Health, wellness, and self-care

These resources include health and wellness supports and activities in the Portland metro area. They also explore what Audre Lorde, a Black civil rights activist, writer, lesbian, and feminist, coined as self-care: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

Click on the drop-down arrow next to the text for information about the link. Click on the link to be directed to that resource.

Health and wellness supports and activities Organizations and programs that offer health and wellness activities. Some of these activities are culturally specific.

  • At Atrium, we believe movement is for everybody and curiosity is a superpower. We’re here to create a space where you can integrate your mind, body, and spiritual practices and build meaningful connection with yourself and your community.

    $12+ sliding scale classes (choose “ticket price” when booking class using the slider)

    Click here for more information.

  • A list of providers for everything from Acupuncture to fitness to therapy.

    We are not recommending any program or service on this page. Please make your decisions based on your research.

    Click here for more information.

  • Community is, has been, and always will be at the heart of Elk Rock Yoga.

    Socioeconomic equity is the idea that every person has an equal opportunity to access resources and achieve their fullest potential, regardless of their background or economic status. Socioeconomic equity can be achieved through policies that address income inequality, provide access to affordable healthcare and education, and promote job creation. By creating a more equitable society, we can reduce poverty and increase social mobility, ultimately leading to a healthier and more prosperous community for all.

    We know many movements begin with communities coming together around a focus. We hope we make an impact on community well-being, one breath at a time.

    $10 yoga

    Community Classes are an equity initiative that reflects our dedication to socioeconomic justice by making a regular yoga practice more accessible. $10 Community Classes rotate seasonally, and are designated as such on our daily schedule.

    View $10 Classes

    Click here for more information.

  • FLOW & RESTORE
    Thursdays @ 8:00 pm
    Led by Majo Reina Mencias

    This unheated, all-levels, yoga class is taught by a BIPOC instructor for the BIPOC community. Anyone who identifies as BIPOC is encouraged to attend this weekly free class offering both gentle flow practice and restorative passive holds. The first 30 minutes will be a nurturing and gentle vinyasa flow, building subtle heat in the body and focusing on the connection of body and breath. The 2nd half of class will be down on the floor, encouraging stillness and grounding, with a series of restorative and/or yin shapes accessed with the support of props (blankets, bolsters, blocks). You’ll leave this class feeling a balance of re-energized and relaxed.

    Click here for more information.

  • Walking for Healing and Liberation

    Far more than a walking group, GirlTREK is a life-saving sisterhood. We are a campaign to heal intergenerational trauma, fight systemic racism and transform Black lives. As women organize walking teams, they also mobilize community members to support advocacy efforts and lead a Civil Rights-inspired health movement. GirlTREK’s membership is currently at over one million and growing every day.

    It started with two friends, T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison in 2010. On November 18, 2020, GirlTREK inspired Shameka Cornelius, its one millionth member, to walk for better health. Today GirlTREK has 1,371,776 members, representing 7% of the total population of African American women.

    In addition to unprecedented growth, GirlTREK is influencing millions and shaping a new culture of health. In 2020 alone, GirlTREK stories and campaigns like the #DaughtersOf Conversation Series and Black History Bootcamp: A Walking Podcast earned 271 million impressions, 9 million online engagements and 300+ traditional media stories across 68 countries.

    Click here for more information.

  • Join us every Saturday for a free community workout! Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned pro, this all-levels session is designed for everyone.

    Our friendly coaches will guide you through each movement, offering tips and modifications to match your fitness level. It’s the perfect chance to try something new, build confidence, and enjoy a supportive environment.

    Bring a friend, make some new ones, and kick off the weekend with a fun, energizing sweat! See you there!

    Click here for more information.

  • At Seeking Space Yoga, our mission is to remove the stigma and stereotype that yoga is for a particular demographic or population. We believe representation matters, and to create a space where all feel welcome, we need to invest in expanding our community and our teachers. 

    The Equitable Space Scholarship program is a brand new initiative created to open up opportunities for underrepresented communities to access and immerse themselves in the practice of yoga. Recipients of the scholarships will receive a 50% discount toward the cost of yoga training or toward the cost of a 3-month unlimited yoga membership.

