Basementeer Spotlight: Girls Taking Up Space
ABOUT GIRLS TAKING UP SPACE (GTUS)
Girls Taking Up Space (GTUS) provides holistic wellness programs for girls of color that empower girls to nurture their minds, bodies and spirits. At GTUS, girls learn about diverse wellness topics such as mindfulness, self-care, healthy relationship building, self-esteem and managing emotions. Girls also have the opportunity to cultivate their own wellness practice through the exploration of yoga, meditation, dance and art.
All programs are healing-centered and elevate the lived experiences of girls of color. By focusing on wellness and social-emotional learning, GTUS helps girls of color transform their inner and outer worlds. GTUS welcomes and celebrates gender-expansive, trans, non-binary, gender non-confirming and gender queer identities.
PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES
Given the current landscape and the impact of COVID-19 on our individual and collective sense of well-being, we believe that it is crucial that we create the space needed for girls of color to practice self-love and self-compassion. Currently, we offer our wellness programs online and free of cost. We prioritize girls from East Oakland, a community often left behind. We believe that the mind, body and spirit are inextricably linked, and we use mind-body therapies to ensure mental health and wellness.
At GTUS, we:
- Understand that our girls are the actors in their own lives. We empower our girls with the information and tools needed for them to make healthy choices about their wellness.
- Value a strength-based, whole-child approach to teaching. We mirror back our girls’ strengths, capabilities, and resilience.
- Model telling the truth even when it is inconvenient and uncomfortable.
- Name and make space for all intersectional identities