You organize the food drive, answer the group chat at midnight and show up for every rally, funeral and fundraiser. Then someone tells you to take a bubble bath. Healing justice offers a better answer to that kind of tired. It treats care as something we build together, not a private chore you squeeze in after everyone else eats.
I’m Ashley Ali, and as a Queens spiritual counselor I bring this idea into my community and social justice talks. In those rooms, I’ll speak about justice and, in the same breath, remind everyone to drink water. At a 400-person conference in Texas, the moon was in Virgo, so the whole room also got a reminder to hydrate and put on lotion. It sounds small. Still, it holds the whole idea: the cause matters, and so do the bodies carrying it.
Below, you’ll learn where healing justice comes from and how community care differs from self-care. You’ll also get practices your family, group or team can start this month. Finally, I’ll share how talks and healing circles fit in, and where their limits are.
What is healing justice?
Healing justice is a framework, not a product or a trend. According to Open Society Foundations, the term took shape in the southeastern United States in the early 2000s, through the Kindred Healing Justice Collective. That network brought together Black, Indigenous, LGBTQI and women of color organizers, political healers and health practitioners.
Why did they need it? Members were seeing more suicides and immense burnout among organizers in their own communities. In response, they began using the term to lift up the role of healing in collective survival. In other words, the people doing the fighting needed care too, and they needed it as a group.
Cara Page co-founded the group, known in full as the Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective. In a conversation with the Barnard Center for Research on Women, she places it in Atlanta, conceived in 2005. She describes healing justice as making healing the lens for liberation work. She also frames it as an answer to one question: “How are we interrupting generational harm?”
Here is how I explain it in plain words. A lot of harm comes through systems, like unsafe housing, racism or overwork. So healing can’t only happen alone on a yoga mat. It also has to happen in our families, our organizations and the changes we fight for.
A word on lineage, too. I didn’t invent this, and neither did the wellness industry. I carry it with respect for the organizers who named it, and I point people back to their work.
My lens: healing is active
If you remember one line from me, make it this one. Healing is active. It’s a choice, a revolution, a stand for justice. It isn’t something that simply happens to you while you wait.
During the pandemic, for example, veterans came to my garage for haircuts, and anyone who asked got a card reading too. That turned into “witching hour and a haircut, if you were a veteran.” Those were small, practical acts, offered in person. Looking back, that’s what I mean by active. Care is something you do, not only something you feel.
Why community care is spiritual work
My Hindu roots shape this too. The BBC guide to Hindu concepts explains that dharma can mean duty, virtue and morality. It also names dharma as the force that holds the universe and society together. So when I show up for my neighbors, I’m not stepping away from my spiritual life. I’m living it.
Of course, families, regions and teachers explain dharma in their own ways, and Indo-Caribbean homes carry their own lineage. Your pandit (a Hindu priest) or a trusted elder can share how your family sees it. For me, the thread holds either way: how we treat each other is part of the practice.
That’s why my talks hold both. First, we talk about justice, grief and burnout. Then I remind you to stretch, refill your water and grab a snack that isn’t just coffee. The work is cosmic and practical at once.
Community care versus self-care
Self-care isn’t the enemy. Rest, therapy, prayer and a good night’s sleep all matter. However, self-care alone puts the whole load back on the person who already feels drained. Community care shifts the question. Instead of “What do I need to fix about me?” it asks “What do we need, and who is carrying too much?”
- Self-care says, “Take a day off.” Community care makes sure someone covers your shift without guilt.
- Self-care says, “Remember to eat.” Community care puts real food on the table at the evening meeting.
- Self-care says, “Ask for help.” Community care builds a sign-up sheet so nobody has to ask.
Picture a mutual aid organizer in Flatbush who runs the Saturday grocery drop, translates for two neighbors and still works full time. A friend sends her a face mask and a sweet note. That’s kind. But what would truly help is someone else running next month’s grocery drop, plus a meal rotation for her busy weeks.
That’s community care. It isn’t charity, and it isn’t a one-time gesture. Rather, it’s a habit of noticing who is running on empty and changing the plan, not just the person.
Healing justice practices to start with your people
You don’t need a grant or a title to begin. Start small, start where you already belong, and keep it steady. These are practices I share in talks and circles, and you can adapt every one of them.
