Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman

Natasha Riley
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Mental Health
  • Weekly

A podcast for accomplished Black women ready to stop just surviving and start truly living. I'm Natasha Riley, licensed therapist and CEO of Javery Integrative Wellness Services, and this is where we move beyond talking about change to actually creating it. Each episode gives you practical tools to build a daily pleasure practice—the art of finding joy, presence, and fulfillment in your ordinary life. Because you've already proven you can achieve anything. Now it's time to learn how to enjoy it. This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about being fully present with what's already there.

  1. 2d ago

    You Love Your People. You’re Also Exhausted by Them.

    In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore what it means to feel drained by the people you love most, and why that doesn't mean you love them any less. I'll walk you through social rest: how to tell the difference between relationships that restore you and ones that deplete you, without turning your loved ones into villains. If you've been showing up for everyone, running on empty, and feeling guilty for needing space, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → Needing space from people you love isn't the opposite of love. Sometimes it's how you protect your ability to keep loving them. → A one-week practice: after time with someone, ask yourself, "Do I feel more full or more empty right now?" It's data, not a verdict. → Permission to put your restorative people on the calendar, and to shorten the visit, change the setting, or let somebody else plan this year. What's Next Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Missed Episode 8, "You're Tired of Performing 'Okay' When You're Not"? Catch it here → [You're Tired of Performing "Okay" When You're Not] → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness → Upcoming events → javerywellness.com/events Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  2. Oct 23

    You're Tired of Performing "Okay" When You're Not

    Episode Summary In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore what it feels like to be the strong one when you just want to be honest. I'll walk you through why emotional rest might be the type of rest we're most deprived of: the code-switching, the emotional labor nobody counts, and the Strong Black Woman myth that tells us strength is the only feeling we're allowed to show. I also share a personal moment where I had to tell the people closest to me that being called "strong" was keeping me from getting the support I needed. If you've been answering "I'm fine" when you're not, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → Why performing "okay" is real work, and why it drains you in a way sleep can't fix → The difference between emotionally performing and emotionally safe, and why you don't have to be fully authentic everywhere to get emotional rest → Small first steps: notice when you edit yourself, give one safe person 10% more truth, and give your feelings somewhere to go (a journal, a voice memo, a walk) Reflect On This → Where in your life are you performing emotion rather than feeling it? → Who do you feel safe enough with to stop managing how you come across? Ready to go deeper? Start here → javerywellness.com/get-started Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Missed last episode on creative rest? Listen here → [Episode 7 link] → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988

  3. Oct 17

    You Haven’t Lost Your Creative Spark

    Episode Summary In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore what it feels like when the thing you used to love now just feels like work. I'll walk you through why this pattern makes complete sense — and what it's really costing you. If you've been going through the motions, feeling stuck or uninspired, or calling yourself lazy when the spark is gone, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → Why losing your spark usually isn't laziness or full burnout, but a well that's been poured out and never refilled → A reflection question to help you notice where you've stopped letting yourself receive, plus an invitation to take one hour of creative rest this week → Permission to take in beauty without producing anything in return. No posting, no journaling, no monetizing. Primary Action Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Missed the last episode on sensory rest? Listen here → [Episode 6 link] → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness → Upcoming events → javerywellness.com/events Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  4. Oct 9

    Overstimulated, Overwhelmed, and You Don't Even Know Why

    In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore why everything feels like too much — and you don't know how to make it stop. I'll walk you through why constant sensory input keeps your nervous system stuck in survival mode, and what it's really costing you. If you've been snapping at people you love, flinching at every notification, or feeling "touched out" by the end of the day, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → Why chronic overstimulation isn't a personal failing — it's your nervous system doing exactly what it was trained to do → A reflection question to help you notice the sensory input you're absorbing all day without realizing it → Permission to protect your senses on purpose — darkness, silence, and digital breaks as real rest, not indulgence Primary Action Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness → Catch up on the series: Episode on Mental Rest Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  5. Oct 2

