About

Still By Z was born from lived experience, deep listening, and the teachers who showed me another way.

 

Because I’ve lived it, I know what burnout feels like, the exhaustion, the overwhelm, the constant push to keep going without pause. I’ve discovered that the key to reclaiming my energy, focus, and clarity lies in slowing down, being still, and truly breathing. Through mindfulness and intentional breathwork, I’ve learned to return to myself, center my thoughts, and create calm in the midst of life’s chaos.

 

I’ve facilitated these practices for others and witnessed their transformative power firsthand. In professional meetings, personal moments, and creative work, the simple act of pausing, breathing, and grounding oneself has unlocked clarity, confidence, and presence.

 

I also deeply understand the cultural, spiritual, and emotional layers that shape the experiences of Black and Brown professionals. I create spaces where you don’t have to explain yourself to be seen, where you can simply arrive, breathe, and be fully present…because that stillness is not just restorative, it’s radical.

 

My practice is inspired by three people whose work, presence, and teachings continue to shape how I understand rest, care, and stillness.

 

My close friend Nadine introduced me to yoga in 2020, and I’ve been practicing ever since. Through her guidance, yoga became more than movement. It became a way to reconnect with my body and breath. Nadine also inspired me through her beautiful sound bath sessions. Witnessing the way sound invited people into rest, reflection, and stillness planted something deep within me. From that moment, I knew I wanted to learn. That calling led me to begin an accredited Sound Therapy and Sound Healing Practitioner course, where I continue to study and deepen my relationship with sound as a restorative practice.

 

I am also deeply inspired by Tricia Hersey and the work of The Nap Ministry. Her books Rest Is Resistance and We Will Rest have had a lifelong impact on how I view rest, not as a reward or something to be deserved, but as a divine right. Her work is deeply rooted in pushing back against systems of oppression by teaching us to divest from grind culture, productivity as worth, and the constant push to perform. She invites us to reclaim our power through rest, reminding us that rest is a dream space, one that deserves protection and reverence. Her teachings challenge the systems that keep so many of us burned out, disconnected, and exhausted, and affirm that slowing down can be a radical act of resistance. Her work changed my life. She reminds us that we are not machines. While rest doesn’t have to look like napping, she encourages us to find our own rest practices, and for me, that looks like creating, meditating, practicing yoga, attending sound baths, and offering them myself. I remain deeply grateful for her body of work and its transformative impact on how I move through the world.

 

Lastly, I am inspired by Tonie Warner, a yoga and Pilates instructor whose work embodies soft power. After attending her beautiful yoga sessions, I was moved by the way she holds space for women, with intention, care, and presence. Her offerings integrate reflection, journaling, and somatic movement, inviting us to reconnect with ourselves using all of our senses. She creates space for rest practices that feel accessible, grounded, and deeply human. I’m forever grateful for her approach, which she calls healing justice, and for the ways it continues to inform how I hold space.

 

Through these influences, teachings, and lived experiences, I’ve been able to formulate and build my own practices, and was led to offer Still By Z—a space to pause, breathe, soften, and return to yourself. Rest here is not forced or prescriptive. It’s an invitation to be, to dream, and to meet yourself with care.

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Beyond Stillness

In addition to Still By Z, I serve as a Director at a university, supporting students, communities, leading teams and institutional work rooted in care, access, and leadership. I’m also active in church ministry and community volunteering. These are spaces that continue to shape how I show up with intention and service.

 

Creativity is central to my life. I make jewelry, love style, beauty, and the arts, and find deep restoration in alone time at the beach…listening to the water, music, reading and  breathing, and just allowing myself to simply be. These practices, like stillness, invite rest, reflection, presence, and expression, and continue to inform how I move through the world.

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Join me - Be Still...

"Z" Jenkins