INDUSTRY: Community
PARTICIPANTS: 125
INTRODUCTION
Lumos Transforms launched The Resilience Toolkit for Muslimahs, a groundbreaking program designed to support Muslim women in navigating stress and trauma. Funded by a grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, this initiative blended trauma-informed practices with Islamic traditions, providing a holistic approach to building resilience and fostering community.
THE CHALLENGE
Amid global genocides and a heightened climate of Islamophobia, many Muslim women face additional stressors around issues of integration, balancing faith and identity, and navigating systemic inequities. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of mental health resources and supportive spaces that honor their socio-cultural and spiritual needs. Stigma around mental health further complicates access, with narratives often suggesting that prayer alone is sufficient to resolve emotional struggles.
Lumos Transforms sought to create an accessible program where Muslim women could explore the interconnections of their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being while gaining practical tools to manage stress and build resilience.
THE SOLUTION
The Resilience Toolkit for Muslimahs.
Lumos Transforms designed The Resilience Toolkit for Muslimahs to integrate Islamic practices with somatic and mindfulness strategies, offering participants a trauma-informed approach tailored to their lived experiences. Delivered in English, Arabic and Urdu through a combination of in-person and virtual cohorts, the program ensured accessibility for participants locally and globally.
Participants explored the science behind stress and trauma, gaining insights into how these states affect the body, mind, and spirit. The workshops emphasized Islamic traditions, such as prayer, ritual washing, and Quranic recitation, demonstrating their natural stress-relieving properties. Through guided somatic practices, participants learned to track and regulate their stress responses in real time. Sessions also fostered sisterhood and connection, providing a warm environment for sharing experiences and building community among women who don’t always find themselves in the same spaces.
RESULTS
The program reached Muslim women from a wide range of racial, cultural, and generational backgrounds, reflecting the richness and diversity of the Muslim community. While the in-person cohort focused on Los Angeles, the virtual sessions drew participants from across the United States, Canada, Africa and Pakistan, highlighting the widespread demand for faith-aligned programs exploring stress and trauma. Community outreach workers recruited from local mosques conducted in-person and virtual engagement to ensure broad participation. Attendees represented communities as varied as Black/African American, Latine, South Asian, Arab, and African, with women from the Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Sudan also participating. Arabic and Urdu translation services ensured accessibility, allowing for deeper engagement across linguistic boundaries.
Generational diversity was another strength of the program, with participants ranging from young adults to elders. Participants gained practical tools to address stress and a deeper understanding of how their emotional, physical, and spiritual experiences are interconnected. The program also reframed mental wellness as a holistic practice rooted in faith, challenging the stigma often associated with seeking help.
“I think we took a big step in desensitizing the stigma of mental health because we’re all affected in one way or another. We had young adults, middle age, and seniors like myself involved.”
A central theme emerging from the program was the strong sense of sisterhood it fostered. Participants repeatedly emphasized the value of the welcoming and inclusive space, where they felt empowered to connect and share openly.
CONCLUSION
As a model for culturally responsive mental health programming, The Resilience Toolkit for Muslimahs demonstrates the power of faith-informed frameworks to address systemic barriers to wellness. Lumos Transforms’ innovative approach highlights the importance of honoring the intersection of body, mind, and spirit, empowering participants to navigate challenges with resilience, compassion, and a renewed sense of belonging.
