Devoted to Rest® is a rest based mastermind for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color who are Visionary Leaders.
The next cohort of Devoted to Rest® begins January 10th 2025 and concludes with an all inclusive in person retreat on March 27-30, 2025.
Pause. Notice your body.
Inhale. Then exhale.
This is a real dream.
Your day starts with deep relaxation or awakened rest, stillness, and quiet. You move your body in a way that feels good: stretching, dance, a walk, a light jog, or weight lifting. You hydrate and nourish yourself with food that energizes and fuels you. You don’t rush as you sip your chamomile lavender tea with a spoon full of wildflower honey. Or maybe it’s a rich dark cup of Ethiopian coffee with brown sugar and a single drop of cream.
Either way, you savor it.
You look out the window and the birds serenade you, wind whispers to you, trees bow and wave when they see you looking. The sun’s glow is your twin.
Your eyes are bright. Your body is vital and settled. Your mind is visionary, sharp, and clear. Your heart is attuned and at ease as you lead the way. You aren’t faking it til you make it. You are the real deal.
You are present for your life and protect the space and time to live it. To play with the little people in your life. Have an unhurried and homemade dinner with those you love. Garden and get your hands dirty. Getaways with your crew. Curling up with a good book by a warm fire. Long conversations on porch swings at sunset. A last minute trip to your favorite beachfront with your business bestie. John Coltrane and brunch, not only on Sundays. Space for everything. Space to do nothing. No longer waiting for a vacation to feel this. Live this. This is now.
And when it’s time to start your work day, you do so with intention, purpose, and easeful mastery because you are a well rested leader.
This is a real dream. This is the result of Devoted to Rest.®
Praise for Devoted To Rest®
Meet Devotees to Rest and hear about their experiences.
Rashida Parrish
Project Manager, Engineering Data & Analysis at Cox Communications, yoga teacher
Dr. Leconté Dill
Associate Professor of Black Feminisms, Genders, and Sexualities Studies
“All I knew was that I was tired AF. My experience in Devoted to Rest has healed parts of me, changed my relationship with what I thought rest was, and cleared pathways in my mind and heart to my truest truth. Forever grateful I found my way to Octavia and her sacred gift.”
“Devoted to Rest is a safe space…a community of beautiful, smart, open, interesting, successful women of color. We share, we practice, we support, we encourage, and we celebrate each other. In a world that often wants to diminish us and rarely asks what we need, that thrives off our overwork and exhaustion, this community is a gift. Through our work together, I have not changed, but rather become more of myself, and have recognized that caring for myself…resting and cultivating stillness, is the answer to being present to absolutely everything else in my life. I am beginning to know rest as well as I know hard work. I am now certain I must have both in my life to feel whole.”
- Kellie Tabron – Communications Professional, Writer, Ghostwriter, Editor, Researcher
Key components of Devoted to Rest® at a glance + dates:
Sacred Sessions - Online:
12:00pm-4:00pm ET
Friday, January 10
Friday, January 24
Friday, February 7
Friday, February 21
Friday, March 7
Rest Squad:
12:00-1:00pm ET
January 17
January 31
February 28
March 14
One 1:1 Rest Coaching:
Can be scheduled on Tues/Thurs between 11:00-3:00pm ET
DreamLab
12:00-1:00pm ET
January 29th
February 26
All inclusive Rest Retreat:
March 27-30th, 2025
at Elohee Retreat Center North Georgia USA
Key components of Devoted to Rest® in detail:
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Sacred Sessions:
Sacred sessions occur online, in a group setting, and include powerful experiential learning about the power of rest. Your mind, body, heart, and dare we say, soul will be engaged in the practices, presentations, dialog, collective wisdom shared, and community building experience.
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Rest Retreat:
This all inclusive retreat includes transformative rest practices, sound therapy, restorative movement, a one hour spa treatment, nourishing & delicious meals, walks in nature, quiet time, awakening rituals, and ceremony to honor your journey of shedding exhausting patterns and ways as you become a more well rested leader. You will leave this retreat deeply rested and awake to the power and truth of who you are. Please note: your flight and ground transportation to and from the retreat center is not included.
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Held 1:1 Rest Coaching:
This is a unique opportunity to be held. In your session we rest, inquire, and attend to your specific needs. We dream. We plan. We prepare. We clear the past and tune in to the field of the future. You access clarity and wisdom. The rest practice is custom and designed to support you in the season you are in.
