Today’s beautiful thing is an important lesson in self-care from an amazing performer. Four-time Grammy Award winner India Arie announced in June that she was stepping back from touring. The singer/songwriter said she needs some time for personal healing and mental health care, and it’s truly inspiring to me that someone so accomplished and so popular had the courage to look after herself in such a public way.

“I’ve sat quietly all these years because the things that inspired me had disappeared, and I’ve been healing from great disillusionment. Everything in me is screaming ‘no.’ My nervous system is a wreck. I sacrificed my health, enduring deaths, root canals, and lack of management support, just to secure higher pay for my performances. I was underpaid for years. Now that I see the world [in] all different ways since 2020, as we all do, I’m having a hard time being inspired to take on the absolute heavy lifting it takes to go on the road with 19 people. I need healing too”

Though Arie apologized to both her fans and to those who were relying upon her tour for income, she stuck to her guns. While she takes a break from touring, she will be hosting meditation gatherings, and creating a restorative environment for herself and her community.

You can follow the magnificent India Arie on her website and on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.