Bloom How You Must: A Black Woman’s Guide to Self-Care and Generational Healing
(On sale December 2, 2025)
In Bloom How You Must (Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins), Tara Pringle Jefferson presents a multigenerational look at Black women's wellness, offering readers a prescriptive path to healing.
Jefferson delves into seven facets of holistic wellness -- physical, social, professional, spiritual, emotional, mental and creative-- to encourage readers to think deeply about the "seeds" of their wellness practices. Who did they learn from? What sustains them when life starts lifing?
A mix of deep research, personal stories and interviews with more than 100 Black women, Bloom How You Must is an instruction manual for Black women to claim and shape new generational legacies around healing, wellness and self-care.
“Bloom How You Must is equal parts balm and blueprint, reminding us that rest is not a reward and healing is our birthright.
With care, clarity, and deep reverence for our lineage, Tara invites us to examine the stories we've inherited and imagine new ones rooted in joy, ease, and radical self-love.
I saw myself on every page—and I know I'm not alone.”
—L'Oreal Thompson Payton, author of Stop Waiting for Perfect
Praise for Bloom How You Must
“Bloom How You Must reminds us that self-care is an integral part of Black women's legacy. It is ours, it always has been, and we must reclaim it. Through this book, Tara Pringle Jefferson walks you through her self-care legacy journey and practices, while helping you to begin and embrace yours.”
— Oludara Adeeyo, bestselling author of Self-Care for Black Women
“Overflowing with compassion and wisdom, Bloom How You Must is purpose-built to help readers take care of themselves in ways that echo forward and backward through generations. Whether you're trying to heal generational trauma, construct a safe space for self-care, or leave your daughters with a clean slate, Bloom How You Must is the perfect intergenerational tool to get you there.”
— Kenrya Rankin, author, How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance
“Bloom How You Must offers readers a look into the rich history of self-care in the lives of Black women. Writing from her expertise as a breathwork facilitator and wellness educator, Tara Pringle Jefferson offers a unique blend of historical context, research, exercises, and journaling prompts to encourage Black women to care for themselves more deeply.”
— Spirituality and Health magazine
“Bloom How You Must is one of the most refreshing and affirming books I've come across in a long time. Thanks to Tara Pringle Jefferson for this necessary and useful guide.”
— Camille Dungy, author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden
“Your approach to Black women's self-care is so refreshing and inspiring. Thank you for encouraging us to lean into the strengths of our legacies, as well as investigate with curiosity the beliefs we've adapted, in service of survival, along the way.”
—Kate Johnson, author of Radical Friendship
“Wow! Warm, witty, wise, and inspirational, Bloom How You Must draws on deep truths and provides a pathway to healing and wellness for Black women. A much-needed resource!”
— Kumea Shorter-Gooden, Ph.D., Co-author, Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America
“Bloom is a beautiful invitation for Black women to pause, notice how the doing is showing up in their bodies, and allow themselves the space to rest and just be. Bloom is a call to action for Black women to slow down – because our lives depend on it.”
— Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler, author of Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: Emotional Lives of Black Women
The Women Who Taught Me
An excerpt from Bloom How You Must
Me and Mom, 1986
Me and Grandma Louise, 1988
Inevitably, one attendee will say that no one taught her. “I can’t think of a single example,” she’ll say. “They were really horrible at taking care of themselves. All they did was work and then come home to take care of us.”
I insist that, too, is a lesson. Sometimes that self-care legacy is less of a roar and more of a whisper, a reminder that a life dedicated solely to the pursuit of happiness was not on the table for many of our foremothers.
Interrogating that blueprint you were handed is the first step to making it your own.
As you start, you might realize that you have not personally witnessed your mother or grandmother or aunts prioritize themselves in any way that is recognizable. You may have witnessed them wake before the sun, prepare meals that everybody requested and enjoyed, clean the house, work that job and encourage you to do the same, whether spoken or unspoken.
And if that’s your legacy, and it’s wearing you thin, it’s all the more reason for you to take the lead and begin a new one for your lineage.
In The Self Care Suite, we host small, intimate gatherings to discuss everything from pleasure to creativity to relationships. No matter the topic, I always begin each event the same way, asking attendees, “Who taught you how to take care of yourself, for better or worse?”
We start with those “seeds” of their own lived reality — what did they witness among the adults in their lives? What lessons, both spoken and unspoken, seeped through to their subconsciousness?
Sometimes they’d tell a story about their grandmother or an aunt. Nine times out of ten, their self-care legacy always comes back to a maternal figure. That relationship (or lack thereof) informs how well they take care of themselves today.
