries to be more intentional about her relationships by setting boundaries. “I’ve had more conversations in 2019 that have absolutely scared me and freaked me out,” she said. “But on the other side of that was a deepening of friendship that I never could have imagined.”
Future Plans: She wants to create more content that explores the role that spirituality plays in wellness practices. “Spiritual well-being is absolutely essential to healing, particularly intergenerational healing from trauma,” she said. She will revamp the Black Girl in Om website and, this month, stars a six-city tour with the Wing, where she will host sessions focused on meditation and conversation about wellness.
