Although ESSENCE Fest is the place to spot your favorite celebrities and listen to engaging panels with today’s hottest thought leaders, influencers, and even politicians, our Black girl magic gathering also served as a haven for holistic wellness through Wellness House activation, which offered a place to retreat, rejuvenate, and restore your mind, body, and spirit. Through intentional programming, we provided our guests with tips and tricks to live their best lives, from sex, health and wellness, mental health, and relationship advice. Some experts at each pod included Ashley Cobb, a sexpert, DR. Karen Winkfield, Kim Rose, Tiffany Monique, and more. Scroll down for a snapshot of what you missed at Wellness House this year!
Guided Meditation: We calmed our minds and centered our spirits this year through a special guided mediation, complete with sound bowls.
Read the Room: The session connected Wellness House guests with ancestral and angel card readings from established mediums like Tiffany Monique and Thomjana. Both spiritual guides encouraged Black women to become liberated with their spirit and ancestral guides so they could take action in their lives.
The Weight of It All: Experts in weight loss and nutrition helped people understand the keys to healthy weight loss, like registered dietitian Kim Rose, who encouraged festivalgoers to alter their mindset regarding their food intake. “It’s a mindset shift. I spoke with a few people about their diversity of health issues, and they thought I would tell them they have to eat like rabbits. But I told them instead, “Hey, if you’re making your greens, let’s switch out the ham hocks for Turkey because it’s a leaner protein. So it’s definitely going to get that flavor, but it’s also going to be much healthier on your cholesterol levels and high blood pressure,” she shared.
Rose continued, “I know a lot of doctors tell individuals to decrease your blood pressure, to control your diabetes, to help with your kidney disease, you have to lose weight. But what I’m realizing is they’re treating the symptom, and they’re not treating the cause. So they think losing weight will help with everything, but when I talk to people, I say, “Well, what time of the day are you eating? Do you have set meal times?”
Let’s Talk About Sex: Sex educators offer advice and help guests feel more confident in their bodies to support them in having a fulfilling sex life. Ashley Cobb and Brittney Flippen encouraged Black women to be open about their sexuality and their intimacy levels by first connecting with themselves on a deeper level.
Check Yourself: For this pod, we encouraged our participants to learn the importance of checking themselves often for cancer if they are of a specific age or if it runs in their family. On the ground, we spoke with Dr. Karen Winkfield, a professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a cancer specialist, about her advice to festivalgoers who were curious or concerned about cancer. “This is our first time here, at Essence, and we’re thrilled, and we wanted just to remind our family here to make sure that they’re checking themselves for cancer,” she shared. Winkfield continued, “You can do that in a couple of ways; knowing your body is really important. And I tell people, “You are the captain of your ship.” If you are feeling pain or a lump or a bump, and you go to a doctor, and they dismiss you, find another doctor to receive a second opinion. So that’s one of the main messages we’re trying to empower people to be aware of their bodies and check themselves.”
Mind Over Matter: Preserving our mental health is key! We were happy to offer several Black women psychologists, like Chanda Reynolds and Psy.D, to share ways to do so. She knows the importance of Black people having therapists who look like them. She told Senior Lifestyle Editor Victoria Uwumarogie, “We have various directories, such as Therapy for Black Girls, Therapy for Black Men, and the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which is Taraji P. Henson’s nonprofit. She has a dope directory. There’s also Minds of the Culture, which is my non-profit. And I’ve also been leading people to the Psychology of Black Women, which is a class that I offer. I let people know, just come. We can work out something even if you don’t have the funds. I just want people to get the help that they need.”