About the Author
Octavia Faith Ann Raheem is a mother, yoga teacher, and writer. She grew up in Gainesville, Georgia, a place that will forever soak her roots in red clay.
She is the co-owner of Sacred Chill {West} in Atlanta, Georgia. She is also the founder of Starshine & Clay Yoga Retreats For Women of Color and Held Mentor program for yoga teachers and wellness workers.
She has many dreams and is doing her best to leave no dream unspoken, unseen, or untouched.
She shares her thoughts and works on her website as well as Instagram: @octaviaraheem.
This is not a book to be rushed through or read from cover to cover.
How ever you use this book, I hope you encounter a message right now that calls the scattered pieces of yourself back in.
I hope you gather and remember your Ancestors.
I hope you gather courage.
I hope you gather at your own heart.
I hope you rest there.
Gather is made up of three sections:
GATHER ANCESTORS
When I put down what is not mine to carry, I am free.
My Ancestors were more than pain and suffering. So am I.
GATHER COURAGE
You won’t fit some places anymore.
Grow anyway. Some will go. Some will stay. Grow. Grow anyway.”
GATHER REST
Sometimes the next right step is to pause.
Sometimes the next right step is to put a knee down. Sometimes it’s to put both hands down. Cause it’s wobbly AF. Sometimes it’s to crawl. Some moments the next right step is to turn off the phone.Disable the messages. Log off.
Words about Gather & Octavia Raheem
Eight years ago I asked Octavia Raheem to contribute to a piece I was writing on the sacred act of gathering in sister circles. She did not disappoint. Her authenticity, vulnerability, and
poetic – prose were inspirational then and continue to inspire now in her long awaited and welcomed book Gather. Do yourself a favor, make sure you include this book in your must read list. You will not be disappointed.
Gail Parker | Ph.D., CIAYT, E-RYT 500, author of Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma
Octavia’s words seep deep into the bones with a knowing and vibratory essence that can shift you in moments. Her writing springs forths from a place of deep remembrance that leaves you nodding your head and opening your heart as you welcome your true self to step forth into the light.
Tracee Stanley, Co-founder Empowered Wisdom Yoga Nidra, Author of upcoming book via Shambhala Publications in March of 2021
Octavia Raheem is a powerful force doing work centered on making space for us to rest. Octavia understands that rest is a revolutionary act and calls us into a deeper relationship with our ancestors and their relationship with rest. She is part of the medicine that is needed at this time and her work and writing is based in us remembering our wholeness, humanity and ability to come home to our true nature. Gather calls us to come together and reflect on where we are from so we might move forward with intention, ancestral support and accountability for future generations.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson, Author of Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World
DOWNLOAD FREE GATHER ANCESTORS JOURNAL
A place to reflect on who we are and where we came from
A place to reclaim our relationship to our lineage
A place to rest in honor of ourselves and Ancestors
Paperback available June 1, 2020.
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