Why is rest so hard for Black women to claim—and what does it cost us when we don’t?

In this episode, Jewelle explores the spiritual, ancestral, and energetic necessity of rest for Black women, naming it not as a luxury, but as a practice of resistance, remembrance, and restoration. Drawing from scripture, epigenetics, Afrofuturism, and the teachings of Tricia Hersey (The Nap Ministry) and Cole Arthur Riley (Black Liturgies), this conversation traces how rest was denied, criminalized, and extracted from Black women’s bodies—and why reclaiming it now is essential to our liberation, pleasure, and holistic wellbeing.

Through stories of lineage, Sabbath theology, dreamspace, and the life of Jesus Himself, Jewelle invites listeners to see rest as our divine birthright—one that returns us to God, reconnects us to our bodies, and helps us imagine and build liberated futures.

This is a call to stop performing, stop proving, and start resting—not just for ourselves, but for those who came before us and the Black women coming after us.

🔑 Key Message

Rest is not optional for Black women—it is a sacred practice that honors our ancestors, restores our dignity, and reconnects us to God and our inherent divinity.

✨ What You’ll Walk Away With

• A deeper understanding of why rest feels so foreign to Black women and how historical, generational, and spiritual forces shaped that reality.
• Encouragement to release guilt, performance, and urgency, and to see rest as obedience, trust, and divine inheritance.
• Practical tools for embodying rest as resistance, remembrance, intimacy, dignity, and Sabbath—without needing to earn it.

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🧠 By the end of this episode, you’ll see how:

• Rest disrupts systems of extraction and refuses productivity as the measure of worth.

• • Choosing rest honors ancestors who were denied it and rewrites what we pass down.
  • God uses rest, stillness, and dreamspace to heal, guide, and reveal liberated futures.

  
  

  🌿 Meant for your reflection:

  As you listen, consider:

  1. When was the last time you rested without guilt or justification?

  2. What beliefs about rest did you inherit—and which ones are you ready to release?

  3. How might your rest today shape the world Black women inherit tomorrow?

  📲Enjoying the show? Connect with Jewelle

  Follow on Instagram: @jewelletbrown @eveninthesmallthings

  Listen on Youtube: @jewelletbrown

  Subscribe to the newsletter: ⁠eveninthesmallthings.substack.com⁠

  
  

  🔗 Resources Mentioned

  Tricia Hersey’s Song “Rest Life”

  Tricia Hersey’s Dreamscape Playlist
  

As a companion to Episode 8, this minisode features a body-scan meditation to ground you into the ease, safety, and security of the present moment—especially when you’re feeling angst or anxiety about what the future holds. This meditation helps you connect to your breath, your body, and the sensations around you. A beautiful two-part mantra supports you in accessing the present moment and settling into the presence of God.

If you are driving or doing any activity that requires you to be alert, you can certainly listen along, but please revisit this minisode when you can safely close your eyes and fully partake in the meditation.

What if the very pursuit of your purpose is what's keeping you from it? In this episode, Jewelle explores how presence—not pursuit—becomes the pathway to fulfilling your divine design. Through the lens of Pixar's Soul, Jesus's unhurried ministry, and the wisdom of Florence Scovel Shinn, she reveals why 91% of people experience "purpose anxiety" and how practicing presence offers a different way forward. Learn the P.A.U.S.E. Practice—a 2-minute embodiment tool to ground you into the present moment where God's voice, intuition, and discernment become crystal clear. If you've been chasing your purpose instead of inhabiting it, this episode will shift everything.

🔑 Key Message

The more present we are, the more our purpose is revealed—because presence creates the conditions for hearing God, accessing intuition, and taking aligned action that moves us into the Divine Design for our lives.

✨ What You’ll Walk Away With

• A reframe on purpose: It's not something you chase, but something that unfolds through presence

• Three ways the pursuit of purpose becomes a trap (making it an idol, perfectionism, disconnection from now)

• Jesus's model for unhurried, interruptible, withdrawal-centered ministry

• The P.A.U.S.E. Practice—a practical tool to ground into the present moment anytime, anywhere

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By the end of this episode, you’ll see how:

• Presence activates spiritual discernment, intuition, and the ability to hear God's still, small voice

• Your body holds wisdom and intelligence that your analytical mind can't access on its own

• • Living in the present moment isn't passive—it's practicing availability to God and God's plan for your life

  
  

  Meant for your reflection:

  As you listen, consider:

  1. Where have I been chasing my purpose instead of allowing it to unfold?

  2. What would change if I believed that being present is more important than being productive?

  3. How can I practice the P.A.U.S.E. framework this week when I notice myself future-tripping or striving?

• Enjoying the show? Connect with Jewelle

  Follow on Instagram: @jewelletbrown @eveninthesmallthings

  Listen on Youtube: @jewelletbrown

  Subscribe to the newsletter: ⁠eveninthesmallthings.substack.com⁠

  Please rate and review the show! Your support on Spotify (ratings) and Apple Podcasts (reviews) helps other women discover this sacred space for faith, mindfulness, and becoming.