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Rest Squad:
A rest squad is your homebase in our already close knit and curated community of leaders committed to being well rested. Your rest squad provides an even cozier quilt of support, connection, and community for you to share your challenges and triumphs on the way to becoming more well rested. Each rest squad gathering includes 20-30 minutes of structured rest.
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Dreamlabs:
Dreamlabs are office hours where you can drop in, connect with your rest coach, receive additional support, ask questions, and do any sacred work you need space for. We’ll vision and rest for 10-15 minutes at the top of the hour and the rest of the time will be shaped by your own inquiries or needs. Dream Labs are optional and will not be recorded.
See inside a Devoted to Rest® Retreat
An All Inclusive Retreat is an essential part of Devoted to Rest®
We’ll gather on a mountain top in Georgia — a group of twelve devotees, Rest guide- Octavia Raheem, and three amazing guest facilitators—
and we will rest.
We will dream. We will awaken.
Devoted to Rest® retreat is full of pillows, blankets, warmth, lullabies. Nothing to hurry up and do. Devoted to Rest® retreat is a place that feels like you can touch the stars and still keep your feet on the ground. It is a place of nourishing meals and sweet or savory drinks. Rituals to release. Ceremony to welcome your well rested self home. Moments of pure silence. The sound of sisters laughing together. Beyonce. African drums. Alice Coltrane. Dance. Spa treatments. An evening fire. Butterfly kisses. Friendly deer sighting. Laying in a hammock watching the sun rise. Meditating at the bottom of a 100 foot waterfall. You will be held in community. With consent, you will be tucked in and covered during your rest and restorative yoga practices. Rest. Rest. And more rest.
This is all real. This is Devoted to Rest® retreat and it’s an essential component of the experience and all of it- rest sessions and onsite experiences, room, board, meals, snacks and one spa treatment- is included in the investment.
Please note, you are responsible for your flight and transportation to and from the retreat center.
Prioritizing rest is the key to unlocking even more potential and power in your life and making your dreams real.
Devoted to Rest® is a rest based mastermind for Black Women and Women of Color who are visionary leaders who have made an incredible impact in their fields, find themselves at a growth edge, exhausted, yet want to level up in a sustainable way, awaken even more lasting potential, and do so while being well rested.
In this one of a kind experience we identify what gets in the way of you resting. We release obstacles to rest using Octavia Raheem’s sacred Devoted to Rest™ curriculum. We create a rest plan & flow that awakens dormant potential plus more power, joy, and ease in your life.
You are enough.
Rest is your birthright.
You are valuable as you are.
You can be strong and soft.
You can rest and still get “there.”
Your body was built to rest.
You have permission to rest.
You can be a visionary leader who is committed to self, family + community, loves her/their life + work, AND is Devoted to Rest.
The promise of Devoted to Rest® is this. You will rest.
Through Devoted to Rest™ I have supported visionary leaders to:
Release guilt and shame related to resting, soul care, and receiving
Discover time and space to do the things that bring them delight, pleasure, and joy.
Realize five year strategic plan goals in two to three years, and not by working more.
Stop hustling for worthiness and exhausting themselves to prove their worth
Become more present and attuned to their desires and needs
Become more present and attuned in all of their most important relationships
Let go of blocks to love and call in the love they deserve
Mindfully free themselves from roles and positions they’ve outgrown and reached impact capacity within
Reshape how they do business to allow them more free time, greater outcomes, and prosperity
Say no to chaos and misalignment, especially at work and in business
Navigate major life changes with courage and clarity
Start and finish creative and book projects
Experience more reverence and appreciation for their body
Design, plan for, and ultimately go on a sabbatical
Increase their capacity to hold space for themselves and others
No, Devoted to Rest® is not a business, executive, sabbatical, relationship, etc coaching program, yet people have outcomes in these areas when they fully engage the Devoted to Rest™ process because simply put, rest works for us.
The solution is
not to
work harder.
The solution is to rest.
