About Octavia F. Raheem
Award-Winning Author &
Founder of Pause, Rest, Lead®
Hi, I’m Octavia F. Raheem. I teach the world's most driven and brilliant leaders something you don't learn in B-School: Rest is the bridge between where you are and where you want to be.
I've worked with leaders and visionary entrepreneurs who arrived at the same paradox: Exceptional performance built on borrowed time. Winning by every metric that matters to the board yet losing by every metric that matters to the body.
I know this territory.
being published deferred. Creative well empty. Success on paper, depletion in practice.
That's when I discovered what I now teach. You can be deeply resourced and actively ambitious at the same time.
“It was all a dream…”
- Biggie
The results were measurable:
Three award winning books published since 2020. Global certification program built and scaled. Multiple revenue streams and growth, all while working 24-30 hours weekly. High impact, regenerative pace, zero crash-and-burn.
This became Devoted to Rest® and Pause, Rest, Lead®, my frameworks for leaders who refuse the false choice between achievement or exhaustion.
Through Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and meditation practices older than capitalism itself, I help leaders build capacity to handle whatever weather arrives. As OutKast said: "You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather."
"You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather."
- OutKast
When you work with me, you learn to:
Operate from a healthy and flexible nervous system
Build rest into your business model as foundation and creative advantage
Lead from ease and clarity when the stakes are highest
Create high impact that regenerates rather than depletes
My clients have already built something significant and sacrificed significantly to do it. They have something even more profound and expansive to bring into the world. They know their current pace has an expiration date. They value premium expertise, private connection, and community. They appreciate both mastery and authenticity. They want strategy with soul.
Cultured, accomplished, ready to operate differently.
If that's you, let's connect.
Octavia F. Raheem teaches both sacred and strategic rest practices to leaders and transformational organizations worldwide. As founder of Pause, Rest, Lead® School of Sacred Studies, she trains rest facilitators and works with companies to bring sacred rest practices to hundreds of leaders and employees.
An award-winning author of three books (Rest Is Sacred, Pause Rest Be, and Gather), Octavia has 10,000+ documented teaching hours and over 20 years of experience weaving yogic practices, Black American Southern wisdom, and trauma-informed somatics into leadership development.
In 2021, Yoga Journal recognized Octavia as one of fifteen experienced professionals who have elevated the field on a global scale.
She holds advanced certifications in Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and meditation, plus 10+ years developing innovative curricula for K-12 education.
Executive Bio
When you rest with me, you wake up to your fullest potential and power.
You boldly reclaim authorship over the narrative of your life to reflect who you really are and what you really want. You start a new chapter that includes more rest and time with who and what matters the most to you.
Full Bio
Octavia F. Raheem teaches rest-based leadership practices to leaders and visionary entrepreneurs worldwide. As founder of Pause, Rest, Lead® School of Sacred Studies, she trains rest facilitators and works with organizations to bring sacred rest practices to hundreds of leaders, employees, and transformational change-makers.
An award-winning author, Octavia has written three books: the award-winning Rest Is Sacred (2024), Pause, Rest, Be (2022), and Gather (2020). Her work positions rest as an antidote to toxic productivity culture, helping driven leaders sustain high impact without burnout. She is also the creator of Devoted to Rest®, a signature program for visionary women leaders.
With over 20 years of experience and 10,000+ documented teaching hours, Octavia's methodology weaves time-tested yogic practices, Black American Southern wisdom, and trauma-informed somatics into experiences that honor rest as both sacred and necessary. Organizations report increased employee retention, reduced stress-related costs, and stronger leadership presence after implementing PRL practices.
Her writing and work have been featured in Yoga Journal, Tricycle, Well+Good, CNN, Atlanta Magazine, and at Essence Festival Wellhouse Atlanta. In 2021, Yoga Journal recognized her as one of fifteen experienced yoga professionals who have elevated and changed the field on a global scale. In 2019, Natural Awakening Magazine named her one of four luminaries who have created new pathways to yoga in the Southeast.
She holds extensive certifications in Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and meditation, trained by renowned teachers including Dr. Gail Parker, Tracee Stanley, and Swami Premajyoti Saraswati.
Her academic background includes degrees in English Literature and creative writing, plus 10+ years developing innovative curricula for K-12 Language Arts education.
Before founding Pause, Rest, Lead®, Octavia co-founded and operated a wellness studio and also served as co-director of the Yoga, Literature, and Art Camp for Teen Girls at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.
She is a wife, mother, poet, and devoted student of the practice that she teaches.
The Shiva Sutras remind us: Gurur Upayah. Above all, the practice is the guru.
Octavia bows to the practice that has shown her how to rise, and to the lineage of teachers, Ancestors, and the natural world that continue to guide her work.
200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training at Peachtree Yoga Center with Graham Fowler and Elizabeth Nix
300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training at Himalayan Institute
Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Dr. Gail Parker
Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Jacci Gruninger and Shelbi Miles
Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Chanti Tacoronte-Perez
Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race Based Stress and Trauma with Dr. Gail Parker
Classical Pranavidya - Advanced Training Swami Premajyoti Saraswati
Yoga Nidra Immersion with Nick Atlas
Introduction to Yoga Nidra with Tracee Stanley
Empowered Wisdom Yoga Nidra Teacher Training with Tracee Stanley and Chanti Tacoronte-Perez
Advanced Golden Soul Yoga Nidra Teacher Training 60 Hours with Swami Premajyoti Saraswati (in progress)
Meditation Teacher Training with Tracee Stanley
Antar Mouna Meditation Immersion with Swami Premajyoti Saraswati
Tattwa Shuddhi Training and Initiation with Swami Premajyoti Saraswati
Introduction to Hatha Yoga Pradipika with Yoganand Michael Carroll
Chakra and Energetics with Yoganand Michael Carroll
Asanas as Spiritual Doorways with Yoganand Michael Carroll
Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training with Amina Murray
Yin Yoga Teacher Training at Asheville Yoga Center
Bio dynamic Energy and Yin Immersion level one and two with Cat Kabira
Coaching with Spirit and Using Internal Family Systems to Co-Create Healing and Awakening with Guthrie Sayen and Barti Bourgault
Yoga for Youth Training with Krishna Kaur
Grounded Kids Yoga Training Cheryl Crawford
Yoga Retreat for Women of Color™ with Maya Breuer Retreat Assistant
Reiki Certification Level 1 with Navasha Daya
Basic Pranic Healing with Dawn Myers
Teach For America Corp Member Phoenix 2003
Breakthrough Collaborative Leadership Fellow 2006
Greater Timberridge Baptist Church
Prayer circle in mama’s living room
Training and experience highlights:
“I come as one,
I stand as 10,000.”
- Dr. Maya Angelou