    Your Brain Is Running in the Background 24/7

    Episode Summary In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore why you can be physically still and mentally exhausted at the same time. I'll walk you through the invisible mental labor so many high-achieving Black women carry without ever naming it — and why your brain seems to "wake up" the second your body finally gets quiet. If you've been lying awake at 2 or 3am running through a to-do list you didn't ask for, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → Why mental rest is different from sleep, and why high achievers are especially prone to losing it → A reflection practice to name the mental labor you're carrying that no one else sees → Permission to rest your mind, not just your body — through brain dumping, monotasking, and scheduled mental breaks Ready to go deeper? Start here → javerywellness.com/get-started Not quite there yet? Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness → Catch up on the last episode in this series, Physical Rest → [The Real Reason You Can't Feel Desire Anymore] → Upcoming events → javerywellness.com/events Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  6. Sep 25

    When You Finally Sit Down

    In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we open our rest series by starting with the body. I walk through why physical rest isn't just sleep, why the Strong Black Woman archetype trains you to override both pain and desire the same way, and why you can do everything "right" and still wake up feeling like a stranger in your own body. I f you've stopped noticing what you actually want — not just what you need to get done — this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With → The difference between passive rest (sleep) and active rest (movement, touch, bodywork) — and why you need both → A reflection practice for noticing where your body holds tension, and what it's actually asking for underneath it → Permission to treat rest as the doorway back to desire, not a reward you have to earn first Resources Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith (2017) — the seven types of rest framework referenced in this episode. ***This description contains an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase through it, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.*** Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  7. Sep 18

    You're Not Lazy. You Just Don't Know How to Rest Yet.

    Episode Summary In this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we kick off a brand-new series inside Season 7's desire theme: the seven types of rest. I'll walk you through why the rest you've been taking might not be working — not because you're doing it wrong, but because no one ever taught you that rest is allowed to include desire. If you've ever rested all weekend and still felt empty, or called yourself lazy when your body was really just asking for something you wouldn't let yourself have, this one is for you. Over the next seven episodes, we're taking each type of rest one at a time — starting today with the reframe underneath all of them. What You'll Walk Away With → Why "productive rest vs. lazy rest" is the wrong question — and what to ask instead → The seven types of rest framework (physical, creative, sensory, social, spiritual, and more) and why physical rest alone was never going to be enough → Three reflection questions to figure out what kind of rest you've actually been avoiding Resources Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sacred Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith (2017) — the seven types of rest framework referenced in this episode. ***This description contains an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase through it, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.*** Prefer reading? Check out the blog post here Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

  8. Sep 11

    How to Choose Yourself When Everyone Needs You

    Episode SummaryIn this episode of Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman, we explore what happens in the actual moment you try to choose yourself — and why desire so often loses to other people's needs. Building on Episode 1's exploration of reconnecting with desire, I walk through why that desire gets so quiet when someone else's need gets loud, and what it's costing you to keep choosing the loud thing. If you've been trying to reconnect with what you want and feel like life keeps testing that the second you try, this one is for you. What You'll Walk Away With→ Why desire is quiet and need is loud — and why that's not a character flaw → A reflection question to sit with this week → Permission to let your desire speak first, even for three seconds Resources Download the free 7-Day Self-Care Reset → javerywellness.com/reset Sponsored By This episode is brought to you by Javery Integrative Wellness Services. Browse our digital downloads and tools designed to help you do this work between sessions → javerywellness.com/store More From This Episode → Watch on YouTube → youtube.com/@javerywellness → Read the companion blog post → Upcoming events → javerywellness.com/events Connect → Instagram · @javerywellness → Website · javerywellness.com Disclaimer Owning Pleasure As A Black Woman is for educational and informational purposes only. This podcast does not constitute therapy, medical advice, or a therapeutic relationship. If you are struggling or in crisis, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

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A podcast for accomplished Black women ready to stop just surviving and start truly living. I'm Natasha Riley, licensed therapist and CEO of Javery Integrative Wellness Services, and this is where we move beyond talking about change to actually creating it. Each episode gives you practical tools to build a daily pleasure practice—the art of finding joy, presence, and fulfillment in your ordinary life. Because you've already proven you can achieve anything. Now it's time to learn how to enjoy it. This isn't about adding more to your plate. It's about being fully present with what's already there.

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