Eighteen years ago I found yoga during an especially tumultuous period of graduate school. Little did I know that starting yoga would have such an impact on who I am, and would change the course of my career.
The integration of psychology and yoga is my passion, and I feel an urgency to get this work into the world. The World Health Organization has predicted that by 2030, depression and anxiety will be the number one global disease burden behind cancer and heart disease. Currently 1 in 4 people has a diagnosable mental health disorder, and the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed 400% in the last decade alone.
I don’t believe we need a better drug to treat these conditions, we need a better way to comprehensively understand why people get here in the first place. Although medication and therapy have both made a dent in the mental health crisis, we need to start thinking outside the box for additional ways to not only treat but also prevent these illnesses that literally tear people’s lives apart. Addressing the body, energy, mind, wisdom, and spirit of a person is essential. And the best model I’ve found addressing the multiple aspects of who we are is yoga.
The ancient wisdom of yoga teaches that at our core is wholeness, bliss, contentment, ease, and happiness. We are all given the gift of inner wellness and have the capacity to find it. It is our birthright. This teaching has profoundly impacted my life and how I do my work because it’s made me re-conceptualize the idea that we are a problem to be fixed. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of us. And yet, to unlock the pathway to this inner space of prosperous mental health, we have to care for the body, our energy, and our mind. The prospect that happiness is possible for each of us, stored within, is revolutionary and hopeful.
Yoga provides practical tools and life practices that enhance our well being, both physical and mental, and recent research is proving this to be true. Unlike a pill that can be easily swallowed, learning the tools and practices that make a difference requires a teacher, time, and the willingness to practice. But with this commitment comes the possibility to return to your natural state of being which is one of ease and wholeness, without any nasty side effects.
Join me at the Sedona Yoga Festival Saturday, March 16 for my workshop called REMIND: Yoga For a More Resilient Mind where we will dive into the yoga tools that will help introduce you to the potent yoga tools that bring balance and resiliency to the mind and body.