-Octavia Raheem
“Devoted to Rest has been both the light and the path for my journey. I am quite frankly an exhausted Black Woman. But Devoted to Rest has given me so many tools to help me on my journey to being me... the journey to my awakening and power... my journey to manifesting abundance and delight... the journey to my freedom! ... Because "a rested body is a free body"
- Maleeka Glover - Senior Epidemiologist, Peace and Security SME, Executive Director, Founder and CEO
“I signed up for Devoted to Rest, thinking I would have at least an hour a month to relax. The monthly cohort calls did allow me to let go, relax, create, and sleep. And I received so much more! The experience, Octavia, our guides, and the courage of my cohort participants enabled me to open my heart and mind to ancestral connection and wisdom, connect my nonstop-thinking brain to my body, identify wounds and beliefs that no longer serve me, and provide the embodied practices to aide my healing journey. One of my favorite quotes is by Octavia Bulter - “All that you touch You change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.” This experience forever changed my relationship to rest, care, worthiness, and joy.”
- Ebony Ross, Executive Director, Conflict Transformation Fund
Devoted to Rest® is for you if you:
You are a senior leader, established business owner, or high level founder who wants more rest, clarity, and alignment to your highest good in your life, relationships, and work.
You desire support creating and sustaining boundaries that nourish and allow you to connect authentically with others and thrive in work, home, and relationships without losing yourself.
You are already OR want to be brave enough to ask for what you need and want.
You are done with postponing your best and most well rested life for some other time… like after you meet the “perfect” partner, you get that promotion, hit that professional milestone, after the kids are 18, you launch that new product/ program, or retirement.
You want to live, rest, and savor the best of life now- please!
You are a visionary Black Women/ Women of Color who wants to lead others with a greater sense of purpose and awakened presence.
You realize that your self care and rest has the ability to inform and create access to more care and rest for everyone you meet, collaborate with, and influence.
You are ready to shift your inner paradigm in a way that is expansive, generative, and reveals what is truly possible for you.
You want to trust the wisdom of your body, intuition, and even your heart- more.
You have something you are ready to call in or (wo)manifest in your life within the next 18 months and some part of you knows that it DOES NOT have to be hard even if it will take effort.
You want to infuse your projects and life plans with rest, ease, and flow.
You sense that old ways that served you “back then” won’t get you to the place you actually want to be.
You like to keep company with inspiring women who are up to incredible things, AND you are tired of the “boss babes, baddies, and doers of the most” who subscribe to hustle and grind culture just because that’s the way it’s always been done.
Maybe you secretly wonder if you can rest your way to the top and know it’s time to find out.
You are ready to say YES and invest in yourself in an unprecedented and empowered way.
Devoted to Rest® is not for you if you:
Don’t have or aren’t interested in a growth mindset.
Are not willing to commit to yourself, the process and fully attend online live group experiences with a sense of devotion.
If you know upfront that you’ll miss more than one live session or other scheduling conflicts this is not the program for you.
Are looking for traditional professional development, schooling, or a training program. This is an embodied and experiential program designed to positively reshape your relationship to both rest and work.
Aren’t willing to engage rest practices consistently on a weekly or daily basis.
Think rest is a “trend” vs a lifelong practice.
Devoted to Rest™ is not a substitute for therapy with a trained, caring, and experienced practitioner.
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Rest online in a brave and safe community
Five Online Sacred sessions with the most well respected and leading Black Women Authors and Teachers of Rest.
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All inclusive Rest Retreat allows you to fully integrate the course, rest, and revel in ease
One deeply relaxing & all inclusive four day in person Rest Retreat at Elohee in North Georgia USA
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Personal rest practice as commitment to Self
Weekly self paced practice that supports your rest, restoration, and the recovery of your truth and joy.
Devoted to Rest® includes:
Five Online Sacred Sessions
Four Day All inclusive Rest Retreat
at Elohee in North Georgia, USA
One 60 minute one to one rest coaching session with Octavia Raheem
Four Restpod Gatherings
Two Dreamlabs
Authentic connection with women, leaders, teachers, authors, and creative leaders like you
so much more!
Every aspect of the course, every online immersion/retreat, self-paced practice, experience at the in person retreat, note sent to your inbox, and of course your 1:1 rest session is thoughtfully curated and created with your rest in mind.
Your leader and guides
Your rest & dream keepers
We protect your rest space
Founder & Creator
Octavia Raheem
Today I am a present wife, loving mother, and best selling + award winning author of three books: Pause, Rest, Be, Gather, and upcoming Rest is Sacred (October 2024). Today I am the Rest Coach to Visionary Black, Indigenous, People of Color in Leadership. Today I am a highly sought after speaker and teacher of restorative yoga & Yoga Nidra. Over a decade ago, I was tired, exhausted, and hanging on by less than a thread after suffering severe burn out that left me hospitalized. Devoted to Rest™ is the sacred curriculum that rose from the ashes of that burn out. Devoted to Rest® is my offering to us. It is a living prayer that we can be well rested and still reach our greatest potential, abundantly thrive, positively impact our families, communities, and world.
