Black Women Find Play and Community with New Approaches to Wellness in Philadelphia

By Kristin Holmes

The Sunday meetup began with hugs, warm smiles and the easy conversation that comes with sisterhood. Twenty-five women gathered to spend the end of the weekend together, but not at a brunch with a free flow of muffins and mimosas.

Instead, the afternoon began with a descent down a staircase into the basement that is CycleBar. The indoor cycling gym was the first stop on fitness coach and trainer Zhané Dadson’s wellness crawl, a four-hour tour with a destination of self-care. After a 45-minute cycling session, the group of African American women – clad in black fitness wear – walked together through Center City toward a veggie-friendly lunch, a botanical apothecary and a “Sister Circle” chat in Rittenhouse Square.

“I want us to know that there are so many resources here in the city where we don’t see ourselves, but that we are deserving of,” said Dadson, who is known as Coach Zha. The quarterly get-together is one of a burgeoning group led by individuals and organizations who approach physical activity and wellness for Black women without the traditional fitness-oriented focus on grueling exercise and deprivation. Instead, they offer a view of holistic health that encompasses emotional and mental well-being, achieving goals through community, and maybe even play.

Alongside Dadson and her wellness crawl are Philly Girls Jump, which uses Double Dutch as a social connector and playful disrupter of sedentary lifestyles. Black Girl Joy Bike Ride’s cycling group pedals for fun and fellowship, while Get Mo Phit is a program that uses physical activity as a way to cope with loss and life struggles.

The trend is a response to traditional healthcare and wellness communities that “haven’t been very kind or effective for most of us,” said Paula Green-Smith, vice president of training and technical assistance at Black Women’s Health Imperative, the oldest organization dedicated solely to improving the health and wellness of the nation’s 21 million Black women and girls.

Studies show that Black women have a higher prevalence of health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers, obesity and stress. About 38% of Black women reported little or no participation in leisure-time physical activity, according to a 2023 study in The Journal of Sport Health and Science. As a result, Black women, who face barriers to working out such as family responsibilities and image perception, have a higher risk of developing diseases linked to physical inactivity.

“Sometimes it was intimidating being in a space where people were already super buff, throwing around this equipment with these loud noises – and then it’s just little old me,” said Briana Thomas, who works out as part of the Get Mo Phit program. In response, Green-Smith says, “as Black women so often do, we find a way” to find solutions and approaches that work culturally and create safe spaces where Black women feel comfortable, in contrast with a fitness industry where less than 10 percent of instructors are Black.

Brittany Bronson sought out that safe space several months ago, after she happened upon an Instagram post that stirred memories of an unachieved childhood goal. She had always wanted to jump Double Dutch. The post, from Philly Girls Jump, outlined the group’s weekly schedule of jumping sessions at Awbury Recreation Center in Germantown, the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Spruce Hill Park.

Bronson, a professor at St. Joseph’s University who says she feels incessant pressure to be perfect at work, showed up one day at Awbury. There, outside and adjacent to the basketball court, she found co-founder Tanisha Rinehardt and group leader Rasheedah McLean modeling their group’s philosophy, “Our ropes are open to everyone.”

“It has been great for my mental health and for connecting with other Black women,” said Bronson, of Mt. Airy, a wife and mother of three sons. “It’s been great to be able to take off all of the things of the world that drive our careers and just be safe learning to Double Dutch.”

For fitness trainer Morgan Burrell, it was a different challenge that led to the founding of the Get Mo Phit program: the loss of her mother to cancer sunk Burrell into a period of smoking, drinking and bad relationships, searching for a way to feel good about herself. She found fitness, and incorporated a spiritual component rooted in her own faith journey. Then, Burrel started Get Mo Phit with co-founder Erica Groomes, creating a program designed to help women avoid getting trapped in the negative habits that can develop as a way to cope with loss and struggle.

Burrell encourages journaling, goal setting and shares spiritual resources. This approach appealed to Thomas, who was feeling unmoored after giving up a dance career that had been a focus of her life. “The experience with Burrell was ‘deeper,’ than in a gym.

Thomas said. “She tied in all the other aspects of health: fitness goals, and goals to grow mentally, spiritually, friendships, relationships. It was so much more helpful.”

Goalsetting was also a focus at Gadson’s wellness crawl earlier this month. Coach Zha asked the women why they came, and the goals they hoped to achieve. “I’m going to be 40 in two weeks,” said Sarah Girma, a flight attendant from Yeadon, who has attended seven of Dadson’s wellness crawls. “I’m committed to making myself better and I feel like self-care is the highest form of self-love.”