How a Hair Wrap Routine Protects More Than Just My Hair

Years ago, I shared a hotel room with a coworker at an overnight conference and after finishing my pre-bedtime routine, I emerged from the hotel bathroom with my hair wrapped up in a silk scarf. “ Oh, that ’ s so fondness, ” she marveled. “ Do you wear that all nox ? ” I told her that, like many Black women, I put my hair up at night to protect my locs — and when my hair is secure, I sleep much better. Most Black women cover their hair’s-breadth at nox. It ’ s about a rite of passage, one that ’ randomness been passed down from our mothers. Whether we use a hood, a silk scarf, or other fabric, a question covering helps Black women prioritize the health of their hair so that our natural oils stay entire, our stands are moisturized, and our hair vogue is preserved. This allows us to take caution of our hair even in our rest. Grace Eleyae is the founder of an eponymous ship’s company that specializes in silk wraps, turbans, and satin-lined caps ( known as Slaps ) for women with all different hair textures. And for arsenic long as she can remember, Eleyae has gone to bed with something to cover her haircloth. “ In my residential district, wrapping our hair was for protection and to extend styles, ” she explains. “ There were never very many products that catered to the type and total of moisture needed for Black hair so the longer we could extend a vogue, the better. It meant less handling and damage to our strands. ”

Using a Hair Wrap Is Also a Self-Care Ritual for Better Sleep

When we wrap our hair, it ’ second besides as an act of care and recentering after being out in the worldly concern. Black women in particular continue to face social and environmental factors that often prevent us from getting the best quality sleep. Dayna A. Johnson, Ph.D., is a professor at Emory University researching sleep health disparities and their impingement on chronic diseases. “ Poor rest and rest disorders are more common among Black women. More specifically, Black women have shorter sleep duration, worse sleep quality, and more hard sleep apnea than non-Hispanic white women, ” Johnson says. She highlights how racism and discrimination, nerve-racking jobs, and the wealth opening all contribute to sleep disparities. “ These sleep disparities, peculiarly for sleep duration, are seen across the life from childhood to adulthood. ” attention to self before bed can be not equitable a beginning of self-care, then, but of consolation and relief. For many Black women, wrapping our hair is a crucial separate of that holistic self-care that starts at an early age. Jewell Singletary, laminitis of The Gratitude Griot, is a holistic wellbeing teacher who specializes in using music, bowel movement, and meditation to help people move toward overall health. Wrapping her hair has been a part of her night act since childhood .

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“ I can remember getting a fresh urge and curl at my aunt ’ s hair salon as a little female child and having to wrap my hair up at night with a silk scarf in the 1980s, ” Singletary recalls. She ‘s break bonnets for the stopping point 10 years since transitioning to her natural haircloth texture, which is dense with a crisp, taut curl practice. “ When I cover my hair, one of my darling affirmations to repeat is ‘ I invite in levity ; I embrace ease. ’ It helps me to practice being in flow and releasing stress. Feeling condom and plug is necessary for my overall wellbeing and that includes protecting my hair at night. ” For me, it ’ s a pre-bedtime ritual that reminds me to honor and take care of myself, to prioritize my wellbeing. It ’ s a physical act that engages my mind and ushers my body into a more relax department of state for a thoroughly night ’ south sleep. While there still needs to be more research, studies do show that there is some tell for improving rest quality with meditation, yoga, and early relaxation techniques. Studies besides suggest that coping with stress and regulating your emotions can benefit rest. When you feel have access to a condom, comfortable environment and feel relax, you are likely to sleep better, and reap the benefits of a good night ’ second sleep. “ I have a high value for sleep in my own life. Lack of adequate sleep negatively affects my temper, my productivity at work, and my health, ” Eleyae says. “ I notice that when I don ’ thyroxine get adequate sleep for straight nights, I am more susceptible to colds and a lot less alarm. ”

The Additional Morning Benefit That Goes Beyond Good Hair

Black women face indeed many barriers to beneficial sleep, but these acts of self-care do more than facilitate a more restful night. They besides help us start the day off right. historically, Black women ’ second hair has been the submit of scrutiny and discrimination, and studies show having a self-perceived good hair day can change anyone ’ randomness lookout. For us, waking up with hair that ’ second been protected and nurtured can help us move with confidence throughout the day. “ [ Covering my hair ] gives me peace of beware, which in turn aids in getting a good night ’ south rest, ” Eleyae says. “ The few times I ‘ve been tired enough to fall asleep without a Slap, and not on a silk case, I ‘ve decidedly woken up ( normally much earlier than planned ) with my now-tangled hair’s-breadth strands in mind. ” The nightly act of scarves and bonnets is a admonisher that our hair and health are all things that are worth investing in. Loving yourself can look different for each person, and it can besides vary across cultures. It could mean working out, eating certain foods, or listening to sealed music. For me, and so many other Black women, it means investing in silk scarves to protect my hair. “ I feel like covering my hair at night is a small work of self-love, ” Singletary says. “ Black people loving their natural hide tones and features is still a radical concept across the earth. It ’ sulfur crucial that I prioritize pouring into and nourishing myself as an act of self-care and electric resistance. ” To get a good night ’ s sleep from fair that, a hair wrap ? It ’ s a benefit Black woman deserve.

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Category : Fashion