At home
- Hold a five minute check-in at dinner where each person shares one high, one low and one need.
- Split the invisible jobs, like calling the landlord, booking doctor visits or planning family events.
- Trade family stories, including the hard ones, once everyone feels ready. After all, remembering together is a form of care.
In your group or movement
- Open meetings with one slow breath and a water break, because tired bodies make tired decisions.
- Rotate leadership so no single person holds every key, password and phone number.
- Plan rest after big events the same way you plan the event itself.
- Debrief hard days in a circle where everyone gets equal time to speak.
- Agree on a clear way to name harm and repair it, so conflict doesn’t quietly push people out.
At work
Workplaces can practice this too. For example, a team might cross-train so that one person’s day off doesn’t stall everything. A manager might also swap “How’s the project?” for “How are you, really?” If your staff is running on fumes, my guide to a burnout workshop for employees shows what that kind of session covers.
Before you change anything, sit with these journal questions:
- Who checks on me, and who do I check on?
- Where am I carrying a load that the people around me could share?
- What did my family or community do to survive that I want to keep?
- Which small act of care can I offer this week?
How talks and healing circles support movements and organizations
Many groups already know they are tired. What they often lack, though, is the time and shared language to talk about it. That’s where my community and social justice talks come in. A talk names what people feel, gives them words for it and leaves them with simple practices. Nonprofits, unions, schools, mandirs (Hindu temples), HR teams and conferences can all use one.
Circles go deeper. In a healing circle, everyone sits as an equal, listens without fixing and takes a turn to speak. As a rough guide, a talk suits a large room like a conference, while a circle suits a smaller group that already shares something, like a volunteer crew after a long campaign. If the format is new to you, start with my guide to what a healing circle is and how it works.
My community care circles meet in person around New York and on Zoom. For teams under pressure, I also lead staff burnout check-ins. These are honest conversations about how people are really doing, followed by a few practical next steps.
How to book a talk or circle for your group
- Name what’s happening. Maybe your volunteers feel worn down after a long campaign, or your staff just lost a colleague.
- Pick a format. Choose a talk, a healing circle, a burnout check-in, or a mix of two.
- Choose the setting. In person, I work with groups throughout New York City and Long Island, upstate, in New Jersey and in Connecticut. Events anywhere in the U.S. are possible too, and every format works on Zoom.
- Reach out. Share your dates, group size and goals. I quote each engagement based on what your people need.
What healing justice is not
Healing justice is not a way to make people calmer about unfair conditions. For instance, a group meditation can’t raise wages, fix a broken boiler or rewrite an unfair policy. Real care sits next to real change, like fair rules, decent workloads and accountability. It also isn’t spiritual bypassing, the habit of using good vibes to skip over real pain.
It isn’t therapy, either. My talks and circles offer spiritual guidance and community care, not medical or mental health treatment. If grief, burnout or trauma is affecting your sleep, work or relationships, it may be time to see a licensed therapist or doctor. Spiritual practice can sit alongside that care, not replace it.
If you or someone in your group is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. A real person answers at any hour, at no cost.
Healing justice FAQ
Is healing justice religious?
It isn’t tied to any one faith. It grew from a network of organizers, political healers and health practitioners. Still, many people bring their spiritual lives into it. I bring my Hindu practice, astrology and counseling background, and you’re welcome to bring yours.
Who started healing justice?
Open Society Foundations traces the term to the Kindred Healing Justice Collective in the early 2000s. Cara Page, one of its co-founders, is one of the architects of the framework.
Can a small group practice community care without money?
Yes. Most of the practices above cost nothing but time and attention. A shared calendar, a meal rotation and a standing check-in go a long way.
Take care of home, take care of each other
Healing justice asks us to stop treating care as a reward for finishing the work. Care is part of the work. So pick one practice from this page, try it with the people already around you, and let it grow from there.
If your organization, mandir, school or movement wants a talk, a circle or a burnout check-in, tell me about your people through my contact page. Include your dates, your group size and what has been weighing on your people, and I’ll write back with a few options. Until we talk, check on one person in your circle today. Take care of home. Take care of each other.