    With this scholarship, we aim to overcome some of the financial barriers to yoga education and to maintaining a regular practice for BIPOC individuals and sex-industry professionals, two communities who have traditionally been underrepresented within yoga. 

    Click here for more information.

  • Collective Care

    In addition to offering by-donation options and memberships that greatly reduce the cost of drop-in classes, we also offer equity pricing. This program attempts to push back against income inequity, generally, and the ways that Black and Indigenous people, other People of Color, queer and trans folks and people with disabilities are disproportionately and systematically impacted by barriers to healthcare and wellness services, specifically. Our students who pay full price and who donate to our Community Fund create capacity for others to access yoga, and through this we create a system for collective care. 

    Click here for more information.

  • Scholarships are available and Community classes.

    Click here for more information.

  • Our mission is to remove the stigma and stereotype that yoga is for a particular demographic or population. We are committed to accepting you as you are and nothing less. Yin Yoga Space is a judgement-free all welcoming studio focused on your health and relaxation through mindfulness and movement. Body positivity, gender inclusion and ethnic diversity is the baseline of our core existence and we seek to create a welcoming environment for everyone.


    Click here for more information.

Radical self-care Organizations and programs that offer culturally specific radical self-care activities.

  • The History of Radical Self-Care

    Bath bombs, candles, and face masks is what many perceive self-care to be now adays. Buying items is now seen as the solution to self-care, when it may actually obscures or minimizes the real issues. Self-care, more specifically, radical self-care, was and continues to be an act of investing in oneself within a system that withholds acknowledgment and resources from minoritized groups. At first the term self-care was only used in a medical context. The term entered public vernacular in the late 1960s, specifically for the Black community during the Civil Rights Movement. 

    Black and Latinx feminist writers like Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, and Gloria Anzaldua took it into their hands to expose the lack of resources for Black women and their health. Writer Audre Lorde asserted the autonomy of Black women, and demanded they take the fight for themselves. In Audre Lorde’s book, A Burst of Light, she writes “I am saving my life by using my life in the service of what must be done. I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out my ears, my eyes, my noseholes – everywhere.” Radical self-care is self-preservation, as well as a call for greater access to resources.

    The Black Panther Party and Black and Latinx feminist writers used radical self-care to take command of their health and wellness. Self-care became an act of appreciation and acceptance for one’s mind and body as it was and is. The Black Panther Party also became a resource of radical self-care to Black communities to ensure their survival and happiness. 

    What is it?

    Wherever you are, your surrounding environment influences your state of wellbeing– and it’s completely understandable to get exhausted just from the everyday. Radical self-care is the prioritization of placing your needs before someone else's. Radical self-care is carving out a space for yourself by defining your own self-care. Stressors can vary depending on the resources one’s community has access to and/or how society affects one’s identity. Exhaustion can come from institutionalized racism and the interpersonal racism in one’s everyday experience. Exhaustion can also occur from our fighting against these forces. Radical self-care is essential to sustain our activism, our community, and ourselves.

    It is radical because it is the act of fully engaging in self-care and ourselves. We know ourselves the best, what we are feeling, and what we need. It is because we know ourselves best, that we can assert what it is that we need. When we are addressing ourselves, it positively trickles out to the community and the environment around us. It is healing. It is self-acceptance. It is radical.

    Wellness is multidimensional. Radical self-care starts from one of four categories. 

    • Physical

      • How does your body feel? Do you need water? Food? Or Rest? Are you clenching your jaw?

    • Mental

      • How does your headspace feel? What kind of thoughts are filling your space?

    • Emotional

      • What are the emotions in your headspace? How are they affecting your mind and body? What do you need to best express your current feelings?

    • Sense of Self

      • Are you listening to what your heart wants! Have you done something that you enjoy today?

    Click here for more information.

    *SAIC The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity: Radical Self Care - Learn & Unlearn: Anti-racism Resource Guide - Research Guides at School of the Art Institute of Chicago (saic.edu)

  • Radical self-care can take many forms. It is you recognizing your needs and defining what is needed to address them.

