What started out as a virtual escape at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has since turned into a green capital for wellness, healing and inspiration in Southeast D.C., due in no small part to DMV natives and business partners Danuelle Doswell and Mignon Hemsley.
Grounded, a self-coined “holistic sanctuary” located at 1913 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, seamlessly intersects nature, wellness and community in advocacy for mental health.
Using themed opportunities like January’s Week of Gratitude, through their business, Doswell and Hemsley underscore the basis of what it means to be “grounded.”
Throughout the week series (Jan. 2-9), customers enjoyed 25% off drinks, wellness classes and plants, while beginning the year with a newfound appreciation for intention and mindfulness.
“‘Grounded’ means so many different things, and that’s where we really started in the concept, just understanding what was our interpretation of that word, and how can we connect that feeling to our community,” Doswell told The Informer.
The Southeast brick-and-mortar stands to do just that: grounding customers with green walls to increase serotonin and productivity. Offering plants, healthy cafe dining and physical wellness activities meant to invoke relaxation — such as yoga, meditation, sound healing, mat pilates, and Reiki, a Japanese-based healing technique that uses energy force to reduce stress and anxiety — Grounded is a multipurpose spot for shopping and promoting overall health.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grounded started as a virtual plant shop.
Hemsley told The Informer the emphasis on connecting others with the natural world made the transition from virtual to physical modality the perfect opportunity for a multi-integrated project: an all-in-one plant shop, cafe and wellness studio that hits the mark of balancing body movement, well-being and horticultural therapy.
“There’s nothing like experiencing nature at its fullest extent. Going outside, being able to hear the birds, touch greenery, breathing fresh air–just really pushing that mental health aspect of finding peace through nature,” Hemsley said. “Now people can convene in this space and really access the three ways of nature that we have been preaching over the past four and a half years.”
Intentionally Setting Up Shop in Southeast
As District area natives, the local entrepreneurs highlighted the educational and communal impact of Grounded’s presence in Anacostia.
“Our approach to nature and wellness is teaching people how if you have a houseplant, you can…take a step in your day to slow down, water your plant, care for something to calm you, to relax you,” Doswell explained. “[Or having] a picnic [at Anacostia Park], which we did. Just finding unique ways to interact with nature and use it as a therapeutic form, and that’s existing here in our space.”
The decision to set up shop in Southeast D.C. was no coincidence, the co-founders told The Informer.
In addition to providing a nesting home for mental and spiritual alignment, the co-founders heed the call to amplify mental health awareness and education east of the Anacostia River, a focal discussion often overlooked among Black communities.
Further in Wards 7 and 8, where more than 80% of residents identify as Black, research from the National Library of Medicine shows that adult residents who are low-income and African American experience higher rates of mental health problems compared to the rest of the District.
Coupled with the disproportionate levels of food insecurity plaguing the region, African American residents continuously suffer the brunt of historic disparities that institutions such as Grounded work to combat through an increase in educational and wellness values.
“We’re not just a plant shop, and that’s something that differentiates us from any other online or in-person plant shop in the area and in the country,” Hemsley said. “For us, [it’s about] really honing in on the fact that we’re a wellness brand above everything, and that to feel grounded, having a plant is just one portion of that.”
Future plans of expansion within Grounded include establishing more locations globally, increasing education of healthy practices, and opening a nonprofit later this year, which will be called “Grounded in Nature” and geared towards safely exposing teenagers to the nuances of nature while laying the groundwork to make wellness a normalcy for youth.
“We just want to be able to create greener spaces in neighborhoods and cities like [Anacostia]…for people to just be able to slow down,” Doswell told The Informer. “People being able to use one of our green spaces or use a piece of our education and integrate it into their lives, to then…make it a lifestyle over time. Just being of service to people and having our space and our education do that.”