Your Rest Leader & Guides
Dr. Gail Parker is a luminary and living legend. She is a pioneer in the field of Restorative Yoga For Race Based Stress and Trauma. As an author, retired psychologist, and Yoga Therapist she brings depth wisdom, research + experience with the impact of rest on race based trauma, decades of heart + hands on experience, historical perspective, classical yoga, and a liberating sense of compassion to Devoted to Rest™ online Sacred Sessions.
Gail Parker
Tracee Stanley is one of the most radiant and luminous beings you will ever meet. For two decades she has quietly and consistently led a rest revolution as a Yoga Nidra and meditation teacher and student. As a former Hollywood producer, current best selling author, and lineaged teacher she brings pure presence, creativity, star & ancestral power, and sacred threads of Sri Vidya Tantra to Devoted to Rest™ online Sacred Sessions.
Tracee Stanley
Our retreat presenters are highly sought after artists, creative educators, healers, and activists
Bernadette Pleasant
Bernadette Pleasant walks with her heart forward, head high, shoulders relaxed and back. She embodies ease in movement, delight in play, and divine sensuality. As a Somatic Coach she brings the emotional freedom to rest, an invitation to wake up your wildest and bravest self, and unbound joy to Devoted to Rest™ Retreat.
April Taylor
April Taylor is quite literally a scientist and mystic. She is magic. As a sound healer. She has the rare gift of seeing straight through to the heart of an individual or group and holding space with zero judgement. She brings singing bowls that whisper lullabyes, gongs that break the spells of grind culture, and a loving presence that calls your most weary parts to let go to Devoted to Rest™ Retreat.
Angelica Hairston
Angelica Hairston plays her harp and you hear angels sing. Celestial messages pour from her finger tips to your ears and you remember that this kind of beauty and space is your birthright. As a harpist, music educator, and activist Angelica brings songs of freedom, well seasoned soul, Beyonceholyhiphopgospel, unfiltered mastery of art, and easy elegance to Devoted to Rest™ Retreat.
You were born worthy of rest.
Shift happens in Devoted To Rest®
Meet more Devotees to Rest and hear about their experiences.
Tej K Khalsa - MD MSc FRCPC
Physician Educator, World Health Organization
Gabrielle Wyatt
Founder of The Highland Project
“For me, this experience has been like a hammock–a place for rest where I am held, supported, and elevated. I have appreciated the opportunity for Black women and other women of color to honor ourselves and others and to be loved up. In this time and with ongoing anti-Black racism and racism against other people of color, Devoted To Rest is an oasis! One of my favorite parts is having sessions led by women of color who deepen or expand my knowledge base and/or expose me to different ways to rest. The experience has been rejuvenating and empowering! Thanks for this wonderful creation Octavia!”
- Dr. Shari Saunders
“Devoted to Rest was transformative for me personally, professionally, and spiritually. This experience reminded me that I am truly my best, happiest, balanced, and productive self when I rest, and it gave me the tools, community, and permission to rest. I am forever changed and grateful.”
Amanda Aiken Ed.L.D. Founder of A.Leigh Solutions/ Co. Founder The Center Sustainable Leadership
Investment
(four month payment plans available)
STARTING AT
$11,000
FOUR PAYMENTS OF
*$2625
$500 nonrefundable deposit
required to confirm space
Includes a four day all inclusive retreat
*all inclusive means room, board, meals, snacks, all sessions, and one spa treatment included. You are responsible for travel to and from retreat center.
Rest is the most underrated superpower.
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“Rest is the bridge between where you are and where you want to be.”
– Octavia Raheem
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“Rest and you will remember you are already who you are trying so hard to become.”
– Dr. Gail Parker
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“Invite deep rest into every cell of your being. Trust that you deserve to be supported and held…”
– Tracee Stanley
If it feels like a lot of intention, thought, research, magic, love, and prayer has gone into this mastermind, YAHHHHHSSS! That’s because it has! I deeply believe in creating experiences for US where the smallest of details have been considered with your rest, care, and transformation in mind. Alexa cue the song by Troop… All I do is think of you.
I am so excited to hold this space for you to rest and wake up your fullest power and potential.
The world needs more well rested leaders. You lead the way to a more well rested future, by beginning with yourself.