    Radical self-care looks like:

    • Something that feels attainable to you

    • A realistic routine for you that becomes a continued practice

    • Listening to your mind and body as an ongoing process

    • Time by yourself and/or with others that is sustainable

    Reminders:

    • Buying products is not self-care

    • Overworking can lead to unsustainable reward systems

    • Self-care does not look the same for everyone

    • Be wary of distracting yourself from the matters at hand

    • You are not being selfish

    Radical self-care can help us reclaim our time and place. Burn-out is a common feeling radical self-care works to alleviate. Stress looks different depending on someone’s environment and identity. Accessibility to many or few community resources can also shape someone’s stress. Defining, understanding, and then acting upon our needs brings awareness to our macro, mezzo, and micro decisions.

    Quotes

    “Anyone who’s interested in making change in the world also has to learn how to take care of herself, himself, theirselves.” - Angela Davis, 2018, Interview with AFROPUNK

    “I had to examine, in my dreams as well as in my immune-function tests, the devastating effects of overextension. Overextending myself is not stretching myself. I had to accept how difficult it is to monitor the difference. Necessary for me as cutting down on sugar. Crucial. Physically. Psychically. Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” - Audre Lorde, 1988, A Burst of Light

    Click here for more information.

  • To Read

    • A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde

      Call Number: Main Stacks PS3562.O75 Z463 2017

      ISBN: 9780486818993

      Publication Date: 2017-09-13

      This book is also available electronically.

    • A Garden of Black Joy by Keno Evol (Editor)

      Call Number: REQUEST FROM INTERLIBRARY LOAN

      ISBN: 9781634893107

      Publication Date: 2020-02-22

    • The Art of Being by Danielle Allen

      Call Number: REQUEST FROM INTERLIBRARY LOAN

      ISBN: 9781545385159

      Publication Date: 2017-04-14

    • Love in My Language by Alexandra Elle; Ashleigh Kinsey (Designed by)

      Call Number: REQUEST FROM INTERLIBRARY LOAN

      ISBN: 1494961202

      Publication Date: 2014-07-07

    Click here for more information.

  • To Listen

    Please note: none of the podcasts below offer episode transcripts.

    To Watch

    1. TEDx Talks, "Self Care is Radical | Raymonda Reese | TEDxSeattleUniversity," YouTube, November 14, 2017

    2. TEDx Talks, "The Missing Ingredient in Self Care | Portia Jackson-Preston | TEDxCrenshaw," YouTube, November 5, 2019

    3. RADICAL SELF CARE: ANGELA DAVIS

  • To Reflect

    Ask yourself these questions sourced from "How You Can Honor the Radical History of Self-Care" by Martha Tesema, Shine, 2020:

    • What’s the first memory you have of practicing self-care?

    • How has your self-care changed over time?

    • What does it look like - and how does it feel - when you feel cared for by yourself or your community?

    • Who has influenced your self-care routine

    • How do you want your relationship to self-care to grow in the future?

    • How do you feel when you take care of yourself?

    To Act

    Take steps towards self care that feel comfortable and active for you.

    Click here for more information.

  • Founded by artist and theologian Tricia Hersey in 2016, The Nap Ministry evolved from Transfiguration, a performance where the artist explored reparations, resistance, Black Liberation Theology, and the spiritual practice of rest, and how it can be used as a direct line to our ancestors. 

    For Transfiguration, Hersey combined her knowledge of theology, poetry, performance, archives, and community organizing, inevitably giving form to the frameworks, manifesto, tenets, and rest practices that would define The Nap Ministry. 

    Click here for more information.

  • Transformative Living Community, International (TLC, Int'l) is a body of engaged citizens rooted in faith. We serve to support justice, equity, healing & wellness by facilitating growth and development of people, their strengths, and their relationships with each other and the natural world. We offer affordable opportunities to enhance wellness through transformative education,  creative expression and nature appreciation. We are strengthening the power of engaged citizenship to improve the human condition.  

    Click here for more information.