Where Black women immerse in racial healing.
Experience live instruction at the volume-level of your choice at our first time ever, water retreat.
Return & Retreat is a unique wellness retreat facilitated in partnership with Taylor Elyse Morrison of Inner Workout. It’ll combine silent disco headphones technology with Inner Workout’s multi-layered, self-care practice in a beautiful waterfront setting.
In its first edition, our goal is to create a FREE but luxurious opportunity for Black women to practice self-healing while engaging two abundant resources. Water and mindfulness.
Inner Workout's practice blends movement, breathwork, journaling, meditation, and flow. Together, we’ll embark on a two-hour journey inward, exploring each dimension of wellbeing.
Return & Retreat was designed to heighten your senses. We are a social wellness experience firmly rooted in racial healing, fostering a community supported return-to-self.
[ Retreat access is FREE. Access will be granted on application basis. Spots are limited.]
Hi! I’m Flavia Borges. A Black woman seeking race-based healing resources, I decided to create a community healing experience that I so deeply crave. In the summer of 2020, while the Black community collectively grieved devastating pain surrounding the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, among numerous Black lives losses, I found healing in water. After studying water and it’s mental wellness benefits, I realized how privileged I was to be a Black woman in this world, with access to abundant water. This retreat was born from a desire to create an impactful experience centered in racial healing. An experience that much like a single drop of water, will cause a ripple effect.
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The Research
The role of water in mental health
Research suggests that “mental fatigue could be reduced by simply viewing a restorative environment. Water sounds are perfect for calming activities such as meditation or yoga and can help soothe periods of stress and anxiety.” _Dr. Deborah Cracknell.
The Black community has experienced a legacy of trauma. Unaddressed PTSD combined with recurring racial trauma has been passed down through generations, as Dr. Joy DeGruy’s studies have confirmed.
Other studies show that “good memories from people’s day on the water help override the bad memories and images that haunt PTSD patients, and possibly help crack the shell, letting them rejoin the world.” _Dr. Wallace J. Nichols
The role of water in Black History
“Water holds a dual role in the history of Black culture. A symbol of spiritual renewal and physical pleasure, water was transformed into an entity of terror in African America, causing many Black people to fear it and reject its cultural value.”_Dr. Tyler D. Parry. At Return and Retreat, we’ll ignite reclamation of Chicago waterscapes