Welcome.
A note from me to you:
Simply by joining, you’ll awaken in ways you’ve never imagined.
In your daily living and self care.
In your way of relating.
In your way of leading.
In your capacity to imagine, dream, do.
In your work.
In your embodied knowing of your worthiness of rest.
Your investment in the experience will be a catalyst for unexpected returns for years & years to come.
FAQs
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This experience is both personal development and the future of professional development. Visionary corporations, organizations, and the leaders that found, create, serve, and grow them know that rest is an essential component to any sustainable, highly impactful, and well work place and culture. To that end, it is appropriate to consider asking your company or organization to cover the cost of Devoted to Rest (DTR).
We recommend being clear on your why for DTR, clarifying your intention and goals for the experience, and sharing the testimonials linked in here in your pitch or presentation. You can also reach out to us at hello@octaviaraheem.com for further support with your pitch.
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No, it is a course that supports you in resting so that you can awaken + activate your fullest potential in your personal and professional life. If desired and needed, we recommend participants find other forms of support alongside this offering. Bodyful Healing and Atlanta Trauma Therapy & Consulting are wonderful resources and places to start if you are looking for a group of therapists who focus on supporting Black Women and Women of Color.
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To date, over 60% of Devoted to Rest participants have accessed some level of organization/ corporate support to cover the investment.
This is an investment in your sustainability and the return on investment can not be understated.
If you own your on business and are considering covering all or a portion of the Devoted to Rest investment through your corporation we recommend discussing the expense with an accountant first.
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Trust me. You will not want to miss a single one of our live sessions. In the unlikely event that you miss one session, you will have access to a replay for 14 days after the live session. If you will miss more than one online session, and know that up front, this isn’t the devoted program/ experience for you at this time.
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I believe wholeheartedly in Devoted To Rest, and I bring unparalleled experience (15+ years) with me. Combined with guest and retreat teachers, there are over 150+ years of dedication to the well-being, rest, truth, and joy of Black Women and Women of Color within this program. I know you’ll gain immense value from this experience. That being said, I don’t offer refunds or transfers. Think of this as an investment in our mutual time and energy and that of all of the experts you’ll be supported by. We all give 111%. How about you?
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– You’ll need yoga props: at least two yoga blocks, 2-4 bolsters, and blankets.
– You are responsible for travel to and from the retreat center; this may include both a flight and rental car to get to Elohee which is 1.5 hours away from Hartfield’s International Airport.
– Retreat center staff tips are always at your discretion based on your personal experience.
Though not required, I recommend these books:
No though I recommend the following books on rest:
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The group is by application only and limited to 12 visionary leaders
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Devoted to Rest includes:
All inclusive rest focused retreat
Life-changing online sacred sessions
One 1:1 hour long rest coaching session with Octavia Raheem
Curated weekly rest practice
Daily Rest Revelations/ reminders to rest sent to your inbox
Authentic connection with women, leaders, teachers, and creative souls like you
So much more!
ALL INCLUSIVE RETREAT
Nightly accommodations, all delicious meals focused on healthy seasonal ingredients, all planned programming, all-levels yoga classes, sound healing, live music, and dance for emotional freedom and release, welcome gifts, 24-hour tea house, panoramic porch, mountain-top pond lounge area and woodland waterfall trails.
14 day access to all records
Small group (rest pod) to meet with to discuss your awakenings, process, and simply rest with
Monthly home practice
Supportive community
More truth, joy, and transformation
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Yes, six (6) month payment plans are available.
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Everyone will have a solo/single room with a shared bath. You will have the option to upgrade to a solo bath when you confirm your participation
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All delicious meals are prepared on site and focused on healthy seasonal ingredients. Prior to retreat you will complete a registration form and have an opportunity to note any dietary needs. Gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, and keto meals are available.
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You’ll want to fly into Atlanta Hartsfield’s Airport. Devotees receive direction after participation is confirmed. We will want to arrive in Atlanta by 11:00amET on the day of the retreat and schedule your flight to leave after 5:00pm ET on the last day of retreat
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You’ll want to fly into Atlanta Hartsfield’s Airport. Devotees receive direction after participation is confirmed.
Ready to say yes to rest?
This course is by application only. After your application is received, we’ll reach out to schedule a chemistry call to answer any additional questions and make sure this is the right program for you.
Pause. Notice your heart. Then inhale to exhale.
Rest is here and even more rest is on the way.
