A Healthy Heart: When Black Girl Joy Becomes Good Medicine
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” — Proverbs 17:22
February invites us into a sacred intersection as Heart Health Month and a renewed call to protect our emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being. For many black women, the conversation about heart health often centers on statistics, stress, and survival. But Scripture also offers us a pathway to heart health, prescribing joy as medicine in Proverbs 17:22.
The writer of this proverb does not deny pain or pressure; instead, the writer reminds us that cultivating a cheerful, nourished heart has the power to restore and sustain us. In a world that often asks Black women to be strong without being supported, choosing joy becomes more than a feeling, it becomes an act of stewardship over our hearts.
Black Girl Joy is sometimes misunderstood as superficial happiness. But authentic joy is deeply rooted in identity, resilience, and connection with God. It is the laughter shared around a table, the peace found in prayer, the freedom to rest without apology.
Joy does something powerful inside the body. Research continues to show what Scripture declared long ago, emotional wellness influences physical wellness. Chronic stress can elevate blood pressure and strain the cardiovascular system, but moments of genuine joy help regulate breathing, calm the nervous system, and support overall heart health. When we embrace joy intentionally, we are not ignoring reality; we are reclaiming joy and harmony.
The Heart Knows What the Soul Carries
Many Black women carry invisible weight such as caregiving, leadership, ministry, community expectations, gender biases, racial discrimination, and generational traumas. While our strength is sacred, unrelieved pressure can quietly impact our physical hearts.
Heart health awareness calls us to listen differently and to notice when fatigue lingers longer than usual. It honors boundaries that protect our peace and choose rhythms that allow restoration instead of constant depletion.
Proverbs 17:22 invites us to consider that emotional heaviness can “dry up the bones.” In other words, what we carry internally eventually shows up externally. Joy, then, becomes a form of self-care and soul-care that protects the heart.
Black Girl Joy Is Heart Work
Black Girl Joy is not accidental. It is cultivated intentionally. During Heart Health Month, consider joy practices that nourish your mind, body, spirit, and cardiovascular system. Here are some ways you and I can engage in this heart work this month and the rest of our lives.
Move with Celebration: Dance in your kitchen. Walk with a friend. Stretch in the morning sunlight. Movement that feels joyful lowers stress hormones and strengthens the heart.
Rest Without Guilt: Rest is resistance against burnout. Sabbath moments, quiet prayer, or even a warm cup of tea become sacred pauses that steady the heart.
Stay Connected: Community laughter releases tension. Sisterhood, mentorship, and shared storytelling remind us that we are not meant to carry life alone.
Speak Life Over Yourself: Affirmations rooted in faith reshape how we experience stress. Whispering, “My heart is held by God,” shifts both perspective and physiology.
Black Girl Joy Is a Spiritual Prescription
Living in a world that is hostile toward women of color, joy as a spiritual prescription is critical for black women of faith. We understand that joy is not always loud. Sometimes it is a quiet confidence that God has always and will continue to be present throughout history.
Black Girl Joy is holy. It is the freedom to smile fully, to live abundantly, and to prioritize wellness without apology. It says, my laughter is not a luxury. My laughter it is life-giving.
This Heart Health Month, let us move beyond awareness into embodiment. Schedule the checkup. Take the walk. Release what no longer serves your peace. And most importantly, allow yourself to experience joy as a healing practice. Because when Black women cultivate joy, we are not only protecting our emotional well-being, we are tending to the very heart God entrusted to us.
Reflection Question:
When Scripture calls a cheerful heart “good medicine,” it reframes joy as wellness. What is one small act of joy you can practice this month that nourishes both your spirit and your physical heart?
Dr. Toni,
Pastor, Preacher, Coach, Author, Podcaster, Retreat Leader, Self-Care Strategist