Black men find a safe space with The Healing Organization
Tristan Lewis and Andrew Smith created The Healing, with the mission to normalize
mental health and wellness in Black men, using yoga to start the conversation.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SAMANTHA FLYNN
Tristan Lewis and Andrew Smith created the Healing, a non-profit organization with the mission to normalize wellness and mental health for Black men. It was created as a response to 2020, with the global pandemic, racial injustice and civil unrest.
Lewis and Smith were paying really close attention to the conversations that were happening in their friend group. They realized that beyond the shared experience of the pandemic, there also were micro traumas happening in their group’s individual lives. They saw a need for the men in their group to come together and process those traumas together. The Healing was born.
The Healing organization uses Yoga as a vehicle to start the conversation around wellness and mental health. At first, the yoga sessions took place at a park on the South side, early in the morning at 6 a.m. It started off with 20 men. Initially there was some reluctancy, but they were all starting at the same place. Lewis felt that moment was a bonding experience because it allowed them to connect in a practice.
By the fall of 2020, the Yoga Studios offered The Healing organization a space to host their sessions. “As people caught wind of our movement, and what it was that we were doing, yoga studios began reaching out. A lot of yoga studios were connected to the instructors that we were working with,” Smith said.
Lewis and Smith had been looking for ways to engage their communities. They didn’t know yoga would land the way it did. But, to them it made sense.
“We were all in a space of stillness, we were all in a space where we really had to be present with ourselves. When you look at the practice of yoga, yoga is all about self-awareness, it’s all about a practice that fosters self-discovery and stillness. I feel like it was definitely a God-ordained idea that we were blessed to be facilitators of,” Lewis said.
While the space was intentionally created for Black men, Lewis and Smith realized the journey was a community effort and started to invite the women in their lives. A Co-ed session has been created for others who are interested in the flow with the Healing.
Lewis and Smith have also been intentional about the yoga instructors chosen to facilitate the sessions. “I think it was powerful that the first few sessions were led by Black women. Even though it is a male-focused practice, we have made space for women to heal with us along that journey,” Lewis said.
The initial response from the men who are involved in The Healing was that this was a space and a practice they didn’t know they needed. Lewis and Smith didn’t set out to get together and plan the organization, it is something that happened organically.
“In starting it, going into that first session, we found that this is a space and a practice we needed personally, more than we could’ve ever realized,” Smith said.
When people enter The Healing organization space, they feel loved, they feel needed, and they feel accepted. It is one of the most important things for Smith and Lewis to cultivate in the space. They want to make sure there is no ego, no one is feeling judged, and that people are feeling accepted when they enter the space.
The goal of The Healing organization is to curate a vibe and energy that allows for acceptance and love, by being as open and transparent as possible. In the next three to six months, Lewis and Smith want to grow the practice and to impact more men with their mission. They also want to expand The Healing’s organization’s reach, to touch men in the City of Chicago, as well as across the country. They are looking at ways to partner with strategic partners and organizations to provide diverse programs within wellness.
The Healing organization is looking to raise $100,000. They want to give back to the community through community service. The Healing organization has sponsored holiday drives at the Perspectives Charter Schools.
This year, The Healing organization wants to offer their services free of charge. The Healing organization is also looking to sponsor four Black men to become yoga instructors, which they believe is very necessary and very important.
For more information about The Healing, visit www.thehealingchi.com.
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