LAUREN ASH'S EVENING ROUTINE

via @blackgirlinom

Lauren Ash is woman who makes sh*t happen: so when she couldn’t find a mindfulness community that resonated with her, naturally, she built her own.

As a trained yoga and meditation instructor she created Black Girl in Om, a wellness platform that's helping to rewrite what it means for Black womxn to be and feel truly well from the inside out.

And since my blog deals with all things sleep and relaxation, who better than Lauren Ash to teach us a thing or two about how to seriously chill out?

I’ve concluded that her philosophy on rest needs to be on a post-it on all of our bathroom mirrors:

“In our society, we often convince ourselves that we deserve rest once we’ve gotten a certain amount of things done or worked for a certain amount of hours,” Lauren says, “But I want to help people understand that you deserve good rest simply because you exist.”

Take that, hustle culture. What I love about Lauren’s evening routine: it’s a mix of nostalgia, intuition, and spirituality. It feels so authentic and uniquely ‘her.’ So let’s get into how she created an evening routine that centers rest as a priority and nourishes her soul...

A fizzy bath with CBD After dinner, Lauren usually draws a bath with Epsom salt and magnesium to relax her muscles. Her go-to aromatherapy is lavender–though sometimes she opts for an earthy amber incense (just nothing “too fruity or floral” she says). She tops up her suds with Foria bath salts, which contain a blissful blend of CBD, cava, calendula, and hemp.

An Abhyanga ritual This is a new term for me! Abhyanga is a practice of oiling and Ayurvedic self-massage. She has a clever method for making it extra luxe: heating up water in a small dish, discarding the water then filling the bowl with sesame oil. The heat then warms up the oil, which she applies from head to toe in a slow self-massage. She calls this “a really profound practice for self-pleasure, connection with self, and getting to know my body. And it's very warming as well.” Kundalini yoga When it comes to winding down, Lauren opts for a Kundalini practice–a spiritual form of yoga that involves chanting, breathing exercise, singing and repetitive poses that is believed to activate “Kundalini energy” (or shakti)–a spiritual energy at the base of the spine. As this energy rises, it's thought to balance the chakras in the body. Lauren says it helps her go to bed “with the energy of connection and self-love.”

Intuitive reading + solfeggio frequencies Lauren uses her intuition to guide her to a book that she feels will nourish her most in that moment, such as Pleasure Activism. She then pops on tunes with “soulful or spiritual vibes” to put her in the mood for ZZZ’s. Or sometimes, it’s all about Solfeggio frequencies–a soothing sound therapy that consists of nine tones that many believe have spiritually enhancing properties. A sacred space Inspired by memories of her grandmother neatly making her bed and piling pillows up high, Lauren has put the same care into her bedroom. “I ask myself, How can I make this bed the most delicious possible set up for my sleep?” she says “this year, I just started investing more in my sleep, and knowing and affirming that I deserve that rest.” From blackout curtains, to a Tempur-Pedic mattress and linen sheets…she goes all out in recreating a “sacred space” for her rest. Lauren notes that her evening routine didn’t always look this way: she used to beeline from work, to dinner with a friend, to bed…but now she’s learned to slow down and “really properly take care of myself and even integrate and reflect on what happened in the day.” Like most women prioritizing wellness, she always focused on her morning routines but is learning the importance now of bookending her day mindfully. So what about Lauren Ash’s evening routine speaks to you?

I feel so inspired by this one, and I will be lifting some of the spiritual elements for my own wind-down. After my brown noise experiment, I’m keen to test drive Solfeggio frequencies. ✧ Pro-tip: if you’d like to hear from Lauren Ash yourself at bedtime, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Black Girl In Om's "Beauty Sleep" guided meditation, which is available on all streaming platforms (as well as a free YouTube video). Psst…there’s another wellness girlie CEO who LOVES kundali before bed (and has a bit of a crystal obsession), can you guess who?

Design the evening routine of your dreams...I’ve taken inspiration from wellness girlies like Lauren and compiled 40 wind-down ideas + a free planner so you can prioritize self-care tonight. Click here.