You Good Sis?
To Rach Junard and Jaylee Momplaisir, the phrase is a simple way to check in with one another, but it’s also the name of their business, which they started in Boston in 2017 after bonding over the challenges of trying to enter the white-dominated yoga industry.
“We shared a lot of the same frustrations,” Momplaisir said. “We were like, ‘Let’s create a space where we feel safe, where we can practice with people who look like us.”
As a wellness collective, Junard and Momplaisir said the goal of You Good Sis? is to provide a space for mental, physical, and spiritual well-being for Black and brown women, femmes, and nonbinary folks.
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“We really want to make sure you’re actually well,” Junard said.
That means it’s not just about the yoga. You Good Sis? offers monthly “check-in” sessions, which include meditation and journaling. During the pandemic, the group has hosted events with guest speakers, such as mental health care professionals, to help people process the trauma caused by both the pandemic and the broad reckoning with racial injustice.
“This isn’t just talking about centering our breath and centering our nervous system,” Momplaisir said. “People were coming with real issues, and we saw that.”
Four years after launching, the founders say they have grown their community from less than 20 people to 8,000.
Janelle Nanos can be reached at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @janellenanos.