REST 2026 includes five community events throughout February, each exploring rest through a different lens.

  • REST as Resistance — Black Therapist Panel                                                                                                                                                                     Sunday, February 1, 2026 2PM-4PM

  • REST as Regulation — Nervous System Reset Class Saturday, February 7, 2026 11 AM-12:30 PM

  • REST as Reclamation — Sudanese Valentine’s Poetry Workshop Saturday, February 14, 2026 1PM-3PM

  • REST is Remembrance — Sudanese Film Screening + Mental Health Q&A Saturday, February 21, 2PM-5PM

  • REST is Release — DJ Set & Collective Dance Party Saturday, February 28, 8PM-11PM

Each event is grounded in care, accessibility, and community healing

REST AS RESISTANCE: BLACK THERAPIST PANEL

REST as Resistance opens the REST 2026 series with a Black-led panel of licensed mental health professionals exploring rest as a political, psychological, and communal act.

In a world that demands constant productivity and emotional labor from Black communities, this panel centers rest not as indulgence, but as survival and strategy. Panelists will reflect on burnout, boundaries, nervous system health, and what it means to practice care in systems that were not designed for our rest.

This gathering is intentionally conversational. Attendees are invited to ask the questions they’ve been holding and engage in grounded dialogue with Black therapists who understand the cultural, historical, and structural realities shaping mental health.

This event is free and open to the community and serves as the grounding foundation for the REST 2026 series.

Black and white poster for a fundraiser event titled "Restas Resistance" featuring a black therapist panel. The poster depicts three Black women raising their fists, symbols of solidarity and resistance. The event is a mutual aid fundraiser for Sudan, hosted by licensed Black therapists, and includes a QR code for RSVP. The event details are scheduled for Sunday, February 1st, from 2 PM to 4 PM at 2464 N Clybourn Ave, Chicago, IL 60614.
RSVP TO THE REST AS RESISTANCE BLACK THERAPIST PANEL HERE

REST AS REGULATION: NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET CLASS

REST as Regulation centers rest at the level of the body.

This therapist-led nervous system reset class offers practical, accessible tools for grounding, regulation, and recovery from chronic stress, burnout, and emotional overload. Facilitated by licensed mental health professionals, the session translates nervous system science into practices that can be felt, not just understood.

This class explores:

  • How chronic stress and trauma live in the nervous system

  • Simple regulation tools that can be used in daily life

  • Rest as a skill that can be practiced collectively

  • Grounding as a form of resistance to constant survival mode

No prior experience with somatic work, meditation, or therapy is required. This is not a fitness class or a performance space. Participants are encouraged to engage at their own pace, with consent and care at the center.

Flyer for a fundraiser event titled 'Restas Regulation: Nervous System Reset Class 101,' described as a mutual aid fundraiser for Sudan. The flyer highlights a free event with an RSVP QR code, shows an illustration of three people meditating on a patterned rug, and includes details about the date, time, location, and hosts.
RSVP TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION CLASS HERE:

REST AS RECLAMATION: SUDANESE POETRY WORKSHOP

Held on Valentine’s Day, REST as Reclamation invites participants to reclaim love beyond romance — love as memory, grief, resistance, and cultural continuity.

This Sudanese-centered poetry workshop is facilitated by Israa Abbas, a Sudanese-American poet and archivist and the founder of The Sudanese Poetics Archive and the Sudanese Literature Archive. Israa created these archives in response to the underrepresentation of Sudanese writers and poets, building an accessible, global repository of Sudanese literature across languages and geographies.

The workshop centers poetry and writing as acts of reclamation and rest. Through guided prompts and reflection, participants are invited to engage language as a way to hold love, loss, longing, and collective memory — especially in the context of displacement and erasure.

No writing experience is required. This is not a performance space. Sharing is always optional and consent-based.

Flyer for a Valentine's Day poetry workshop fundraiser for Sudan, hosted by a Sudanese poet and archivist, at Neurobloom Mental Health Collective in Chicago, featuring a comic-style angel shooting a cupid arrow, and animated love letters.
RSVP to the Valentine's Day Sudanese Poetry Workshop here:

REST AS REMEMBRANCE: SUDANESE FILM SCREENING

REST as Remembrance centers rest as memory and collective witnessing.

This event brings the community together for a Sudanese film screening followed by a facilitated mental health Q&A led by licensed therapists. Together, we create space to engage Sudanese stories with care, reflect on grief and displacement, and process emotional responses in a grounded, trauma-informed environment.

Through film and conversation, participants are invited to slow down, ask questions, and explore how memory, loss, and resilience live in the body and mind. No prior knowledge of the film or mental health training is required, and participation in discussion is always optional.

REST as Remembrance honors the truth that remembering together is a form of care — and a refusal to forget.

Poster advertising a Sudanese film screening and mental health discussion event titled "Rest as Remembrance," conducted by licensed Sudanese therapists for mutual aid fundraising. The event is free, scheduled for Saturday, February 21, from 2 PM to 5 PM at 2464 N Clbourn Ave, Chicago, IL. There is a QR code for RSVP, and the poster features an image of a group of Sudanese people in traditional dress with pyramids and camel riders in the background.
RSVP to the FREE Sudanese Film Screening Here:

REST AS RELEASE: DJ SET & COLLECTIVE DANCE PARTY

REST as Release closes the REST 2026 series with movement, music, and collective joy.

This DJ-led dance party (DJ’ed by JUS.BE HOUSE COLLECTIVE) centers rest through embodiment and release, honoring music and dance as ancestral tools of regulation, connection, and survival within the Black diaspora. When rest is denied, joy becomes an act of resistance.

The evening invites participants to move, exhale, and celebrate together in a space grounded in care and intention. No performance, no pressure — just presence, rhythm, and collective release.

REST as Release reminds us that joy is not a distraction from struggle, but a vital part of how we endure and imagine what’s possible.

Event poster with disco balls, black background, and bold text. Features an illustration of three people dancing, with event details about a Rest As Release party for a mental health fundraiser in Chicago.
RSVP to the Jus.Be DJ Set here:

Make an impact

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Create change

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Empower Others

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Make an impact ・ Create change ・ Empower Others ・

3% Cover the Fee

Donations support Sudanese-led, community-run mutual aid efforts prioritized by on-the-ground need. General impact updates will be shared following the REST 2026 series while protecting the dignity and privacy of recipients.

Make an impact

・

Create change

・

Empower Others

・

Make an impact ・ Create change ・ Empower Others ・

Make an impact

・

Create change

・

Empower Others

・

Make an impact ・ Create change ・ Empower Others ・

Make an impact

・

Create change

・

Empower Others

・

Make an impact ・ Create change ・ Empower Others ・

NeuroBloom ✿

NeuroBloom ✿