Lauren Ash’s path to creating Black Girl In Om (BGIO) blossomed from her own need as a Black woman to find healing in a world hostile to our very existence. The Minneapolis-based wellness advocate honors her ancestors and elders, and she attributes her vision and drive to her grandmother, Lillian.
“I think of my maternal lineage that goes back to the South, specifically Louisiana, and having a very resilient grandmother. . . . Just knowing everything that she in particular had to endure to not only survive, but my grandmother was thriving! She really is the embodiment of what I’m doing now.”
The idea for Black Girl In Om was sparked for Ash in college, where she witnessed acts of racism against other Black women on the campus of her mostly white liberal-arts university in Minnesota. The experience was life changing.
From there, she began her journey of healing in graduate school, where she became inspired to create a healing space that she saw was scarce in the world, a space that centered Black women.
She now hosts The Circle, a highly successful digital program for women of color, alongside the beloved BGIO podcast. She and her team also offer wellness-practitioner training; curate an online publication, Om; and more.
“Through healing myself and being self-reflective about my own life experiences and the healing trajectory that I’ve inherited from my ancestors, I’m able to spark and catalyze healing for others.”
This was excerpted from “Welcome to Wellness” which was published in Experience Life magazine.
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