Black People Breathe: A Mindfulness Guide to Racial Healing

by Zee Clarke Narrated by Zee Clarke

Overview

A thoughtful and inclusive guide to help Black people-and all people of color-heal from racial trauma using vital tools from an expert in mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork.
 
It is your right to survive. It is your right to thrive. Mindfulness and breathwork will help you do just that.
 
Racism is more than just an interpersonal experience. It is a systemic injustice that affects the lives of Black people, and all people of color, in countless ways. Doctors and psychologists have discovered the wide-ranging-and often devastating-effects of racism on one's emotional, physical, and mental health, from high blood pressure and heart problems to anxiety and depression. Yet studies show that mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork can significantly reduce these issues. This is where Zee Clarke comes in.
 
In this powerful book, Clarke draws on her professional expertise and her lived experience as a Black woman to share mindfulness exercises, breathwork practices, and meditative tools centered on healing from and surviving racial trauma. Filled with deeply personal stories highlighting the many systemic challenges that people of color face, this mixture of guide and memoir offers thirty-three practical techniques based on the emotions elicited from these experiences. Whether you are coping with police brutality, racial profiling, microaggressions, or even imposter syndrome, Black People Breathe gives you the tools to process these complex feelings physically, mentally, and emotionally. Though this collection was created to facilitate healing for communities of color, it also offers allies insight into the discrimination and inequity that these communities face, creating a space for deeper empathy and the inspiration to drive change.
 
Black People Breathe takes a radically inclusive approach to mindfulness, allowing communities of color the opportunity to embark on a journey towards racial healing.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Zee Clarke’s beautifully illustrated book, Black People Breathe, is a go-to reference book for every Black person, People of Color, and ally to understand the devastating health consequences of ongoing systemic racism, microaggressions, and other struggles. Black People Breathe will become a go-to manual, charting a course toward how we can heal ourselves with breathwork and mindfulness so we don’t just survive, but thrive.”—Dr. Corey Yeager, author of How Am I Doing: 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself, Detroit Pistons life coach & psychotherapist

“In Black People Breathe, Zee Clarke captures how we can all be more aware, empathetic, and supportive as allies. She has opened my eyes wider to issues I’ve been aware of and discussing for several years. The magic with this book is that Zee’s personal touch completely expands my awareness and gives me a new perspective that will propel me in my work moving forward. And I plan to implement the breathing techniques into my own life. I am grateful to Zee for her honesty, vulnerability, and strength. I am recommending this book to all of my friends and colleagues, as we will all learn and grow by reading Black People Breathe.”—Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient

Library Journal

★ 01/01/2023

Mindfulness teacher Clarke's book opens at a violin vigil for slain Black violinist Elijah McClain, a scene has become all too familiar in recent years—a peaceful gathering or protest that turns violent, leaving attendees shaken, traumatized, and confused. The author relied upon a learned breathing technique to guide her through the chaos and through her continued attempts to process that event and the other traumas she faces as a Black woman. What results is this useful guide to the "white, hippie stuff" that many Black people assume cannot help them. The book is broken into sections about challenges that many Black people face on a regular basis—microaggressions, accessing quality health care, hostile work environments, racial profiling; these are paired with concrete mindfulness techniques (with inclusive images) to use in those situations. Readers will appreciate that the book doesn't shy away from difficult topics but helps digest and explore them. Clarke also provides easy-to-follow breathing and mindfulness practices to help bring some peace and clarity. VERDICT Though aimed at Black readers, other people of color (or those looking to better understand the Black experience in the U.S.) will benefit greatly from Clarke's book. This is an essential and timely addition to a library's self-help section.—Whitney Bates-Gomez

Product Details

BN ID:	2940174933316
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	03/14/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Introduction


Angry. Frustrated. Undervalued. Shocked. Sad. Attacked. Ashamed. Anxious. This is only a fraction of what Black people feel when we experience racism. Doctors and psychologists have discovered that the experience of racism can result in a wide range of health impacts that kill us slowly—death by a thousand cuts. Researchers at Columbia University found that racism causes traumatic stress, linked to negative mental-health outcomes such as depression, anger, hypervigilance, and low self-esteem. Chronically high levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream cause severe physical consequences, and racism has been linked to significantly higher rates of both heart disease and high blood pressure in African Americans. Studies also find that racial discrimination causes unhealthy behaviors, including overeating and substance abuse.

We can’t wait for other people to get “woke,” because we’ll lose too many of our own people in the process. But there is something that we can do to begin healing. It’s a “secret” that’s been around for thousands of years. I discovered it when I was in Oakland, California, and then in India, where I explored it further. So, what is it?

Mindfulness.

It’s the cheapest medical treatment you’ll find on the market, and without a long list of side effects. Mindfulness doesn’t require meditating in an ashram or a monastery. Something as simple as taking a deep breath qualifies as mindfulness, and it can literally change the way you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I used to think that meditation and yoga were not for people who looked like me. The few times that I attended any such classes, I was the only Black person in the room, which only solidified this misconception. However, the more I learned, the more I realized that Black people actually need these practices the most. And they work. Studies show that mindfulness practices reduce stress, blood pressure, heart disease, and so many more health issues that Black people face on a daily basis as a direct result of the harsh impact of systemic racism, microaggressions, and overt hate crimes on our lives. These practices can be used regardless of your religion, and you will feel the effects in real time.

In the following chapters, I’m going to share my personal experiences as a Black woman in America and the specific mindfulness and breathwork practices that have worked for me. Don’t just take my word for it—the best way to truly understand and experience the benefits is to try them out. This isn’t a book to read once and then let sit on your shelf. This is the ultimate guide to your mental and physical health when it comes to racism. The next time you’re stopped by the police, the next time someone touches your hair without asking, the next time a white person says or does something that makes you so angry that you want to do something more Malcolm X than MLK, come back to this book for specific breathwork or mindfulness techniques that you can use to heal. Video tutorials of key practices can be found at zeeclarke.com/resources to guide you along the way.

It is our right to survive. It is our right to thrive. Mindfulness and breathwork will help you do just that.

Please Note

Although this book is written for Black people and tailored to the Black experience in America, those of other backgrounds who experience similar challenges can also benefit from the tools that I will share. To my white friends, I invite you to educate yourself about the Black experience, with an intention informed by both empathy and action. I also invite you to think about what role you might play to accelerate change.

Videos