How Yoga Can Help Mental Health Care (For Yoga Teachers)
/I’m writing this as the forth major wave of Covid and the Omicron variant sweep across the world. There is no question that the pandemic has created a tipping point for what was already a mental health crisis in the west. You can read my previous blog post to find mental health statistics pre-covid. Suffice to say we are now living a global trauma and things are exponentially worse.
I want to write love letters to everyone letting them know things will be alright, that there is hope, to stay steady in the course. I also want to be authentic, to honour the teachings I have spend a few decades trying to know. I want to “be the light” and help cultivating peace. That seems to reflect Yoga values, but in the tough moments I’ve felt over the last 18-months that feels like a big challenging. Some days I wonder if it’s even helpful in this moment of chaos in the world. Is there a fulcrum between blind positivity and despair?
Satya is the second of the Yamas, the tenants of Yoga as described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Satya has been translated as truthfulness. It has also been described as ones true essence. In short, it is living authentically, being honest with yourself and with others.
If I’m being honest there have been many many days when the world feels so out of balance it feels hopeless. I have spent a lot of time in the last two years distracting myself with busy-ness, ignoring headlines and generally not feeling like a beacon of hope. In those moments it seems that in order for me to be a beacon of hope I would need to bypass the truth in my heart, ignore the headlines and live in a bubble. Does this make me a failure as a Yoga therapist? As a Yogini? As a care worker? These are questions I ask myself before & after each class I teach, and every client I see. Have I made a small difference? Is it possible to help someone feel better while living with the reality that the world is crazy? Would I be more effective at supporting people if I stayed in a bubble of light and spread that while ignoring the chaos around me?
I don’t have the answers. All I can do is continue to reflect, and do the best I can for the beautiful humans who put their trust in me. The fulcrum may be what the Buddha describes as the middle path - neither sinking into despair or becoming a blindfolded beacon. I don’t want to tell my clients that all will be well in the world when I’m not sure that is the truth. I don’t want to write social media posts that say that a gratitude practice are the answer (as I’ve done in the past). I don’t want to entice people with some form of Yogic spiritual bypassing. All of that said, I know when I get on my mat and when I connect in community I feel clear, whole, authentic and resilient. This is how Yoga can make a difference. So I continue to share them and while it may not change the world I hope it will make a difference in a the hearts of few.
I have to practice in Satya and I hope it makes me a better Yoga Therapist. If nothing else, I can stand alongside my clients rather than living in a bubble reminiscent of a Yogi living in a cave of solitude. I can say authentically “I see your pain.,” “I understand you’re suffering,” and that I know some days it might feel hopeless. I can also let them know that my personal experience and observation mirror what studies have shown, Yoga can help alleviate some of the pain and build resiliency. It is possible to not feel like you’re drowning in pit of gloom. It is possible to live in this crazy f*&%ed up world and not suffer from the paralyzing effects of PTSD, anxiety and depression. It is possible to find many moments of joy, then go back out into the world and feel pain, and not get lost in it. Learning to live in this way we is resilience. I guess that is my version of authentic Yoga. Yoga for mental health is the triage between despair and heart’s repair. In this moment of human existence we may need to spend a lot of time visiting triage but at least we have the triage (I guess there is still a lot to be grateful for ;). How would the world be different if more people had this triage?
Have a look at these statistics related to the health care burden in Ontario and Canada. We can assume it’s similar across North America and parts of Europe.
Only about half of Canadians experiencing a major depressive episode receive ‘‘potentially adequate care.’’
Of Canadians aged 15 or older who report having a mental health care needs, only 1/3 state that their needs were not fully met
In Ontario, wait times of six months to one year are common.
Mental illness accounts for about 10% of the burden of disease in Ontario, and receives just 7% of health care dollars. That is a funding deficit of about $1.5 billion.
The Mental Health Strategy for Canada recommends raising the proportion of health spending that is devoted to mental health to 9% by 2022.
How many group yoga classes for mental health could run in Ontario for $1.5 billion? The answer is … A LOT!
For $1.5 billion we could have 167,000 yoga classes every year, paying well trained teachers a fair wage of $90 per class! Imagine the positive impact on your community if there were group yoga classes as triage during the year long wait times for medical care. Imagine how the estimated 43 million Canadians could potentially have positive outcomes if yoga was part of their treatment plan. The US military already knows the benefits of yoga and certain mediation practices. Yoga is an incredibly inexpensive solution that for both wait times and better outcomes. If it’s being used in the military why not in our mental health care system? There is no shortage of yoga teachers. What we need is enough teachers trained in mental health to support the need AND committed to advocacy efforts. For me, this is one beacon of hope.
References
Büssing, M. (2012). Effects of Yoga on Mental and Physical Health: A Short Summary of Reviews. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/165410
Follette, V. (2016). Mindfulness-oriented interventions for trauma : integrating contemplative practices / edited by Victoria M. Follette [and four others]. The Guilford Press.