5 Surprising Ways Yoga Can Impact Your Mental Health
Guest post from Marina Swietek, Barre & Soul member + Licensed Mental Health Counselor
As a mental health counselor, having a variety of tools to offer the people I work with is essential in helping them find ways to manage and cope with life’s challenges.
I was first introduced to yoga as a child through athletics. Studying mental health counseling in college and graduate school, I was re-introduced to yoga through the lens of mental health. Since then, yoga has been ever-present in my life, providing a form of movement and meditation I can always rely on.
In my own life, and as a licensed mental health counselor, I have seen how physical movement impacts our mental and emotional wellbeing in so many essential ways. I wanted to be able to give to others what yoga has taught me and recently graduated from the Barre & Soul Yoga Teacher Training to become a registered yoga teacher.
Movement in any form has wonderful benefits for our mental health. It’s a way to practice self-care, to find focus, and a sense of calm. It’s a way to challenge ourselves with something new, show up for ourselves, and form connections with others.
With May being Mental Health Awareness month, it’s a great time to observe the many ways yoga benefits our mental health. Here are five ways we can experience these benefits.
5 Surprising Ways Yoga Can Impact Your Mental Health
1. Yoga is a great way to practice mindfulness.
It allows us space and time to focus on the movement, how our body feels moving into and through the poses. We can shed preoccupations and stresses to center ourselves on the mat. In doing this, we can slow ourselves down and find a sense of calm.
2. Yoga as a form of movement connects us to our physical bodies.
Life can become hectic and we might only become aware of stress through muscle tension. Practicing yoga can help us notice this tension so we can address it. In doing this, we can create a relaxation response. I’ve also found it can be helpful to identify areas of relaxation that we can expand to the rest of our body.
3. Our ability to practice breathing techniques is very beneficial to our mental health.
Breathing techniques such as square breathing (inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts and repeat as needed), are a great way to manage feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness. Practicing yoga gives us the opportunity to bring awareness to and connect to our breath.
4. Practicing yoga on our mat can lead to growth off our mat, helping foster our
relationship with ourselves.
By being present with ourselves on our mat, trying a new class or learning a new pose, challenging ourselves translates to how we engage with ourselves off the mat. For example, my ability to practice compassion and understanding with myself with a pose or sequence I might be struggling with can help me better practice self-compassion in other areas of my life.
5. Yoga is a great way to foster strong, meaningful connections to ourselves and to our
greater communities as well.
Whether that means setting aside personal time for yourself, seizing a chance to meet up with a friend to practice together, or attending a fun class. These are all great ways to feel connected to ourselves, friends, and family. Feeling connected to our community is incredibly important to our mental and emotional wellbeing.
I am continually grateful for the ways yoga allows me to learn, grow, and connect with myself
and to others. Yoga provides us with so many avenues to nurture our mental health, which is
necessary to our overall well being.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the 24/7 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by texting or calling 988.
Marina Swietek, LMHC, RYT-200
